The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-24 00:00:00

On the 7th.inst. the Hon. Edward Everett dc-
vend a lecture in the Hall of the Academy of
Music, New York, under the auspices of the Mer-
cantile Library Association, on the origin and cha-
racter of the war. The hall was crowded to excess,
and the Mayor of the city, the Hon. G. Opdyke,
was in the chair. The report of the address occu-
pies four :,he New York papers. The
following i 3 the concluding portion :-
1 sctuple not to say that all the Powers of Europe
united could not in seven years have brought the
scourges or evils of war so near to the vitals of the
people as this execrable secession has done in seven
or eight months. Then for a moment let us try to
look into the future. If the South has not been wil-
ing to live in peace under a Government which Mr.
Stephens (the Vice-President of the Confederation)
has declared to be the most beneficent of which
history gives any account, but for the frivolous pre-
text which we have been considering chosen to
plunge into the gulf of war, how, when, and on
what terms can we ever expect to live in peace
hereafter any longer than may be necessary to
accumulate the means of a new war, and to find a
pretext for plunging into it ? Do you say the dif-
ferent sections of the country can make treaties ?
Treaties ! I should like to know whether treaties
are more binding than constitutions—whether acts
of ratification are more sacred than oaths of alle-
giance, which every one of these leaders now has
upon his soul. Why, the great practical grievance
of which the South is complaintng is that the North
claims, in virtue of all the traditions of the Govern-
ment, running back to its very foundation, embodied
by Jefferson in projecting an ordinance for the
North-western territory, as long ago as 1784—the
North plead for the general Government the right
to prohibit the extension of slavery into the
free territories of the United States north
of the Missouri line. Does any human being
suppose that if secession prospers and the
confederacy should be established and acknow;-
ledged, these free tnilkona„9.! -the Nor
tik will:4l4ow •
'tirtitery to extend' bekmia the Mislbtirfli-ne -
No, no; not if Chief Justice Taney should live to
the age of Methuselah, and should issue a Dred Scott
decision every year of his life. (Laughter and
cheers.) Mr. Everett then spoke of the complaints
which the South made about Northern pulpits and
the Northern press, and said if the rebellion were
successful every cause of irritation would be
in-
creased a hundredfold. He then spoke of the advice
which English statesmen gave to our government
in persisting to resist secession, that we were very
unwise to encounter the evils of civil war, instead
of letting the country quietly go to pieces. I won-
der, said he, if these political doctors would like the
taste of their own medicine ? If this breaking up
of powerful governments is such an excellent thing,
why were such spasmodic efforts made six or seven
years ago to put down the Sepoy rebellion at the
antipodes? Why was the Irish rebellion of '9B re-
sisted ?—the Scottish rebellion of '45, and the older
one of 1715 ? Why do they not avail themselves
of their great historical precedent ? These political
doctors think it would be a good thing if Spain
should become as it was—independent kingdoms.
The whole civilised world, within two or three
years, has clapped its hands in joy, as it has seen the
various states of Italy abdicating their separate in-
dependent governments, and, what is harder to do,
forget the feuds and differences of ages, and come
together in one beautiful Italian nationality. (Ap-
plause.) Germany, in the middle ages, was broken
up into more than three hundred and forty indepen-
dent Powers; and would those who sympathised
with the leaders of Southern rebellion, and saying
that secession and disintegration are so desirable
for America, say to the Prince of Germany, "Plant
yourself on your reserved rights, and recover your
mediaeval independence ?" Is it not enough, myfriends, to make an angel weep, I had almost said
tears of blood ? Here are men of common sense,
you must admit—of education and experience in
affairs—men who aspire to what ought to be the
honoured name of statesmen—to see them not only
so recreant to the memory of their fathers and the
hereos of the revolutionary age, but so dead to the
voice of history, so blind to the experience of all
other nations, so reckless of the great lessons of
history, as to think that in a country like this the
path to prosperity can lie through the bloody gate
of treason and rebellion, and that the permanent
welfare of a great confederate republic can be pro-
moted by its being broken up into 30, 40, or 50
independent jealous principalities. But it cannot,
it shall not be. (Loud cries of "No," and cheers.)
This glorious framework of national government
shall not be allowed to erumble into dishonourable
fragments. (Renewed applause.) This seamless
garment of union that folds the country like a Holy
Providence shall not be allowed to be torn into
tatters by traitorous hands. (Cheers.) No, no, no
—a thousand times no. Rise, loyal millions of the
country, hasten to the rescue of the Union. Come,
old men and children, young men and maidens ;
come es the winds come when forests are rended ;
come as the waves come when net-vies are stranded;
coine with your strong hands; come with your cun-
ning hands; come with your swords; come with
your knitting needles; come with your purses, your
voices, your pens, your types, your prayers—come
one, come all to the rescue of the Union. (Loud
applause.)

