The Sun.
London, England, 1840-12-07 00:00:00

VF N INC I-4i I) T 10N ,ll
N A. I

n against their Governtneuts,—.,vhile sedition, '
cruel revolution, and bloody executions
lave dishonoured and devastated Europe,—while
itlißions of men have been mowed down by the
.`l.°l',l, or by some other of the iugcnious means of
twrurihg or murdering mankind which were prac-
tised in Europe, the United States have gone
°nsteadily prospering, without any great or
signall, interruptions, and the mass of the in-
"shitants, because they elect and control the
President and all their officers, and there-
fare conduct their own affairs, are as con-
tented at this day with their Constitution as at
its commencement. They amend its defects as
fey are ascertained. To amend the defects of a
Constitution
in Europe requires a revolution, and
that is rarely successful. Opening their arms to
4HI
receiving immiarants of all religions
(1
4414.1 all the nations of Europe, the United States
Present a most remarkable spectacle of tranquillity
lreserved in conjunction with the most complete
btrtY yet known in the world, which, instead of
letting in active operation the rival passions of the
latious Europeans who go thither, and who in
Europe
are deadly enemies, have bound them all in]
peace by a common interest, and rallied them around
the
standard of the general liberty. Never before
14
the world was there such a noble spec-
-lacie of opponents and rivals forgetting nationa
ItatiPathies, foregoing national habits, and all
'coming the equal and prosperous citizens
Et free community. What monarchy in Europe
Itre open its arms to all corners ? The nasty jea-
laY of monarchical ministers, their stupid and ab-
surd° systems of passports, licenses, douaniers, and
'ensdarmerie, their vast and onerous taxation,
wcitthl not allow of free ingress end egress, and their
systems of government are wholly incompatible
-411 that wonderful prosperity, wonderful amalga-
41ation of strangers, and wonderful tranquillity which
have sprung from the elective system of the United
s
tlltes• Such a government may not be suitable to
,t,ttir°l3e, because governments. grow from and are
lot
to the manners of a people ; but it both
the theoretical and practical purposes of a go-
ieriltnent as much superior to them as railways and
4°lnotive engines are superior to the cumbrous
ehicies which a century ago were the only public
conveyances in the country. The Times com-
mended its observations to our attention, and we
hope
our readers will think we have made good use
°1 then,.

We must say one word about the extracts
vit
lich the Times makes from the IT'whington
w°6e. They are full of fire and fury, and,
4te they true to the letter, the Union might be in
heth4ger• Wc, however, place no more reliance on
t ettt than on the threats of the Northern Stai, or
lh the rhodomontadc of the Standard about
th°•000 armed Orangemen being able to put down
Irish Catholics. The Times has occasionally
'llutliged so much in newspaper bavardage, that it
41 Ilst well know its value, and we are surprised that
s~eh
an old, not bird, but bird•catcher, should him-
'lf be caught by a brother's chaff.

