The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-04 00:00:00

:
civ'mwew'ib-% `ll-Itt •

LONDON, SATURDAY, FEB. 4, 1865.

At thi

is period, of course,
Canada is looked all that relates to
upon with special interest and
the opening of the third session
of the eighth' Par-
liament will be sure to attract attention. The
Governor-General are
to have been fully co g_
nisant of the importance of his task, and he acquitted
himself very creditably in the remarks
which he
made. In the first place, his Excellency adverted to
a. very awkward affair, in the outrages that had
been committed in the United States, and the persons
who had done so taking refuge in Canada. In
pursuing this theme, he gave_ notice that he had
organised a system of detective police on the fron-
tier line,'and also called out a portion of the volunteer
force of the province. All these matters seem to
have been arranged with discretion and a due
regard to the exigencies of the occurrences that
called them forth. The bill laid before the Legis-

lative Assembly, which purposes to exercise control
over refugees, is a very good one, and it is to be
hoped that it will reach a satisfactory
being
able The Governor was fortunate in
able to inform the Parliament of the zeal and alacrity
displayed by the Volunteers in obeying the call to
active service. The spirit then and there exhibited
well deserved the recognition it received from the
Governor, and all will concur in the truth of this
passage. " Their conduct shows that the present
population of Canada has not degenerated from the-
manly virtues which characterised the races from
which it derives its origin, and that it may be relied
on, under all circumstances, to respond to the call
of duty." The true English idea of responsibility
and the spirit of independence appear to animate
these colonists of ours across the Atlantic, and it is
a satisfaction to be able to recognise such zeal and
devotion under trying circumstances and positions
of peril. 'The completion of the codification of the
civil law, in both French and English, is sure to be
of great service, for, as the Governor remarked, the
people can thus read in their own language the
civil laws under which they live. Until now this
desideratum has been impracticable, which has been
a circumstance greatly to be regretted. It is satis-
factory to find that the " financial legislation" has
been successful, and that the revenue has increased,
while the trade has extended in a corresponding
manner. Amid so many external causes for anxiety,
it is particularly fortunate that Canada thus • pro-
mises to enjoy interest, welfare, and a freedom from
the chief causes of domestic annoyance and
social misfortunes. The consideration of the Con-
stitutional problem of British North America
was brought forward by his Excellency as a matter
of course, and explained in a clear and comprehen-
sive form. The papers which will be laid before the
Legislature will inform them of the result of delibe-
rations by the meeting specially convened in last
October to consider the important subject so vital
to the interests of their community. The " cordial
approbation" of the Imperial Government was a
happy coincidence that the Governor was enabled to
impart, and the assurance that her MAJESTY'S
Ministers will introduce a Bill into the Imperial
Parliament so soon as they find that the various
provinces have received the sanction of their Legis-
latures. In this the Home Government have acted
wisely and well, and merit general approval, con-
trasting as their conduct in this particular does with
the imperfect style in which some of their other
duties have been performed to English subjects
abroad. The Governor wisely concluded his
speech by impressing upon his hearers the
vast importance of the matter before them, for
deliberation, and the mighty issues involved in its
decision. It rested with them, he emphatically de-
clared, to decide whether the vast tract of countr
Y
should be consolidated into a state, " and thus secure
the elements of national greatness, or whether the
various provinces should be left isolated and frag-
mentary, incapable of undertaking their proper
share of Imperial responsibility." A better speech
in an important crisis could not have been delivered
than this one before us, and it is earnestly to be
trusted that its wise counsels will influence the
assembly to which it was addressed, and that its
spirit will pervade their deliberations and animate
their endeavours, so that from the strife and chaos
darkening and defiling the continent of America,
the British possessions may emerge bright and
blessed, safe from internal dissensions and secure
against foreign attack, through the wise arrange-
ments made in due time, for the success in danger
depends upon foresight no less than upon valour,
and the wise and wary will always seek to be pre-
I pared.

