The Express.
London, England, 1848-07-12 00:00:00

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LONDON.TVEDNESDAY.JUL Yl2.
THE good people of Dublin are doomed, it would
appear, to a disappointment. It had been very gene-
rally rumoured and believed for several weeks or
months back, that the court would visit Ireland this
autumn. Without any formal announcement of such
an intention, intimations in various quarters had been
I given that such would be the case. And the wish
that it should was as general as the expectation.
But, if we may credit the awkward and offensive
exposition of the royal movements which has recently
appeared in a morning contemporary, the QUEEN is
not to see her ancient realm of Ireland during the
present year.
Had the reason assigned for this change of plans
been in any degree connected with the personal de-

sire or convenience of the sovereign, we should lad
think of making any commentary thereon. we je
cline to the belief that royalty, like many humble
stations,oftentimes requires relaxation and repose; sail
slightest reason to suppose that heel%
the last indulgence which her subjects would thik of
grudging their QUEEN, would be that of a brief
to any particular scene or e/i
retirement from the publicity of state sash
goadls recurrencei
men and true would wish to see it;
as her Majesty has, ore more than one co.
casion, sought in the most northern province of
her dominions. And it is wholly needless to add, that
enjoyed as soon and as long as they
requiredbwmeaenreteeti,ttele
might be
deemed salutary. But, happily for her Majesty. Do
considerations this kind need be thought of; end,
unhappily for her Irish subjects, other cop,
aiderations of a very different description hoe
been and must be contemplated. We see
given authoritatively to understand, that reeve
reasons of state have changed the royal route °from
Dublin to Edinburgh ; that not the will of the
monarch, but that of her ministers, has influencedtha
ungracious decision; and, most strange of all, thee
these constitutional advisers desire that it should be
known that they have been coerced into offering the
unwelcome eouneeL
Coerced by whom? The peaceable and lova] of
all classes of the community in Ireland may well ask
the question. What wretched squad of despe.
redoes have stolen by night within the
precincts of the palace, and there been
telerated while they muttered insolent menaces or in.
coherent threatening.? Can it be possible that at
this time of day the persons who surround the throne
arc capable of being duped by the empty vapouring
of a handful of literary incendiaries into the absoed
mistake of supposing that the QUEEN would not be
received with =vily reepea and heap table homage
by every class and sect among the Irish people?
Bravoes and braggarts there have been
and will be in every community, so long
as notoriety is to be won by escape*,
or money made by pandering to the evil passions of
the ignorant and credulous. But really ti concede
to such persons the dignity of being a dangerous rate
lority of a whole people, and to tell the wotdering
world that before the power of Messrs. DoIiENT,
011Eles, and M'GHEE—(for all the others we believe
arc already in gaol)—the QUEEN is to desist from
her intention of visiting Ireland, does, we must con-
fess, appear to us either the most ineffable libel on the
sense and judgment of the govern= nt, or the mod
wanton triumph that was ever given to bullying end
insolence.
We verily believe there is not an Irishman of any
spirit or condition who will not feel himself humi-
liated by the imputation thus cast upon his race end
country. lfepealers, as such, have never had much
flattery from us. We think them in error, and we
have never ceased to remonstrate with them were.
ingly on the folly of their theories of parliamentary
change. But to say or to insinuate that 99 oat of
every 100 Irishmen who profess repeal opinions would
not rally as loyally as any other men Toed
the person of their sovereign, would not hail ha
coming amongst them as a proof of the abiding
confidence which ought ever to subsist bAween rulers
and ruled in a free laud, or that they would need
orders to trample in the dust any cowardly or
caitiff attempt to offer her offence, is, we firmly be-
lieve, as gloss a misapprehension as ever entered into
the mind of man.
