The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-27 00:00:00

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and define its principles, and yet the manner in
which they set about the matter was subversive of
its ends. They began by deciding upon the
necessity of abolishing the Papacy, and of getting
every tyrant in Europe out of the way. We
entirely concur with the noble lord as to the means
which this country should adopt with a view to
cultivating and securing peace—" We shall always
cultivate peace, I hope, by the old-fashioned, but, I
am convinced, the far more effective plan of being
always ready for war if war is necessary."
This would be by far the wiser course to follow
than to rush into either extreme of giving way to
insult or of offending other nations by a policy of

provocation. Respecting our army, it is not neces-
sary that we should number as many forces as those
Continental States which are more exposed by
their position, and labour under the disadvantage
of possessing other forms of government. No one
better than Lord CARNARVON can pass judgment
upon the requirements of our possessions abroad, for
during his tenure of office as Colonial Secretary he
displayed considerable knowledge of affairs and
excellent judgment. As he truly put it, we must
bear in mind that the British army in England
represents but a small portion of the force which we
have to maintain. "We undertake to provide a
certain force for an enormous empire, larger than
belongs to any other nation in the world." A con-
siderable force is stationed in the colonies, and as
for India there is only too much reason to apprehend
that the army there may be too much reduced in-
stead of being keing kept to too high a standard.
Regarding the Abyssinian affair, the noble lord
declared that if that war were necessary for our
honour, it had better be prosecuted as vigo-
rously as possible. In order to do so, he
very wisely advises that all action should be
concentrated, as far as possible, into one
single department and into one single set of hands.
The remembrance of our many failures and disasters
in the Crimea partly justifies what is here said of
the necessity of making one of the Ministers respon-
sible, and giving one department the power and
influence of controlling the Expedition, so that it
may not be hampered by anarchy and confusion of
departments.
Atter the many disparaging remarks which it is
the fashion with some to make nowadays, it is
really refreshing to meet with a speech like that of
Lord CARNARVON'S respecting the progress that has
been made in agriculture, and its prospects
generally. If, he says, we look back to the state of
things twenty years ago we shall find that in
" agriculture, at all events, men are better housed,
better clothed, and better fed than they were in
former years ; they have snore of the comforts, more
of the luxuries of life, and in some cases, I may say,
they have more of those refinements which are,
after all, good and wholesome refinements, and
which tend to make human life happier and better
on the whole." The present period is one of tran-
sition, and, notwithstanding many drawbacks and
difficulties, there are still some compensations to
be met with. The noble lord took a very correct
view of the subject, when he said that the policy of
landlords and tenants was to remember that they
were in the same boat, and looked the changes of the
time fairly in the face, thus making the circum-
stances of the times in which they lived their own.
This would be, indeed, a far wiser and more profit-
able mode of conducting affairs than to follow the
course pursued with such fatal eagerness by some,
of fostering dissensions around. The only way to
make the inevitable changes which time brings to
pass affect all interests as little as possible is to act
with spirit and discernment, and exert ourselves to
meet the emergency. Some of the prejudices are
happily gone by which existed as to the use of
machinery, and the chairman informed the
company that in travelling through the Lothians in
Scotland he witnessed a great development of
agriculture, and which was accompanied by nearly
all the mechanical appliances which art and science
can suggest. Some of the suggestions made
in
this speech are very good, such, for instance, as
where the expediency is dealt upon of punish-
ing the labourer with his allotment close to his
cottage, so that when he returns from his work he
may not have another mile or two to trudge, and
thus lose heart in the business, besides having very
little to give to the work. Further on in the even-
ing Lord CARNARVON, in adverting to the Houses
of Parliament, observed that it was greatly to be
lamented that the business of the House of Lords
was not arranged better, and thus the House of
Commons would not be so overcrowded with work,
and the other branch of the Legislature left to do
comparatively little in the heavy business of the
Session.

As might have been expected, the examination o:

the prisoners at Manchester has not been conducted
without some excitement. The greatest eagerness
has been manifested by the populace both to obtain
a sight of the prisoners and to hear the proceedings.
The Irish inhabitants of the neighbourhood have
mustered in great force in the vicinity of the police
court, but there has been no further attempt at
disturbance. Forty-two prisoners had to be re-
moved to and from the police court from the
gaol, which is about two miles off, but ample
precautions were this time taken to secure
their safe transit. An escort of military and a
strong body of police were sufficient to deter the
most adventurous from hazarding another rescue.
The road from the gaol to the city was thronged at
an early hour, but there was no manifestation of
feeling when the cavalcade made its appearance.
The prisoners were brought into court handcuffed,
and this gave rise to an animated and, indeed, angry
discussion. The several counsel, headed by Mr.
ERNEST JONES, who appeared for the prisoner
GOULD, made application for the removal of the
irons. Considering the nature of the offence with
which these men were charged the virtuous indig-
nation shown by these gentlemen was almost
amusing. " You must be aware," said Mr. COT-
TINGITAII to the magistrate, " that a Judge of
Assize would not tolerate such a thing, and would
consider it an insult to the Court if handcuffs were
put on." Mr. JONES was still more imperative ;
but Mr. FOWLER, the presiding magistrate, met their
somewhat unceremonious appeals with calmness and
decision. He reminded the barristers that they
had themselves admitted the case to be a most un-
usual one, and therefore it would not be wise or
suitable for the magistrates to interfere with the
precautions thought necessary by the police. The
case was therefore allowed to proceed for some time
without further interruption; but after a brief
adjournment of the Court the question was again
brought up more vehemently than ever. Mr.
ERNEST JONES, upon being a second time refused,
went so far as to throw up his brief and leave the
Court, saying he would not lend himself to such a
violation of the course of justice. Of course the
prisoners were not going to be left behind in vir•
tuous indignation, and those who were represented
by Mr. JONES refused to have any other counsel,
though Mr. FOWLER offered to adjourn the case
until they had procured some other advice. The
magistrates showed every disposition to be concilia,
tory, and retired to consult with Captain PALIN
upon the question. When they returned,
Mr. FOWLER expressed their unanimous opinion