The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-06 00:00:00

--
character in the addresses of a large number of gentlemen
who come forward in opposition to our policy, but, at any
rate, when they are cross-questioned I think they will allow
as far as this, " We are ready to reform the Irish Church ;
we are ready to remove the abuses of the Irish Church."
I am tempted to say, with regard to the Irish Church,
" I am an anti-reformer." Remove the abuses of the
Irish Church ? Well, but if you come to examine the case
of the Irish Church, and if you proceed to take away the
abuses.of the Irish Church, why, gentlemen, there will be
nothing left. I am speaking, gentlemen, most seriously.
I say you cannot remove the abuses of the Irish
Church. lam told there is a scheme coming forth from
the commission which has been lately sitting. Ido not
blame the commission ; I am very sorry for the com-
mission. Ido not know what better they could do. Ido
not exaggerate when I say ,the day for changes has gone.
(The right hon. gentleman then referred to the Irish policy
of the Government. He reminded his hearers of the
levelling-up process which the Government proposed, and
called attention to the explanations of the Earl of Mayo,
and continued as follows) : When you recollect the con-
dition of the country, as to the means by which govern-
ment is carried on, I think you will sayl am justified in the
main propositions which I have laid down—viz., that the
Irish Church cannot continue- as it is ; and secondly,
that the plans of Church_Reform in Ireland are really
visionary and idle, and that the real choice is between
the plan of creating a multitude of Establishments on the
one hand, and the plan of removing the Establishment
which exists on the other. The plan is this—will the
Church in Ireland cease to exist as an Establishment, and
that no other Established Church should be created to
take its place ? It is idle to shirk the issue, and those who
are very tender on the subject of Protestantism will do well
to recollect that we have amongst us a tolerable number
of Protestants, the Nonconformists in this country. It is
made a reproach to us that we are acting in concert with
the Roman Catholics of Ireland. Why should that be a
reproach to us? Our alliance is not for religious purposes
peculiar to us and to them ; it is for purposes of civil jus-
tice. With respect to the Church of England, nothing is
more idle than to compare it with that of Ireland. The
conduct of England towards Ireland is disapproved of by the
civilised world at large, and of this there is no doubt, far
beyond these shores, there is no question at all as to the
impropriety of this strange policy which has been main-
tained in Ireland. The policy which is sketched
out is for your consideration and adoption. Yours
will be the blame if the painful state of things in
Ireland continues in Ireland; that shameful state of
things which has made it necessary for us to suspend
during the last three years the guarantees for personal
liberty in Ireland. Yours, too, will be the honour and the
praise, and yours will be the lasting benefits, if now, unit-
ing hearts and hands, and putting shoulder to shoulder, you
join in a firm and resolute effort to return such men to
Parliament who will address themselves to the considera-
tion of these great questions, with a firm determination to
deal with Irishmen as they would deal with Englishmen
or Scotchmen, and as they would wish that Irishmen, if it
had so happened, would deal with them. Yours will be the
honour, the praise, and the lasting benefits if these scandals,
if these difficulties, these doubts and fears and mis-
givings, these unfortunate, and I might almost say these
inveterate causes of alienation should be—l can hardly
say at once effaced, for that is impossible, but at least
subjected to a mitigating influence in the minds of the
Irish people that there is an earnest determination to do
justice and open a future of happiness, prosperity, and
contentment which shall stand in joyful contrast with the
past of that unhappy land. (The right hon. gentleman
concluded amidst loud and prolonged cheers.)

THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO SWITZERLAND,

The Queen (travelling incognita as the Countess of
Kent) embarked on Wednesday from Osborne pier shortly
after midday in the royal yacht Victoria and Albert,
Captain his Serene Highness the Prince of Leiningen,
which almost immediately afterwards sailed for Cherbourg.
Her Majesty was accompanied by their Royal Highnesses
the Princess Louise, the Princess Beatrice, and the Prince
Leopold. The suite in attendance on the Queen and the
Royal Family included the Marchioness of Ely, Sir Thomas
and Lady Biddulph, Colonel Ponsonby, Miss Bauer, Sir
William Jenner, M.D., and the Rev. Mr. Duckworth,
attached to the service of Prince Leopold. Lord Stanley,
her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, will
be the Minister in attendance upon the Queen during her
sojourn in Switzerland. His lordship will arrive at Lucerne
on Saturday next. The royal yacht was attended across the
Channel by the Enchantress, Government steam yacht,
and by the Black Eagle, steam yacht. Owing to
the privacy of her Majesty's journey, the Victoria
and Albert was not attended by any of the
ironclads belonging to the Channel squadron now
lying at Spithead. The royal yacht anchored
off Cherbourg at twenty minutes to seven on Wednesday
evening. Extensive preparations have been made at Cher-
bourg by Imperial authority fo r the cony enience of the august
travellers, and a flying bridge leading direct from the arsenal
to the departure platform of the station of the Chemin de
Fer de l'Ouest has been especially constructed, to obviate
the necessity of using carriages for the conveyance of
the royal party from the dockyard to the railway station.
The Emperor has placed at the disposal of the Queen
an imperial train, consisting of ten vehicles, several of
which are fitted up with great magnificence. The royal
sleeping apartment, hung with exquisite tapestry of Gobe-
lins manufacture, the terrace, and the various saloons com-
municate with each other, and are remarkable for elegance
and comfort.

