The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-08 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1846.

Intelligence has been received at Havre from New
York to the 17th of December, being two days later
than that brought by the Cambria, and we are not at
all surprised to find that it is not of a satisfactory
character. The feelings displayed in the Senate at
the meeting of the 15th were of a warlike character.
On the morning of that day, in place of proceeding in
the routine business, which was to complete the or-
ganization of Committees, the House entered upon the
resolutions proposed by General CASS relative to the
state of the army and navy. General Cass, on re-
newing the subject, took the opportunity of
making a war speech of an inflammatory cha-
racter. He asserted that war was imminent,
and considered it incumbent on Congress to look their
duties and difficulties in the face, and prepare for
the contest. He approved of the course of the PRE-
SIDENT in relation to this subject, and also of the
manner in which France had been alluded to in the
Message. The PRESIDENT had done his duty, and it
now remained for them to do theirs. He besought
the Senate to present an undivided front. The best
support they could give to the PRESIDENT was to
respond to the Message, and the way to prevent war
was to make the necessary preparations to meet
it. "On the frontier," he said, " our popula-
tion is scattered and exposed, our coast is without
fortifications, and our navy is not in a warlike
condition. What we want is the material for military
and naval operations. The men are always ready.'
He concluded by remarking that great responsibility
rested on them, and he trusted they would discharge
it fearlessly, and with a wise forecast. During the
course of his arguments he read extracts from the
debate in the English Parliament upon the receipt of
the President's inaugural address, and from their tone
he inferred that an amicable adjustment of the ques-
tion would be found to be impracticable. The tone of
the speeches which followed and the result were much
of a piece with the warlike General's remarks. Mr.
MaNcust regretted that the gallant senator should
have supported his motion by a speech of the warlike
character in which he had seen fit to indulge; but
he was willing to trust the business with the Execu-
tive, with whom the responsibility rests, and if the
result should be war, after the call of the ayes, and
the noes, by which that measure would be sanctioned,
there would be no further division on this subject.
He deprecated all inflammatory discussion ; it was not
necessary to rouse the country to a proper sense of
its rights and its duties—these the people were always
alive to. He, however, did not apprehend war, and
he believed such a result was not contemplated. lie
hoped that negotiations might be resumed. He con-
cluded by moving that the further consideration of the
subject be postponed ; but the motion was lost. A third
senator expressed his gratification at the declarations
made by gentlemen, that should war come, it would
find no opposer. He did not know whether this was
attributable to their patriotism or to the salutary les-
sons taught by the last vs ar. It might be that lessons
of experience had taught the malcontents the serious
consequences to themselves of opposition after war
should come. In this he is supposed to have alluded to
Mr. BUCHANAN and Mr. BANCROFT, Hubbarl, of N.
H., and other members of the democratic party. A fourth
said—" When the conflict shall come--ifcome it must—
which he did not and could not believe—he trusted
we would be found united to a man; that our motto
would be that of the lamented DECATUR--` Our
country, right or wrong.'" General Cass rose to

reply, but gave way to a message from the House,
informing the Senate that that body had passed the
usual resolutions on the occasion of the announce-

ment of the death of Mr. PEYTON, and asking
the concurrence of the Senate in the same.
The subject was not resumed.

If such are the sentiments expressed in the
Senate, what may be expected in the Lower
House, when the men of the " far west" and
the Pots party shall have an opportunity of
speaking out ? The Washington correspondent of
the New York Inqu;rer thus closes his letter :

_ .
" I am now able to state, I think with certainty, that
the dispatches by the Cambria, received by Mr.
PAKEN Ram, were not in the least in disapproval of his
course. I can also state positively that the negotia-
tion has not been resumed."

The argument for large constituencies is so suc-
cinctly and temperately put in the article " Go-
vernment," in Mr. KNIGHT'S " Political Dictionary,"
(now in course of publication), that we are glad to
quote it in support of the views which we have lately
been urging of further Parliamentary Reform ; and
we will, at the same time, take the opportunity of
saying that Mr. KNIGHT'S publication ought to be in
the hands of every elector. " First, the greater is
the number of those who have a share in the Govern-
ment, the greater is the probability of the general
interest being regarded ; for the more widely are the
powers of Government distributed, the less division
there will be in the community, and consequently
the less will particular interests appear ; and further,
there is a greater probability, in an extensive distri-
bution of political power, that all the disturbing
effects of particular interests will neutralise one an-

other, and merge in the pursuit of the general interest,
Secondly, the more political power is extended, the
more widely will the improvement to be derived from
its exercise be diffused."
These are the two great arguments for the exten-
sion of the franchise to large constituencies. The
political franchise is one of the most effective edu-
cators of the people; and the more voters there are,
the greater is the chance of a good choice—of " all
the disturbing effects of particular interests neutralising
one another." Those who wish to keep the power of
the State in the hands of a few are always ready to
speak of the ignorance of the lower classes, as unfitting
them for the possession of the franchise. There are
two answers to this :—That some of the ignorance is
to be laid at the door of their not having the franchise;
and that, if the lower classes are ignorant, this is no
greater incapacity (if so
great) than the prejudices
and sinister interests of the higher classes. The
English statute-book furnishes too many proofs of the
way in which the aristocracy and the landed interest
have legislated for themselves.

We have said that the political franchise is an
effective educator. It is, if a state of things exists in
which the franchise can be exercised freely by the
large numbers who are necessarily more or less de-
pendent on superiors, where bribery and intimidation
prevail : where landlords make their tenants-at-will
vote at their own bidding,
and votes are sold for ale
or money, then the elective franchise ceases alto-
gether to be a means of education ; and, further than
this, it becomes an instrument to degrade instead of
raising (as it might do) the character of the voter,
turning him into a crouching slave, or staining his
soul with venality.
The wider the franchise is diffused, the more per-
sons are necessarily brought within the electoral