The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-17 00:00:00

PIPIT OP THE PUBLIC JOITILIIALS,

atay not bad government in the matter of Ireland, the
Time asks, be reversed by the sizple process of undoing
what has been done, and retracing our steps to the point
where we went wrong? That, indeed, is the way Mr.
Bright puts it ; and he assumes, not that we can make a
new Ireland, but that we can unmake the old one. He
gives us to understand without any reserve that this
unravelling process is to be applied to the land
as well as to the Cburch, and that as the
British Government formerly placed the land in few
and safe hands, so we ought now to interfere with a
strong hand to place the soil in numerous hands,
and those as much as possible of the old race, going its
own ways, holding its own traditions, and carrying out a
grand national idea. On no occasion whatever had Mr.
Bright so often to deal cautiously, if not ambiguously,
with nature inferences as last Tuesday at Limerick. But
if undoing the bad may seem to be the proper sequel
to the stage of national repentance, and if, after con-
fession, there should come restitution, we may yet ask
what it is we are to undo. Are we to undo the " Planta-
tions? " Are we to undo the confiscations ? If so, which
of them, and how far back ; and where are we to find
the ultimate reversionaries in this interminable, this
complicated, this multitudinous suit ? Or are we to con-
tent ourselves with simply undoing the laws under which
all the soil of Ireland, whether planted, confiscated, or
still in the old families, has come to its present state of
holding and possession ? The least that can be asked for
is some explanation on these points, affecting, as they do,
the soil of this island as well as that of Ireland. But
whatever it is that Mr. Bright has in view, it is still only
a fresh variety and a new phase of strong and exceptional
government for Ireland.
The Post observes that few men ever more signally belied
/he expectations formed of them than President Johnson.
Elected by the voices of the extreme Republican party,
he has proved himself a staunch defender of Democratic
rights. On his first appearance as Vice-President in
the capacity of chairman of the Senate, his demeanour
and his language rendered the senators and the public

(and neither the one nor the other are particularly
squeamish) heartily ashamed of him. It was said that he
was intoxicated when he took the chair in the Senate on
the day of his inauguration ; and if he was not, it is
certainly conceded, even by his friends, that his conduct
amply excused any mistake which might have been made
by spectators on this score. When, only a month later,
the murder of Mr. Lincoln raised him to the office of
chief magistrate, many and serious were the apprehen-
sions which were entertained respeCting his future
career. That he would be a violent Republican no
one doubted ; that he would be a statesman, or even
an ordinary prudent politician, no one believed.
Assumption and apprehensions were, however, equally
destined to prove unfounded. Whatever Andrew

Johnson may have been before his election to the office of
Vice• President, or even in the first moments after he
entered upon the duties which pertain to it, it must be
admitted that when he suddenly found himself the ruler
of the Republic he rose to the occasion. Since the eventful
morning succeeding the murder of Mr. Lincoln, on which

he was ;worn in as President by the Chief Justice,hehas never
demeaned himself in a manner which any one, however
straitlaced, might have reason to be ashamed of. His
policy may not have commanded universal approval, but
it has been frank, straightforward, and fearless. He was
the first person in high office in the United States who hacl
the courage to declare that the offence of rebellion, though
great, was not inexpiable, and to maintain that the popu-
lation of the Southern States were entitled to enjoy the
privileges of a free people.

The Standard, in an article on the bombastic letter of
Mr. Seward, in the matter of Warren and Costello, says
If Englishmen or Irishmen choose to abjure their alle•
gianca to the English throne, and to invest themselve,t
with the character of American citizens, well and goon
we shall be but too happy to give them up and regard
them henceforth as foreigners ; but they cannot be pert
mitted to put on and take off American citizenship as they
please; to use it in order to assail England, and then to claim
again the rights of English citizenship either for the same
purpose or to enjoy in ease the profits they have made by
that hostility. The Englishmen and Irishmen who chotss.
to abjure their character of British subjects must know
that they take a step which is not revocable. Altogether
the arrangement of the question which the Government
and the Congress of the United States have raised in a
not very dignified manner will require considerable
care and much time. For the present they may well
be satisfied with the assurance of Lord Stanley that the
English Government agrees with them in principle, and as
Congress is about to adjourn, and holiday time is coming
on, to be succeeded by an election in which he has no par.
ticular object to serve, we may hope that Mr. Seward will
write no more buncombe despatches, and wait for a
request of Congress when it reassembles before publishing
anything he may write."

The Daily News says the arguments for and against the
Foreign Cattle Markets Bill lie upon the surface, and if
the matter were talked about for weeks no material altera-
tion would be produced in the opinions of the contending
parties. It may suit Lord Robert -Montagu to say that
the question does not involve the issue of protection or
free•trade. But to anyone who understands the meaning
of the words protection and free trade, it is per-
fectly obvious that the present bill affects the food
supply of the community. All the arguments
urged in favour of the bill before the House resemble very
closely those by which the protection of the home-growers
of corn was defended more than twenty years ago. In the
main, as Mr. Newdegate bluntly and honestly avowed,
the measure was defended as a counter-mine against the
policy of free trade. And this being so, as the Govern.
ment themselves admitted some weeks ago, it was natural
enough that the great majority of the Liberal party, with
the exception of some members connected with agricul-
tural interests, should oppose a measure so retrograde and
dangerous.

