The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-03 00:00:00

mi tous accident of this kind. The crossroads, and
th, e many mischances more or less significant
of which they are the occasion, demand the
attentive consideration of the railway authorities.
(
A t the same time the discipline maintained with
eN Try subordinate connected with the line should be
as: strict as that preserved of old with the Roman
fJoldiers. Such considerations must not be lost sight
of by the railway "powers that be," now, at the
' moment of their great land successful enterprise.
On their success we may cordially congratulate both
the enterprising originators and the promoters
of the new London lines, and the public,
whose convenience will be so materially en-
enhanced by these improvements. Dr. DARWIN
might, indeed, consider himself a true
prophet could he now behold "the flying car"
impelled across Hungerford Bridge by the might
of that "unrivalled steam" whose marvellous
achievements he so wonderfully foretold.

MR. BEECHER cannot complain of being unap-
preciated. His return to America has been the
signal for one of those extravagant outbursts of
welcome in which the inhabitants of that country
take so deep a delight. It would have been impos-
sible to overrate the reception accorded to the great
man. Animated by the occasion, Mr. BEECHER
spoke in somewhat a different strain from what he
did in his speeches over here. He was more mode-
rate in his tone in some respects,and more gracious
in his demeanour. His expressions of pleasure at his
ret'irn were evidently genuine, and it is certr.inly
better that he should be in a congenial sphere in-
stead of wearing himself out by endeavouring to
force convictions upo❑ those of opposite tendencies
to his own. He Was wasting his energies to no
Purpose in trying to cram his ultra notions and ex-
treme views into the minds of those whose general
opinions were diametrically opposed to him, and
who regarded him with a.jealous, and even perhaps
a prejudiced eye. The time of probation is past,
and the wanderer returns to his home, the pilgrim
regains his native land, and the shores resound
with delight, and the people vie with each other in
acclaim, and make his restoration among them a
sort of jubilee. It is interesting to dwell upon the
short discourse of the hero of the scene, because
although he distinctly said that he was not going
on that occasion to make a " speech," still he ex-
pressed his views concerning the country he had
visited in his brief tour ; and sometimes an un-
guarded sentence uttered among friends, where the
armour of defence is for a moment thrown aside,
is more likely to reveal the true state of feel-
ing, and disclose the actual conviction of the
mind, than when, with due state and solemn pre-
paration we listen to the studied oration, full of
well-weighed sentences, and rife with that peculiar
frankness which often hides all that we want to
know, and prevents us from hearing all of which
we are particularly anxious to be informed. It
must have been especially satisfactory to his hearers
to learn from Mr. BEECHER that thoughout the
period of his extensive wanderings, in England,
France, Switzerland, Northern Italy, Germany,
and Belgium, he was deeply impressed with nothing
so much as the memory of those he left behind him,
and the thoughts of a return to them were the load-
stone of his way. When Mr. BEECHER comes to
talk of our localities he is sure to put some bitter
ingredients into the discourse. When he mentions
this country the best he can say is the questionable
compliment implied in the line—
" England, with all thy faults, I love thee still."
There is so much to complain of in us and our nation
that it seems surprising he should take the trouble
to do so at all. Why not let us alone, some might
impatiently exclaim ? But these cavillers aro in
too much hurry ; they do not perceive that the
orator of the American pulpit has recognised a
mission that has taken him across the broad Atlan-
tic to preach the words of wisdom, and lay the
truths of important subjects of great and glorious
import before our benighted lives. He is now
enjoyilg the respite from his arduous toil, and re-
counting to enthusiastic hearers what he has under-
gone from the perils of the deep, and the struggles
with minds unconverted to the great dcctrine of
freedom, which be tried to inculcate upon them.
Mr. BEECHER makes a short allusion to the
reticence practised in France. He says
he looked at the people, for ho was
" denied any other privilege of intercourse
with them." Perhaps experience will one day
show the rulers of that nation the incalculable losses
that they incurred in not being permitted to listen
to the New World notions which are so powerfully
unfolded by the energetic oratory of Mr. BEECHER.
After travelling the beautiful and vine clad coun-
tries, he bent his steps again to England, and it is
encouraging to hear that, on the occasion of his
second visit, he found less cause for displeasure than
on his first arrival. He breathed freer, and said,
" Thank GOD for England !" He appealed from

"Englacd misinformed to England better in-
formed." The reminiscences of his experiences
here appear to have been very satisfactory to Mr.

BEECHER, and this must be a source of great plea

sure to his friends, when they remember the great

exertions he made, which in some places were so

requited. It might strike a sober observer that there

is ample scope for the exercise of powers of mind
and energy of endurance among his own people,
without Mr. BEECHER making all this parade of

our " wrongheadedness, prejudice, and corruption

among commercial classes." Allowing, for the sake
of argument, that some great thinker and social im-

prover went over to the great continent where these

utterances were heard, might he not with truth and

reason declare that there was wrong, bitter and in-
excusable violence, abroad among the people ?
Might be not tell the States at strife for an idea

that they were darkening the promise and sapping
the strongholds of their country's strength, by
Covering the soil with the corpses of her
children Might -
they not strive to inculcate
the doctrines of forbearance, and prove that liberty
) does not lie in
If this controlling the destinies of others.
wa® ~,,,„_. .
done or said, what rage and indignation
would spread
from one end of the land to another
—we should
never hear the last of impertinent in-
terference and 41381 l
:dci prejudices. At all events, if
we are so faulty, a
worea:st be taught by foreigners
with
it not be an emissary
our duties and our
from the land so rife
whrluZsei; carrying on
1 prejudices, who tells us
to be quit of them—let it not
be a citizen of the
calls our liberties in
1.7i1h00 would ace no men
masters but them-
and let
sSetlavteess,,
not a countryman of the race
the. most deplorable war the world hits ever seen
against
word our 6,
wrongheaded,
dare to speak a
ness." There is consistency in all things, and even
an American idol should be forced to recognise ith
laws and bend to its supremacy. It is to be feared

that no faults are found at home because that would

be unpalatable dipeourse. But the eloquent and

earnest speaker who knows so much, has more to
learn if he is ignorant that the wisest thing a friend

can do is to tell of what is injurious to those in
whom he takes so deep an interest. Flatterers may

cajole, and mistaken well-wishers call out peace
when there is no peace; but the men of deep
thought and real feeling, who have their country's

Welfare at heart, will, at all times and in all places,
risk their own popularity rather than let a known
evil or a manifest wrong in the sight of GOD And