Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

ment had interfered with the revenues of the crown, and had the same right to interfere with the revenues of the church. He admitted that it had the same right to interfere. But, when the House interfered with the revenues of the crown, it was not to commit an outrage, but to make a compact, to which the crown was a consenting party, and which was to last only till the expiration of the life interest of the reigning sovereign. Very different was the proposition of the hon. gentleman, who attacked the property of the church for alleged irregularities, and, without limiting his measure to a life interest, demanded that its property should be taken away altogether. But, then, an equitable adjustment should be made. And, what was the equitable adjustment proposed? Why, that full compensation was to be made to the individuals now in the church. This compensation was to be given to the individuals of whose misconduct he complained; and the property belonging to the church was to be taken from their successors, who had never offended. And this was the " equitable adjustment" proposed by the hon. gentleman, as it was the custom to call every plan of spoliation and injustice. If he deprecated this scheme as applied to the Protestant establishment of England, he deprecated it still more as applied to the establishment of Ireland. The church establishment in Ireland, as in England, was an integral part of the constitution, but in Ireland it was also the bond of connexion with this country.

The first resolution, as well as the third and fourth were negatived without a division: on the second, the House divided; when

the Ayes, were 62, and the Noes, 167.

On the 25th of June, a motion was brought forward by Mr. Hume, the object of which, in effect, was to pave the way for the abolition of the office of viceroy. What, he asked, were the duties of the lord-lieutenant? On the score of the army, there existed no need of a resident viceroy; the office of secretary at war had been abolished; that of the commander of the forces was considered unnecessary; and the customs and excise of Ireland were consolidated with those of England. There still existed the formality of the vice-roy signing warrants to the vice-treasurer; but, with the exception of the civil contingencies, he did not pos sess the power of disposing of a pound, without the concurrence of the treasury of England. Could not these duties, then, be discharged with efficiency in England? The very existence of a seeming court in Dublin, assembled around it all the materials of party, and it became the focus of internal disorder. The actual charge of Ireland to Great Britain, in 1822, was 3,098,8261. At the Union, the expence of the military establishment amounted to only 510,000l.-it now cost 1,500,000l.; and since then the allowances to the lord-lieutenant had been increased from 20,000l. to 30,000l.; whilst the whole business could be much more efficiently performed in London. It might be said that Dublin would locally suffer by the removal of the court: this he admitted, so far as the interests of a few were concerned: but within the last twenty years Dublin had increased, and it would continue to increase, in houses and population, as well as in its commerce. He

concluded by moving an address to the crown, praying for the appointment of a commission to inquire whether the government of Ireland ought to continue in its present state, or whether the lord-lieutenant and other officers ought not to be dismissed.-Mr. Goulburn opposed the motion, as derogatory to the true interests of Ireland, and fatal to her prosperity. The duties of the lord-lieutenant were most important, and could not be executed in England. Mr. D. Browne declared, that the very mention of such a thing in Dublin, would excite a kind of rebellion. Sir J. Newport also said, that the measure was more calculated than any other to augment the discontent of Ireland-After several other members had delivered their sentiments, Mr. Hume said, that, as he was certain the inquiry he desired must come ere long from the other side of the House, he should not press the question then. The motion was negatived without a division.

The Duke of Devonshire, on the 19th of June, brought the state of Ireland generally under the consideration of the House of Lords. The whole of the government of Ireland, said his grace, its policy and practice, demanded a prompt and thorough examination. His

majesty's ministers had defended their Irish policy, by saying, that their object was, not to give a triumph to any party; and the result was, that the government of Ireland was completely in the hands of the Orangemen. In such a state of things, something more decisive ought to be done, than adopting a system of giving a triumph to neither party. If he were asked what measures ought to be adopted, he should urge the concession of the Catholic question;

the arrangement of the tithes; the abridgment of the power of that party which had so long ruled in Ireland; and lastly, the most vigilant attention to the adminis tration of the laws.-He concluded by moving the following resolu tions:-"That this House has learnt, with the deepest regret, from the information laid before it during the present session by command of his majesty, that a general spirit of violence, manifesting itself in outrages of the most alarming nature, has for some time prevailed in many parts of Ireland, and that, in the opinion of his majesty's government, extraordinary powers are required for the protection of the persons and property of his majesty's subjects in that kingdom:

That this House will be ready to concur in any measures which may be found indispensable for the prompt and effectual suppression of these disorders; but experience has proved that coercion and force, however necessary to avert a pressing and immediate danger, have not been sufficient to eradicate evils, whose magnitude and frequent recurrence induce a belief that there must exist some material defect in the state and administration of the laws, and the system of the government; to the examination of which, with a view to the adoption of more permanent and effectual remedies, it is the duty of this House, to apply itself without further delay."

Earl Bathurst denied that there was any evidence to substantiate the charges against the government, which the noble duke's speech contained. That parliament had not, since the Union, been employed solely in passing coercive measures, was sufficiently proved by the statute book. His lordship enu

merated a number of measures which had been introduced for the benefit of Ireland, more particularly those which regarded her agriculture, local taxation, fisheries, and the administration of justice; and then asked, was it fair to represent parliament as only employed in devising measures of coercion ? It was very true, that as the coercive measures were always confined to a limited period, it was frequently necessary to renew them; but the measures for the benefit of Ireland were at once rendered permanent, and were acting at this moment silently and beneficially for her advantage. One of the evils which had been complained of, was the absence of gentlemen from their estates; and this government had attempted to remedy by repealing the assessed He concluded by stating, that, as he was unwilling to meet the motion which had been submitted to their lordships with a direct negative, he would move the previous question. Lords Darnley, King, Holland, and Lansdown spoke in support of the resolutions; Lords Caledon, Limerick, and Liverpool against them. The de

taxes.

bate terminated by a division, the result of which was, that there were 59 votes for the original motion, and 135 against it.

