The Express. — London, England, 1847-03-16 00:00:00

althea house. Mr. Leader writes—" I perceive some oh es rvatioas have been made by Sir B. Hall relative to the smallness of the contributions made by Hancock to the rebel fend. Now, before the hon. baronet condemned the rose. dents of the district, he ought to have let the public know the fact that, at the October sessions for Kunturk, 51,0001. was voted to give employment to the population ; that on the 24th December 12,0001, mare had been voted ; and in Fe bruary last 24,000/., which had been required to complete the work., was also agreed to. This gave a total of 87.0001., which at the time it was voted it was believed would have to be repaid with interne" (Hear, hear.) The letter pro ceeded to remark that " in the etcetera' division alluded to by Sir B. Hall, a poor-rate of Is. 6d. in the pound had juit been made in addition to n rate of 33. in the pound, made in November last, and now in the course of collection. So that with the poor-rates, and the monies voted under the Labour Rate Act, 100,0601. had been contributed by Hanturk ; an amount which exceeded the rental of the Union. (Hear, hear.) It appeared to him to be most un fair and unjust to charge 'nett members with indiffereace and even/um to the condition of the people of Ireland be cause they objected to the adoption of the principle of out door relief. All that they required was the retention of the workhouse test, and with that test they wero ready to sanc tion any expenditure of money raised upon Irish property that might be necessary to meet the exigency which exited; but he asked the house to pause, and take care not to check that spirit of improvement which already had manifested itself in Ireland, at shown from the increased deposits in the savings banks, and the consumption of articles coming within the category of customs and excise regulations. It Ireland was to be raised from her present prostraes condition, it must be by encouraging the industry of the labouring population, and by inducing the cattier, to exhibit in their own country the same industry which chnracterisesl them here, and there fore he invited the house not to sanction, by hasty legisla tion, a system of improvident out-door relief which would perpetuate the indolent feeling which already prevailed. He thought the noble loot at the head of the government had wholly failed to show that his present measure would remove the economical difficulties of which he spoke, when the depu tation of gentlemen connected with Ireland waited upon him. Lot the noble lord apply this measure to :he social difficulties which he (Mr. Hamilton) was about to ex hibit. To arrive at a just conclusion as to the social difficulties of Ireland, the census of 1841 af forded abundant means. That document represented the condition of the people of Ireland under various aspects. He would take as an example, the county of Mayo: that county had an area of 136,000 acres, and, excluding the population of town., which had 3,000 inhabitants and upward., contained a population of 370,000; without deduct ing from that number children under the age of five years, there were out of that 370,000 no fewer than 255,987 who could neither read nor write. With respect to house accom modation, the census of 1841 divided it into four classes, and of the first clans, namely, decent residences, it appeared there were in Mayo 217 houses, containing 23t families ; of the vetoed class, that was farm-houses, them were 3,012, containing 3,306 families; of the third class. namely houses built of mud, with mud Soon, and having windows and chimneys, there were 22,000, containing 22,605 families; and of the 4th clam, namely, houses built of mud, with mud floors, and having neither windows nor chimneys, there were 41,000, containing 41,803 families. The next point which the census furnished information upon was the means of those families. These were divided into three daises Ist., families which possessed means without labour, inclu ding professional men and farmers of mot than 50 acres, of which there were 809 families. The 2nd class eonsprised thou who possessed means to live, but not without labour, 9,761. And the 3rd class included those whopoeseesed no means, either in capital, land, or knowledge, and of this clam the number wu 54,982. (Hear.) That being the social condition of the county of Mayo, he now came to its valuation. Including the large towns of Caetlebar, Weetport, and Bailin*, the county valuation was 299,8511. f he county rate and grand jury cem last year was 39,1891., which left 260,6621. subject to rent cheraes, and to the labour rate charge, to say nothing of inciumbrances, which he Mayo are very considerable. t sus, there was a reeled at 260,0001. for the support of 67,000 families, consisting of 370,000 persons, of whom 251,000 above the age of tier 'tare could neither read nor suite ; 65,000 out of the 67,006 families lived in mud houses, and of these. 41,000 lived In houses consisting of a tingle room, and without windows (Hear, hear.) This was one of the worst accounts which had yet been laid before the house. In the town of West port, out of 13,000 occupiers, 11,000 were rated under 41., and consequently did not pay rates at all. In some of the baronies in the county of Mayo, where there were a great number of the cottier holders, it was stated that there was a change in each occupancy, on an average, once in two years. In such a state of things the great mass of these cattier holders being now employed on the public works, and the workhouses being full, the system of out-door relief could not hare a fair trial. All who were now recipients of 'relief would continue to be go ; and how could that be supported by a country ? It would have been a wiser course for the government to have made a more cau tious experiment. To supply temporary relief to a starving population was the first duty of a christian community, whatever might be the consequence ; but when a measure was brought forward which bore most importantly on the whole social condition of tho country, it was necessary to consider whether such measure would be effectual for the purposes for which it was designed. Instead of introducing a measure 'calculated to develop the resources of Ireland, to stimulate the industry of the people, and to en courage the spirit of improvement w hich was ad mitted to exist amongst all classes but the lowest, the government, by the bill now before the house, would dis appoint the people by holding out expectations of relief which could not be realised. The first effect of this measure would he to reduce the union of Westport to a mass of pauperism, which would soon extend to „the whole county of Mayo, and the adjoining county of Roscommon. The system might possibly work well in the northern counties of Ireland, but ce,tainly not iu those which ho had referred to, where the result would be the greatest confusion and rain. Mr. J. O'CONNELL said he should support this measure, but not for any of the reasons which had been assigned by the noble lord at the head of the government. He had not formed part of the deputation which had waited on the noble lord; but he would endeavour to state briefly what measures he thought ought to have been pressed on the attention of the house, in preference to the one under discussion. Within the last fortnight, the accounts with reference to the neglect of tillage were more alarming than they had been before. (Here the hon. gentleman read ex tracts from the Irish journals, and some private letters, in proof of this statement.) In this state of things he feared the noble lord would see cause to regret, b efore autumn, that he had not taken steps more decisively to en courage private enterprise. Ile had understood the noble lord to say that 20 per cent. of the labourers new employed on public works throughout the country were to be dismissed on Saturday next. If this were so, nothing more