The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-07 00:00:00

TAIT S.

The article on " The Tariff and the Oregon," by an
Englishman in Anseric, contains a well digested account
o fine presenreeiticifteeitesseotiveeeVoiseddeeratestaia,asSd**,
parties that unfortunately have been allowed to usurp
the Government of the country. We fear there is but
too much truth in the view which the writer takes of
the populace, and the ruinous influence they have upon
all statesmen not endued with virtuous principles, and,
above all, moral courage. The mob, in fact, guide the
destiny of the young Republic. The names of Wash-
ington, Jefferson, and others of the same class, are, to all
appearance, revered, but they are revered as were the
names of Brutus and Cassius, and others of thp same
school, when Rome was sunk in slavery, and the people
only thought of indulging their grovelling appetites.
" The plague of demagogues is upon the land—the com-
promises of the Constitution are trampled under foot—
the tyranny of the numerical majority is complete."
And in another place he says—" The tyranny of public
opinion in this country paralyses the boldest hearts, and
moral courage as a virtue is nearly extinct, in all the
relations, public or private, of American life." This is
a sad picture, but we believe it is true to the letter, and
that America, of all places in the world, is the very
last which a man of refined habits and independent
mind would select for his residence. Mobs are the most
cruel, the most unrelenting, and the most unjust of all
tyrants. Some hopes are held out that the Senate will
have the courage to resist both the mob and
Polk, [and the very long time they have taken
in coming to a decision is favourable to the
opinion.
"I am tolerably confident," says the writer,
in summing up his remarks " that in a very short time a
resolution would pass the Senate, recommending the
Executive to adjust the matter peacefully and by com-
promise." We are surprised to see Tait devoting six or
seven of his valuable pages to the miserable, trifling, and
silly common-places of such a man as Dr. Carus. We
have looked over the diary and can find not one original
remark, except in the shape of an absurdity ; and as for
correct information, it is totally out of the question.
What are we to think of a German philosopher who,
anxious to describe the mode of Presbyterian worship in
Scotland, entered, not one of the kirks, but an episcopalian
chapel, and with much gravity passes censure on the
dull monotony of the Calvanistic service ? He is fond
of giving the sobriquet," Sombre Ecossais" to the Scotch-
man ; and, as his philosophy must find a reason for this
sadness in the national countenance, he comes to the
conclusion that the beheading of Mary Stuart did it all..
'rhe following are his words :—" That peculiar melancholy
expression so often to be perceived in the Scotch, and
which justifies the expression, Sombre Neossa
ways seemed to be connected, as well as thqemi:olinstdsanodf
misty atmosphere, with the impression i?
the Scotch, that with the head of the unfortunate Mary
Mary
fell too the crown of Scotland, and was broken to pieces."
The following are the concluding remarks on the "Posi-
tion and Prospects of Sir Robert Peel
The crisis is an inviting one to a man of so much ambition
as the Premier is known to be. The breaking up of old par-
tiothfeass
nbhrhao a
aws
dd
been
ocetillevtwe
cdi more
esianl Iva]
iutt
beannncyeo
earlier
atnrroltinhe
gre gppraeerraitteydlloefatienugr bhai sl predispositionstaenrcye,
The more general diffusion off` wealth and intelligence has
made this element in society more exte
partyand stronger,
independent altogether of the weakeninngs?
combina-
tions, than it ever was before. Sections off)societ3 too, have
risen into political importance, with wants and wi's'hes which
the old hereditary distinctive measures of Whig or Tory can
neither gratify nor discomfit. Common sense embodied in
practical measures—legislative and administrative, for the
real wants of the age, and with respectful, not slavish
deference to its opinions—are what will establish a Ministry
in office. Peel, certainly, has no claims to implicit confi-
dence ; his juvenile antecedents are against him ; but if he
has not yet unreservedly devoted himself to the promotion of
such a policy as Liberals could support, how stand the Whigs ?
While in power, they played fast and loose with the princi-
ples, by professing which they had acquired it. Of Peel it
may be said, that his actions have been better than his bad
professions ; of the Whigs, that their actions have been worse
than their good professions. Neither have claims torour en-
tire confidence for the past ; it is the future of both that must
decide. Peel, we have shown, stands on a vantage ground
for this renewal of the contest : it remains to be seen whether
he will have the clear-sightedness and intrepidity to avail
himself of it. Mr. Cobden told him, not long ago, that
in
consequence of his free trade measures, he would find himself
most popular in the manufacturing districts, were he to visit
them. The substitution of measures really capable ofrelleeva-
ing Ireland, for coercion—the appointment of a Lord L -
tenant, who, with the genial sympathies, and perhaps some-
thing of the theatrical dash of Lord Normanby, combined
with higher intellect and sounder common sense—would
irnengdienr
the him equally
leadingequ a ll y
politicalpopular
agents,
a tslreland.and aTthhee
‘iechangews
the popular party in that country, invites to the air).dpend
tem-
per of
a check on the petulance of privileged sectarianism—to. place
ex-
periment. The introduction of measures calculated to impose
as well as political equality—to unsectarianizetpur
the adherents of all religious sects more on a footinbglicofedsouccamiz
eta°
tion in the way least calculated to exaspera
popular prejudices, would conciliate an m
P°l. And there is
supporters throughout England and Scotland.o
Robert _,
might
not one of these courses of policy which Sire Rapid)
nut rcei
augmentation
not adopt, with as much honour to himself, and opinion, as
of his influence over the sounder part
imbued with sectarian
n t bodya te 0o
nf
free trade. Nobody believes him to be
d of daring coercive,
ffspositio
p os, and nature n,
forcible measures.
prejudices; no one believes him fond
f old party connexions : one
himself fro He has emancipated ones that really do him
and be may take new
alike incline him to Ntiison°talannidmnliberal modes of government.
step farther,
honour. The hour has come which must stamp his historicalonths will determine whether he
character. The next few m
handed down
than
is tobeWm, or as one who almost became a
England ever had before
to posterity as a greater Minister
great Minister."