The Sun.
London, England, 1838-02-02 00:00:00

Son 6 -7,-: hy Mr. Roebuck should he heard at the
bar .ot the Upper House; but if his object he,
inertly, to re-enact the scene of silly bravado.
whiea Ile ',vent through on the floor of the House
cf (2ommons, the hereditary Legislators of England
will sin against their own dignity, if they shall minis-
tee to Mr. Roebuck's very contemptible designs.
I lac Mr. Roebuck any new facts to urge, on behalf
of the Legislative Assembiy ? Has he devised any
new mode of arranging these facts, or of deducing new
inferences from them ? Undoubtedly, on the occasion
of his former exhibition, Mr. Roebuck's " facts" were
anty enough ; and his mode of handling them some-
mg of the weakest, in reference to the object for
hich he so modestly appeared at the bar of the House
Of Commons : yet even if his " facts" and his logical
.. igour had, in the interval, increased in any imaginable
ratio, still we should object to the conceission of the
erayer of his petition. Mr. Roebuck has other modes
of making known to the Membersof the I louse of Lords,
the facts and the reasonings, on which his Canadian
friends desire to rest their case ; while the Members of
the House of Lords, again, have duties to discharge,
which ought, as we think, to preclude them from
-granting what might wear too much the aspect of a
,' conference" between tire second estate of the British
realm, and the paid agent of rebels against the supre-
macy of Britain ! The whole anir is, however " got
up," with the view, if possible, of securing indul-
gence to Mr. Roebuck's vanity, and to Lord
Brougham's bitter hatred of his former colleagues !
Further effects, the proposed exhibition, if it shall be
allowed, will have none. Mr. Roebuck is a very
harmless animal—excepting to his friends—the
" dwarfed" Radicals of the Lower House. Mr. Roe-
buck failed, most fearfully, in his display before the
House of Commons. He will (if the opportunity
shall be permitted him) fail, even more ludicrously,
before the House of Lords. Vinegar will not do the
work of alcohol, Bad temper is but a poor substitute
for oratorical fire.—Morning Herald.
The intelligence from Upper Canada, which we
published yesterday in a second edition and repeat
to-day, possesses more than ordinary interest. A col-
lision has taken place between persons acting in the
name, though probably without the authority, of her
Britannic Majesty, and some of the subjects of the
United States, illegally employed in assisting the
Canadian rebels. A steam-boat, American pro-
perty, and manned by American citizens, was en-
gaged in communicating between the shore and
Navy Isiand, where Mackenzie has taken refuge.
She was openly seen transporting men, arms, and
ammunition, and persons engaged in providing cargoes
for her made no scruple of avowing what their
object was. It became necessary that a stop should
be put to this illegal proceeding. Most probably
the Government of the United States would have
interfered, if time had been given for official remon-
strance ; but the increasing force on Navy Island,
and the danger that the example of the steamer
would be followed by othors, rendered some steps
more prompt than official remonstrances necessary.
Several boats from the Canadian side of the Niagara,
filled with armed men, boarded the steamer, killed
several of her crew, and, after setting her on fire,
forced her down the stream in the direction of
the rapids. The circumstance has created a great
sensation throughout the United States, and all the
violent Democratic papers are loud in complaining
of the conduct of the British, and in calling on their
Government to make reprisals, It remains now to
be determined whether the President of the United
States will view this matter in the absurd manner
in which it has been taken up by the ultra papers, or
whether he will judge of it under its true circumstances,
and consider that, as the occupation of the steamer
was illegal, she deserved her fate. We have no doubt
that the matter will be amicably arranged. The
United States have too great an interest in maintain-
ing their present relations with Great Britain to for-
feit them, with a corresponding benefit. A few specu-
lators may engage in the Canadian contest for their
own purposes—to make a few dollars—the usual object
of an American's ambition : but the Union at large will
repudiate such conduct, and the Government will
adopt a conciliatory course. This good result will pro-
bably be advanced by the capture of Navy Island,
which the Albany Herald of the 6th of January
says has already taken place. With the destruction
of that station the revolt in Upper Canada may he
considered to be at an end, and with the demolition of
the hopes of the insurgents, the causes that might
have led to an uneasy feeling between Great Britain
and the United States will cease. One of the York
papers says that an explanation has already been given
by the British Minister at Washington, and accepted
by the President. But even if that statement should
not be correct, we have no doubt that a similar re-
sult will be soon obtained. A marked distinction
must be observed between the acts of the Government
of the United States and the conduct of many of its
citizens. The one will preserve a strict neutrality, while
the others will embark in the most reckless specula-
tion. It is against the latter, and not the Government,
that tire recriminations of Sir F. Head, in his message
to the Legislature of Upper Canada, are directed.
He dwells too much at length on that unpleasant
topic, without explaining with adequate precision the
distinction between the State and private individuals.
Many persons who read the document will imagioe
at the first blush that we had been proclaimed by
the American Government, whereas its sentence is
directed agaiiiet the illegal conduct of those
speculators who would sell their country's honour
for a few cents, and who are glad to gratify in
so profitable a manner their hereditary animosity
;against England. Indeed we fear that Sir
Francis Head has dwelt too long on fhis topic,
and we regret to find a sensible man like him
speak of resisting invasion as if there was any
chance that the British territory would be insulted
by American marauders. The last passage of his
address is, however, a palliative to the foregoing,
and we are glade() find him admitting that the Ame-
rican nation is ready to vindicate the honour of its
Government. The address of Sir Francis Head is too
long to be introduced into this notice, but we call the
attention of our readers to it—particularly to time°
parts of it which relate to the conduct of the American
people. We beg leave, at the same time, to direct the
notice of our friends to the extracts from the American
papers or. the Canadian struggle. If we are to be-
lieve a strongly•written article in a journal of inferior
reputation, the New York Herald, we are on the eve
of a determined contest with the United States, but,
happile, the antidote is given with the poison, as we
rind in tire New York Enquirer sentiments of a diffe-
rent character, which show what the true feeling of
1 the respectable Americans ie.—Morning Post.