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

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."—The
Nation.

SPIRI P. OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Toics.—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 Legislatnre,
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
this 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
could 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,
siow that they do not forget their duty. The le id-
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. Au equally important and beneficial in-
fluence is exercised by the Catholic clergy, whose
denunciation of the movement has been strenuous
and sincei-e. 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 waruiug 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 1.798 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
arrayel 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 theland. 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 kings to
whom they would not occur spontaneously. But
among an unreflecting people like the Irish o.
Munster they need to be spoken, and they canno
be too often repeated in speech and writing.