The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-22 00:00:00

LONDON. FRIDAY EVENINU, NOVEMBER 22, 186,

THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.

(From Me limes Special Correspondent.)
POONA, Oct. 28.

As I date this letter from Poona, it may be, per-
haps, as well to begin by stating that at present
Poona is Bombay. I need scarcely explain that I
mean by this no reflection on the geographical
knowledge of your readers, and that I am not guard-
ing them from the error of supposing that Poona is
somewhere in the neighbourhood of Abyssinia. For
their sake and my own I could heartily wish it were,
for I might then have something of interest to write
about. But even those best up in Indian geography
may not be aware that during the hot season, which
is not yet quite over, Poona becomes the headquar-
ters of the Bombay Government, and that the most
important work of the Presidency is done here.
Hence the connection, not perhaps immediately ob-
vious to all English readers, between Poona and the
Abyssinian Expedition. Sir R. Napier is up here,
with his Staff, and the Governor returns to-day,
having been driven away a few days ago by over-
work and fatigue to Mahableshwur, a still cooler
and quieter retreat than Poona, which just now is
by no means at its best. Indeed, during October
there is not very much to choose between Poona and
Bombay ; but for the greater part of the year Poona
enjoys a charming climate, and is considered one of
the pleasantest—by many the pleasantest—of mili-
tary stations in India. Its admirers loudly assert its
claim to be the seat of Government in India, to the
intense wrath and disgust of long-favoured Bengal,
and not without a mild murmur even from Madras,
which points with pride to Ootacamund as the finest
bill station in India, and to the number of Bengal
and Bombay folk who, in search of health or plea-
sure, annually resort to it.
Poona is within easy access of Bombay, only 120
miles distant, with the journey entirely by railway.
It thus offers the immense advantages of a compara-
tively cool climate, without any serious drawback on
the score of inaccessibility, and these advantages,
to be properly appreciated, must be felt by those
who have hard work to get through in a given time
under a blazing Indian sun. The Abyssinian Ex-
pedition, for instance, has involved an amount of
labour of which people at home, who think more of
general results than of detail, have very little no-
tion, and which is not of a kind to excite much in-
terest or sympathy. It is, I fear, out of my power
to give even a tinge of :romance or heroism to the
manly sweat, albeit on military brows, which is in-
duced by the exertion of auditing accounts, seeing
that bullocks are branded, inspecting pack-saddles,
or looking critically into the mouths of seedy ponies
and venerable mules. This is the principal work
MOW going on here in connection with the Abyssi-
nian Expedition, and very hard if not very glorious
work it is, when it has to be done in a violent race
against time, with a certain allowance of minutes,
duly calculated, for the inspection of so many sad-
dles or so many mules. The Home Government
cannot, perhaps, be blamed for preferring to sacri-
fice any amount of valuable time rather than forego
the slightest chance of escape from a war in which
there was so little to gain and so much to lose. But
nevertheless the fact remains that, rightly or
wrongly, they gave final orders for the expedition
just three months too late, and, as a natural conse-
quence, economy has had to be thrown to the winds,
and other considerations, not less important even
in the eyes of the British taxpayer than economy,
have gone with it. There is now little chance of an
army being ready to march into Abyssinia before
the beginning of next year, if then, and this leaves
barely three months, according to some accounts,
before the commencement of the rainy season,
during which marching may be found impossible.
If, therefore, Theodore has enough power left,
which there is good reason to believe, to carry the
captives about with him for a short time without
being surrounded by enemies, there is no hope of
concluding the campaign in one year. Thus the
time lost, however unavoidably, in issuing positive
and final orders for the expedition will probably
make two campaigns necessary instead of one.
The delay, however, will certainly not be due to
any want of energy or activity among the high
officials of Bombay or their subordinates. The
popular notion both here and at home seems to be
that the whole burden of organising has fallen upon
Sir Robert Napier ; but, fortunately for Sir Robert,
the notion is a delusion. As it is, he has in all con-
science enough work to do, and is hard at it from
morning to night, but if he had a dozen such secre-
taries as Colonel Dillon, who is one of the best and
hardest working soldiers in the British army, to as-
sist him, the Commander-in-Chief could not get
through all the work that has just had to be done,
and still remains to do, for the organisation of the
Abyssinian Expedition. The purely military ar-
rangements have, indeed, most wisely been left un-
reservedly to him, and especially, with reference to
whatever has been required from England, every
suggestion of Sir Robert's has been forwarded home
without question, and has, I believe, been unhesi-
tatingly adopted by the Home authorities. So far
he has been, and, it is to be hoped, will remain dic-
tator. But in other matters—such as those that re-
quire the co-operation of the non-military depart-
ments, transport, both by land and sea, commissariat
arrangements, and generally all questions having re-
ference to finance and expenditure—the organisation
of the expedition has been placed in the hands of the
Government of Bombay ; and, fortunately, the pre-
sent Governor, Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald, is a first-
rate man of business, quick in mastering the details
of a question, and clear-sighted in detecting the
main difficulties to be overcome. The Calcutta
press, and, it is said a portion of the Calcutta Go-
vernment—though not, I believe, the Viceroy—
are very angry at the Supreme Government being
thus excluded from all share in the organisation of
the Abyssinian Expedition. The feeling is not,
perhaps, unnatural in Bengal, which can scarcely
be expected to relish playing a subordinate part,
though the leading Presidency, in an undertaking
essentially Indian. Moreover, there exists a chronic
jealousy between Bengal and Bombay. But no
impartial outsider can for a moment blame the
Secretary of State for intrusting the management
of the expedition entirely to one Presidency. This
was the only method of attaining the two most im-
portant of all requisites—unity and promptitude of
action ; and if one Presidency was to be taken, the
most obvious and natural course was to select the
one nearest the field of action. The Home autho-
rities have themselves, I believe, most manfully re-
sisted the temptation to interfere. I have only
heard of one instance in which they have insisted
upon doing work which might have been better
done by the Bombay Government, and the instance
is worth mentioning, as it illustrates the mischief
that may be occasioned by the injudicious division
of power which Sir Stafford Northcote's censors
seem to wish. The Transport Department of the
Admiralty resolved, on the ground that they were
sending out transports from home, to take the con-
trol of.the transports into their own hands, and
nominated Captain Tryon " transport' officer" for
all vessels employed in the expedition, with power
to engage and discharge them as he might think fit.
Now, Captain Tryon is a capital officer, and
would probably perform this task, were it to be
performed, as well as any man ; but it is simply
an impossibility. Many of the transports are the
property of Government in India ; many aro char-
tered for a long time; all have occasionally to un-
dertake duties which have no connexion whatever
with the Abyssinian Expedition. A transport may
have to-day to move a Madras regiment to relieve
one from Bombay ; next week it may have to bring
up invalids to embark for Europe in the new troop.
ships. The following week mules, coals, porter, or
Abyssinian troops may claim its care. From the
limited steam tonnage at the disposal of Govern-
ment it is only by great management that these mis-
cellaneous duties can all be got through, each in its
proper place ; and yet it was for this complex and
intricate work that the Home authorities sent out
an officer ignorant of the country, with no autho-
rity over the departments with which he would
thus be brought into contact, and not under the
authority of Government himself. Fortunately,
Capt. Tryon has common sense as well as profes-
sional ability, and be proposed to limit his opera-
tions to transports employed in the Red Sea, where
his services will be most valuable.