It was only the other day, however, that we took
occasion to notice the sinister suggestions upon
other subjects of importance which had bee
offered to the cabinet by certain worthies of
the obsolete orange school. " Evil communica-
tions corrupt good manners" among politicians
as well as other folks ; and we should not feel WO-
nished if the announcement of the interreptionce
indefinite postponement of the contemplated visit
of the court to Dublin were received with open stir
faction by the party, whose chiefs have lately beset
the Home Secretary with their complaints and de-
mends for new coercion. That from such a quarto
any suggestion or advice has been actually taken by
the government we cannot bring ourselves to believe,
bat we earnestly admonish ministers to consider what
the end of a course of policy must sooner or later be,
which wins the fatal confidence of the hereditary an-
tagonists of freedom, just in proportion as it alienates
the trust and love of the great bulk of the community.
A mare needless or more impolitic misgiving we
believe was never harboured than that to which we
have adverted. We dislike evade and prodigality in
high places as much as need be; and we shoal! be
sorry to see a royal progress through I r eland candied
on a scale of wasteful and extravagant expense,
either on the part of QUEEN or people. But that the
QUEEN of the United Kingdom should not be at liberty
to visit that which forms one-third part t/ erect n hen-
ever she desires to do so, seems to us to be either
strangely unmeaning, or to mean much more than the
world understands, or than it is either safe, env, or
ermanently practicable to hide from view.

---
Tire "free and independent" electors of Great
Yarmouth, having been afforded an opportunity of
sending two members to represent their political
opinions in the House of Commons, have indepen-
dently resolved not to avail themselves of it. They
could not indeed refuse to retain two members, but
they have sent two whose votes, if there is faith in
professions or consistency in conduct, will neutralise
each other. The electors of Great Yarmouth have
coupled a tory with a whig member, in order that
the rresentation of Great Yarmouth may neither
tell for nor against any of the great measures upon
which these parties profess to be divided. And they
have done this altiaoagla there were two liberal candi-
dates in the field.
But we must put the s.ddle on the right home.
The whole of the electors of Great Yarmouth are not
to be blamed for this absurd reult of the election.
Nor has the conduct of the parties to whom it is
owing been simply absurd. A stronger epithet of
condemnation must be applied to it.
Mr. RT:3IBOLD, the whig candidate, is one of your
old and moderate whip, who aro always warning
men to distrusteadth beyond the
the stabi of li icians who go
even a hair-breadth in liberality; he
is a Lord Join Itessett man. Mr. Ilaesnsws, the
other liberal candidate, is a supporter of extended
suffrage, short parliaments, and vote by ballet;
and, though " proffering a general support to I
liberal administration," he considers it his duty " te
regard the in'erent value of measures prw,iosed rather
than the men," and ri serves to himself " the right of
acting
.as an independent and anbiassed member d
the legislature." The third candidate, Mr. Saenos,
calls himself a liberal conservative, but came formud
under the auspices of Sir E. K. ae, the dictator
of the old red tory party.
Mr. BAGSHAWE was invited to stand for Great Yet-
mouth at the general election in 1817 by some of the
most influential of the liberal parts-, and was warmly
receive i by the independent and liberal elector& Oa
the late occasion lie was induced to offer himself again,
by the expression of an earnest desire that he would
do soon the part of a num' rous and rapt ctable body of
the liberal electors. It would perhaps have been too
much to expect that a whig of the old school, like
Mr. RI:MR(1LO, should endanger his return by allying
himself with an independent liberal; but it cart anly
was not too much to expect that he would re
far regard common decency as not to coalesce with de
tories to ensure the rejection of the liberal. Yet tin,
Mr. RUMBOLD and along with him some of than
identical local leaders of the liberal party who first
invited Mr. RAGSOAWE to offer himself to the COD-
btituency, have done.
There can be no doubt as to this shameless coali-
tion: the avowals of the parties, the analysis of the
poll, prove it beyond dispute. Mr. Iteunoto, with
unparalleled meanness, thanked the tories on the
hustings at the nomination for allowing him to get in.
