The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-24 00:00:00

THE AMERI'JAN PRESS.

The Philadelphia inquirer says James Stephens,
the Fenian leader, seems still to be working away
with the energy of fs man in a quagmire who cannot
get out, Ile is travelling about the country " oz-

ganising" whenever he can get up a meeting and
collect some money. Having nearly used up his
influence with the masculine friends of Ireland, he
is trying his powers of blarney with the women, and
organising a Fenian Sisterhood. The fair daughters
of Erin 9.re requested to come up and deposit their
contributions, and as they are enthusiastic in any
cause which they espouse they may add much to
the amount of funds in hand. Stephens will be a
lucky man if he does not soon get into a quarrel
with the Sisterhood, as he seems to have an unfor-
tunate temper, and is impatient of advice and con-
trol. In a recent speech made at Troy, N. Y.,- he
said that "three times has the knife been plunged
into the breast of Ireland by those who ought to
have been faithful to Irish independence." Ac-
cording to Mr. Stephens the first of these barbarous

acts was the secession of the Senate party from the
O'Mahony (government. But, while censuring the
seceders, Mr. Stephens contrives to admit that there
was good cause for the withdrawal in the abuse and
mismanagement at the Moffat Mansion by O'Ma-
honey and hi 3 cronies. The second terrible stab
was the Campo Bello campaign, a most melancholy
and ludicious failure. Then came the third terrible
blow in the Canada invasion, not so contemptible
as the rival assault upon the independence of Ire-
land on the coast of New Brunswick, but infinitely
more disastrous. There is no hope for the
liberty, of Ireland but Stephens. Like Doctor
011apod, in the play, he is continually cry-
ing " Keep your eye on me." He is going to
heal the wounds of Erin himself, and the mighty
feat is sure to be accomplished this year. Yes !
before we eat our Christmas dinner, Stephens is
going back to Ireland, and to dispute the vigilance
of British myrmidoms, and the suspension of the
Habeas Corpus Act, he " will greatly do and grandly
dare." The time is short, and the Sisterhood must

work, otherwise we fear that in six months or less
Stephens will denounce them as having inflicted
the fourth stab upon bleeding Ireland, by keeping
their purses closed and depriving the modern Finn
Macoul of the opportunity of achieving immortal
glory.

The Springfield Weekly Republican says ex-
Governor Eyre of Jamaica, whose needless severity
in the suppression of the riot in that island, in
October last, gave him an undesirable notoriety, is
received with honour by the Conservatives of Eng-
land. His successor, Sir J. P. Grant, it is feared,
has no better idea than Eyre of the policy needed in
the government of the island. He told a deputa-
tion of the British anti-slavery society, who lately
called upon him, that he hoped they would endea-
vour to impress the negro population of Jamaica
with the necessity of order and subordination to
lawful authority, adding that it must always be the
first object of every Government to suppress, on the
instant, such commotions• as those which have taken
place in Jamaica. This is true and right, and if
the new Governor had united with it a promise of
such reforms in the government of the island as
would secure to the negroes their rights and take,
away the inducements to insurrection, there would
have been nothing to complain of. As it is, the'
British abolitionists- fear that the negroes of Jamaica
have gained little or nothing by a change of go-
vernors. We have something t.o learn from the
history of Jamaica since emancipation, and it will
be well for us if we comprehend the lesson and
apply it to our own circumstances. If the negroes
there have not absolutely degenerated since 1831,
which is a disputed point, they have confessedly
failed to make any marked progress, and are still
wholly unfit for self-government. A Massachu-
setts man, of decidedly Radical opinions, And who
has always sympathised heartily with. the coloured
race, has lately spent considerable tine in Jamaica,
and taken pains to inform himself as to the condi-
tion of things, and he is satisfied- that the black
population of the island will inevitably lapse into
the lowest barbarism unless a different policy is
adopted towards them. The only element of pro-
gress that has obtained to any extent among the
negroes is Christianity, and this is so little above
heathenism as to have almost no connection with
morality. The most devout church members do
not consider lying, theft, and promiscuous inter- •
course at all inconsistent with a creditable profes-
sion of religion, and many of the missionaries con-
fess their inability to impress moral distinctions
upon their converts. They are not yet educated up
to an appreciation of the first principles of morality,
and the little time that the preachers and missionary
teachers can do in this direction does not promise
much for the future. What the negroes of Jamaica
must have, if they are to be redeemed from bar-
barism, is education, and this the British Go-
vernment ought to secure to them by a system of
common schools, which the negroes themselves
should be compelled to support. If such a system
had been established when emancipation took place,
thirty-five years ago, the present generation of
blacks would have been very different from what
they are, and the white population would have had
no occasion to fear insurrections among them. If
the people of the Southern States do not wish to see
the history of Jamaica repeated among themselves,
and on a larger scale, there is but one course for
them to take. The negroes are to remain where
they are and to constitute the bulk of the working
population. If we want to see them industrious and
peaceful, contributing their share to the general
welfare, they must be secured in their rights and
must be educated to a proper knowledge and use
of them. Something to this end will be done by
benevolent organisation, but the work will not be half
done unless the Southern States establish for them-
selves a common school system for both races. Let this
be neglected, and the next generation of negroes
will have added to their ignorance and brutality the
vices which slavery formerly placed beyond their
reach. Let one-third of the population consist of
negtoes, not only ignorant and vicious, but idle and
intemperate, and the prospect of future society at
the South is anything but pleasant to contemplate.
There is but one preventive, the education of the
negro. Make a man of him by developing his manly
faculties, and training him to self-3ontrol and self-
respect, and stimulate him to effort by the promise
that he shall enjoy all the prerogatives of citizen-
ship as soon as he can understand and use them.
This is the lesson Jamaica reads to us. This is the I
voice which wisdom utters in the streets. It mus
not be disregarded.