Bengal itself furniehee an instance, less important

in its practical consequence, but equally worth men-
tion as illustrating the mischief which results from
the division of power. The Government there, in the
same spirit as that of the Transport Department at
home, resolved that they would themselves manage
the transport of their own troops, and have in con-
' sequence had to pay far higher rates than those paid
by the Government of Bombay. The Himalaya,
for instance, which had been offered to Bombay for
£2 Bs. per ton per month, has been taken up at
Calcutta at £2 155., with an additional £lOO per
day for every day she is engaged in towing. The
State will probably be thousands of pounds out of
pocket by this ill-judged policy ; and, instead of
the two instances I have cited, there would pro-
bably have been ten or twenty times the number
if the Abyssinian expedition had been a sort
of joint-stock concern between Bengal and Bom-
bay. A portion of the Calcutta press complains,
moreover, that, in addition to the indignity of
being left altogether out of the management
of the Abyssinian Expedition, the Supreme Govern-
ment has further to submit to the outrage of having
its advice rejected. But surely it is only fair to
remember that those who have all the power have
also all the responsibility, and it is hard to make a
man responsible for any course of which he does
not himself beartily approve.
You will have inferred from my going at such
length into this question, which is, however, a very
important one, and has been attracting the principal
share of public attention out here, that I have no
news whatever to send you—at least, nothing that
will have the faintest pretension to be considered
news by the time it gets home. Zoulla is just now
the word in every one's mouth, disposed of as glibly
and discussed as familiarly as if we had all been born
there, instead of most of us having never heard the
name of the place till a telegram announced the
other day that it had been chosen by the pioneer
party, under Colonel Merewether, as the point of
debarcation for the Abyssinian force. We make the
most of Zoulla here, for Abyssinia is our one all-
absorbing topic of conversation, and Zoulla's brief
history constitutes our one piece of Abyssinian news.
But long before this news can reach England the
British public will have devoured and leisurely
digested Zoulla and everything connected with
Zoulla ; will probably have even made up their mind
where the place is situated and how it ought to be
spelt ; whereas at present we are, some of us, in the
dark on both theseimportant points. In a very limited
research I have come upon four varieties of spell-
ing the names of places in or near Abyssinia,
seeming, like those in India, to depend a good deal
" upon the taste and fancy of the speller ;" and as
regards the position, out of four maps I have seen,
three place Zoulla on the western side of Annesley
Bay, some way up towards the north, while one,
but I believe the best, and drawn up in the
quartermaster-general's department, expressly for
the assistance of the Bombay authorities in the
Abyssinian expedition, places it south of the bay,
and slightly to the west. Its capabilities, however,
are of far more importance than its exact position,
but of these also the accounts are conflicting—in-
deed, contradictory. The official account is on the
whole favourable. The water supply is, of course,
the great question, and it is officially reported that
within four miles of Zoulla there is now a sufficient
supply of water for all immediate purposes, and
that within 16 miles there is an abundant supply at
all times at a place called " Wah River," to which
a road or tramway for the carriage of men and provi-
sions can easily be made. On the other hand, the
Times of India, usually a very well-informed paper,
publishes this morning a statement of a very diffe-
rent nature, and most unfavourable. It is of no use
discussing and balancing the probabilities of these
opposite accounts, for, as I have already said, fur-
ther detailed information will reach you before this
letter. Poona has not had quite time enough to make
up its mind which report to believe, but, strange to
say, seems inclined to adopt the unfavourable one.
It is the first departure I have noticed from the in-
tensely sanguine cozdenr-de -rose view of the expedi-
tion which has prevailed in India, and which has
contrasted so oddly with the gloomy forebodings
