The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-12 00:00:00

TIE CONTEST IN AME.RIC_4.

(From the SpectaloY .)
il_tnless history is a record of misleading prece-
-17,11te, the American Government will in a month be
muststronger for its defeats. That it should be so
qua
be the wish of every Englishman, for the con-
Zlnlnences of defeat must be disastrous to human free-
The% South in possession of Washington, and
ACtlYeeegnised as a Power, would be in the best
io'luen to realise its dream of conquest and spolia-
n• The army which had defeated the NortM, or
ken driven it back from its soil, would overrun
serve its as easily as the first conquerors of the
4 'ThiltlY• Once masters of the silver mines, and of
seheLat taxable population, the Southern leaders
hal' in a few years organise an army which
sta—_,Lug on the American continent could with-
te-11,1, and which would speedily bring about a
lu.svf,entarnity—the armed interference of Europe
hs'entral America. Such a power, while unop-
tahedi, might reopen the slave trade, and would cer-
tti;,l„se extend the area of slavery as to render its
4
ZR 11",etion all but impossible. The first barrier
else- misfortune so terrible to the world is the
eve'"gth of the American government, and how-
ti annoying its failures, or however deep our dis-
c
ya; at its tone, it is with that government that the
11 )athies of all free men, perforce must lie.
ttel:sfreedom which is at stake, and before that
stC," Interest all others must disappear; but we
41h,"Wiedge frankly the difficulties in the way o
i,"-'nglish friends of the North. Never was there
of tilse which required so thorough a suppression
lik-Cglish tastes, prejudices, and sense of natural
From the insults heaped on the English
Itine to the last resolution of Congress not to
top Pere with " state rights," every step of the
t is marked by incidents which ex-
zils,-41 high-principled. Englishmen a feeling of
there disgust. Americans really appear to believe
tit their bombast terrifies England, that a nation
is
bb hater 'hut a fleet can fighen the mtress o the seas
haell atter of future p unist hment. If our govern-
in Proclaims its neutrality, some envoy declares
istkal3eech, full of brag and bad grammar, that the
tst.°,,, republic will yet avenge the wrong. If,
titliY,,ng out the proclamation, privateers are forbid-
hseL° sell their plunder in British ports, Mr. Jay
Da-13),!,8 with an air of majestic self-restraint that
Vic; " half-hearted" " atonement." And now,
set the defeat at Manassas, Congress has passed an
thelnthorising the President to station squadrons on
the Zhigh seas, stop all vessels bound for the ports of
tar: iplith, and collect the dues fixed by an American
lltteri A Barbary pirate never laid down a rule more
kika hontenaptuous of international law. Congress
toll „" 4a well collect taxes in Liverpool, or levy a
for o the passage of the Atlantic or demand dues
h e
at right to sail out of our owniports. There is
fer irvnen,the poor pretence of enforcing a blockade ;
tith% ship, may enter Charleston after payment of
-I,the Gulf of. Mexico, the blockade is at an
ent "8 scarcely possible to believat hat a Govern-
4445a,P14PPosed to be guided by educatf d men can
,L° enforce such an act, except against its
Bilnwhuu4jehts ; but the American Government has
tfifeht-hibt' years an inability to understand any
;ill 8 ;i~t Its Own, which may well arouse a pain-
An incurable vulgarity of soul
4qT)O.-3,:t0 affect its judgment, to disable it from
dTrtunt principles may be sound even though
"it, inesci,tl,3- Conducive to American profit. The re-
'Las instance may be most disastrous to the
•s et d-vv but br,we will not yet believe that a Govern-
VRhts -',e," has staked its existence on a war for
by
an
,or
atte
mpt to evfor the contest
ganisnd systeml ofplundersmean on the high seas.

.......
Stivr,,,
Rftertio`'uS EFFECTS OF FOUL AIR.—On Saturday
136:::: with. others to clean out
"gagedn,,a man named John Parish, 28. years of ,
noi,Z7oacl. Parish was the first to descend, but tronr
air.the
:Piers descended,
Sebao "1e,3? concluded that there vas an escape of. foul
gat the
a sewer in the SouthWark
the surf4eY with difficulty raised him and brolig
and finding Parish
t )
l'Ys gele' lie was conveyed in an insensible s
of
ereO'Ver7t o•pital Where he remains withcazt hope
lyihnt him to