The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-07 00:00:00

Genius for Battle that ever this world has witnessed?

Have we not ?—Answer yet—

644'4V11/410Boulogne heights, once the wonder of war,
Where the legions of triumph their banners unfurled,
When the brave from all quarters, Alsace to Navarro,
Crowded there with Napoleon to conquer the world 1"

It is by a recollection of that all but attempted
invasion of England by NAPOLEON-it is by a recol-
lection of that triumphantly accomplished invasion

byWILLIAm ofNormandy, thenceforth called by way

of particular and resplendent distinction (among all
conquerors) THE Conqueror, par cxeellence—it is
by a remembrance of such conspicuous and shining
facts in the history of the past, that England is
justified, if she needs justification in arming herself
to the teeth defensively, in preparing herself
against any and every possibility, in doing this

moreover alike upon sea and upon shore, in regard
to the army and in regard to the navy, in the per-
fecting of her artillery, and in the multiplication of
her Rifle Volunteers ! In prudence, in reason,

—upon the merest dictates of common sense and
rational forethought she is impelled to this by her
knowledge of the one: simple and notorious
fact that confronting her is a power supreme and
irresponsible save before GOD and before Posterity,
the awful power of 36,000,000 of human beings
gathered up into the grasp of one powerful, and
resolute, and inscrutable intellect, ready to be
launched,at any moment,whithersoever that imperial
Dictator wills, with the thunderbolts of war latent
in an army of 600,000 of the finest soldiers in
Christendom. This powerful ruler of 36,000,000
of Frenchmen has but very recently, we must re-
member, arrogated to France the glory and the pre-
rogative of making war when she so pleases" for an
idea." The approaching recurrence of another First
of January affords us a vivid reminder of that last
New Year's Day, which demonstrated strikingly
enough the accuracy of that simple asser-
tion. Englishmen seeing these things, knowing
these things;unable to shut their senses to the
recognition of truths thus patent, as the phrase is,
to the whole of this present generation, English-
men, we say, not unnaturally reflect under these
circumstances that a new " idea" may suddenly
spring to life—and that that new idea may be—
what was accomplished not much less than a thou-
sand years ago byIVILLIAm, what was threatened not
much more than fifty years ago by the great NAPO-
LEON—the Invasion of England ! Therefore, Eng-
land is arming—England is increasing her insular
defences—England has taken to herself once more a
Channel Fleet—England is mustering, far and
wide among her busy population, an -.improvised
National Guard, called by the more modest title
of Rifle Volunteers. To what end ? In order
that she may, if possible, put such " an idea " as
this out of the head of her Imperial ally ; or, what
would be better still, prevent its getting in there ; or
which for the sake of humanity, let us hope may never
be the case, for then, in that solemn contingency,
would certainly come the tug of war, as surely as
when Greek met Greek—that in the event of an
invasion, England at least may be prepared for the
emergency ! Taking to this end,as the motto for the
banners of her Rifle Corps, the old heroic motto of
the NAPIERS—

" READY, AYE READY !"

The midnight of our Cabinet Dictatorship is
past, and the dawn of an approaching session is
seen here and there. The Premier, by far the ablest
man to encounter the diplomatists of Paris, cannot
be spared, because the grave questions which will
be discussed at the opening of Parliament will need
his presence at home. Lord CowLEY, therefore,
competent to little else—witness his miserable per-
formance in the business of the Conspiracy Bill—
will be Parisian Clerk to the Cabinet at home, and
will by the telegraph and despatches be kept as
well up to the mark as may be. Anyhow Reform
can hardly get on at home without that prince of
Reformers, Lord PALMERSTON.

Then the Financial Reform meeting at Liverpool
—this, too, is in anticipation of the early meeting of
Parliament, which surely means to do some-
thing when it thus " takes time by the fore-
lock." The Liverpool gentlemen intended
a little wholesome instruction for Mr.
GLADSTONE ; who, we may be sure, overlooks
none of their lessons, but who, we may be equally
sure, thinks his doubts of far more consequence than
their assertions. Who Will certainly not be dis-
posed to tax property and let income go free when
he addresses a house of which by far the greater
part are men of landed property. Who will not
even, we fear, redress that grossest of all our fiscal
iniquities, the almost entire exemption of landed
property from taxation ; the succession duty turn-
ing out to be the veriest hoax possible, to be
called a legacy duty at all. The Liverpool Finan-
cial Reformers are, however, a reminder to Mr.
GLADSTONE and the nation that he and w• must in
a few weeks stand face to face.

Pamphlets, too, are beginning to appear on
our table—one is just now lying before us,
published by E. STANFORD, on " Manhood Suffrage,'
by J. It. STODIIART, Esq., the object of
which is to describe a plan by which every
man may have a vote, yet only thirty-two
members be returned under the auspices of the
million. It is this. Some boroughs, it is presumed,
will be disfranchised as notoriously too small for
separate representation. The writer would take
thirty-two of the members, and give them one
each to thirty-two districts, into which he would
divide the whole kingdom. In these districts every
adult male should have a vote ; even those who had
a vote for the old constituency having a second
vote for the larger one. Thus, the good influence
of intelligence and education is to be preserved in
the election even of these people's members, while
yet the predominance of operatives' votes shall en-
sure the return of workmen's members. The con-
stituencies would number more than two hundred
thousand voters, and therefore, it is presumed, be
quite inaccessible to bribery. The plan is one de-
signed to secure the return of some working-class
representatives, while it shall equally secure
all constituencies from being swamped
by the numerical superiority of the work-
ing classes, under Universal Suffrage ! The
scheme certainly does not want ingenuity and
plausibility. All of us confess that it would be
a great advantage if a few of the class of men who
spend their energy in organising strikes, could find
their way into the House of Commons, and there
learn their real standing; but no plan yet proposed
would effect this without endangering the too
general supremacy of the lowest class of voters.
The plan now suggested has one fatal objection, it
is a deviation from the old system—therefore it
would not be listened to for a moment by \Vhigs or
Tories.

Sir J. E. WamoT, also, is again calling atten-
tion to his proposals of last year in letters to our
contemporary, the Daily News. He is afraid of
swamping the county constituencies ty ten pound
householders, and therefore proposes a £2O county
franchise, with a few additions from small lease-
holders and .copyholders. For boroughs, he would
prefer rated occupiers. The Ballot he does not
like, but thinks with Sir JAMES GRAHAM that it
has been too much discussed and pressed to be let
alone—his proposal is an optional ballot; that is,