The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-25 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The riot in Hyde Park was discussed in
both Houses of Parliament last night, and the Ra-
dical members said all that was to be expected of
them. They acted as party politicians anxious to
make the most of what they consider to be a slip on
the opposite side. We have ourselves no reason to
depart from our habitual impartiality ; we do not
speak either as official apologists or as desiring to
increase the political capital of the Opposition, but
simply in the cause of law and order. With this
view we must, in the name of the peaceful inhabi-
tants of London, denounce the arguments of those
who would justify or excuse the outrages of which
London was the scene on Monday night. We have
already said that in our opinion the plan of shutting
the Park gates was a mistake. Such a proceeding
might have been effectual against a small crowd,
but was useless against such a gathering as thronged
the neighbourhood of the Park on Monday night.
If it was desired to maintain the law which allows
the Government to regulate the use of the parks,
the best course would have been toforbid the Reform
leaders to address the crowd within the enclosure.
On their refusing to obey they might have been
apprehended, and the proceedings before the magis-
trate, or an appeal from his sentence, would have
tested the right which Mr. Beales claims. It is
certain, however, that the course taken by Mr.
Walpole and Sir Richard Mayne was that which
they looked upon as most likely to avoid a collision
with the crowd. They believed that an interference
with the meeting after the people were gathered in
the Park would lead to serious disturbance, and
they concluded, with little reflection, and unwisely as
it has turned out, that the shortest way would be to
prevent the meeting assembling at all. It was an
error in police generalship, but made in perfect good
faith and with the best intentions of doing right.
But whether the dispositions of the police authori-
ties were prudent or otherwise, there can be only one
opinion as to the conduct of the mob. The mass of
the people did, indeed, only enter the Park through
the gaps in the railings which a minority of the
rioters had broken down, but this leaven of evil-
doers was sufficient to carry on a fight which, had it
not been for the temper of the police and of the sol-
diem, might have been disastrous. Sir Richard
Mayne was hurt by a stone, and many of the police
were severely injured. On the other side a number
of the rioters received severe punishment, and many
more were taken into custody. The records of yes-
terday's Police Courts testify to the nature of their
offences. But the riot in the Park was not all. A
portion of those people whom the metropolitan mem-
bers represent as having merely contemplated a
peaceful meeting, and then forced their way into a
Park that belonged to them, finished the night by a
series of wanton outrages on private property.
After leaving the Park, gangs of ruffians broke the
windows in Great Cumberland-street. At 1 o'clock
in the morning 200 or 300 were engaged in this work
of devastation. What the inhabitants of Great
Cumberland-street had to do with the exclusion of
the people from the Park, and why their property
should be destroyed as an answer to the tyranny.
of Sir Richard Mayne the leading Liberals will, per-
haps, inform us. Others of the rioters went south-
ward, and the Lord Chancellor's windows shared
the fate of those on the other side of the Park.
Complete quiet was not restored in the London
streets until almost morning. Yesterday the riot-
ing began again. Crowds congregated in Hyde
Park, and again attacked the police with stones a d
brickbats. They tore up • the shrubs, broke off
branches from the trees, and wrought a devastation
in the Park which it will take some time to restore.
As night approached the attack on' private houses
was resumed. The windows of the Athenaeum Club
were smashed—for what reason it is not easy to
conceive. In other streets near the parks similar
outrages were committed. Several of the police are
said to have been badly hurt on this the second
night of the riot, and the services of the Guards,
both horse and foot, have been required to overawe
the crowd. We would now ask where is this to end ?
Several days ago we ventured to remonstrate with
the Reform League on their plan of making a de-
monstration of jhysical force at the west end of
London. We pointed out that they were resorting
to an objectionable political procedure, and one long
since condemned by sober opinion ; that by calling
upon the lower classes to come " in their thousands"
to Hyde Park they were bringing together a multi-
tude whom they could not control, and a large part
of whom was sure to be bent on mischief. The event
has gone beyond our apprehensions. The disorderly
element in the crowd has been more lawless and
more wantonly destructive than could have been
expected. The most conclusive proof has been given
that such gatherings, which can serve no useful
purpose whatever, cannot be sufficiently reprobated.
