The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-14 00:00:00

Mr. WILLIAM SMITH O'BBIEN is at it again.

this time in the congenial land where stump ora-
tory is an art and Bunkum an institution. A recep-
tion of a very enthusiastic character is accorded to
the poor gentleman in New York. The ex-Tribune
of the Young Irelanders, in replying to the address
of welcome proffered to him by his admirers, be-
comes so earnest in his acknowledgments, that his
eloquence lapses very speedily into positive inco-
herence. Repudiating, in the first place, the notion
that his object in coming to the United States was
that of calling forth any demonstration (cheers),
apart from any matter personal to himself (ap-
plause)--[what the meaning of the observation, or
what the significance of the approbation, it would
be difficult enough to conjecture]—SMlTH O'BRIEN
uttered these remarkable words, "At the same time

I do not profess to be indifferent to the great feel-
ing evinced by my fellow-countrymen, and it will
be pleasing to me, most infinitely, to make myself
familiar, in this informal manner, to all those who
may desire to make acquaintance with me." (Great
cheering.) This is surely the very thing our cousins
across the Atlantic are in the habit of calling, in
rhetoric, " piling it up mountainously"—this assur-
ance of most infinite pleasure is in the prospect of
the anticipated fraternization. But the Irish dema-
gogue's mood varies wonderfully with the progress
of his remarks—witness his pathetic comment
upon the emotions produced by his rencontre with
Mr. MEAGHER. "It is with great pain, I confess,"
he says, "that I feel the shaking of Mr. MEAGHER'S
hand again [as though in allusion to a relapse of

palsy], after an absence of several years—(applause)
—because I am not in the same position I then
occupied—(loud cheers)—[as, though in ill-con-
sidered exultation over the orator's downfall], in
his and my own country, where he leaves those he
loved behind, notwithstanding that the one impulse
of himself is to return to them (tremendous cheer-
ing)." Certainly this is applauding to the very
echo, and rather indiscriminately. Referring at
another time to the multitude of Irish compatriots,
found by him, scattered over the United'
States, the wandering demagogue has a word
of warning for the British Government, a word of
warning greeted, the American press informs us,
with tremendous cheering, solemnly addressed by
Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN to the powers that be in this
country. " I cannot but conceive," saith he, " the
policy which has driven such noble hearts from
their native land as a policy which the British
Government may some day have occasion greatly
to deplore." As to the royal dreams still cherished
in the heart of the descendant of the Kings, listen
to the knightly and princely reminiscences indulged
in by Mr. WILLIAM SMITH O'BRIEN ! "I cannot,"
says that gentleman, " I cannot see my fellow-

countrymen now before me in arms without recall.

ing to mind the expression uttered by one of the
Sovereigns of Europe after the battle of Fontenoy,
How much do I curse those laws which have
deprived me of such subjects !' " So that it is suffi-
ciently apparent what was in store for Ireland
as the royal sequa of the democratic demonstra-
tion in the historic cabbage garden. And for this,
MITCHELL of the pike- and IVIEAGHER of the sword
were acting right valiantly ten years ago as W. s:
O'BRIEN'S trusty lieutenants !

A satisfactory and definitive arrangement of the
long-disputed rights of fishing off the coast of New-
foundland may at length be confidently anticipated.
According to the explanations given
by the
Colonial Secretary on Thursday evening in the
House of Commons, in answer to Lord Bunr, a
mixed commission of inquiry will in May next
commence an investigation of the facts on the spot,
with a view to the final settlement for once and for
all of this fruitful source of anxiety as well to the
British as to the French Government. It is the
first serious endeavour yet adventured upon by
those allied Governments to bring the dis-
pute to an end, and thus to prevent the
periodical recurrence of differences productive
of mutual ill-will, of poignant heartburnings and
grievous irritation. The convention of 1856 was
simply a compromise, It was the postponement

