The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 8, 1869.

vinced that nothing will effectually eradicate itbi
the adoption of the most decided measures, and the
exercise of as much energy and perseverance as can
be brought to the accomplishment of the task.

The Conservative journals of to-day have made an
announcement which will afford great satisfaction to
the public. The Committee, who have charge of the
Memorial to Lord DERBY, have abandoned the origi-
nal intention of placing a statue in the Carlton Club,
and propose that the memorial shall be erected in
some public place, and that contributions shall be
received from all parts of the country. They are
much to be commended for having come to this
decision, and it will afford great gratification to
the numerous friends and admirers of the late
lamented Earl. It is always desirable to
separate the memory of a departed States-
man, as much as possible, from the mere
party attributes which appertained to him in
life, and in the :case of the distinguished noble-
man before us no great effort need be made.
Lord DERBY advocated the cause of his party with
vigour and eloquence, but he was not a party mar in
the fullest acceptation of the term. He took a wide
range of observation, and he possessed many of those
sterling qualities which men of all ranks in this coun-
try appreciate and admire. He has passed away
from among us, his friends can no more smile at his
wit, nor his foes shrink from his powerful criticism, he
can no longer command the applause of listening
Senates, nor assist in the Councils of his Sovereign,
but his memory lingers among us associated not so
much with the high and honourable distinctions re-
corded: above, as with the genial qualities and
frank spirit which were his particular traits, his
noted characteristics. Lord DERBY was an Eng-
lishman who fully recognised the great qualities of
his countrymen, and it is right and fitting that his
countrymen should do him honour. To place a
statue in the precincts of a building that
is dedicated to a political purpose, would
not at all realise the wish that pervades
the minds of those who recognised iu him a great
statesman and an honourable exponent of his order.
Such a memorial should be placed in some public spot,
so that it may appear a work of importance and
a national tribute to the memory of a distinguished
man. The Carlton Club may gracefully and appro-
priately afford SOME testimony to its most honoured
member, but the memorial par excellence should not
be there ; and hence the decision of the committee is a
wise and fitting one. The generations that come after
us should be informed that his survivors respected the
memory of one who acted with uprightness, and ad-
mired the talents which were exercised in the service
of his country. Lord DERBY himself would have
wished his statue to be placed where the public
might be within sight and observation. It has been
truly said, to " live in hearts we leave behind is not
to die ;" and the late Earl will long live in the grate-
ful recollection of many. It is advisable, however,
that some public token should be afforded of the high
and honourable place which he held in the general
estimation, and some tribute be paid to the
services of one who strove with so much
spirit and resolution to do the best he could for his
day and generation. The noble Earl's long career
is over, his work is finished, and his task accom-
plished ; but, inasmuch as he laboured with zeal
and ability in the service of his fellow-countrymen,
and was a shining light for the historic pages of the
future, it is well that political prejudices and par-
tialities should be laid aside, and that the last
.honour that can be paid to departed worth, should
be rendered in a national spirit to one whose proudest
claim to distinction consisted not in being Whig or
Conservative, Liberal or Radical, but in dis-
playing those qualities which inspire alike all
parties and command the respect of the highest and
the lowest. Let the DERBY Memorial, then, be con-
ducted in a comprehensive spirit, and friends and
followers, opponents and contemporaries can meet
on common ground to recognise the truth, that while
death levels all party and paltry distinctions it only
calls forth in fresh fervour and strengthens with new
zeal the respect and reverence which are felt for those
whom mankind will not willingly forget, and whose
recollection cannot pass away with their earthly
existence.

THE Times deserves credit fo; an act of enterprise
and energy. On Monday the PRESIDENT of the
United States delivered his Message. More than two
columns of it appeared in the Times the next morning.
Given at this length we are enabled to do that which
REUTER'S telegrams very rarely enable us to do—
form a just conception of the subject of the
telegram. Though Presidents' Messages have
no longer the interest which they once possessed,
though they are no longer manifestoes affecting
the very existence of the nation most deeply con-
cerned in them, nor the peace of our own country,
they are still worthy of consideration. For beyond all
question the United States will in the course of a
few years occupy the foremost place among the
countries of the world, foremost in social advancement
and in political influence. We shall do well, there-
fore, to study this Message, and see how far it is a
message of prosperity to one side of the Atlantic,
how far it is a message of peace to the other.
The conqueror of the South on the battle-field is

able to announce that his victories have not been in
vain, and that he will complete them at the Capitol.
It is one thing to subdue a people by force;
it is another to restore it to willing obedience. One
by one the revolted States have complied with the
conditions prescribed by the American constitution
until there is now only one which still maintains its
position of hostility. Only Georgia, the State that
SHERMAN traversed and devastated in his wonderful
march, still holds out. It can hardly be supposed
this attitude will be maintained much longer.
If in old time Texas found the position

I _on do, there is no chance of a settlement
of this too long vexed question. The PRESIDENT
expresses a different hope. We in England most
heartily share it; but hope is not expectation, and if
it is to be a condition of settlement that we acknow-
ledge ourselves wrong at the outset, this dispute will
remain unadjudicated throughout all time. Mean-
while, it is satisfactory to find that the chief ruler of
the United States admits that some improvement
is possible in the commercial relations between
the United States and Canada, and that
colonies cannot be transferred from one allegiance to
another without their consent. When he predicts
that England will before long see that it is for her
interest to establish her present dependencies as

"independent Powers, members of the family of na-
tions," we are certainly not inclined to contradict
him. The event is all the more likely to happen if
the Washington Government maintains its present
attitude towards our American colonies, that of
leaving them to work out their own independence.