The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-11 00:00:00

'LONDON, SATITRDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1355.

Englishmen have frequently wondered at the
extraordinary influence exercised by the pro-
slavery party in the United States. They can-
not understand how a small and insignificant
minority could control and ride roughshod over a
majority seventy times their number—how
300,00$ planters could overrule the opinions of
25,000,000 of freemen, each of whom was theoreti-
cally supposed to possess an equal voice in the direc-
tion of public affairs. Wo now, however, possess
a key to the mystery. The solution of the pro-
blem is by no means difficult. It is to be found
in the reckless and unflinching determination
that excludes argument, and threatens with the
revolver and the bowie knife any one who has
the hardihood to express an opinion in opposition
to the thick-and-thin adherents of " the domestic
institution."

It is not even necessary to dissent from
these ruffian legislators. Should a doubt be
entertained as to the views of any un-
known person he will be exposed to certain
insult and very considerable danger. It would
be as much as a man's life was worth to have it
supposed that he was "an Englishman." The
old boast of Lord PALMERSTON, that the mere
faot of a person being a citizen of Great Britain
would insure his protection in any part of the
world, clearly does not apply to the Southern
States of Arserica. There he may be tarred and
feathered, imprisoned, banished, stabbed, shot,
or hanged, without the slightest chance of redress
being obtained. The Government are either
absolutely powerless, or, what is still worse, con-
nive at these excesses, and thereby render them-
selves participators in the crime ; and yet they
permit their Commissioner, Mr. Amos B. Con.
wurg, to suggest the occupation of the entire
a in violation of a solemn
Isthmus of Panam
treaty, because he alleges that the New Granada
government is unable or unwilling to protect
Passengers through their territory. Should they
not first remove the " beam " that obstructs
their own vision before they cavil at the mote
that dims the sight of their New Granada
brethren ?

A letter addressed to a morning contemporary,
and which we have transferred to our columns,
presents so graphic and truthful a description of
the system in force in the " debateable land" of
Kansas that it east,
a anentirely new light on the
subject. From
credible and trustworthy wit-
ness, who has himself
behelden the transactions he
so clearly narrates, we reive
an account of the
existing state of affairs
in that unfortunate dis-
trict. There is a verisimilitude about the narra-
tive of Mr. GLADSTONE that induces us to lend an
.asy credence to his statements. The most vivid
imagination could scarcely conceive anything like
the unmitigated ruffian described as
of the
most respectele merchants in Weston, who,r
as was
svident, did not deny himself in the rum punch,

