The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-10 00:00:00

THE STATE OP IRPLAND.

At each annual recurrence of the Lord Mayor's
banquet in Dublin much interest is attached to the
opimons expressed in the speech of the Lord
Lieutenant. Earl Spencer, speaking at the Lord
Mayor's banquet the other night, before touching on
those points of the Irish question which are so pro-
minently before the public at the present time,
quoted statistics to shew that the country was
improving materially, as a proof of which
he referred to the deposit of twenty mil-
lions of money in the Irish banks. Ho
did not, however, allow the more painful parts of the
late history of the sister country to be forgotten, even
in the face of commercial prosperity. With regard
to quasi-political disorder, he considered that the
Femans still in the country might damage the welfare
of its inhabitants, and that it was necessary
that the greatest firmness should be shewn
them. The agarian outrages were a dis-
grace that had cropped up more than once in
this century. In the year 1845, under Sir Robert
Peel's Administration, there were three times as
many violent outrages as there have been in the past
year. His lordship did not enter int) this subject
ihrther than to say that it has been urged on one
hand that these crimes have been got up by those
who are afraid of remedial measures, and on the
other by those who seek to enforce a more sweep-
ing Land Bill. Both parties were in error. It
was impossible to drive England faster than she
could go. The Lord Lieutenant concluded by advo-
cating the spirit shewn by Mr. Bailey and his sons
in a late outrage, remarking that such a course on
the part of individuals would do far more to pre-
serve order than if all the army and police of Eng-
land were sent over.

MR. DRlk;i.. L.

The illness of the Board of Trade President has
given rise to some grave surmises as to his probable
resignation, should his recovery not be speedy. The
Times deals seriously with this report, remonstrating
against any hasty step of the kind. Mr. Bright's
value is not to be judged by the work he can do
at the Board of Trade. That department is not
overworked, and, moreover, ➢lr. Lefevre makesa very
able deputy. There is, says the leading journal,
no reason for any proximate retirement, which
would be a misfortune. "Mr. Bright is the representa-
tive of advanced Liberalism—some say of Radicalism
or Democracy—in the Cabinet ; and he thus consti-
tutes a potent and perfectly recognisable element
in its composition. From this it obtains a good
deal of its popularity from the classes which
Mr. Bright has been accustomed to address, and
which look to him as their leader and representative.
There cannot be a doubt that the character of the
Cabinet would undergo a change by his retirement.
At present this would be a great evil. It would be
likely to disquiet the classes which have given Mr.
Bright their confidence, and will receive contentedly
almost any measure which emanates from a
Cabinet of which he is a member." The
Daily News, on the other hand, looks for no
serious results from the present attack. Mr. Bright
will take a month's holiday, which probably will be
spent in his favourite pursuit of fishing, " and at the
close of that period it is confidently expected he will
be back in his place in Parliament to take part in the
coming debates."