calculated to produce a violent convulsion in Ireland had ever been done, or attempted by any ministry. It was impossible that private employment maid take up this large moat of la bour; the step was one which would be most dinstrous to the peace of the country, and he implored the noble lord not to pursue this course. As to the promised Vagrancy Act, he conceived that any attempt to check vagrancy and mendicancy, in the present circumstances of the country, would be utterly ratite and mint dangerous. Again, he un derstood the noble lord to propose that all small holders of land should be dismissed from the public works ; the only effect of that would be to cause these men to throw up their holdings, and to sink into the most destitute clam. Al he had said, he should support the bill under discussion, not for any of the reasons advanced by the noble lord, but in the hope thatit might afford some small modicum of relief, might save a few lives; fur that it would not do more, that it would not be effective as a permanent, or even temporary, measure of relief he was firmly persuaded. This objection applied to tho whole of the measures which had been proposed by the government. But if the Irish members were willing to waive their objections to a poovlaw, and accept this measure' as a forlorn hope, let not the noble lord himself throw diffi culties in the way of his own bill which must render in operation meet injurious. In England, five millions sterling of poor-rates were required for the support of 1,400,000 paupers, while in Ireland there were between three and four millions of paupers to commence with. Any attempt to collect rates sufficient for the support of such a number mast inevitably crush all the smaller rate-payers, and reduce them to the class of paupers, thus swelling the burden and rendering it intolerable. To the great and almost insuperable difficulties in the way of this bill the noble lord had added another — the admission of magistrates to tho boards as ex officio guardians. The certain effect of this would be to render the measure inoperative. From all parts of the country be lead letters from Roman Catholic clergymen and others, pointing out the dangenaue nature of this clause, and calling on the Irish members firmly to oppose it. These communications showed that religious acrimony and disputes had been engendered in many parts by the differences between the ex officio and elected guardians. From a return in his hand, he found that in every county in Ireland the Roman Catholic magistrates were in a very small minority. In three of those counties, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone, there was not a single Heenan Catholic magistrate. The total number of Roman Catholic magistrates in Ireland was 419; of Protestants, 2,611. If these es officio guardians were admitted to the boards in great numbers, there would be no security for the education In their own faith of the poor Catholic children in the workhouses. This grievance was already severely felt, and would be feit in a still greater degree, if the clause he had alluded to should pan tato law. If, with the view of creating a fusion of sects, one sect was allowed to tyrannise over another, the result would not be conciliation end fission, but a greater amount of religious animosity and bickering than hail ever yet existed in un- Vrtuuate Ireland. Therefore, on every ground—on the ground of security in their religion to the paupers and their children (with whom there had beau se veral gross cases of interfereace), as well as on the of rendering the law one that might be worked—be im plored ministers to reconsider this clause which, hoes all experience, woad render the bill a mockery of the Minket of the country. Though he had not formed part et like de laction to whom the question had been put by dm nab ord (J. Russell), what measures they had to he would tell the noble lord that, in his opinion, it w ooY bate been much better to adopt some strong temporary ressanse, instead of forting a doubtful measure forward, whoa these was not time foe its fair consideration. He though t that the loan ought to have been increased three or fonnishl I he the amount already borrowed was utterly ins degmelle far ate purpose. That should have been one of the bet aessimes adopted. If Irish members were to be bunited end at tacked, as they continually were, by Regale arawati , and amused of begging for Engli sh gold, he hesitated sot to say that the money they asked was no mere than their own, of which they had boa de prived by the provisions of the Act of Mike. He was of opinion that if instead of a poor-law, a bap loan R ago a gnat of now was Om to Istital, it which the government proposed to meet the state of things whieh stared them in the face ? '1 he great facts of the case were known to them all. It la id been calculated that 900,000 heads of families had been deprived of their ordinary means of subsistence by the failure of the potato. Admitting that there was some exaggera tion in that ealeuistion, and making eve deduction, New meld net be lest than 800,000 beads of farm les who wens deprived etßMie enstomary means of support. Would emy in Me Um say that 640,000 heads of families be willesbmil by • poor-law? (Hear, hear.) No pmenavredd belesidl enough to hazard such an assertion. He admitted that the mounres proposed by the government to accompany the poor-law were good, but his complaint was that they were inadequate. There was not one word in the noble lord's last speech about the reclamation of the waste lands: not the faintest allusion lad been made to it. (Hear.) He did not know if he was to conclude from that si!eutc that the scheme was to be abandoned. He hoped that it was not, but admitting that It would be persevered in and carried into effect, add crowned with all the success which the noble lord ever anticipated from it, still it would not have any considerable influence in diminishing the enormous mass of unemployed labour in Ireland. The noble lord prp pmedl,ooo,oool. fur this purpose, and calculated the cost of re clamation at 81. per acre. That would enable them to reclaim 125,000 acres. The noble lord proposed 30 acres as the aver age size of the farms. This would create a class of peasant farmers amounting to 5,000 souls. There were, then, these 5,009 heads of familie to be subtracted from the 600,000. Ills noble friend the member for Lynn, whose accuracy in these matters was well known, estimated them at only 3,500. But Mtn the contemptuous jokes of the hon. member for Wy combe (Mr. Osborne), and the perhaps still more con. temptuous jokes of the right hon. b ,ronet the member for Tamworth, it was to be feared that this scheme would be abandoned altogether. The noble lord did not propose to make an extensive grant for the puttees of emigration. He would allow that 5,000 heads of families would likewise be provided for by emigration. He would make ample allow ance for the persons to be employed in the fisheries and pub lic works, and Irons the loans to be 'advanced to the land lords, but he could not, upon the mat favourable calculation, come to the conclusion that more than 100,000 heads of families would be provided for. What then was to become of the half million families who would still remain ? The measure of the noble lord, the member for Lynn, would bare absorbed, both directly and indirectly, a vast amount of labour. The noble lord at the head of the zoeerameat had on all OCCAROS/ laid great stress on the efforts of Irish landlords ; but as the poor-law would scud to depress theee efforts,the other measures for encouraging employment must only have credit for the amount of labour which they would actually absorb. They were bound to take every possible precaution 'that the system of peer laws should stimulate, and not depress, the exertions el, landed proprietors. If the measure under oonsideration called oat the energies of the Irish pee* th e y would hereafter be