gin-sling, brandy cocktails, and other compounds , :
issued at the bar !" That highly-respectable indi- :
vidual (!), with the head of a pistol protruding
from one pocket, and brandishing another loaded '
and ready for action, with threatening aspect and
attitude, occupied himself in fulminating the most
sanguinary threats, and grossly insulting all whom
he found to fall short of his own reckless deter-
mination. "I am bound to bring down some
one before I'm done ; I tell you, by G— I
am. I'll teach those infernal nigger-stealing
Free-soilers a lesson right pertly, that's a
fact. If there's a dog-gauned Abolitionist
abroad, I should like to see him, that
I should. I'm the man to put a chunk of lead
into his woolly head right off, that's what I'll do !
I reckon I can raise the top off the head of ere a
one of you with this here tool. Speak the
word, and by G— I'm your man ! That's so. I
should like to see the first Freesoiler that opens
his mouth, that I should. I'd send him to hell
pretty quick afore be knew what he was about,
that's what rd do. I'm a ce-urious customer, I
am 1" And yet this foul-mouthed miscreant,
who continued to pour forth these atrocious
threats without intermission, interlarding his dis-
course with the most horrible and blasphemous
imprecations, in place of being at once dis-
armed and ducked, or put in irons, was sur-
rounded by an admiring and sympathising
crowd, ready to take his part, and to lynch any
one who dared to resent the insults so profusely
scattered around, or to lift the gauntlet which he
had so daringly flung down.
The great majority of the audience were
worthy of the orator—" men of large frame, with
red flannel shirts and immense boots, worn oat-
side their trousers, their faces unwashed and un-
shaven, still reeking with the smoke and dust and
bloodshed of Lawrence, wearing the most savage
looks, and giving utterance to the most horrible
imprecations and blasphemies, armed, moreover,
to the teeth with rifles and revolvers, cutlasses
and bowie knives " maddened with whisky,
and inflaming each other to fresh acts of
atrocity ! Such were the men described by the
pro-slavery journals, as " the friends of law and
order." ! 1 ! Journals which headed their
columns with expressions such as " War to the
Knife," and strove to increase the fierce excite-
ment that prevailed on every side.
Was such a scene ever before witnessed in a
quasi civilised land ? Even the Sans Culottes of
the olden time sink into insignificance when
compared with these ruffians, who prostituted
the name of liberty by their fearful excesses.
The respectable merchant of Weston could
only be compared to a Malay running
a-muck. He was worse than a noxious animal,
and should have been put into a lunatic asylum at
the first convenient opportunity. But after such
scenes, can we wonder at the temporary success of
a cause supported by such means ? No indi-
vidual could undertake the Quixotic task
of taming all the ruffians of whom this
" respectable vo,erchent" was the type. It could
only be done by the general movement
of the Federal troops. But unfortunately these
are the pets of the President—these are the
classes whom he lends all the power of the Exe-
cutive to support. Should this state of affairs
long continue it will be the imperative duty of
the Northern Free-soilers to sever an union that
can no longer be maintained with credit to them-
selves or advantage to the community at large.
That simple course will soon bring " the friends
of law and order Or to their senses, and take down
their conceit and bullying propensities in no
trifling degree.

" What is Reform ?" inquired a neophyte of a
veteran in politics. " Why, plaster ; nothing but
plaster," was the reply. "The old Constitution
gets so cranky as to excite alarm, and the Whigs,
who pretend to be its special guardians, and who
contrive to make a good thing of it, stucco the
front. That's Reform." A briefer answer, and
one which all will well understand, will be found
in the words, " A Whig do."

What else was the Reform Bill, with its re-
stricted and ill-apportioned suffrage and open
voting ? A triumph for the people certainly at
the time, inasmuch as it was an illustration or
vindication of their power, if n of their intern.
pence. But what followed ? Why, a Venetian
oligarchy, that could do and did pretty much as
it liked—the transfer of the governing power to
the Whigs, who pretended to bo the People's
friends, from thiii Tories, who did not. Never
was there a greater swindle—never had a com-
munity better reason to exclaim, " Save us from
our friends." The vile system of borough-mongering
was to receive its coup de grace—the venal tribes
of freemen, pot wallopers, and scot and lot voters
were to be set aside or swamped by intelligent
and middle-class constituencies the People's
voice was to be heard in the People's House, and
Ministers for the future were to put i❑ force the
People's behests. Instead of which, what were the
results o Tory borough-mongering received a
severe blow ; big boroughs .vere omitted from
the fatal schedules. The work of corruption
went on to a large extent as before, and intimi-
dation became almost universal. A petty shop-
keeper found it hard to'keep a conscience, know-
ing, if he did so, its owner's virtue would be
rewarded by blank books and an empty till. The
People's House became a second House of Peers
—all sorts of adventurers found their way into it
—all sorts of interests were represented in it—
the interests of the People were least represented
of ail.