rife at home. However, it must not be inferred from
this that the expedition is one whit less popular than
formerly. The Abyssinian fever was never more
virulent than at present. All kinds of appoint-
ments, no matter how pleasant, dignified, or
lucrative, are being eagerly thrown up in exchange
for the very lowest and least enviable place in
the expeditionary force. The " moke train," as
the Transport Corps is irreverently nicknamed
from the predominance in it of the mule ele-
ment, is full of eager volunteers, " glorying in
the goad," and sublimely proof against the fire
of chaff kept up by their more fortunate comrades,
who hint at the propriety of the " moke train"
all wearing white hats, and wonder why a Govern-
ment, which had the pick of Blackheath and Hamp-
stead, should employ men who, like Lord Chester•
field's herald, " don't understand even their own
foolish business." The " moke train" will, however,
enjoy the distinction of being, I suppose, the only
corps in the British army which has for its " vet."
an " honourable." I watched this gallant patrician
the other day examining the teeth and toes of some
bullocks before they were severally branded (the
unsavoury fumes of burnt bullock steamed up
under his very nose, but he never flinched), and
am happy to state that he performed the duty
with an assiduity and scientific severity which
would have melted the heart of the fiercest Demo-
crat, and which bore down hopelessly the opposition
of a native contractor, whose grandfather had sup-
plied bullocks to Colonel Wellesley, better known
as the Duke of Wellington. Engaged in the same
humble, but arduous occupation, and exhibiting the
same intrepid spirit, was a good-looking Hussar,
who, for the honour of entering the Abyssinian
" mcke train," had come all the way from the
North-West Provinces, resigning without a sigh the
much-coveted post of popular aide-de-camp, with
all its pleasant perquisites of balls, dinner, croquet
parties, pretty partners, and unlimited but safe
flirtation. Of course, these gallant volunteers do
not expect to return from Abyssinia with no other
laurels than such as can be reaped from skilful
bullock-driving or muleteering. They count upon
what is briefly summed up in the pregnant
word " casualties," and though this business-
like view may at first seem to the lovers of
peace somewhat cold-blooded, there is no deny-
ing that it has about it a certain logical neatness,
also a certain resemblance to the maxim that
you should do unto others as you would they
should do unto you. For the characteristic charm
of a military casualty is that if it befalls your
neighbour you get promotion, while if it befalls
yourself you don't want it, and that you must either
give him what he wants or afford him the pleasure
of giving what you want. However, the moke train
is by no means without its fair share of what Dr.
Johnson calls the " dignity of danger." It has
probably more than its share, for the Abyssinians
are less likely to show fair fight in open field than
to make sudden sallies upon the animals and stores.
The chief difficulty of the expedition will consist in
carrying these, properly protected, far into Abyssinia.
But no one here seems to look upon it as anything
more than a difficulty, the worst feature of which
is its expense. Now that Zoulla has been selected
as a landing-place, and the routes by Amphilla and
Tajowrah thus put out of consideration, it is to be
presumed that the force will be taken from Zoulla
by the directest route to Halar, Dixan, Senafe, or
whatever place on the Abyssinian border may be
found bst suited for the first large depot. Accord-
ing to Dr. Belie, Senafe would seem the likeliest
spot. There Sir Robert will have the choice of the
two main routes to Debra Tabor and Magdala—that
by Axum and Gondar, and that by Antalo and
Sokota. The preponderance of authority is in favour
of the latter route. Mr. H. Lepoer Wynne, after
comparing the accounts of various travellers, men-
tions as its chief advantages that up to the river
Takazzy the route lies through Tigre, in which we
may possibly find or make allies, and that up to
Sokota, the ultimate destination of the force, will
still be left open. From Sokota it may, at the last
moment, choose for attack either Debra Tabor or
Magdala. If Sir Robert Napier adopts this route,
he will probably, for this among other reasons, make
Sokota his second large depot, Senafe being the first.
With these two depots, and possibly Antalo as a

