The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-07 00:00:00

ed to the alteration of that intention—to supersede Mr.
Eyre, who was to remain within the island—subject to the
examination andcontrol of that governor and two of his col-
leagues, degraded in the eyes of blacks, who would naturally
be led to believe that they had obtained a signal triumph
over a man whom they looked upon as an oppressor while
the whites would be under the impression that everything
was being done in favour of the negro, the relative position
of the two races being thus as it were changed—was a step
neither just to Governor Eyre nor likely to be otherwise
than most unfortunate in its effect upon the minds of both
populations. (Ilea; hear.) I presume the noble earl at
the head of the Government has taken the opinion of the
law officers of the Crown as to the legality of the commis-
sion which has been sent out to Jamaica, for, unless I have
their opinion against mine, I should have great doubt as to
that legality. Ido not, of course, question the power of
the Government to make any inquiries they may please
in the colony, and to order rumours to be picked up here
and there for their information ; but I believe this
Commission which has been sent out to try, as it were,
Governor Eyre for high crimes and misdemeanours, has
not the power to compel a single witness to give evidence
before it on oath ; that Mr. Eyre might refuse to appear
before it if he pleased, or recognise its authority in the
slightest degree. What, therefore, have you done ? Have
you not been sending out on the authority of the Govern-
ment a roving commission to pick up evidence against him
which might be used when, if that which is urged against
him by those who take a fanatical view of his conduct in
this country be true, he came to be placed on his trial on a
capital charge ? (Hear, hear.) I will only add on this
point that the Government have, in my opinion, taken a
graver responsibility upon themselves in the course which
they have adopted. I next come to that serious calamity
the cattle plague, but I will not follow into any detail the
various speakers who, with the exception of the President
of the Council and the noble duke opposite, have with so
much unanimity expressed their dissatisfaction at the
course which Government have thought proper to pursue
in reference to that subject. Even the language—the apo-
logetic language—of her Majesty's Ministers themselves
has been, "We did not know how far public opinion
or feeling would go along with us in dealing with the mat-
ter. We therefore fluctuated from one side to the other, and
issued a series of contradictory enactments."

Earl GRANVILLE—I did net use that language.
The Earl of DERBY— Perhaps the noble earl will tell
me which are the precise words to which he objects.
Earl GRANVILLE—I did not say, speaking on behalf
of the Government, as the noble earlwould seem to impute
to me, that " we fluctuated from one side to the other, and
issued a series of contradictory enactments."
The Earl of DERBY— I did not for a moment suppose
that the noble earl would give that character of himself.
(Laughter.) What I intended to say was that, with the
single exception of the noble earl himself and the noble
duke beside him, there was an universal chorus of voices
from both sides of the house, complaining that the course
pursued by the Government with regard to the cattle plague '
was vacillating and unsatisfactory ; that they were from
first to last insensible of the magnitude of the evil ; that
they lagged behind the exigencies of the case ; that they
were endeavouring to see before acting how far public opi-
nion would go along with them, and that they were through-
out shirking the responsibility which belongs to the Exe-
cutive Government, and seeking to throw it on the
shoulders of other persons, thus producing no uniformity
of proceeding ; but, on the contrary, every variety of sys-
tem. [Earl Granville here made a remark across the table.]
Any more observations ? (A laugh.) All I can say is,
that the language which the noble lord imputes to me is
absolute nonsense, but 1 do state that the Government do
not appear to have realised in this instance the important
fact that unless, in the material as in the moral world,
prompt measures are taken at the outset to crush a pesti-
lential virus it will be apt to spread unchecked until it ex-
tends beyond your power. (Hear.) This observation, I
may add, I would apply not only to the cattle plague, but
also to what is known under the name of Fentanism in
Ireland. For the way in which the latter evil has been
dealt with I make no charge against any individual, still
less against the present Irish Government. But my noble
friend behind me has told your lordships, with great truth,
that in 1859 the Government, of which I had then the
honour to be the head, succeeded in convicting one
prisoner on a charge of treason felony, and in estab-
lishing beyond a doubt the existence of treasonable
conspiracy in Ireland, and I may add that that excellent
judge, Baron Greene, in passing sentence of ten years'
penal servitude on the person who had been convicted,
informed him that had not the Crown taken a merciful
view of the case his duty would be to pass upon him
sentence of death, inasmuch as his offence absolutely
amounted to treason itself. There wore, too, several other
prisoners at the same time against whom indictments had
been found, but it was thought expedient by the Crown to
postpone the cansideration of those indictments until the
following assizes. The question was accordingly brought
before the Court of Queen's Bench, as to whether the pri-
soners should be admitted to bail. No rule was, however,
made on the subject, inasmuch as the Court was equally
divided; but the judges who were in favour of admitting
the prisoners to bail, just as strongly condemned the
offence with which they were charged, and as fully ad-
mitted the clearness cf the case against thorn, as those who
took a contrary view upon the point immediately at issue.
