The Irish Government is prosecuting Mr. Sullivan, of the Nation
and Weekly News, for seditious articles. We have defended that proceeding under the circumstances of Ireland, but he is also prosecuted for seditious woodcuts in the journals. Well, as de- scribed, they do seem seditious, Britannia, for instance, being represented as whipping Fenians, which Britannia does not do, —and would fully justify rebellion if she did—but we must confess we look on this prosecution of caricaturists with some feeling of regret. They are as liable to punishment as any other publicists, and may do even more mischief ; but it can rarely be worth while for a Government to punish a joke or even a slander thus ex- pressed, more especially among a people with a tendency to laughter and .to fun. A political prosecution should always be a serious affair, and should always, so far as public feeling will permit, be directed against serious offences, not against grotes- queries, however bitter, or however ill-intentioned.
