The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-22 00:00:00

E SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 22, 1866.

" Our readers already know how flattering is the
condition of our finances which Mr. M'Culloch has

to report. Even a man of cooler temperament than
the Secretary might be pardoned for a little effu-
sion of pride at the ample margin which the receipts
of the Treasury now leave for the disposition of the
Government, and at the surprising reduction of our
national debt, begun before we ourselves realised

that the debt had reached its height, and continued

at a rate which contradicts all prediction and sur-
passes all hope. With his accounts in this pros-
perous condition, Mr. M'Culloch naturally gives his
chief attention to the question which is the subject
of so much debate—how specie payments can be
resumed ? Although he has been known from the
first as a believer in an early return to hard money,
and as fully alive to the mischiefs of a depreciated
currency, Mr. M'Culloch, if we remember rightly,
has generally avoided using language of too posi-
tive tenour upon this subject. It is the more inte-
resting, therefore, to observe that he now declares
his opinion that specie payments ' may be resumed,
and ought to be resumed, as early as the Ist day of
July, 1868 ;' while he hopes that by wise legislation
and a prosperous condition of our productive in-
dustry ' this most desirable event may be brought
about at a still earlier day.' The expedients by
which Mr. M'Culloch proposes to restore the cur-
rency to a sound condition in the next 18 months

are five in number. 1. He would compel all the

national banks to redeem their bills in United States
notes at the commercial centres, and if possible in
New York, in order to insure uniformity of credit
and a preparation for specie redemption. 2. He
_ _ .

would have the United States notes in circulation
withdrawn as rapidly as is found prudent, believing
that the reduction can be made at the rate of six
millions per month for this fiscal year and ten mil-
lions per month for the next, while he would not
permit the national bank circulation to be carried
above three hundred millions. 3. He would have
the internal revenue simplified and collected from as
few articles as possible, the tariff revised and har-
monised with the internal taxes, raw materials re-

lieved from burdens, and production in every way
encouraged. 4. He would issue a new series cf
bonds at five per cent., with principal and interest
payable in Europe, to be exchanged for the bonds
now held abroad, as a security less likely to be re-
turned in any temporary disturbance of the money
market. And 5. He urges the speedy rehabilita-
tion of the Southern States, iu the belief that until
then their productive powers will remain inactive,
and the finances of the nation miss one of their chief
supports.
The Nation remarks that the report of the Secre-
tary of War naturally yields the first place in point
of interest to that of the head of the Treasury De-
partment. Disbanding volunteers, of whom there
are left in service only 11,043 men, white and
coloured ; collecting, storing, or selling material of
war ; recruiting the regular army, experimenting
with arms, planning harbour and river improve-
ments and defences, and carrying on the Freed-
men's Bureau, have been the main business
of the Department since May, 1865. Breech-load-
ing arms are in process of manufacture, and the
Secretary declares his belief that in the altered
Springfield rifle, with its metallic cartridge, we have
a better arm with better ammunition than the Prus-
sians have in their needle-gun. In regard to the
vexed question of the proportion which the number
of white people fed by the Department bore and
bears to the number of black people so dependent,
we suppose the Secretary's word would be conclu-
sive if he were to speak with sufficient clearness.
Up to May 30, 1866, the number of black people
drawing rations seems to have been the greater ; on
that day, the number of whites on the lists of desti-
tute persons having gradually increased, black

paupers and white were equally numerous ; since
June 30, 186 G, the two classes seem to have been
growing smaller and to have been diminishing
equally. The State, county, and pariah authorities,
the Secretary says, have, with very few exceptions,
failed to take on themselves the support of the poor,
and throughout the South the Government supports,
through the agency of the Freedmen's Bureau, over
20,000 people. Over 150,000 are in schools.
In Postmaster-General Randall's, lovers of the
curious will find more food than in any other of the
yearly reports. For instance, he informs us that
more than eight thousand soldiers' discharges got
into the dead-letter office during the year ending
June 30th. The whole number of dead letters was
about four and a half millions. Foreign countries
sent to the United States in that year 4,543,630
letters, and we sent abroad, chiefly to Europe,
4,886,916. As was expected, now that the rebel-

