The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-28 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE, DECEMBER 28, 1861,
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
36 —l% ighest since noon yesterday.
32—lowest this morning and during the night.
36 —this day at noon.

BAROMETER-30.54; falling.
WIND Easterly ; rather fresh, with fine sunshiny
weather, but cold.

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THE SUN.
LONDON, SATURDAY, DEC. 28, 1861.

Most persons smiled when they heard that
the United States' Government, after the twelfth
hour, proposed to accede to the treaty of Paris,
and to abolish privateering. It seemed very doubt-
ful whether the secession of the Confederate States
had brought any accession of humanity to the old
Government. Still it was not very clear, just at

first, what was the object of the move. It was
always represented that the South had not the
means to fit out privateers, and it was not thought
likely that any of the States of Europe would per-
mit them to be furnished from their harbours.

Generally, we supposed that as the North was the
greater trader, and alone had a navy, the South
had no maritime resource but privateering, and
would do its best to avail itself of it. Hence the
North, for the present gain of getting rid of the
Southern privateers, was willing to give up, itself,
the use of them for the future.

This supposition, ungenerous as it appeared, is
however correct to the letter ; from the correspon-
dence now published between Lord JOHN RUSSELL
and Mr. SEWARD, the cunning and meanness of the
American Government is self-evident, Indeed,
with that hardness peculiar to Yankeedom, there
appears scarcely any wish to conceal the true cha-
racter of the transaction, when it began to be seen

through. Mr. SEWARD says almost openly, "We
now desire to adhere to the Paris treaty; but we
do so from no conviction of the barbarism of the
practice of privateering, but because if the powers
of Europe accept our adhesion, they will be bound
to hang all Southern privateers wherever they may
meet them; and we, moreover, shall be backed up
by their respectable authority in doing the same."
The fact is that the negotiations went on swim-
mingly till it came to this point, and then they fell
through. Lord JOHN wished the American Govern-
ment to sign the treaty just as all other honest
Governments had done. Oh, said Mr. SEWARD,
it is a point of form; our foreign transactions are
conducted under the approval of the Senate, and a
convention will be the easiest form for that body to
take cognisance of the business. Anything to
please you to that extent, says Lord JOHN, and the
convention was drafted; it was, however, so drafted
as to enable the Federals to claim of Great Bri-
tain that she should treat the Southern privateers
as pirates, but here Lord JOHN demurred.
Seeing the drift of the convention, he
proposed to sign it on the part cf the Queen with
this declaration,—" In affixing his signature to the
convention of this day, between her Majesty the
Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and the United
States of America, the Earl RUSSELL declares, by
order of her Majesty, that her Majesty does not
intend to undertake any engagement which shall
have any bearing, direct or indirect, on the internal
differences now prevailing in the United States."

Mr. SEWARD at once calls off—he had no thought
of humane considerations, not he; in abolishing pri-
vateering, he wanted merely to use abolition of
this barbarous practice as the means of
putting down Southern privateering against
Now England had recognised
the
ee
Sl\Touotrhth. as a belligerent, to the great annoyance
no doubt of Mr. SEWARD, but in so doing we
had treated the South as
warlike ur poses, 'a
temporarily, and for
p
independent
whole
power.fl‘olur .
SEWARD wanted us to regard the
States as still a political unit ; the con
qyuencr
ee
being that the acts of the Northern Governments
would be binding on the South. Hence the North
e
would be able to declare privateering Piracy forthe
Confederates as well as for itself! To this, ofcourse,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL refused to accede. We deny
that the two great hostile confederations are still a
unit. They are to us separated de facto ; they are
hostile ; they are belligerents. The North cannot
now be allowed to take advantage of the Paris
treaty which it refused at the time, as a weapon
against the South which then shared with it in its