The Express.
London, England, 1868-01-03 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENST7I,' JANUARY 3, 1'868'.-' y

ment of the country, and they held that it was
impossible to attain these ends so long as a large
section of the community was bitterly diasatisfied
at its exclusion from a direct share in national
affairs.
To a Liberal nothing can afford more amuse-
ment than the apprehension which " Felix Holt "
manifests with regard to the future action of the
new electors. It is anticipated that they will be
disposed to overturn venerable institutions and to
destroy what is termed "the common estate of
" society." By this is meant " that treasure of
" knowledge, science, poetry, refinement of
" thought, feeling, and manners, great memories,
" and the interpretation of great records, which
" is carried on from the minds of one generation
"to the minds of another." Fortunately, it is as
impossible that they should do thin, as it is im-
probable that they would ever make the attempt.
Taken at the worst, the working men are the
reverse of iconoclasts. They have as honest
a pride in their country's intellectual and
commercial greatness as is felt by any other class.
They are quite as amenable to rational considera-
tions as any body of men that either parades its
intelligence or flaunts its wealth. That they will
never abuse their power is unlikely, and that they
will refrain from blundering is more than can be
expected ; but should they prove either perverse
or foolish, they will but follow the example of
those who claim to be their superiors. Judging
from the lugubrious vaticinations of those who are
trembling at the political prospect, we should con-
clude that hitherto everything has been ordered
fur the best in this the best of all possible
countries, and that hereafter we must be prepared
for a reign of anarchy during which all who are
wealthy will be despoiled, and all who are educated
will be banished or slain. It may be that we are
in the midst of a revolution if so, the revolution
is shorn of all terrors, for it is the work, not of
an enslaved nation striking off galling fetters and
revelling in unwonted license, but of a free people
resolved upon setting their affairs in order and
prepared to adopt the necessary means for the
achievement of desirable results. What " Felix
Holt " seems to dread would certainly have come
to pass had the demands of the working men been
met with contemptuous indifference, or had they
been obstinately rejected.
With one part of the address we are glad to be
able to express our hearty concurrence. This is
the hope that in future the duties of men may be
substituted for the interests of a clan. On this
theme " Felix Holt " might have expatiated at
length to the advantage of those who read and
approve of the magazine in which her address
appears. It is from class legislation that we are I
now suffering. Parliament has been the too
faithful mirror of the opinions in vogue among
the possessors of broad acres and fabulous wealth.
National interests have been forgotten amid the
contest of class rivalries. The ambition of those
in authority has too often been the gratification of
wane feeling having its root in a class interest.
We are not sanguine enough to think that the
direction of the current of opinion will be entirely
reversed owing to the changes made by the new
Reform Act. There would be as much rashness
in expecting this as there is in anticipating that
the old landmarks will at once be removed and the
o'd maxims immediately discarded as obsolete. In
thi• country improvement is a plant of very slow
growth. Indeed, there is a greater danger that
people will be disappointed with the first action of
a reformed Parliament than that they will be
horror-stricken at the summary style of
its proceedings. On this account, we re-
gret to see attempts like the sachem of
"Felix Bolt " to excite a vague sense of in-
security in the public mind under the pretext of
proffering soothing advice to working men. Pro-
phets of evil often prove in the right, because
their utterances tend to ensure the fulfilment of
their predictions. Besides, we disapprove of this
address in itself as much as we dislike its tone 1
and tendency. It is an indirect way of showing
that working men must, for the present, consider
themselves as under the tutelage of those to whom
fortune has been more kind. Were they to resent
the obtrusion on them of the best advice, we'
should not be surprised. That they should regard
advice put before them in the pages of Black-
wood as something akin to an insult, would be
perfectly natural. Others higher in rank would
scorn similar treatment. We hope that the
working men will cultivate the virtue of self-
reliance, and endeavour to think for themselves
while acting for the welfare of the community ;
that they will glory in proving themselves to be
the worthy citizens of a noble country. If they
wish for guidance or advice they will look fur it,
we believe, to those who have ever proved their
trusty friends. We feel assured that if they
tern to the pages of Blackwood, they will per-
ceive that the advice there tendered to them is
not sound, and that " Felix Holt " is not a

