The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-06 00:00:00

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LONDON, qUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1865.

The telegraphic summary of the intelligence
brought by the Europa conveys somewhat startling
news. A true bill of indictment for treason has
been found against JEFFERSON DAVIS, and he is to
be brought to trial as soon as the attendance of the
witnesses against him can be secured. The Con-
federate Secretary of War, the ex-Govemior of Vir-
ginia, and Judge CAMPBELL, who was one of the
Commissioners at Fort Monroe, have likewise been
arrested, and removed from their houses in Vir-
ginia to places of strict confinement. Rumour
goes further than fact, and both in Washington
and Richmond it is currently reported that Gene-
ral LEE has also been indicted for treason, and
Will shortly be placed under arrest. Such are the
chief leads of the intelligence, with the exception
of the contradiction of the rumoured death of
General KIRBY Slim, which few persons in this
country believed.

The Washington intelligence, if not wholly un-
expected, is certainly far from being reassuring.
The absurdity and inconsistency of indicting, as
an individual offender, a man who has for four
years ruled over an immense extent of country,
commanded vast armies, and conducted a
stupen-
dousover councils of
war—who has presided
ghout the
senates, and has been regarded thron
civilised world, if not officially, at least sub-
stantially as the head of a great nation, is so
manifest, that there is little hope of a wise con-
clusion to so rash and reckless a commencement.
It would be as rational to try a general-in-chief for
murder, and in no country could the charge of
treason be more absurd than in those States which
owe their very existence as a nation to the efforts
of similar traitors. The name of GEORGE WASH-
INGTON is honoured in the North, while that of
JEFFERSON DAVIS is denounced ? Where is tht
difference in act and intention? The one man may
be far inferior to the other in ability, in talent-
above all in success, but•
the design of both was to
resist the dominant authority, to establish a separate

section and a new system of Government. They
may not deserve equal rank as generals or as states-
men, and will not probably attain the same place in
history, but to achieve the independence of a
subordinate state has been the object of both, and
the treason, if treason there were, was identical.
Yet the very capital where JEFFERSON DAVIS is to
be dragged to his trial, and where he may possibly
be doomed to suffer a felon's death, bears witness to
the honour in which Americans hold the memory of
their first President of the Union, while their
language, copious as it is, will hardly supply them
with epithets enough to hurl at the first President
of what may yet develope into as great and powerful
a confederacy as the once United States. It is idle
to pretend that slavery is the question at issue.
Slavery existed in WASHINGTON'S days, but he and
his coadjutors were none the less patriots and heroes.
Slavery has existed North and South ever since the De-
claration of Independence, in spite of a strong party
of abolitionists, who year by year have propagated
their doctrines with great vigour. Neither England
nor America have scrupled to deal with slaveholders,
to bargain for goods obtained through the agency
of slave labour, to admit slaveholders and planters
to the foremost ranks of society. We say nothing
against the sincerity of the anti-slavery advocates,
but they must surely admit that it is somewhat in-
consistent to award the severest punishment of
felons to a..crime which, for a good many years, has
been tolerated as a political institution. Is JEF-
FERSON DAVIS to be condemned as a slaveholder ?
because, if so, a good many of the most cherished
heroes of the North obtained their reputation un-
justly. Is he to be found guilty of resistance to
lawful authority ? —because, if so, every man who
signed the Declaration of Independence was a
traitor. Who is to fix the limit to rebellion if power
rests, according to the American doctrine, in the
hands of the people ? Where is the limit to be
drawn between a traitor and a patriot ? One might
naturally suppose that when a party is numbered
by millions, and occupies a vast tract of land, larger
than several European kingdoms combined, it had
reached that point where the barrier was passed,
where rebellion became patriotism, and treason in-
dependence. We suspect, however, that to the
American mind, at least, there will always be one
element wanting—the magic chance that converts
failure into success.