lion is at an end and the mail has to be carried
South again, the cost of carrying it brings the re-
venues of the department down below the expendi-
tures, the deficit last year being $965,093, and the
estimated deficit of the current year being still
greater. The money-order system and the system
of free delivery in large towns will no doubt be con-
tinued in force as the Secretary recommends, for he
proves them to be not only pleasant to the public,
but on the whole profitable to the Government.
General Grant, in a report to Mr. Stanton, the
Secretary of War of the United States, says :
" Passing from civil war of the magnitude of that
in which the United States has been engaged to
Government through the courts, it has been deemed
necessary to keep a military force in all the lately
rebellious States, to insure the execution of law and
to protect life and property against the acts of those
who, as yet, will acknowledge no law but force.
This class has proved to be much smaller than could
have been expected after such a conflict. It has,
however, been sufficiently formidable to justify the
course which has been pursued. On the whole, the
condition of the States that were in rebellion against
the Government may be regarded as good enough to
warrant the hope that but a short time will intervene
before the bulk of the troops now occupying them can
be sent to our growing territories, where they are
so much needed." On the same subject General
Sickles says :—" The most satisfactory progress seems
to have been made during the past year in all that
concerns the welfare of these States. A year ago
civil authority did not exist. The duties of the exe-
cutive were in the hands of provisional function-
aries appointed by the President. These have been
replaced by Governors elected by the people. The
courts were all closed, and the administration of
justice depended altogether on military tribunals.
Now the courts are all open, and the jurisdiction of
military tribunals, except on the sea islands, is con-
fined to persons in the military service, in cases
arising under the Articles of War. The adminis-

trat:on of municipalities, towns, and counties de-
volved upon military officers. The police of Charles-
ton, Columbia, Raleigh, and Wilmington was ex-
clusively military. The taxes imposed, the streets
that were lighted, the licenses granted, and all the
regulations of commerce and trade, were subject to
military authority. Now the local magistrates and
officials chosen by the people, or appointed accord-
ing to law, are discharging their ordinary duties.
The police is almost exclusively municipal. All
taxes,
assessments, and charges of every kind are
levied
by civil authorities, and all restrictions upon
commerce, trade, and intercourse, other than those
imposed by the laws, have ceased."
From Pittsburgh we learn that one of the great

failures is the glass trade. Amid the prevailing
dullness, this business, almost alone, is exceedingly
active. In window glass the manufacturers of that
city are from one to two months behind their orders.
The cost of production shows no diminution. There
is not quite so much doing in fliut-glass, though the
demand is good.

The Pittsburgh Mining Journal remarks that about
two-thirds of all the iron produced in Pennsylvania
is manufactured in the Lehigh valley, around Beth-
lehem, amounting in :1864 to 215,000 tons, and
likely to reach a similar amount in 1866. The con-
sumption of coal for the purpose is about 1,500
tons a-day. The stacks of furnaces are enormous
huge double cones—rising 50 to 75 feet high, taking
in the iron ore and the coal at the fiery gate on top,
by the hundred tons, and pouring out the liquid
metal at the bottom in Vesuvius streams.

The opinion of the unconditional Unionists in the
Southern States becomes more and more outspoken
in favour of petitioning Congress to regard their
States for the present as Territories, and by ena-
bling acts reorganise thorn as States on the basis of

universal suffrage. The Southern Unionists are not
in favour of universal amnesty. The Unionists of
Texas were the first to take this position by abstain-
ing from taking part in the election of members of
Congress. Those of Louisiana have numerously
signed a petition to the same effect. In Arkansas a
State Convention has been called to adopt the same
platform, and the Unionists in Virginia and South
Carolina are making public manifestations in the
same direction.

