The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-18 00:00:00

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TIIE SUN.

LONDON, SATURDAY, JAN. 18, 1862.

It would be unfair to taunt the Federal authori-
ties as acting under fear inspired by the result of
the exploit of the naval hero WILKEs, but we may
be allowed to observe that a similar promptitude
in making the obviously indispensable reparation
in that case would have prevented several weeks
of painful uncertainty here, have saved us an out-
lay of some millions of money, and, above all,
would have gained for the Federal Government a
measure of goodwill from us it can never henceforth
secure. We are gratified with the final settlement,
and we gladly recognise the honourable behaviour
reported in these last despatches—but nothing in
the case of the Trent, or in any subequent case,
can place the Federal States in the same position as
they would have been in had we not had to demand
justice, but had they proffered it on the instant un-
asked.

The Trent insult was quite as plain and unmis-
takeable in its character as the two which have
now been spontaneously repaired. We accept the
spontaneousness of the act as a proof that Mr.
SEWARD intends to abide by his own friendly state-
ments in his long despatch. We feel little doubt
that Mr. SEWARD, having entered now on the right
course, the one so obviously for his interest, of care-
fully cultivating the amity of a powerful nation
while engaged in a vast civil war with half his own,
will continue in that course. Both in our own
waters, where forbearance seems likely to be tried,
and in American waters England will be sure to
observe a studied neutrality; and if the Federals
will but make up their minds to be satisfied with
this, we may get on comfortably enough. It
can be no secret to them that we are strongly
solicited to give up recognising the blockade;
but they want us not only not to do this, but
to pay them the homage of denouncing and
discountenancing the Confederates as rebels.
Almost in one breath they tell'us that we have no
right to know anything of the rebellion at all,
that it is a little kind of domestic and private
matter, yet that we are to treat the rebels, whom
we are not to know, as rebels. Like themselves,
in this age of telegraphs and railroads and steam-
packets, we are to be ignorant, or at least to ignore
the news we look for anxiously from day to day.
The first of the despatches, which we take from
the Gazette of last evening, is one from Mr. SEWARD
to Lord LYONS, informing him that the two Ame-
rican citizens who were taken from the Eugenia
Smith, a vessel bearing the British flag, and under
circumstances resembling those of the capture of
Mears. MASON and SLIDELL, are discharged and
permitted to return to Norfolk, in Virginia, by way
of Fort Monroe. Lord RUSSELL had intimated
that the law in the case of the Trent would, of
course, rule in that of the Eugenia Smith, and, by
this act, without further correspondence on the
subject, Mr. SEWARD acknowledges that the rule
is now settled. So far Mr. SEWARD has shown his
willingness to abide cheerfully by him own
extorted decision.

In the next case Mr. SEWARD appears as the
purely spontaneous apologist for the insult, and in
this character we are, of course, still more pleased
to meet him. The reparation was very prompt.
It was made even upon unofficial information. In
that way Mr. SEWARD had been informed that a
British schooner had been brought to New York
for breach of blockade, with the British flag flying
under that of the United (Federal) States. The
insult sufficiently shows the class of gentry
who are intrusted with commands by the
Federalists, and their tamper and that also of
the mob, the patrons of promotion. Mr. SEWARD
could not have acted better, and Lord LYONS is
able to write—Mr. SEWARD condemns this act in
the strongest terms; the act was disavowed with
equal promptitude by the naval authorities of the
United Why as
WStates, under whose notice it was brought.
not the same promptitude displayed in
the case of the Trent ? The insult was certainly