The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-01 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MAY 1, 1869.

Church Bill, it is more than that, it is singularly dis-

appointing. At the same time, it is the wildest ex-
aggeration to speak of it, as the member for Liver-
pool did in opening the discussion, as worse than
it has ever yet been, as serious, and alarming,
and sanguinary beyond all precedent. The
calamitous outbreaks which have already taken
place are happily as yet confined to two coun-
ties. The Executive is perfectly awake to
the gravity of these occurrences. The Lord-Lieute-
nant and the Home Government are in earnest inter-
communication, with a view to the vindication by
the former of the outraged majesty of the law; in a
manner the most prompt, impressive, and generally
efficacious. As to the seditious language said to have
been recently uttered by the Mayor of Cork, while
presiding over a local banquet in honour of certain
released Fenians, inquiries, as to the accuracy of the
report imputing to him the utterance of those remarks,
are now being actively made, with a view to the
avoidance of the condemnation of that functionary
without the concession to him previously of a hearing.
There can hardly be any serious doubt as to the de-
termination of the authorities to deal firmly and re-
solutely with those who have been guilty of rioting
and of agrarian outrages, as well as with those who
have, as the Mayor of Cork is said to have done, in-
cited to disloyalty or eulogized assassination. Be-
cause Ministers have considered in a remarkable,
and it might even be said without exaggeration,
in au unprecedented manner their willingness to do
justice at last to Ireland by ridding her through the
medium of a wonderfully bold and au extraordina-
rily comprehensive measure of the grievous and cruel
burthen of an alien Church—because they have ac-
companied the introduction of the Irish Church Bill
into the Imperial Legislature with an act of
signal, and, as many think, of extravagant
lenity, meaning that by which the Fenian pri.

soners have been very recently released from
incarceration—it is not to be supposed for one
instant that they are not ready, whenever occur-
rences prove such a course to be in any way
advisable, to deal resolutely with those who
most ungratefully return good for evil, by inciting
the ignorant members of the Irish population to dis-
affection, and even, as has been recently seen, to the
must base and cruel acts of asussination. It is
argue' by some among the Leaders of the Conser-
vative Opposition that what is wanting now to allay
the evil feelings manifested by the disturbers of the
public peace in Ireland, is a declaration by the Go-
vernment of their intentions i❑ regard to the Irish
Land Question. A definition of their policy upon that

subject, these Chiefs of the Opposition insst,would be
moreeffectual than anything else in calming the excite-
ment now visible in the sister country. Here, again,
we cannot but think that there is, quite manifestly, a
singular amount of exaggeration. We cannot con-
ceive for one instant that auy Ministerial statement
shadowing forth the drift of the policy of the pre-
sent Cabinet in the matter of the Irish Land Ques-
tion, would act at once as a sort of a magical, poli-

deal, sedative to an irritated and excited population.
Besides, so far as that goes, the drift of the Minis-
terial policy in regard to the land question in Ire-
land is already clearly enough foreshadowed. The
right honourable gentleman the President of the
Board of Trade and, not only Mr. BRIGHT, but the
First Minister of the Crown himself, those two lead-
ing members of the Administration, have before now,
time and again, indicated the nature of the remedy
they would have applied to the Land grievance in Ire-
land. They spoke repeatedly on the subject last year,
while they were as yet themselves on the side of the
Opposition. They each spoke plainly enough during
the course of their remarks last evening, in spite of
the responsibility of their present positio❑ as occu-
pants of the Treasury bench. The Premier recalled
to remembrance the words uttered by him on this
matter of vital import during the last twelvemonth.
Mr. BRIGHT went so far, indeed, as c:early to inti-
mate that when the tune should arrive, not later than
next session, to deal with the question in regard to
the tenure of land in Ireland, he would be
prepared vb ith au efficient and carefully con-
sidered scheme, by means of which the whole
difficulties surrounding that subject could be
satisfactorily vanquished. Mr. HARDY seriously in -
quires—Who is the Prime Minister, Mr. BRIGHT
Or Mr. GLADSTONE ? Lord CLAUD HAMILTON
all but designates Mr. BRIGHT the friend of assassins.
Mr. M'CULLOCH TORRE NS retaliates by protesting
against Lord CLAUD'S imputing thus to a Cabinet
Minister motives " the vilest, the most cowardly, and
the most treasonable." Mr. BROD RIC K taunts the
members for Cork with their silence in regard to the
treasonable language imputed to the Mayor of that
city, evidently implying that he attaches to the fact
of that silence a certai❑ sinister significance. The
imputation thus levelled against himself and his
colleague, Mr. MAGUIRE indignantly repudiates,
complaining, as he does so with some reason, that
he who had given so many practical proofs of
his abhorrence of Fenianism, ought scarcely to have
been called upon in this way to give a public dis-
claimer of sympathy wilt the instigators to assassi-
nation. If there is excitement in Ireland, there is
excitement also in regard to Irish matters in the