THE SUN,.

third, well provisioned, it is difficult to see what
danger of starvation threatens the force, and though
the enemy if he shows fight may greatly retard the
advance of the troops with provisions, he cannot,
as we shall have artillery with us specially adapted
to mountain warfare, stop them altogether. The
matter here is generally regarded as one merely of
money and time, assuming that Sir Robert advances
slowly and steadily on some such base of operations,
as I have pointed out—both serious considerations,
no doubt, but still not quite so bad as the starvation
and annihilation with which M. Bisson and others
threaten us. These calamities might indeed over-
take a small force making a rapid dash, according
to the plan first proposed, into the country, and
trusting to its celerity of movement and lightness
of equipment. But with 12,000, or, as I now hear,
15,000 effectives, we shall have enough men for
depot guards, escorts, and reserves.

The whole force, includingeffectives, the men at-
tached to the Departments of Supply and Transport,
the coolie corps, and followers, public and private,
of all descriptions, will, I am told, not run very far
short of 50,000 men. The animals are variously
estimated from 25,000 to 30,000, and by some even
35,000. It is only, however, just beginning to Le
seen at what rate they are coming on. The reports
so far are favourable, and the Scinde portion of the
First Brigade (the details of which I gave in my
last letter) .will in consequence leave Kurrachee in a
few days. If the reports continue good, the Second
Brigade will leave about the 25th of November, not
improbably under the command of General Sir
Charles Staveley, a first-rate soldier, whose whole
heart is in his profession. Sir Robert Napier, how-
ever, has steadily set his face against sending any
troops to Zoulla one moment before the necessary
preparations are made for them, or before there is
really something for them to do. They would be
only risking their health and "eating gold." So
that the further movements of the force are little
more than matter of conjecture, and depend upon
what reports as to carriage, &c., the next few days
or weeks may bring in.
Some of your readers who have friends in the
Abyssinian force may be glad of the following in-
formation with reference to the postal arrangements
—They will have to address to " The Field Force,
Abyssinia," and pay the same rates of postage as for
Aden.

The Condemned Convicts at Manchester.

We have very great pleasure in announcing that,
upon the recommendation of her Ministers, her Ma-
jesty has been graciously pleased to respite the capi-
tal sentence upon the convict Shore, in whose favour
it may be remembered that he was unarmed when
apprehended, and that he was not proved to have
been armed during the fatal affray.

MANCHESTER, Thursday.

