The Express.
London, England, 1866-11-28 00:00:00

eite erortoo.

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DECRY LANK
Twig EVENIMO, THE LADY OF LYONS. Mr. W. Montgomery:
Wes Helen Faueit.—And KATHERINE AND PETRI:CH.IO.
Mr. T. Swinbuurne, Mr. J. Roblua, and hiss Isabel Adatua
-

HATMARkET.
THIS EVENING, A GAME OF SPECULATION. Messrs. C.
Mathews, l'himendsle, Rasters, ; Mesdames litwitUam, Laws,
&e. —ANTON Y AN D CLYAWATRA. Menus. C. Mathews, Comp-
ton, ilte. ; Mesdames Mathews & ill L—FISH OUT OF WATER.

PRINCEEffit
Mg IMMO, EARNABY KUIXIK Main. Calhaem,
Ir. Villiers, J.O. Shore, &c., Mn. John Wood. Misses Augusta
Thomson and Katherine kodgere,Vining, and Mrs. C.
Morainan.—Preceded by THE MISTRE.sB 01, THE MILL

LI
Tins Emma, BRUTUS AND CESAR. Miss Elenrada—And
TRH LONG STRIKE Mown Rosary, Widdloorb, Cowper, Mts.
patrick. Reyoolds, and Moreland . Mina ilearade.--Coneludiug
with TWERDLE rows TAIL COAT.—Cumwence at 7.

(STRAND.
TIM Rennin, NEIGUISOWt.i. Meters, ParseUe, Belford,
DERurray ; Mesdames Swanborough, Johnstone, and Ilughes.
FREISCHUTZ; OR, A GOOD CAST FOR ♦ PUCE.
.—And BOOTS AT TYR SWAN.
..._

HOLBORN.
THIS EVi'viNd, at 7, FAMILY JARS. Mr. Sefton Parry and
Miss C. Saunders.—And FLYING SCUD. Mews. Neville, Bel-
more, Blake, Yawn, Re. ; Mesdames F. Josephs, C. Saunders,
Wage k'oote, nada, Lennox, Raymond, Re.

BRITANNIA.
TWTS lemma, LAURETTE'S BRIDAL; OR, MORE TITAN
MEETS THE EVE. Mrs. Lane.--Mtat Gantone : Mr. "Dancing
)lad" Bryan ; Muter Course Perkw —THE WHAT LS ITT—
Concluding with SOME BELLS THAT RANO.

NIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
MI Day —Morning, 6h. hm Afternoon. 6h. Sean
104foinn.rn—Mornhig. 7d fta Afternoon. 7h. nftn.

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28.

BETWEZY the fact that Mr. JAMES STEPHMIS
has quitted New York and the inference that he
has entered Ireland, or is on his way thither,
there is a moral gulf as wide as the Atlantic, or
wider. What au enthusiast like the Head Centre
may or may not have dared is of course beyond
the computation of sane minds. Confident in the
infallibility of his own plans, and in the secrecy of
his confederates—encouraged not merely by the
facilii,y of his escape from prison, but by the ease
with which he evaded the officers of detection
who were on the watch for him at every

port and creek—he may believe himself as
inapprehensible by mortal sense and the Bri-
tish constabulary as if he were clothed in the
friendly cloud in which the Gods of Olympus
veiled their favourite heroes. This is just possi-
ble. But MT, STEPHENS is not only an impulsive
fanatic ; he is au astute conspirator ; and there
is more craft, possibly, than daring in his embar-
kation from New York. If he have left that city,
it does not follow that he is bound for Ireland.
To lead the police and the Fenians to believe that
he is there might answer his purpose. To set
the constabulary on a false track, to make them
watch vigilantly at the doors of loyal and respect-
able householders, and dog and arrest innocent tra-
vellers, and at the same time to inspire his followers
with a feeling that he was among them, undis-
covered and tmdiscoverable, might not be bad
tactics. 'Whether this lino of action, or the more
perilous one of actually returning to Ireland, is
the course which Mr. STEPHENS has adopted we do
not venture to decide. In the absence of any'
means of deternnining if craft or courage pre domi- '
nates in his character, his probable conduct can'
only be guessed at. In moat fanatics, political
and religious, the enthusiast blends with the ,
trickster ; and which, at any given moment, will
gain the ascendant it would be difficult or im-1
possible to foretell. Whether Mr. STEPHENS is
coining or not, he will presently be believed to be '
in Ireland ; and his rumoured arrival will be more
dangerous even than his real presence. It may
be possible to light against and capture a
person ; but a shadow and a belief can-
not so easily be overcome. But in any case
the business of coercion and subjugation
cannot last long; and when it is over the old problem
will begin, How is England to govern Ireland ?
Can England govern Ireland ? What are the
faults or mistakes which have left us in 1866 no
further advanced towards a good understanding
and a moral union than we were in 1848, or still
earlier ? It is idle to lay the blame on the incor-
rigibility of the Celtic race. To do so is only to
proclaim our permanent unfitness to rule races
alien from our own, and to justify the separatists.
It is useless to rely simply on suppression. We
have been at that work for generations and cen-
turies, and it has left only further uprisings to
suppress. For this part of their duties, Lord
Assiteolirf and Lord NAAS will, we dare say, be
sufficient. But beyond arming the police with
breech-loaders, and despatching regiment after
regiment to Ireland, have Ministers any policy ?
Echoing a phrase of Mr. DISRAELI'S, which, being
interpreted, expressed only the intentions of the
present Government to carry out a project of their
predecessors, and to propose a vote for Irish rail-
ways, Lord ABERCORN has intimated that the
grand panacea for Irish distress is to prevent fur-
ther emigration. He has expressed the satisfaction
with which he observes that the ugly rush of the
nation from the laud of its birth is slackening.
Last quarter, the emigrants were fewer by eight
thousand, or nearly a third, than in the corres-
ponding period of the previous year. At this
Lord ABERCORN lifts up his voice in thanksgiving.
But has he ascertained for what purpose these eight
thousand have stayed at home On which side,
in the impending trouble, are their sympathies
enlisted ? Are they contented with Ireland as it is,
or do they expect to see before Christmas the
beginning of a new era in Ireland ? Numbers of
Irishmen are returning from America ; but Lord
ABER(7OIIN does not express any enthusiasm at
their arrival, and is, indeed, very properly pre-
paring for them a welcome which is not likely
to attract other exiles back to their native shores.
The fact is indisputable, that whether they stay
with us or go from us, the mass of the Irish na-
tion are dangerous to the Empire. They will be
so so long as large reforms are delayed.
It may be that the present generation
is irreconcileable ; and that the best mea-
sures will bear fruits only in the future.
But the slower a remedy is in operation
the more urgent is th 4 necessity of beginning in
time. The history of tie past fifteen years shows
that the heart of a nation is not to be won by