New-York tribune., 1867-06-20
TINE GJRBET IN GOTERyMENT.


which record the execution of rebels against
political governments. Ecclesiastical cruelties
are not less revolving but they have at least
the miserable excuse of a diseased conscience,
to which ST. Paul alluded in his speech to
Agrippa: 81 Uerily thought with myself that
ougLt to do many things; many OF the SAINTS
" did / shut up in prison; and when they were
! put to death, L gave my voice against
them" DcspOtic governments, taxing no
pains to be right, but avowedly dis
claiming all disinteTestedness, act upon the
principle that men como saddlcd and brdled
into the world for kings to ride. They
accept the Satanic aspiration, Evil, be thou
my good n and all who decline to be plum
dcred or to be tortured, to be silenccd or to be
enslavcd, and who strike for freedom and for
justice, are, as Il matter of course to be crushed
like beetles, that the terror of their death may
extimguish manhood and make creeping and
cringing subjects of all survivors. This was
royal philosophy in the days OF the Roman
Empcrors, and the question for this age
to answer is whether enlightened govern
mcnts can afford to act upon similar
policy IL was presented to us just now in the
discussions concerning the fate of the Fenian
prisoners; and it elected wise and benevolent
rcmonstrance from men like Mr.. Stuart Mill
and NJ. Victor Hugo. 10 Is mainly question
of the time of day. Fifty years ago. in like
case, when an intellectual eunuch like Castle
rcagh could "dabbe his sleek, white hands in
" Irelands gore there would have been no
doubt and no discussion. Irish peasants would
have been the sport of an insOlent soldlery, and
Irish priests have been hung by law military, or
without any law, In the barracks, We nsist
in dealing what is called justice to the dscOm
fitted Fenians that this former page OF Ire
lands history shall not be forgotten. fhe
| extenuating circumstances we know, are very
! old. but then they were very terrible TO begin
with, and in no other country does tradition
so lingcr and so excite. IL is feeble to say
that the cruetics of the English Government,
scared out of all pity by the French Reyolu-
! ton were indefcnsible. A generous man, even
now. cannot read of them without fire in his
! heart and water in his eyes. Ii Is not that
the old Irish Rebellion was put down, for
that was simple matter Of course it Is
! the coarse, rude, bloody way in which 1t was
put down by murder by rape, by arson, by
faicical and summary trials aud executions
| speedily following-t is the cruelty practiced by
majors and by captains, and by justices OF
! the peace. in these dark and sangllinary days,
which Ianl.lcs at this hour in the heart OF
| Ireland. and which, Ia common equity, 1t Is
impossible to forget. After oil, it was only
ycstcrlav for what is half n century in the
| history of naton' We insist that in
/ iudging the Ireland OF tho present, the
Ireland of the past shall not be for
1 gotten. Feniansm may be foolish-we
do not say that II il wi4e-but the craze is not
! Of today and began under eXtemporized scaf-
! fold. and BY the light of burning villages. II
has bcon nur.cd by the cravings Of hunger;
! II has been stimulated by ecclesiastical insult
! il i. the legitimate result of bad measures exc
/ cuicd bv worse men. and of blundcrs and VIII
| laines stretching from the days of Elizabeth
10 the DAYS OF Victoria. What a record! In
| Judging Ireland in common charity, let It be
ALWAYS kept in mind The poor country has
its history. and il has had its people; and
/ if a feeble remnant of the finest peasantry
| i'm the world sometimes does things which
! seem to Us unwise we will not be bullied into
/ forgetting the savage policy which has driven
! the race almost to extinction. This policy Is
matter OF history. Nobody dares to defend it
now; but it did not lack defenders even in the
rough and cynical heart. and vcnturcd TO say
what smaller men would have been hung for
| saving. Nobody is fitted to judge the case who
| is not familiar with Irish history,
and nobody who is so familiar can
wonder at anything which happens in
| ireland. The penal code which the
English Church applied to its Irish sister, the
very invention and handwork of the devil,
would not be believed in by historical students
if it were a little older and if fragments of it
did not 10 this day exist. Here is a people
purpOsely kept ignorant, and purpOsely kept
poor, and not assimilating itself with the con-
qucring party, simply because assimilation was
forbidden by statutes, many and Ingenious and
when race so oppressed plays now and then
fantastic tricks, men wonder If Ireland will
ever be quiet, and they make little jokes about
Donnybro0k Fair. We do not know how much
hope there may be for Ireland but to joke
over the contortons of dying man, to mock
his bitter memories, and to kill him because
like Charles H., he is such an unconscionable
"time in DYING is at least uncvil, and pos
sibly may be considered unchristian. "There
ais anguish in Dublin" says NJ. Victor Hugo
Alas! when was there ever anything else
thereY
1t may be said that it is difficult TO decide
what shall DO done with an unreasonable and
restless people. We know that it is but we
happen also 10 know that this is a difficulty of
Englands own creation. There is the history;
and foreign children know it by heart. The
modern Englishman may not be responsible
for the sins of his fathers; but in dealing with
Ireland he has no right to ignore them; while
he shares the plunder, with what justice would