The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-03 00:00:00

wicked bravado proceeded with the Bill. He will
lot be in n, hurry, w- 'irnag;ne, to lead the Sib-
oatarian van again. May his ignominious dis-
comfiture operate as a warning to legislative Lord-
lings for the future not to practise on the rights
and liberties of the industrious poor !

Grievously to blame, however, as his Lordship
is, the conduct of the Government, and more espe-
cially of the Premier and Sir GEORGE GREY, is
still more reprehensible. Their political experi-
ence and presumed knowledge of their country-
men shculd have told them that so delicate a
thing as Sabbath legislation ought not to be con-
fided to an inexperienced member, however well
meaning. But even waiving this, the bill once
introduced, instead of playing, as they have done,
fast and loose, it was their duty to have distinctly
pronounced their intentions with respect to it ;
and by no chance ought a flippant remark, or any
careless expression respecting the bill, to have
escaped them. It is no exaggeration to
say that
the unprincipled vacillation of Ministers had by
no means au illegitimate, though most unconsti-

tutional and disgraceful, issue in the police bruta-
lities of Hyde Park. The liberties and. comforts
—nay, the means of living of hundred; of thou-
sands, were a matter beneath their serious consi-
deration, unless it could be converted into a
means of securing political support. But let the
people, the over-burdened, much-enduring people
murmur, and meet to proclaim their impatience
of further wrong, and into the pocket goes the
ivory toothpick, away flies the insidious smile,
and post haste the Police Marshal is sent for, and
booked for the plan of a Sunday's campaign !
Heartlessness and vacillation are near of kin to
cruelty, and we will not be surprised to find that
the Home-office may fairly share the honours of
the "Bludgeoning of the Serpentine " with Sir
RICHAtD and his myrmidons.

At all events the proceedings at the Marlborough
Police-court lend considerable colour to this notion.
The prisoners who had been savagely assaulted
and token into custody for a word or a look, or
for nothing at all, as the case might be, were kept
waiting for several hours in a room, a sort of
Blackhole, " crowded to suffocation," until the
Home-office would condescend to appear by deputy
and declare their intentions, the police outside
agreeab-iy employing the interval in bludgeoning
the excited crowd in front of the office. Anything
more disgraceful to Government can hardly be
conceived. It is quite evident they were unde-
cided to the last what to do, never troubling
themselves with a consideration of the rights of
the prisoners, and possibly puzzled by the trivial
nature of the evidence—for with all their libe-
rality of detail the police chiefly succeeded in mak-
ing out a case against themselves. The stones
thrown, we fancy, are generally speaking, still where
they used to be in Hyde-park, or in what other
arena policemen of Lila ination and taste disport.
Our opinion, farmed on observation and general
report, is only confirmed by the evidence, that
the people, men, women, and children were reck-
lessly and brutally assailed, and that nothing but
their good sense and good feeling could have pre-
vented a serious riot—a collision which the police
bad adopted the most efficient measures to pro-
voke. Let the blame, however, ultimately be
distributed as it may, one thing is certain : there
must be a thorough inquiry into the affair, fur
the more it is considered' the more serious it
looks.