The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-12 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1850.

Perhaps there has never been a more brilliant
illustration of the advantages arising from the
maintenance of friendly relations even with a state of
the least apparent importance, than that afforded by
our prolonged intercourse with the KING of the
insignificant Muliquito territories. Out of that inter-
communication has originated one of those extra-
ordinary documents which are destined to exercise an
almost invaluable influence over the march of civili-
zation. The convention, indeed, which was ratified
on the 4th of July at Washington, a convention pro-
viding for the speedy union of the Pacific Ocean and
the Atlantic, has been pronounced, and with some
show of justice, by the Colonial Magazine, " the
most important diplomatic act of this country."
According to this treaty the Governments
of the United States and of Great Bri-
tain stand pledged to the construction
of a ship canal across the isthmus joining together
the two continents of America. That deliberate
settlement of the question, moreover, while it cannot
fail to promote the interests of the mercantile world at
large throughout all succeeding generations, must also
reflect the highest possible honour upon the statesmen
to whose genius and integrity it is attributable. If
under the Presidential administration of JAMES PoLK
the dominions of the Western Republic were enhanced
by the acquisition of such vast portions of the Mexi-
can territory, it was under the rule of ZACHARY
TAYLOR that this remarkable convention was
agreed to with England—a convention which must
open up new and inexhaustible channels of
corn mercial enterprise, and develope in a novel and
surprising manner the maritime energies of the Anglo-
Saxons. If, again, the removal of the chief difficulties
so long existing in the question of the Oregon boun-
daries must be imputed to the Earl of ABERDEEN,
at the time when he held the seals of the Foreign-
office, the glory of having :accomplished the solution
of a much more perplexing and important difficulty,
that connected with the possibility of navigating
between the two oceans by means of an artificial
water-course at Panama, must be awarded to the
Noble Lord her MAJESTY'S present chief Secretary in
the Foreign Department. To the vigilant sagacity,
the untiring perseverance, the skill, the decision, and
the promptitude of Lord PAL3dERSTON must be attri-
buted the fortunate conclusion of a subject which,
from its somewhat intricate and embarrassing nature,
must otherwise have remained a much longer time
under discussion. Nevertheless, it must not be for-
gotten that a share of the credit arising out of this
negotiation must be given in all fairness to the two able
diplomatists, who acted on the cccasion as thellinister's
plenipotentiaries. Thanks to the ability of Mr. CLAY•
TON, on the part of the United States, and of Sir
_HENRY BULIVER, as the British Ambassador to the
councils of Washington, no obstacles were permitted
to interfere with the rapid solution of a problem upon
which the commercial interests of the two worlds
were more or less dependent.
Before a very considerable time has elapsed the
intention of England and America will have been
carried into effect ; and then will be seen the extra-
ordinary benefits accruing to both from opening a line
of communication, not inappropriately designated the
Dardanelles of the Western Hemisphere. As yet
any large speculation upon the consequences of that
great work would only seem to partake of romance
and exaggeration. Yet a little sericus thought can
only serve to assure the most cautious and reflective,
that the dreams of the most extravagant imagination
are in a fair way of being eclipsed by reality. A.
new road must be opened to the East for England.
The idea of the immortal COLUMBUS, fantastic
though it has so long appeared, will at length, in
effect, be realised. To reach the Oriental nations
with the greatest speed, ships will have to leave
the western shores of Europe to proceed
directly across the Atlantic. And although the
gold running rivers cf Cathay, and the jewel-covered
shores of Cipango, have proved fabulous like the delis
cf Atalanta and the jasper minarets of Dorado, there
will still remain for " the merchants of Old England,
the seigneurs of the seas," as fruitful regions for their
enterprise and as attractive objects for their naviga-
tion. Speedier access will be thereupon afforded to
the Aladdin's garden of California, to the spice
groves of the eastern Archipelago, to the stores
of Chinese tea and irdigo, to the rice-fields of Hindos-
tan and the coffee grounds of Ceylon, to bazaars like
that of Benares, teeming with all the productions of
Asiatic luxury, their silks, and perfumes, and crapes,
and precious stones, and ivory. Instead of having to
encounter the stormy regions of the Cape of Good
Hope or of Terra del Fuego, we shall have
the opportunity afforded us of proceeding directly
across the Atlantic to the islands of the
Pacific, - and to the vast majority of oar own
insular and continental possessions. The opening
of a ship canal across the isthmus connecting the
two Americas, while it will remove the obstacles
for that yet more gigantic enterprise to which we
have before now repeatedly directed attention, namely,
a grand trunk railway across the northern continent,
will not in any way prevent the accomplishment of
that noble and splendid undertaking. It will, on the
contrary, tend in a great measure to facilitate the
latter work, by accustoming the merchants of both
hemispheres to the western line of communication,
and thereby remove a source of prejudice
that might otherwise remain obstinate, if not
insurmountable. Nor must it be forgotten in
reflecting upon the advantages certain to accrue to
Asia and to Europe, as well as to England and to the
United States, from the digging of this ship canal be-
tween the Pacific and the Atlantic, that other advan-
tages, and advantages too of an enormous kind, must
accrue in like manner to the fruitful countries lying
almost insulated at the back of America.

Having commented in detail upon the beneficent
nature of the communication, an intelligent pamph-
leteer* observes as follows :
" A diplomatic act cf so benevolent and exalted a
character would not have been complete had it been
limited to one locality; accordingly, it is declared that
the two Governments hase desired not only to accom-
plish a pulticular o,ject, but to establish a general prin-
ciple;' and that the terms of this convention shall be
extended by treaty stipulations to any other practicable
communication which may be proposed or established,
whether by canal or railway, across the isthmus which
connects North and South America;' and finally—that
which we may look upcn as the most satisfactory com-
plement of the transaction—other states are to be invited
to enter into sirui:ar engagements with Great Britain and
the United States, whereby the neutrality and security
of the M4-canal may be established and maintained
with the common concurrence at,d guarantee of all the
great maritime powers."