consoled, in keldesi bask em the present calamity ; if it had a coateary elect the feeling would be of a very different kind. He with his hon. friend, the member for Norton= (Mr. Stafford O'Brien), in objecting to that a the bill which put the good and the bed ea the mon footing, and made no distinction between a pines who it his estate and attended to the wants of his tenantry, and one who squandered his income at Bath or Naples (hear, hear)—and he hoped that every English member would resist the imposition upon his Irish brethren of a burden which would destroy in Ireland the last remnant of that ancient territorial system upon which the grandeur of E.gland so much depended. The effect of that portion of the bill would be, that the man who could point with hones• pride to a contented peasantry and a thriving tenantry, wosid be told, " True, you deserve well of your ' neigbkmern, sod have dime all in your power for your dspenimens bus the OM mime broad WU are on yonder meimileinea who won the steeple-chase last year at Paris, or OM Chnttehimmimes esliew an without chimneys or will ems Whale tomb dig !o_er of the existence of their Wand thiselth the widow visits of his agent, he has his duty, and yea must share with him the penalty : I t e t l eglect." (Hem.) He (Lord J. Manners) was berisablo le fie priaciple at ont-door relief; but unless the Inshihrenee teak 1041 that in making the property of Ireland eimweraide See ha poverty, it did not depress and annihilate that upon which all agreed that poverty must depend for its mahttenarice, they would be inflicting a curse rather than a bees iii framing an extended poor-law iystam. (Hear.) the agreed with the noble lord in thd glowing hopes which be had expressed that the old feuds, the old jealousies, and the aid hatreds of by-gone years would now be extinguished. (Hear, hear.) lie sincerely hoped, that in the great afflic tion which had fallen on the nation all jealousies would be buried in oblivion, and that the future historian, after recounting sad s truggles between two rival com munities and two hostile races, and after paint. kV the horrors of this eventful winter, would be MY, in ememencing a new chapter, to say, -- henceforth nil discord radii, Or conunoa woe Lath made two rivals friends. He trued that the historian would not have henceforth to reseed what Bishop Berkeley said 100 years ago, that the eandition of Irelaad continued to be the reproach of the government and parliament of England. Mr. LABOUCHERE said he would confine himself to the th e extension main principle involved in the measure, the extension of the right of out-door relief, however q to the able-bodied poor of Ireland. He should be willing to rest the justification of the measure on the speeches of three gen•lemen connected with Ireland, the noble lord the member f it Devonshire (Lord Courtenay), the hommember forWsterford (as we understood)hir. Stuart, and the hon. and gallant member for Londonderry (Capt. Jones), gentlemen who had in their respective localities alwaysa c evinced en anxiety to improve the condition of the p around them. These members, who were no mere thouvisre, thought tt et in the pewee: onnlitioe e` Defend it was absolutely necessary that th a house should affirm the proposition which formed the main principle of the bill. He had up to that time heard no satisfactory answer to that most pregnant question which his noble friend had put to those who were opposed to the ineunre,namely, what alter native they had to suggest? (Hear.) Whatever might be the necessity of making a temporary provisioc no member had proposed that the imperial treasury should Lo perma nently burdened with the support of the Irish poor; it was admitted by all to be right that the destitution of Ireland should be supported by the property an 1 the moil of Ireland. (Hear, beer.) The noble lord who hod just sat down seemed to rest his objection upon the fact that the measure was not accompanied with the railway scheme of the noble lord the member for Lynn ; but while he (Mr. Labouchere) did not undervalue the importance of railways, be still doubted that the measure of the noble lord was a panacea or specific which would have re sulted in the cure of Ireland. The honourable member for the University of Dublin had remarked, that in certain pare of Ireland, and especially in the county of Mayo, the proposed system must break down, on account of the great burden which would be imposed by it. Why, the property of Mayo could not even now support its poverty, nor would other parts of Ireland be able to struggle through their difficulties without exertion on the part of Irishmen, and the employment of Irish capital. He had never joined in the sweeping invectives directed against Irish landlords. lie thought that they had in that respect suffered grata Injastice; and if as great pains had been taken to Wag to light instances of landlords who, under circura shame of great discouragement, bad exerad thenaselves to improve the condition sad save the lives of those around them, a very different imprimis& would have been produced in this wealry. If they /mew how many of the uaobtrusive ire et Ireland lad given up their incomes.—(hear, hear) their books, Mated their expenditure, established soopicians,and personally exerted themselves in co-opera tion with their families to relieve the destitute, it would be seen that great injustice had been dew to the possessors of property in that country. But this was quite consistent with saying, that in essay in stances the legislature and the government had not received that support from the gentry of Ireland which they had a right to expect. (Hew, hear.) He wished to draw no dis tinctions. The exertions of the landlords generally, vete charity and in rendering assistance to the neighbours, could not he denied ; but what he bad to ems plain of was that some had not sufficiently coesidered their public duty. Nor was this a matter of surprise, whim they looked at dill peculiar difficulties' which in legated attached to this performance of those public duties; while, ea the other hood, it was well known that charity and munificence were eongeuisl to the Itish nature. There were instances of great exudes en the part of Irish gentlemen to alleviate Vas Mine wields pnrrlLd. And icier beams redeems osmnselni with licedend bed been mderred te—end whose names bed been &mensal: mensismed with puke, that he felt Wine le Inland to nismtien ate name cenneMed with that erormery swkich would bear the most famed., ems, purism with the landlords 4 flatland, or of any pert etas empire. He quoted this MOM sot became there were net many examples of the SW bird, but bows it happened to be the last to which his attention had been mina. lie ought to premise that be knew main el the gene=ra himself except so far as he bed been ken& wader his notice by the letter of a goalie ellieer, Captain O'Brien, writing eillcially to Mr. Walks, The nese is the gentle man was Bir R. Booth, and the mese of his exertions wee Sligo—it. • district where the disarm wee particular severe. The War was to the following ion : Or Mad Beathb Wets is law, sad the =Wks he kw' reed wadi Ism Mae at 10 am veil or eigt, were he set posed eke le dad Me astahlward lacuna. At his ow* ykee. Lomb% la Imo Ma/MOM two sem tellers, which add 00 10 rani Of IMP ; me I edssieted the sem at Ye saw la web Idler to be skeet Ida N. Hs gives, gra adionily.