Half a mile of park railings are pulled down, and
the windows of a streetful of private people are
broken at one o'clock in the morning. This, in the
eyes of some, may be no very serious affair, but it
is sufficient to show that if crowds are to have their
own way other people who do not belong to them
must suffer. It is the duty of members on both sides
of the house to support the Executive in repressing
these disturbances. We are glad to see that Lord
Granville in the House of Lords, and Sir G. Grey
in the Commons, do not condescend to join in the
outcry of some of the Radical members. Sir G. Grey
repeats his declaration against political meetings in
Hyde Park, and there are few men nut blinded by
party spirit who will be of a different opinion. The
doctrine that because a place belongs to the "people"
—that is, the ration—therefore any section of the
public have the right to use it for any purpose
they please is consistent neither with law nor com-
mon sense. Hyde-park is, indeed, in a certain sense
national property, but the legal ownership is vested
in the Crown, which has the right to regulate the
use of the park for the benefit of the community.
Thus it is closed at nights ; hackney carriages are
allowed to pass only along a certain road ; buying
and selling are permitted . only under restrictions ;
some games are not allowed, booths and tents may
not be erected, exhibitions of jugglery and the like
are prohibited. In short, it is shown in a hundred
ways that the park is not a piece of waste land, and
that it is not the right of any set of people to use it
as they would a common at some race or fair. The
leaders of the agitation profess their intention of
trying the right with the Crown, and we shall be
content to submit to the decision of a competent
tribunal ; but as was stated last night in Parlia-
ment, the question has been already investigated,
and the opinion of the law officers taken. This
opinion was that the Crown had the power to pre-
vent, among other things, public meetings such as
that of last Monday. We trust that until an adverse
judgment be obtained from a court of justice the
Government will not abandon this right, which
would be simply to give up the park to every kind
of disorder. There is no wish to prevent the work-
ing class or any other class from holding meetings,
and if they had been willing to make their demon-
stration at Primrose-hill, or some other convenient
spot, it would have been at their service. But
Hyde-park has been hitherto maintained for other
purposes, and we hope that the usage will not be
changed.

HERALD.—Austria, Prussia, and Italy have
agreed to the proposed armistice of five days,
which, it now appears, was to commence on Sunday
morning, and will continue until. to-morrow even-
ing. There was a momentary doubt as to the accept-
ance of Italy, but that doubt has been cleared up in
a favourable sense, certain cogent reasons having
been presented to the Italian Government why it
should not let slip, on a mere point of punctilio, an
opportunity which, if the war were to continue, might
never recur. The moment is one which may be seized
upon by each of the three Powers for effecting a
compromise which may be arranged without loss of
honour to any—an arrangement which takes cog-
nisance of the facts of the past while it bears in
mind the possible accidents of the future. Austria
is to retire from a position which is no longer tenable
to her, and, excepting the cession of Venetia, which
has never after all been more than a temporary- pos-
session held by her in trustfor Europe andthe world,
is to retain her dominions in their integrity. Prussia
is to consolidate her conquests in Northern Germany
by the annexation of a part and the formation by the
rest of a confederacy which is to be under her con-
trol. Italy, who occupies a large part of Venetia
with her armies, who bids fair to cut off Venice from
direct communication with Vienna, and threatens
Austria in the Tyrol by her movementsin the direc-
tion of Trent, is to have Venetia, which has been
practically won for her by her Prussian allies at
Koniggratz. The present positions of the armies
are such as to justify the conclusion of peace on such
terms. The Prussians are threatening Vienna with
three army corps. Their centre is to the south of
Lundenberg, in the Marchfield, a few miles distant
from the Austrian camp at Florisdorf. Their right
threatens Krems, on the Danube, some way above
Vienna, and extends towards Linz, which is de-
fended on a peculiar system by a series of detached
fortresses, which are not likely to withstand a siege
by modern artillery. Their left is directed towards
Presburg, below Vienna, but is paralysed in its
movements by the 30,000 Austrians under Benedek,
who remain at Olmutz. We have little more than
guess-work to aid us in computing the numerical
strength of the opposing armies. The three Prus-
sian armies are supposed to number 300,000 men,
while the Austrians in front of Vienna are said to
be at least 350,000. The stream of the Danube,
which runs by Florisdorf, was the favourite line of
defence of the Archduke Charles. It has been con-
secrated in military history by the fields of Essling
and Wagram, and constitutes a strong natural
barrier against assault on the capital of Austria..
