The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-19 00:00:00

MB B 1

We seem to be in an explosive vein of human affairs.
In the same page one may see the particulars of a new
Fenian Gunpowder Plot, a submarine explosion in the
West Indies, the blowing up of a war steamer in .the
Mersey, coal-pit explosions everywhere, paraffins or petro-
leum accidents, and then something that beats all the
fearful powers discovered by modern science,- too terrible,
too subtle, too unmanageable for luunan hands. The explo-
sion at Newcastle is a subject on which the Times founds
a leader. Talk, it says, of volcanoes, earthquakes, the
bolts of heaven, and other manifestations of the dark
and terrible side of nature, why man keeps pace
with them. Terrible as is the loss of life by
these irresistible causes, the carelessness of a few
colliers, the bungling of some labourers, and the
reckless determination of some political conspirators
to rescue their accomplices at all costs and at all risks will
match Nature's death-list. Man can kill, and does kill,
many more than can be laid on the much-abused elements,
or on accident, the universal scapegoat. We war with
Nature, but we have foes within as well as without our camp.
It certainly is time that we should all know we stand on a
charged mine, so universal, so various, so inscrutable, and
so unmanageable are explosive agencies. Gases explode,
powders explode ; there are liquids that explode more ter-
ribly than all, it seems ; solid crystals explode ; cotton
explodes; a veil, a muslin dress, apocket-handkerchief fresh
from the wash may explode. The worst horrors of a siege
or a bombardment may occur at a fireside or in a
ball-room. Fabrics proof against fire and all the ravages
of time may be upheaved and shattered by the accumula-
tion of explosive gases let loose by a careless servant or an
ignorant child. Great as are the powers of Nature and of
art, there is no power greater than that of carelessness
and stupidity. A canal boat loaded 'with gunpowder is
moored for the night under a block of warehouses ; the
boatmen light their pipes, and soon all are in the air.
Nothing will ever make miners and colliers prefer perfect
security to the pleasure of a little more light at their work.
Our steamers will persist in carefully shutting down
the gases certain to be generated largely by some quali-
ties of coal. When all is over, people know how it
was. Quarrymen always keep their blasting powder open
in rooms, where they move about night and day with
lighted candles. Life they hold hardly worth the trouble
it would cost to be more careful. We have domesticated
the explosive elements, and fear them not. The first act
of every British household now is the explosion of a lucifer
match, which is nothing more nor less than a diminutive
shell. Nay, every labourer, every watchman, in the great
London warehouses, at the docks, or the river side, carries
these dangerous inventions loose in his pockets, takes them
out by ha,ndfuls,sprinkles them on the floor, and treads upon
them in the midst of highly inflammable materials, piled all
around, and strewed under foot. Familiarity and use
breed contempt for the most dreadful of foes, the element
that on the vantage ground of a few inches will cover acres
with death and destruction. Unless the moral education
of the people keep pace with art and science, we bid fair
to he crushed under our own inventions and destroyed by
the elements we think we are learning to wield at will. If
we would. retain these useful servants, we must learn to
be wise and careful masters.
The Telegraph assures us that nitro-glycerine has no-
thing in common with Greek fire, or Fenio-Greek fire. It
is a petard that would hoist its own engineer, if he played
tricks with it ; nor would it serve any purpose which gun-
powder would not equally effect, except that, weight for
weight, it unquestionably has much greater explosive force.
The sharp and tremendous ignition of this oil cannot be
nicely controlled except by the most skilful ; and the same
remark applies to most of the amazing products of de-
structiveness which have been furnished by modern che-
mistry. There is no great fear that they will be largely
used. To make them safely requires great practice, to
use them safely demands the utmost cation ; and
they can never be had in large quantities. There are
compounds vastly more powerful than nitro-glycerine,
which are positively never manufactured, because their
energy is so frightfully irrepressible. The stuffs used by
modern incendiaries of the pseudo-scientific kind are
generally solutions of phosphorus in sulphides, and are
they not tremendous 1 Let us, however, discuss such topics
when the necessity arises : our duty now is to note this
melancholy event, which is not less sad because it was due
to carelessness. It is an accident—nothing more ; and it
is of importance to the public because it illustrates the
dangerous nature of the new mining fluid. Politically, it
has no signification, gave in warning the community to
maintain its self-respect, and not to take every startling
disaster for Fenianism.
