We have no desire to see the liberty of the
subject in the least degree infringed, and we find it in the abstract difficult to believe that the absence or presence of Mr Cartwright in England or anywhere else can have any political effect. But then we do not profess to know all the facts. Till these facts are known we must remember that it is possible that Lord Kitchener has information which may justify him in thinking that Mr. Cartwright, if be were allowed to proceed to Europe, would be used as an emissary whose influence would be of a very dangerous kind at a moment when critical negotiations are proceeding. Of course that is pure hypothesis, but granted that for it or for some other reason Lord Kitchener thought Mr. Cartwright's presence in Europe would imperil the cause of peace or impede our mili- tary movements, then most emphatically we think that Lord Kitchener did right in detaining him. When John Mitchel] attempted at the very end of the Civil War to refan the embers into flame by his rhetoric, General Grant had him seized and detained in prison without trial or any process of law. When Mitchell and his friends talked loud of illegality General Grant simply in effect said,--4 I will not, law or no law, allow the slightest risk of the war spirit which has half ruined the country to be rekindled.' And General Grant was right. As long as Mr. Cartwright does not suffer in life and limb, but only suffers inconvenience, we do not count his convenience for a few months or weeks a featherweight against the public interest. And what is more, we must leave Lord Kitchener to judge whether Mr. Cart- wright's presence in Europe at this juncture would or would not be a danger to the public interest.
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