Between this river and the small branch called
the Viennese Danube, which skirts the city to

the north, is the broad plain of the Prater, the
park or holiday ground of Vienna, now a vast
camp for the army in which rests the hope or
Austria. If the war is to go on the battle will have
to be fought by this army in front of Vienna. The
only defence of the town is in the earthworks of
Florisdorf. Vienna is now practically an open city,
and no longer to be regarded as a fortified place.
The outer enceinte is chiefly useful for purposes of.
octroi. The wall of the old city is now levelled wlth
the ground, and the elite of the Austrian capital
listen nightly to the strains of Strauss's band on the
very site of the barrier which was trusted in as
defence against Moslem and Christian invaders of
olden times. The broad glacis which surrounded
the city in a circle, and separated it from the
suburbs, is now covered with stately terraces and
blooming gardens. If the Prussians could prevail
against the Austrian army at Florisdorf the city 0.
Vienna would as a matter of course be the prize of
the conqueror. The Prussians may attempt to take
the army at Florisdorf in flank. The army of the
Elbe may move from Znaym to cross the shallow
stream of the Danube at Krems or Tullu, and thus
approach Vienna from the west. The army of Prince
Frederick Charles may march from Landenberg
towards the Danube at Presburg, and, effecting 3
passage there, may attack Vienna on the east. Butt
the forces of the Archduke Albert have a rou°"
shorter distance to go, and may with ease be dig"
posed so as to confront either of these movements'
If the plenipotentiaries at Brunn should fail t 0
arrange terms of peace it may yet turn out that we
Austrians may retrieve their misfortunes by inflict-
ing a severe check, if not a ruinous defeat, on the
enemy. Should the Prussians be forced to retreat,
the garrisons of Olmutz and Koniggratz will sally
forth in time to prevent their escape from Austrian
territory. No time could be more favourable to the
Prussians than the present moment, and it is to be
hoped that this reflection will prevent them from being
too exacting, and from seeking to drive to extremities
an enemy who is not disposed just now to tempt for-
tune further, if by any means he can save his honour.
Intelligence of such a diplomatic convention as
this armistice for five days, agreed on between the
Cabinets of Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and Florence,
cannot, of course, be immediately communicated t°
the commanders of armies in the field. On Sun-
day, the first day of the armistice, there was severs'
fighting, both in Germany and Italy. An Austrian
division, under• Colonel Mondel, is reported to have
gained an advantage on that day over a Prussian
force advancing on Blitmenan, to the north-west of
Presburg. On the same day the Prussian corps In
Bavaria advanced as far as Hof, and General Mau'
teuffel laid a war contribution on the inhabitants 0'
Frankfort of two and a-half millions sterling over
.
and above what they had previously paid. The poor
Frankforters are beside themselves with terror 3,
the threatened exaction, the burgomaster is report
to have died of grief, and the " Free City" has all:
pealed in its despair to the intercession of the Fren"
and English Governments. On Sunday last, all'
the Italians claim their victory. The Medici dim'
sion, after nine hours' fighting, drove the A 113.8
trians before them across the mountains in 0
direction of Trent, now only separated from
them by the Val Sugana. It is clear that the:
Austrians have so weakened their garrisons 1'
Venetia and the Italian Tyrol, that if the war eon:
tinues they will have to retire step by step befuL;
the pertinacious forces of the King of Italy. '1137,
difficulty would be to outnumber, or at all eveni
to be a match for, the Prussians in the North, ,s 6
the same time that they would have to hold the
Italians in check, to protect Venice, to defend t;d.
Quadrilateral, to bar the passes on the read
Innspruck and Salzburg. Their politic cession un'.
Venetia may have appeased the Emperor NaPolennt,
Beyond this it has been unproductive. It has 0, it
propitiated, it has only enraged, the Italians, anuto
has been resultless of any strategic advantage in
Austria. The position gained by the Italians
Venetia and on the Stelvio is not, we think, to be
regretted under present circumstances. It is ons
t
desirable that the peace which is now to be CO''„
'
eluded should not be a hollow compact, but a aper-
manent settlement. To this end it is most essentio
that the amour propre of the Powers concerned in
should not be so deeply wounded as to tempt triLinv
too long for a re-opening of the question. If 11
has gained a footing in Venetia from which all
armies of Austria will find it difficult to digit
her, there will be so much the more reason NOV
may accept Venetia with dignity, and not simply
as a boon, from a Power which has fought bravely
for Italy, but has humbled her with its patronage.