New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-05-07
TIE IRISH CATASTROPHE.

TIE IRISH CATASTROPHE.
ENGLAND and the world stand aghaSt with
horror and amazement TIE Chief Secretary
for Ireland upon his arrival in Dublin mas
hoen stabbed to the heart, and the veteran
Under-Sccretary has been murdered in cold
blood by his side. Again have creatures OF
tbe earth dared to usurp the right of the
ALMIGHTY to dispose of the lives of rulers and
the destinies of nations. The Premier has
lobored Ministers have delbcrated, agitators
have schemed and political parties have been
shifting their ground in uneasiness and ex
element, but all to no purpose. ASSasslns have
nronounccd Judgment and executed their de-
cree. The force of IN enlightened pnbhc sent-
ment the efficacy of remedial legislation ana the
creative energies of political genius are sud
denly paralyzed There are two foul, hld"ouS'
dastardly murders, and everything is changed.
England flames with passionate resentment
and righteous fury. Public sentiment becomes
an outburst of wrath. Remedial legislation
shrinks into glaring political blurdcr'
Craftsmanship is battlefront by statesmah-
shin, bat by the black flies that have
been buzzing unOtced under the char
lot wheel Of State. The blood OF the
murdered officials cries to heaven. Not
ENGLAND alone, hut the civilized world,
recoils in horror from the ghasty spectacle oi
these mansled corpscs i'll the great pleasure
ground of the Irish capital. Whether the
crime has been planned and executed III the
frenzy of revolutionary hatred or in the wan
tonness of mscaculated malevolence, it is a
diabolical outrage on modern civilization.
A catastrophe wrought by pygmies, il is frausht
"a / lis,
people and to the Irish race.
ANY forecast of those consequences which
can he attempted at present must be vague
and inadequate. The immediate eject OF
these cowardly transformations upon the for
tunes of the Premier and che Liberal party
must he disastrous. If a general election
should he held this week the constituencies
| would undoubtedly rise i'll revolt against the
present Administration. In what other way
| could they give voice % their ahhOrronce OF as
| sassination and lawlcssnCsS? They would Judge
the PreInler's policy not by bis own conscience,
but bv its fruits. They would charge him
with criminal vacillation in beginning with a
policv of concession, then reyerting midway
TO force bills and arbitrary arrests, and finely
surrendering outright to the law-breakerS.
! They would not have framed such an ndct-
menU before the asSasSinauons, but they are
not now in a mood for critical analysis or dis
passionate Judgment They would say to MIR.
Gladstone: I'VE did not understand your
Land bill, and we have not liked yom
"sudden shittngs of policy, but we
chad faith i'll you, aud allowed You To
'have your own way; and this Is the
foul and gnOmniouS end We do no. say
that this would be- an absolutely just indlct-
ment. but we are certain that IL would be
framed if the English people, powerfully
swaved as they now are BY passion and excite
ment. could make themselves beard without
DELAY. Time may bring with it sober second
thoughts and a revision Of Judgment, hut for
the moment the Ministry is reduced to the cry
plight of having made peace with social reyolu-
tionists on their own terms, and then having
its responsible agents butchcrod in cold
blood. The merccss criticism of IA country
that i at once maddcncd and humiliatcd viii
be that Mr. Gladstone has either been lacking
in courage or has grossly miscalculated Tic
tendencies of lawlessness. The pressure OF
such a charge will BE terrible. Can the Pre-
mer hold his ground against it ? The debates
of tie week may enable us To judge with GER
tainty, but we apprchend that his AdmInisiIa-
tlOn ana Win III llDcGdllsln ltSti, nave Ic-
ceiycd a staggering blow.
The consequences Of these hideOus crimes
may be equally disastrous 10 the Irish cause
| The English people VIII not forget for many
Il ytar-it may be for gcneratiOns-the murder
of a Cavendsh, planned in a hateful me
dipval spirit and executed with savage feroc-
ity. Ii may blind their eyes and harden then
hearts to the sutlerings OF the tenantry
1t may cause them to set their faces with in
flex bic resolution against any concessions, po'
litical or agrarian, TO the Irish people. 1t may
! prolong indefinitely race conflict which
has already outlved four centuries. While
these foul murders have widened the
breach between EnSlishInan and Irish
man, they will ALLEVIATE the sympathies o.
the world. Americans especially will re-
coil in horror and utter detestation from
the wanton and malevolent wickedness o
these political murders. 1t is not only al
enemy of Mr.. Gladstone and English Liberal
ism it is deadly foe of Ireland herself tina
has brought upon her this awful roproach.
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