The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVEMNG, JUNE 4, 1870.

operation of the causes and principles which lead
to the same results generation after gene-
ration, and which cause men who are
justly distinguished for prudence to be always found
on the Conservative side whenever any serious evils
have to be attacked. They are anxious for peace
in their time, and however bad an evil may be they
know that for a while its stoppage will occasion
greater difficulties than its continuance.. When the
bruised Irishman was found on the pavement he
declared it was not the fall which hurt him but
the stop which he got. So is it with social and
political evils, the effects are most felt when they are
checked, the evils are not noticed. when they con-
tinue without interruption.

With respect to the social evil which forms just
now such a prominent source of angry discussion it
is remarkable that this discussion has arisen not from
any movement on the part of any portion of the com-
munity to restrict the evil or curtail the freedom of
its votariee, but in reference to a proceeding
for the purpose of granting special subsidies and
support to the vicious members of the community at
the expense of the whole. What would be thought
of the father of a numerous family who announced
to his children that if any of them became diseased
through indulgence in a particular vice he would set
apart for them one of the best rooms in his house
tend them with the greatest possible care, and stop
part of the allowance of the other children in order
that the vicious members might have every indul-
gence, be cured in the quickest possible time, and be
sent forth to the world with a certificate that he
or she was again qualified for pursuing a vicious
career. Whereas, if any of his children become ill,
through the pursuit of legitimate or meritorious •
labour they would be left to take care of them-
' selves and would certainly have no assistance from
their parents. Such a course would be precisely
parallel to the plan which the Government has
• adopted in reference to the Contagious Diseases' Act.
By this Act distinct notice is given to all young
women that if they adopt a life of vice they will
immediately be taken under the special patronage
of the State—splendid hospitals will be built for
their reception, and surgeons, chaplains, matrons,
and servants, all at the public expense, will be de-
voted to their service. But if they adopt a life of
honest industry they must take care of themselves,
and whatever ills may befal them they will have no ,
claim to State assistance. 'What would be thought
of a Government which gave notice to all publicans
that they would make good to them all losses which
might arise whether from broken glass or otherwise
from all drunken and disorderly persons whom
they might maintain in their. houses, and yet
this would not be a more direct encourage-
ment of vice than the notice which has
been given to brothel keepers that the Go-
vernment will undertake to maintain and cure
all their victims as soon as they become unfit for
their profitable use, thus relieving them from the
Most difficUlt and costly part of their business. The
very name of the Act is a misleading misnomer. The
evil to be dealt with is not a " contagious " disease in
th. 3 ordinary acceptation of the term ; it is contagious
only to those who indulge in vice ; beyond these
-persons no danger arises ; and therefore it is
• obvious that it is for the benefit of
the vicious that the whole community is'
:to be heavily taxed, and special immunities and pri-
vileges are to be bestowed upon the traders in vice.
The public has, however, been chiefly misled in
reference to this matter through the expeetation which
• has been held out that by a rigid administration of
this Act the disease arising from vice may be entirely
removed. There is not the slightest ground for ex-
pecting anything of the kind, it is well known that
for many years past the principle of these Acts has
" been applied in other countries with far more rigour

than would ever be possible in England, and'it has
been found impossible to eradicate the disease. In
garrisons which have been completely under
the •control of our own Government both
men and women have been subjected to
periodical inspection, and yet under these excep-
tionally favourable circumstances, the disease has
not been eradicated or even materially checked.
The adoption of the act, has been chiefly advocated
by professional persons, who appear to take a partial
and limited view of its operation. Officers re-
commend its adoption on the ground that vicious
indulgence must be provided for the soldier or he
cannot be induced to enter the army. Surgeons
declare that a natural desire ought to be gratified,
and bishops advocate the Act on the ground that
moral and physical considerations have nothing to do
with each other. One and the same error underlies
each of these arguments, and it is simply this,
regarding expediency before principle, or looking for
that which is apparently expedient before that
which is certainly right. A similar error has led to
all our great moral and political mistakes. The
horrors of the slave trade might have, been
palliated long before they were removed, if the
leaders of the anti-slavery movement had
sought to palliate the evil instead of removing it.
The evils of the Corn Laws might have been lessened
at a much earlier date, if COBDEN would have con-
sented to a moderate fixed duty. It may be possible
to lessen for a time the evils resulting from an indul-
gence in vice by taking the trade in vice under the
patronage and oontrol of the Government, and if this
course is.persevered in the evi]s of the system will be

felt more in the next generation than in our own.
It will be our own fault if we repeat in this country

the mistakes which have produced disastrous results
elsewhere. We are dealing with a vice to the spread
of which there is scarcely any limit. All we know
about it is that, like the letting out of water, the
sooner it is checked the easier it is stopped. At the
present moment there is in this country a strong
feelingsgainst the sin of unchastity. It will be im-
possible to maintain this feeling if the traders in vice
are to be directly patronised and maintained by the
Government. There never was a case presented for
the consideration of the public in which it was more
important to regard that which is right, rather than to
look to what is expedient. There never was a case in
which the.language of the late Lord DERBY could be
more appropriately applied when he said, "Let us
never consent to oppose a temporary and apparent
, expediency to those eternal obligations which reli-
gion founds upon the laws of GOD,. and which
morality derives from an expediency which is perma-
nent and ,universal.

