The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-29 00:00:00

which-.the emancipation of the slaves has pro-
pounded. The "miscegenation" theory is con-
temptuously scouted, and quite recently one of the
organs of Mr. Johnson's Administration took the
trouble to prove by a formidable array of figures
that ere long the negro difficulty would die out.
It is said to be merely a question of time, that
the blacks cannot hold their ground, that they
have been cut off by thousands in the war, and
that disease and deprivation will continue to
sensibly thin their ranks. The Emancipation
Society may conceive that it is better for the negroes
to perish in freedom than to subsist in slavery, but
on that supposition it might not be easy to justify a
tremendous sacrifice of human life. To emancipate
the slaves, to abate a nuisance, to get rid of a stum-
bling-block is intelligible enough, but it is not
philanthropy. The Federal generals, as the rule,
threw their black troops first upon the Confederate
bayonets, and it would seem that in so doing they
were acting up to the spirit of the emancipation
policy ; but to associate the names of Clarkson and
Wilberforce with such proceedings exhibits more
than a disregard of accuracy. The committee ven-
ture to express a hope "that the great republic may
long enjoy peace and prosperity, and that equal laws
may be re-established ;" and the aspiration is not
only proper, but exceedingly opportune. Peace and
prosperity depend, however, upon the re-establish-
ment of equal laws, and the equity of things must
be admitted before the hope can be reasonably en-
tertained. The Emancipation Society may satisfy
its sense of justice by mildly intimating an expecta-
tion, but the public conscience will not be pacified
so easily; and if it was moral and expedient to
form an association in this country to co-operate in
the emancipation of slaves in the United States, the
morality and expediency of expressing an opinion on
the action of the Republican Government on cognate
questions cannot be disputed. If it was right to en-
courage the Americans m what was assumed to be a
work of humanity, it cannot be wrong, to remind
them that their Conduct in other respects appear to
be averse from humanity. We might say, for exam-
ple, that to subject the Southern people to the bon-
dage and oppression from which the slaves have been
emancipated would not consist with a humane po-
licy, and that Mr. Jefferson Davis was also ,‘ a man
and a brother." The English nation has, we appre-
hend, no special call to protect negroes in foreign
countries. We are not aware that they have any
peculiar claims upon us, and we cannot be insen-
sible to the sufferings of persons who, if their com-
plexion be fair, possess human feelings. For our .
part, we do not complain that the Emancipation
Society intervened to encourage the North to pro-
secute the war against the South ; but the right, if
it was one, might be equally exercised on the other
side, and, so far from being awed by "names
which are illustrious in the intellectual world,"
whatever may be referred to, we still think, with
Mr. Gladstone, that the Southern people virtually
conquered their independence. But if the Emanci-
pation Society could influence the Government or
the people of the United States, it is remarkable
that it has dissolved itself at this moment. We are
not disposed to believe all, or nearly all, that is said
in the Republic of its relations with England and
France, or to suppose, as some do, that sentiments
of hatred and aversion are taking root in the Ame-
rican mind ; but when an English association
makes a merit of having assisted in the prosecution
of a war in which England stood neutral, it may
be thought that its labours could be profitably ex-
tended in the interests of peace. Those who claim
to be peculiarly the friends of the Republic might be
warranted in expressing more than a faint hope
that the sober sense and reason of the American
people would regulate their policy both at home and
abroad. We have no wish to disturb the Emanci-
pation Society in its retirement, but while the negro
question is not settled, there are other questions
in which philanthropy and humanity are not less
concerned. The slaves have gained nothing by
their enfranchisement that they are in a condition to
appreciate, and the Government which has achieved
their emancipation is fairly at a loss how to treat
them in freedom. But, quite apart from this and
every other embarrassment, it should be distinctly
understood that in abolishing slavery the American
Republic has only followed the example of other
Powers. The measure was and is exclusively its
own affair, and the merit accruing, whatever it may
be, does not in any degree affect the international
position of the United States.