The People, believing in the sham, cried
out for further reforms. Such as eould not pru-
dently be denied, and did the Whigs no harm,
were conceded ; mostly, the people got commis-
sions. Was anything too glaringly oppressive
and absurd. Out, at the Minister's word, sprang
a commission. Whatever there was of vir-
tue in the People's House was systemati-
cally tempted 1)y the very means with which
Ministers set about their pretended reforms.
The more appearance there was of concession the
greater danger to the people's rights. The entire
kingdom was menaced, as it still is, with a perfect
network of centralisation. Almost every good
thing the people got had a tag to it, which made
it questionable, in many cases, whether in the long
run they had not better have been without it.
What the Tories, with their apparent irresponsi-
bility, could not do—the Whigs, with their appa-
rent responsibility, did. The upshot was a Tory
Ministry came into power, and the people got
more of what they wanted from their
old antagonists than they did from their
friends. PEEL obliterated the Corn Laws from
the statute-book, gave us Free Trade
immense boons—and the everlasting Whigs were
called on again. DISRAELI followed, and perished
in the pangs of parturition. The Whigs struck
up an alliance with the supple ABERDEEN-and
between them the country drifted into war.
Then came PALMERSTON, and the Government was
all Whig together—Whigs of the pure old blood.
All this time the people were nowhere. The
thought of calling in a Ministry of the represen-
tatives of the People was never suffered to dwell

in the Royal brain. 08 ice was made by the
Reform Bill, and the pre( doi is Reform Bill kept
it perpetually within the sir grasp. They gave
titles, they dealt in r trovaises, they taxed
the people, they led the House of Commons
by the nose. One p Dpular representative
was a soldier, another . a sailor, a third
a lawyer, a fourth had an ambitious wife, a fifth
had friends or supporters who longed for a Go-
vernment appointment,• a. sixth, seventh, and
eighth had friends who wan ted a Government lift
of some sort. Every Meint er's besetting sin was
studied—every member's wi sh had but to be ex-
pressed, sooner or later, t 3 be gratified. The
country might go to the dog '3 so that the Whigs
continued in power, and a long way in that
direction the country went. In all our history
there is hardly anything raore infamous,
hardly anything more disereditahle to the govern-
ing power, than the mismanagement of the
Russian War, and its conclusion by the
" Precious Peace," Whiggism never showed
itself so presumptuolus and so deplorably
effete. We should have to go far back,
indeed, to discover when the country was so
stultified, had its interesis so neglected, and its
dignity so seriously lowered. "I am the State,"
said the vainglorious Louis. "I am the Lords
and Commons ; I am the governing power !"
might Lord PALMERSTON have said with equal
truth, from his entrance into power up to the
conclusion of Peace ; "I, as the leader of the
Old Whigs." The people stared, the people
wondered, the people lamented, but they
did not rise and drive their oligarchic rulers
from power. They subscribed to the Crimean
Fund, and delivered themselves over to the fasci-
nations of the Times correspondent. Throughout
the entire war—throughout the sittings of the
Congress at Paris, the People's lips were as good
as closed. The voice that could awake Europe
was sealed by the Reform Bill of '32, and now
that the future is clouded more than ever, and
we are drifting we know not where—their lips
are still closed—and the cry for Vote by Ballot
and an Extension of the Suffrage, those essentially
necessary measures, is waited for in vain. We
have one comfort—this state of things can't last
for ever.

Death of John Wood, Esq., Chairman of

the Board of Inland Revenue.

We regret to announce the demise of this
much-respected public servant, who departed this
life at two o'clock yesterday morning, at York
House, Bath, in the 69th year of his age.
Mr. Wood has for some time past been suffer-
ing from a severe and dangerous complaint, and
had left town for Bath, in the hope that quietude
and a change of air might restore him to health.
Until within the last few days no change for the
worse appeared. On Thursday much anxiety was
entertained as to his safety, and, as already stated,
on Friday morning he expired.
Mr. Wood had been advantageously connected
with the public service for upwards of a quarter
of a century, first as Chairman of the Board of
Stamps and Taxes, and afterwards as Chairman
of the Board of Inland Revenue, which office he
filled till the time of his death.

Mr. Wood was elected a member of Parliament
for the borough of Preston in the year 1826,
when he stoutly contested the town against Capt.
Barrie, of the Royal Navy, who was energetically
supported by the Tory party of Preston. Lord
Stanley (the present Earl of Derby) was elected
with Mr. Wood on the same occasion.