The work of erecting barriers in New Bailey-
street, Manchester, on the side where the execution
is to take place, was commenced to-day, and is pro-
gressing rapidly. The timber employed in their
construction is of great thickness, and will be suffi-
ciently strong to resist anything short of super-
human pressure. The barricades within which the
police will stand will be so placed as to keep back
the spectators towards either end of the street, and
barriers 12ft. high will be erected across Stanley-
street and at the junction of Stanley-street with
New Bailey-street, with a door to admit the magis-
trates and officials, and to permit the egress of ar-
tillery stationed within the enclosed part of New
Bailey-street if it should be necessary. A procla-
mation from the corporation of Salford requests all
peaceably-disposed persons not to be present, so as
to reduce as far as possible the dangers likely to
arise from the presence of a large crowd. The pri-
soners have the advantage of spiritual comfort from
priests of their own religious persuasion, and the
Rev. Canon Cantwell and the Rev. Mr. Gudd are
in daily attendance at the prison. They appear to
be quite resigned to their doom.

Evening.

A crowded meeting in the Corn Exchange to-
night has petitioned unanimously for the commuta-
tion of the sentence upon all the condemned Fenians.
The Rev. W. C.ill presided, and Messrs. Jones and
Cottingham addressed the meeting.
The Dowager Marchioness of Queensberry has
sent £3OO for Larkins's family.

THE DEMONSTRATION ON CLERKEN-
WELL-GREEN.

The deputation from sympathisers with the
Fenian convicts which was repulsed from the Home-
office on Monday afternoon carried out their inten-
tion of making" a gre ttdemonstration" on Clerken-
well-green last evening. The placard summoning
the meeting was headed by the introduction of
Portia's appeal to Shylock, and this was gene-
rally the text of the speakers. The evening was
very cold for an open-air meeting, but at half-
past six the people began to gather in considerable
numbers round a waggon drawn up near the
drinking fountain in the middle of the paved
quadrangle known as " the green." By 8 o'clock,
when a second waggon was drawn up near the
Sessions-house, the gathering must have numbered
some two or three thousand, and when it had been
added to by a couple of processions—the St. S within's
Temperance Society and another—the crowd ap-
parently filled the whole of the green, and, as far
as could be seen from the platforms, people also
congregated in the streets leading from the quad-
rat-Tie. It was easy to move on the outskirts of the
crowd, and more than once, while the demonstration
was at its height, vehicles passed through the green
without difficulty, though slowly. The crowd was,
therefore, not so dense as it seemed from the wag-
gons, lighted only by naphtha lamps, and perhaps
did not number much more than 4,000, including
the large number of boys and the few women
who helped to swell the gathering. Later in the
evening a third waggon was drawn up close in
front of the Sessions house, and the more prominent
among the speakers, passing from platform to plat-
form, took part in the proceedings at each. The re-
solutions come to expressed a hope that the Fenians
would not be executed, protested against the Home
Secretary's refusal to receive a deputation on Mon-
day, and declared against sacrificing the lives of four
men for the "accidental and unfortunate death" of
one. It was also resolved to memorialize the Queen
in person ; the memorial agreed on was precisely
similar in terms to that taken by Monday's deputa-
tion to Mr. Hardy, and it is proposed to carry it to
Windsor to-day, in the hope that the Queen will
receive those bearing it. If the memorialists prove
unsuccessful, and the convicts are hanged, the
movers of this demonstration have resolved to march
on Sunday, with as many as please to follow them,
from Clerkenwell-green to Hyde-park. On the way
the members of the procession are to wear mourning
badges, and bands will accompany them, playing
the " Dead March in Saul ;" black banners also are
to be borne by them, bearing figures of the harp and
shamrock and the names of the condemned men.
The proceedings were conducted in the most orderly
manner ; no more policemen were to be seen on the
green than are usually found there ; the speakers
were, of course, very earnest in their declamation,
and their hearers cheered with their wonted vigour,
but beyond this and the obstruction of the traffic,
no public inconvenience was caused by the demon-
stration.

The chairman of the meeting held in the centre
of the square was Mr. CLEGG, who, on opening the
proceedings, annou need that there were present sym-
pathizers from Liverpool and from America. Re-
ferring to the visit to the Home Office, he attributed
any violent expressions uttered there to the bad
taste of Mr. Hardy in not receiving a deputation of
working men. (Cries of " Shame on him !") They
wished to talk a little with him, because they had
something to say which they could not very well
put down in writing, lest they should have risked
the reception of the memorial itself. It was said
that they ought to have been introduced by a mem-
ber of Parliament; but they wished, as working
men, to do their own work themselves. If they
committed any breach of etiquette, let it be remem-
bered they were illiterate men, and let the will be
taken for the deed.