The Iron Age is pleased to see that Mr. M'Cul-
loch defends the system of national banking (which,
however, he ignorantly attributes to Chief Justice
Chase, the editor of the Age having been its
original projector and given it to the public), but
regret that after the lucid demonstration of Mr.
Carey last winter, which convinced the majority of
Congress, and induced that body to reverse its
policy, be still clings to the exploded fallacy of a
redundant currency. We have read with great
disappointment his proposal to centralise the bank-
ing power of the country in the "Atlantic cities" of
Boston, New York, and Philadelphia—or, if pos-
sible, in New York alone. We hope in future ar-
ticles to show the utter fallacy of his reasoning on
both these topics.

With reference to Southern railways, Mr. Stevens
of Pennsylvania, offered a resolution for the ap-
pointment of a committee of five to report to the
House, at next session, the past and present rela-
tions existing between the Federal Government and
the railroads in the States lately in rebellion, the
amount of money expended by the United States in
constructing, repairing, equipping, and managing
such roads, the amount now due by each of them to
the Government, &c. ; also as to the proper course
to be taken by the Government in relation to such
railroads. The committee to have power to send
for persons and papers, employ a clerk, and report
progress at any time. Adopted. Mr. Stevens re-
marked that he did not desire to be placed himself
on the committee, as he feared the climate of the
South would prove rather warm for him. (Laughter.)
In the opinion of the Nation Mr. Greeley's allo-
cution, published in the Tribune a week ago, before
his departure for the West, and giving his views
upon the various political topics now before the
public, has evidently, to say the least, not increased
his chance of the Senatorship. " The Universal
Amnesty, Universal Suffrage Scheme," of which he
seems disposed to make himself the apostle, and, if
need be, the martyr, does not find favour with the
public, and this formal advocacy of it on the solemn
occasion of his commencing a long journey has re-
vived the memory of some strange plans produced
by him not very long ago, both for the prosecution
and for the termination of the war. In fact, the
country is coming rapidly to the conclusion to
which it has been for some time tending, and at
which we have modestly, if not obscurely, hinted
once or twice, that Mr. Greeley's extraordinary
powers are those of an advocate, a conscientious one,
we admit, but one whom it does not dc to entrust
with the selection of his own causes.

In Texas efforts are making to get :he dissatis-
fied negroes from South Carolina and Georgia to
emigrate to the former State. Labourers are too
few for the crop in the ground. The Texas crop is
estimated at 200,000 bales.

On the 11th inst. the yachts Henrietta, 203 tons,
Mr. J. G. Bennett, jun., owner the Fleetwing,
204 tons, Mr. George A. Osgood, owner ; and the
Vesta, 201 tons, owned by Mr. Pierre Lorlillard,
started from New York for Cowes. Tie vessel that
arrives first at that port will be enitled to th
stakes of $90,000 as the winner of the race. A
yacht race across the Atlantic is something new in
the magnitude of its distance, but tie novelty of
this trial of speed is increased by the period of the
year chosen for the trial. The route across the
Atlantic from New York to Great Britain is apt to
be sufficiently boisterous in midsummer, but the
weather is sure to test the seaworthiness of smal
crafts in mid-winter. Winter is usaered in by
strong gales, and winter passes into spring with
tempests, while it is not uncommon for the interme-
diate period to be less boisterous. The time chosen,
therefore, may not be so bad for this yacht race as
might at first glance be supposed. Still ther6 are
few others than Americans who would have entered
into such a contest.

A silk manufactory is to be established at San
Jose, California. Twenty-five acres of ground have
been given to the proprietors, upon which they pro-
pose at once to erect buildings for the manufactory
and for the workmen. These will be mostly Ger-
man and French. The California papers urge the
raising of mulberry trees and cocoons.
It is proposed to hold a Convention of Coloured
Soldiers and Sailors in Philadelphia on the Bth of
January, 1867. It is to be composed of those men
of colour who fought for the country during the
war, and the object is to lay the claims of the race
in a proper memorial before Congress.
Mr. Lawrence, of Ohio, has lost no time in
making an endeavour to induce Congress to repu-
diate the action of last session, increasing the pay
of members. And also to get a Bill before the
House reducing the allowance for mileage, about
which there was so much scandal during last
Session.