Still in New York and Washington itself there
must be many men of sound and moderate views who
object to treating DAVIS as a criminal offender.
They can turn back to the commencement of the
war, and read the sentiments of some of their own
leaders, who have since changed their views and
their language. Southern independence was never
a sufficiently desperate cause to render its support
criminal, but there are indications of a desire to get
rid of all the prominent men of the Confederacy--
the men whose abilities, character, and position have
secured respect, which are sufficient to make the
real friends of America seriously uneasy. The
arrest of General LEE, if really determined upon,
would be a most unpardonable breach of the honour-
able etiquette of civilised war, and one which Gen.
GRANT would have a right to resent as a personal
affront. Let us hope that the influence of the
calmer and more foreseeing minds may serve to
modify the vindictiveness of the extreme party now
in power, and that the news of the feeling excited
in Europe by the proposed trial of DAVIS may not
be without its weight in Washington and New
York.

Meanwhile, the storm is not fully allayed, and the
elements of a fresh struggle are being called into
existence in the West. Texas, which from
its size, its natural health, and its geographical
position, has many individual advantages
over the Eastern States, seems inclined to
carry on the war, and to make another effort for
independence. General KIRBY Smrrir, whom, the
wish being father to the thought, the Yankees have
already killed two or three times, has a considerable
force, with a powerful auxiliary body of cavalry.
Indeed, if he were minded to mount every man in
his troop, he could do so without much trouble.
The fertility of Texas, and the good supply of
stores already within it. 4 boundaries, remove all
anxiety respecting the maintenance of the army ;
while the scarcity of waters renders the country
very uninviting to an invader, since the people
preserve most of their water for summer
use, and the shallowness of the rivers
is an insuperable barrier to the redoubtable gun-
boats. SHERIDAN is not likely to have an easy
task in extorting the submission of KIRBY SMITH,
who has been joined by the remains of HOOD'S
army, and who, if he once raises the standard, will
get plenty of now scattered allies. It is by no
means impossible that a new Western Confederacy,
beginning with Texas and Arkansas, may arise ;
and, if we remember that Texas alone is three times
the size of England, we shall not be inclined to
despise it. It remains to be seen whether or no the
war be finally concluded ; but one thing is certain,
if the South have lost their national independence,
the North have lost their political liberty.

The Prince of WALES yesterday inaugurated and
formally opened the central hall of the Royal Dra-
matic College. The ceremony was a very success-
ful one, and the fineness of the weather contributed
greatly to enhance the enjoyment of the day. Mr.
WEBSTER, as the Master, presented an address to
the Prince, which was a very appropriate one. It
commenced by alluding, as so many similar com-
munications have done, to the connexion which the
late Prince Consort had with this Institution. Five
years ago the lamented Prince laid the founda-
tion-stone of the building whose inauguration was
yesterday celebrated. The words which he then
uttered have been prophetic, and have given encou-
ragement to those who bad the arduous task of
completing the undertaking entrusted to them. His
Royal Highness observed that the Royal Dramatic
College " would confer a benefit upon the public
as well as upon the stage, by aiding a profession
from which the community at large derived
rational entertainment—in which popular amuse-
ment was combined with moral instruction and
intellectual culture." Mr. WEBSTER declared that
these words had urged them on, and that they had
taken care not to depart from the design which the
Prince approved of. The objects which this Col-
lege has had in view aro such as must receive the
sanction of the public, and attract the attention
and admiration of all who can appreciate their
importance and interest. Mr. WEBSTER recapi-
tulated these in his address, although by this
time they are pretty well known, and fully
approved of, as they are widely disseminated.
The three objects then which it is the endeavour of
this Institution to fulfil, are to form a retreat for
the aged and infirm members of the dramatic pro-
fession, schools for the purpose of educating the
children of actors and writers for the stage, and also
a central hall intended to embrace a library and
gallery for the collection of works of art and litera-
ture illustrative of the English drama. Fortunately,
the first of these objects is now accomplished ; for
the second, funds are accumulating ; and for the
third, which is the crown of the edifice, the Prince
of WALES yesterday dedicated to its uses. Mr.
WEBSTER spoke not only to suit the immediate pur-
pose in hand, but he also enunciated a truth when