The Daily News thinks the people of Oldham fortunate
in the occasion which has enabled them to give expression
to the feelings of respect and gratitude which Mr. Glad-
stone has earned from all classes of his countrymen, and
in listening to the eloquent words in which he has pledged
himself anew to the public service. The moral atmo-
sphere, contaminated by the escape of the foul gases
of a decaying political morality, is freshened by the
healthier element which breathes from the character
and informs the language of the great national
leader. It does not regret the studious silence
which Mr. Gladstone has lately observed. While the
air was noisy with the self-gratulations of political
manceuverers, and with the vulgar applauses heaped upon
the dexterity which in gaining place and abandoning
principle has achieved what it deems success, Mr. Glad-
stone consulted his own self-respect in holding his tongue.
It was well to let the coarse exultation expend itself. But,
considering the hands which now wield power, the nation
is not reminded too soon of the store of high moral aims, •
of fervent purpose, and of comprehensive statesmanship
which it has iu reserve for the season when Lord Derby
and his colleagues have fulfilled once more their mission as
stopgaps in the political life of this generation.
The advanced brigade of the English troops having
arrived at Senafe, the Post speculates on the probabilities
of the campaign. With the English approaching from
the north and Theodore from the west, the position of the
captives must be one of the most intense anxiety, and
for every sort of reason it is to be hoped that not an in-
stant will now be lost in pressing forward to the point
where the success or failure of the expedition will be de-
cided. Should the English force, or even a small portion
of it, succeed by good fortune in reaching Magdala before
Theodore, the release of those of the prisoners who are
there will be easily effected, for although the fort is
represented as being of immense natural strength,
and strongly garrisoned, it would certainly not hold out
without the presence of the leader, who alone appears to
be capable of imparting anything like coureie to Abyssi-
niana. In the contrary event, however, which is but too
likely to happen, the difficulties of the enterprise will have
to be met by something besides mere marching and fight-
ing, and it will be a question how best to cajole or to
frighten Theodore into giving them up in safety. As he
is known to be of the most sanguinary and at the same
time of the most treacherous character, this will be no easy
task, and our conterop(Fary can only hope that more intel-
ligence will be shewn in it than has been displayed in the
efforts of a like nature made from England.
Referring to the stoppage of legislation in the colony of
Victoria through the dispute between the two Houses; the
Standard considers that it would be as well for us to con-
sider that there is a largo minority,,comprising nearly the
entire wealth, intelligence, and resctability of the
colony—of all classes of opinion, and all sections of
society—who look to the Imperial Government for help
against the insolent despotism which the Ministry has
established in Victoria. It is certain that any inter-
ference from home which would bring peace to the colony,
and restore the constitutional machine to the regular
and lawful groove, would be gladly welcomed by a
large majority of the colonists, and that it would
be patiently submitted to by all. As to the immediate
question which agitates the Parliament of Victoria, it i 3
only the-members of the Victorian Ministry and their im-
mediate adherents who have ever disputed the authority
of England to act as arbiter in the parliamentary quarrel.
The Upper House, on its side, has formally proposed,
more than once, that the whole question should be sub-
mitted to the judgment of the Imperial Government, and
has declared its willingness to be bound by their verdict.
The Lower House, at the instance of the Ministry, has
declared this the only fair and peaceful means of arriving
at a solution of the crisis. This, at least, we should bear
in mind when the next step is made in the Victorian
revolution.
The last calamity at St. Thomas makes it clear, in the
opinion of the Star, that our connection with that island
must cease. If the directors of the Royal Mail Steam
Packet Company refuse to alter their arrangements, and
prefer to place in jeopardy the lives of their crews and
passengers, the Government must interfere to subsidise
companies more anxious for the vital interests committed
to their charge. It wishes the Americans joy. of their
purchase. Already the Danish Government has intimated
by proclamation the cession of the island ; but a mightier
power seems to have claimed the territory for its Own ; and
amid convulsions such as the world has seldom, if ever,
witnessed, the inhabitants are flying for dear life, leaving
their ruined homes behind.
