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ENGLAND AND AMERICA,—A COMPARISON. By a coincidence of occasions the two great Anglo-Saxon communities of the world will in the space of a single month have laid the foundations of new Governments for their respective countries In America these alternations of policy proceed according to fixed laws, and with the regularity of a Machine. After four years of office the President and Administration of the United States are absolved from their dutirs on the 4th of March, and as the clock strikes 12 on that day the existing Government gives place to another. n England the course of affairs is different. The Usher of the Black Hod can, indeed, convey to our legislative body in a few brief words the tidings that dispersion awaits them, but the event, except that it must occur once in seven years, is not assigned to any fixed season or period. It is accident alone which on this occasion has brought the constitutionnel solemnities of the two countries into signal and striking con- trast, nor do we think that, upon temperate reflection, a comparison of the rival institutions will leave us much to repine at on this side of the Atlantic. 1'1 e American Congress, according to pure Democratic 'I" e Atuei- i cati Coii?. ,Lss, theory, may certainly appear to he more absolutely a creation of tie people than the British House of Commons, for the numbers of a constituency determine the number of its representatives, votes are taken by ballot, and members are paid. We do not pretend, indeed, to doubt that Congress docs g. in,e an effective representation of American opinion, but Congress is not the only power in the State established by popular election. The President himself, the head of the Administration, is also appointed in the polling-booths of the country, and we have recently witnessed the thoroughly electioneering character of which the mighty contest par- takes. The President of the United States does beyond all question personify the choice of the people, but the suffrages are given without power of revocation, and they commit the great constituency of the Union for four years together, on niany most important points, to the guidance and policy of a single man. An American Administration cannot, except by a solemn and express renewal of public confidence, last longer than four years but four years, as regards its con- trolling authority, it must last, whatever may be its mis- takes, its incompetence, or its pervei-sitn, nor is any oppor- tunity afforded to the public of reconsidering its resolution. There is no "appeal to the country," no consultation of the constituencies," no want of confidence vote" practi- cable. At the appointed period, indeed, the constitutional fabric will be submitted to the people for reconstruction, but until that hour arrives the electorial decision cannot be rescinded. President Pierce mght, if he had so pleased, have disturbed or destroyed the relations of the Union with any Mate in the universe, against all the opinions of his constituents, but until the 4th of this month, his authority could not be impeached nor his authority effectually con- trolled.. The attributes and power of this great appointment are derived, it is true, in the first instance, from the voice ot the whole community, but when the community has spoken the word the vow is irrevocable, and for a certain term of years the President and the people are indissolubly joined together. With these institutions compare our own. The office of Prime Minister depends virtually upon the votes of Parlia- ment, nor could it be retained without the confidence of the House of Commons but from this House of Commons there hea at any time an appeal to the constituencies, and Lord Palmerston is at this moment challenging the judgment of the country as completely as Mr. Buchanan did last autumn. If the verdict of the constituencies proves to be such as there is every reason to anticipate, his Lordship, as the First Minister of the Crown, will represent the decision of the electors with as much faithfulness as the American 1 resident. Here, however, the resemblance ends, and the contrast—as we think to the advantage of England—will be found to begin. Not only do our institutions provide other powers to ballast and trim the vessel of the Stale when careering under the impulse of popular will, but this will itself is open at all times to correction or revocation. Not only can the House of Commons be reconstituted, but, even without reconstitution, and while composed of the same elements, it can withdraw at brief notice that confidence on which the Administration relies. It is under no necessity of Raiting for a fixed period, or of enduring the miseries of an ill-starred union till the appointed hour of divorce and re- lease. A vote of censure or want of confidence can be Moved by any member in the House, and, if carried, will subvert the Government. Such a creature as a despotic" Minister exists, as far as this country is concerned, only in the imagination of Mr. Cobden. Applied to American institutions, the phrase might, indeed, be more justifiable, for there the country stands inextricably to its first vote but in England the offices of Government arc always held only during pleasure. The very Parliament which Lord Palmerston will have to ^•et, ho wever his popularity might have influenced the elec- tions, could abandon him as soon as it was formed and, if there were good reason for the proceeding, the opinion of the country would support it. The approbation justly yield- ed to the Premier's past services gives him no kind of impu- nIty or irresponsibility for the future. His security does not, extend to his forthcoming policy, except in so far as that poucy shall continue to receive pubiic approval. The coun- try will not be tied or bound to him in any way whatever Re. cannot commit us to any unpopular or unpatriotic course. If, instead of despatching such reinforcements to China as will Place our countrymen beyond risk of harm, and establish our helations with the Chinese on a safe and acceptable footing, e were to adopt the alternative he has himself described, „ surrender the honor of England to those truculent bar- ;an.ans, ar!iament would promptly terminate his Adminis- t?rt? without waiting for the 4th of March, 1861. The couT ? answering the appeal of the Government, not as exem" ? that Government from future accountability, or ag Vf.?- *1" ? a definite lease of power, but simply as acknow- l,dv,,oL'dillg ??'°° ''?ered and accepting it as a pledge for movo ?"recan onlv aug-l\1: the future from the past. Lord !n'noi? e. We can only augur the future from the past. Lord talmerston and bfs cofl(?agues earned the approval of the couiatrn- by what they have done, and it is not only in Ui! w"?t is far more important, on the conditIOn, that their policy sball continue to be satisfactory, that the Ruffrages of the constituencies, as we confidently expect, will confirm them in power. "e cannot but consider that in the balance of these insti- tutions the scale of British freedom preponderates, and we believe, indeed, notwitstanding the demonstrations to the contrary which might be offered on paper, that we are in the enjoyment of a much more gel/uine political liberty than our Traus-atlaotic kinsmen. They stand now committed, as re- gards their foreign policy, to Mr. Buchannn-a man of higii abilities, no doubt, and unquestionably the President of their own free choice but, though the), chose him, they must also keep him, whereas no electoral judgment, however strongly pronounccd, wIll OOIUmit us to Lord Palmerston any further than as regnrus the approval of past acts. If his fo- reign policy should become pusillanimous or perilous, weak or wanon, turbulent" or "agressive," in the eyes of the -Legislature he will lose at once the support on which he leans, and thu impending verdict of the constituencies will not avail him one jot. If he should point, under such cir- c^ umstances, to the suffrages this week recorded in favour of hIs policy, he would be promptly told that the favour in question, to be worth anything, must be continuous, and tLhnat t, whatever wiUingness to support him might have been Clitertaitied by a Parliament at its first assembling, the con- fide of body could only be retained by the same merits llleh acq uired it. Lord Palmerston and his colleagues have, in our opu-non, desFrved the approbation of the constituencies, and We believe they will obtain it, but they will not he taken for better or worse for four years to come.-Yii)ics of yesterday. ^GGMNRNARNRFI I _IIJIB II> IIIHI ■ N MIL M IMNIM 11 ININ IN TIT MI ■RNIRI

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