GENERAL BUTLER AND WENDELL PHILLIPS ON TILE

RAMPAGE.
We publish this morning two important docu-
ments, showing the drift of events on the Radical
side in this political contest. One is the speech of
General Butler at Gloucester Massachusetts, the
other a letter from Wendell Phillips, published in
the Anti-Slavery Standard. They are both charac-
teristic documents, and just such as we might have
expected 'from these men. Of the two productions
that of Wendell Phillips exhibits the greatest tact,
shrewdness, philosophy, and honesty. They are
both filled with venom and extreme bitterness
against the President, and call for the adoption of
extraordinary measures to put him out of the way,
or, to use the language. of Phillips, " to find some
measure fit and efficient to serve their purpose—
the deposition of the perjured and usurping traitor."
This is the language used against the Chief Magis-
trate of the nation, who has the firmness to stand by
the constitution in this trying hour of the nation.
The Philadelphia Convention and the South form,
however, the burden of both these manifestoes.
Butler endeavours to show that the Convention
amounted to nothing, yet in his very argument he
proves it was a formidable affair. Wendell Phillips,
on the other hand, starts out with the declaration
that it is of the greatest importance—if not in im-
mediate results, it will " prepare a way for a des-
perate conflict in 1868," and calls upon ttie Radicals
to prepare for a struggle, pointing out as one of the
means the deposal of Andrew Johnson.
From the tone and temper of the speech of
Butler we infer that he is ready, at lent in the
use of words,- to carry out this doctrine advo-
cated by the old abolition apostle. Ilis
courage, which failed him at Fort Fisher and
prompted him to testify before the Committee
on the Conduct of the War that Fort Fisher
could not be captured--and that, too, when the
committee had in their possession a despatch
stating that it had been captured—has all of a sud-
' den returned to him, now that there are no more
forts to capture or armies to confront. Butler is
a brave man when he has a few defenceless women
and unarmed people to govern and plunder in New
Orleans, or is on the stump in Massachusetts, where
he does not have to confront the men whom he de-
fames. His courage knows no bounds on such occa-
sions. He is then full of pluck, and can order a raid
upon the vaults of some bank, direct the seizure of
some family spoons, or harangue a crowd of Massa-
chusetts Radicals with the coolness of a philosopher.
We never knew until his speech at Gloucester what
principle he based his administration at New Orleans
upon. He there tells us that the people were public
enemies, and in their capture by the war " we cap-
tured men and property, their slaves, their rights,
constitutional and otherwise, except the right to be
hung." This accounts for his appropriation of pri-
vate property,. and the seizure of all valuablesliethat
l war,he could find while at the Crescent City.
according to his interpretation, having accomplished
all this, he now proposes to hang all the people in
the South, unless they will permit the slaves which
Butler captured *to rule them. "If," says Butler,
" I am asked how long I would keep these men out
of the Union, I say, keep them out until the heavens
melt with fervent heat ; and if it 'should not come
in this generation we will swear our sons to keep
them out." His speech throughout is of this violent
character. He is evidently trying to convince the
people of Massachusetts that he has crawled out of
the bottle which- General Grant placed him in, and
thtit he is read) to fight, 'now that the South has