The will of the late Senator
.Wright, of New
Jersey, has been admitted to probate. The valua-
tion of the estate is $1.000,000, of which $600,000
is real estate and $400,000 personal property. All
the property goes to his family, except $l,OOO left
to the House of Prayer.

The marriage of Bierstadt to Miss Rosalie Oborn
puts to rest the statements that he was to wed Miss
Kellogg, the prima donna.

Mr. D. C. MTwen, recently connected with the
press of New York, has become the private secretary
to Governor Seward.
The last romance of the late lamented Lincoln is
to the effect that he once loved to distraction a Miss
Herndon, of New Salem, Illinois, but was rejected,
and went, for a time, insane over the disappoint-
ment. The present Mrs. Lincoln believes he got
over it.

Confederate Major- General Stewart was pardoned
on November 28, at the intercession of Gen. Grant,
General Charles G. Halpine, General Alexander J.
Perry, of the Quartermaster's Department, Major-
General Barber, General E. 0. C. Ord, Major-
General James B. Ricketts, General J. C. M,Far-
ren, Major-General Frank Wheaton, General
Morris S. Miller, and Major-General David Hun-
ter, approved by the Attorney-General of the United
States.

Whistler, an artist of rising reputation in Eng-
land, and whose picture called "On the Thames"
is in the Artists' Fund Exhibition, is an American
by birth. He is best known for his illustrations in
various London periodicals, but his pictures are very
favourably spoken of by English critics.
Mr. and Mrs. Wed. W. Clarke and Miss H.
Lilla Clarke have arrived at the Westminster Hotel,
Paris, from the Langham Hotel, London. On the
22d of last May Mr. Clarke left New York, where
he had achieved an immense fortune by enterprise
and sagacity, and arrived in London on the 3d June.
The family proceeded to Paris, explored Switzer-
land, roamed over Germany and Belgium, rested
for a fortnight in London, and in the most delight-
ful month of the year penetrated to the extreme
north of Scotland. Returning through the
" Emerald Isle," they passed over the Welsh hill;
and traversed all England. Mr. Clarke carries into
travel the same indefatigable spirit which marked
his career in commerce. After recruiting in the
gay capital of sunny France, the family will pro-
ceed south to Marseilles and Nice, through Italy,
and with the early spring bend their footsteps
northwards by Vienna and Berlin, vh2 Holland and
London, en route to Paris for the opening of the
Exposition. We hail with satisfaction the spirit
of travel developed by the American people, and
more especially by the most generous and wealthy
families. Nothing can more tend to increase the
sentiment that already prevails very generally
among European nations that Americans arc dis-
tinguished for a large-heartedness, an openness of
purpose, and a princely liberality.
By telegram from New York, dated Dec. 15, we
hear that Congress has granted the suffrage to the
negroes of the district of Columbia.
An order has gone out for the consecration of the
Venerable Archdeacon Bethune, D.D., as Bishop
of Niagara, being Coadjutor-Bishop to the Bishop of
Toronto, cum jure sweenionis,

English and American Ordnance Compared.

The largest Armstrong gun yet made has the same
weight of metal, namely, 22 tons, as the 15-inch
Rodman, or Dahlgren, gun, which is the heaviest
gun in the American service. The English gun is
made of welded coils of wrought• iron, and is rifled ;
the American gun is made of cast-iron, and is a
smooth-bore. A vessel which can carry the Rod-
man gun can carry the Armstrong gun. Which
of these two guns is the more effective ?

1. Charge of Powder—Armstrong gun, 100 lbs. ;
Rodman gun, 50 lbs. The powder used in the
English gun is the best of powder; that used in
the American gun is purposely prepared in such a
manner that it shall burn slowly.

