The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-15 00:00:00

Mr. FITZGERALD has, however, no real cause for
regret on that score, for he has gained laurels
enough in the House of Commons, and his memory
will long live there in the recollection of friends
and foes as a ready debater and an eloquent ex-
ponent of the intricacies of foreign questions. It
appears that before this opening to the ap-
pointment in Bombay appeared he had been
requested by Lord STANLEY to take an active part
in the commission for the revision of our neutrality
laws, and the consideration of the changes that
it would be most advisable to make in them. This
was a very congenial occupation to him, as he be-
lieved that great alterations could be advantageously
made in these particulars, affecting not only the
condition of our laws, but also of the international
relations and an improved condition of our inter-
national laws. Mr. FITZGERALD believed, and with
great reason, that this work might, if successful,
tend to set forward an important thing—the
better understanding that should exist be-
tween our country and that of America. Our
increased commercial intercourse is likewise to be
greatly desired for England, and this great object
he bad also trusted to further and promote. Still
when the opportunity offered itself for the accept-
ance of the Indian appointment he did not feel
justified in refusing it, both on account of its being
a great mark of confidence, and because of its
chances of usefulness. We are very glad that he
did agree to its acceptance, for we are in great want
of men to fill the ranks of our Indian Civil Ser-
vice, who are like him spirited and determined, and
who are also experienced and well informed in all
essential points.
" Thank Heaven," as Mr. FITZGERALD exclaimed,
" the time is now passed when we see a series of
wars waged in India for the extension of our ter-
ritory and increase of political power ;" but there
is a wide field open for the ambition of any man in
every department of legislation in the extension of
education, in bringing down the hitherto almost in-
separable barriers of caste and creed, and in doing
all that can be done still further to develope the
almost
inimitable resources of that great and
wealthy country.
We think it is a matter of con-
gratulation that one who is to occupy so important
a place as that of the Governor of Bombay
should set out on his mission imbued with such high
aspirations and excited wi •
th such elevating desires.
part
India has for the most
been ruled too much by
men who have gone out there with old prejudices,
and refused to see the different turns that events
were taking, and what is greatly wanted there is the
presence of those who have the •11 •wi and the oppor-
tunity to render able and efficient service in the
t work of consolidating our greaEastern Em-
pire. To secure and to improve what pos-
sessions arc really ours is of far more
consequence than to be seeking out new fields for
conquest ; and the laurels that should be reaped in
India should be won in the council-chamber and
not on the field. For this reason we consider the
appointment which Mr. FITZGERALD has just re-
ceived to be a very suitable one ; and we shall
expect, if time is given him, to hear of many im-
provements that he will be able to effect in his new
capacity in the distant spot to which he is bound.
Referring to home matters at the conclusion of his
discourse, the Chairman briefly said that, from
the long experience he bad had of the House
of Commons, and the study be had made of the
question of Reform, he considered that it was im-
possible for the extreme parties either on the one
side or the other to have it all their own way.
Affairs are in such a state that either of the two po-
litical parties may prevent the other from settling
the matter which has now become so urgent. " It
is only by a combination of moderate men, by mu-
tual concession, and by considering the matter im-
partially, that a solution of the question can ever be
arrived at. As a necessary consequence, it follows
that the settlement in the details must be one
conceived in no party spirit ; and I will only add one
other thing which is absolutely necessary, it must
be so conceived that it shall be final." 'We think
that Mr. FITZGERALD, on the eve of his departure,
could not have given his friends better advice than
he has done and • , indeed his political opponents
may well profit by it,
,for much as some may sneer
and scoff at it it contains the only true and wise
advice on the subject. Mr. FITZGERALD finally
declared that he hoped, if
spared, to
come back among them, that he should

