The Premier has addressed a letter to Sir W. Carroll,
head of a petition recently presented on behalf of the Fenian prisoners, informing him that Her Majesty's Government have recommended the exercise of the royal clemency, "so far as it is compatible with the assured maintenance of tranquillity and order in the country." The Fenians will only be discharged on condition of self-banishments from the United Kingdom. They were "justly condemned for par- ticipation in a conspiracy which, if in any degree successful, would have filled Ireland with misery and bloodshed," and are only released because Ireland is remarkably prosperous and generally free from violence and disorder ; and because Parliament, by its readiness to remove Irish grievances, has strengthened the hands of that great body of men of all creeds and parties which is on the side of order and loyalty. Her Majesty's Ministers are earnestly desirous to favour the advance of the healing process, the more so, as the compassionate feeling so widely spread in Ireland has not expressed itself in turbulent demands such as would render compliance incon- sistent with the authority of Government. The reasoning is sound, the release itself perhaps wise ; but grace to be felt should be gracious, and, as we have explained elsewhere, the Premier's limitations will undo the effect of his concession.
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