The Express.
London, England, 1867-08-08 00:00:00

PROFESSOR THOMPSON AND THE FENIANS.

This morning was published the correspondence
between the Irish government, the President of the
Queen's College, Galway, and Professor D'Arcy Thomp-
son, Greek Professor of the Queen's College, in reference
to the publication of two letters by the latter gentleman,
one in the Daily News and the other in the Scotsman,
urging the remittance of the capital sentence in the cane
of the Fenian', and denouncing the Irish landlords and
middlemen as the cause of the rebellion. " Until the
former," he said in the letter to the Scotsman, " maul of
themselves or be forced to mend, and until the latter are
pretty well exterminated, Ireland will be a trouble and
disgrace to England." On the 15th of May Sir Thomas
Larcombe, at the direction of the Lords Justices, trans-
mitted these letters to the President of the College, re-
questing him to call upon Mr. Thompson to state whether he
acknowledged the authorship. On the 11th, the following
day, Professor Thompson wrote to say the letters were his-
" The one addressed to the Scotsman," he says, " was
written almost immediately after my perusal of
the conviction of the two prisoners when I was
under very strong mental and nervous excitement.
Had I to re-write it, I should still advocate
clemency, but certainly in terms more moderate. With
the general tone of the letter in the Daily New I am not
disposed to disagree." The next letter that appears is a
note from Mr. Thompson, written eleven days afterwards,
asking the President if he has heard anything of what the
government were likely to do. The President replied that
he had not yet received any communication from the
government; but he (the President) could not let the
opportunity pass w:thout expressing to Mr. Thompson the
surprise of the entire collegiate body that he had not ere
this endeavoured to free himself from the charge of en-
deavouring in some degree to justify or palliate • move-
ment, the avowed object of which was to over-
turn the throne under which he held his office.
The following day Mr. Thompson wrote a letter
acknowledging that be had committed a very grave aca-
demical offence in affixing his professional title to the
letters referred to, and which was an error of pure
thoughtlessness. The letters themselves now appeared to
him to contain overch►rged rhetorical expression', and he
was " appalled to think " that some portions of them,
which he owned to be extravagant and undignified, should
have been for a moment discussed as earnestly meant-
His dispassionate belief was that the Irish landlord was
as much the creature of circumstance as the tenant, and
that there was no question between them which could
not be settled by constitutional legislation. He
abhorred violent interference with law and would
shoot down a rebel in arms without the slightest
compunction. He detested rebellion, but did not of ne-
cessity detest a rebel. A week after receiving this, the
President of the College wrote to the under-secretary at
Dublin, transmitting the letters referred to, and express-
ing a hope on the part of himself and the entire collegiate
body that Mr. Thompson having repudiated the obnoxious
sentiments which parte of his letters might seem to imply,
the government would not consider it necess►ry to deprive
the college of a man " whose rare attainments as a
scholar, whose indefatigable industry as a teacher, and
whose conduct as • gentleman have rendered his mei vices
so valuable." Rather more than • month subsequently,
viz., on the 11th of July, Lord Nam wrote as follows to
the President of the College:
" Irish Office, July 11,1867.

" Sir,—l am directed by the Lords' Justices to acknow-
ledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th ultimo, and to
inform you that their excellencies have carefully consi-
dered that letter, and the one from Professor Thompson,
which you enclosed. Their excellencies are glad to find
that Professor Thompson disclaims the obnoxious senti-
ments expressed in his previous letters, that he has de-
clared his abhorrenoe of Fenianism, has avowed that he is
actuated by no other feelings than those of loyalty and de-
votion to his Sovereign, and has expressed his regret and
sorrow for h►ving, under the pressure of intense excite-
ment, broached opinions which he now acknowledges to be
quite unjustifiable. Their excellencies are willing to
believe that Mr. Thompson's letters were not published
from a desire to stimulate disaffection or sow dissension
between different classes of her Majesty's subjects, but are
to be attributed to a nervous temperamentand over-heated
imagination. They are, therefore, disposed to take a mer-
' ciful view of his errors, and to accede to your recommend-
ation that no further steps should be taken to mark their
disapprobation of his conduct. They are the more disposed
to adopt this lenient course, because they anticipate that
the disavowal, and retractationa contained in his letter of
the 30th May last will probably counteract and neutralise
any mischief likely to be produced by his previous letters.
—I am, Ste., (Signed) " NAAS.
" The President, Queen's College, Galway."

Mr. Rearden, on Friday, will move " that an
humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying that
she will be graciously pleased to grant an amnesty to the
political prisoners in Ireland, England, and Canada, as the
revolt of the Belgians in 1830 against the legitimate author
rity of the King of Holland (through which her Majesty's
late uncle was constituted King of the Belgians), and the
rebellion of Gener►l Garibaldi and his confederates in Italy
and Naples, and that of the Southern States of America
against the Union, were encouraged and aided in this
country, thereby affording a temptation to that portion of
the inhabitants of Ireland, and the Irish emigrants in
Canada and the United States, who are discontented with
British rule in Ireland, to follow their example ; and to
pray that, in consideration of such extenuating circum•
stances, her Majesty will be pleased to extend her most
gracious pardon to all persons now in prison in the United
Kingdom and the colonies for political offences."
Reports from the island of St. Thomas state that
the United States is still negotiating for its transfer to
them for a naval station, and the impression prevails there
that they will succeed in getting it.

One of the most magnificent buildings of imperial
Paris, the new opera-house in the boulevard facing the Rue
de la Pain, is now very nearly completed externally. It
was to have been presented to the public daring the height
of the Exhibition period, but the completion of the entered
ornamentations took longer to execute than was anticipated.
Some 300 of the most dexterous carvers in stone have been
employed, and have now very nearly finished their
work. Within a few days the scaffolding and hoarding
which still screen the building will be removed, and pro-
bably the most superb temple of Apollo ever built in any
city, ancient or modern, will be seen by the cosmopolitan
population of Paris.

- A public meeting of 2,000 persons took place
three days back in the theatre at Treviso, when motions
declaring Rome to be the capital of Italy, and approving
of the bill on ecclesiastical property, voted by the Chamber
of Deputies, were carried by large majorities. The speakers
showed great moderation, and the business passed off in
good order, terminating by loud cheers for the Bing and
for Garibaldi.

The Russian government has ordered the esn-
straction at Kertch of important fortifications, the earth-
works alone of which will cost 1,728,000 fr.