The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1889-07-20

OL. DAl ~ hDA 1 q y j
employers. These proceedings Lord
ohm Russell naturally considered mis-
chievous practices. which are contrary
I to law, injurious to trade, subversive of
good order, and dangerous to the peace
OF the country.
Among the leaders of that movement
was very remarkable man,
FERGUS o'CoNNoR,
and he was convicted of conspiracy and
he would have been treated as an ordi-
nary criminal. but public opinion was
excited and the indignation of the peo-
pie OF England was such that the in
dignities put on Mr.. Fergus O'Connor
bad to cease, and his whole treatment
was Immediately changed. The changes
made in the treatment of Mr.. Fergus
O'Connor were thus described in Par
lament by Lord Normandy in reply to
Lord Denman:
Mr.. Fergus O'Connor is not sub
jected to any indignities Of the person.
He does not scour out his room. lie
does not perform any menial office. He
has had sheets offered him to sleep in,
and be refused them. He occupies to-
night, and will continue to occupy, the
best room on the felon's side lie, not
on the debtors side.) He has tea and
sugar, without restriction as to quantity,
twice a day. He has animal food at
dinner and Two glasses Of wine. He
is shaved daily and has clean linen and
towels when he wishes. There are no
beds but those of iron stock and flock
beds, Of which flock beds he has four.
He has a pillow, chair and table. He
eats and has eaten his meals in his
ward by himself, the first day excepted.
He has large yard to exercise in. He
has a bedroom and a large hospital to
himself lie wears his own clothes.
That was the manner in which a
great agitator and the leader of a revo-
lutionary movement which shook the
English throne and constitution TO its
base, was treated In those days in Eng
land. There was another agitator in
that movement,
HENRY VINCENT.
and his speeches were even more OK
citing and dangerous than those of Mr.
Fergus O'Connor. In his case some
discussion as TO prison treatment took
place between the Judge and magis-
trates, and he was exempted from the
more penal rules applying to ordinary
misdemeanants, and it was stated by
the judge that:
He was not subjected to the degreda-
tion OF wearing the prison dress or hav-
ing his hair cut; in fact, he was sub
jected to as little painful treatment as
possible consistent with the restrictive
and safe custody of his person. Some
questions was afterwards raised with
respect to the books he was allowed to
read, and certainly he heard with some
surprise that Harry Vincent was to be
restricted to books merely of religious
characterize heard it with surprise,
because he felt that such a restraint
was not good for the mind of young
man active and enquiring.
Sergeant Taifourd applied to the
Home Secretary, Lord John Russell,
and received the answer THAT Mr.. Vim
cent would only be restricted from
reading improper books, but not from
reading books of a miscellaneous char
acter." Vincent was convicted at the
next assizes for similar offence-part
and parcel of the same transaction.
The government had removed him from
Monmouth, then disturbed by iLsur-
rectionary troubles, and placed him in
Millbank: there he had become subject
to prison discipline neither intended
or proportionate. He was attired in
prison dress, fed on prison diet, for
hidden writing materials, and only
allowed to correspond once in four
months. In other words, he was SUBJ
jected to the same treatment as the
Irish treason-felony prisoners of a
later date. The outcome of the matter
was that the indignation ran so high
that Mr. Vincent was removed from
Millbank prison, and his prison treat
ment was reversed, and the restrictions
and indignities placed upon him were
removed. He could not help remarking
in connection with this matter on the
letter written by Archbishop O'Brien,
of Halifax, that if the state of things
that existed under the Irish Crimes
Act existed in his country the prison
would be raized to the ground.
Dropped Dead.
George L. Hunt dropped dead at