The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-22 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.---We are witnessing with much though
various interest one of the greatest military specta-
cles ever presented to the civilised world. All things
considered, there never was such fighting before,
and for the like of it we have to imagine several of
Napoleon's most terrible campaigns fought together
in one country by the hostile factions of one people,
and with all the fresh aids and appliances which art
has since contributed to the service of war. Very
few of us think we have anything to do but to look
on ; all the better for us, a shortsighted selfishness
may suggest; all the worse for ourselves, if not our
material interests, wiser monitors will say. It is,
however, wonderful, considering that we call the
performers in this great tragedy brothers and cousins,
partners in race, in language, in religion, and in ,
laws, how few of us have relatives and friends in the
war. This is because the emigration for many years
past has been confined to the labouring classes. The
shipbuilders, merchants, and manufacturers who
have speculated on the wants of the belligerents,
busy and enterprising as they have been, are only a
small fraction of the British community ; and we
hear of their doings rather through American than
any home channels. The great mass of our people,
not only those in the deep quiet of private society,
but those in the great world, would open their eyes
with astonishment at a man said to be making his
fortune by blockade-running or supplying arms and
ammunition to the combatants. It is, however, a
melancholy fact that we have contributed almost
everything necessary to the spectacle. We have sup-
plied from our own race both combatants, at least
nine out of ten of them ; we have provided the bone
of contention, both the original slavery and the
more modern cry against it; we have furnished arms,
powder—nay, the very percussion caps and the me-
dicine chests, the clothing, and a good deal of the
shipping and of all the other materials required.
Some of us have gone behind the scenes and brought
back strange experiences. Staff officers, engineers,
doctors, and even clergymen have gone on errands
of science or curiosity, and will know what to do
when half our people set to work butchering the
other half. But we, ordinary spectators, see every-
thing much as the Americans themselves saw our
Russian and Indian difficulties. There may have
been wars on a grander scale in the days of Attila,
or Genghis Khan, or Timour ; but the achievements
of those almost fabulous personages no more touch
us than we hear of a mountain of locusts blown into
a sea, and then washed up on its shore. When the
matter is quite out of our knowledge, a million
seems no more than a hundred. But we are quite
at home in this business before us. The language
of the men, the familiar terminations and prefixes
of their names, with an occasional touch of mother
wit thrown in by the principal actors, give a
sort of domestic interest to the performance. Ame-
rica is bearing the palm in at least 'the magnitude
of her war, though we still have to wait for that
marvellous reconciliation that is to astonish the
world. Great as she has been in peace, and great
as she has proved herself in war, she finds it not so
easy to repair the shattered vase. On the contrary,
the vast mischief spreads, and, do what we will, we
are doomed to see complications rising North and
South, on every sea, on the Pacific as well as the
Atlantic coast. A great war is apt to become un-
controllable, because illimitable, too vast for control,
with too many issues for forethought. It rises to
the scale of a natural convulsion, the workings of
which may not be stayed or foreseen, and
which can only be told when all is over, in many a
long and sad history. How can we be sure that
some of these fragments heaped up or hurled aloft
will not come crushing down on us ? Already
commerce and manufacture throb at every beat of
that still mighty heart, and the hopes and fears of
thousands among us rise and fall as some new
rage excites the American breast, or as it yields
under some touch of grace, some qualm of con-
science, or some voice of reason and common sense.
The present stage of this great struggle is notice-
able for its marked novelty upon the tenour of the
last four years. The extreme exhaustion on both
sides as to men and as to money appears to render
it impossible to carry on the war as it has been car-
ried on. There will not be for the future those
stupendous armaments, that waste of material, and
those far more dreadful sacrifices of human life.
There will not be such costly and murderous
struggles for the possession of certain points,
whether inland or maritime. Both sides seem to
have discovered that they have made mistakes in
attaching an exaggerated importance to positions
required for no purpose. We have, then, before us
the alternatives of a peace or a war carried on more
in the open country, either guerilla fashion or by
movements such as that by which Sherman has in
fact changed the fortunes and the face of the war.
