The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-02 00:00:00

each other. Let them only postpone for a short time
the exciting duty of sharing the plunder which is to
be won, and they may march to Canada when they
please. They muster, we are told, fifty thousand
experienced soldiers, who, having fought on both
sides during the late civil war, are admirably quali-
fied to render liberty to Canada and justice to their
native land. They may choose their own line of
march, and their own plan of operations. The
frontier is but an imaginary line, which may be
passed at fifty points with perfect safety. Once in
possession of Montreal and Toronto they will be
joined by thousands of Irishmen, eager to redress
the wrongs of Ireland by the burning and pillage of
Canada. To consummate this very Irish revenge
there will be an Irish Republic, which, being im-
posed by force upon three millions of British sub-
jects, will be as faithful a copy as possible of the
great American state, and have an undeniable claim
upon the patronage and protection of all true
American citizens. Such is the great scheme of
Fenian vengeance ; and now will any one say that
it is chimerical or difficult of execution ? It is true
that the plan means brigandage, and murder, and
rapine upon the largest scale, and that it depends
for its success upon the co-operation of an en-
lightened and civilised nation, which, we are asked
to believe, is at the pinnacle of perfection and
of moral grandeur. But is England to depend for
its immunity from this great outrage upon the good
feeling of the Fenian chiefs or the aid of the Ameri-
can people? The one source of trust is about as
unreal as the other. The ordinary restraints of
civilised political life do not apply to a community
such as this whence our danger comes. That in a
time of profound peace, with no cause of quarrel
between the two countries, with no possible pretext
on the side of one to interfere in the domestic con-
cerns of the other, England should still have to
apprehend this peril from the United States, is only
one of the penalties of her proximity to a model
republic. It is the price she has to pay for the bless-
ings of manhood suffrage in America. The political
necessities of the United States require that every four
years four million of Irishmen should be kept in good
humour. The democratic machine cannot be worked
except on these conditions • and though it may be
hard upon the neighbours that they should be called
upon to pay the cost, of what consequence is their
comfort compared to the welfare and safety of the
American Republic ? Four millions of Irishmen, as
we know, are not an easy burden-to bear.- They
cannot be always employed in: civil wars. They
must have a little slaying and plundering to keep
them in exercise ; and Canada happens to be the
most convenient outlet just now for the humoura of
the American Irishry. It is true Canada has done
nothing to provoke either Americans or Irishmen,
that she is peaceful herself a:nd:desirous of peace
with all the world. But Canada is English, and
that is a sufficient reason why Shoshould be ravaged
and plundered. Because Englatid in the dark ages
did not recognise the civilisatiottof Ireland, there-
fore Canada in the present day cg to be robbed and
beaten. It is the Celtic mode of restoring justice
to one's native land, which is highly approved of by
the American press. As to the Fcmans themselves,
it would be impertinent to assign 'motives for their
intended enterprise. We might as well, reason with
the burglar, who finds the street-door open, and
knows there is no policeman on the beat. The
Fenians will renew their enterprise at the earliest
possible moment compatible with the arrangements
for securing peace among their _leaders, .and for 'dis-
posing of the offices in the new Irish Republic.
What is England prepared to do in defence of
Canada ? Are we willing that our American bre-
thren should be offered up as a vicarious sacrifice
for our own sins? Shall we submit to an Irish Re-
public in Canada by way of atonement for our in-
ability to govern Ireland ? Or shall we give up
Archbishop Trench and the Church Establishment
—upset the Cromwelliau settlement—restore the
Parliament to Stephen's-green —make the
O'Donoghue Viceroy—and call in Mr. Bright
to assist us in the general administration of Irish
affairs? To do what the American sympathisers of
Fenianism would have us to do—restore justice to
Ireland—would be a difficult task, which, perhaps,
even when accomplished, would not remove from us
the burden of protecting a British colony when wan-
tonly assailed by a brigand army. In the meantime it is
evident that we shall have to take vigorous measures
if we intend to preserve Canada from the attempts
of the Fenian reformers. However noble or patriotic
may be the Fenian enterprise, we can only afford to
look at it in the vulgar light of a gigantic scheme of
highway robbery. We have to choose whether we
shall surrender our Canadian territory, and retire
altogether from the North American continent, or
whether we shall recognise the claims of our country-
men across the Atlantic to be included in the British
Empire and to have the protection of the British
arms. It is most unfair and very absurd to throw
the burden of self-defence entirely upon the colonists.