The letter which has been addressed by President
DAVIS to some of the Senators of Georgia will be
read with very great interest in this country. These
gentlemen had written to the President, asking him
for an expression of his opinion on a very important
matter. A member of the Georgia House of Re-
presentatives has lately brought forward some re-
4olutioneempowering each State to treat separately
for peace, a proposition which was strongly opposed
by the gentlemen who forwarded this letter. Hear-
ing afterwards that Mr. DAVIS was favourable to
such a scheme, they addressed him directly in order
is ascertain the truth. The President's reply, as
might have been expected, is distinctly and uncon-
ditionally opposed to any such measure, but the
terms in which it is couched are worth attention.
JEFFERSON Davis is fortunate in possessing the gift
of addressing the public, whether by word or by
letter, and few gifts are more valuable to a states-
man at a momentous crisis like the present. His
language is always correct and well chosen, his
meaning clearly expressed, and his sentences to the
point. He is, too, generally moderate and courteous
in his tone, and seldom inclined to much self-asser-
tion. Thus, in his letter to the SenatOrs of Georgia,
we do not find him expressing either irritation or
indignation at the affront to himself and his Go-
vernment, which is offered by thus setting them
completely aside in deciding the great question of
peace or war, but he confines himself to explaining
less to his immediate audience than to the public
at large the evils and even the impossibilities of the
plan. With regard to its dangers, he says, " The
immediate and inevitable tendency of such distinct
action by each State is to create discordant instead
of united counsels—to suggest to our enemies the
possibility of a dissolution of the Confederacy, and
to encourage them by the spectacle of our divisions
to more determined and united action against us."
The Federals, he adds, would readily believe that
some of the Southern States are disposed to abandon
the others and to make separate terms of peace for
themselves ; and if such a suspicion once gained
ground among the people of the Confederacy there
would be "an end of that self-reliant and united
action which has been the strongest weapon of the
people of the South. This, in fact, is one reason
why the Northern agents are so ready to foster the
idea, and why we always find the Federal generals,
in occupying any individual Southern State, address-
ing its people as wholly self-governing and indepen-
dent. We find this especially instanced in SIIEP-
MAN'S address to the Georgians ; but the South-
erners must be very short-sighted if they do not
perceive that there is nothing the Federals are really
so unwilling to admit. The sovereignty of the States
is the very principle which they refuse to recognise,
since, on that ground, Georgia, Virginia, and
Louisiana have as good a right to select to be
governed by DAVIS as by LINCOLN. This objection
the Southern President thinks would prove fatal to
the scheme of separate treaties. H all the States
of two hostile federations are to meet in conven-
tion, such a meeting, he observes, can only
take place after a preliminary agreement. Either
the decision
would be a
n of the States must be accepted as final,
or no State shall be bound by the result of the de-
liberation. Nit North has In the former case, such a meeting
that it would
virtual surrender by the South, since the
the advantage in number ; in the latter,
amount to a virtual surrender by the North,
seeingfthedeeinradeyepe. nrd_e_nece of the several States of the Con-
absolute recognition of
1
without an
perfectly useless. It would
WOUld2 hi
ylisucahaeprilrb:bvilyoa:of
the wordy 01 th aarConvent:on of States
eur:n.,ag,heelnreEllitt
bweonulnd; be
be
e Souther: 2read;nt, be

‘" negotiating for the appointment of negotiators,
who are to meet without power to do anything but
me ace proposals." It is surely better to enter into
direct negotiation as to the terms of peace, both
parties: laving professed their desire for it. So long
as there is the one plain difficulty of the determina-
tion of ti he South to have a separate and indepen-
dent existence, and the refusal of the North to ad-
mit that existence, there is not much use in multi-
plying negotiators and negotiations. The real ob-
stacle,, as JEFFERSON DAVIS shows in his letter, is
not irr the absence of efficient agencies for conclud-
ing peace, but in the refusal of the North to enter-
tain any proposal from the South excepting unqua-
lified submission.

The Volunteer demonstration at Stamford the
other night was a very interesting one, and exhi-
bited great spirit in its style. It is long since so
animated an affair did honour to the cause, and
credit to those connected with it—the members of
the Stamford and Fifth Lincolnshire appearing in
their new uniforms. Lord BURGHLEY, who took the
chair, ably acquitted himself of his duties, and began
his remarks in a proper style, by observing that he
regretted a " so-called political necessity " had pre-
vented us from giving any assistance to the country-
men of the Princess of WALES, hence Austria and
Prussia had been allowed to commit " one of the
greatest political crimes of modern times." It is
quite refreshing to find anyone thus discoursing so
sensibly and properly upon the iniquitous occur-
rences of last year. Lord R. CECIL'S speech was
very warmly applauded, and the noble lord did
ample justice to his theme, evidently entering into
the spirit of it con amore, and believing in the vast
importance and great significance of the Volunteer
movement in principle and practice. The noble
lord very truly observed, that if by any unlucky
chance the Volunteer movement came to an end,
the influence would be felt in every Court of Europe,
and it would exercise a great effect upon every Eu-
ropean transaction. This is strictly correct, and
no one who is any judge of such matters will gain-
say it for a moment. It is almost incalculable to
estimate the good service which this institution has
rendered to the country, and lasting honour belongs
to those who organised it, and those who
carried it by skill and devotion to so great
a point of success. The noble lord concluded
his interesting speech by observing that, if he had
ever had cause to be doubtful of the foreign policy
of the land, such a meeting as that would reassure
him. He would feel that the honour of the country
" was not in the hands of Ministers who might
falter, or a Parliament who might be influenced, but
in the hands of the people. There is every reason
to trust that the conviction that the noble lord had
expressed concerning the spirit of the country being
as true as ever is a sound one, and that future ge-
nerations will receive it in trust to hand down to
their remote posterity. Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE'S
observations were also well timed, and admirably
adapted to the scene before him and the character
of the assembly which he addressed. The right
hon. baronet very honestly put the case of the ad-
vantages of the Volunteer movement, by saying
that, in times of emergency, there might be many
young men found to defend their country, but they
could be of comparatively little use without orga-
nisation. This must strike all who hear it with its
sense and reason, for the greatest zeal and enthu-
siasm will not meet the advances of regular, disci-
plined troops, without the requisite concomitants of
practice and order. It is in their steady adherence
to the tiresome and continuous drilling that the real
merit of the Volunteers consists. Many may rush
wildly into a scheme, but often get dismayed and
disheartened at the labour requisite to carry
it to a successful conclusion. No reproaches
of this sort can be cast upon the 'Vo-
lunteers, for they have toiled on through
good and evil days, and endured many annoyances
before they reached their present proud position, an
acknowledged portion of the defences of the country
that their own people look upon them with gratitude,
and other nations with the respect that springs from
fear. it is very satisfactory to meet with so enthu-
siastic a demonstration as that which took place in
Stamford, and it is doubly interesting in consequence
of the genuine feeling which accompanied its
character and the excellent discourses that were
delivered there.