Widnes Examiner. — 1882-05-13 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

TTTE EXAMINER.  SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1882.  ONE of the foulest crimes which have darkened the pages of Irish history was committed in tbe Phoenix Park, Dublin, on Saturday evening, when the new Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant, Lord F. Cavendish, and the Under Secretary, Mr. Burke, were completely hacked to death. In another portion of the paper we give ample details of the horrible crime, which surpasses in its cruelty anything that has been known in modern times, either in Ireland or anywhere else. It almost compasses belief that in the twilight of a summer evening, in one of the most frequented parts, probably, of Dublin, in presence of a number of persons who were carelessly looking on but who were unaware of the black deed which was being committed, and in full view of the highest official in Ireland, two of the Queen's most faithful servants should have been butchered to death, yet such is the case. It is still more incredible that with rill the boasted efreeiency of our police and detective force the assassins should even for a short period hfee-e escaped capture. These facts, however, only serve to show that the ghastly work, unprecedented for 'its audacity, has been that of no 'prentice hand, and that the murders .must have been as skilfully plannel as they were• swiftly and surely executed. The deepest sympathy for the bereaved, and disgust and indignation at the perpetrators of the foul murders are the feelings which operate in every breast at the present moment, and with one or two notable exceptions-these have found expression in one form or another in•every portion of -the civilised world. If, therefore, it be any comfort to 'the sorrowing relatives of the victims to know that their grief is shared by the highest to the lowest in the land, and by none more se than by the Irish people themselves, then this comfort has-been extended to them in an unexampled degree. tit is usual when a crime of this nature, or, indeed, of any other, has been committed to inquire into the motives of the criminals, hut we must confess that in the,present instance, unless it arose from sheer bloodthirstiness, or, as Mr. Gla4stone has suggested, "to rouse indignant passions and embitter the relations between Great Britain and Ireland " we fail to 'discover any motive whatever. The nobleman whose life has been sacrificed had entered the country but a few hours before; it wae generally believed he, along with the Lord Lieutenant, hal brought in his hand the olive branch of peace ; it is *a fact that the last official act of his life was to make arrangementc for the release of a very large number of suspects on an early date; and it was expected in every quarter that this, together with remedial measures of legislation which were to follow, would: inaugurate a no w and more promising era in the history of the country. Mr. Burke occupied a different position. He had been the permanent Under Secretary for a period of nearly twenty years, and beyond being upright, diligent, and conscientious iu the discharge of the duties entrusted to him—by this means securing the confidence of those whom circumstances placed over him no matter to what shade of politics they belonged, and commanding the respect and esteem of his subordinates—he does not appear to have made an enemy of anybody. Presumably. therefore, there could be no grudge against the individuals, but notwithstanding this one or koth officials had evidently been marked out for the assassin's knife. Some political motive must have been at the root of the conspiracy. The public veld readily acquit the active members of the Land League of any complicity or even knowledgie of such a dark deed. They have already plenty to answer for without having murder laid at their door, and they are sufficiently alive to the fact that at the present time, above all others, it is necessary they should be on their best behaviour. Mr. Parnell and his friends may at least he credited with having the interests of Ireland at heart, they more than any