__,_llllo 'Am et di sew par cis y, ea& itg, Is. Be cgs, elz Mae la the welt. LW laww prr eta l=', Way kw sr Wpm dm the Ilimems lad la Ilip. sell sell by 111M1 at IL prr M L Ls alto sdk al tow et Mika NM per wt at a ralloorl pal mg aim • vodka et lalba sera is al wows idly. la Mk wrawastdbe ha s VALkr thepeer, sad estA L W . Lec: si t ass le, Ire Oa Mb of IN 4.1711= kw, le Ine; •Wkellisatdear, i lank 5 ;des, Stew ; adzes* LI Owe; kW, IC baa lb beseall adaiddest kiosk sad he Ye ordered ea la sea swaseek la'me's--biles sera, I,WS WEI j rim seed sate, al lose; ale of is wed. !Sleek Ha Ms wry et elk deeese k Orewedr, lady la be tklyprd, bat be le la t ..... lessa=tl i dg m belerZe o petamea lse t is . Il d worlereAt = Own!, IS kw dad, sad itMetkeleyweeL =wed veins dem It Ilie wieneint sold wit U. Meet Usk la kW,* Ilie Wipe garely dived tremenal kW Idea What he las Was kr Se pert weld la alai he maw ke kat se led dwa, Oat I /w a rs real Moir to =Ms hist 1 lade es! would be nothing more them doing her justice. lie made that statement because at the time of the union, it was die needy provided that Ireland ought not to be subjected to English liabilities, unless it was found that Intend had so improved as to justify that imposition. In 1816 there was an excess of 16,000,0001. of annual debt charge, of which Ireland had to pay two parts, and England had to pay fifteen parts. It was declared by the ministers of the time that that proposition was unjustly high for Ireland. Thea the Consolidation Act was passed, which subjected Ireland' to the liabilities of Eagle ; that act was an illegal and unconstitutional act according to the terms of the eat of union; and the consequence was that 'retail.' hail hem since the act of union subjected to all the debt liabilities of England, contracted before the union. If that net had nos passed, England would bane to pay the whole of the 16,000,0001. There was much owing to Ireland on account of that debt, and be thought that, in consideration of the injustice that was done them, the small boon of a loan ought at nest begiven them. Some hon. members spoke of the gene rosity el Residua at this time,. but though he admired, reve ry body mast do, the admirable instances of charity exhibited by priests individuals in England. still the conduct of the En glish parliament was anything but generous and liberal. He was of opinion that a large loan to Ireland would be the pro per measure, such as that which had been proposed for the construction of railroads in that country. His desire, also, was to have introduced an absentee tax, which would -n eh the rich absentee at • titre when tho rate payers were almost reduced to pauperism, and make the non-resident landlords go home and encounter the danger of having fever enter within their own hails, so as to compel them to relieve the people. It had been asked what would an Irish parliament do under the existing circumstances. His answer wee, that no matter what may have been the misconduct of any former Irish parliament, no resident parliament could bring ti ,e country to the state in which it now is. They could take pre of the people, and the public voice would have an influence on them which it could not have on an English pediment. The hon. and learned member for Bath told them that he was ready to allow them to shift for themselves. If they had to shift for themselves, they had plenty of resources to fall back upon. In Ireland the duties on customs, stamps, and those relating to the Post office were equal to those in Eng. land, yet the produce of taxation in these departments in England was 27,000,0001, whist, it was only 3,000.0001. in Ireland. The population was 8,000,000 in Ireland, while in England it we, 18,000,000, and the receipts in Ireland ought to be 12,000,0001., instead of 3,000,0001. The contribitions ought to be as eight to eighteen, if the people were kept in a proper condition, hut such a result must be expected while the people were in their present wretched state. It was be cause of the poverty of Ireland that their contributions bore such a small proportion. It was stated that it was the greet desire of parliament to benefit Ireland, and to put her on an equal footing with England. But how did they begin? They he'en by equalising the taxes aid burthene, bat not by equalising the rights and privileges of the people. The measures brought forward to benefit Ireland had in most cases failed, and were generally calculated to heap insult on the people of the country. Tho hon, gentleman concluded by again objecting to that portion of the bill which increased the number of ex-of/leio guardians is Ireland. Lord COURTENAY rose to express his intention of porting the general principle of the bill. If ha looked at it m a measure intended only to meet this ems , gamy, he would agree with those who felt it air uty to oppose It at • step which would entail absolute ruin on In land under Its present circumstances. Again, if he looked en it as a single measure, and separate from those various nremares whisk the noble lord had brought in, and these Wawa which be believed it was his intention to introduce, be then rise amid think that it was capable of doing groat mishists hat imideg as he did on it as but one, though a wee iummtsed one, of a set of measures introduced by the moths lead, awl intended by him to work concurrently and matemporenermody with them, he thought he was fa= tiled in reoleseing this as one of the most important meats that weld be adopted for the social and weal masa of Ireland. (Hear, hear.) Ii 'rested with the Inds themselves to avert that ruin which was impendinel i ti them, by availing themselves of the facilities which t were now affording them of increasing employment, an promoting that good which they now had the opportunity of doing. (Hear, hear.) He believed that an extended poor-law, if judiciously worked, might be the means not merely of affording a most wholesome and necemary stimu lus to landlords to give employment, but would produce a most beneficial change in the habits of the people. There wee one question which the noble lord put to the deputation which presented a memorial to him, to which be referred, and the reply to which they bad heard from him. That question was, what were they to do for Ireland in the pre sent state oethings ? Many hon. gentlemen attempted to answer that question, but, he confessed, that to his mind it was not ntisfaetorily answered. What were they now to do with the two or three millions of people who were left without employment, and who had nothing but starvation to expect ? He was not cue of those who thought that the Labour Rite Act of last session was sufficient to meet the distress, but still he believed that it had been the means of saving the lives of thousands of the people of that country. Ho was not one of those who described it as a failure and worse than a failure. If hon. gentlemen looked at the bill they would see that portion of it which granted outdoor relief was as well guarded against abuse as it could possibly be. It admitted the right to relief to all persons not able to work either in or out of the workhouse, according to the direction of the guerdians. His opinion was that the most prudent coune would be to give room to the able-bodied in the house, and to provide for the aged or infirm out of doors. If they stopped short of distributing Iv lief in that man ner, they would tail in promoting that general respect for property, and that moral improvement which he trusted would be one of the good results of the law, and would thereby inflict a *crime injury en the country. He supported this bill because he believed that it was necessary to relieve Ireland, and because he thought it was a very lmitimate mode of impaling a tax on the absentee landlord., who would be thereby equally burthened with these about them, would have an additional reason for looking after the interests of their properties, and would be compelled to give employment, which was the only sound mode of supporting the people. These were his reasons for supporting the general principle of the bill. Sir D. NORREYS said, that in the present emergency it was better to give outdoor relief than to enlarge the work houses for the purpose of receiving an additional number of paupers. He would reserve kis opinion with respect to that portion of the bill which was referred to by the honourable member for Kilkenay, which related to the lacrosse in the number of ex-officio guardians. He thought the time