Prom the purely religious point of view it dies not at
Ana seem why tine who believe in saliatiM should
not solemnly offer, or procure I. be offessmions
for the souls of men whose liyee have been talsrm as for-
feited to society. Human justice does not press its
victims beyond the grave. Public sentiment, bre/ever, is
rarely at fault on a question of this kind. It is from the
human, not the religious, side that this offering of
masses for murderers has been judged, and even at Rome
it is felt that this aspect of the case must not be lost
sight of.
That three unarmed and unsuspecting shopmen should
be surprised by eight armed robbers in the principal street
in Cork, is, says the Herald, within the range of probabi-
lity ; although the hardihood of their aasallaats is quite
beyond what might—looking to their past exploits—be ex-
pected from the Fenians ; but what it cannot understand,
sad what requires explanation, is that the gunsmith and his
companions did not, when their captors had left them at
liberty, immediately follow them into the street and call
for help. There could be no possible danger' their doing
so. It would be very improbable, indeed, that men taken
in the very fact would have risked the conseqrumes of firing
on those who attempted to arrest them, when maps would
be clearly hopeless; and even if the persons purging refused
their aid, the disturbance in the street would surely have
attracted the attention of the police, who would quickly
have brought the plunderers to bay.

)US TOPICS.

The Time remarks that to a sovereign who respects
his people and respects himself there can be nothing more
absurd than the world's anxious and superstitious atten-
dance upon his good pleasure as signified in some chance
words thrown out in a birthday or New Year's Day ad-
dress. A Sovereign has his speeches from teas trone, his
ministerial programmes, his diplomatic notes, and other
official channels through which his mind may be conveyed
to all at home and abroad, to all present and to come.
The Emperor would show greater regard to his own and
other people's dignity if henceforth the New Year's re-
ception at the Tuileries were to be limited, as it was this
tune, to the interchange of commonplace civilities.
The Daily News congratulates the new Head Master of
Eton on the enlarged sphere he has obtained for his exer-
tions, and praises the Provost and Fellows for the manner
in which they have discharged their trust. It wail be for
Mr. Hornby before the debates on the Public Schools Bill
begin, to make himself thorough master of the situation,
and himself to support such liberal alterations as
think fit. Boy after boy for the last 20 years has left
Eton, after having spent eight or nine years there, without
being able to do a rule-of-three sum or speak ten intelli-
gible words in any modem language. This must no longer
be. Together with Latin and Greek other things must be
equally cared for.
The Standard complains that Mr. Matthew Arnold in
his last reply to Mr. Harrison clothes his purpose with
languid and supercilious effeminacies. The cause of order
and of government cannot have too much of the aid of
culture. But, unfortunately, through some strange per.
versity among the spirits who claim to be " of Sweetness
and Light," the principle of authority has owed but little
in these latter days to the "cultured" persons. In many
instances they have deliberately preferred anarchy, and
the powers of anarchy, to the cause of the state. They
have taken their side with those wko make war against
the basis of government.
The Time again expresses dissatisfaction with the ap-
pointment of Mr. Thornton as minister at Washington. It
says that he satisfies none of the conditions which are
required for the representative of the government,
if he is intended to carry weight with and ex-
ercise influence over the governing classes of America.
If the Times were asked whom we could send, it would
mention especially Lord Kimberley. Other names will
occur to every one—the Duke of Argyll, Lord Crauborne,
Lord Carnarvon, Lord Dufferin—all men engaged in poli-
tical life, but who could not but feel honoured by such a
mission at so critical a time, unless we are to accept the
narrow notion that the public service is limited to parlia-
mentary office, and that the country has no claim upon a
`,man except for just such service as suits his con-

the Court.

OSBORNE, JAN. 2.

The Queen walked and drove in the grounds yes-
terday afternoon, accompanied by Princess Christian ; and
her Majesty, accompanied by Prince and Princess Chris-
tian and Prince Arthur, and attended by the Ditches' of
Roiburghe, drove to Parkhurst this morning, where her
Majesty inspected the troops under the command of
Colonel Jeffreys, C.D.
Lord Charles Fitzroy was in attendance upon horseback.
The other members of the royal family walked and drove
in the grounds this morning.
The Duchess of Roxburghe has succeeded the Dowager
Countess of Gabsaborough as lady-in-waiting to her
Majesty.
The Duke of Rozburghe has arrived at Osborne.
Major• General the Hon. A. N. Hood and Colonel H.
Ponsonby have succeeded Lord Charles Fitzroy and
Colonel Du Plat as equerries-in-waiting.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.
RUSSIA AND TURKEY.
The French journals publish the following
telegram, dated Marseilles, January 2.
Letters from Constantinople of the 25th my that
General Ignatieff bad been received by the Sultan in secret
audience, which bad given rise to many commentaries.
Much is said of a journey of General Bibikoff and various
Russian officers in Turkey in Europe. Assertions are made
that officers of the Russian staff bad previously been
taking plans of the Bosphorus and the environs of the
capital. The Austrian Ambassador had had an interview
with the Sultan on the question of the Principalities. A
deputation from Montenegro had arrived. It is said to
ask for the cession, on the side of Albania, of a territory
almost equal to the Principalities.
The Debats, commenting on this, remarks that it
is not likely Russia has waited till the close of 1867
to make the observations above referred to, but it
adds:
If we are disposed to pay little attention to the reuse-
tional telegrams, which, in the absence of more certain
news, are sent to us from time to time, we are obliged to
pay more respect to the articles of the Austrian press,
which speak of the imminence of a crisis in the East. If
the Wanderer of Vienna is to be believed, Russia must
either compromise or lose altogether her prestige in the
eyes of the Christian subjects of Turkey, or she must
apply the match to the combustibles which she has been
accumulating for many years in the East.
The Temps also refers to the gravity of the
Eastern question, and concludes an article on the
present state of politics as follows :
Europe was never before in such a position. It may be
thus defined :—Public opinion is enlightened enough to see
the dangers of the future, but it is too feeble to avert
them.

