CAPTAIN BOWEN-COLTHURST.
[To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTAT011."] 812,—Your espousal of Captain Bowen-Colthurst'e cause most appeal to all lovers of justice in Ireland, to whatever party they belong. I do not know Captain Buwen-Colthurst, I am in no way connected with him or his family. and no one could have felt more deeply shocked than I did at his act during the rebellion, for which, however, we now know he was not responsible. Surely, however, the Ashburn incident in which so many policemen were shot was as culpable an act as Captain Bowen-Colthurses, and the plea has never been urged for its perpetrators that they were not responsible for their crime, and yet a complete amnesty lias been given to them, while Captain Bowen-Colthurst gill lingers on i■ Broadmoor Prison. Why is this P But one explanation can be offered. The English Government has persistently followed i■ Ireland the principle adopted by a certain master of foxhounds- who, when asked how Ile settled for the depredations in the country which he hunted, replied: "I reward the troublesome claimants handsomely, and I tell the quiet ones to go to the devil." Who is ultimately responsible for the detention of Captain Bowen-Colthurst P Is it the Home Secretary P Could he not be bombarded with petitions which would at least show him how widespread is the indignation which this matter is causing P We all, of course, know the means that would bring instant capitulation, but, algae! Captain Bowen-Colthursre friends belong to the "quiet ones." How bitterly are we made to realize in Ireland the truth of the saying—Bright's, was it not P—Govern- merits will yield everything to force and nothing to reason. Herein lies the tragedy of English administration in this
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