Mr. FIN LAN moved the fird resolution. Describing
the object of the meeting as disinterested, generous,

and humane, he deprecated any violation of order,
mentioning a report that soldiers were near, in the
House of Detention. (A Voice—" Let them stop
there.") Comparing this demonstration of force and
authority to that which he said caused the riot in
Hyde Park, he said that now, as then, the people
were not to be intimidated thus. Then, pleading for
the " good, but perhapsreckless youngmen, doomed
to the tender mercies of Calcraft," he contended that
they were political offenders—Fenix ns certainly,
but Fenianism was another name for patriotism.
(Hear, hear, and cheers.) It had been declared by
the Times that his own conduct at t'he Home-office
had been as disgraceful as that of -the condemned
prisoners ; if so, he ought to be condemned too ; and
if he could not be hung for his couduct, then the
prisoners ought to escape. (Cheers.) Referring to a
suggested prosecution of himself for trespass, which
the meeting received as a joke, he claimed a degree
of publicity for the Home-office which protected him
from such a charge. The terms of their resolution
were intended to convey sympathy with the doomed
and commiseration with thefamily of the man whose
life was lost. If their efforts proved ineffectual up to
this morning, they would to-day do their best to
reach the ears of the Queen. (Hear, hear.) The de-
putation would go in the spirit of mercy ; it would
be prompted only by the most catholic and generous
considerations. If the men were after all executed
—(A Voice—We will have revenge.) Let there be
no talk of revenge, for a moral power would be
evoked which would be enough without that ; but
there would be a funeral procession. (Cheers.) For
what he had already done in this matter he had been
dismissed from his employment—(cries of "Shame")
—but, nevertheless, he would head the funeral pro•
cession. (Great cheering.)
After a few all but inaudible words by the visitor
from Liverpool, who was understood to communi-
cate a declaration made by one of the condemned
prisoners to a relation that if executed they would
regard themselves as murdered men,
Mr. OWEN seconded the resolution. He urged
that we could afford to be magnanimous, and that
the Government would be humiliated if it took away
the lives of the four misguided young men. He did
not see why the Queen, on the presentation of a me-
morial, should not in such a case advise her advisers.
After three cheers for the Queen, the resolution
was put and carried by a show of hands.

Mr. MELDRUM moved the second resolution, and
treated the crime of the condemned as a political
offence, which it would be impolitic to punish with
death, while the exercise of mercy would strengthen
the hands of the Government. He also referred to
Allen as being a youth and a child in the eye of the
law—certainly in a political sense. He concluded
by dwelling on the sufferings and the wrongs of Ire-
land.

Mr. THOMAS seconded the resolutipn, and said
there would have been no necessity for this meeting
if the Home Secretary had received the deputation
on Monday. Perhaps that refusal had done more
to excite public opinion on the subject than any
other event which could have transpired. He urged
that the convicts were guilty only of manslaughter
at the worst.

BRADLAUGR supported the motion. He would
not have spoken, he said, but for what he had just
heard of the jcourse of the debate in the House of
Commons. Earnestly recommending abstinence
from language or conduct which could tend to de-
feat their single object, or that could provoke a
conflict which would be attended with disadvantage
to those who were the worst prepared for it, he
called upon the Government to consider that they
must bear the full responsibility if they provoked
people here and in Ireland—(A. Voice—" And in
America")— to such an extent that sad results en-
sued. He pleaded, however, with the strong for
mercy, and with authority for clemency. At the
same time, he concluded from the letter of Mr.
Justice Blackburn that the law was not so clear
but that some excuse might have been found
by the Government if they had wished to
show mercy. L?gally, they had the right to
take these men's lives; bnt how coald they
do so with the consciousness that if we
had governed Ireland better these things would not
have happened? (Hear, hear.) Calmly and
earnestly, he dreaded that the worst kind of civil
war would follow the execution. In conclusion, ho
contended that the poor, who would suffer most for
any mistaken policy, had the right to urge this plea
for mercy. (Cheers.) In the time that remained let
all who joined in the appeal individually petition
the authorities, earnestly, solemnly, but not rashly,
asking that the lives in their hands may not be
recklessly sacrificed. (Cheers.)
The resolution was carried, and it was announced
that collecting boxes would be sent round for con-
tributions towards the expenses. It was also stated
that a gentleman had contributed a box of mourning
hat-bands to be worn on Sunday if necessary, and
those who could not obtain hat-bands were recom-
mended to wear crape on the arm. The procession
would start from Clerkenwell-green at 11 o'clock.
Thanks were voted to the chairman, and the assem-
blage around the platform began to disperse.
Mr. GIL3IORE presided at the second platform,
and, opening the proceedings, he insisted that, no
matter how impartial the Judges and the jury at
Manchester were, they could not possibly have given,
in the excitement of the moment, proper weight to
the defence set up for the convicts ; and, to his mind,
it was palpable that in this instance the lives of four
human beings were to be sacrificed on the testimony
of prostitutes and perjurers. But, notwithstanding
his belief in the innocence of the men, he would
rather see them hanged than condemned to the
pains of Portland, because be believed they would
go from martyrdom into everlasting glory.
Mr. RICHARDSON, the mover of the first resolu-
tion, rejoiced in the demonstration before him. That
the men of London could leave their homes on such
a night to speak in mercy's name was enough to
stay the tyranny of any Government, however
bloodthirsty it might be. He urged his hearers to
go on in their work of mercy, and if possible save
the lives of those misguided, rash, but patriotic men
in Manchester.

