The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-02 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1865.

--...___--

The Cuba, with news from New York to the 23d,
brings us little striking intelligence. The release of
the Shenandoah crew is said to have excited some
hostility in Washington, and the New York Herald,
the only journal that speaks of it, declares that the
Government must demand their extradition, but
there is little in this to excite uneasiness. The
naval reductions proceed steadily, and the number
of employes in Philadelphia, Boston, and Portsmouth
yards are to be diminished by one-half, by the
order:, of the Secretary of the Navy- The move-
ments of the American r acific Squadron look en-

couraging for the Chilians, and very alarming for
the pompous Admiral who threatens Valparaiso.
In military circles General GRANT 154 still making
himself prominent, and has had the honour of a
grand reception given by some of the leading citi-
zens of New York, at which ten thousand persons
were present, so that his popularity does not seem
to be on the wane.

The arrangements for reconstruction appear tolbe
going on favourably. The Florida Convention has
adjourned, after having annulled the Secession
Ordinance, repudiated the Confederate debt,
abolished slavery, and provided for receiving
negro testimony. Mississippi has also agreed to accept
the evidence of coloured persons in certain cases, so
that this most important of all boons for the
negro seems to be gaining universal favour. It is
indeed such as no just and enlightened man can
reasonably refuse, and without it the gift of freedom
itself loses half its value. The liberality which is
shown to the black man is not always manifested
by the white man to his fellow, and we find that
Mr. COLFAX, the prominent candidate for the
Speakership of the louse of Representatives has
made a speech opposing the admission of the
Southern representatives to Congress at present.
With regard to the relations of the States with
Mexico little definite is stated, though there are
some ominous manifestations. General STEEL, who
commanded in Texas, has been superseded by
General WEITZEL, owing, it is said, to General
STEEL'S intimacy with the Imperial officers along
the Mexican frontier. All the Federal cavalry
regiments, with one exception, have been ordered to
Texas ; but this, according to a Washington organ,
is not owing to hostile feeling towards MAXI3IILIAN,
but I,pe.alige cavalry are more useful in that State.
The Mexican Republicans, it is said, have received
encouraging advices from the United States, but
all these rumours require to be taken cum grano
salis.

The months which have elapsed since the
assassination of President LINCOLN have not ob-
literated the recollection of the horror of the
crime and the sympathy felt for the people of the
States in this country. At the time of the tragical
event these feelings found active expression in the
shape of addresses of condolence from almost all
the corporate bodies of the kingdom, as well as
from numerous large and influential public meet-
ings and assemblies of various kinds. Owing to the
dastardly attack which left Mr. SEWARD for so long
a helpless invalid, no formal reply could be made to
these addresses; and Mr. SEWARD, now restored
to the presidence of his office, endeavours to repair
the serious neglect by a kind and courteous ac-
knowledgment. Under the circumstances, and
considering that the same conspiracy which cut
short the career of ABRAHAM LINCOLN laid Mr.
SEWARD aside from the duties of his office, no other
course could have been looked for, but the present
despatch of Mr. SEWARD shows a cordial and kindly
feeling towards the seceder; and a desire to recog-
nise with all due courtesy any manifestations of
European sympathy with American difficulties.