was come when all unnecessary expen diture should be put down, and them who kept a great number of homes were as much to bo blamed ss the pro prietors of hounds which consumed a quantity of meal—in fact, be considered those gentlemen who indulged in cham pagne were as bad as t ho se who kept dogs. There was nothing remarkable in the destitute state of the poor of Mallow—the misery of Ireland wan general. The hon. member for Marylebone (Sir B. Hall), in referring to the destitution of Ireland, had gone hack to the time of Dean Swift: he might however have taken an earlier period, for since the time of Elizabeth the state of Ireland had been pretty nearly the same. Now that the poverty of their countrymen touched their breeches-pockets, they began to look about for the cause of the wretchedness of the people, and instead of asking if they were not answerable for it, they adopted a Jewish custom, and made tho Irish landlords the @cape-goats for their sins. But had not the Irish landlords ever been doing thedirty work, and been the tools of English misgovernment ? The pauperism of Ire land had been handed down front one generation to another. The poor-rates in England were levied upon the occu pier of the land, but in Ireland they would follow the landlord, and he thought the proposed system of rating was open to great objection. Mr. VESEY wished to state that be did not think the charges made by the hon. member for Kilkenny (Mr. J. O'Connell) were just ; but he rose principally because the I noble lord at the head of the government had said that he . extended relief for the able-bodied to Ireland, and not to Scotland, because the Irish landlords had not exerted them selves sufficiently. For every one charge of dereliction of duty on the part of the landlords, be meld bring forward Smug instances where they had exerted their best energies i t= g edf the existing misery. The first charge against the wee, that they had neglected the poor ; the next eras, that they had not given sufficient employment to the people ; and the last was, that they had not contributed to the satent which they ought to have done during the present MM. The honourable gentleman then referred, in answer to the flit charge to several unions in for the purpose of to that they had ieid relief to all who were considered proper obilea of relief. As to the second charge, he had seen the peatet aalietEi oced for the employment of the people, meridiem the e sums voted for the purposes of drainage, es compared publie works. In the county of Cork, buena the 10th et Deesmber and the 10th of January, 8,4010 bad be.. Mild for public works, and 8,5001. for drably. la Desserl,4,7ool. had been voted for the for mer rman% awl WNW fait, latter. In Queen's County, 9,OOKAnd hess voted he pal& works, and 21,0001. for . Now, with miaow tithe Now, last charge, he knew that when the distress was Mir MIK about 100,0001. had been subscribed by lord mwswilleee it the relief of the poor, and very kir ININS,IIIII b 10111•1111111111111 since. Heil this had been ask why itch as Amen= an expetEmeat as the bill before tits be le hinal as the Iris hailisede Captain LAYAND mil that be lad lea ategialsa, sines he knew Isles/, that an elliedeat pew-law was one of the most neonnesy swans for that country. Ha was an advo cate for giviq onbdoor relief ; and though he was aware that many MenNm attended the mese" he believed that it was einintely necessary in the present cir cumsances of the country. (Hear, hear.) What they should look to was not the intent of some indi vidual proprietors, who might be crushed by this measure, but the great body of the population. What he complained of was, that at pronst the Irbh labourers could not live by the sweat aerate brow. (Hear, hear.) He agreed with the noble lord dm simaber for Devon (Lord Courtenay) that a pose.law was the beat oilman tax for Ireland. Lori I. KANISW Ed& that =lees the government, fa molls the swan,did a great deal mars that Itiimpeserr a t measeasminsat to it, they might *l who bow dem asthim he if tbs number of e a ons who wave to be depeadms fos t sua se a pea-low was ea peas sato Mlle era abseit all the maim sad satahlatay by whisk that peowlser amid lie carried into i sank it maned to ban to be a emehery of the Irish people le my that by this imams they prepaid se ameliorate fact enedidem. (Near, hear.j No see y lay I the Mani pow-law measure ow say eine osuila I* swami Is the eassea• mots et enemas tette a salts= " of eari m =tioa he the IMMO • (=ND r berme their duty i=k, seloalste, seta hales brew the drennesteneas of mai Its is to seseampiate shammies to a pee ' aim* wins etpeaplaw Mist 'What wee the assemea Ha inis baggy le isqthet goverwaseut ha um& the woes wiry orrousenesia tar alkedi the masked Sheilides for traosceethe tee pals se ' by mem of a steam brad. (Mos.) 5s ass entitled I. say that Ms Reath,- easaes enielimedemerred le be somillesed is tom u mutt, We= aa doss wields boa luau fl ied is dust of any El Mbar wiWisman wire been referred to ia Issue et esmus (Clisies.) was, bowerer, rin deadMilly true, that wbfls sew puma who had property in bawd bed nobly pertiormad *dr duty, by exerting themedvei W Mine OS MN d walisriag around Lem, THE EXPRESS. TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 16, 1847. there were many others mho Aseived lupe incomes from that unntry had totally seglasted their duty, both to society enalbsemelves. It was for 'Ws mason that he rejoiced at that part of the pram* bill which would compel Roe pdemcn to contribute from their purses to the relief • u. (Hear, hear.) Arad if they were influenced by se ether principle, self-uttered must operate to induce them to keep down that distress by giving employment I. the people ; as they would be aware that If they did not, they , would have to pay for their support out of th eir own pockets. ' (Hear, hear.) 1 no, too, was due in justice to the other parts of the empire; for though the people of this country were ever ready to stand forward to relieve special and or went cases of distress, they had no right to be called upon to do so until they were minified that the property of Ireland contributed its fair share of the harden. (Hear.) These were the general reasons upon which he treated the house I would assent to this measure. He had confined his oleerra. tiuns to the principle of the measure, believing that the de tail, many of which were of very great importance, would be best discussed in committee, when he hoped they would receive the deliberation they deserved. Mr. \V. S. O'BRIEN, while admitting that it was im possible to exaggerate the extent of private charity in England for the relief of Irish distress, contended that it was the duty of the government to take measures to prevent the people from starving. With regard to the Irish land lords, though he did not stead there as their de fender, yet, as some honourable gentlemen had, ea the authority of individual instances, thought proper to make a general accusation against the whole body, he was justified on the authority of the instances quoted by the Secretary for Ireland in refuting that charge. The re solution against out-door relief come to by the Irish party he had been no party to. Since 1101, when he brought forward a proposition on the subject, he had been the warm advocate of a system of outdoor relief for the poor of Ire land; but, unless accompanied with other measures for de veloping the resources of the country, the attempt to give claim to the able-bodied labourers to relief would, in many instances, operate as a confiscation of the property. The proposition to make half the number of guar dians ex-officio members would be very unpopular. With regard to the question of rating he believed it would be impossible to frame a system by which the good landlord would be exempted and the bad landlord punished; but if they were to act upon the suggestion of his hon. friend the member for Northamptonshire and narrow the