The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-25 00:00:00

SPIRIT Or THE rmarro 50uRNALs,

The Times, in remarking on the presence of the Heir-
Apparent among the leading members of the Royal Geo-
graphical Society, says that the Prince of Wales has but
follovfecl a true English instinct in, taking his share in the
travels of the rice, and joining the fellowship of explorers.
It is not an inappropriate concidence that a Danish
princess should be the companion of the first English
prince who for several hundred years has gone beyond the
prescribed routine of travel. Indeed, as Sir Roderick
Murchison said, he is the most widely-travelled heir-
apparentof whom we have any record in British history.
An English king has been a Crusader, but a voyage
of exploration up the Nile has probably never entered
the mind of any former prince or sovereign. The
Prince attributes to the late Prince Consort the happy
idea that he should take advantage of these modern facili-
ties ; but the lesson must have fallen in a congenial mind,
and the Prince will win not a little applause from English-
men by this evidence of his sympathy with one of their
great national pursuits. It was stated onMonday that the
appointment of Sir Samuel Baker to his present important
undertaking is in a great degree due to the personal repre-
sentations of the Prince of Wales. This is the kind of
service which a prince can render to his country and to
civilisation, and towards which no other influence can be
equally effectual. A great deal depends upon the issue of
this first experiment. Should it fail, our hopes of the
development of Africa would be checked for years. It will
be long before we can hope for equally propitious cir-
cumstances. On the other hand, should it succeed at
the outset, we see no reason, with the advantages now
secured by science, why a permanent outpost of civilisa-
tion should not be maintained in the heart of Africa, from
which the country may gradually he brought within the
realm of civilised life. When communications are once
opened and fixed posts established, it will probably not be
difficult to protect or to supply them, and it may be hoped
that the trade would in time be worth the cost. At all
events, the Viceroy of Egypt will deserve the credit of
having initiated an expedition of geographical discovery
on a princely scale, and with the most honourable objects.
The Prince of Wales will share the honour, and the Geo-
graphical Society may justly be proud of having furnished
the chief impulse to such an enterprise.
The Standard says that the latest word of the Americans
is peace, but it may be described as peace with avengearce.
With a rare consideration for the interests of humanity
and of civilisation they declare that, though they have a
just complaint against us, and ought to be very angry,
they intend to dissemble. Their ambassador is to come,
if not actually with a healing message, at least with no
unkind proposals. They have suffered grievous wrong at
our hands. They charge us with the whole cost of their
civil war. They insist that we ought to pay their bill of
expenses incurred in creating an empire out of a collection
of States. They lay their damages at a sum which,
if it has been rightly assessed, presumes that we
have inflicted upon them an injury greater than
any nation ever yet committed upon a neigh-
bour. Still, they are disposed to renew their friend-
ship with us. They will "let the matter drop" for
the present season. They declare that they can afford
• to wait—that it is to their interest to wait for some future
opportunity of pressing their claims. In the meantime,
if we may believe their chief organs of opinion, Mr.
Motley will be instructed to "do nothing, and to say as
little as possible." But to suppose that England will
consent to postpone the matter until it is convenient for
the Americans to press it is an insult to the national intel-
ligence, which is In itself a very had preparative to
friendship. Mr. Sumner's claim, if good in equity, in
international law, even by that indefinite and somewhat
vague rule of conduct called the "comity of nations," is
as good now as it will be twenty years hence. If it is
seriously made, we cannot permit it to remain in suspense,
at the pleasure of the nation which assumes to be our
creditor. It is indispensable, before any further steps are
taken in the renewal of friendly relations between the two
c,untries, that we should be informed precisely whether

this is a claim which the Americans intend to press or
not ; and it is premature to talk of peace before we have
come to a clear understanding on this point.
The Daily News points out that the magistrates of the
county of 'Westmeath have been sitting as a Committee of
Public Safety, not so much for the purpose of acting them-
selves as of recommending a course of action to the
Government. They suggest that the law which authorises
public compensation for injury to property should be
extended to injuries to the person ; that such com-
pensation should be levied by a house tax ; that
a detective police should be fonned and paid by a
similar levy on the disturbed district ; and that the
Habeas Corpus Act should be permanently suspended,
and power given to the Executive to search suspected
houses, and arrest and imprison suspected parties
in any district where an outrage has occurred. These
are, at any rate, strong measures, and it is not
impossible to trace in them the influence of panic.
The question for us, however, is whether the measures
proposed are the wisest for the purpose. No doubt the
great powers the magistrates ask for the Irish Executive
would be wisely used, and great benefit might result from
their use. But are such powers needful ? It is
quite natural that the alarmed classes should ask
them, for disorder always provokes a reaction towards
repressive order. But the permanent suspension of the
Habeas Corpus Act is despotism, and we are not prepared
on this side of the water to abolish Irish freedom in order
to cure the local disorders of Irish society. Nor is the
kindred suggestion, to allow the Executive to authorise
search and arrest, on requisition from the magistrates of a
district, much more admissible. It is exactly the kind of
engine panic asks for, and is the kind with which panic
does its worst mischiefs. The other suggestions are more
feasible.