MR. DAVID URQUHA.RT ON INTERNA-
TIONAL LAW AND RIGHT OF SEARCH.

Last night Mr. David 'Urquhart delivered an address in
the lower room, Whittington Club, on " International Law"
as bearing on the contest in the United States and the De-
claration of Paris, the object being to show that " the effect
cf that declaration will be to deprive England of the means
of defending her own shores, to render her inoperative for
the purposes of war, and be the accomplishment of the aim
of the ' Armed Neutrality' of 1780, broken then by England
through the exercise of the right of search."
Mr. BEALES (barrister) was called to the chair, and
briefly opened the business.
Major STEWART ROLLAND explained that be took upon
himself the responsibility of having induced Mr. Urquhart
to address a public meeting on this important subject at the
present momentous crisis of national affairs, from a pro-
found conviction that he was, above all men, the best qua-
lified to lay before the country the true bearings of ques-
tions in which we were so deeply inter ested.
Mr. URQUHART'S address lasted for nearly three hours,
the earlier portion being devoted to an antiquarian and
critical examination of tho origin of all law. Thence he
proceeded to show that in 1780 a Confederacy of Maritime
Nations was entered into, with the object of coercing Eng-
land into the abandonment of the right of search. That this
sehouenhtardy
theresisted
world i t
againsteven w hheenr,a
andt t that at
alonetim eaann.dd subsequentl
single-handedy
maintained that right. At the Peace of Vienna all former
treaties were annulled, and a fresh foundation for interna-
tional relations was established in the treaty then concluded,
and that right was fully recognised. At the breaking out of
the Russian war in 1851, however, Sweden and Denmark
again announced an armed neutrality, and the English and
French Governments consented to it under certain restric•
tions. When the war was concluded, the Treaty of Paris
practically surrended the very object for which Russia had
been contending ever since 1780. The "declaration" ap-
pended to that treaty abolished privateering, and stated
that the neutral flag covers enemies' goods with the excep-
tion of contraband of war. That "declaration," however,
had not the force of law, and it had never received the for-
malthed
bees sanction of Parliament. In order to force from to force the
people and Parliament of this country such a sanction, Mr.
Urquhart contendedpreconcertedth a t
thosethat
whot e
haeffda rd oe fa i theg na Trentagainst had
in-
tegrity and greatness of this country had entered into a
conspiracy, in the hope that amidst the excitement and
passion of
the moment the long coveted object might be
and
dgutonn le
a unless England
wel la s at
wVienna,
as on
its
attained. Russia had her diplomatists and agents in the
Berlin, Paris,
guard the one
great safeguard of its independence and greatness would be
swept away. The hon. gentleman was applauded at the
anCodur London,
o f liras
close of his address.
Mr. DEAN moved that the Minister who would surrender
the right of search was a traitor.
emoontltdonn,obtbut
ea
ft
ntlhl
yi salnadt e
phroouvre
rsluychd
sac
Major ROLLAND said he would willingly second such a
nussiwedp,ortaancinthqeuwesotuioldn
suggest an adjournment.

The thanks of the meeting were given to Mr. Urquhart,
and the meeting then adjourned till Monday next.

FOREIGN MAIL PACKET _LIST.