The Telegraph call., attention to the fact that, after
some delay, a large amount of negotiation, or what the
irreverent would term " higgling," and as air ple disci a
sion by raen of opposite views on the select corn ratee,
the Electric Telegraphs Bill of the Government has at
length made decided progress. The preamble was passed a
few days ago, and now the provisional agreement made
with the various telegraph companies has been sanctioned
on the basis of twenty years' purchase of their net profits.
It may be anticipated, perhaps, that the opposi-
tion made to the terms of purchase by Mr. Goschen and
Mr. Sandford prefigures a further hostility in the House
of Commons from an economical point of view. The Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer has brought up the report of the
committee, and will take the next stage on Monday
evening ; but, considering the large amount of detail still
to be arranged, it is hardly to be supposed much more will
be done this session. Nevertheless, the Telegraph feels
satisfied. The agreements with the companies and
the railways, which, thanks to Mr. Scudamore's in-
defatigable exertions were so promptly settled, are,
after all, the main points. With the cessation
of hostility from that quarter, little further difficulty is to
be dreaded ; the question of compensations is mainly a
matter for the arbiter or arbiters who may be chosen, and
the recommendation of the select committee will have due
weight with Parliament, and all the more since it entirely
coincides with the deliberate opinion of the country. The
advotes of economy may shew fight over the difference
between sixteen and twenty years, but there is no proba-
bility now of the measure's being wrecked on that point,
whether the discussion takes place this session or not.

During the year 1865 the daily loss of service
occasioned by " contagious diseases" in the royal navy
was equal to 468 men. The total number of cases of
sickness from this cause amounted in the twelvemonth to
4,313, and of these 130 men were invalided.—Lanett.

VIOLATING A GravE.—An extraordinary out-
rage has been committed at Cardiff. A young woman
recently died there, and a report was circulated that a
considerable quantity of jewellery was buried with her.
On Sunday night the husband and brother of the deceased
went to visit her grave, and found a man there removing
the coffin. The man made his escape, but the police have
since apprehended the gravedigger, who had absconded.

MATERNAL AFFECTION.—Governor Merrill, of
lowa, has pardoned Catherine /SrArdle,who was sent from
Jackson County four years ago to the State Penitentiary
for life. She confessed to the murder of her husband, and
was sentenced to be hanged, but her sentence was com-
muted by Governor Stone. It was afterwards found that
she was entirely innocent, and that her son was the guilty
person. To save him from the gallows she had avowed
that she was guilty of the crime.

Booxs.—Tlie official gauge of literature is its
weight, and viewed by this dull and prosaic test it would
*pear that the demand for English books abroad is
extending. In 1853 they were exported to the extent of
32,781 cwt.; in 1830 the total had risen to 35,128 cwt.; and
in subsequent years they were as follows :-18'1, 30,863
cwt.; 1862, 27,726 cwt.; 1863, 32,892ewt.; 18°4, 34,087 cwt.;
1865, 39,528ewt.; 1866, 48,581ewt.; and 1867, 49,906 cwt.

ST. SwiTruN's DAY. —On St. Swithin's Day
(Wednesday) great quantities of rain fell between Winch-
field and Fleetpond, on the South-Western line. There
was also much thunder and lightning in the same part.
At Hartley Row, in Hants, it rained all the afternoon.
A building by the side of Winchester Cathedral, where
St. &within lies buried, was struck I y lightning, an,l
in some parts of the neighbourhood cf Winchester much
rain fell.

THE ORANGE DEMONSTRATIONS IN
IRELAND.

The Orange anniversaries have not in one instance
passed off bloodlessly. The riot that occurred at Monaghan ,
a few nights ago was more serious than was at first an-
nounced, one man having been killed and several wounded.
Both the Belfast News Letter and Northern Whig, the
leading Conservative and Liberal journals of Ulster,
concur in stating that it was the Roman Catholic party
who were the aggressors, and that the Orangemen for-
bore, until driven to it in self-defence, to use firearms'
The Northern Whig gives the following version of the
occurrence :—" The state of excitement in which all classes
here appear to be this evening renders it difficult to give a
correct outline of what led to it. The facts appear to be
these :—The Orange Lodges in the country districts
around agreed to spend this holiday in the town, and for
this purpose, it appears, the members of one or two lodges
were about entering the town, having with them two
drums and a banner furled up on the flag-staff, and were
quietly and peaceably proceeding to their rendezvous in
the town, when a mob rushed upon them, and brutally
assailed them with stones, brickbats, &c., and wantonly
broke one of the drums. The party, not anticipating any
opposition, were unprepared for such a meeting, and
' made the best use of their legs to reach a friendly house
for shelter. They were followed, yelled at, hooted, and
pelted with stones by the mob, which was composed, I re-
gret to say, of persons who might have been much better
employed. The party ultimately reached the house of a
shopkeeper named Bcard, when their position became so
serious, that being hedged in now by two mobs, the latter
attracted from the centre of the town, and several wounded
from blows of stones, &c., they took refuge in Beard's, who
allowed them to occupy his house. The mob surrounded
the house, and called for ' the face of an Orangeman to
come out,' &c. This eliciting no response from those
inside, who wished the affair to pass off quietly, the mob
commenced smashing the windows and front of Beard's
house, which so exasperated some of those within that
they fired out upon the crowd, who very speedily dis-
persed, but not without leaving a man named Hughes
dangerously wounded behind them, who is now reported
dead. The constabulary force of the town, not
being much increased beyond the ordinary number,
found it difficult to maintain the peace, but they managed
admirably. It was deemed advisable, however, by the
magistrates, as the more prudent course, to send telegrams
for additional force, which was expected late on Tuesday
night or early next morning. Some unimportant arrests
have been made, but no clue has appeared or satisfactory
evidence been offered, so far as reported, as to the persons
who fired the shots out of Beard's house. The affair was
to be thoroughly investigated by the magistrates at petty
sessions gin Wednesday."