ADJOURNED INQIIMRE.—(THIS DAY.)
Dr. Lsaikester resumed his inquiry at the Vestry
HaR, St. Panora, this morning,lnto the deaths of Martha
Thompson and Humphrey Evans, who were killed by the
explosion at the Clerkenwell House of Detention on the
13th ult.
Gee, Buffery, a lad, aged 14, said he was in Corporation-
lane on the day of the explosion. He warn going on an
errand for his master, when he saw • milkman go up to a
policeman, and heard him say, " Some ona has laid a barrel
down there." The policeman got to the barrel and it
exploded almost immediately. He saw the light of the
explosion and was running away when something struck
him on the hip and he ran away. He aw &women near the
barrel but no one else, and he saw nothing of a truck.
Polioe-eonstable Ranger repeated his former evidence.
He had been watching the House of Detention in
plain clothes from the 2Gth of November, his spe-
cial directions being to watch everybody who
came to visit the Fenian prisoners, Burke and Duey.
On the morning of the explosion they (the
police) received " some kind of information that the
prison wall was to be undermined." He, however,
took no notice of that, as the police for some time had
received so many " off-handed letters." He saw Allen come
to the prison to see Carney, and Ann Justice was loitering
about in the neighbourhood of the prison. He followed
a woman who bad been visiting the prison as Berke's
sister, thinking she " looked more excited than usual, and
ought to be watched." She got away in a Hansom cab,
and after following her to Fleet-street, he lost her. He
then returned to Clerkenwell, and found Allen and
Justice still lingering suspiciously about the prison
walls. When Inspector Thomson came to the prison gate
in a cab with a gentleman he went up to him, and told
him it was very suspicious that these persons would not
move away. Soon after he went inside the House of De-
tention, and through the trap-door watched the arrival of
Desmond and the " strange man not in custody," and
, their consultations with Allen and Justice. The witness
added to what be had previously stated, that when the
explosion took place the warder who keeps the
I gate at the House of Detention was so fright-
Heed that he ran away into the prism, and could
not be found to open the gates for some time. When
Ranger succeeded in getting outside ho saw Allen and
I Justice running away together, captured the latter and
knocked down the former and captured him too. Desmond
was also apprehended, and the three were taken together
into the prison. When inside Allen said, " I have been
sent here by Inspector Brennan." The witness in crow-
examination said the prisoners got (rather rough when
they were inside the yard, and were " put upon their
backs."
Several questions were asked as to the identification of
" the strange man not in custody" but it was suggested
that the interests of justice demanded they should not be
pressed. Nothing further was accordingly said upon this
point, but the witness Ranger added, "The fact is, too
much bas been said about it in the papers already." The
witness further said that when he went to Ann Justice's
lodgings ho found that her husband had suddenly left,
leaving their three children there unprotected. He had
seen Burke's sister every day for sonic weeks, and knew
her well.
Policeman Goldsmith gave evidence showing the move-
ments of Allen, Justice, and Dcsmond on the afternoon
of the explosion, and the incidents of the capture, and he
admitted in reply to a question from the coroner, that he
" was given to understand that there was to be an attack
made upon the prison somewhere," how or where he did
not surmise.
Inspector Potter repeated his previous evidence as to
the steps he took on the morning of the explosion, and as
to the means adopted for the rescue and relief of the suf-
ferers. He said he believed the persons concerned in the
crime acted upon signals to each other given from Strutton's-
yard, which commanded a view of Corporation-lane. No
doubt alarm was given in this way whenever any of the
police approached. His superior, Superintendent Gernon,
had received information (he believed verbal) from the com-
e:drawler of police that an attempt was likely to be made
to undermine the prison walls. Consequently the
police specially directed their attention to watch-
ing the sewers and cellars, with the view of
preventing any persona who bad no business there
meddling with them. In fact, every day more or less let-
ter had been received stating it was intended to release
Burke, and that very likely the prison van would be
attacked on its way to Bow-street. Evidence would ho
given at a future inquiry that a barrel resembling the one
fired was planted in Corporation-lane on the day before the
explosion, and on the precise spot where the breach was
made. The person who brought the barrel then planted
and wheeled it away, and pretended to be drunk. Evidence
would also be forthcoming as to where the gunpowder came
from ; also the truck. Of course no one thought the
cask was anything but • beer barrel. The per-
sistent manner in which Allen and Justice loitered about
near the prison entrance, drew the attention of the con-
stables on special duty to them, as was no doubt in-
tended. But for this the man who fired the barrel would
not have escaped detection. There was every reason to
believe that the police-constables had done their duty ;
moat of them were much injured,and one of them (Sutton)
was not sensible for a couple of days afterwards. From
what be had been told the policeman Moriarty (who was
said by one witness to have been close to the man who fired
the barrel) could not possibly have arrived at the barrel
until the explosion took place. It would be shown on some
future occasion that Burke and Casey and the other pri-
soners were connected together.
Policeman Knowles, who was one of the plain clothes
constables on special duty on the occasion, in the course of
the evidence be has given before said the cabman who
drove away Burke's sister had been examined at the
Home-otEoe, and was able to say where be put his fare
down.
Mrs. Crawley repeated her account of the firing of the
barrel, which she saw while pawing by Corporation-
lane. As she passed the barrel she saw a squib stuck
in the bead of the barrel—" rather towards the
top"—going off, and thinking the man who had
lighted it was letting off fireworks, she ran away ; met the
policeman Moriarty, and said, " What kind of game do
you call that, in the open streets?" The policeman, with-
out answering, crossed over towards the barrel, and she
stopped to see whether he would not seize the man for
letting off fireworks. Before the policeman arrived, how-
ever, the man darted off in the direction of Borman-
street. The policeman then appeared to turn quickly
round, and sire then thought there was danger. The
explosion took place almost instantaneously, and she, like
the rest, was knocked down. She was very much
braised, her bonnet was blown off her head, her clothes
off her back, and her gold watch detached from the guard,
and hurled acme distance away. (The watch, battered to
pieces, was handed round to the jury.)
In reply to a question Mrs. Crawley said if the police-
man had burned across when she spoke to hire he
might have caught the roan who did the deed by
the collar. He could not, however. see the bead
of the barrel because it was covered with •
tarpaulin, nor could be see the faoe of the man because
his back was towards him. The barrel was between the
man and the policeman and if the policeman hail at-
tempted to par the bUrel he would have been blown to