THP, Fenians are. determined wo shall hear enough.
of them one way or another. Scarcely has the report
of their attack on one place died away before a ru-
mour is heard of their approach in another, direction.
Clerkenwell and Woolwich have been honoured in
being the objects of their selection, and the last
news is, that special precautions have been taken at
Devonport and Keyhain Dockyards against a Fenian
attack or the effects of (,reek fire. It was believed
at Portsmouth that the Admiralty had received in-
illation of some dash on the Royal Establishments
being contemplated, and therefore they have orga-
ni6ed repressive measures at all alike:" It has at all
times been difficult to follow the policy of the
Fenians; but the present moment seems an extra-
ordinary one to select for making a movement in
England, when their cause has suffered so igno-
minious a defeat in America. There is nothing so
damaging to success as ridicule, and that has been
h'eaped upon the Fenian expedition to the Dominion,'
It *a- heralded by the nee of preparkticin, and

the trumpet-tongued clamour of the officious and
pretentious. Since the record of the three wise
men of Gotham, whoSe business . transactions in the
great waters were not fe. a very extensive character,
there has never bpn aaPhronicle of greater absurdity
and utter failure than that of the Fenian march to
Canada. As if it was not enough to hear of the
heroic invaders flying at the sight of the enemy and
abandoning their position before they were attacked,
the next news was that they were in a desperate
hurry to return whence they came. They were right
so far that they were out of their element ; but it
really was such a lame and impotent conclusion to
all the fuss and excitement. Doubtless it may all
turn out for the best, and when wilful and per-
Verse persons, who go under the soubriquet
of enthusiastic patriots lament the sad fate of the
martyrs of the Clerkenwell prison, and the durance
vile that is endured by Ireland's noblest sons, they
will turn a deaf ear to those who talk of the Domi-
nion invasion, and be very blind to the doings of
this campaign. Long will the memory of this hair-
brained expedition dwell in the .memory of those who
were at all concerned in the affair. The spectacle
was like that of a dissolving view, just when attention
was most riveted and curiosity existed, all vanished
away, and an ignoble return to ordinary life ensued.
It would puzzle the ingenuity of the editor of the
Flag of Ireland to find anything heroic in the affair.
The imagination that evoked the grand idea of
the "Fenian Raid" being an " Irish Nemesis" must
be content to renounce all further effort in the con-
templation of the before and after of the occurrence.
Ireland has a real grievance to complain of if these
are the expcfnents of her wrongs and the defenders
of her rights, and may well exclaim Save me from
my friends." "To conquer or die" was supposed to be
the feeling with which they entered on the engage-
ment, but the realisation was very different. The
touch of Canadian soil produced a marvellous effect on
their minds, and all their anxiety was to get back
again The star of the Fenians was said to rise in
America, and it hfts certainly set in the land of the
West. Canada has the proud satisfaction of having
put an effectual extinguisher upon them, and shown
the want of vitality and vigour which is their dis-
tinguishing failing. Let us hope that we have heard

nearly the last of the Fenians and their foolish under-
takings. But at any rate if they persist in obtrud-
ing themselves much longer on public notice
they will find out the unwelcome truth
that they are despised where they were
once extolled, and scouted instead of magnified.
The imagination of their admirers would have us
believe their efforts to be sublime, but experience
has shown that they have taken what in reality is
supposed to be the next step, and identified them-
selves with the ridiculous to such an extent that if
they escape oblivion it must be by accepting it as
their associating attribute.

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SPIRIF OF I tiE ritt,SS--THIS MORNING.

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.

The Times cannot anticipate that the speeches of the
Spanish statesmen in the Cortes will go far to allay the un-
easiness of theirneighbours respecting compulsory Iberian
unity. Though all parties repudiated the notion of com-
pulsion, yet all concurred in looking forward with strong
desire to the very result whichthe Portuguese regard with
horror, and it is not pleasant to hear a powerful neighbour
express such decided inclinations. It is all very well for the
Spaniards to renounce all idea of forcible annexation;
the Portuguese would prefer to hear no talk of
annexation at all. They want to be left as they
are, and to leave Spain as it is, without any return
to the exceedingly obscure days of a Peninsular Iberia.
It is reported that the Emperor Napoleon looks without
repugnance on the Iberiamsm of Prim and his party,
though he might be less favourable to the Iberian
Republic of Castelar, but it would be a singular concur-
rence of events if the reign of one French Sovereign were
to witness the successive " unifications " of Germany,
Italy, and Spain. There is, however, this clear, distinction
bet Ween the cases—that, though Sermans and Italians
had long een craving for unity, the Portuguese evince no
such p,sprationi%___ Prith made a safe prophecy when he
mid tTlat, .if the Union was to be, it would be, but it is not
likely, adording to present appearances, to be the result
of a pacific transaction, and the Spaniards themselves
have now energetically declared that it shall never be
brought 'about by 4 less amicable process.