In politics Mr. Wood. was a staunch Reformer,
and, during his stay in the House of Commons,
invariably voted for honest and cheap g,....-
ment. On assuming dice under the Govern-
ment he withdrew from political life, and directed
his attention entirely to the public service.
Mr. Wood was son of Mr. Ottiwell Wood, first
a successful manufacturer in Manchester, and sub-
sequently, till the period of his death, a retired
gentleman in Liverpool, where, during a long and
useful life, he took a distinguished lead in most
of the great political movements that agitated the
public mind previous to the passiag of the Reform
Bill.
Mr. John Wood has left a widow and two
daughters to lament the loss of a kind husband
and most indulgent father.

THE COURT CIRCULAR.

BALMORAL, OCT. 9.

The Queen and the Prince Consort. went yesterday to
the Shiel of Alt na Guissach, where they remain the
night.
The lion. Mary Seymour w?s in attendance upon her
Majesty.

Meetings of the Oxford University Commission were
held at No. 17, Great Queen-street, Westminster, on
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday last. The com-
missioners present were the Earl of Harrowby, the
non. Edward Twisleton, the Dean of Wells', Sir John
Aardry, and the secretaries.

Despatches were sent yesterday from the CJlonia
Office to the Governors of the North American Provinces.

We are informed that her Majesty, on her return from
Scotland next week, purposes pursuing a route which
will obviate the necessity of her pa3sage through the
streets of London, viz , from the great northern Rail-
way, near the cattle market, on to the North London
line, and from the latter line, on to the London and
South Western by a junction at Kew. A connection
exists between all the railways north of the Tharnep,
having termini in London, and the South Western.
Her Majesty, therefore, will be enabled to proceed direct
from Scotland to Windsor without (if she chooses) re-
moving from her seat, the railway carriage proceeding
throughout the entire journey. Her Majesty will reach
the junction with the North London about 6.30 p.m.
on the 17th instant.

Their Royal llighuesses the Duchess of Cambridge
and the Princess Mary are expected to arrive today in
town, from Germany.
We have learned with much pleasure that General
Windham, who distinguished himself so greatly in the
attack on the Sebastopol Redan, has accepted the offer
of a divisional command in India. We believe that he
will soon be gazetted to the staff of the Bengal army.—
Smith, Elder, and Co.'s Overland
We announced yesterday the probability of Captain
Hackett declining to accept the vacancy at Greenwich
Hospital, caused by the lamented death of Captain
ISlonbray. We have now to state that Sir C. Wood
has bestowed the office on Capt. W. A. Willis (1844),
who entered the navy Aug. 24, 1811, and obtained his
first commission July 17, 1824.

DRURY•LANE THEATRE.—Last evening, on the occa-
sion of her benefit, Mrs. E. Waller appeared in the cha-
racter of Beatrice, in " Much Ado about Nothing." The
performance was not an even One ; the fourth act was
her greatest triumph. Mr. B. Sullivan sustained the
part of Benedick excellently, and Mr. A. Young made
a capital Dogberry. The house was very fully and
fashionably attended.
TRH NEW CONVICT PRISON AT CRATELI3I.-0a Wed•
nesday nearly 200 convicts arrived at the new convict
prison, Chatham, from Woolwich, having been trans-
ferred from the Warrior hulk. The convicts were in
charge of Capt. Buller, the governor of the consolidated
establishment at Chatham, and, on landing at St. Mary's
creek, were marched up to the new prison, where they
were received by Major Stewart, late of the 92d High-
landers, deputy-governor of the establishment. There
are at present about 300 cmvicts at Chatham, who for-
merly occupied the Warrior hulk. The prisoners now on
board the Defence hulk will be removed to Chatham on
the 16th inst., and after they have been transferred to
Chatham the Warrior and Defence are to be broken up.
The new establishment at Chatham affords accommoda-
tion for 1,100 convicts, nearly double the number sta-
tioned on board the Warrior and Defence. Only a por-
tion of the building at Chatham is completed, but as
soon as the whole is finished convicts will be forwarded
to that prison from Dartmoor, Portsmouth, and Mill-
bank. It is intended that the prisoners shall be employed
in excavating the foundation of the large steam basin to
be constructed at Chatham Dockyard.—Tfmo,