The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-24 00:00:00

TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE MORNING HERALD.

Sir,—l trust you will consider the following ob-
servations deserving of a place in your columns.
They have been penned under a solemn conviction
that the United Kingdom has never yet been placed
in so perilous a position as it stands at this present
time. In this opinion I am supported by every
thinking man, more especially amongst those of
the naval and military professions. Providentially,
England and Scotland have been, at the eleventh
hour, aroused from the fatal slumber which for
years past, as a night-mare, has paralysed their
dormant energies; at last, but not until the Gaul
was almost thundering along her shores, have they
shaken off that lethargy, and the din of armed pre-
paration now resounds throughout those portions
of the United Kingdom.
The cross-bow, in olden times the safeguard of
England, to which she mainly owed her successes
at Cressy, Agincourt, and in other battles, is now
replaced by a far more formidable weapon—the
rifle ; and by the formation of volunteer corps in
England and Scotland there is every reason to hope,
that from the patriotic spirit evoked, ere many
months will have passed, some hundred thousands
of riflemen will be drilled and in arms. Thus de-
fended, and aided by a powerful navy, they may
fearlessly await the attack of the invader.
But what is the position of Ireland? She re-
sembles a noble vessel of war cast on a hostile coast,
her crew shipwrecked, and thus placed at the mercy
of the enemy.
While the warlike spirit of England and Scot-
land has been appealed to and encouraged by the
Government, Ireland has been treated as if she was
regarded as a hostile member of the United King-
dom, or as unworthy of standing shoulder to
shoulder in the ranks of national defence.

Whence has arisen on the part of our rulers this
suicidal policy ? Do they, at this eventful crisis,
distrustthe loyalty of the Irish people ? If so let
them announce it boldly. But they know well they
dare not, at least to the extent of some two millions
and a half of her inhabitants comprising nineteen-
twentieths of the upper classes, more than one-
half of the middle classes, and a large portion of
the lower, from whose combined ranks in less than
.six months, not less than 200,000 volunteers, drilled
and armed, could be enrolled, composed of men who
are actuated with feelings of devoted loyalty to the
Throne—the descendants of those who in former
days preserved Ireland to England, and who, if now
treated by their rulers with the confidence they
merit, would shed the last drop of their blood in
defence of the British empire.
"Ireland, according to the last censuP, contained a
population of six millions; of that number upwards
of two millions are Protestants, the descendants
chiefly of English and Scotch settlers. Is that
important portion of the population to be left utterly
defenceless, and unarmed, because, perchance the
ministry of the day may distrust the loyalty of a
contemptible section of the Roman CRtholie people ?
Is this policy just ? Is it humane to leave the
loyal inhabitants of this island unarmed and de-
fenceless, in order to carry out a policy unwise,
treacherous, and cowardly ?
Already murmurs deep and widespread are heard
amongst the loyal and well-disposed classes. They
demand without further loss of time to be armed
and drilled in defence of their homes and altars, and
to be enrolled amongst the national rifle volunteers.
Will that demand b denied ?

I cannot believe it. But if so, I feel confident
that before long the unanimous voice of England
and of Scotland will announce, to whatever Go-
vernment may be in power, that the time is past for