Mr. M'SwEENv, one of the deputation, declaimed
against the juvenile perjurers who had been trained
to swear away the lives of the men at Manchester,
and then he criticised Lord Derby's speech in the
House of Lords. The Earl of Derby had said that
the prisoners were not condemned for political
crimes, and in the next breath he expressed himself
satisfied that the Fenians would rest content with
nothing short of a republic. He had also stated that
before the republic had lived six months the people
would have knocked each other's brains out, and in
twelve months they would be cutting each other's
throats. Such was the trifling of the Prime Minister,
such the wisdom with which England was governed
and Ireland misgoverned. The Government of Ire-
land was but a military encampment, and the Lord
Lieutenant a notorious exterminator ; he had,
therefore, little hope of getting justice for Ireland,
but he appealed to the men of London to insist that
the lives of these men should not be sacrificed at the
desire of such a miserable Government.

Several other speakers followed in the same strain,
and some urged their hearers to behave in an orderly
manner, even before the police or military, so that
the Government should find they could prove them-
selves men, and worthy of a hearing.
At the third platform the same speakers repeated
their observations with more or less variation, and
the crowd dispersed about 9 o'clock.

followed, and the meeting broke up at eight
o'clock, not more than a score or two of hands
being held up in favour of the memorial. A
portion of those assembled then marched through
the streets ; in the Horsefair they raised a cry of
" Cheap bread," and smashed the windows of a
baker's shop, as it appeared, with no other design
than mischief, Thence they proceeded to St. Al-
ban's Church (ritualistic), where they smashed the
vestry windows and tore up a portion of the pali-
sades, at the same time shouting, " Down with
Father Pollock." In this case, again, it was chiefly
youths who did the mischief, and they soon fled on
the arrival of the police. That the affair did not
assume dimensions of any importance may be esti-
mated from the announcement in one of the local
papers " that no arrests were made."

THE FERNDALE EXPLOSION.

AIF.RTIIYIt TYDFIL, Wednesday Night.

The bodies which had been cut off from the ex-
ploring parties on Thursday last by a sudden fall
were reached on Tuesday morning by the workmen
under Mr. H. Kirkhouse, and on that day about 20
were recovered and sent to the bank. They were
there seen by their friends, and after identification
by means of the clothing taken to the mountain
churchyard for interment. A few of them were
taken to Merthyr and Aberdare and still more dis-
tant places for burial. Men from the remotest cor-
ners of England have been killed by this explosion,
among the missing being some men from Derby-
shire and two or three from Yorkshire. Parents
walked the distance from Herefordshire and Wor-
cestershire to the pit in search of their children.
One of them was a poor woman who arrived on
Sunday ; the sympathetic bystanders made a col-
lection for her on the spot. The incidents which
have come under the notice of the mining engineers
in the pit are very affecting, and, could space be
devoted, would doubtless be read with interest.
One of them can hardly be passed over. A father
and son were found locked iu each other's arms.
So firmly were they clinging to each other, and
with such rigidity, that the arms had to be broken
before they could be separated. This was related by
one of the engineers now in charge of a working
party.