2. Initial Velocity—Armstrong gun, 1,420-1,460
feet per second, with 100 lbs. powder ani 580 lb.
shot; Rodman gun, 1,-114 feet per second, with
50 lbs. powder and 450 lb. shot. The charge of
powder which the Armstrong gun can bear being
double what the American gun can endure, the
initial velocity of the heavier English shot fired
from a rifled gun is considerably greater than that
of the lighter American shot fired from a smooth-
bore. Of course the range of the rifled gun is im-
mensely greater than that of the smooth-bore.
3. Accuracy—The Armstrong gun has shown an
accuracy which no smooth-bore can approach. In
ao2ries of firings made to determine the accuracy
of the gun the lateral deviation of the 5801 b. shot at
4,000 yards varied from nothing. to a maximum of four
yards. The charge of powder used was 701bs. There
is some good evidence on record touching the accu-
racy, or rather want of accuracy, of the Rodman
smooth-bores. In his elaborate report on the bom-
bardment of Fort Pulaski, General Gilmore states
distinctly his conclusions as to the value of smooth-
bores for breaching purposes ; they are as follows :
L At ranges less than 700 yards, light smooth-
bores are inferior to rifles ; while heavy smooth-
bores are advantageous either alone or in combina-
tion with rifles. 2. At ranges greater than 700
yards, rifled guns are superior to any smooth-bores.
3. For ranges over 1,000 yards, smooth-bores
should be " scrupulously excluded." The reason
for excluding smooth-bores from batteries at a dis-
tance from the object to be hit greater than 1,000
yards is that at such ranges it is impossible to hit
anything with a shot from a smooth-bore gun. The
immense superiority of the wrought-iron rifled gun,
which can strike effectively a hostile ship, or a
hostile battery, at a distance of 4,000 yards, over
the cast-iron smooth-bore, which is absolutely use-
less at a range above 1,000 yards, is painfully
apparent.

4. Work—ln order to give a distinct idea of the
work of which the Armstrong gun is capable, it will
be necessary to quote Captain Noble's description
of the Hercules target, the strongest targest ever
fired at Shoeburyness. The upper half of this target
was faced with a wrought-iron plate 9 inches thick,
and the lower half with a similar plate 8 inches
thick. Behind both plates was a compact backing,
consisting of 12-inch timber laid horizontally, and
divided by four horizontal iron plates placed edge-
wise. This backing rested against a skin of two 3-
inch plates. The whole of this structure was secured
to iron ribs 10 inches deep, with vertical timber
worked in between them. Behind the ribs were 18
inches of sold timber, confined by 7-inch iron ribs,
inside all, and an iron skin. Exclusive of the 7-
inch inside ribs this target was 4 feet thick. The
Armstrong gun, firing 5801 b. shot of steelor chilled
iron, with 100 lb. of powder, has repeatedly pene-
trated this target at a distance of 200 yards, and so
effectually that portions of some of the shot passed
completely through the target into the space behind
it. In contrast with this fact, let us place the sig-
nificant fact, mentioned in the last note on ordnance
and armour printed in the Nation (No. 70)
that the American 15-inch gun was unable, in
the fight of Mobile Bay, to pierce the
sides of the Tennessee, protected by only
6 inches of iron and 30 inches of wood, al-
though the range was only 10 feet. This result is
just what we should expect from the comparative
charges of powder employed. It is easy to under-
stand that 100 lbs. of powder should do more than
50 lbs. Meanwhile, where h the Parrott gun, the
only heavy American rifled gun, with its bursting
charge of 10 lbs. of powder.
Cap:Ain Noble proves conclusively, from the Eng-
lish tables of experimental firings, and from the cal-
culations he has based thereon, that the American
15-inch gun, firing 480 lb. steel shot (and we have
no such efficient projectile), with 50 lb. charges, the
heaviest the gun will bear, is incapable of piercing
the Lord Warden target—a target which represents
a wooden 'vessel, protected by one iron plate 4i
inches thick, 161 inches of timber, and an inner
skin 14 inches thick. This target is readily pierced
at a range not exceeding 1,000 yards by an English
wrought-iron, muzzle-loading, 9-inch rifled gun,
weighing only 12 tons, and firing a steel shot of
221 lbs., with a charge of 44 lbs. of powder. Since
the publication of Captain Noble's comprehensive
report, a new set of experiments has shown that a
target composed of 18 inches of solid teak, covered
in front with a solid plate of iron 8 inches thick, and
strengthed at the back by an inner skin of 4-inch
iron, can be completely pierced by a 2501 b. shell of
Palliser's chilled iron, fired with a charge of 44 lbs.
of powder from a 9-inch wrought-iron rifled gun.
This 9-inch gun, weighing about 12 tons, is there-
fore very much more effective than our 15-inch
gun, which weighs 22 tons.