It will be no surprise to the public to learn that
the result of the Fenian trials, in the case of LUBY,
has been that he was found guilty on all counts,
and the judge has passed on him the sentence of
twenty years' penal servitude. In doing this he
dwelt on the enormity of the offence, which, he said,
might have resulted in horrors equal to those of the
French Revolution. The prisoner addressed the
Court, and said that since his arrest he had expected
no other result to take place. He expressed
himself in indignant terms concerning the
notion that he intended to advocate or sanc-
tion " assassination " or " rapine," and declared
that the only motive which actuated him was love
for his country. This sounds very well, and no
doubt both he who uttered the remarks, and the
friends who heard them, or will peruse them, will
delude themselves into the idea that they are strictly
true and plain facts ; but the real danger of all
these machinations and manoeuvres against esta-
blished authorities consists not in what is planned,
not in the lengths to which men go in carrying out
the plans, and the changes that take place during
the time it takes to put designs into execution.
Seditious motives are allowed to intrude themselves
on the mind, and thus encouragement is naturally
given to all subjects of a dangerous character, and
from a discussion of abstract notions, it is easy for
excitable and misguided individuals to pass on to
the concoction of schemes alike reprehensible and
dangerous in their tendency and effect. It is for-
tunate in every respect that the Fenian Conspiracy
should have been thus early nipped in the bud, but
the law must take the same cognisance of the matter
as if much more had been done. Only by a strong
and determined exhibition of authority can such
offenders be properly treated, and the majesty of
justice must be maintained rigorously and effec-
tually. Only by the adoption of such a course can
consistency be maintained, and we may trust that
the righteous doom which has overtaken the pri-
soners may be a service to others as a
warning, and exercise a salutary influence
in deterring young inexperienced and in-
fatuated individuals from treading in their
footsteps. All that has transpired during the trials
leaves no room to doubt the guilt of those accused,
and the various discoveries that have been made
at the disclosures with which we have been fur-
nished during the progress of the investigations
show that this display of Fenianism was no new,
vague, and shadowy affair, as some would have
had us believe at the outset, resting on the " base-
less fabric of a vision," but a scheme concocted
with care, and distinguished by the zeal and apti-
tude of its leaders. In order effectually to crush
such an endeavour the sternest rigour of the law
must be exercised, and no one who comprehends
the nature of the affair in its true bearings will
regret the severity of the sentences that may be
Passed, any more than they will do otherwise than
concur in the correct view of that of the prisoner
Lucy.

Another,
and we may hope the last of the civil
trials connected with the American war, has been
brought to a close, and it is the same close which
seems invariably to attend the efforts of our Go-
vernment in this matter. The story of the Shenan-
doah, formerly the Sea Ring, and the acts of
CaptS.WADDELL and CORBETT are familiar to most of
our readers ; and the case which was yesterday Con-
cluded at Weal minster was in fact similar in its out-
lines to all the parties in court. The prosecution of
Captain Conn Err for aiding and abetting the offence
for which Capt. WADDELL was not prosecutedgeems
at first sight singular ; but there were some reasons
which might induce the Crown to select Captain
CORBETT. Perhaps it was wished_to ascertain how
far the temper or conviction of an English jury
would be affected by that wonderfully convincing
argument of success which now pleads so strongly
on behalf of the Federal Government of the United
States. But it is very long since the English public
generally made up their minds in this matter of the
Southern privateers, and they cannot be made to
see that the Alabama, the Shenandoah, and all
tohfecirivkilisineddrewd,arwfare, ere at all infractions of the fair rules
raissable, nay
resources by destro
advisable, to cripple the enemy's
rw.hnigchhhi:ve always held it per-
missable,
commerce. It could

hardly have been for the mere pleasure of destruc-
tion that SHERIDAN and his men desolated this
beautiful and fertile valley that bears the same name
as the redoubtable privateer, yet those who uphold
the devastation of the Shenandoah Valley as an act
of military necessity are the first to denounce the
cruelty of intercepting merchant vessels. Yet in
the one case it was merely commercial and financial
interests that suffered, while the result of the other
was to leave women and children houselcss and
starving. The case against Capt. CORBETT, how-
ever, did not rest upon the merits of the Federal or
Confederate cause. It was based upon a not un-
reasonable accusation against the commander of the
Sea King of a breach of the Foreign Enlistment Act.
It was stated that when transferring the command
of the Sea King to Captain WADDELL he urged his
men to accept an engagement under that officer.
This charge was supported by part of the evi-
dence and contradicted by other parts ; but looking
upon the whole affair with an impartial gaze, it is
quite clear that there was not sufficient evidence
for a British jury to convict upon in any
other less interesting case. There can be
no reason, whatever the desire of a sec-
tion of our politicians to stand well with Ame-
rica, that we should break through those sound
principles of constitutional law which regulate our
ordinary proceedings. We may prepare ourselves
for some ebullition of American feeling regarding
the future of this prosecution. The arrival of the
Shenandoah without her crew is said to have occa-
sioned irritation in New York which the news of
Captain CoRBETr's escape will not tend to soothe.
But all independent and unprejudiced Americans
will be willing to acknowledge that we have per-
formed our full obligations to them in investigating
the matter, and that the good old English law that
accepts every man as innocent until he is proved
guilty, must in common justice and common
honesty be extended to the commanders alike of the
Sea King and of the Shenandoah.