circle to electoral districts, he feared the very reverse would in many instances be the case, and that they would be absolutely giving a bonus to extermination. They bad been told that in Wexford while the rating in one electoral division wee Is. 7d., in another it was only 2d., a disparity which justified him in anticipating such a consequence. If there was no hope of their going beck to the union system of rating which was adopted after much consideration when the Irish Poet ize was introduced, he thought that the government might direct a revision to be made, if not of the union., of all the electoral divisions at least, so that property might be fairly balanced against pauperism. Let the measure be only jest, and he was quite prepared to abide the consequenece of it. Mr. ROEBUCK. (who was occasionally inaudible) repo dieted the imputation of the Recorder fir Dublin, that he (Mr. Roebuck) had been influenced by spite against the landlords of Ireland, by observing, that he bad taken especial eare to intimate that he did not know who the landlords of Ireland were. Indeed, for his own part, he believed that the real landlords of Ireland were the tax-gatherers and the mortgagees, against whom he could entertain no such feeling. But he did undoubtedly say that thou gentleman who fan cied themselves the possessor of large estates, had better be removed from their false position, and cease to be the nominal proprietors; of the soil than remain as they now were, a dead weight upon the resources of the country to the exclusion of the real proprietor,, who would otherwise use their energies to develops those resources. Gentlemen opposite said they were agreed upon all parts of the erasure before the house but out-door relief, and yet made speeches spinet say poor-law whatever. Ireland was in this remarkable position—that large masses of her predation did not subsist by wages, but were totally dependant upon small holdings of laud. To that circum games, end not to any national or religious feeling, was to be attributed those agrarian disturbances which so long cha racterised the country. The conspiracies which had been concocted in it were for the purpose of maintaining those small holdings against the domination of their landlords. They found no protection in the law ; they felt that they must protect themselves ; and, in the exigency of their posi tion were driven, through a wild spirit of revenge, to the crime of assassination ; having no law, as in England, to which they could look for food and shelter. The present calamity leads to investigation ; the people of England learn what has been going on. and, desirous of putting an end to so unhappy and unchristian a state of things, offer to intro duce into Ireland a law calculated not only to have that effect, but to induce, on the part of the people. obedience to the laws, and to all that morality demands, when the Irish landlord; step in and say, "It shall not be." (Hear, hear.) He could not conceive a more exalted ;preemie than the represernatires of a great people, putting aside all' selfish thoughts, and devoting themselves to the considerition of some well digested scheme of legislatioa for their fellow sub- , juts. Oa the other hand, nothing could be more degrading and debating, than to rice the rich banded for selfish purposes against the poor, and bringing all the powers which their intellect and 'ratios could command to resist that which should be an imperious call to beneficial exertion. He asked the house to Look here upon this picture. sad on this; The eounterfeit presentment of two brothers. The gentlemen of England and the gentlemen of Ireland. (Cheers.) The gentlemen of England demanded for their Irish fellow subjects what they believed to be their right, and he defied gentlemen opposite, with all their verbose talk, to prove what they averted, that what was fit for England might at the same time bo ruinous for Ireland. (Hear, here) Whose the right hon. and leer mienber fur Dublin University 'alerted that, by the proposed measure, Ireland would be ruined, what did he mean by Ireland? Did he mean the millions of her people, or the narrow sect of which the right hon. gentlemen himself was the favoured disciple. (Hear, hear.) Ireland woo • capital country for them, the dogs were in admirable order, and they must run about although the people were starving. He (Mr. Roebuck), had been accused, on a former evening, of stating what was not true, but those who had contra dicted him, coafirmed whathe said by their inadvertent admis sions. They seemed to him, in their twisting, and turnings, to reiemble the turkey, who, thrusting his head into • bush imagined that he concealed his whole body. (Laughter.) What was it they were fighting for ? They all professed anxiety for a poor.law, and the only point of difference was out-door relief. The right to that was generally conceded in England, and would any one assert that it was to be denied to the people of Ireland. He had never heard objec tions to relief measures for Ireland when England TM to pay, but when the Irish landlordswere calledon to contribute, then they called out that Ireland was ruined. Their Ireland meant themselves, and when they talked about her being ruined, they only meant that they were about to be called upon to do their duty. He could not conceive how measures like those proposed by government could be the ruin of any country. Ireland was just in that situation in which her advance might be expected, and although the landlords com plained of her being ruined, be saw many symptoms of im provement upon which he plated considerable value; he had lately seen in Liverpool large importations of cattle, of a very different breed from what formerly had been common in Ireland, a very significant proof, that notwith standing all the lachrymose statements they had heard, material improvements were going on. The fact was that no country in Europe had, during the last twenty years, improved more than Ireland, and her present outcry was an evidence of that improvement. People did not complain in the depths of their misery, it was only when they saw glimpses of a brighter future that they became clamorous. He rejoiced that they should complain,'but not in the way in which gentlemen opposite complai ned. The bon. mem ber for Limerick complained that Ireland had not a 'lanceted parliament. He could imagine the hon. member matehleg through the streets of Dublin in all the conse quence of a ' national representative, but if he would legislate for his sountry, he must also provide for her wants. (Hear, hear.) . Another gentleman had boasted how much the Irish lead. bids had taxed themselves; he said, " See, wo have pro moted 86,0001. twee over, being 2a. in the pound on our denial" Very true, but where had the money NM hem? He believed from the English exchequer. Tes s ..mewling to their own statement, it had been presented them, and paid by England, and that was called Is. in IM pound ea the Irish rental—a very Irish way of paying. (seer. bear.) It wee said it wee to be repaid. There was miefiting leR to a broken-down man but his promise to pay. The mummy was not broken down, but the 'outbids woos. Haim were not, why did they not pay? (" Hear, hese end laughter.) If tney were not ruined, they terf Mb ME7. (Hear.) If them was an honest co-operations/MeV Irishmen of different parties, it would be a subject of gratulation; hut there was none excepting where money was concerned, and the moment there was an really Irish in question they were at once dispersed. unity was that of parsons who were about to attar& inelhir man's purse. If he could see those gentlemen it was a eecterian matter that wu in question see the right hon. gentleman the Recorder of flag down like the kid withtlitlion, the hon. and learned megabit for Cork ; if he could Pee them in friendly conference, Win mooed by benevolent intsatkas; then he would believe in the truth and sincerit y . of their reconciliation. But he found that the smouldering bre et bigotry was still allight in the bosom of the right hoe. gentlemen (Mr. Shaw) silt we 16 years ago, when be stood side beside with the gentlemen now on the Treasury bench, in perilag a coercion bill. The bre el bigotry was not dead, end it was leered, when the hen. member for Kinsale brought forward a mesas a Trobled rag of bigotry, for they banded tegether e erpt pass it. Were not these t indorses et what Tea go. ins on in Ireland, and did they aot show that the rhgooll of that se ntr y was only to be hand la the good ems alas &OM sad SesiMalt nations ? Was ast this sallignerd to be b.