The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-21 00:00:00

PRICK .... ...4d.
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with Mr Campbell that the captains of the smaller
vessels should not be left out.

Alderman SALOMONS seconded the resolution,
which was carried unanimously. -
The CHAIRMAN returned thanks, and
_the pro-
ceedings terminated.

BNOLAIVD AND AMERICA.

Let those who believe that man has the power to
shape for himself his own destiny, and that what
we will firmly we may generally, by patience and
perseverance, bring to good effect, consider care-
fully the relations which have existed for the last
fifty years between Great Britain and her revolted
American colonies. When the peace was signed
which put a close to the war of independence,
glorious, as was believed, for the Colonies, and
disastrous, as was believed,for the mother country,
George 111. announced to the American Minister,
with much dignity and good sense, that as he, had
been the last to recognise the independence of the
Colonies, so he would also be the last to interfere
with it when established. This undertaking has
been loyally observed by the Government of Great
Britain up to the present day. There is no trace
of any attempt to avail ourselves of the weakness
into which the first Confederation fell till replaced
by the present, or rather late form of Government,
in order to recover the large possessions we had
lost. We made peace in 1815, just as the war
was beginning to lest to the very utmost the sta-
bility of the Union, only too happy to escape from
a conflict which had been wantonly forced upon
us, in -order to grntify ppifitr-44
mosity, after the orders in Council in which the
quarrel originated had been withdrawn. From
that time forth we had but one wish with regard
to America,—the wish to live in peace and amity
with the descendants of our former Colonies.
That purpose we have succeeded in accomplishing
lip to the present moment; and at last we have
been forced, in the purest spirit of self-defence, to
take a step which leaves the issue of peace and war
entirely in the power of the Union. Like Lord
Clive, when he remembered the temptations of his
Indian career, we are absolutely astonished at our
own moderation. How the fiery and indomitable
race which has so often poured out its blood on
every sea and every shore for the slightest causes
can be so changed as to bear what we have recently
borne is indeed a marvel, and ought to redeem the
modern Englishman in the eyes of Mr. Cobden and
Mr. Bright from some of those charges of a quarrel-
some and bloodthirsty disposition which he is re-
peatedly obliged to endure.

First, there was the Canadian rebellion of 1837
The movement was of the very slightest nature, and
nothing could be more trifling than the resistance
offered before the mutineers disbanded, never to
meet again, and sought refuge in the American ter-
ritory. The American authorities refused to give
up Mackenzie and his associates on our demand, on
the ground that, although they had beela guilty of
robbery and murder, their offences were merely po-
litical. At the same time the Government of the
State of New York threw open its arsenals to a
portion of its own population calling themselves
"sympathisers," in order that the arms which they
contained might be used for the invasion and, if
possible, for the subjugation of a friendly Govern-
ment. For this outrage, deliberately planned and
openly committed, no reparation was ever made.
The Government disowned the acts of the State of
New York, and the State of New York disclaimed
all responsibility for the proceedings of its own mob,
so that the English territory was invaded by men
armed through the connivance of the State and the
authority of its Government, and yet nobody ac-
cepted any responsibility for their acts.
The Ashburton Treaty displayed the same sys-
tem of overbearing violence on the one side, the
same conciliatory and pacific demeanour on the
other. Infinite was the abuse poured on our de-
voted heads, and violent the encroachments on the
territory which was at that very moment the object
of dispute. Once more we bowed in meek humility
to the tempest, and, instead of standing on rights
which it was only too easy to support by unan-
swerable argument, we selected from ourselves a
nobleman well known for his American connexions
and feelings, and sure, if it were possible, to avert
a coming quarrel by the most ample and unreserved
concessions. Our envoy justified the confidence we
reposed in him. The case of America was much
assisted by the intentional suppression, on the part
of "the Godlike" Webster, of certain maps which
appeared to give us the victory by proving the
truth and justice of our demand. We gave them the
things that we never took; we surrendered, for the
sake of peace, the territory in dispute; and, rather
than incur any risk, we threw in the upper part of
Lake Champlain and the commanding position of
Rouse's Point, not above forty miles distant from
the great city of Montreal. The parent bowed down
before her offspring, and endeavoured to conciliate
their unjust anger and their insatiable greedi-
ness. In Oregon we for a while stood on the
defensive, and threatened to maintain our rights by
the sword. But this position we soon saw fit to
abandon, and America once more triumphed
through our extraordinary desire for conciliation.
We were treated with much rudeness on the ques-
tion as to the fisheries of Nova Scotia, but the most
sensible wound to our self-love was reserved for a
question on which England thinks she can hardly
pour forth too much blood or incur too many sacri
fices. The so-called right of search for slaves had
been exercised for many years by England without
even the pretence of any serious abuse. But New
York became a favourite depot for this infamous
traffic, and the United States were suddenly seized
with the burning desire to protect the honour of
their flag from the visitation of English ships cf
war. That flag was notoriously prostituted to con-
ceal slave-trading operations by Brazilian and
Spanish vessels. But the United States insisted
that, whatever might be the guilt which that flag
concealed, that wickedness should be shrouded in
the most perfect impunity. They deemed it more
honourable that their flag should be a protection
for kidnapping and murder than that it should be
stopped on the high seas by Great Britain in pi-
suance of a mission of the most disinterested and
exalted pl!ilanthropy. The Law of Nations was
against us, and we had no choice but to yield, and
thus give another and more convincing proof of our
determination to abandon the most cherished
objects of our policy rather than give the United
States an opportunity to fasten a quarrel upon us.
Then came the affair of the enlistment. In the
very heat of the Crimean War our Minister had
what, considering the results it brought about, we
are bound to call the indiscretion, of seeking to
enlist in Canada a few recruits for our army, re-
duced to scanty numbers by cold and famine, from
among the German population of the United States.
That America does not estimate this crime as one of
very great magnitude is abundantly proved by her
own conduct in filling up her armies with the peo-
ple of every country, and seeming content to rely
for her defence on the population of any territory
except her own. It was the time of a keen Presi-
dential electron ; political capital was wanted, and
our Minister was ignominiously expelled for this
alleged offence; and now, for all these outrages and
insults, supported with such exemplary meekness
and tameness, what is our reward ? We are se-
lected as the objects of an insult so strange and so
groundless that all Europe, wont, as it is, to catch
greedily at anything which may seem to compro-
mise
our naval superiority, cries shame upon the
outrage, and agrees that it is one to which even we,
well used as we have been to every species of insult,
cannot possibly submit. It is not, perhaps, to be
wondered at, when we consider our former forbear-
ance, when we consider that at this moment we are
actually giving effect to a
paper
main-
tained by a contemptibly naval Power,
give the slightest excuse rather than
blockade,
for a quarrel, that those