Sir JOHN PAKINGTON'S speeches are always worth
listening to and perusing. He is generally very
moderate in his remarks, and circumspect in his ex-
pression of opinion. In that he has far more weight
than if he proceeded to great lengths and made
use of violent and vehement language. The right
hon. baronet, on Thursday last, attended a dinner
at Worcester, on the occasion of a testimonial being
presented to Mr. LEvicK, the Conservative candi-
date at the last election. He expressed a hope that
the new House of Commons, which as yet was all
promise and no performance, would render im-
portant services to the country, and that the
men selected in different parts of the em-
pire to be its members may be animated by
those high and noble and patriotic feelings which
have, through a long period of time, distinguished
past Houses of Commons, and made that body " the
first representative assembly in the world." Passing
on to other matters connected with the politics of
the day, Sir JOHN PAKINGTON lamented the death
of Lord PAL:sIERSTON, and declared his conviction
that his loss would materially change the aspect of
affairs. He alluded to the " political intrigues" of
1859, and truly stated that, although the Conserva-
tives did not remain in office, they beheld the
" pledges of reform by which the Radicals came
into office vanish into thin air." It was only
to be expected from so downright a politician and so
straightforward a man as Sir JOIIN PAKINGTON
that we should find him declaring that Earl Rus-
SELL, who has been summoned by the QUEEN to
take the lead of affairs, should have the fair trial
for which he has appealed. That appeal in Eng-
land must never be made in vain, and no doubt,
however much they may differ from the noble lord
at the head of affairs, the Opposition will not hesi-
tate to accord him a fair opportunity of displaying
his tactics without let or hindrance. Sir. J.
PAKINGTON does not entertain very sanguine views
as to the success of the Ministerial efforts, and
while he graphically states that the fair trial
must take place in the " high court of Par-
liament, at Westminster, and the jury will be the
British public," he does not pretend to anticipate
their verdict, but remarks that when a man calls
most loudly for a " fair trial" we are apt to find he
has got himself into some great trouble. Of course
we must wait till time has proved the reality or
falsity of all the prophecies that are made concern-
ing their Ministry ; but if, as the right hon. baronet
naturally says, the new Reform Bill that is to be
brought in should not be based upon the interests of
the country, but brought forward as a battle-cry of
party, it will not be likely to prove more successful
than its predecessors. If a measure which
should be adapted to the wants of the
nation, totally irrespective of narrow views
and party manceuvres, should be made for a parti-
cular purpose, and "so shaped as to maintain in
office a feeble and tottering Government," the
country will not stand it, and Parliament is not
likely to sanction its introduction. The public
require measures and not men, so that it is idle to
dilate upon the advantages that accrue from an
old Reformer being at the head of affairs. We
are concerned for the welfare of the present
as well as the memory of the past; and,
above all things, in respect of reform,
we want straightforwardness, which is a decide
ratuin not often found among the members of
the present Government. Unless they turn over a
new leaf in this respect, the forebodings of their
friends and the duties of their opponents will all
prove too true for the realisation of their hopes and
the success of their policy. Whether a so-called
Liberal or a Conservative Government introduce
a Reform Bill matters nothing to the country if the
measure be good, but it is difficult to make interested
persons think so.

The Fenian Trials.

D LTBLIN, Friday.

At the sitting of the Court this morning Judge
Keogh charged the jury, who at three o'clock
brought in a verdict against Luby of guilty on all
the counts.

Luby addressed the Court, saying that from his
arrest he expected no other result. He indignantly
denied that it was his intention to countenance
either assassination or rapine—his only motive was
love of his country. _ .

The presiding Judge passed on him the sentence
of 20 years' penal servitude. He dwelt on the enor-
mity of the offence, which might have resulted in
horrors equal to those of the French revolution.
O'Leary was then put forward, and a jury was
empanelled for his trial ; the Attorney-General
began his address, and the Court adjourned at five
o'clock.

'l'ruc bills were found against five other prisoners.
Luby was removed under a strong guard to
Mountjoy Prison.

A STAG IN A RAILWAY STATION.—MUCII excite-
m thisenatf t wasern o
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quarterthapnaSsWtOtrwo
O'clock by a: stag, hotly pursued by her Majesty's stag
hounds, bounding through the doorway of the passengers'
departure side of the railway station which happened to
be open, on to the platform, thence on to the line of
metals, then over the fences of the meadows adjoining
thence through the canal, and ultimately into the main
road, whore it was captured close to Moor Park, the seat
of Lord Ebury, and taken to Mr. James Gurney's, " The
Queen's Arms," inn, near the church,f:rom whence, about
five o'clock the same afternoon, it was removed back in the
royal cattle Tan to Windsor.