Such a change will involve others, and, not the least
it will be liable to bring forward military adventurers
who do not depend on either Washington or Rich-
mond for their resources or their plans, perhaps not
even their authority. Such a result is fraught with
perilous consequences to every constituted or re-
cognised Power either on the soil or at all within
reach of this great earth-shaking. We have no
thought of frightening the Americans into peace—
nay, the danger is as much ours as theirs • but if
the war proceeds, it will one day come to such a pass
that neither we nor they will be able to say who are
the real rulers of that vast continent, and who are
the men whose power, whose vengeance, or whose
wisdom we have to watch. That the war must enter
on a new phase is evident from the proved impossi-
bility of carrying it an with the existing institutions
or rather constitution. The requisite levies whether
of men or of money, cannot be made under a system
of much divided and even discordant authority.
a
When the President employs detectives to se
the States do their duty, the day cannotbede that a
distant
when the central Power will do that duty as it is
done in Europe—by the imperial agency, and no
other. Such was ever the result of long wars in
times gone by ; and the several States in this
instance have proved that they are no more to
be trusted than .the feudal chiefs, the tributaries
and allies, whose shortcomings, vacillation, or weak-
ness have so often ruined the cause which depended
on their loyalty and zeal. For the prosecution of a
great war there must not only be a common cause
and a common ardour, but the sacrifice of every-
thing that interferes with perfect unity of action.
One of the earliest consequences of our own great
war with France was the Irish Union ; and the first
result of the Indian Mutiny was the transfer of the
Indian Government to the British Crown. A divided
authority makes large demands on time, and on that
mutual deference which contributes so much to the
pleasures of peace, but becomes impossible when
commands must be executed immediately and
thoroughly, which is the only pace war can take to
succeed. The Americans fondly hope that the sus-
pension of their constitutional guarantees for liberty
is an incident that will soon be a matter of history.
But years pass by, great transactions take place, and
a new generation is rising to men's estate, under a
reign of arbitrary power, and in the sphere of one
all-absorbing contest. Will the State or the Fede-
ration be the more important in their thoughts ?
, Or, if they should have a quarrel with the larger
bond, will it be to fall back on the lesser? The Ame-
ricans have already sacrificed liberty for union, and
they may shortly find that they will have to sacri-
fice Union for Empire. They will have to sacrifice
that free voluntary Union which their fathers framed
and died for, in order to raise a power that shall
sustain itself at any cost, and hold its own against
all corners, whatever political constitution may be
I found best for that purpose.
POST.—The republication of Lord Russell's Essay
on the British Constitution, with an introduction re-
ferring to the leading questions of the day, among
which his lordship naturally assigns to Parliamentary
Reform a conspicuous place, as well as the annual
appearance of Mr. Baines's bill for extending the
borough franchise, which was read last night in the
IHouse of Commons, and the preliminary pros-
pectus of a Reform League, with a capital of
£5,000 conditionally guaranteed, severally wit-
ness to the inopportunity of the discussion
they are calculated to promote. It is per-
fectly constitutional, and may be judicious, to con-
sider the expediency of modifying the subsisting
suffrage. There is every reason to believe that a
discriminating extension of the franchise would be
an elevating and conservative measure. The exist-
ing town constituencies leave very much to be de-
sired. In the metropolitan boroughs the need of
some amendment is experienced. But as Lord
Russell, in the historical portion of his introduc-
tion, points out, it is necessary, in the first place, to
lay down certain principles as the basis of action.
Moreover, to justify the modification of system
which works tolerably well upon the whole one of
two things should be required. The change ought
to be dedicated by the proven inadequacy or unsound-
ness of the actual representation, or by a spontane-
ous and rational expression of public opinion. As
a matter of fact, however, all these elements are
wanting. Lord Russell does, it is true, carefully
and elaborately define the principles upon which
the Reform Bill of 1832 was founded, and to which
he still, as we understand him, subscriber ; but he
omits to explain how, practically, those principles
are to be maintained in the further reduction of the
franchise, which appears to him to be desirable, and
also the reasons which have led him to that conclu-
sion. Lord Russell, it must be observed, declines
the theory that every man of sound mind, and
years of discretion, has an inherent and inalien-
able right to vote: as personal privilege. He
holds that the purpose to be attained is good
government, the freedom of the people within
the State and their security from without. In
fact, Lord Russell seems to be aware that there
are, as Macaulay said, those who will be con-

tented with nothing but demolition, and thoae wi,e
shrink from all repair ; and he would like, if
,-,
could to see a line drawn between the two ex.,
tremes,. further in advance than it now is, but r%);
the principles with which his name is identified. 'he
the. other hand, Mr. Baines, and the gentlemen wOr
think they can force Reform, like cucumbers
of
melons,. by the expenditure of a considerable alinew.