A Ruecian paper, named the Invalide Bosse, fears that
France and Austria are too and hints that should
the present policy of France not bo abandoned, it will
convert the armed peace now existing into a serious
The Herald tninks that such warnings should not pa,e
utterly unheeded by those to whom they are primarily
addressed. In accepting the intimate friendship of Aus-
tria, France has incurred some responsibilities which
possibly she may find an encumbrance iey-and-bye. If the
terms of the alliance include any violent attempts to
interfere with the natural growth either of Germany
or of Italy, then Russia undoubtedly. is on the eve
of her best opportunity. This, also, is an aspect of
the times which is worth considering by those who
have at heart the peace of Europe and the balance
of power. The day is gone by when two nations
can join themselves together in a common policy, in
which each has an unlimited liability. Any such intimate
union between two of the Great Powers, of which the
purpose should be by their joint strength to obtain some
advantage over a single Power, is sure to be met by
adverse coalitions of the same kind, and to provoke a
general conflict. Nations are strong now simp yin pro-
portion to their internal force. They cannot be made
stronger, for any selfish purpose. by treaties and secret
engagements, which always in the end defeat their own
object. Neither France nor Austria, singly, can fairly be
said to have an enemy which is dangerous to the peace of
either. They have each a great interest in avoiding arti-
ficial complications. They will certainly be stronger,
when the day of conflict comes, against the only Power
whose inordinate ambition can .justify any future Euro-
pean combination, by keeping themselves not too close on
minor questions.

The evidence for the plaintiff in the Sidney case was
concluded on Tuesday. A clerk in the National Bank
proved that cheques were drawn by Charles Bagot up to
the end of November. Mr. C. Fitzgerald, solicitor, who
acted for Charles Bagot in the action of Begot v. Arnett,
deposed that he saw him on the 18th of November last.
Serjeant Armstrong then addressed the jury on the
part of the defendant. His instructions were that the
allegation of authority given to Sidney, and recognised,
as stated by Mrs. Sidney, was a fabrication. The defend-
ant said he was the head of a distinguished family in the
west of Ireland. He was a magistrate of Roscommon, a
magistrate and grand juror of Galway, and his life would
challenge the strictest inquiry. Bernard Bagot was a
respectable member of the bar, who he retired, and
now resided on his property, and assisted Mr. Holmes,
the agent of estates worth £BO,OOO. Before the Bagots
became acquainted with Sidney ho was overwhelmed
in debt. He lost nothing by the profession, hem
e
largely indebted to the Bagots. To Charles Bagot he
owed over £1,200, and over £9OO to the defendant John
Lloyd Bagot. It would be proved that Charles Bagot was
now hopelessly insane. The bill of sale which he got was
perfectly bond fide, and Sidney owed him about £1,400 before
he got it. The learned counsel repelled the insinuationthat the
Bagots were "spongers" upon Sidney, and severely charac-
terised the manner in which the case had been presented.
Henry Hinds and the defendant would prove that
the bills were forgeries, and that Sidney acknowledged
them to be forgeries. They were not to blame for re.
vealing the horrors of his home. It was Sidney himself
who had chosen to disclose it. Witnesses would be pro-
duced for the defendant who would prove that the
statements of the Sidneys were utterly false. With
respect to the death - warrant letter, it would be
sworn by the defendant that on the Saturday before
he went away Sidney said to him, " John, before I
go I'll leave a letter for you ;" that defendant went
to the Farmers' Club and sketched out a letter, but
that Sidney, when he read it, said, " I'll do it far better
than that," whereupon the defendant tore up what he had
written. No draft whatever of the " death-warrant"
had been prepared. It was the spontaneous act of Sidney.
The health of Inspector Ryan was never proposed or
drunk, and the " death-warrant" was posted by Sidney
himself in London for John L. Begot, along with a letter
to the postmaster. at Ballymore, directing him to give it
to Mr. John L. Bagot. Before the conclusion of counsel's
address the court was adjourned