The Star. MONDAY, MAY 8, 1882. THE DUBLIN ASSASSINATIONS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume III, Issue 245, 8 May 1882, Page 2

The Star. MONDAY, MAY 8, 1882. THE DUBLIN ASSASSINATIONS.

The news of the assassination of Lord Cavendish and Mr. Bourke will thrill the world with horror, and will do move to retard the settlement of the Irish question ,thau anything that has yet occurred. Coming immediately after the release of Parnell, Davitt, and the other Land Leaguers and suspects, and the action of the Government in the direction of suspending the policy of coercion, the murder is, apart from any other consideration, a " most damnable taking off." Black base ingratitude, looking at it from the very lowest standpoint, is the murder of a man who personified the promise of a gentler rule. But horrible as is the deed, it unfortunately by no means stands alone. The rank of the victims gives it prominence, but the newspapers, for a considerable time past, have been daily teeming with accounts of murders as foul and outrages as unprovoked, as this latest addition to the black roll of crimes and violence. It is hard to acquit the Land League of blame. It was easy to raise the devil of agitation, and make speeches which, although when subjected to the analysis of cold logic might not bear the construction of incitement to violence, certainly produced that effect upon the excited and ignorant peasant ; but the Land League in creating what it cannot control, if not legally is surely morally responsible for all that has followed. The unguarded language, and the defiance of authority by men who represent the scholarship and ability of the race, has created an agitation among the impulsive and hot-headed in the lower ranks, which, like tb.9 soulless monster of Frankenstein, is only powerful for evil, and will prove an instrument of retribution on its creators. Unless it can be shown that these murders are as devoid of political significance as the assassination of Garfield, or the attack upon the Queen, the Irish party must suffer severely. Through England there will pass a whirlwind of angry excitement, calling for the renewal of coercion, which it will be difficult for Mr. Gladstone or his party to withstand ; while the Americans, still mourning for their assassinated President, will be very chary of continuing their sympathy to a party who will, until they give proof to the contrary, be held responsible for the act. It is a bad business, and every true Irishman, who hoped that out of the present chaos order might be restored, and a happier era for Ireland inaugurated, will denounce the act, no less for its own unrighteousness than for the increased difficulty thrown in the way of a proper solution of a difficult question.