The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-05 00:00:00

Mr. BRIGIIT as our guide through the
intricate maze of the Parliamentary labyrinth, we
should arrive at the conclusion that the representa-
tive system, as we have hitherto carried it on, is bad
in the extreme, and that we should have been much
better without it. He says, indeed, himself that
the sort of Parliament we now have is safe for
nothing so much as the " commission of evil," and
it is not a fair " representation of the intelligence,
and virtue, and the opinions of the people of the
realm." All this is, however, mere matter of opinion;
but the worst part of the speech is yet uncon-
sidered, and perhaps we do not exaggerate when
we say that, taking all things into consideration,
the remarks made last night by Mr. BRIGHT were
the most uncalled for and the most mischievous that
he has ever yet uttered. We consider it to have
been an insult to the assembly he list night ad-
dressed for him to have told them that they would
resort to extreme measures if all their demands
were not granted. The intelligent and far-sighted
among his audience know that they dared not do
so, but if they did they would show themselves
completely unworthy of the privileges they claimed
and the rights they contended for. We pass over the
utter ruin Mr. BRIGHT causes to his own reputation
as an honest statesman and a patriotic citizen, and
the injustice he renders to the Parliament and the
Government, in our indignation at his presuming
to consider the people of England •as his puppets.
He goes on as if they waited his beck and call to

come forward and overwhelm the recusant and un

faithful aristocracy, and a perverse and prejudiced
Parliament. If he had nothing better to .ay than
this he had better have kept silent. " And now this
Parliament of landlords and of rich men, either were

ignorant of or despised the great national opinion,
and they resist up to this moment, and for aught
I know they may possibly resist it when they meet
at the beginning of next February, until the dis-
content which is now so general shall become
universal, and that which is now only a great
exhibition of opinion may become necessarily
and inevitably a great and menacing ex-
hibition of force." Is this the language of a well-
wisher to his country, who aims at establishing the
rights of the people, or is it the clamour of an
agitator who is wild at the thought of his political
opponents doing the work which he desires to have
the glory of—of a politician whose views are so
narrow, and his prejudices so bitter, that he would
rather suffer injustice than take good things from a
class he abhors

Mr. BRIGHT is not ignorant of the opinions that
are formed of his violence ; and he thinks the time
has arrived to put down such impertinent

interference. Last night he came out very strong
on this point. He said that " those opponents of
ours, many of them in Parliament openly, and some
of them secretly in the Press, charge us with being
the promoters of a dangerous excitement ; they say
that we are the source of the danger which threatens,
and they absolutely have the effrontery to charge
me with being a friend of public disorder." In the
first place, we venture to suggest that if Mr. BRIGHT
has a right to criticise every one, surely
others have an equal right to pass judgment
upon him ; and in the next, we consider the
manner in which he presumes to talk of the Press
as perfectly ridiculous. He is always insinuating
that he has hidden foes among it, who dare not
face him. Ile goes on, however, to say that he is
" one of the people." This we deny, in the sense
in which ho means it. Ile is deficient in all those
qualities -which have made this country great, mad
kept her glorious, and rendered the English people
safe alike from the anarchy which afflicts the domi-

'lions of tyrants, and the disorder that reigns in
the councils of Republicans. In the first place, Mr.
BRIGHT ignores fair-play, and nex, he is unwilling
to see anything good in those who differ from him.
He is impatient to an extraordinary degree, and un-
derstands neither the magnanimity nor endurance
of his countrymen. To knock down an opponent is
an easy way of answering his argument, but it is a
course more characteristic of an American rowdy
than suited to the demeanour of an English
workman.

Whether we have Reform or not this next ses-
sion there is no occasion for revolution, and if Mr.
13EIGHT thinks it clever to say otherwise he is
to be pitied for his infatuation. He calls himself a
wise counsellor to the people and their rulers; but
he is, on the contrary, one who takes advantage of
his half-way position to misrepresent one to the
other. While he denounces the one class as op-
pressors, he makes out the others to be ungoverned
in their passions, and unrestrained in their actions.
It is no exaggeration to say that no individual is so
dangerous to the interests of society than one who
goes about trying to make the straight crooked, and
to a give a false impression of the events that are
passing around, as it seems to be Mr. BRIGHT'S
ambition to be of this class.

The annual Message of the PRESIDENT of the
United States has this year been looked for with
unusual interest ; and the matter of the speech, and
the manner of its conveyance, are alike remarkable.
On Monday, December 3rd, Congress was opened ;
on Tuesday, December 4th, we had the summary
of the Message in London. Little now remains for
science to achieve in annihilating time and space,
since the wonder-working wires place Washington
and London completely en rapport. Whatever be
the subsequent history of the Congress of 1866, it
will at least have one memorable incident associated
with it which will preserve its recollection in the
records of science, if not of politics.

Of the Message itself we have as yet, of course,
but a mere
outline ; but the
JOHNSON
first
fe wi wn
ords s are
Message
all-
significant. "President
adheres to his former policy, and urges Congress
to adopt it." So that the conjectures and rumours
which have been industriously circulated as to the
change or modification of the PRESIDENT'S plans
are completely at fault. We have been confidently
assured that, startled and disappointed by the re-
sult of the elections, he had resolved to accept the
Constitutional Amendment proposed by the
Radicals, and intended to recommend its
adoption to the several Legislatures of the
Southern States. There was little doubt that such
a course had been actually recommended by many
of his Democratic friends and advisers, who thought
that if Mr. JOHNSON consented to the Amendment
it would deprive the Radicals of any plea for dis-
affection, and would force them to fall back upon
the unpopular doctrine of negro suffrage. The
PRESIDENT has certainly failed to obtain that sup-
port from the country which he looked for, a failure
which some persons ascribe to his own intemperance
of conduct and language during his tour, and
some to the ingenious machinations of the
Radicals. He is threatened with impeachment
by a party who are not too scrupulous, and who
would be very glad to get him out of their way ;
and he is certain, if matters do not proceed so far,
to meet with constant and harassing opposition.
Mr. JouNsoN, however, is not the man to be turned
from the course which he has resolved upon by
threats or entreatiez. Ile firmly believes the con-
ciliatory policy which he has adoptel towards the
Southern people to be the best calculated to restore
prosperity and unity to the whole nation, and,
therefore, he is resolved to abide by it. He die.