& IS this sided the channel ? Was not the wear et her =bare ? Andletthem bowers how they emeredthe data attached kr to Ws es y. In every pint et the enaaliry it was asked how an aossably like that representing RP oi* of this oratory could ask for money hit *Aped= of - Hold& people who had neglected theft I dirty. The right hes. gentlemen (Mr . Shaw), in casting about for h is Mr . 'tieback's) =eves, said they were spite and 7 eetadarity-haalleg ; and that in er to peon this e was striving to ebb& a poor-law Sr What did this mean but obtabdes good Noah by goodies& ? He wished ihrtheapprobstion of cor n = wasort he thought he easy gain it by obtaining a eldageht geor-law Izeiend, obisk would make the land /mil onimatind their own Womb, and provide for their teti a.... stmenymen. If hum propeesint every imetketidaes that the Whim& Of Ireland should to eon -741107.10 have a poorlaw, and pay at an equal rate with those of England, e hand would be held up in hexer of the peopoeltlaa. Half of that had been negatived, but the great principle had been ad mitted, and it would and fa the full and complete taxation of the Irish landlords, both for the nationnl exche quer and for the poor. It was because he felt that it was an act of justice to Ireland and to England too, who had so long fostered the domination of the Irish landlords (for it was from England, who had so long done the wrong, that the right would come), and that Ireland would reap the full benefit of this poor-law, that :he supported it. The time would come when he would be able to criticise that great mass of legislation, which was called the Irian poor-law, and to show how inadequate it was at prount ; but as it was full of hope fur the future, he should support the bill. Sir W. VERNER thought that it was unjust, when the land was borne down almost to confiscation, that this tax should be laid upon it, when tradesmen and others in a like situation were exempted from it. In order to make the measure fair and just, there should be no exception. Ile thought it a bad argument to say that this bill should be supported because no better was proposed, and he also thought that there should be an opinion expressed upon it from all sides of th' house. Mr. M. J. O'CONNELL deprecated the unlimited and indiscriminate abuse which some hors. gentlemen in that house lavished upon the Irish landlords. He considered that the attack made by the hon. and learned member for Bath upon the right hon. Recorder fur Dublin was most un just. Ile (Mr. M. J. O'Connell) regarded the conduct of that right hon. and learned gentleman upon all Irish ques tions throughout the present session so most patriotic, and doers ing of all praise. As to the out-door relief clause of the bill, a' (Mr. O'Connell) was prepared, upon the gravest consideration of the subject, to support it. It was his in tention, when they came to the 10th clause, to support union rating. Hon. gentlemen oprsite seamed to direct all their declamation against the second cl luse of the bill; but he thought that by far the most perilous clause was the first, and that its provisions should be made more limited. He regretted the determination to which what war celled the Insh party had come against out-door relief. The hon. member for Bath had spoken of lamentable exhibitions ; he (Mr. M. J. O'Connell) thought that the most lamentable exhibitim of the session had been the attempts made by the hon. and learned member to rake up the old sectarian and political animosities that had heretofore divided the Irish representatives among themselves, and to throw the apple of discord anionoliem;at a moment when they were so disposed to forget all th.ii ancient differences, and to work together for the practical good of Ireland. (Hear.hear.) Mr. CALLAGHAN said he knew no reason why the people of Ireland should not be entitled to the same protec tion and relief from the proprietors of the soil as the poor of England enjoyed, and with this view he was willing to accede to the proposition of' the noble lord at the head of the government for granting out-door relief, but he could not sonde to the alteration in the constitution . of the boards of guardians, by the introduction of so many ex-officio mem bers, which was proposed. Sir A. BROOKE observed, that while he was willing to recognise the right of the poor man to look to property for his maintenance and support in times of distress, he could not assent to the proposition of the noble lord opposite (Lord J. Russell). The principle of out-door relief had • demoralising tendency, and those who were now employed on public works in Ireland would expect to be maintained under th., provisions of this measure without making any adequate return by the application of their labour to productive purposes. Neither did he see that the bill contained any security that the poor should derive a maintenance from the property is the district where distress prevailed. He did not think it would either be just or fair to saddle neighbourhoods with the dieted.' which existed elsewhere. He could not but express his dis approbation of almost every word that had fallen from the hon. member for Bath. His continued attacks on the Irish landlords were un-English in the extreme ; for it had always been held the characteristic of an Englishman not to strike a man when he was down. (Hear, hear.) The landlords generally had been charged with contributing little to the relief of the distress ; but he knew numbers who had sub scribed most liberally, and the charge ought, therefore, not to be made in this general way. Lord J. RUSSELL said he had stated, in the course of his speech on Friday evening, that, when he asked the deputation who waited capon m what coarse they would suggest, he had not heard any alternative proposed, except the private charity which prevailed in Ireland and in this country. He had since received a letter from Lord Monteagle, reminding him that he had omitted to state that one of the deputation referred to the willingness of the landed gentry in Ireland to bear any charge which might be put on their property for indoor relief and the extension of workhouses fur that purpose. (Hear, hear.) That suggestion had not made much impression upon his mind ; but had he recollected it at the time ho spoke (Friday), he should certainly have entered into some argument to show that the proposition was not a practicable one. (Hear.) But Lord Monteagls was per fectly correct as to this !suggestion having been made. The house then went Into committee pro forms, and im mediately afterwards resumed, the committee being appointed, to sit again on Friday. AGRICULTURAL TENANT RIGHT BILL. Mr. P USEY said he was very anxious that this bill should pass before Easter, and, if them was no objection, he would fix the committee for Friday. Mr. C. BERKELEY said be had every objection; be thought the bill a very bad one, and he hopd that as distant a day as possible would be fixed for the committee. Lord G. BENTINCK said the greatest alarm existed on the eunject of this bill, and he hoped some little mere time would be allowed before going into committee. One clause in the bill would render it null and void, as either landlord or te• ant might, if they chose, pass it by altogether . Mr. E. DENISON said the bill had parsed through s s. lect committee, and it contained no provisions calcalated to excite any such alarm as bad been spoken of by the noble lord. After a few words from Mr. Ackland, Mr. Stafford O'Brien, and Sir J. Y. Buller, Mr. PUSEY Axed the committee fit. :d id week, the understanding that another day would then be filed. DRAINAGE OP LANDS. . . . The Earl of ililaiiiVatiinecTeio bring in a bill for facilitating the drainage of lam'a in Great Britain: a bill similar to one he had introduced in a previous session. PORTLAND HARBOUR COMMITTEE. On the motion of Mr.theitdic;Crini — inembers I were appointed • select committee on Portland Harbour of Refuge and Breakwater Bill :—Mr. Ward, Admiral Dundas, Captain Berkeley, Mr. Dinka', Viscount Morpeth, Mr. Bernal, Mr. Christie, Sir James Graham, Mr. Parker, Mr. Seyiner.