House of Commons, the continuance of which, any
one might reasinably deprecate. The Irish
Land Question must be dealt with as promptly, and
vigorously, and comprehensively as possible. But it
can hardly be dealt with before next year—the Irish
Church Bill monopolis'ng the attention of the Le-
gislature during the present session of Parliament.
One thing at a time, is a wholesome axiom enough:
and so too, for that matter, that yet older saying of
Festina lente.

WILL there never be peace in Ireland ? Are
treason, rioting, and assassination for ever to be the
everyday events of that unhappy country ? Are
all our efforts to do justice between race and race,
all our desires to shew mercy to misguided men, to
count for nothing ? Are we to be forced against
our will to govern Ireland by the Suspension
Act and by the sword ? Despair drives us
to ask these questions when we read the
events of the last few days in the sister
island. In the course of one week we see two gentle-
men murdered without a moment's warning; and,
as is common in that country, the murderers are
probably in safe hiding among people with whom
the ruffian shooting stealthily from behind a hedge is
a hero. We see two Fenian convicts, whom the
Government, as it now appears, with mistaken
lenity, have released, cursing the hand that
has set them free, and vowing that they will yet
make themselves heard of again in some fresh con-
spiracy against the country which has dealt too
mcheirecfifucilltiyeswiot them. W
of Ireland
ireian dremsienega
againstillayor OtfheonGe of the
overn-
mtheenrtOyaanl (pirionpeeenwlyhcooiusnnsoelwlintgratrhelelinagssathssrionuagtilointhoef
country. We see another of the principal cities at
one hour cheering that prince, and at the next given 11
up to a tumult so fierce that the police have to use
their weapons, and to fire with fatal effect upon the
mad rioters. We write now not knowing but what
before these lines are published some fresh deed of
violence more atrocious than the others may happen.
And one of the worst features of this all but desperate
condition is theglee with which these events are gloated
over by party journalists. The Opposition journals
of Ireland seem to glory in their shame. Instead of
lamenting over each one of these wretched tragedies,
and denouncing the authors of them, there is rejoicing
at the thought that they will embarrass
Po lOcal oPPQPIts) lad will bthig Mrs GL ip-

STONE'S " Mssage of Peace " into contempt. Of
course, if even Irishmen who profess to be
devotedly loyal see in disloyalty and treason only a
subject of satisfaction, it is not to be expected
that Irishmen who make no such profession
will be particularly measured in their words and
deeds. Of course if the loyal 'prentice boys of Derry
take to rioting, we must not be surprised if Fenian
convicts take to cursing. Of course, too, all attempts
at pacification must fail if they are to be met in this
way.

Perhaps we are too desponding. We, the children,
are reaping the sins of the fathers. The wrong doing
of centuries is not to be set aside in a year. Four
hundred years have passed since it was rendered
lawful for anyone to cut off, without form of trial,
the head of " any persons going or coming, having
no faithful man of good name and fame in their
company in English apparel." But not one-third
of that time has elapsed since we began
to be just • to Ireland. It is not half
a century since we permitted Irishmen to
return to Parliament men of their own faith. It
is not half a century since the laws for discouraging
manufactures in Ireland were in full force. This is
reason why we should not despair. It is no
reason why we should not be vigorous. The
Government must be prepared to prevent
such crimes as the murders of Mr. BRAD-
SHAW and Captain TARLETON ; must not suffer the
administrators of the law to talk treason, like the
MAYOR of CORK ; must henceforth carefully abstain
from setting free before the expiration of theia
sentences conspirators like C o STELLO j must
even, great though their reluctance, keen
though their regret may be, be prepared even
to suspend again the Habeas Corpus Act, if that is
requisite for the purpose of preserving Ireland from
the miseries of fresh insane attempts to overthrow
that British Government which alone is strong
enough to keep the two hostile races and creeds from
internecine war.