They are bound, indeed, to assist to the utmost of
their ability in the measures for their protection, but
against such an enemy as they have to encounter
their main reliance must be placed upon England.
It is a danger which has come to Canada solely be-
cause of her connection with England, and therefore
by every principle of justice we are bound to help
her through it by English arms. We must not even
allow a doubt of our intention to reach the Canadians,
to make them hesitate as to Vieir own course, or to
paralyse their loyalty to the mother country. The
question is nearer and more important to us than
any case of foreign interference with a foreign coun-
try could be, and we have no alternative but to
confront the danger, and encounter the enemy with
the whole power of the empire.

THE AMERICAN PRESS.
The Philadelphia Inquirer says :—" The English
Conservatives, or Tories, who procured the defeat
of the Reform Bill in Parliament, effected their
object upon the theory that, as the unrepresented
classes were quiet and orderly, and patiently waited
the action of Government upon the bill, they took
no interest in it. It was a strong argument that
this measure was proposed without authority in the
apparent interest of those who had no real interest.
But when the bill was defeated, and the Russell
Ministry resigned, and the people, indignant at the
conduct of Parliament, began to bestir themselves
and agitate the question, it was at; once declared,
upon the contrary, th at their anxiety to obtain the boon
was proof that they were unfit to enjoy it. Thus
it appeared that by no course of action could the unre-
presented classes in England satisfy their enemies,
and that they were liable to slander, and misrepre-
sentation in any way. Failing in obtaining justice
by silence, the advocates of the Reform bill have
organised in England a mighty agitation. They
are determined to make themselves heard, and now
believe that the only method by which they can
obtain their rights is by demanding them constantly,
and with determined resolution. The greit meeting
which was arranged to have taken place at Hyde
Park would have been a harmless demonstration if
the Times had acted wisely, and not attempted to
interfere with it. The people would have assembled,
listened to the speeches, passed resolutions, and
adjourned. But by the attempt to exclude them
from the place of meeting the excitement was im-
mensely increased, and the resolves of the Reformers
very much strengthened. The excitement is evi-
dently rising all over England, and the pressure upon
Parliament is becoming difficult to withstand, without
au immense exercise of counter strength. One of
the most magnificent of these meetings took place
'at Birmingham, on the 27th. of August. The
attendance was immense, and is-estimated by the
English journals at from two hundred thousand to
three hundred thousand persons. Speeches were
made from six platforms, and resolutions were
carried at each denouncing the present House of
Commons for its rejection of the late moderate
Reform bill ; demanding residential registered man-
hood suffrage and the ballot ; applauding the pro-
ceedings of the Reform League, and thanking
Gladstone, Bright, Mill, and the other friends of
Reform. The great speech of the demonstration
was that of John Bright, who, not being able to
speak in the open air, delivered his address in the
Town Hall. He went over the whole subject in a
masterly manner, exposed the unkindness and false
pretences of the Derby Ministry, and proved them
by the fact that the free ballot was enjoyed without
evil effects in the English colonies, being established
in Canada and Australia, without producing social
convulsions, endangering order, or subverting the
British Constitution. He referred to the effect of
general suffrage in the United States, and paid a
high compliment to the people of this country, as
exhibiting all the virtues which belong to the
greatest nations on the face of the earth. In con-
clusion, he urged upon Englishmen that they should
be steadfast, and promised them that if, with a de-
termined front and unfaltering perseverance, they
maintained their principles, they must finally
. succeed in obtaining their natural rights—the
rights of five millions of men, who were deprived
of all influence in the Government of their coun-
try, and who still held as to public affairs the con-
ditiou of the serfs of the early Saxon and Norman
rule.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]—Holloway's Pills and Ointment.—
Dangerous Diseases.—How many life-long maladies spring
from neglecting trifling symptoms ? The pimple so readily
curable in the nursery becomes through carelessness the
irremediable torment of after life. With a knowledge of
the curative powers of Holloway's ointment and pills, those
who fail to use them for extirpating the first seeds of here-
ditary ailments will have to bear the punishment resulting
from their folly. Holloway's remedies will remove erup-
tions of the skin, scorbutic diseases; and scrofula, and heal
every description of ulcer, sore, wound, or abrasion. By
the use of Holloway's excellent, speedy, and safe medica-
inents much pain and immense expense will be saved, and
a; great benefit bo conferred on the present and succeeding
generations.