The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-04-04
England ans1 Ireland.

JOnn Mltcneu, IN his last Paris
letter to the New. York Ne,cs, has the
following:
The liberal and enlightened British
Government is still erowding the
jails with suspected" persons, many
of them still being American citi-
zens. French Liberals, who take
England as their model of everything
good, are little puzzled. Some are
giving up their idol, dropping it like
2 hot potato; but other faithful devo-
tees hold by their Anglican religion
especially the 'sdoctrinaire" writer's of
the Reoue des Deun Mo7ades. I send
you a translation of letter of my
own to The Opinion Natiouale, which
may interest a portion of your
readers: -
To The Redactem' en- Chef Of The
Opinion Nationale.
MONSIEUR: I read in the Reuue des
DeAr Mo,ldes, of the 1st February,
over the signature of NJ. E. FORBADE,
the following sentences: T.
English statesmen of our time
have intended to be just to Ireland,
and have shown themselves truly
liberal to her. Ireland has been ad-
mitted to all the liberties enjoyed by
England.
One would have some difficulty in
comprehending how writer in the
celebrated Reoue should be so very
i'll informed on the affairs of Ireland,
but that we know the habit which
''liberal'' publicists in France have
contracted, Of taking all their infor-
nation upon our country from the
articles of the British press and the
speeches of English statesmen in
their Parliament. To say that Ire
land is governed by the same laws as
England-that she has not to com
plain of any inequality, nor of any
exceptional code of laws-and' that
the disafection of that country is
nothing but remnant of the old
national animosity, which may have
been justified, perhaps, century or
two ago, but which is now an obvious
anachronism-to say, and to repeat,
and to persist in repeating all this, is
the fashion in England.
To show how completely these as
sertions are contradicted by the facts,
it sufices to cite the following extract
from the declaration of Irish griev-
ances, lately published by the Nation
al Irish League, (which has nothing
in common with Fenianism,) and
signed with the honorable names of
John Martin and The O'Donoghue
9. Although Ireland and England
are nominally "united" in one king
dom, yet it is against the law for
Irishmen to enroll themselves in vo-
lunteer companies for defence of their
country, as the English do. And for
Irishmen to train or drill, or be trained
or drilled-even without arms-is
made a felony, punishable by trans
portation, by an Act Of Parliament
which does not apply to England,
Scotland or Wales
Since the year 1900, when the So
called Union was effected, very many
acts of Parliament have been passed
relating to the possession and use of
arms in Ireland, all calculated to keep
the great mass Of our people un-
armed. But no part of this code ap-
plies to England, Scotland or Wales.
1t is against the law for Irishmen
in ireland to take counsel together
touching their own public affairs by
purpose. But this disability does
not exist in England, Scotland or
Wales.
The aforementioned laws-to pro-
hibit conventions of delegates, to re-
strict the possession of arms, and to
punish training and drilling serve
to prevent Irishmen both from au-
thoritative consultation and from ef-
fectual action in their own public af-
fairs. None of those laws apply to
Englishmen, who are nevertheless
styled our fellow-citizens.
10. In ENGLAND, trial by jury means
trial by twelve of the neighbors i'm
partially impanelled, withoutreference
to creed or to politics. But in Ire
land, when man is charged with
anything styled a political offence,
then trial by jury means arraignment
before twelve particular persons care
fully selected by the Government out
Of its own partisans.
Even putting aside, for the mo-
ment, all the other differences which
exist in the laws, and still more in the
administration of the two countries,
it seems to me that a s'liberal'
Frenchman, without prejudices, on
considering even the few details
which T bova rooptiona1 (o,1 ,,,l,;ol,