WE have evidently much work to do before the
administration of justice in this country can be made
even distantly to approach the ideal standard of per-
fection. One great defect is under consideration. The
masterlyscheme of the Judicature Commission is well
calculated to effect a great reform in our legal
procedure. It will sweep away the cumbrous system
by which two distinct sets of superior tribunals, each
independent of the other, were frequently brought
into conflict, and not seldom ended in setting the law
in direct opposition to the principles of justice.
Much may reasonably be hoped of the scheme by
which the separate practices of law and equity are to
be united in one harmonious procedure. But this
is not all that is needed. The administration of the
law is as unequal in the lower tribunals as it is
cumbrous in the superior courts. The juris-
diction of the humbler courts is defective,
notwithstanding much patching. But worse
than this, these tribunals are, often presided over
by utterly incompetent persons, and are subject to a
most discreditably irregular and unequal scale of
penalties. The law reports are rich in strange
specimens of ecclesiastical law laid down by bishops'
chaplains. Justices' justice has long been a byword
and a reproach. And every day furnishes examples of
disproportionate sentences; of swindlers to the extent
of thousands escaping with the single punishment—
light to them—of publicity, whilst the gaol awaits
the perpetrator of petty larceny; of wanton bru-
tality being paid for in money, whilst the theft
prompted by famine is punished with life-long
disgrace.
The South Shields magistrates have just distin-
guished themselves in an exceptionally flagrant
example of this unequal dispensation. The
lessee of a theatre was summoned before them
for an assault upon one of his actresses.
This artiste had been engaged in a particular " line,"
and refused to take a part which properly belonged
to another branch of histrionic business. The wife of
the lessee made the request, and first proceeded to
inflict punishment for the refusal. She dragged
the actress by the hair across the stage,
and there she and her husband attempted to
throw the woman down a pair of stairs. Failing in
that, the male animal got her' head under his arm,
battered her face with his fist, and knocked seven of
her teeth out. We are told in the report of the
case that " when the defendant relaxed his hold of
her, her jaws were locked, so that she was
obliged to use her two hands before she could
open her mouth, And when she succeeded several
teeth fell out." The magistrates had 'no difficulty
in arriving at the conclusion that this was
a very bad case, and disposed of it straightway
by a fine of £5, half to be given to the injured
actress. There can be no hesitation in calling
it an exceptionally bad case, of which the worst
part is decidedly the sentence. They would have
rewarded a slight case of shoplifting by committal
to the sessions ; the theft of a pockethandkerchief
would have been met by three months' imprison-
ment. Cases have occurred where a forbidden
kiss has cost fifty pounds to the delin-
quent. Large sums of money are paid over
in our courts of justice for every species of grievance
material and sentimental. But a woman thus
savagely beaten and disfigured for life is thought
to be recompensed by fifty shillings, and justice in
general satisfied with five pounds. We have said
that this is an exceptional case ; but it is only
a very flagrant instance of a very common sort
of justice. In some cases these decisions are the
work of ignorant magistrates ; in others the fault is
with the law; in others the law and its expounder
both work together for evil. But in no case
is this inequality unavoidable. The principles
of legislation do not require such an amazing
disproportion between punishments for offences
against the person and those against property. The
system is quite capable of reform, and it sadly needs
another Judicature Commission to reform it,

LATEST INTELL MENCE

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE BRAZILS.

BUENOS AYRES, March 27.

Exchange on London, 49-1 to 491. Wet silted
hides 381. Number of beasts slaughtered, 30,500.
Sales, 22,500. Shipments, 20,990. No stock.
Dry hides : Germany, 47 ; America, 46. Sales,
23,000. Shipments, 7,887. Stock, 33,000. Freight
to Antwerp and the Channel unchahged. Woo],
58 to 75. Tallow : beef, 154 ; mutton, 144.
Lumber, 41. Cardiff coal, 12. Cadiz salt, 8.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

MOH OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS. FRIDAY, April 30.

