The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-25 00:00:00

e fling Z:z) Ant

ONDON, THURSDAY. DECEMBER 25, 1845.

It is impossible to reconcile the views taken by
certain merchants, stockbrokers, and the City pro-
phets, of Mr. PoLx's Message, with the tone which
pervades it throughout, and the express words, which
relate to subjects of the most vital importance to this
country. Many of these parties consider the docu-
ment rather of a peaceful character, and prognosticate
that, as he has done the Legislature the honour of re-
ferring the Oregon question to them, the whole
burden is cast on their shoulders, and they cannot be
so mad as to plunge two nations into war for a
point of difference which might be honourably settled
by arbitration. But it ought to be remembered that
Poex could do nothing less than refer the question to
them ; they are, by the constitution of the
country, the arbiters, and without their con-
sent notice cannot be given to Great Britain that
the joint occupancy shall cease within the year,
nor any material step whatever be taken. The cha-
rac•er ( f the parties, both in the Senate and the Low ei
Ifouse, has a great deal also to do with the affair, and
that alone ought to excite strong misgivings as to s
favourable termination of the disputes with America.
It is admitted, apparently without any contradiction.
that the majority in both Houses belong to the de-
mecratical party, thA they are cordial supporters of
the policy pursued by the late and the present Chief
Magistrate, and Mr. POLE'S Message may, therefore, be
regarded as much an exposition of their views as of
his own. We are as anxious for peace as any party
in the country, not even excepting the Society of
Friends, but we cannot shut our eyes to danger, nor
join with those who cry " Peace, peace, while there
is no peace." Nothing can be more precise than the
language of Mr. POLK and the alternatives which he
has announced respecting the Oregon dispute. Last
session he claimed the whole of the territory, and
after a year's deliberation, and the solemn announce-
meets of Sir ROBERT PEEL and Lord ABERDEEN,
in which both Houses cordially joined, that England
was prepared to resist such a demand, he repeats his
first assertion, and lays it down as a fact, about
which there can be no dispute, that the United States
can yield to no compromise " without an abandonment
of their just and clear territorial rights, their own
self-respect, and their national honour." It is im-
tposcible to use any language more precise than this,
or more clearly point out to the world, that, unless
&gland gives way, war must be the only alternative.
Ilea Sir HOBERT PEEL cannot give way; he cannot
retract his deliberate avowal, that the " Bri-
tish Government is resolved to assert her
claim, and prepared to maintain it." The people of
this country could not submit to the degradation of
yielding one iota of their rights after such a declara-
tion ; and no Minister who, under present circum-
a•ances, could truckle to such imperious and unjust
demands, would be suffered fur one week to re-
tain his place. Sir ROBERT PEEL must know
that this Oregon affair is a very secondary
question, and that he must look further,
examine the policy laid down by Poex and others in
reference to the North American continent, and see
Whether that can be maintained without the expul-
sion of every British subject from the English pos-
sessions in that quarter, and a fatal blow to one
of the most important branches of our colonial
trade. " It. should be announced," says the
PRESIDENT, "to the world as our settled policy,
that no future European colony or dominion shall
without our consent be planted or established on any
part of the North American Continent"—which
means that no European colony has any right what

ever to exist on that continent, and that the very first
opportunity will be seized for expelling, from Canada
and Nova Scotia, and the British settlements, all
who will not join in the great republican con-
federacy. What right has America to lay down
any such outrageous and unjust law ? The original
settlers were colonists from this country, and since
the declaration of independence the republic has been
making the most violent encroachments on every
neighbouring state. Florida was unjustly occupied,