The alleged misconduct of the chief baron, O'Grady, was the subject of repeated discussion during the present session. The accusation was, that he had exacted illegal fees on proceedings in his court. It appeared that he had done so in some instances; but it was also evident, that he fell into the error from negligence rather than from any corrupt motive. The more the matter was discussed, the slighter became the character of his supposed offence; and ultimately, so satisfied were all parties that the matters of imputation against him were merely trivial and accidental irregularities, that no further proceeding or inquiry with respect to them was instituted.

In the end of summer and the earlier part of autumn, the outrages in the south of Ireland increased in number, and assumed a character of extreme ferociousness. As winter approached they again subsided; and, by the end of the year, the country enjoyed rather more tranquillity than was usual.

CHAP. IV.

Catholic Question: Sir F. Burdett declares his Intention of withdrawing from the Discussion: Imputations on Mr. Canning and Mr. Plunkett: Mr. Canning's Defence: Mr. Brougham's Invective against Mr. Canning: intemperate Conduct of the latter: Motion for committing Mr. Canning and Mr. Brougham to the custody of the Serjeant at Arms: termination of the Quarrel: Remarks on this Proceeding-Mr. Plunkett's Motion on the Catholic Claims: its fate -Bills for conferring the Elective Franchise on English Catholics, and admitting them to certain Offices, passed by the Commons, but stopped in the Lords-Lord Colchester's Motion with respect to Catholic Institutions-Parliamentary Reform-The state of the Elective Franchise in Scotch Counties-Motion with respect to the Election of Magistrates for the Borough of Inverness.

IT was the wish of many of the

friends of the Catholics, that the question of their claims should not be discussed in the present session. Mr. Canning expressed his opinion in favour of this course. The general sentiments, however, of the friends of the cause leaned the other way; and the 17th of April was fixed for a formal motion on the subject.

On that day, the presenting of several petitions concerning concessions to the Catholics gave rise to some preliminary discussion, in which sir Francis Burdett declared, that the annual discussion of this question was a mere farce, from which the honest friends of the Catholics ought to withdraw. Then alluding to some observations which had fallen from Mr. Canning in a debate, two nights previously, on the ex officio informations in Dublin, he inveighed bitterly against that gentleman for his alleged defection from the cause of Emancipation. The right hon.

secretary, he said, had stated that

it was impossible the Catholic claims could ever be carried; for, he had stated, that it was impossible a government, or rather an administration, should ever be formed, by which this question should be carried; and that, if it was possible to form such an administration, he, to accomplish it, would willingly leave office-his acceptance of which was the cause of all this compromise of the public safety. If such was the case, why had Mr. Canning consented to practise a deception upon the House and the country? Why had he employed himself in raising hope that was only to be deferred, and deferred only to be disappointed? Why had he contributed to irritate and excite the warm feelings of a generous people, only to plunge them still lower in the depths of grief and despair? Had he come forward so often upon this subject, merely because it afforded him a happy theme for the display of his

rhetoric? or had he endeavoured to catch a breath of the fleeting gale of popularity, by affecting, in this solitary instance, to be the advocate of liberal principles ? Some motive of this kind must have influenced the right hon. gentleman; because he well knew, at the very moment he was vapouring in the cause of the Catholics, that his exertions must be utterly fruitless of all benefit, and become the fertile source of irritation and discontent. Notwithstanding this obvious truthobvious by the event the House had been repeatedly called upon to waste its time in useless discussion. The people of Ireland had again and again been excited to the utmost pitch of expectation; and again and again had they learned, that their feelings had only been trifled with and insulted. Their rights had been enforced by the right hon. secretary in the strongest terms; their wrongs had been painted in the most vivid colours; but to their rights and to their wrongs, that quarter, which it was most important to propitiate, had been equally deaf. That the people of Ireland, with their feelings so called forth-with their grievances painted in such vivid hues-with their wrongs so held up in the eloquent language of the right hon. gentleman, in addition to their own sense of intolerable injustice, should not be tranquil, was matter of any thing but wonder. It was a little too much to trifle with the feelings of the people and with the tranquillity of Ireland, by uselessly continuing so painful an excitement. Far better was it at once to put an end to all hope of bettering their condition, and to proclaim, that the system of Protes

tant ascendancy would never be relaxed from, than that the Catholics should be led to struggle, without a chance of success. Under such circumstances, he conceived that he should best discharge his duty by withdrawing from an useless discussion. He concluded with reading an extract from a speech delivered by Mr. Plunkett on the 25th of February 1813. That extract was received with loud cheering by the House: it was in the following words: "But how can any honest mind be reconciled to the ambiguity, in which the cabinet has concealed itself from public view on this great national question; or with what justice can they complain of the madness, which grows out of this fever of their own creating? This is no subject of compromise. Either the claim is forbidden by some imperious principle, too sacred to be tampered with, or it is enjoined by a law of reason and justice, which it is oppression to resist. In ordinary cases, it sounds well, to say, that a question is left to the unbiassed sense of parliament and people; but that a measure of vital importance, and which has been again and again discussed by all his majesty's ministers, should be left to work its own course, and suffered to drift along the tide of parliamentary or popular opinion, seems difficult to understand; that government should be mere spectators of such a process is novel; but when it is known, that they have all considered deeply, and formed their opinions decidedly, in direct opposition to each other; that after this they should consult in the same cabinet, and sit on the same bench, professing a decided opinion in point of theory, and a strict neutrality in point of prac

« ZurückWeiter »