The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-06 00:00:00

RIOT IN ITY.DE-PAIM:

If credit may be given to the great majority of wit:
nesses who have borne testimony to the conduct of the
police on Sunday last in Hyde-park, that conduct was
of a very brutal and ferocious description. We are
threatened next Sunday with a repetition of the disturb.
ance on a still more serious scale, and, as there is yet
time to prevent so grave an occurrence, it would seem
to be a duty incumbent upon all men who have acquired
to a certain degree the confidence of their fellow-subjects
to avert, if it be in their power, such a calamity. We
believe that our legislators have been very seriously in
fault in exasperating the people by an ill-timed interfer-
ence with their pursuits. It would, however, be difficult
to deny that the police have most grossly misconducted
themselves throughout the affair. The people do not
forget, and for many a long day they will not forget, the
brutal manner in which they were assaulted by the po-
lice upon an occasion which need not have been the
cause of strife but for their ill-judged interference. The
first impression of every rational man who hears of the
intended gathering on next Sunday is, " What do the
" people want ? Are not Lord Robert Grosvenor and
his bill consigned to merited oblivion ?" This is the
truth to a certain extent, but not the whole truth.
Every man in London whose relation or friend was in-
jured on last Sunday by the truncheons of the police is
burning to play out the return innings. The sympa-
thies of thousands attend them even among those who
have not been directly concerned in the business of last
Sunday. We pay the police to protect our house and
our pockets, not to break our heads. They are our ser-
vants, and not our masters. It becomes, then, a matter
of the first importance to remove all just causes of com-
plaint before the day arrives when the strife may be re-
newed. Tho bill has been withdrawn. The member
who introduced it and the house who sanctioned it have
acknowledged their error—and so there is and end to
that question. The grievance which the people met in
Hyde-park last Sunday to remedy no longer exists, but
on that day a fresh grievance was created. The police
appear to have grossly misconducted themselves, and,
therefore, if further disturbance is to be averted, it be-
comes the first duty of the Government to take such
steps as shall insure to them the sympathies of the majo-
rity. The best course open to them, under all circum-
stances, is to make a public declaration, before it be tno
late, that the conduct of the police on Sunday last shall
be submitted to a searching and public investigation.
We would particularly call attention to the desultory
conversation in the Lower House last night, in the
course of which Mr. Roebuck and Mr. T. Duncombe
gave utterance to complaints which may, unfortunately,
be heard in lower, but in more threatening accents in
every street. The fact is, that the Home-office is
"in a scrape," and it requires the utmost firmness
and foresight to avert the evil consequences of previous
error. There is but one way to secure the public sup-
port, which is to remove all causes of offence, and to
place the people clearly in the wrong if they attempt
any fresh disturbance. Sir George Grey has before him
a few hours for consideration—this evening for an ex-
pression of his determination, and another day for pre-
paration. We fully believe that if this night in the
House of Commons an assurance be given that the con-
duct of the police force on Sunday last is to be made the
subject of real and satisfactory inquiry, the storm will
blow over. No rational man wishes to see the functions
of the House of Commons transferred to the comitia
tributa of Hyde-park. We all want peace and order ;
but we do not desire our fellow-subjects maltreated with-
out a cause. After what we have written, we need
scarcely say that it is our most hearty and earnest advice
to our poor fellow-subjects to abstain on Sunday next
from any violent eemonstration. Hitherto they have
been entirely in the right, and have carried with them
the sympathies of all rational men. Let them not by
irrational violence place themselves in the wrong, and
alienate the good wishes of those who have until now
supported their cause. Their opponsaits would only be
too thankful to see a false movement on their par%
and would be but too eager to take advantage of
it. At the present moment the 'sole grievance is the
conduct of the policemen on Sunday.