The defenders of cast-iron guns have a theory
that an enemy's vessel is to be best destroyed or
disabled by firing against its sides shot which are
unable to penetrate, but which will " rack," the
vessel. Before the days of armour it was thought
best to send shells into an enemy's vessel, there to
kill men and dismount guns. It would have been
better, according to this " racking" theory, to throw
balls against, not through, the wooden walls, iu
order to jar the sides of the vessel to pieces. The
absurdity of the theory is manifest. It gives up
all chances of destroying the propelling machinery,
blowing up boilers and magazines, -and creating
leaks below the water-line ; it abandons the idea
of exploding shells among the enemy's crew and
guns, and relies upon heavy concussions against the
vessel's side. The reliance is a very feeble one.
The Tennessee was hammered as thoroughly as any
vessel could be, but not injured. Especially is this
"racking" theory absurd when applied to ordnance in-
tended for forts which protect harbours or road-
steads. There certainly would be no time to " rack"
a strong iron-clad to pieces while she was steaming
by a fort, but she might very easily be " punched"
with fatal effect.

The opponents of rifled heavy guns have often
asserted that these guns were soon disabled by usage
—that the bore was " scoured out" by the hardened
projectiles employed in them. There seems to be
no foundation whatever for this assertion. The
6001 b. Armstrong gun has been fired more than
150 times without sustaining the least injury, or
being perceptibly altered in any respect. This is
explicitly stated by the officers who superintended
the testing of the gun. The English have a very
large number of rifled guns in service, and no cre-
dible complaint of their " scouring out" has ever
been made. The question of the expediency of
rifling heavy guns is, however, one entirely distinct
from the question of the best material for guns—
cast or wrought iron. Smooth-bores, to lire a round
projectile, may be made of wrought iron, and such
guns would be greatly more durable and more effec-
tive than smooth-bores made of cast iron ; it would
simply be necessary that the gun shoull be built up
of wrought-iron coils, around a hard core of steel
or cast iron.

The high cost of wrought-iron guns is sometimes
urged as an argument for the use of cast iron. The
question of expense, however, is the last one to be
considered in an inquiry of this nature. On the
day of battle, at the critical moment in preparation
for which guns are made, an effective gun which
sinks the enemy's ships is cheap whatever its cost ;
while an impotent gun, which imperils the national
honour or safety, is dear at any price. Captain
Noble, moreover, maintains that the total cost of
gun, carriage, and 100 rounds of ammunition, is
very nearly the same for the 9-inch, 12-ton,
wrought-iron, rifled English gun, and the 15-inch,
22-ton, cast iron, smooth-bore American gun. As we
have seen above, the English gun is much the more
effective of the two.

Although the whole influence of our Goverume

before and during the war, and even to the present
moment, has been given for smooth-bore cast-iron
ordnance, firing cast-iron projectiles, yet there is at
least one high official who has perceived that the
American ordnance is wholly unworthy of a nation
which claims to be especially ingenious, practical,
and alive to the progress of the mechanical arts.
Indeed cast-iron ordnance has come to be called
American ordnance, an unpleasant fact for any one
who is sensitive for American reputation. We may
congratulate ourselves, then, on the decided opinion
expressed so long ago as the 25th of January, 1864,
by Assistant Secretary Fox, in the. report of the
Committee on the Conduct of the War—" My
opinion is that we have got to come to wrought-
iron or steel guns, and abandon cast-iron."-771e
Nation.

