The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-27 00:00:00

knows, however, to what strange plans and pecu-
liar measures the Berlin Government may
resort in that interval ? On the whole we
are of opinion that the places in question
would have fared better had they been at once ab-
solutely joined to Prussia, instead of being left to
the disposal of the Government ; there would 'have
been more to look after their interests at any rate
under the former circumstances than under the
latter. There seems to be much disquietude in high
places in Berlin relative to the course adopted by
some journals in animadverting upon the part
played by Italy in the recent war ; and the official
Gazette of Saturday says that Italy has been the
"faithful ally" of Prussia, and that all should speak
of that kingdom with respect. The fact is that
some of the politicians of Prussia are sharp enough
to see that the Italians have made a great deal of
fuss, and in reality achieved nothing, or next to
nothing, notwithstanding all their pretensions.
Nothing can allay the doubts and suspicions that
are rife in Paris just now respecting the movements
of the Prussians. The last news that circulated
was to the effect that the Landwehr or militia was
mobilsied, and, whether true or not at present,:no
doubt it will be so before long. At any rate this
shows how ready the French are to be-
lieve anything and everything of a detracting
nature about their allies, and, perhaps, not
without good cause. No official contradictions
or Ministerial statements can suffice to obliterate an
impression when it is once fairly fixed in the minds
of a people, and thus the French cannot be dis-
' abused of their notion that the Berlin Government'
are very inimical to them. It is said that Saxony
' will not be treated so well as some supposed, for
that a war contribution will be levied, and that,
furthermore the King of Paussu is to command and
organise the Saxon army. If such an arrangement
' takes place it will be an insult to the French Go-
vernment, and will be stored up in its memory with
the numerous other provocations received.

The news from America is of great importance
and interest. The Philadelphia Convention has
hitherto fully realised the hopes and expectations
formed of it, and has proved that President
JOHNSON was quite right in relying upon the good
sense and justice of his countrymen. The power
and influence of the Radicals have long been on
the wane, although inside the walls of Congress
their arroganceiand assumption have remained un-

diminished. The tyranny of a faction which suc-
ceeded in keeping the whole country in disturb-
ance, and in maintaining the lingering traces of the
great feud between North and South, has at length
grown intolerable to the public. Men of real

patriotism were grieved to see the progress of
their country hindered and its internal prosperity
retarded for no possible good. The black man was

perhaps as great a sufferer as the white Southerner

'rom the fanaticism of the Radicals, since without

according him actual aid they filled his mind with
exciting visions of lands and money given to him
by the Government, and fostered the feud between

white and black, which must tend to the disadvan-
tage of the latter. For some time past it has been

evident that the independent public were

growing weary of the manner in which

he affairs of the country were being car.

ried on by the Radicals. They manifested
the bitterest hostility to the PRESIDENT, and
thwarted his views by,every means in their power ;

but means have been found to show unmistakeably
that they are not the real representatives of the
American nation. The Philadelphia Convention is
the signal that the country has broken the yoke,

and upon the important question of national repre-
sentation will declare its own convictions. America
has never been friendly to tyranny, and her people
are never at a loss when they are once roused to re-

sist oppression and to assert constitutional principles.
The Radical vision of preserving the Union by
keeping the South in subjection to the North, of
ruling a great country by the one half trampling on
the other, belongs to the almost forgotten excite-

ment and intolerance of war—it could never be
seriously entertained- in a time of peace and reflec-
tion. The Southern people, in fact, would not have
remained so quiet as they have done under the ex-
clusion of their representatives from the Assembly
had they known the sympathies of a large party in
the North were with them, and that if they had
patience justice would ultimately be done. •The
impossibility of the Congress deciding fairly on the
many points of Southern legislation which come
before it without hearing both sides of the case has
become so manifest that a further continuance of
the exclusion was felt to be intolerable. The Con-

vention has passed resolutions declaring the Union
and the Constitution to be restored, and that neither
Congress nor Government could deny representation
to any States, and they further urge upon the people
to select none but men who acknowledge this prin-
ciple. As a further reproof to the Radicals and
their attempts to force negro suffrage upon
an unwilling people, the resolutions declare that
the right to prescribe qualification for the elec-

tive franchise is reserved to States. "No State
can withdraw from the Union, nor by its action
in Congress exclude another ' from the Union."
The resolutions also tender sincere support to
President JOHNSON. This is a triumph which the
PRESIDENT has well earned, and which he owes
to his own firm and enlightened statesmanship.
lie has acted throughout on the principle which
dictated his message to the Convention. "The
people," hesaid, 44 must be trusted the country
would be restored, and his faith was unshaken as to
their ultimate success." Patience and perseverance
witness wonderful changes. Who would have be-
lived a year or two ago that at the assembling
of a National Convention the delegates from Mas-
sachusetts and from South Carolina would enter
arm in arm? The fact was creditable to bothsides,
and proved that the intolerance of the New England
States had been greatly exaggerated by interested
parties.
All who are interested iu the welfare and
progress
t Republic must watch with the
deepest interest the
of the
proceedings Great Republic must watch 'with the
deepest interest the proceedin of the Convention,
which are so evidently directed to great public ends,
and so well calculated to restore legislative equality
States.
and internal content to all parts of the wide-spreading

DON QUIXOTE is not the
only hero who carries
on a battle without knowing very clearly who he
is fighting with, or what he is fighting for; and
we arc afraid that a good many of our modern
enthusiasts, if submitted to a severe test,
might
display the same ignorance. We must not pre-
sume to say that any considerable proportion
of the Reformers now bestirring themselves in the
popular cause are be ranked in the same category,
but we may very fairly question whether many of
them know exactly how matters at present
stand. Few persons whose professions have
not brought them into familiar contact with those
dreary volumes which contain the details of our
constitutional law aro fully aware what does
or does not constitute a right to vote. Men
whose time is taken up in other ways cannot be
expected to master half-a-dozen blue boOks ;
but it is only reasonable that they should be fully
aware what they are agitating for, and to secure an
efficient Reform Bill for the future they must be
.well acquainted with the inaccuracic4 and short-