Well, what afterwards happened ? The Government went
out of office between the time of which I am speaking and
the next assizes, and the first act of the new Government
was to discharge every one of those indicted traitors on
the simple condition that they should come up for judg-
ment when called upon to do so. Nor was this all. The
Crown entered into a bargain with the .prisoners who
pleaded guilty not only that they should not be visited
with the consequences of their crime, but that the prisoner
who had been actually convicted and sentenced to 10 years'
penal servitude should be released, and he was released
without even application having been made to the judge
who tried him to ascertain whether there were any circum-
stances which in his opinion would justify his pardon.
(Hear, hoar.) Well, my lords, who are the parsons who were
thus dealt with? Why, the very same who were brought up
again for the same crime within the last few months, and
who were from 1859 to 1865 allowed to mature their
traitorous designs both at home and in America. (Hear.)
There is, again, the notorious Mr. Stephens, who was asso-
ciated with Mr. Smith O'Brien in that foolish and paltry at-
tempt at revolt in 1848, and who has ever since been carry -
ing on the game of treason. This gentleman was in 1848 a
principal agent, but, acting upon that instinct of self-pre-
servation which seems never to have forsaken him, he left
his comrades in the lurch and went abroad. He afterwards,
however, returned to Ireland at the peril of being indicted
for high treason. Then there is the notorious offender called
Donovan, who has remained in Ireland plotting treason
from 1863 to 1865, and who, as registered proprietor of the
Irish People, circulated under the nose of the Castle 8,000
copies per week of a paper containing articles so detestably
treasonable that Justice Keogh, in sentencing one of the
prisoners brought before the late Commission, requested the
reporters not to take any notice of the extracts from that
paper read in his defence. There were, I believe, no less
than 40 copies of the Irish People which were relied upon
as overt acts of conspiracy, yet though its circulation ex-
tended from 1863 to 1865, it was not until after the late
general election that a single step was taken to prosecute
the traitors by whom it was conducted. (Hear, hear.) For
the entire space of two years this man Donovan—who had
been conditionally pardoned by the Crown, and who might,
at any moment, have been called up for judgment on a
charge of treason felony, was allowed unchecked, and with
a full knowledge of the circumstances on the part of the
Government—for during the whole time their spy was in
his office—to go on disseminating treason, so that the cre-
dulous and but too easily-deceived people of Ireland were
led to believe that they were not sincere in their desire to
suppress the conspiracy. (Hear, hear.) Ido not say this
to throw blame on the Government of that day. The prime
offender was the right hon. gentleman who is now Secre-
tary of State for the Colonies, who does not appear to be
much more successful in that post than he was as Chief
Secretary for Ireland. (A laugh.) But the present Govern-
ment of Ireland seem to have acted with moderation, temper,
and firmness, and to have conducted these trials in a manner
'Which reflects great credit upon them. I trust they will con-
tinue to pursue the same course and not slacken till there
18 hope of the credulity of some of the humble classes
,44.: Ireland being dissipated, and of peace and order being
"ea en a sound basis through the influence of .the large
majority who are better disposed. But the moral I wish to
draw frothmon
!hose things is this :—Some of these unhappy
" repudiated with indignation the idea that while they
lh
were plotting sebe •
on they were also countenancing
assassination. The Irish
it has
race are impassioned, credulous,
; n
and easily led has been one of the misfortunes of
Ireland that for
suce:g. series of years past she has
always had a
of agitation constantly in-
flaming the minds of the
constantly dwelling on
their supposed wrongs, anrco°nOset,
iyinciting them not to
acts of violence, but to constitutional agitation. The pupils
of these agitators, bettering their instructions,adthogh I then break
out into open acts of insensate rebellion,
be-
lieve from my heart that none of these acts although
violence are
intended or would be sanctioned or encourage( by those who
lead them to the brink of the abyss of crime, yet the moral
to be drawn is that it is not safe to incite such an excitable
people with incessant tales of their imagined oppression,
and that the natural fruits of such a mischievous course
will be such deeds as their advisers ma) little contemplate.
My lords, in dealing with the single topic of the Speech
from the Throne which it now remains for me to notice, I
am not about to follow the example set by the noble lord on
the cross bench, and to presume to offer any advice to her
Majesty's Government as to what course they should pursue.
The question of reform is one on which they will judge for
themselves, and will bring forward at the proper moment
and on their own responsibility such a measure as they may
think it desirable to propose. But, observing that this ques-
tion of reform appears in the very last paragraph in the
Speech, I must venture to call to the recollection of the
noble earl (Russell) what took place seven years ago, on
February 3d, 1859. On that occasion it did so happen that
reform was the subject of the last paragraph in a Queen's
Speech of about half the length of the present one, and in
z humoured
to that circumstance Lord Palmerston, with goodm
oured badinage, held this language :
" It is not an unusual practice to reserve the best and