The campaign proper does not begin until Sunday.
The legal date for the opening of electoral meetings is
Monday, the 3rd, but the authorities have graciously made
it known that they concede a whole day in advance, and
the first broadside against the Empire will, therefore, be
fired the day after to-morrow. M. Thiers has hired the
suite of rooms in which Berryer died—Rue Neuve des
Petits Champs. Here he will fix his headquarters. M.
Bancel will begin his orations at Vauxhall. All the other
candidates have their meeting places. Paris on Sunday
next will present a more than usually strange spectacle
to the Englishman. The campaign in the capital
will be rendered exceptionally lively by the disputes of the
Opposition, for all hopes of reconciliation seem to have
vanished. M. Emile de Girardin has put the finishing
stroke to his quarrel with the Siecte. In the Liberte of to-
day he states that he has long been convinced of M.
Anatole de la Forge's folly ; he is now certain that
he is mad, and will therefore argue with him
no more. In the seventh circumscription there are
no less than seven candidates, of whom Jules Favre, Dari-
mon, and Rochefort are the chief. A letter is published
from the famous editor of La Lanterne. He states that
he opposes M. Darimon, and he expresses his
belief that he is eligible for election. Some of
the electors have doubted this, for M. Rochefort
has been sentenced to terms of imprisonment
amounting altogether to two years and a half. At
his last trial the Imperial Advocate demanded that he
should be deprived of his civil rights, but the
magistrates refused. As M. Rochefort retains
his civil rights, he can be elected to the Chamber,
and a very formidable member of the Left will he prove.
The Opposition, notwithstanding their differences, are
energetically exerting themselves at this great crisis. So
are the authorities. The assistants at the Prefecture of
the Seine have been so heavily worked that they are now on
strike, refusing to labour night and day unless better
paid for it.

M. Rouher, the best abused of men, is again the subject
of rumour. It is again whispered that he will accept the
Presidency of the Senate,, and that an 011ivier Ministry
will be chosen. Probably nothinghas done so much to revive
this old combination as the defection of the Constitutionnel.
There is no more general topic of conversation than this
important change of policy. M. Henri Bandrillart, the
editor, quitted the office in disgust when informed that
the famous article by M. Mitchell was to appear.
He has returned to his post, it seems, but
the Constitutionnel has not returned to its policy.
Its defection is important, because it has long
been the chief semi-official supporter of the Government.
But the nature of this rebellion must not be misunderstood.
It has not gone over to the Opposition. It still cries
" Vive l'Empereur ! " but it adds " Vivent les Re-

fomies ! "

People. here have been so much occupied with the
modern Cesar and his doings that they have forgotten all
about his great prototype. But the Emperor Napoleon
himself is not thus oblivious of his great ancestor. It
was thought by some that the "Vie de Cesar" would
never be finished, but it appears that the Emperor has
regularly devoted a good deal of time to the work, which
is very nearly completed. The last volume will be pub.
Belied immediately.

The prophecies of war have disappeared altogether ; the
oracles are completely silent, and are likely to remain so
until after the elections. It is amusing to note that a
second visit which the Emperor has paid to the
camp at St. Maur has scarcely even been men.
tioned in the Paris papers. A little while ago two
successive visits to one camp would have been regarded
as the infallible prelude to a march across the Rhine.
The French Academy has filled up its three vacancies
On the first balloting, M. de Haussonville was elected by
nineteen votes to replace M. Viennet. The highest
number accorded to any of his rivals was five to M. Jules
Lacroix. M. de Champa.g,ny was elected in place of Berryer
by seventeen votes against fifteen scored by M. de
Hauranne. But the place vacated by Empis was most
severely contested, four ballotings being necessary. At
last M. Auguste Barbier was successful. Thus the
Academy disposed of this unexampled windfall of vacant
seats. There is yet one to fill up—that vacated by poor
Lamartine.

Amongst the many industrial disputes of the day, it
would be bard to find one snore disgraceful than that
reported from Nice. A considerable body of stonecutters
struck work in the neighbourhood a day or two ago.
They proceeded in the evening to the residence of M.
Dubois, the road contractor, who had employed them, and
demanded payment of their wages. M. Dubois was not
at home, but the men insisted that his son should settle
their account. This he refused to do, upon which he was
assailed, dragged into the street, and savagely beaten.
At this juncture the father came up, and was in his turn
assailed and maltreated by the rioters. Means, however,
were found of informing the authorities, and a brigade
of gendarmerie, on arriving, found about a hundred of
the workmen throwing stones at the windows of M.
Dubois's house. A combat ensued, which was not termi-
nated until the mayor arrived with a large reinforcement.
Twelve arrests were made.