The year 1866 has been fruitful in disasters.
Opening with the hurricanes which wrecked the
London, and played such havoc among our coast
shipping, desolating so many homes among our sea-
faring population, it has witnessed, among succes-
sive troubles at home and abroad before it closes its
record, one of the most terrible disasters ever known
in an English mine. Five years ago the Hartley
Colliery disaster aroused the sympathies and shocked
the feelings of all throughout the country, arousing
the QUEEN herself from the first grief of her widow-
hood to pity the hundreds of new made widows and
orphans. But the Hartley disaster, terrible as it
was, and great as was the loss of life which it occa-
sioned, was far behind the present catastrophe.
209 lives were estimated to have been lost on that
occasion, while at Barnsley there is, unhappily,
little reason to doubt that nearly 400 men and boys
were killed by the first explosion, and that between
20 and 30 gallant volunteers sacrificed their lives
in the vain attempt at rescue. It is said on credit-
able authority that 430 lamps were issued to the
miners on Wednesday morning, and as only two or
three were returned, there is too much reason to
fear that the loss of life is rather greater than less
than the estimate. Of the 19 brought up alive
some have since expired, and few are able to give
an intelligible account of the catastrophe. For the
most part they can remember nothing but the blaze
of fire and cloud of dust which knocked them down
and rendered them insensible till brought to the sur-
face. Such unconsciousness of their awful position
was indeed a blessing, but in some cases it was not
granted. Most touching is the account of a lad
of thirteen, who died after being taken home,
only saying, " Oh dear, will nobody come and take
me out ?" The scene at the mouth of the pit was of
the most harrowing description. Wives and mothers
and children in agonising suspense, unable themselves
to assist the rescue, unable to do anything but
linger at the fatal spot in maddening inaction. It
is no wonder that the brave Englishmen around,
looking on at their sufferings and remembering the
total desolation most probably awaiting their little
homes, should push gallantry to the verge of reck-
lessness, and should volunteer to continue search
after search only to add more valuable lives to
those already sacrificed. One of the last band of
volunteers was marvellously rescued after all
hope was abandoned, and this unexpected pre-
servation has
.renewed the hopes of the people
and made them unwilling to abandon further effort.
No doubt it is most painful to all concerned to de-
cide upon doing so ; at the same time we must
remember that a meeting of the most eminent en-
gineers of the day were unanimously of opinion that
the workings were probably all on fire, and that no
one in the mine was likely to be alive. This
opinion Is confirmed by the experience of the volun-
teer who was so unexpectedly saved, since during
his stay in the pit he heard no moan nor sign of life.
However much we may admire the gallantry of the
men who are willing to risk such a terrible death
for the merest chance of rescuing their fellows, we
must remember that it is not like more open and
combatible dangers, where a fresh comer has a ten-
fold chance. No human skill or strength can with-
stand these deadly explosions, and if there is really
no ground for hoping that any are left alive, it
would be merely adding to the catastrophe and un-
necessarily increasing the distress to keep the mine
open. Those whom the first explosion spared
were but too probably sacrificed by the second, in
which the Land of volunteers perished, and the de-
solation of the district is almost unparalleled.

By a most singular coincidence, which, perhaps,
men of science can explain to be something more
than a coincidence, another terrible accident of a
similar character occurred on the very next day in
another part of the country. In North Stafford-
shire, on Thursday, an explosion took place in a
coal mine surpassing in fatality any yet known in
that vicinity. One hundred and fifty men and boys
were working at the bottom of the mine when the
explosion took place. Only thirteen of these were
rescued, and some of those few died after reaching
the surface. Fifty others were working in a higher
seam, when they heard the rushing of the gas coming
towards them with a noise like thunder. Know-
ing too well the deadly enemy at hand, they hurried
to the shaft, and all were drawn up in safety, with
the exception of the man who placed the others in
the cage, and who, waiting till the last, was struck
by the gas and killed. The same terrible scenes as
at the Barnsley colliery are going on in Stafford.
The mourning widows, the rows of dead, the deso-
lated homes, alas ! too, the want and destitution
consequent upon the sudden stoppage of the bread-
winners' earnings. Surely here is a case in which
the public will help promptly and liberally, in
which there is no doubt whatever of the genuine
nature of the distress or validity of the claim. It is
little enough that can be done to mitigate such
sorrow, but we who " live at home at ease," pro-
fiting by the labours of these poor men, whether
in our manufactories, our steam vessels, or even by
our Christmas firesides, may well remember how
bitter is sometimes the price of honest toil, how
mournfully the close of the old year will darken
down over hundreds of humble homes.

As for the origin of the disaster as yet nothing
is known. A minute's carelessness with one of the
many lamps in the mine will of course explain it,
but the two explosions at Barnsley, and the
almost
simultaneous explosion in Stafford-
shire, seem to point to an exceptionally
more things both on theng se
aartt
ht haant ti.d
umned
dangerous state of things
than are as yet grasped by any
philoso pe
hr
yTt the
nr ede a
tra
htr hee
mysterious agencies at work are sometimes as in-
rNuseeveeurtteh eulne
rs sr
ei
st
ei
as
raelhi kees
our
uduty
l e
andas u
en
uc
ro ni
nt rt
eo
rl leasbt
te
o
to the uttermost, to endeavour as far as possible to
discover fresh precautions against accident, to im-
press upon the miners the necessity of rigid care,
and to ascertain whether any of the new designs,
such as those for improving the ventilation of mines,
for registering the effect of fire-damp, cannot be
employed to diminish the risk of disaster. HEAVEN
helps those who help themselves ; and while bowing
to the decrees of au inscrutable PROVIDENCE, we
are yet bound to do everything within the limits of
human exertion and ingenuity to lessen the proba-
bility of a recurrence of such frightful catastrophes.

ROYAL CALEDONIAN HUNT.—THE RACE MEET-
ING ron 1867.—At the annual general mooting of the Roya
Caledonian Hunt, held at Edinburgh on the 11th curt., it
was resolved that the Race Meeting of the Hunt in 1867
shall bo held at Perth. The following members were
nominated office-bearers for the ensuing year :—Mr. John
Whyte Melville, proses; Mr. John Anstruther Thompson,
treasurer ; Mr. Alexander Learmouth, Mr. Archibald A.
Spiers, Sir Norman M. Lockhart, Bart., councillors ; Mr.
John Ciillespie, secretary.