The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-06 00:00:00

reputation and injurious to our interests. A code
of laws will be the only thing to remedy the many
deficiencies and discrepancies that we daily witness
and deplore. A " digest," states Sir R. PHILLI-
MORE, is the necessary preceder of a code, for the
former is a collection of materials out of which the
house is to be built. It is well known that great
prejudices will have to be overcome, and hosts of
objections are sure to be interposed; but still, with
perseverance, it may be possible to attain an even-
tual success to the work of progress. As Sir R.
PHILLIMORE remarks that if it has been shown that
the fusion of the now separate jurisdiction of law
and equity be desirable and judicious, who can
doubt that its accomplishment is only a ques-
tion of time ; " that it is as certain as the
triumph of any other sound principle relating to
social progress in this free country." It is quite re-
freshing to find one in so eminent a position as the
Advocate-General thus lending his powerful sup-
port to the proposed changes which promise so
materially to amend the existing state of the laws
of this country.
The observations made in this discourse upon
the advantages derivable from the study of foreign
law are most excellent and worthy of all attention.
There have been some who raised objections to this
course on the ground that it would injure the na-
tive character of all justice ; but these cavillers,
as it is well said, are "no more to be
reasoned with than those were who thought that the
study of MICHAEL ANGELO and RAPHAEL would
destroy the native excellence of our indigenous
painters, and such persons there have been."
Another fine passage in this address is that in which
the speaker dilates upon the absurdity of treasuring
up the errors of a system as an integral part of its
existence. Weeds spring up on the fairest soil, and
the earth accumulates over the noblest monuments
of architecture ; but only ignorance can conceive
that such adjuncts are necessary and should be pre-
served, and thus the " errors that spring up round
all human institutions must be from time to time
cleared away, and the inheritance preserved and im-
proved."
Sir R. PHILLIMORE made some remarks upon the
subject of our convicts, and stated that their treat-
ment was one of the most difficult themes which our
Legislature could debate upon. The object of all
prison discipline is ably summed up here as that
course which should allow room for hope and
grounds for improvement, that the door of reforma-
tion may not be hopelessly closed upon the offender,
for if the convict goes into prison he has also to
come out ; and, therefoae, due regard should be
paid to his future chance of amendment. At the
conclusion of this eloquent address the learned
gentleman alluded to the motives which should in-
spire and animate all who labour for their
country. "It has not been permitted to many," said
he, "as it has been to an illustrious President,
to witness the reaping of the harvest he has sown.
Yet let no man be discouraged," he went on to say,
"if he has honestly done his best for his fellow-
men, like ROMILLY, MACKINTOSH, and GRENVILLE,
he may never see the result of his labours ; but if
the outward man perishes, the thought which he has
uttered for the benefit of his fellow-citizens survives,
the lamp which he has kindled is not extinguished,
but passed on to other hands for the future welfare
of mankind ; and, perhaps, there are not many re-
flections more soothing to the close of life than the
recollection that you have used the talent which
GOD has given you in the endeavour, however hum-
bly, to improve upon earth the administration of
that justice which is only perfect in heaven."

The great political question which is at presen
agitating the United States still remains undecided

and the arguments on either-side are being urged
with intromitting energy. The problem as to the
future position of the negro, the question whether
or not he shall enjoy the right of suffrage is perplex:
ing enough to occasion a good deal of discussion in
older and more settled countries. It is surrounded
with difficulties, and is one of those cases in which
theory and practice, principle and expediency, are
entirely antagonistic. They are so at least outwardly.
So far it may fairly be doubted whether there be
any real principle involved. The advocates of
negro suffrage fall back on the right of the governed
to have a voice in the formation of the laws, the
political equality of all men, and the free constitu-
tion of America. These arguments are especially
powerful in a land of universal suffrage and radical
tendencies, but they are not without their answer.
Even universal suffrage has its limits ; children and
minions are not admitted to its exercise, and the
negro is certainly nothing more than a child.
Whether he may not hereafter be admitted to the
full privilege may well be asked, but the wholesale
gift of political equality to an ignorant and de-
graded race, ignorant and degraded through the
fault of others, but still suffering from the inevita-
ble consequence, is a very different thing. It is
not the mere question of the black skin or the white
skin that is at issue: it is the probability that the
negro will be under the influence and dictation of
his professed political leaders, and that whenever
it is thought desirable to carry on extreme radical
measures recourse will be had to the negro element
to secure it. By this means the old ill feeling between
white and black will be intensified and perpetuated
a new element of discord and confusion will be
introduced into the already stormy arena of Ame-
rican political life, while it is more than doubtful if
the negro himself would gain by the measure. The
blessing of freedom has been bestowed upon him
with an abruptness and a suddenness which have
gone far to rob it of its benefits, and in the same
way his unreflecting well-wishers are anxious to
elevate him at once to full possession of political
rights without considering how far he is fitted for
their exercise. Education and independence are the
two great needs of the black man at present. It is use-
less to talk about political equality to men who have
to draw rations from public offices for their livelihood,
while certainly to confer a vote on a man who
refuses to work for his living would be something
like conferring the franchise on the inmates of our
unions. The Government has certainly a very
difficult part to play with the negro. If it leaves
him to himself, sickness and death, starvation and
misery are the result of casting loose on the busy
pushing world of American life a people as helpless
and as dependent as a flock of sheep. On the
other hand, if it secures provision for his wants,
he finds idleness too congenial to his temperament
to trouble himself much about finding work. In
Louisiana the effects of the double change of losing
the negro labour, and of supporting a host of idlers,
is shown with considerable force. The State has
nearly the same population of labourers as it had
before the war, hut the products are reduced from
400,000 hogsheads of sugar and 1,000,000 barrels
of molasses to 8,000 hogsheads and 10,000 barrels,
besides a similar reduction in the number of bales
of cotton. The army of freed men wander about
the country begging and stealing, or supplied from
the Freedmen's Bureau. The President, who has
sense and shrewdness enough to see how inimical
this state of things must prove to the best interests
of the country, has,with s
chaarcteri
mination, resolved to introduce a Cic havnign.eo.rollusehadestreer:
moved alltheoflicialsbut one, andha3 decided to re-
construct atata.ciu the same Principle that the
cagrstAttalYo followeit, klilitarY rule is to be