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

ENGLAND 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 end 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 es the war
was beginning to test 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 gratify a spirit-of popfilar- ani-
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quarrel originated had been withdrawn.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 been 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
ti 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 dianincri tl

same conciliatory and pacific demeanour on the
other. Infinite was the abuse poured on our de-
voted heads, and violent the encroachments on the
tcrritor3 which was at that very moment the object
or mspute. Once more we bow-cd in meek humility
to the tempest, and, inst::ad of standing on rights ,
which it W2S 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 mars 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
s7ke 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 sacn-
flees. 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 of
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 pur-
suance of a mission of the most disinterested and
exalted philanthropy. 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 election ; 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 es 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 c.grees that it is ono to which oven 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 Jung effect to a paper blockade, main-
tained by a contemptibly naval Power, rather than
give the slightest excuse for a quarrel, that thou

rwhom we thus earnestly seek to eL
lieve it impossible that this last of sL
should have an effect which all that we have suffered
before has failed to produce. But it is even so. We
lare convinced at last that there is little dignity or
wisdom in submitting any longer to treatment.
which, on the part of the United States, has become
habitual and traditional. Peace can never be pre-
served in this way. Such conduct, like all other
over-indulgence, only tends to make us contemptible
in the eyes of those on whom it is practised, and we
shall probably be driven to give the most terrible
proofs of our strength because we have hitherto
used it with a degree of moderation which has
caused America to doubt its existence.—Times.
- -
T.HB 0 CEA AT 111.11 t SERVICE.

---
SOUTHAMPTON, Friday.
The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steam-
, ship Indus, Captain J. Weeks, sailed hence to day
with the Mediterranean, Calcutta, China, Mauritius,
Australian, and New Zealand mails. Just as the
Indus was leaving a telegram was received at the
Admiralty-office to detain her for the arrival of a
tug from Portsmouth, with naval stores to be shipped
on board this vessel. Captain Patey, the Admiral
Superintendent, ordered her to proceed down the
river to meet the tug, so as to avoid unnecessary
delay. The tug was met off Calsbot Castle,
and she
went alongside the Indus, into which
some 4,000 blankets, and large quantities of flannel
and peajackets, were shipped, supposed to be for the
fleet ordered from the Mediterranean to the northern
coast of America, and the Indus proceeded on her
voyage immediately. The Indus takes out 73 first
and 25 second class passengers, among whom aro
Ensign Daly, for Gibraltar; Ensign Healy, Mr. J.
P. Clements, R.N., and Rev. H. Smytton, for Malta;
Rev. J. J. Harrison, for Ceylon ; Captain D. Scott,
Lieutenant-Colonel Temple, Dr. I. C. Barton, and
Captain and Mrs. Johnson, for Madras; Colonel and
Mrs. Scudamroe, Lieutenant Woodcock, Captain
Fortescue, Lieutenant E. G. Clark, Colonel H. F.
Dunsford, Surgeon Hardinge, ft.-ff-Surgeon Laing,
Captain Knatchbull, Ensign Creagb, and Rev. G.
C. Reynell, for Calcutta ; Commander J. Moresby,
R.N., :and Dr. Tate, R.A., for Hongkong, &c.
Among the passengers (68) via Marseilles are Dr.
11. Miller, for Ceylon ; Major A. L. Peel, Lieu-

tenant C. C. Kens, Captain T. Graham, Lieu-
tenant W. Jackson, Major and Mrs. Agg, for Cal-
cutta, &c., Captain and Mrs. Pedder, for Calcutta,
join at Malta. The freight of the Indus includes
160 boxes of specie, jewellery, &c., value £46,618
11s 6d—viz., for Alexandria—sovereigns, £l,OOO.
For Ceylon—sovereigns, £2,000 ; watches, £4O.
For Madras—gold coin, £8,308 ; bar silver, £9,500 ;
gold thread, watches, &c,, £1,280. For Calcutta—
jewellery, watches, &e., £656 17s 6d. For Singa-
pore—X4lB ss; gold thread, watches, &c., £195.
For Hongkong—dollars, £13,461. For Foochowfoo
—dollars, £678. For Shanghai—bar silver, £3,936
9s ; dollars, £B,Oll ; jewellery, &c., £175. For
Hobson's Bay—gold coin, £2OB lOs ; silver coin, 63
6d; jewellery, watches, &c., £317 3s. For Mel-
bourne—medals, &c., £453. For Sydney—jewel-
lery, £9BO. The Tagus, Captain W. B. Hall, is due
this day with the mails from Lisbon, Oporto, and
Vigo; the Bavaria, Captain Meier, on Thursday
next, with mails of the 14th inst. from New York ;
the Ellora, Captain N. Roskell, on Friday, but
expected a day or two earlier, with the Bombay
mails; and the Shannon, Captain Abbott, on the
29th instant, with the West India, Pacific,
and Mexican mails. The Bremen, Captain Wes-
sels, will sail hence on Wednesday, with mails for
New York; the Tagus, Captain Hall, and the Delta,
Captain Y. S. Field, on Friday, the former taking
the Peninsular and the latter the Bombay mails.

?BENCE POSTAGE.

The question which naturally occurs to every ono
conversant with the subject is this,—Why should
we pay Bd. for a half ounce letter from Dover to
Calais, a distance of only 24 miles, when we can
send a letter of the same weight from London to
New Zealand, a distance of more than 16,000 miles,
for 6d. P And not only in this latter case do we send

specimens of the rates of charges for a half ounce
letter:—From London to New Zealand, 16,100 mile,
only Gd.; ditto to Sydney, 15,000 miles, 6d.; ditto
to Calcutta, 14 000 miles, Gd. ; ditto to St. Helena,
Cape Town, Quebec, Alexandria, the West Indies,
&e. But here we have a set-eff. For a half ounce
letter from Dover to Calais, 24 miles, Bd. ; ditto,
from Inverness to Jersey, 610 miles, id. But Jersey
to the nearest town on the French coast, only a few
miles further on, Sd. Now, does not this look like
levying, black mail on her Majesty's lieges P We
are told that "Sales popnli sui..rcula est lex. Do
we find this cac here P Other instances could be
easily quoted, but the above will suffice to show the
existing incongruities of the present system. The
fact that a profit of £56,000 per annum is made on
this route clearly shows that the public are taxed
to the extent of £50,000 more than is actually nects-
sary to defray the expenses of transit. Why should
not the Post-office authorities be content with mode-
ration, and not insist on making a clear profit of
one half the sum, say £28,000 ? Surely the public,
for whose benefit alone the Post.office exists, would
be thus more equitably treated. It may be objected
by the Post-office authorities that since they lose
£466,000 on various ',other naval lines they require
the above £56,000 to attempt tz) make both ends
meet But why not let every case rest on its
own merits, and a fair charge be made when
fair value is given, which, judging from the above
comparative rate of charges, cannot he said to
be done in the present case? When it is remem-
bered that the reduction of the postage in this coun-
try from 9d. to id. bas created an increase in the
number of letters annually passing through the
Post-office of nearly 500 millions, is it not natural
to expect that a similar reduction in the postage be-
tween England and France would largely increase
the international correspondence ? The arguments
brought forward in support of the reduction in
1839-40 are quite applicable to the present case.—
Leeds Mercury.