The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 10, 1866

with power of mind, with a spirit of con-
cili& -ion, and with a love of justice. Mr. ADAMS,
his reply, naturally avoided any reference
to Al nerican politics, but confined himself princi-
pally to the conduct and characteristics of Mr.
PEADom: It was amusing to see how anxiously the
Amerier an Minister endeavoured to combine the
RepuJ ,licanism of his own country with his respect
for tb ,e loyalty of his hearers ; but there are few
Ames deans who would be inclined to resent the
grate ful appreciation of a marked and personal
tribtx to of respect paid to one of their countrymen.
Mr. PEABODY'S ambition, said Mr. ADAMS with
truth, has been a very remarkable one. lie has spent
his life in accumulating money, without having
an3r raizard for the mere possession of wealth,
or the iselfish luxuries which it confers. But if there
is ono characteristic usually more strongly marked
than another in the possessors of great wealth
it is their reluctance to part from it, their un-
willingness to lose their hold over wealth,
eve,,i if it should be productive of no direct
bemefit to themselves. But Mr. PEABODY, with a
nob le superiority to all such petty feelings, has
made it the business of his life to see his vast means
properly distributed, to apportion and divide his
wealth among the different districts in which it has
been mainly acquired, with no special regard
to class, sect, or country, only disbursing it with a
liberal hand in the true spirit of the Samaritan.
To such a man the record of his own approving
conscience is enough, without the acclamation of
his fellows ; but it must be gratifying to him, as an
American by birth and feeling, to know that he
has not only brought health and comfort to many a
poor man's fireside, and called forth the grateful
thanks of a QUEEN who never fails to sympathise
with her people, but has also done more than any
other man of his day to draw closer the bonds of
union and affection between two great peoples.

We have now before us the full text of President
JOHNSON'S Message to the Senate, giving at length
his reasons against the Civil Rights Bill. His veto
on this measure was confidently looked for,
although, in the opinion of many eminent constitu-
tional authorities, there was nothing directly op-
posed to the principles of the Constitution implied
in it. Mr. JOHNSON, however, thinks differently,
and has very little doubt that its practical effect, if
allowed to become law, would be most injurious to
the public interest, and directly antagonistic to the
ultimate welfare of both North and South. He dis-
cusses the bill clause by clause, giving his objections
to each, objections which, as we have said, are alike
creditable to his sagacity and his constitutionalism.
In the first place, he shows that the terms of the
Bill include the Chinese of the Pacific States,
Indians subject to taxation, gipsies, as well as
negroes and mulattoes. It may reasonably be
asked, he says, whether it is necessary to constitute
all these classes citizens of the United States, in order
to secure for them the " civil rights" which it is
proposed to confer ? " Those rights are by Federal,
as well as by State laws, secured to all domiciled
aliens and foreigners, even before the completion of

the process of naturalisation, and it may
safely be assumed that the same enactments
are sufficient to give like protection and
benefits to those for whom this bill provides
special legislation." The Bill, in fact, proposes to
discriminate between large numbers of intelligent

foreigners who are, by educational experience, in
some degree familiar with the national institutions,
and the negro, who must of necessity " from his
previous unfortunate condition of servitude," be less

informed on such points. Further on in his analysis
the PRESIDENT says that the great end forboth master
fibvta3ll make a har-
monious adjustment of the terms of their
mutual engagement. This Bill interferes be-

tween capital and labour, and attempts
to settle questions of political economy
through the agency of numerous officials whose in-
terest it will be to foment discord between the two
races, because that discord will preserve their occu-
pation. These officers andagents of the Freedmen's
Bureau would possess an irresponsible power, which,
as Mr. JOHNSON points out, might be made a terri-
ble engine of wrong, oppression, and fraud. The
whole tendency of the Bill, whether its letter ac-
tually transcends the bounds of the Constitution or
no, is undoubtedly to centralise the legislation of
the country ; and one part of its seems especially to
imply that a permanent military force is to be
always at the command of the Government for the

enforcement of the measure, and in fact the

maintenance of a kind of martial law. If the civil
power has to be propped by the sword, it is a
doubtful project for the liberties of the people ; and
the people of the United States ought to be thank-
ful that they have at the head of their affairs a
man who is sagacious enough to detect the insidious
danger, and resolute enough to resist its faintest
approach.