The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-29 00:00:00

of being lawful' y stopped, ransacked, rifled, and
perhaps made p rize of war ? It is certain, after
wnat has happeined, that this point will be investi-
gated with a fellness of anxiety and minuteness of
research extremely likely to correct any hasty im-
pressions whi eh may be formed with regard to it
by unlearned persons. But, uhatever may be the
result of this inquiry, the law officers of the Crown,
though they should say without contradiction that
the proceed:mg which we have narrated is strictly
according to laws will have extreme difficulty in
inducing the English people to acquiesce in it. In
the, first place, the practical annoyance of the thing
is intolerable. If the belligerents stand, as we pro-
fe on an equal footing as to claim on our assist-
ance, there is clearly nothing to prevent the Sumter,
the Nashville, or some other Confederate ship of
war, from stopping and overhauling ttie Cunard
steamers on every inward or outward voyage, inas-
much as it may always be assumed that couriers, or
more important officials, are on their way by that
line to or from the Government of Washington.
But again, by what Government is it that the right
of search, supposing it to be capable of extension to
these unprecedented instances, is so rigorously
upheld ? By that Power which has always refused
to admit it, even in cases allowed by the practice
of all civilised nations; that Government which
went to war with us in 1812 rather than recognise
in us the slightest title to inquire for deserters
from the British navy who had taken refuge on
board their ships ; and that people who tumultu-
ously approved the conduct of ono of their naval
officers who, in 1850, resisted, by open force, the
attempt of an Austrian frigate to get possession of
a Hungarian who had placed himself under the
American flag in the harbour of Smyrna. We can-
not misunderstand the meaning of such provocation
as we now receive from a country thus committed
to the widest interpretation of the rights of neu-
trality. Whatever may be the immediate result to
which it is designed to lead, it is deliberately irri-
tating and insulting. Such experiments are very
dangerous. They touch us on two points on which
we are particulary sensitive—our freedom of action
on the seas, and our reputation for political hospi-
tality. These feelings are so perilous to meddle
with that the United States cannot be too strongly
warned against abusing the occasional licence for
impertinence conferred on them by their present
weakness and distress.

(Fronz Mo Birmingham Daily Post.)

Hitherto American vapourings as to the getting-up
of a war with England,or with some other European
Power, as a wholesome remedy for disunion, have
been held as mere ravings, or as empty threats em-
ployed to gain a week's popularity. A New York
mob was agreeably titillated by the idea of " lick-
ing the Britishers " without being called upon
for the men and money necessary for that some-
what hazardous attempt. We certainly never cre-
dited Messrs. Lincoln and Seward with such a de-
plorable amount of audacious folly as to suppose
that they would sanction or command an outrage
on the high seas upon a British mail steamer, car-
rying, though not actually commanded by, a cap-
tain of the navy holding a responsible position on
board, and sailing from a neutral port—an out-
rage which any nation would be justified in con-
sidering as a casus belli, if not tantamount to a
declaration of war. Yet this is precisely what has
been done, not ou the spur of the moment by some
vehement Yankee captain, ignorant of the com-
monest rudiments of the law of nations—not in
some out-of-the-way creek or bay on the Southern
coast, but advisedly and deliberately; and, to make
matters worse, as far as we can learn at present,
the indignity was offered to the British flag in our
own waters.

It remains to be seen how this will be endured
by the British Government. A strong pressure
will be brought to bear, for F.nelishmen can Dot
up wtt❑ muster, but not with blows. A meeting
was at onto called in Liverpool, and perhaps
to-morrow will witness many more, insisting tbet
Government should at once take the matter up and
vindicate the insulted dignity of England. This can
only be done by the dismissal of the aggressor and
the liberation of the prisoners ; and we doubt
whether the popular frenzy will allow Mr. Seward
to do so, even were he inclined. A challenge has
therefore been deliberately thrown down to this
country, and if it should come to an issue the con-
flict will be remembered when the United States
are but a tradition of the past.