" I owe many acknowledgments to that party tor not
having. brought forward a second candidate." An
analysis of the poll shows, that while Mr. BAGSO
the independent, received 186 plumpers from liberals
disgusted with the unprincipled coalition between
wing and tory, 88 tories and 22 wings hid
sufficient self-respect to stand aloof from it, and
plump for their respective candidates. The day was
carried for the allied whig and tory by 238 votes
split between RUMBOLD and SANDARS• 71 "iga
having the courage to give their second votes to
BaGsitaWa, and 40 tories expressing their zontempt
for the shabby policy of their party by also cotin3 for
him in the second place.
Lord Joint RUSSELL and the 131 members Out
sneaked out along with him in the wake of the 221
tories who rejected Mr. liCmitte motion, ought to
receive Mr. RCMBOLD, when he presents himself in
the House of Commons, with an ovation. lie hie

practised their parliamentary tactics with success out
of doors, and linked himself with a tory majority to
have the pleasure of beating a reformer.
llonour to the 300 independent electors of Great
Yarmouth who have refused to be accomplices in this
unprincipled coalition'. Their staunchness to the
cause. of independence and honesty has been shown
not without danger to themselves, for many who have
flinched have done so reluctantly and under over-
powering intimidation. Had the votes at the late
election for Great Yarmouth been deposited in the
ballot-box, the mauls would have been very different.
"If I had wanted evidence on that subject," said Mr.
BAGAIAWE at the nomination, " I have had sufficient
in the course of my canvass to convince me
of the necessity for the introduction of the
ballot into this constituency. I have found
among you many most respectable tradesmen, not
of the lowest class, but those in a better
position, and what have th"y said to me? ' Mr.
BAGSIJANI e, I know not what to do. lam applied to
personally by this man and that man. They are my
customets. If 1 favour one I offend another, and I
would rather not vote at all.' Is that the position in
which the working and productive classes of this
country ought to be placed?"
It is very well for Mr. RUNIDOLD, who profits by
this state of affairs, to proclaim the ballot " a great
absurdity." It is very well for him, after telling his
audience that he wishes to "say a few words about
Mr. Ht•xe'S motion," to turn away from the sub-
ject and say, "I ant thoroughly persuaded that
the country could not get on with annual parlia-
ments." The shuffle is too palpable to be suc-
cessful again. But even Mr. lintnoLD's coalition
with the tortes had not prepared us for his barefaced
equivocation when on the public hustings he declared,
with reference to the previous election : " No act of
bribery had been committed—n•dhing mere than the
head-ninney lint been given." We wish Lord Rim(
RussEtt. joy of such a friend of purity of election for
a follower.
Much though we regret the loss of a man of Mr.
BAG:qIAWE'S independent principles, and large mer-
cantile ex&rience, we cannot but look upon 'he re-
sult of the Great Yarmouth election as a gain to the
cause of reform. It is a demonstration of the rotten-
ness of the existing electoral systm, by an experi-
mentum crucis. It shows to what uses the act•ral
constituencies, unshielded by the ballot, can be turned
by the two factions, who, while waging an inveterate
war for place, are always ready to ally themselves in
opposition to the people and their friends.

IT is impossible to read the trials of the men called
chartist I,a..ers, who have just b:en condemn, d to one
and the same punishment, without instantly perceiving
the very great difference between several of the cases.
It is evident that Mr. ERN EST JONES was a leader,
or put himself forward as such. It appears, too, that
FustliLL spoke of assassination in a way that
might tempt others to commit it for political pnr-
wses. It is also plain, at least to us, that
WILLIAMS and SHARPE were by no means
guilty in the same proportion. And it also appears
to us, that VERNON, the lecturer on Mesmerism, com-
mitted no offence to be at all put on a par with that
of the others, or to be visited with the same severity.
