The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-14 00:00:00

BRITISH ORPHAN ASYLUM, Mackenzie
Park, Slow,h, Bucks (formerly at Cladmal-rlse‘. In
Istituted 1827.

PATRON—Her Most Gracious MAJESTY the QUEEN.
AID 0 this Institution will be gladly reacived by the
Secretary, at the Offices. No. 73, Cheapside, E.C.

HENRY SYKES THORNTON. Treasurer.
THOHAS TILSON, J. P. Chairman of the Board.
STEDII EN REED CATTLEY, ALA., Hon. Sec.
ALFRED MACKENZIE, Secretary.

OYAL FREE HOSPITAL, Gray's-inn-road,
ta, in the immediate vicinity of the Great Northern Rail-
*ay Terminus, Ring'e-croas.
Patron—Her Host Gracious Migesty the QURICN.
Vice-Patron—His Royal Highness the Prince of W &LE G.
President—His Grace the Duke of BUCCLEUCH.

This Hospital, roundel in the year 1828, the first to estab-
fish the principle of free admission to the sick poor, without
the delay and difficulty of Governors' orders, is wholly de-
pendent for support on voluntary contributions and ac es .
It affords relief to a large number of in-pa nts. and, in
addition to this, the average number of st,eadmace of the
lestitute sick has for a oensiderable period nveraged be-tweet?
3,000 and 4,000 weekly.
The Committee ear eatly solicit the ASSISTANCE'of the
benccolent, as the pr irises of this Hospital are capable of
containing several h.ndred more beds had the Committee
the requisite funds to maintain them.
Contributions are reoeived by their bankers. 3fessrs. Brown,
Janson, and Co.,
Co.;Abehurch-lane ; also by ilessrs. Coutta and
Co.; Drummon d and • 11..yn and Co.: Herries and Co. ;
Ransom and Cu. ; l'resoott, Groti., and Co.; Sudth, Payne,
and Co. ; Barclay and Co. ; William s, Demon, and Co.; Nisbei
and Cm, BMW:a-street : and at the Elcspital. from 10 till',,
STAU7OUD WITH, georetary,

pR IN TIN G. —TO PROPRIETORS OF
-4- NEWSPAPERS, PEILIODIOALS, Ao.—The Print-
ing and Machining of News.papers, &c.; done ou exceed-
ItfOy favourable terms. -11 To of-Editorial and Publishing
Offices, if required. Estinu tea fotwavded ,on receipt of
particulars, with stamped directed envelope for reply.
Address—The Manager "Sun" Printing Offices, 3,:Ohurch-
row, Savoy, Strand, W.O

ONE HUNDRED and SIXTY-SEVEN
DESTITUTE ORM ‘NS are being maintained in
the ALBERT OR I'HAN ,A LUM. CollimTwood Court,
liagshot, Surrey. FUNDS ,reatly needed for their support.
CHAIRLE,S A. WALliElt, Sec.
Offigeo, 96, Caeapside, E.V. - -