The breaking up of the alliance between France
I" England has made it manifest that the popu-
iiiti
ciu of the latter country is much more inclined
to
Peace than the former. Till Al. GurzoT pro-
tiNneed- that noble sentence from the Tribune,
Peace everywhere," scarcely a single voice was
raised in France its favour : on the contrary, nearly
the
press, from which we infer the wishes
of a •
`ne people, demanded war. In England, how-
;vet, we believe the whole press was steadily in
tvour of peace ; the only difference was in the in-
4iisity of the regrer which different journals ex-
pressed at the possibility of its being interrupted.
ev•eral meetings were held to declare in favour of
41ace, and more would have been held, but from
opinion of some persons that such meetings
aiglu be injurious, by encouraging the warlike fer-
clur of the French, and the opinions of others,
that 4 War between France and England, for any rea-
(lb4 contemptible as whether MEHEMET ALL
s
"ikcsuld or should not hold Syria, was quite impos-
be• This difference is characteristic of the two
poC;•eciPle, and it is a striking illustration of the supe-
r civilization of our countrymen.
When such reiterated efforts are made by
."Tory press and the Tory parsons to
blacken the character of our manufacturing
'iltll4 commercial population, and to enhance
ilt virtues of a rural population, it is due
to the former to observe that the bulk of the Eng-
at belong to the former, and the bulk of the
to the latter. It was not from our rural
f:tPulation but from the dense manufacturing popu-
'" of Manchester and Leeds that the declara-
-I:4a against war went forth, and the journals of the
a,ti.uracturing districts were the foremost in depre-
-o:l''a war. The love of peace, therefore, is the
4r4cteristic of a commercial and manufactur-
ing coaimmunity, and the love of war of a
Cai ; Population. Yet there are not want-
writers in this Christian country, and if
'ltt4'n'cln report may be relied on those writer
e Christian ministers, who have advocated th
4"ial destruction of our manufacturing towns, and
the restoration of the people to rural ignorance and
til
rut ferocity. They wish to recal the good times
then the sound of a bugle or a drum summoned
the
inhabitants of our vallies together to revenge
to supposed insult to their Lords—they wish to
e 've in England the principle of serfdom, and
11rrY back our civilization to the condition of that
,
tile war-loving, agricultural French. Such a pro-
ject, though entertained by a Christian priest, and pro-
Pagated by a journal which speaks the sentiments of
the English clergy, is, as we see by this example,
Its hostile to humanity in its results as it is brutal in
„auception.
Notwithstanding the multiplied proofs which
‘4l odern society affords that towns are extremely
favourable to civilization—for hr them has origi-
nated all improvements—the landowners and the
clergy, the two leading legislative classes in this
country, have long evinced a decided hostility to the
growth and extension of towns. The obvious reason
°r their conduct is, that the increase of a town popu-
ist'" is unfavourable, not to the increase of their
~,
ettith--for it has enhanced the amount both of
;Is and tithes—but to the continuance of their
all •
°wet. They have been willing and ready to check
• Iltprovetnent, to impede civilization, to stop the
11r:gre's of humanity, to continue the love and the
fetice of war, by such enactments as Corn-laws,
the
preservation of their own sinister interests.
Joying great wealth, which the progress of so-
tY would not diminish—protected from all the
evils of toil, all their wants being supplied with-
out t any exertion of their own—honoured and re-
ii eted by society—placed in the highest rank,
1113eems impossib:e to conceive a happer lot
k", was that of the landowner and Ike
hbene-
-11 that (1 clergyman of our opulent community. All
was asked of them was to allow others to toil
eel
.vIY for their benefit. They were not asked to
up a single sixpence of their property, nor
t,ths:liMinish its security by a single hair. They were
the asked to permit other men to grow rich by
prig
sme e
OfriVZ
and
exertions, to leave industry and enter-
permit the capitalist and the la-
vitirer to make the most of their possessions and
theirta talents ; but this poor boon they refused,.'
with an over-reaching selfishness, air intense
fitness which has we believe no example in
l'ls4rY, they hays placedtrammels on industry, which

thcv do not exercise—the) have taxed the labour-
er's bread, they never labouring, and they have
sought to keep down and keg) back those who in
“riving to attain their level would have carried them
to a greater height. The result of this excessive
selfishness is a manifest vindication of the ways of
GOD to man. They have forfeited the respect of
society, and their rank, their property, their influ-
ence, are all endangered.

We publish this day a few names of noblemen
and genticmen who are desirous of erecting some
monument in honour of the late Lord HOLLAND.
The list will rapidly increase, if learning, political
consistency, and the most amiable affections of the
human heart arc considered deserving of reward.