Ile was, iudeed, only found guilty of joining in an as-
sembla;4e, which was rendered unlawful by tf a lan-
guage of same who joined in it. That Mr. VERNON was
one of the crowd and one of the preccssion is proved ;
that he spoke is also avowed ; but that he spoke
in disgust of the brutal language of others is also
averred on the trial. Under• these circumstances, far
from considering VERNON'S sentence as lenient, we
consider it as exorbitantly severe. We wiil not deny
that it may be useful, but utility is not the main or
the proper end of jail-ice.
We have said thus much for VERNON, although our
intention was rather to remark upon a complaint
made by him of his treatment in prison previous
to his condemnation. What the poor lecturer
complained of was, that his Mad was given to him as
it is to wild beasts, literally put into his paws, to be
torn asunder by those paws and by his teeth before
he could contrive to swallow it. And this is the treat-
ment of a man convicted of no crime, and accused of
merely a pditical crime, in a country calling itself
civilised. It may be advisable to refuse knives and forks
to the inmates of a prison ; but a spoon is no deadly
weapon, ncr yet is a plate.
We mentioned some time since, when speaking
of Mr. NIITcuEL's sentence, that in no country
in the world, not even in Austria, were poli-
tical and common criminals treated alike. And
we were given to understand Vat Mr. MITCHEL,
though condemned as a felon, was not treated as
such. The same feeling of the utility of deterring,
which prompted the sentence of VERNON to the same
penalty as FUSSELL orJos ES may no doubt alsoprompt
the treating of all three in the same style in which
burglars and murderers are treated. But we, for our
part, protest against the utility as against the justice.
The most dangerous character of judicial sentences
is that which gives to the law id its execution the
aspect of petty or partial vindictiveness, or which ex-
cites pity or sympathy for a criminal.
But however it may seem desirable, for the aui-
formity of prison discipline, to treat all condemned
alike, and to break the heart and pride of the poor
lecturer who happened to join a political procrssion,
by subjecting him to the same treatment as the most
hardened and sanguinary ruffian, we object to treat-
ing even ruffians as keepers do beasts in a mena-
gerie, and flinging them their food. It punishment
be necessary, let it be administered in some other
shape than that stated by VERNON, and corroborated
in the following account from an eye-witness of what
takes place at Newgate during feeding-time:—
I have many times been in Newgate when the prisosen
for trial have been served with their dinner, and the mode
in which the food is distributed, and the pig-like manner in
which they are compelled to cat I will endeavour to de-
arribe ; at leas., as was the cue upon the occasions I refer to.
—A man, having the appearance of an assistant under-cook,
with a very dirty apron before him, and with his shirt-sleeves
rolled up, had befit° him a kind of large tin dish, and in
that there were a number of divisions, each of which con.
tainedth quantum of food alldted for a prisoner. The pri-
soners were called seriatim, and the man scooped out
of the divisions with his hands the meat and the
potatoes mei Vac( d them in the prisoner's hands—some six
or eight potatoes, unpeeled, and a small piece of beef being
thus dealt out to each prisoner. There were neither knife,
fork, plate, nor anything of that kind used, and,the prisoners I
had to hold the food as they best cenld with one hand whilst
they ate with the other. Some of them I observed &wine
the potatoes whole as they were, whilst others, more deli-
cate perhaps, gnawed off the peel with their teeth. Tha
meat they had to tear to pieces in the same manner
—with their teeth and lingers, and their hands
coasequen'ly became covered with grease, which they
could not remove, unless they smeared it over their clothes.
A pickpocket of the lowest grade, a ruffian of the moat atro-
cious character, might receive his meal in this manner; the
next in turn might be a man of ruptetability—but all were
treated alike. I saw a potboy, who was transported for seven
years for robbing his employer, take his dinner in this man-
ner as naturally iv if it had been served up in the best pos-
►ible style; but the next, a gentlemanly-looking elderly
man, who was awaiting trial for embezzlement, regarded his
with th.: utinuA disgust.