The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-01 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, FEB. 1, 1867.

The intelligence brought by the Saxonia from
New York, on the 19th ult., will confirm the appre-
hensions already existing in this country as to Ame-
rican prospects. It is still possible that by wise for-
bearance and timely concessions on both sides, by
the interference and the counsels of impartial and
moderate, men if any such are willing to mix in the
struggle, that the extremity of an armed conflict be-
tween the Legislature and the Executive may be
averted. At present, however, the political horizon
is black with the portents of storm and tempest, and
the reports and rumours which continually
reach us, although often far from reliable,
show, by their nature, the excitement and
anxiety of the public mind and the extent of
the prevailing belief that a crisis is at hand.
The position of the PRESIDENT is certainly a
critical one. He is not only threatened himself
with the loss of his influence and his power, which,
to do him justice, he has never made his primary
objects, but -00.. ti disgrace and deposition. He has
to defentlL'e Tself from the virulence of attacks to
voulo
which 'T wn occasional intemperance of conduct
and language may have sometimes laid him open,
but which owe the chief part of their inten-
sity to his manifest resolve to resist the
encroachments of any particular party on the
boundaries of the Constitution. But be has
a higher and more onerous duty before him than
the protection of his own immediate interests. It
is his place to fulfil his oath, and to hand down the
charter of American liberties intact to his successor.
According to the doctrine of all free nations, the
will of the people, as expressed through their re-
presentatives, must decide upon fresh laws and the
amendment of old ones, and the Executive, as its
very name implies, is bound to carry into
effect the decisions of the Legislature. But
when a comparatively small party have by a
series of fortunate chances obtained a com-
plete ascendancy in the representative chamber,
when for personal and party purposes they endea-
vour not to pass a particular measure, but to reverse
the whole constitution of the country, despising or
subverting those principles of Government which
have been deliberately accepted by the nation at
large, it may well be doubted whether the Executive
are bound to carry out the measures they propose.
Such is the present position of the American Govern-
ment and Congress. Such measures as the admis-
sion of the uneducated negro to sudden and com-
plete equality with the whites ; the overthrow of the
old doctrine of State Governments in the South, and
substitution of territorial Governments; the exclusion
of the representatives of a large proportion of the
States of the Union from Congress, and the admis-
sion of members from other States, whose conditions
do not bring them within the recognised limits ;
and, in fact, the whole system of ruling by force,
and of subverting civil to military law, are so dis-
tinctly opposed to those principles of government
which have hitherto been most cherished by the
American people, that the PRESIDENT and his
advisers may well refuse to carry them into execution.
If such a grand transformation is to be effected,
and the boasted freedom of the great Republic is
to be turned into a reign of terror, it is at least as
well to pause for the deliberate expression of public
feeling. A whole system of national government is
not to be changed in an hour, and, thanks to the
peculiar influences of American politics, even the
late elections cannot be accepted as a test of popular
convictions. The deliberation of years rather than
the hasty passion of an hour is demanded by the
seriousness of the proposed changes.
Very far removed from the calm wisdom of ear-
nest and thoughful patriots is the temper of the
men who now seek to govern America. The Senate
having passed a bill imposing additional limits on
the PRESIDENT'S appointing power, has lis-
tened patiently to Mr. SUMNER denouncing Mr.
JOHNSON as " an usurper and a monster of discord.'
Of Mr. STEVENS'S eloquence we have had specimens
enough, and such is the state of affairs that their
more rational and moderate followers, instead of
being able to influence their movements, are
dragged on to give their apparent concurrence to
measures they really shrink from.
A Washington journal, usually supposed to be
the PRESIDENT'S organ, gives plain intimation that
Mr. JOHNSON is prepared for extremities. He will,
it declares, serve out his term of office, and will
abide by his oath to defend the Constitution. The
army and navy will respond to his call, and if the
Radicals continue their treasonable course, the Go-
vernment will arm its supporters. This is strong
language, though probably not stronger than the ne-
cessities of the case require. The crisis is a serious oue,
and if the Americans of the Northern States were
willing to endure a four years' gigantic war to
preserve their Constitution and to consolidate the
Union, they ought to support the PRESIDENT when
he endeavours to fulfil those objects. Tempora
=lonian The very men who most loudly de-
nounced the " treason" of the South are now
playing a treasonable part themselves. They are
guilty of treason to the PRESIDENT, to the people,
to the Constitution—treason which, when it ceases
to prosper, men will not fail to call by its right
name.

It is the fashion nowadays for members of Par-
liament to meet their constituents and explain their
views before the session commences. Last evening
was a busy time for Mr. HORSMAN and Mr.
DOULTON. Both came forward—the one at Stroud,
the other at Lambeth—to give an account of their
proceedings. The former gentleman appears to
have been very well received, and spoke at some
length with his usual eloquence. He adverted to
his long experience, having been a member of Par-
liament before many in that room were born. He
mentioned, as a curious coincidence, that, in the
month of January, 1859, he was discoursing to them
on Parliamentary Reform, and every one then, as now,
was asking if the DERBY Government would bring
in a Reform Bill. Mr. HORSMAN paid a high tri-
bute to Mr. GLADSTONE'S merits, and declared that
many of the sins laid to his charge were caused by
the unfortunate circumstances of the case. His
Whig supporters were too cold, and his Radical
ones too hot, and hence much confusion and mis-
understanding arose. It required, indeed, more
than he could effect to get such a measure through
Parliament ; and, as for Mr. BRIGHT'S support, Mr.
HORSMAN showed that th It damaged the Govern-
ment more than it aided them. In a speech on the
subject the hon. member for Birmingham apologised
for giving his support to the measure, but declared
that he accepted it as a " lever" with which he
hoped to effect much more. This admission was
fatal to those who said it was a moderate way of
settling the question. Some one who met one of
the then Minister's sons afterwards asked him
what he thought of BRIGHT and his "lever," and
received for a reply, " Confound him ; his lever'