The Sun. — 1867-12-25 (London, England)

SUSSEX MEMBERS ON FENLINLSM.  The annual dinner acconr_,anyin,g the Christmas exhibition of fat stock at Lewes was held at the Star Hotel in that town. In the course of the evening, in responding ftthe toast of " The Members for East Sussex," Mr. DonsoN referred to Fenianism in the following terms :—There was one point on which he believed every person in that' room, and, indeed, every loyal subject of the Quetn, 'vould be agreed, that throughout the United Kingdom the supremacy of the law ought to be maintained, and that, God willing, it shall be maintained. (Cheers). In no civilised country had any cause, even if it were ever so just a cause, been forwarded by assassination and incendiarism ; and there was, perhaps, less excuse for such deeds in this country than in any other, seeing how largely all men enjoyed the privilege of speaking and writing, and expressing ideas, and endeavouring to convince other people respecting them. He said that no cause, however just, prospered in any country by incendiarism and assassination. (Hear, hear.) They had had instances of this in their own and other countries in modern times. The cause of the Jacobites was not promoted by the attempts to murder William 111. The cause of Italy never prospered so long as it was confined to individual attempts to stab Austrian sentinels at their posts. The cause of the Southern States of America became the more hopeless when the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was perpetrated. There was an absurd pretext, of the most flimsy character, put forward on behalf of those who had been guilty of c:•iininal acts in this country, that they were belligerents c:.rrying on war against the Government of this country ; but the very essence of war, as he understood it, was that those who were enemies were acting under the sanctionof some known and responsible body. There was no such responsi e body known in the case of these Fenian outrages. T essence of war was that the persons attacked should ow who his enemy was, and where to look for his centre quarters. He might, according to the legitimate tactics of war, be exposed to sudden surprises and attacks, but he had this advantage—he knew who were the persons carrying on the war and who were responsible. In the case of the Fenians this was not so ; crimes had been committed—even if they were not individual crimes, they were crimes perpetrated at the bidding or by the connivance of some secret, or not known and irresponsible body. (Hear,  hear.) Therefore they could not shelter themselves under the assumption oftlissisdsgillg belligerents, any more than the burglar who went about in the daytime in the garb of an honest man, but who in the dark took up his crowbar and dark lantern wherewith to ply his nefarious trade. (Loud cheers.) He sincerely trusted that the attachment which they all felt for the law would be sufficient, in a short time, to put an end to these criminal_ outrages. (Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. H. Blum), in responding to the toast of "The Borough Members," also referred to the Fenian movement. He believed that movement was set on foot mainly not by British subjects. (Hear.) It might be indeed true that here and there theymight find unhappily a certain number of their impulsive fellow-subjects, the Irish, following the movement, but he believed that the leading agents in it were aliens, and not subjects of the British Crown. He believed they were rowdies—outcasts from the United States, men who served in the civil war in America, and  whose lives were lives of violence. Being, as it were, out of employment on the termination of that war, they were now levying war on England. There could be no question about it, that these men were entitled to no mercy, and should have none. (Loud cheers.)  Lord PELHAM responded to the same toast, and in the course of his speech remarked : Notwithstanding what had been already said as to the Fenian movement, he desired to add his testimony to that of others. All members of Parliament, on whichever side of the House they sat, would, ho was certain, give to any Government their earnest support-for the purpose of putting a stop to these attacks of murderous ruffians and bringing them to justice. (Hear, hear.) And if any member should be so false to his country as to attempt to make political capital by praying for false clemency for such desperadoes, he (Lord Pelham) could only recommend him to the tender mercies of his constituents.. (Loud cheers.)  Film IN