• State of the Grew, ship Canal Qaf•stiun. Con-
vention between Great Britain and the United Slates.
Svc., pp. 24. London: Wilson, 1850.

In consequence of the last-mentioned provision, it
is'anything but improbable that the scheme will be
carried out in a manner worthy of its commencement,
in a manner commensurate with a project calculated
to hasten in a wonderful way the progress of civili-
zation.

"It is better that one hundred guilty persons
should escape than that one innocent person should
suffer unmerited punishment," is a legal axiom which
has been long and generally approved, and which
has never yet been directly controverted or im-
peached. In every criminal investigation the pre-
siding judge instructs the jury that if they entertain
any reasonable doubt they are to give the benefit of
it to the prisoner. They are cautioned that " suspi-
cion is not proof'," that no person can be
required to establish his innocence, that he
cannot even be called upon for his defence until
a prima facie case has been made out against him,
satlicient, if unrebutted, to satisfy twelve men duly
sworn " a true verdict to return, according to the
evidence," of his guilt. Nay, according to the con-
stitutional theory, the inquiry must take place on
two separate occasions, before distinct juries, before
any British citizen can be treated as guilty of any
offence. It is true that investigation by the grand
jury being carried on in secret, without any
judicial assistance, has degenerated into a species
of farce, which affords but little protection to
innocence, and is but too frequently made the instru-
ment of extortion or oppression. But this is owing
ti the abuses which have sprung into the practice, and
not to the institution itself. It has unfortunately be-
come the habit of grand juries to assume that there is
sufficient in every case to warrant a further inquiry.
They forget that the object for which they had as-
sembled was to prevent persons against whom there
was not a fair presumption of guilt from being sub-
jected to the expense, annoyance, and exposure
inseparable from a trial in open court, that
they were to shield the characters and re-
putations of their fellow-citizens from what
might be considered undeserved odium. The desire
in every case, however, appears to be to get through
the greatest amount of business in the shortest pos-
sible space of time, to find bills in cases which it was
morally impossible they could have at all investigated.
Some three or four minutes may he devoted to each
bill, one hundred of which will be got through in a
single day. The only effect of the hasty examina-
tion that takes place is, to school the principal
witnesses—none others are examined—and to prepare
them for their appearance before the judge and petty
jury. For this reason it is, perhaps, more injurious
than beneficial to the parties about to be placed on
trial, and a strong argument is afforded to those who
demand its total abolition.

But it is not because abuses have crept into the
administration of this time-honoured institution, once
an efficient safeguard to the liberty of the subject,
that we would consent to its annihilation. No, with
all its faults, trial by jury is worth preserving; and
not even the preliminary investigation by the " Grand
Inquest" should be done away with. It might
be desirable that they should be assisted by some
person acquainted with law, who would act as asses-
sor, to advise in doubtful cases. It might be well if
judges in their opening charges would dwell a little
more on the nature of the important duties confided
to their charge, and the propriety of performing them
with care and deliberation, instructing them that it is
not a mere formality, but an integral portion of the
precautions wisely established for the protection of the
people, that twelve grand jurors on oath must find
a true bill before any man can be placed on his
trial, and that their decision must he confirmed by
the unanimous verdict of twelve of their peers before
punishment can be inflicted. With a little care and
attention in these respects grand juries would be-
come, as they ought to be, valuable guarantees for
the protection of the people. They constitute, how-
ever, but a fractional part of the great palladium of
British freedom—the trial by jury—and their sur-
render would only prove the signal for a fierce on-
slaught on the remainder. It is an oupost
that must be won before the citadel it-
self can be endangered by any formidable
assault, and therefore we call upon the chosen repre-
sentatives of the people to resist strenuously any in-
sidious suggestions that may be offered for its sur-
render, or the extension of the summary jurisdiction
of magistrates, which, as we have lately shown, is
the tendency of recent legislation, and the desire of
many who would, if possible, reverse the constitu-
tional maxim with which this article opens. Every
formidable violation of law is seized on as a pretence for
the adoption of additional precautions speciously alleged
to be against crime, but really against public
freedom, which would establish a magisterial and po
lice despotism, introduce the passport system, and
prevent Englishmen from passing freely throughout the
length and breadth of their native land. The law may
nominally be against tramps and vagrants, but, if it
be once introduced, many persons travelling about
their lawful business will be seriously inconvenienced.
They will have no protection against police es-
pionage and magisterial folly. It was but last
week that a person was arrested in the
city of London for being in the possession of goods
which it subsequently appeared he had fairly pur-
chased, and the presiding alderman gravely told him
that a remand for a few days could "do no great
harm." If the excellent justice had himself ex-
perienced the pleasure of a few days' incarceration
he might possibly alter his mind, and not venture on
such flippant assertions.
None can regret more than ourselves the melan-
choly catastrophe at Frimley, by which an amiable
and pious elerg3 man was suddenly deprived of life
by those ruffians, who went to plunder, and consum-
mated their guilt by murder ; but, although we deeply
lament this sanguinary event, we cannot see that the
family of poor JOHN GEARY, who fell a victim to
police brutality, are not entitled to equal sympathy,
or why steps should not be taken by the authorities
to discover and bring to justice the unknown com-
panion of the gallant Sergeant BusuaLL. Because
one deplorable transaction has occurred, it is more
than hinted that Englishmen manifest an undue jea-
lousy for personal freedom, and that " while we
watch the law and its enforcers, we not unfrcquently
allow the lawbreakers perfect impunity." To this
we would answer in the words of the lamented Ro-