The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-31 00:00:00

THE MONROE DOCTRINE.-MR. CAN-
NING.-THE " EDINBURGH REVIEW."

The following correspondence between Mr. A.
G. Stapleton, secretary to •George Canning, the
most distinguished statesman of the present cen-
tury, and the editor of the Edinburgh lievietv, has
been forwarded to us for publication.

_
No: I.
TO THE EDITOR 07 THE EDINBURGH REVIEW.
Kensington, Nov. 20, 1856.
Sir,—ln the October number (1856) of your Re-
view t here appears, in page 590, the following pas-
sage :—Mr. Buchanan " is one of the strenuous
supporters of that famous Munroe' doctrine,
which having been originally suggested by Mr.
Canning, as a bulwark against the interference 44
the Holy Alliance in American affairs, has been
concocted into a menace against all the Poweis
whose territories fringe the States of the American
Union."

Now, so far from its being true that this doctrine
was " originally suggested by Mr. Canning," lie
twice publicly entered his protest against it. First
—in Parliament, at the opening of the session of
1821, when President Monroe's Message, in which
it was first propounded, was much eulogised by
Mr. Brougham, Mr. Canning thought it necessary
to declare that "he was clearly of opinion, with
the President of the United States, that no foreign
State had a right to interfere between the colonies
and the mother country ; but he was as strongly
of opinion that the mother country had a right to
attempt to recover her colonies if she thought pro-
per."—llansard, vol. 140, Feb. 3, 1824.
Second : in 1827, when, in the negotiations with
the United States for the continuance of a certain
convention, the American Plenipotentiary reas-
serted the " Monroe doctrine," viz., that no part
of the American continent was henceforth to be
open to colonisation from Europe, the British Ple-
nipotentiaries, acting under Mr. Canning's instruc-
tions, not only utterly denied the truth and justice
of this doctrine, but took care to record their denial
in the protocol of the same conference i►► which the
principle had been insisted on by the United States.
The characters of departed statesmen belong to
their country. I trust, therefore, to your sense of
justice and fairness to correct in your next number
a misrepresentation which, however inadvertent
on the part of the writer, is calculated to injure
Mr. Canning's memory.—l am, sir, your obedt.
servant,

A. G. STAPLETON,
Formerly Private Secretary to Mr. Canning.

No. 11.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE EDINBURGH REVIEW.
Kensington, Jan. 23, 1857.
Sir,—l find, with much regret, that in the num-
ber of your Review, just published, you 'have not
corrected the error which I pointed out to you in
your Oct. number, in which you stated that " the
famous" Monroe "doctrine was originallysuggested
by Mr. Canning." Had I called upon you to con-
tradict this unfounded assertion merely on my own
authority, you might perhaps have been at liberty to
leave unnoticed my contradiction ; but when I
designated to you two several public occasions on
which Mr. Canning protested against this very
doctrine, which you assert that he " suggested,'
and when I referred you to existing documents for
proof, I think it must appear to every fair-judging
man that you were not at liberty to disregard such
a communication.
I must, therefore, beg the favour of you to in-
form me whether your sense of justice will induce
you to take any, and what step, for correcting this
mischievous error, which you have so extensively
circulated.
Nothing but the strongest sense of duty to the
memory of a departed statesman (to whom I was
bound by the ties of gratitude and affection) would
have impelled me, at the moment when I addressed
you, to make to you on the subject any remon-
strance. I still feel bound to make every effort
'in my power to do away with the effects of this
erroneous assertion—an assertion not less in-
jurious to the fair fame of Mr. Canning
than to the best interests of this country. For it
would, of course, go far to justify the Presidents
of the United States in putting forth, and main-
taining by acts, this doctrine, alike offensive to the
honour and incompatible with the rights of Great
Britain, could they succeed, through your means,
in fastening its " original suggestion" on one of
the most distinguished of British statesmen.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
A. G. STAPLETON.
; Henry Reeves, Esq., Council Office.

No. ILI.
62, Rutland-gate, JaR. 24, 1857.
The Editor of the Edinburgh, Review presents his
compliments to Mr. Stapleton, and regrets that
some delay has occurred in answering his former
communication, owing to the absence from Eng-
land of the writer of the article in question.
Nothing can be farther from the intentions of
the Editor than to give currency to any statement
which may be historically inaccurate, or unjust to
the memory of Mr. Canning, but the passage to
which Mr. Stapleton has obligingly directed his
attention does not appear to him to require further
notice in the Edinburgh Review.

T.HE ROYAL COMMISSION ON SUPER-

ANNUATION.

' The Royal Commissioners have called upon each
department of the public service to furnish the
following returns :—A return of persons employed
on the Ist of January, 1855, the nature of their
appointments, their ages, and their salaries at the
above date. This return to include only such per-
sons as are liable to superannuation abatements,
or wt►ose exemptions from such abatements was
attributable solely to the fact of their having en-
tered the service before the sth of August, 1829.
A. return of persons who have left from other
causes than death or superannuation during the
last ten years ; the dates at which they respectively
entered the service, and the dates at which they
left it ; their salaries at the time of entering,
and the subsequent additions made thereto,
with the date of each addition. This re-
turn only to include such persons as were '
liable to superannuation abatements, or whose
exemption from such abatements was attribut-
able solely to the fact of their having entered
the service before August, 1829. A return of the
persons pensioned between the Ist of January, 1837,
and January, 1857, stating the dates of their en-
tering the service, the nature of their appoint-
ments, their salaries at the commencement, with
the amount and date of each rise, the date of
superannuation, and the amount of superannua-
tion allowance, and, if dead, the date of death.
This return to include only such persons as were
liable to superannuation abatements, or whose
, exemption from such abatements was solely attri-
butable lo the fact of their having entered the ser-
vice before the sth of August, 1829. A return of
all persons who were on the superannuation list on
the Ist of January, 1837, showing their ages at
that time and the date of death of such persons as
having been on that list have since died.—Civil
Service Gazette.