yet further of that ultimate decision which has been
in course of negotiation now during no less than
thirty years past. Latterly the delay in arriving
at that decision was certainly here in no respect
matter for any reasonable surprise—when, for
example, it is borne in mind that the seals of the
Colonial-office have changed hands so frequently
that, as Sir BULWER LYTTON reminded the house
on Thursday night, in a single year there were
actually no less than eight Secretaries of State in
succession at the head of that one unfortunate de-
partment. A sequence of chiefs so rapid that,
supposing any traditional policy at all to be main-
tained at the Colonial-office, its integrity would be
rendered, alas! then sufficiently precarious. Happily
during the better part of this last twelvemonth a
man of genius and of energy, a man of original
thought and of resolute determination, has re-
mained in power as the ruler of our Colonial Em-
pire. And though assiduous in his efforts to further
the interests of the realm elsewhere—to solve the
lonian problem--to facilitate the intercourse with
our antipodes in Australasia—to create a new and
magnificent colony in British Columbia—Sir BUL-
WER LYTTON has no less strenuously essayed to
unravel the gordian knot of the Anglo-French
difficulty in connection with the fisheries off the
coast of Newfoundland. That knot, let us hope,
will now in a very few months be at length dexter-
ously severed by the mixed commission of inquiry
which in May next is to commence its investiga-
tions.

The suppression of the Sepoy Rebellion, we all
know, is now very nearly accomplished. The
province of Oude—indeed the central point from
which all that disastrous movement radiated—has
been distinctly pronounced by Lord CLYDE, in his
latest despatch, to be " free from every vestige of
rebellion." The comparatively few insurgents still
in arms. are in arms only beyond the frontiers.
There, just beyond the borders of Nepaul, were some
twelve thousand adherents still faithful to the fugitive
cause of the insurrection, huddled together under
the triple banners of the BEGUM, the NANA SAHIB,
and BENI MADHO. Against this forlorn hope of
the revolt were marshalling, according to the latest
advices, on the one hand the terrors of penury—on
the other the Ghoorkahs under JUNG BAHADOOR.
As to the Ghoorkah army, that formidable array had
been enhanced before the commencement of hostili-
ties by a timely junction with it of the British forces
under Brigadier HOILSFORD, who, according to our
latest advices from what might still be termed the seat
of war, had, in obedience to instructions from head-
quarters, crossed the Raptee, for the purpose of
joining the native troops under JUNG BAHADOOR.

As to the threatened financial embarrassments
gathering about the insurgent followers of the
BEGUM, the NANA, and BENI MADHO--those perils
of the purse were sufficiently obvious even prior to
the retreat hastily effected by the rebels beyond
the borders of the Nepaulese territory. Both the
NANA and the BEGUM have long been notoriously
impoverished; while but very recently the treasures
of BENI MADHo were opportunely discovered hid
away, most insecurely, as it appeared, among the
ruins of Doondeakheera. An army at bay with
exhausted coffers, in the presence of one triumphant,
with unlimited resources—hardly requires that a
blow should be struck, or a shot fired. Time, it
was felt, was of itself sufficient to scatter to the
winds the last lawless remnant of the revolted
army of Bengal. One by one the insurgents col-
lected together, at no great distance from Bankee,
in Nepaul, must, as a matter of necessity, drop off
in complete dejection, if not in absolute despair, to
sneak homewards under cover of the Terai jungles.
Yet, to precipitate this inevitable disruption, JUNG
BAHADOOR was eager to con duct his Ghoorkahs over
the boundaries of Nepaul, especially if aided in that
enterprise by any of the royal forces asked for by him
to march to his assistance. These, as we have seen,
were no sooner asked than they were granted by
the Commander-in-Chief. HORSFORD'S brigade
had crossed the Raptecwrwould soon be united with
the Ghoorkah army under JUNG BAHADOOR—and
would thereupon hasten forward in the direction of
Bankee; for the purpose of scattering forthwith the
weakened, dispirited, end almost penniless insur-
gents still owning obedience to the lawless chiefs
the NANA SAHIB and BENI MADHO. Our next
despatches from the line of demarcation between
Oude and Nepaul will probably bring news of the
final route of the rebels ; and let us hope, too,
with those tidings, intelligence at last of the cap-
ture of the monster of Bithoor.,--that abhorred and
pitiless leader of the Bengal Revolt, whose chief
infamy was won as the author of the Cawnpore
Massacre.