The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1855-08-10
SIGNS in THE ENGLISH HEAVENS.

character and small q their objects, they still
are straws on the eirrent of public opinion
which indicate with sufficient clearness III,
direction of its flow. The masses of wha
are called ''lhe peope" of London have it'll,
respect for any thing beyond beef and beer
Still they are usuily decent, devoted [,
work, and decoronsto the privileged orders
They are not given, unless in moods of spe
cial roughness, to lreaking into such burst,
OF anger as they hate now exhibited on tw,
occasions successfully, and which seem tc
give fatal sign thatthe little prestige left tc
aristocracv bY the Gimean bnnders is lut
terng faint and I(w Neither en- i: bj
doubted that the pnten1ptuous manner IN
which the feelings d the people have been
treated in recent DISCUSSIONS in Parliament
especially by Mr.. Dhdas, who with jaunty
arrogance, to the deiIht of that corrupt por.
ton of British aristcracy who infest broth
els, barracks and embling houses, calls 4
large portion of his working countrymeu
''canaille" and advises the crash Of n six.
pounder-will have tin effect Of swelling
| this anger and ifrilaiioi Of the masses, al
ready CALLED by sores Of long standing and
excited by daily disclosures of the imbaclity
of the ruling classes.
Too much stress must not be laid on the
silence and long accustomed servity of the
Engisli people, and though we have not
seen in the recent Reform movement n prin-
| cple sufficiently strong to grasp the popular
heart, and do not desire 10 eXaggerate the
causes or consequences of these recent riots,
! still all these stirings in different directions
give signs of some Slight heaving Of the
popular heart. 1t must not be forgotten hat
this people of England pride themselves on
being practical, and have nm inyeteratc dis
/ like, save ut election lines, when they mike
up their mind "to seeit out" to all talking,
tleorizing and decaiming. They simply
wait until what they deem some huge wong
is impending, and thet, forgetting their Drdi-
nary Difference, 90 straight to the wmng-
doer, to either force him to draw buck or
strangle him. The middle class of England,
as n body, are undoubtedly ms corrupt as the
higher, without being redeemed by that
doubtful but showy kind of chivalry which
sometimes surrounds the other But the
mvriads of the toing masses have equal
contempt for the preiension of the one and
the meanness of the other. If the working
out of revolution eveR falls into their hapds
the cry will be to boir "Your throat or our
rights" In the recent debates in the Eng.
lsh Parliament, Mr.. Golden and the repre-
sentaives of the middle class have exhibited
even greater awe of anything like revelation
than the arstocracv.
Neither must il be imagined that republi-
canism finds no life because it is not spoken
Of. The English people have sense enough
not 90 speak the forbidden word which would
only expose them d an Indictment of high
treason, without achieving any good; but
when opportunity brings it, be that sooner or
later, they ,1iH ieors il ont. To-day it is
Lord Grosvenor and his mnl-apropos bill.-
! F~morrow it ma, be another lord and an
other bill Again it may be a German Prince
and his half sage, haiNsed-like admoniton.
Next it may be the Queen herself if she is
found following too closely upon the unlaw.
ful advice of her lawful husband. In all and
every instance, when the people have stood
up and spoken. rulers and lords have gwen
way. In this they have found safety.
But though the orcasion for what dwells
Mt the heart to find utterance has not vet
come, Republican sediments do not the less
prevail, though perhaps unnoticeabIe, not
alone among the working classes, but among
the members, ana apest memUers, ot the
House of Commons. The more thoughtful
desire, it is true, to advance to it with safe
and steady steps; but many would not even
run the risk and mike the revolutionary
bound.
Revolutions in England and France, in Ber-
lin and Vienna, will 'ver take the world by
surprise. They will not come logically to
please the proIessioni logic hewer, or judi
ciousiy to please the hrgrizing reformrr, or
dramatically to please the poets and the Ia
dies; they will fall as the rain falls from
heaven, suddenly, but usually not without
some portentou, clouds, papabIe to all bent
on seeing. The smdke OF the Crimcan bat.
tIe-heId is the cloud. These HYDE Park and
Reform gatherings nd ever recurring minis
terial crisises are tie rain; the first faint
showers. The tornado has yet to come, but
it is advancing Mp York Tribune.
C;po,,I,r DbeD,,,euo1-- 4 90 ,re to Joro