SPIRIT' OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. I
TimEs.—Magistrates exist, or ought to exist, as a
terror to cvild,,ers, and the loyal classes of the Irish
people are not without excuse if th-y complain that
the lam in their country is too weak to fulfil its pro-
per mission. It seems toler.ihly certain that the
customary penalties of disloyalty in Ireland do not
restrain men from being disloyal, and the first im-
pulse is, of course, to increase the severity of their.
punishment, and at the same time to wake it more
swift in its infliction. Much may, at all events; lie
forgiven to the loyal p- eopleof Irelar,dif tlriy clamour
for arbitrary dealing with the disturbe.ls of their
peace. We in England have some d.clicUlt,y. iu rea,
lising their position. None of us live in a " proj
claimed" county. No Londoner goes to btid queer-,
taro whether he may not be roused in the-middle
of the night by a demand for arms and ammunition:
The extent of his auticipatiOns is a startling para---
graph to be read at breakfast time, and he does not
suffer that to disturb the comfort of his morning
meal: When we advise our fellow-subjects across.
the Irish Channel. to be calm and t). rely upon the.
securities for.safety they possess, we are very wise,
but we are also somewhat like the well-known ab-
sentee who sent the comforting message to his
steward—" ll the tenants that no threats to shoot
you will terrify me." If we have underrated the
apprehension among some of the influential classes
in Ireland, we have consequently failed t© estimate
the pressure which has been put upon the Irish Go,
vernment. .The Lord-Lieutenant and his advisers
deserve, in fact, much credit for their steady resist--
ance .to the demands that have been made upon
them. No course was too truculent for some of
their amateur advisers, and we can well understand
the mischief Which must have ensued had any
countenance been given to their sugge-tions. The.
Irish Government have used the power the law
gives them, and it has been proved sufficient to re-
press disorder, but they have not been tempted to
overstep the constitutional limits of their functions.
Happily for us, indeed, the law under which we live,
gives the Executive no'such powers as the Irish Go-
vernment has,been adjured to exercise. The Lord
Lieutenant, 'even if he desired it, could no more
carry fire and slaughter into Munster than into
Middlesex. He cannot even restrain the personal •
liberty of a single Irish Man, under the pro-
visions of an . extraordinaey and temporary act of
Parliament. He could, no doubt, as a matter of
fact, proclaim martial law, or, in other words, de-
clare the lives and property of all Irishmen to be at
the discretion of himself and his subordinates, but
the proclamation would be the ground for instant
impeachment, and either principal or subordinate
would be responsible before the ordinary tribunals
of the country for any act done under it. It is
strange any one,should be-called upon to enuuciato
now these elementary truths, which were inscribed•
in our 'statute book and sanctioned by the blood of
a elviVwar two *centuries ago. It is stranger that
Englishmen, not:lriShmen alone, should hold these
essential articles our peace of such little account,
as if they: might. be disregarded as obsolete. The
fact, however, is that the Irish Government has not
desired, and we are glad to know doeS not desire, to
possess the arbitrary powers for which a few excited
loyalists clamour. It is equally certain the Impe-
rial Parliament would not concede any such privi-
leges. If it were disposed to do so, a case would be
made out for reform such as no one has yet ventured
to suggest. Parliament has, on the representations
of the Ministers of the Crown—representations
which have,.unfortunately, been too fully verified
by subsequent events—placed for a season the per..„,
sonal liberty of every Irishman under the abso-
lute control of the Irish Executive ; but further
than this there is no necessity, and there would
be no justification for going. If, however, the Go-
vernment has been called upon to exercise powers
it does not possess, it is not for want of weapons
which the law has already placed in the hands of
the loyal. A Memorandum has been seasonably
issued from the Castle instructing magistrates on