pieces.
Moriarty, upon being re-called, said he did not re-
member being spoken to by M. Crawley, and was certain
be saw no man near the barrel.
John Abbot, who is now an inmate of st. Bartholo-
mew's-hospital, told what Le knew of the oocur-
rence. He was standing r the door of No. 5,
Corporation-lane at the time with Mr. Young, who
was examined at the last inquiry. He stated clearly that
be saw " the man " approach from St. James's-building"
with two squibs, one of which he thrust into the barrel,
and the other wee thrown upon the pavement and picked
up br the boys who were playing about. There seemed
to him to be nearly a dozen persons about there.
Worth, a warder in the House of Detention, said—The
prison authorities had information on the 12th December
that an attempt would be made to i elease Burke andCairey,
but bad not the slightest intimation bow it rasa
to be effected. All the arrangements that could be
made inside were made. From the time of Burke
and Casey's confinement there be bad received special
instructions as to persons visiting Burke and Casey, but
nothing be bad seen previous to the day itself *marred to
lead him to expect that the prisoners were in collusion with
persons ontaidewith referenoetotbe proposed rescue. About
12 o'clock Allen came to the gate in an excited manner to
ask whether anyone bad been to see Casey. He returned
a grunt for an MOW, not feeling inclined to grant any
information. Soon after, the woman Justice came to see
Casey, and Allen stood opposite until she came out.
He could see by the man's countenance that the
man and woman knew each other, and after she
had passed Allen be followed her and they stood
talking together, both of them looking up
cosionally to the prison wall. By-and-bye a man,
whom he had not seen before, came and joined Allen. This
man wore a brown coat, had " one of these felt Fenian
bats," and a reddish " goatee ^ beard. He left them,
but Allen and Jostles remained together until the
wale? o. n took place. Demand had preeionsly joined the
POMILII visiting prisoners in the Houses,
of Deten-