On Saturday something like organisation in con-
ducting operations below the surface was made, and
four gentlemen—Mr. Richd. Bedlington, of Rhym-
ney ; Mr. Harrison, of Dinas ; Mr. Morgan Joseph,
Treherbert ; and Mr. Herbert Kirkhouse, of Aber-
dare—were placed in charge of the pit to relieve each
other once in 36 hours. Besides them several other
engineers have been at work at the head of work-
men from their own pits, and it is worthy of remark
that the Ferndale men have demonstrated the most
decided hostility to the strangers who have come to
their assistance, an open fight having been appre-
hended at one time. They seem anxious to do all
the work themselves. After the removal of the
great fall of Thursday, which was accomplished by
Tuesday morning, the recovery of bodies proceeded
rapidly. Twenty were brought up during that day,
and during last night and to-day 23 others have
been brought out dead, and 148 fatal casualties,
three of the injured having died. The bodies when
got at in the pit are so far advanced in decomposi-
tion that they cannot be lifted from the ground, and
are consequently rolled into canvas and packed up
mummy fashion, in which state they have to be
dragged over falls—a series of miniature hilly ridges
—to the tramways. Notwithstanding the free use
of powerful disinfectants and an incessant supply of
over 100,000 cubic feet of air per minute to the
workings, yet in the front where the bodies are
found the stench was so intolerable that some of the
workmen were obliged to abandon the work for a
time.

During the clearance of the falls a considerable
number of lamps were found with their tops off,
but in a condition as would be altogether incom-
patible with the supposition that the tops had been
blown off by the explosion, and three or four lamp
keys were also found. The introduction of these
was contrary to the rules of the pit, and, to show
that there was rigid inspection of the miners some-
times before they went down, an instance has been
found of a collier sewing a lamp key inside his cap.
The cap was found among rubbish with a key fas-
tened to the crown inside, and was to be seen as
found at the office to-day.
The exact number of persons missing from the
houses at Ferndale appears to be 170, but there is
some doubt as to whether there may not have been
some men down the pit who have not been inquired
for. Certain it is that .some bodies have been
buried as unknown. Two were so taken away to-
day, after lying a couple of days exposed-to public
view.

As may be expected, the effluvium of the decom-
posing bodies is all pervading, and everything
around the pit throws off the noisome odour. Dis-
infectants were freely distributed among the houses
where the dead bodies lay last week, and now the
whole of the buildings about the pit have been
covered with gas tar, which, from the presence of
carbolic acid, is a powerful disinfectant. It has un-
doubtedly contributed much to the purification of
the atmosphere around the pit. Mr. Wells, the
Government inspector, was at the pit to-day, and
thought there could be not many more than 20
bodies still to be brought up.
The inquest is expected to be further adjourned
from the 25th inst. to a fortnight from that date,
in order to give the inspectors time to complete their
reports.

RAIL WAY INTELLIGENCE.

GREAT EASTERN.

In reply to the circular issued by the committee
of shareholders appointed on the Bth inst., in which
they propose to ask the shareholders to-day to re-
duce the number of the board by removing Mr. J.
Goodson, Major H. J. AV. Jervis, Mr. G. Josselyn,
and Colonel Palmer from the office of directors, those
gentlemen state that in case such a resolution
should be put and carried they must decline to re-
cognise its legality until confirmed by a court of
law. They remind the chairman of ,the committee
that Mr. Denison, Q.C., and Mr. Horatio Lloyd, so
eminent for railway law, were of opinion that the
meeting has not the power to do as the committee pro-
pose. Col. Palmer, one of the directors representing
the interests of the Northern and Eastern Railway
Company at the Great Eastern Board, states in his
circular that the 22 stations on the lines of his com-
pany have been earning for some years past
£800,300 per annum, out of which the Great East-
ern proprietors have only been required to pay over
£63,000 to the Northern and Eastern proprietors,
retaining the balance of £737,000 per annum, and
the occupation of 27 acres of land at Stratford, the
property of the Northern and Eastorn proprietors.
Mr. Goodson has also issued a circular, in which
he states that the stake he represents in the com-
pany is a very large one, and that he is naturally
anxious for its protection. If a good chairman be
secured and a more efficient board be formed he
would be ready, in conjunction with the other mem-
bers of the direction, to vacate his seat. He adds
that the stake he refers to consists entirely of loans
which he had been instrumantal in obtaining for the
company, amounting to upwards of a quarter of a
million, not including a large amount of stock. He
objects to the constitution of the present committee,
and states that if the loans he has referred to were
paid off, nothing would induce him to remain a
member of the board.