The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-27 00:00:00

_
of Southern independence as "the atrocious object
of the leaders of this accursed insurrection." As the
saying is, " abuse is not argument," but when argu-
ments fail too often abuse is a favourite resource.
Very different was the dignified tone adopted by
Mr. SCHOLEFIELD, who boldly advocated, in
that meeting, a somewhat unpopular course.
" He differed from a large number of his best and
warmest friends, and from his hon. colleague, with
whom he differed on no other subject." Adding
"he had not changed his opinion, however un-
popular that opinion might be." That opinion is the
same, indeed, which he had expressed in 1862—" I
am not for intervention because that means war, I
am not for mediati3n because that means failure,
but I am for simple recognition "—recognition that
is of Southern independence. Mr. SCHOLEFIELD,
in fact, very boldly and emphatically, once more
claimed his right to his own opinions. " He was told
that in consequence of the course he had taken he
would lose his seat. Deeply as he valued the
honour they had conferred upon him, there was
something he valued still more highly than a seat
in Parliament, and that was the right to speak and
act freely and independently within the scope of
powers with which they themselves had intrusted
him. If for the course he had taken they deemed
him no longer worthy of representing them, he
should bow to their decision without a murmur."
This is the frank and manly language of one confi-
dent in his own integrity of purpose, and claiming
from ethers the same forbearance that he himself is
willing to concede. It is in this respect that Mr.
BRIGHT is so deplorably wanting. We do not so
much find fault with his opinions. Right or wrong
he is free to entertain them. But what we do find
fault with is his manner of expressing them. What
in his instance is so especially repugnant to us, are
his dogmatic and most dictatorial manner of asser-
ting his own individual views and his arrogant de-
nunciation of all who presume to differ from them.
Such intemperance of opinion is not always an evi-
dence either of the stability of a cause or of the
soundness of a principle,

Englishmen have long prided themselves upon
their commercial honesty, and the high spirit and
fairness of English trade has often been favourably
noticed by foreigners, as well as by their own
countrymen. It is certain, however, that in every
community there will be very many exceptions to
such a rule; and the varied ramifications of our
social life afford only too many opportunities to the
crafty and designing. There will always be a suffi-
cient number of dupes forthcoming to make the
speculation worth the risk, which, indee, is often
merely nominal, for it is difficult to reclaim the
money paid for a bad bargain, as it would have
been for MOSES PRIMROSE to exchange the famous
spectacles and their shagreen cases, after he had
once displayed them to the wondering eyes of the
gentle old Vicar. Our laws are stringent—our
judges and juries generally incline to the side of the
plaintiff in these cases—our public prints are always
ready to expose fraud and to publish cautions; yet
for all this an immense amount of undetected, or, if
detected, unconvicted roguery, goes on in all direc-
tions. We have recently seen a very hard case
brought before one of oar metropolitan magistrates.
in which some persons had ben deprived of all
their small earnings by means of a sham insurance
company. In this instance the loss was the harder,
as the money was paid with the view of obtaining
assistance in case of prolonged ,illness, which
actually took place. In instances like these,
of course, the offence amounts to a serious