THE TREATMENT OF CONVICTS _ur
WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

Certain papers have been published relative to the alleged
infliction of various cruel and illegal punishments upon the
convicts of Fremantle by the governor of that settlement.
The correspondence is based upon a letter addressed to the
Colonial Minister by the chairman of the " Howard Asso-
ciation," which letter was accompanied by a petition from
the convicts of Western Australia that had previously
been laid before the Legislative Council of that colony.
The grievances complained of were, first, the severity
of the corporeal punishment, the description of weapon
used to inflict it, and the number of lashes given, which,
it was said, were double the number allowed by law ;
secondly, close confinement in dark, unhealthy cells,
for indefinite periods, without bedding, air, or exercise,
and on bread and water diet of one pound per
diem ; thirdly, the extension of servitude prior
to discharge upon ticket of leave ; fourthly, im-
prisonment in separate confinement, on short rations, for
terms exceeding nine months ; fifthly, the absence of any
settled or authorised scale of prison rules. The petitioners
asserted that the governor and his son carried out " a

system of merciless punishments and secret cruelties,
with an avowed object to prevent absconding ;". and
another and rather more personal motive was
imputed in the assertion that the convicts " feel
convinced that the governor's policy in using oppressive
measures is to purposely increase crime towards the close
of transportation, so that he could parade it in his returns
next year, with a view to impress the home authorities
with the necessity of keeping a large protective force in
the colony, as the stepping-stone to a large subsidy." A
copy of this petition, together with certain correspondence,
was published, and it evoked from Governor Hampton a
lengthy categorical reply, which he addressed to the Duke
of Buckingham, in answer to the charges preferred against
him. Several abstracts from official documents were en-
closed. The last despatch of the series is from the Colonial
Minister to-Governor Hampton, and it is dated " Down•

ing-street, July 25." The tenour of this despatch is to
entirely exculpate the governor from the charges preferred
against him. After noticing the " completeness "of the
answers to the general allegations, his grace concludes as
follows : "I have much satisfactionlin observing the com-
plete replies thus furnished by you to the reflections
which were attempted to be thrown upon your own per-
sonal share as governor of the colony in controlling the
administration of the convict system in Western Aus-
tralia."

Statements to the effect that the French Government
was negotiating a commercial and customs union with the
Spanish Cabinet are now current. The Queen is said to
be very ill at La Granja, and a miscarriage is spoken of.
ABOLITION OF DEPTFORD DOCKYARD.—Official
intimation was received at Deptford Dockyard on
Wednesday from the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty, of the final closing and abolition of Deptford
Dockyard, at the end of the present financial year, viz.,
the 31st of March, or sooner in the event of the present
shipbuilding operations being completed.
Mn. DUCANE.—The announcement that Mr.
Ducane has left England for Tasmania is quite erroneous
The report originated in a mistake of an Essex paper. Mr.
Ducane has no intention of starting until the first week in
October, when he will be accompanied by Mrs. Ducane
and his family. The new governor has determined to go
by way of the Cape to Sydney, whither he will proceed in
the Sobraon, the same sailing-clipper that took out Lord
Belmore last year to New South Wales.—rose.
The Duke of Richmond presided on Wednesday
at the Board of Trade, in the arbitration between the
Brighton and Surrey and Sussex Railway Companies,
which was referred to him by the Brighton Act of last
session. His Grace was attended by Mr. Fry, Mr. Samue:
Laing, jun., and Mr. Philip Rose, on behalf of tl.e
Brighton Company ; and by Mr. Venables, Q.C., M
Taylor, and Mr. Faithful, on behalf of the Surrey
Sues !x Company. Mr. F. S. Reilly, barrister, ()f Li
coin's Inn, who had fern appoinW by
kiimmos., elan atts4o_,.