The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-10 00:00:00

THE SUN.

LONDON, FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1881.

Aristocratical institutions are, indeed, on their
trial now in the United States ; or, rather, they
have been tried and failed. The sole cause of the
present crisis threatening such painful results to a
noble country, is, aristocratic pride, and aristocratic
determination to retain ascendancy. Virginia, the
Carolinas, and the leading Southern States, started
with an aristocratic basis. They were the country
of the Cavaliers, of the Church and King party, of
" the Chivalry," as distinguished from the New
England States, the descendants of the Republican
Puritans. All the traditions of the South are aris-
tocratic—those of the North, popular ; and hence
followed the grand result, that the Northern States
rapidly cast off an institution so radically inconsis-
tent with the genius of Republicanism as slavery,
and reaped a splendid rewarl in the enriching
achievements of free labour, and in becoming the
natural resort of emigrants from Europe who,
having generally only their labour to depend on,
naturally went where industrial employments were
held in honour and enjoyed free scope.
The Southern States, not being republican by
their traditions and temperament, as naturally clung
to slavery. If all white men must be on a legal
equality, it was no slight compensation that the
white men should be an aristocracy, and an aristo-
cracy of the first water, too. A large part of them
could boast aristocratic associations in looking back
to the mother country, and it was quite in keeping
that they should reign by right divine, and
therefore reign most absolutely, over a large popu-
lation who were completely at their disposal. It is
certain that this aristocratical feeling of the South
is one of the principal causes of the secession and
the war. The South, though very different in
polish of manners from what it was soon after the
revolution, still retains all the pride of a noble class
looking down with supreme contempt on the North
as a country of workers, tradesmen, and manufac-
turers; and its deep interest in negro slavery is by
no means that of profit merely. As was the case
with our planters before the abolition of negro
slavery, the pleasure of absolute supremacy, so dear
to those who have once enjoyed it, is the strongest
reason for their mad preference for slave institutions.
All fact and argument proves that they would be
gainers by free labour, but they would lose their
aristocratical supremacy over half the population.
This sentiment also it was which gave such deter-
mination to their resolution not to submit to a poli-
tical defeat. They could not brook being beaten
once in the election of a supreme magistrate, and
beaten, too, by " the vulgar Republicans of the
North." Southern chivalry would reign. If it
could not reign over all, it would reign over half.
It was to them, one of the cases which exemplified
most perfectly the famous adage of HESIOD, for,
under the circumstances, "tic half was much better
than the whole."

By the last accountslittleiaformation was brought
respecting the Southern Aristocracy and their
doings, and that little not so altogether in their
favour as formerly. They have entered upon a
fierce fight with freemen and republicans for the
utmost extreme of aristocratical privilege; and, one
of the first facts we met with is that the subject
class are escaping from their dominion ! Five hun-
dred slaves have, it is said, already run off from
Maryland, and it is much feared in the Border
slave States, that if the contest last long, it will
not be worth-their while to fight for slavery, for
slavery will—may we use the phrase—have "cut
and run." It would be, certainly, a most amusinc,
result if the Border States should thus become
Free States, not through any attack from the
North, but through the intemperance of the Southern
Aristocracy in precipitating a war with the
North. We might even imagine, then, the next
tier of slave states losing their slaves into the newly
created slave States, and thus even without a ser-
vile war, the whole becoming ultimately free. Too
pleasant dreams, however, these. Sadder realities
are plainly in progress.
Happily we hear of no more bloodshed; but pre-
parations are making for it on a fearful scale.
Washington appears to be now
placed pretty well
beyond the reach of danger, by the arrival of regi-
ments from the North. Nor
does it appear to want
provisions and supplies. It has, at present, the
undisturbed command of the Potomac, to the sea,
no batteries having yet been placed by the Vir-
ginians on the shores of the river to obhtrunt
vessels passing to and from the national
metropolis. The troops hitherto, however,
have been sent thither, not by conveying them
up the river, but up the Chesapcalw Day to Anna
polis in Maryland, about sixteen miles from Wash-
ington.

In other respects the scale this time went in
favour of the North. One or two undefended forts
have been taken, as a ralttcr of course, but Fort
Pickens has been reinforced ; the army before it is
not in a condition to attack it, indeed seems to be
fading away; and several ships of war are riding
Off the harbour. The blockade seems likely to be