the powers and duties devolving -upon them at a
crisis like the prevent. It beAns with a statement
of the conditions. under which special cnistables
may be sworn in, which ought to quiet the alarms
of some o` those who are flocking from their houses
in the country to towns and the neighbourhood of
constabulary barracks. The conditions were discussed
so recently, on the occasion of the march to the
drill ground at Brompton, that they are well known
here, but it is well that Irish gentlemen should be
reminded that they may defend themselves. When-
ever credible persons depose to reasonable agprehen-
sion of riot, tumult, or insurrection and thelustices
are of opinion that the police, military, and other
regular forces of the country are not sufficient for
the present protection of persons and property,
special constables may be enrolled. The power and
duty of swearing in constables at any crisis are the
same throughout the kingdom, but there are special
provisions for maintaining the peace of Ireland,
which have been publisbed by the Lord Lieutenant
in the Memorandum to which we have referred. No
One can complain that they •are too restricted, and,
indeed, it may be questioned whether they are not
too wide. All persons armed with any weapon, or
appearing in any disguise, or wearing any uni-
form or badge, or assuming any name or denomi-
nation not usually assumed by ordinary persons in
their lawful occasions, who shall assemble or who
shall appear, alone or with others, by day or
night, are guilty of a
high misdemeanour, sub-
jectiug them to penal servitude, imprisonment, and
oanmyaig)eirssetraettees
bheagveinilgtyreefastohne-s
ablewhip cpai nags to As
u sn yp
etcwt
assembling or appearing, or of having been at such
assembly, or of intending so to be, are required to
summon them, and bind him over to appear at the
Assizes, and, in case of refusal, to commit him to
gaol ; and every magistrate has authority to sum-
mon any person in his jurisdiction whom he may
think capable of giving material evidence, and coin—
pel him, under the same penalty,• to answer an ex-
amination on oath. These powers are almost wide
enough to repress -the conception of treason, but
the Whiteboy Acts stricke at much more than mere
appearing, or the intention so to do.
heard of—such as attacking
houses and carrying off horses, or weapons, or other
Tashseendibeelidnsg
w or
e hay.e
property; the writing or giving any notice, letter,
or message exciting a' riot, or threatening violence,
or demanding arms or ammunition, or requiring a
by noises, fires, or signals—are all high misdemean-
ours, promoting meetings
person to quit any
and the rest ; and all magistrates and ours, subject' to the same punishments of penal ser-
vitudecon-
stables are bound to apprehend, disperse, and oppose
persons so engaged, and may call on any one to
assist them, and are fully indemnified for happening
to kill, maim, or hurt any person in discharging
such a duty. A mere statement of these means of
enforcing order is sufficient; they are so stringent
as to call for the greateit circumspection in their
exercise ; and -they take away all excuse for de-
manding further powers, if they do not suggest that
' a revision of the laws .in force in Ireland for the
maintenance of the peace should be one of the first
thingis undertaken after the establishment of order.
We may reasonably hope that the Fenian out-
break will soon exhaust itself. Day after day
but rumours, which prove un-
examined ; and the ordinary
bs
ur
bi nsgtas ut
isa
in omt hh ienng
powers of the Irish Executive, supplemented
by the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act,
have been sufficient to maintain the 'peace. If
there were any reason—and there is none—to sup-
pose that these will prove insufficient, the pro-
visions of the Whiteby Act take away any necessity
for giving arbitrary privileges to the Government.
We wish we could stop there. Unfortunately,
history warns us too clearly against the craving for
unlimited power in the Executive Government, be-
c tuse it shows that it is impossible, to prevent its
abuse in the hands of subordinate officers. The
rising of 1798 was a real rebellion, compared to
which the demonstrations of out time are but child's
play, and so far there was some excuse for excesses
then ; but whoever will even now refer to the action
against Sir•Judkin Fitzgerald in the State Trials,
and the debates which followed it in the Irish Par-
liament, must feel ashamed of what was and might
again be done in- the name of law. Nothing but
imperative necessity should make us willing to
uu-
dergo the risk of a repetition of such deeds, and
where the necessity is absolutely wanting we cannot
go a step beyond the safeguards which have been
proved amply sufficient.
THE WESTMINSTER GAZETTE ON " REFORM AND
THE WORKING CLASSES."—The late divisions in the
Cabinet of Lord Derby are striking indicationS as
to the great diVersity WhiCh still exthts in the edu-
cated mind of the country- as to Reform. Reform
is no longer, a question of :parties, but a question
as to the future relations' between the different
claises.:of society in England. This question, as to
the relation' bettfeen ' class And class, goes very
deep and effects such momentous interests that
we are not at all surprised at the hesitation which
men feel in dealing with what is more a social,
perhaps, than a political difficulty. Whether the
character of the English Government should be-
come more. democratic, or less ; whetherthe Con-
, stitution should be widened at the base or nar-
rowed z whether the Conservative or the Libtrol