The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-10 00:00:00

had also examined the law on that matter, and
such information on the subject as he had acquired
he would at once convey to the jury. His lordship
then referred at great length to the authorities on
the points, and concluded a charge remarkable for
learning and research with an assurance that the
jury would view the whole of the matter in that
spirit of justice which had rendered the name of
England great and glorious throughout the civilised
world.

The jury then retired to consider the evidence
offered by the prosecution.

Cession of Russian America.

It appears by telegrams from IVashington and
St. Petersburg that the Governments of the United
States and Russia have agreed to the terms on which
the E3IPEROR will cede the Russian dominions in
America to the Unite 1 States. So far as the Go-
vernments go the matter is determined ; but the
PRESIDENT of the United States cannot conclude a
treaty unless sanctioned by two-thirds of the
Senate, assembled in their Chamber. An extra
session of that body was called, and the matter sub-
mitted to it. It was reported from New York on
the Ist April that the temper of the House appeared
to be unfavourable, and that the terms would be
fully debated before action was taken. The sum
fixed by the treaty, which resolves itself into a
simple purchase, is seven millions (dollars). We
presume, therefore, as the question is one of money
that it must also be discussed in the House of Re-
presentatives. The cession of this territory created
a feeling of surprise and alarm among British diplo-
matists, and threw the Embassy at Washington into
a state of consternation. Yet it was known that the
American and Russian Governments have long been
in negotiation on this subject ; indeed, before
British Columbia was a colony and California
a State. People imbued with the MONROE doctrine
would naturally wish to conclude such a bargain
irrespective of the value of the territory purchased.
Russia is a despotism; and a despotic Government
with a footing on North American soil is not an
agreeable idea to the American mind. It is pro-
bable, therefore, that the proposed cession will find
many supporters in the Union who may be fully
impressed with the worthlessness of the land ceded.
Up to the year 1863 this territory was leased to a
company of fur-traders, called the Russian-Ameri-
can Company. The gradual extinction of the fur-
bearing animals has deprived the tract almost of its
only value. The capital Sitka, or New Archangel,
is situated on a fine harbour of the largest island
of George lll.'s archipelago. It contains 1,590
inhabitants, among whom reside the governor and
the chief officers of the fur company. There are
about a thousand Russians in this land, some
Esquimaux dwell in the extreme north, and a few
nomadic tribes of Indians wander over the sterile
wastes. The harbour of Sitka is well placed for a
naval station, and is a commanding outlet for the
Japan trade and with the eastern countries of
Asia. This wild and ice-bound territory is thus
described by MALTE BRUN :—" Above a range of
hills, covered with pines and birch, rise naked moun-
tains crowned with enormous masses of ice, which
often detach themselves, and roll down with a
dreadful noise into the valleys below, which they
entirely fill up, or into the rivers and bays, where,
remaining without melting, they rise in banks of
crystal. When such a mass falls the crashing
forests are torn up by the roots and scattered to a
distance, the echoes resound along the shores with
the noise of thunder, the sea rises up in foam, ships
experience a violent concussion, and the affrighted
navigator witnesses, almost in the middle of thesea,
a renewal of those terrific scenes which sometimes
spread such devastation in Alpine regions. Between
the foot of these mountains and the sea there ex-
tends a strip of low land, the soil of which is
almost everywhere a black and marshy earth. This
ground is only calculated for producing coarse,
though nutritious, grass and small plants. Some of
the marshes hanging on the side of the hills retain
the water like a sponge, while their verdure makes
them appear like solid ground ; but in attempting
to pass over them the traveller sinks up to the knees.
Nevertheless the pine tree acquired a great size
upon the gloomy roAs. Next to the fir the ino4t_,
common spcies is the alder. In many places
nothing is to be seen but dwarf trees and shrahs.
Upon no coast with which we are acquainted have
there been remarked such rapid encroachments of
the sea upon the land. The trunks of trees that
have been cut down by European navigators have
been found and recognised after a lapse of ten
years. These trunks are found sunk in the
water with the earth which supported them."
Every fresh accession of territory to a great power
is regarded with extreme jealousy ; and England,
which has absorbed more than any other, is not free
from this feeling. The country cannot have been
of any value to Russia. It may be of some use to
the United States, if not materially, at least morally.
She has a right in this legitimate manner to fulfil
her " manifest destiny" if Congress considers the
land worth the price. There appears to be a dispute
between Great Britain, and Russia regarding the
boundary, and this is the only question of any real
importance to England. It would be gratifying to
us to see the whole of North America, from the Rio
Grande and the Gulf of Mexico up to the North
Pole, come into the possession of the Anglo-Saxon
race ; and we believe that the sooner all this conti-
nent falls into the hands of the branch that can
make the best use of it the better it will be for all
parties. People begin now to discover that a large
portion of British Columbia is shut out from the
Pacific seaboard, as if the proposed cession in any
way altered the boundaries of the colony. What
British Columbia was before British Columbia will
remain, with the only difference that a more active
and energetic race will be the owners.

On the subject of this cession the Russian organ, Le
IVord, says : The Transatlantic telegram announcing
the meeting of the United States Senate in order
to receive communications of a treaty for the cession
of Russian America contains nothing which ought
to surprise us. The cession, if we are not mis-
taken, is the consequence of negotiations dating
back several months. It is easy to see the mutual
advantages that Russia and the United States must
derive from such a transaction. These American
countries, hitherto all but unproductive to Russia,
owing to their distance from the centre of an empire
already so vast will be more easily vivified by
Yankee expansion ; and the current of colonisation
and commerce whicl) will ultimately be established
between the Asiatic and American seaboard of
the Pacific will powerfully aid the prosperity of
Eastern Siberia and the basin of the Amoor."—
Anglo-American Times.