No public character ever was so much beloved by
all parties as Lord HOLLAND. Men of every
shade in politics, those skilled in the arts, and re-
markable for their literature or genius, whether fo-
reigners
or natives of this country, were welcome
guests at his hospitable mansion ; and during the
last forty years, when so many good critics, good wri-
ters, and poets of no ordinary description, appeared,
few, if any, surpassed him in general knowledge,
refined taste, elegant accomplishments, and ready
wit. Sir WALTER SCOTT, though a thorough-
bred Tory, and abominating the very name of
Whig, had the generosity to pay him the highest
compliment for his amiable qualities and high at-
tainments. But there is only one opinion on the
subject, and, if we judge correctly of human nature,
the monument to the memory of the nephew of
Fox will be erected by the subscriptions of men of
all parties. While lie was the best friend of the
Dissenters and Catholics, be never forgot what
was due to the members of the Established
Church, or to any class opposed to them in politics
or religion.
-

The Scotsman of Saturday remains of opinion
that the cases of Mr. HARMER and Mr. BLACK
were dissimilar. Without professing to know much
of the Dispatch, the Scotsman affirms that it was
" charged with teaching doctrines subversive of mo-
rality and social order," and it maintains that this
charge was " valid to exclude Mr. HARMER, if
it were true." The Scotsman knows that this charge
of teaching immorality and subverting social order is
the mad-dog cry with which the bigots of all descrip-
tions assail all their opponents, and we regret to see
it countenanced for a single moment by such an
enlightened journal. The charge was made
against the Dispatch, because it inculcated certain
opinions which the priest and the Tory party dis-
like, and Mr. HARMER was proscribed on account
of those opinions. Now, we contend against
the principle of punishing opinions, be they what
they may. The Scotsman advocates it, and on ac-
count of Mr. BLACK'S opinions, he was excluded
from the Lord Provostship. If he, like the Scotsman,
advocates that principle, he was paid in his own coin.
If be admitted, there is no opinion disliked
by the bigots and the Tories which they will not
consider a proper test of exclusion from office, and
we shall never feel any regret to see it applied
for the discomfiture and punishment of those who
maintain it. Opinion should not be punished,
but refuted.

The Liverpool Anti-Slavery Society has decided to
withhold its support from Sir F. Buxton's new scheme,
a new Society, for the Suppression of the Slave-trade, by
civilizing Africa ; though it stedfastly adheres to its prin-
ciple, that until slavery be abolished the Slave-trade will
never cease to exist,

THE LATE ROBER,T FERGUS()

OF RAITIL

Robert Ferguson, Esq., M.P., of Raith, whose
lamented death it was our painful task to announce
in our Friday's Paper, was one of those steady
friends of liberty who, like the late Lord Holland,
directing his political: course by the principles of
Mr. Fox, has pursued it with undeviating consist-
ency during a long public life and parliamentary
career.
The death of such a man as Mr. Ferguson is
truly a' national loss, for although he seldom spoke
in the House of Commons, he was—what can at
any time be ill-spared, and'at the present will be
greatly missed—a long-tried and highly estimated
example of undeviating consistency, blended with
indefatigable industry in his attention to his parlia-
mentary duties, the effect of which was extensively
'beneficial in its influence on those just entering the
arena of public life.
In private society Mr. Ferguson's death will have
caused a vacancy which will be long before it can
be adequately supplied. Many will long look to
the now empty place he was wont to occupy, and
will remember how it was once filled. To kind,
unaffected, but Polished manners, Mr. F. united a
heart which could respond to every generous emo-
tion, reciprocate every warm affection, while it
could sympathise with the distresses of his poorer
fellow-men, and prompted him to relieve their dis-
tresses and assist their exertions.
Mr. Ferguson possessed a highly cultivated taste
in the arts, and science was proud to recognise him
as a not unworthy son.
By those who were his more intimate friends and
associates his memory will be cherished in connec-
tion with the recollection of many acts of kindness.
To his tenantry he was attached by the strongest
ties of grateful esteem.
This generous, open-hearted, and highly honour-
able man has descended to the tomb, honoured by
all, and attended by the tears and blessings of his
family, his friends, and his numerous tenantry and
dependents.___..