The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-31 00:00:00

LONDON, 1 UESDAY, DEC. 31, 1867.

Seldom has a more dreary task fallen to the lot
of those who sum up the events of the year that is
fast ebbing away than that which belongs to this
season. The records of 1867 are indeed most
lugubrious ones, and the worst of it is that as yet
we see no chance of better times approaching.
Thus time has gone by shrouded in sorrow, and the
new year dawns on anxiety and distress. It is, in..
deed, long since England was agitated by a con-
spiracy so vile as that of the Fenians, which, hav-
ing no root in the country in its intrinsic strength,
is yet strong and fierce enough to inflict
injuries on the community, and to cause doubts as
to the nature of its future efforts. The terrible
affair at Clerkenwell proves that no consideration
of consequences, and no thought of those who suffer
through designs in which they have no share, can
deter the miscreants who look to the end and regard
not the means by which they attain it. It is true,
that the public mind was pretty well prepared for
something serious by the affair at Manchester,
but that outrage, though sufficiently dastardly
in its way, since armed men attacked the
unarmed, fell short of the horror which at-
tended the explosion at Clerkenwell. The sudden
death of some victims, the frightful injuries inflicted
on others, and the appalling character of the cala-
mity altogether, invested it with horror, and ex-
cited universal indignation. Fenianism received its
death-blow when it resorted to such base and cruel
devices, and spread misery and devastation among
the poor, the weak, and the
g-helple.,s, simply to
gratify its unmeaning vengeance and its vindictive
purpose. The greatest care and vigilance will be
requisite fur sonic time to come in order to put down
in the most effectual manner this evil agency,
but the most ab!e an I far-seeing ,tinong tile mem-
bers of the body must see for themselves that they
have missed their destiny, if ever they had a chance
of accomplishing it. A great part of the mischief
has been done by the mistaken notions ignorant
people entertained respecting the Manchester mur-
derers. The processions in honour of the departed
Fenians were stopped at last, and in the north of
England they were not permitted to take place at
all. The most ignorant must now know the full
meaning of the designs of the Fenians, and those
who are still infatuated enough to give
their direct or indirect influence or support will
draw down upon themselves a fearful responsibility.
It is enough to render aty cause odious in the eyes
of Englishmen that it is sustained by the devices of
cowards, and the designs of cruelty, and the gene-
ral voice of the public has sealed its doom, be it a
swift or a tardy one.

Other circumstances have also conspired to inter-
fere with the social and moral progress of the work-
ing people of this country, and trade has been very
injuriously affected by the pernicious influences
of the trades unions. For some years past
those best cognisant with the state of things have
been predicating evil from their exclusive doctrines
and unprincipled acts, but this year has seen the
culmination :of their aims, and before the errors of
Fenianism had almost monopolised the attention
of all the greatest interest and excitement pre-
vailed with respect to the disclosures that the in-
quiries instituted disclosed. There is much to
regret in all this, for not only do the
workmen of this country lose :a great share
of their former profits, but the moral effects
produced by these combinations is something
dreadful. The reckless manner in which they
have gone to work is quite extraordinary; and
in order to account for it all we must realise the
way in which they have set to work for years past
and the view which they take of matters. If men
set out with the notion that they must effect their
purpose, and that no lawful restrictions are to fetter
them, no claims of justice, honour, and good feeling
to influence them, who can wonder at the grievous
results ? Truly the mission has flourished with a
prosperity worthy of a better cause ; but it has
reached its climax, and must descend from the
position to which it has reached. For the future
such combinations can only be permitted when sub-
jected to proper regulations, for it is time that the
glaring evil should be checked, and the extreme
tyranny be put a stop to, which has grown with its
growth and strengthened with its strength, till it
has become a bye-word for oppression and cruelty
through the length and breadth of the land.
The Reform League has played its part
very ill, and, not content with its own ad-
mission that the principles for which it has con-
tended have had a partial triumph, seems to have
sought industriously for every fresh cause for creat-
ing and keeping up agitation and clamour. This
is, however, a mistake, for the people of this coun-
try will never suffer themselves to be led away by
these delusive ideas, and are always more satisfied
with slow and steady progress than with fanatic
efforts at disturbance that rest upon no sure basis,
and are more calculated to answer the purposes of
demagogues than to satisfy the aspirations of a
thinking community.
The most cheering subject to which reference can
be made at this time is the Reform Bill which dis-
tinguished the last session. So many perils en-
vironed it that its success was, indeed, a marvel.
Notwithstanding the jealousy of the members of
the late Government and their supporters, and the
irritation of the prejudiced partisans of No Progress,