money in aid of agitation, take
The only. principle which they have at all clelo4
enunciated is the very principle Lord Russell °le re
puts aside. He desires to be practical, and se
are
all for theory. He would extend the franchlseuid
contribute. to the public security, while they 'that
admit the. working classes to vote on the idea the
all men. in a free country are entitled to exere'',.;,,i to
electorial franchise. Of course, nobody is b°ll:d it
follow Lord Russell ; and though he has In— ode
another i- it,
appear. that rest and thankfulness are not incolnx et
Itible with progress, eager travellers may
lon faster. But, at all events, Reformers °with
come to some understanding among themselvo
ex,
regard. to their claims. Mr. Baines's Bill is an ,s,
ceedingly pale reflection of Mr. Baines' speec.
eii
and Lord Amberley has said nothing that en the
.corresponds. with, or is absolutely averse fronl,oes,
principles to which his father adheres. Tl-;e4., it
tions.to be answered are plain enough. AN Jr" pi oes
that is wanted, and what is it wanted for ' t. is it
the claim rest on any practical grievance, (4, is
merely a theoretical aspiration ? Is 111 r. Baines s or
an. end, or the means to an end ? It is easy to con'
cave that, on the eve of a general election, v3:1;
wish to
tgo
declamation may be convenient in a Party s;tel
But these questions are not party questions. Na-
. should be considered impartially, and to be stated.
sidered they must be fairly and explicitlY4s- ess
Lord. Russell appears to think there are sei'fhiolt
and ignorance to be overcome, and we raa/Q`tiii it
w. e can cordially concur in the proposition• mu re-
ferred bno means evident whether Lord Thil_seenneo-
to the ten-pound householders, to tufet,-,rcis.
.franchised working classes or the House of '',,,icion
This ambiloquy in itself tends to:create suskin. tel-
a.nd. distrust. in 1832 the Reformers spoke -too
hob. ly, but now they speak in parables. Th,en,'„iblie
the.ir. words were weighted with -the force (rdeed,
opinion ; but now there is no national echo reti•
there is nothing for the country to echo. -I:dicate
cence, however, that was for a time taken to l' pear'
the absence of motive has gradually come to b etrTino.
d.ed as significant. People reasonably requre in'°theill
t.ion. on a subject which is said to con
selves s no
intimately, but of which they have thernselcuse tto
knowledge. Even in a fog it is not safe W Ftr.,, set'
the first adventurous link-boy who offers his
vices as a guide, and still less is it wise t° r 10'
in broad daylight from a way which, if 11,3,°"„ssog;
gether smooth, is safe and ascertained, on ''"" o,oa
gestion that another unknown path is nearuer but
more. agreeable. Novelty is all very wie„itioll.
security is a much more important consiu„e",t one
There. is no possibility of dissembling "1"-of til
main objection. to any extensive reduction, pro-
franchise consists in the conviction that l,t filses iiii
posed with ulterior objects, that organic eua;ititon
the government of the country are conter%ation
and that a large modification of the represe%tion•
would lead to the subversion of the constit-refiv
If this 0
apprehension is fallacious it admits t°
tati▪
on. But if a £6 franchise is an insta74 is
be receipted on the theory that universal su,i,slr.
the debt due to the nation, then manifeeo"o.o,oP
Baine•
s's Bill would be a step towards del/11114
and every step in that direction would lea` eit 0 the
in the rear of progress. It would dinuni'%l the°
freedom of the people within the State °of tb°
security from without." Any reductioAance
franchise that tended to destroy the 13' iitaite
power essential to the maintenance of 3 path
monarchy would inflict a heavy blow 11P°11,,tocr3,e,1
mentary government ; the power the °fired P•li,
were depeived of would eventually be ael—epioi°l
the Crown; and though some may be 0.1 be l'ev
that such a change would in many res Pee:. a o°,`
undesirable, it is wholly beside the quePie'le $11,11,,,e
raised. Canning, when he was discussinghA sAiti '-a
theory, admitted that there was much to —nt ; 3.1,1,
favour. of a more despotic form of governor sea vit
to this day the Germans, who are suPrc3/111°
French Liberals to be free and covererenlighten
bring themselves to understand how a we t
reigns without directly governing. But as it is tto
not about to pull down the national ed&eet,rtictio,llii
necessary to draw plans for its reconsu col"
Granting, for the argument, that the hous:ur ifir
be made more convenient, if it answers to vet pre:
pose, if it is associated with ideas we are 0. to
dation, and if that foundation be laid deeP , 10'
pared to part with, if it is firm and fast in its: the,
heart of the English people,
1
our time, but preserve to future genera
blessings we enjoy under its roof. dons
it will not only th°