SPIRI C OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlMES.—There is a return of confidence in Ire-
land as the precautions of the Government and the
hostility of all respectable classes of society make
even the temporary success of a Fenian outbreak
entirely hopeless. It would seem as if the change
of Government, the separation of the Legislature,
and the agitation which prevailed during the
autumn on the Reform question gave the leaders of
the conspiracy hopes that they might find an op-
portunity of mischief during the present winter,
and bring to their side a larger portion of the
people than had favoured them a year ago. But
they have reckoned in ignorance both of the spirit
of the British Government, which in matters of
Cud., kind knows no distinctions of party, and of
the feelings of all in Ireland who have anything to
lose. Whatever difference of opinion may prevail
in England as to the merits of this or that states-
man, there is no party, no school of politicians, no
section of the public who would refuse her Ma-
jesty's Ministers for the time being all necessary
powers for maintaining the peace of Ireland. The
Irish Government has taken measures to prevent the
most deluded from fancying that a baud of Fenians
eould hold any place in the island for 24 hours—
the conspirators from America, who were gather-
ing again as if something was to be done, are once
more seeking safety in flight; arms, ammunition,
and Fenian fire are seized wherever a rigorous
search enables the Government agents to discover
them, and, though there are reports current of
stores of arms which might have escaped the pe-
netration of the police, we must believe that any
band of rebels which might appear in the country
would be very indifferently armed. Although there
can be no doubt that large numbers of the lower
class of Irish, excited by the promises of the con-
spirators and by that love of change which belongs
to their race, do in words profess a hostility to the
British Government, yet there is a great distance
between menace and insurrection, and a Fenian
Commander-in-Chief must have obtained some
very decided successes over the Queen's troops be-
fore he would find support from the peasantry of
the country districts or .the workmen in the towns.
In the meantime those who have an influence
over the people, either by their station or character,
show that they do not forget their duty. The lead-
ing people in many districts have organised means
for maintaining the peace, and those who have
been absent from their posts are in many cases re-
turning. An equally important and beneficial in-
fluence is exercised by the Catholic clergy, whose
denunciation of the movement has been strenuous
and sincere. They deserve the acknowledgments of
the public for the good they are doing. The pastoral
of Cardinal Cullen was a stern reproval of the
preachers of Fenianism, and a serious warning to
its dupes. A still more energetic denunciation of
treason has been made by Dr. Fitzgerald, in a ser-
mon preached in the Catholic Cathedral of Limerick.
After warning his hearers of the moral guilt of
secret conspiracy, the preacher addressed to them
the argument sufficient to put an end to Feni-
anism among any set of men who have common
intelligence. He asked them plainly if they thought
there was the slightest chance of success, even of
partial success. Every one who has anything to
lose, whether he be farmer, shopkeeper, or landed
proprietor, would be banded together, as, in fact, men
are now banding together, to put down what is
really a conspiracy for general confiscation. When
it came to the point of insurrection it would be
shown how small a section of the people are really
prepared to assail the Government of the country
and to change by force the disposition of property.
Even in 1798 there was a large loyal section in
every class of society, and as for the insurrection
of 1848 it has long passed into a byword. Has
Fenianism any better recommendations to the
majority of Irishmen than these movements, or any
better chance of struggling with the forces
arrayed against it ? Not only is the present con-
spiracy condemned by all Irishmen of sense and
moral principle, but the strength of Great Britain is
beyond all comparison greater than at any pre-
vious time. When we were in the crisis of the
struggle with the French Republic we crushed
Irish rebellion. How much more easily would the
work be done now ! As Dr. Fitzgerald very truly
tells his flock, England with her fleet could sweep
every sea ; with her army she could overrun every
corner of thelaud. She possesses boundless wealth ;
she would exhaust all these resources, she would
sacrifice her last man and spend her last shilling,
rather than risk the possibility of Ireland becoming
the basis of attack against her by a hostile Power.
These things seem commonplace to Englishmen,
because we can hardly conceive reasonable bAngs to
whom they would not occur spontaneously. But
among an unreflecting people like the Irish of
Munster they need to be spoken, and they cannot
be too often repeated in speech and writing.