The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-03 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 3, 1860,

sorts of our lions who might come into the field is
undoubted ; nevertheless, with those who are not
properly trained, there is the chance of a panic.
There is always danger in over-rating our own
powers ; and the following little anecdote will show
that even " British lions" have been known to run
away in a panic.
At the commencement of the present century
(when the French were showing the world what
' real liberty was, by guillotining their own people)
many public meetings were held in this country
for the purpose of promulgating these new and grand
ideas, and a very popular orator, whose name was
Thelwall, called a meeting in the fields north of
London for this purpose. This meeting was at-
tended by some 20,000 persons. Thelwall's power-
ful and eloquent address aroused the feelings of his
audience to a state of enthusiasm, and when he told
them he felt assured that they would, as men and
Britons, when called upon to stand up for their
rights and liberties, show to the world the charac-
teristic firmness and courage of Britons upon such
an occasion, his speech was interrupted with loud
and determined cheers, when suddenly a cry was
raised of " Here's the sogers; the sogers is coming!"
Oh! oh! oh!

Off they started, the whole mass of men ! The
Britons that were to stand so firm and show the
world their courage, off they went, com-
pletely panic-struck, slap dash, at full speed, over
hedges and ditches, tumbling one over the other,
losing hats, shoes, &c., and rolling in the ditches,
when, after a few minutes, it was discovered to be
a false alarm—no f°sogers" were coming, for only
one solitary soldier, who had been induced to attend
the meeting, made his appearance over a bank ;
and m y father, who was present for the purpose of
making a sketch of the meeting, &e., and was one
of the few who did not run, used to declare that
the extraordinary expression of surprise on this
soldier's countenance, as he looked at the flying
mob, wondering what on earth could be the mat-
ter, was a sight well worth seeing, and never to
be forgotten.
The fields, the very spot here alluded to, are now
the " Regent's Park," in crossing which the other
day I observed a flock of sheep scampering across
the green sward, and though this sort of thing is
common enough with the " Batt Lambs," I could
see no cause for their terror—no dog, no boy; but
as they scampered off again I discovered that the
cause of their alarm was a bit of torn paper, lifted
and drifted by the wind ! Alas ! alas ! thought I,
how little difference there is between the mutton
and:the man, and how many lives have been lost
from causes as trivial and absurd as this piece of
paper and that of the single soldier !
I do not mean to insinuate, by what I have just
described, that the volunteers of this day would
run away, or be panic-struck, any more than I be-
lieve that the volunteers of 1803 would have " cut
and run," or run 'without cutting, as the General
declares they would have done. There is no dif-
ference between the men of that day and the men
of this. But lam certain that this mode of train-
ing a large body of men merely as riflemen or
skirmishers is a mistake ; and this mode of fight-
ing, this popping off and running back—we will
suppose of some thousands of men—and allowing
them to be (which I very much doubt) safe from the
pursuit of cavalry, having half-a-mile the start, yet
they would find this to be very " hard service." The
very sight of thousands of men running away from a
pursuing cavalry would of itself be enough to create a
panic ; but almost certain to produce this result
should there happen to be a few donkey lions in the
field who had nothing else to trust to but their
" mother wit" and their legs.

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, MONDAY MORNING.
STATE OF THE KING'S COUNTY.

The disorganised state of the King's County and
the spread of the Riband conspiracy have compelled
the magistrates to hold a meeting with a view of
taking such measures as may tend to restore tran-
quillity. The proceedings were conducted in private,
but the correspondent of Saunders's Newsletter sup-
plies the following brief sketch of the deliberations
within doors :

" PARSONSTOWN, Saturday Night.—ln conse-
quence of the commission of several serious and
daring outrages in the barony of Clonlish a meeting
of the magistrates of the Shinrone and Moneygall
petty sessions districts was held at Shinrone some
weeks ago, when it was agreed to send'a requisition,
signed by seven magistrates, to the clerk of the
peace to convene a meeting of the magistrates of the
county to consider the propriety of applying to the
Lord-Lieutenant to augment the police force of the
county, pursuant to the provisions of the 6th and 7th
William IV., cap. 13, sec. 12. The Government hav-
ing declined to seod down to the disturbed district
additional police, under the provisions of the ' Act
for the Prevention of Crime and Outrage,' this being
the first day of criminal business at Quarter Ses-
sions here, was fixed for holding the meeting. At
one o'clock Mr. Blake, Q.C., chairman of the
county, and the following magistrates, assembled
in chamber, viz. :—The Right Hon. the Earl of
Rosse, Lieutenant of the county ; Hon. Laurence
Parsons, Col. Hon. J. C. Westenra, D.L., Lieut.-
Col. Bernard, D.L., Lieut.-Colonel Drought, D.L.,
Messrs. Thos. Hackett, D.L., J. F. Rolleston, D.L.,
Harry Trench, Jonathan Darly, John Warburton,
Sandford Palmer, P. O'Brien, M.P., G. Garvey,
J. P. Armstrong, John Bennett, John D. Lauder,
James Rolleston, Joseph Hutchinson, Ralph Smith,
Thomas Brereton, R.M., and the Rev. Joseph Mar-
shall. Mr. Wray, county inspector of constabulary,
was also present, and the several sub-inspectors
stationed in the southern division of the county
were in- attendance. Mr. Blake, as chairman
of the Court of Quarter Sessions, presided.
Lord Rosse, and several of the magistrates, ad-
dressed the meeting, and alluded to the prevalence
of crime in the barony of Clonlish, &c., but, as
the representatives of the press were not admitted,
a detailed report cannot be given. Several subjects
connected with the non-detection of crime, and the
organisation of the police force, &0., were discussed.
It was proposed to augment the police force by 30
men, but this proposition was negatived on a divi-
sion. It is stated that Mr. O'Brien, M.P., opposed
any addition to the police force of the county, as he
was of opinion that if more friendly relations existed
between landlords and tenants, and a fair, just, and
equitable system of tenant-right were adopted and
exercised, it would tend more to the permanent
peace of the county than any police force, no matter
how large or how efficient it might be. After con-
siderable discussion, a resolution was passed apply-
ing to have an augmentation of 15 men to be added
to the force of the county, to be located in the
barony of Clonlish. It was proposed that the ex-
pense of this increase should be borne by the county
at large ; but an amendment, to have the expense
thereof defrayed by the barony of Clonlish, was
carried on a division. This is the result of the meet-
ing so far as has transpired."