The Express.
London, England, 1867-05-03 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY MOM, MAY 3, 1867.

BRADLAUGH and MAYNE seem to be providing
for then. If, as is understood, the members of
the League do not propose to march *the Park
in procession, with banners and music, as they
do when they go in state to perform their devo-
tions, but are to proceed to the gates individually,
we presume that they must be admitted, and
be dealt with, if at all, within the enclosure.
There is no doubt that in this way the League
may give the police a great deal of trouble. But
if there are among the leaders of the League men
capable of taking an unprejudiced view of the cir-
cumstances of the case, and the effect which these
proceedings have on the public mind, we put it to
then, whether all this perturbation and annoyance
might not be spared ; whether any good end is
served by frightening the timid, interrupting trade,
and keeping half London in a state of unnecessary
excitement. The right to meet in Hyde-park
may be disputable, but something more is now in
question. The working-classes have now acquired
a degree of power, which brings with it responsi-
bilities. It is for them to show that they are
aware of the fact by their consideration for public
interests. In that way will they best prove their
fitness for„the franchise, when, rising above mere
class sentiment, they set with reference to the
general interests of the community. We appeal
to those of them who are members of the Reform
League not to push to an extreme the rights they
may believe they possess, but to take a broad
and serious view of their duties, and abstain from
irritating displays of numbers which just now can
promote no useful end.

OUR CONTEMPORARIES.
(THIS DAY.)

prisoners should be placed on the scaffold. The speech of
Baste before sentence is foolish sad frothy enough, if we
footrest it with the facts; but it shrikes a chord not in Irish
hearts alone. No matter what oar reason may say, men
cannot help some thrill of sympathy for a political criminal
who knows how to die. At present the Fenian have
nothing noble to recollect. Are we to give the foolish Fenian
failure of 1866 the consecration which, in spite of all we
can do, will inevitably attend a solemn political execution?
Are we to make martyrs of these obscure and mistaken men?
Beyond the question of policy, we must take into account
the spirit of our time. Although we have had rebellions in
Canada end in Ireland, no political criminal has been put
to death during the Queen's reign. In the great commu-
nity across the Atlantic the victors throughout that mighty
strife neversent a single man to the gallows, and our puny
peril is as nothing compared to the national danger in-
curred by the United States. We cannot entirely disre-
gard this great example ; we cannot be outdone in nobility
of heart by our descendants across the seas. Nor can we
altogether forget that, foolish and feeble as those Fenian/
have been, they are in some cases fine•hearted young fools.
According to the Standard, those who know the value of
a settled government, and who think the safety of the
law and order loving portions of the community worth
preserving, will by no means be disposed to quarrel with
the stern justice which metes out to these men the traitor's
doom.