—The house adjourned at one o'clock he epprtgo. MAILS. The mails for Sign, Oporto, Lisbun, hfadeira, Cults, and Gibraltar, will be made up on the morning of the 11th March. Thu overlan.l reads for Gibraltar, MnMA, (Reece, the lonian blonde, ggypt, Aden, Ceylon, India, DongyKeng, and Chloe, em Boutnamploo, made np on the morning of the 20th of March. The overland closed mails, eiw Mareefiles, to the Mediterranean, Egypt, Aden, Ceylon, India, Moog Kong, &e., will be made op on the ;Inning of the 2lth March. The mail• foe New Routh Wales, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand will be made up on the evening of the 31st March. The Welt India mails, excluding those for Mexico, Ilandoros, and the Havarinah, will be mode up Ott the morning of the Slat March. The mails for British North Americo, Bermuda, and the United Mates, will be made up on the evening of the 3rd April. The mails foe the Broils, the Ricer Plate, Monte Video, Pernam buco, lisida, Madeira, and Buenos Ayres, will be made op on the evening of the 3th April. LONDON, TUESDAY, MARCH 16. SUCH of our readers as may have seen " Le Clerc's Logic" will remember that he has added to his chapter on the Sophisms a celebrated appendix on the Aryumentum Theoloyieum all incidia &damn, which he illustrates by that stupendous example of theological rancour and unfairness, the Epistle of ST. JEW)ME LOVIGILANTIUS, and Ithe nearest approach then made to it, the Jesuit IMBOURG'S " History of the League." In oar own day the Jekuits of France have rivalled Sr. JEROME himself in the use of this weapon against the national system of educa tion in France—a system which has only maintained its ground by the united exertions of the Liberals of all shades in that country ; but we confess that the recent opponents of national education in England threaten to rival the Jesuits in the use of this weapon, which they wield with a very auspicious similarity of manner. A fierce attack on the national system in Franco was put forth under the authority of the Propaganda, in 1840, by the Abbe GAROT. This worthy Jesuit undertook to prove that the national system of educa tion was devised by Atheists and Pantheists, and that it was equally opposed to the principles of Catho licism and religions liberty. It so happened that the Abbe knew nothing whatever about the origin or the originators of the plan, but such want of knowledge only rendered him more positive in his assertions, just as the BAINES manifesto declares that the mi nutes of council were framed by Episcopal clergymen, and the Patriot affirms that the educational articles in the Daily Notes were written under Unitarian influence; the Jesuit and the journalists hazarded guesses on matters of which they knew nothing, and, in the three instances, the guesses were wrong ; but this did not prevent the de visers of these false assumptions from making them the ground of elaborate argument. The public re cords of France refuted the Abbe • the Westminster Review, the Atheneum, and Other liberal jour nals free from any suspicion of ecclesiastical influence, which advocated measures similar to those proposed in the minutes of the Committee of Privy Council long before each a body had existence, furnish an answer to the BAINES manifesto, and our own knowledge enables us to give a direct contradiction to the Patriot. But LE CLERC has taught us that one of the first elements of Jesuit sophistry is the application of unpopular nicknames at random. The object of the Jesuits, set forth by Gunn and his brethren, was to establish general education con ducted by voluntary associations; the interference of the State, they said, would put an end to the exertions of the pious, the humane, and the charitable ; exer tions which they averred to be adequate to cope with the existing evils of society. " We believe," says CARLE, " that there never was a time when the world was less bad than it is now." And he had just as good grounds for his assertion as the Leeds Merelfey for its declaration that public aid, in the task of edam. tioa, is not required. The Jesuit advocates of civil and religions liberty asserted that the chief difficulty in a national system of education would be the recognition of every form of religion, whether tree or false. " You must rs ceive, says G.taeor, " all creeds, even the mat opposite and divergent; you must admit them arid jumble them together as clean and unclean beasts ia your NOAH'S aih. You place them in permanent cos ' filet and in suitable fermentation, to produce in the minds of youth a monstrous amalgam of troth and error." This, which the Alibi: facetiously calls " religioio-chemical operation," be says must lead to the results which his English imitators seem to dread, when they complain that the measure proposed by the government will exhibit its ministers " as engaged the authoritative maintenance of all existing religious systems, as if to them all were equally true, equally false, or equally indifferent." In every one of the Jesuit brochures we find the claim of the state to inspection denounced as inconsis tent with freedom of instruction. This is the great complaint of Father DESGARETS, w!. see work was recommended to public attention by the Bishop of CIIAItT7.ES. 'fo this GENIN made the conclusive reply, that " Instruction includes education and education, and that it was ns much the duty of a state to prevent mis-education ar.d its fatal consequences, as to check physical coetngion, forbid the sale of poison, and prohibit the appearance of tainted provi sions in the markets." _ . -- TheJ;;;;C:tian, L' ['siren:, was as firmly Cel vineed of the unity of spirit in the professors of the university, as the Leeds Mercury is of similar unity in the corps of government inspectors. The only dif. ferenec is, that the conductors of L' Univers had some knowledge of the professors, while the opponents d the Committee of Council in England have not tam the trouble to make any inquiry about the inspector,. The abbe CAP.LE anticipated Mr. BAINFA in the ob jection that interference with what he called liberty of instruction, would justify interference with the liberty of the press. " The press," said he, "is free; but is not the press a teacher? Why then should liberty be given to one form of instruction and not to the other ? Will not the same reasoning justify a censorship of both?" But the press is not free b teach doctrines perilous to the community, so long se courts of justice, its proper inspectors, exist in the land. . . MONTALEMBERT has similarly preceded Mr. BAINES by threatening the deputies who support the national system with vengeance at the hustings. " The true Catholics," he says,:' will never obtain anything until they become a serious embarrassment to the government ; then and then only will they be honoured with attention." So that Mr. BAINES'S threat, disguised as a prophecy, has not even the poor merit of originality. ".'iloNTAtenniticr proceeds: "To subdue the common enemy, the ea. tholies must enter the electoral arena with a fixed and well-defined plan of action, and that should be to reject all who are not prepared to work for them!" This Jesuit advice has been borrowed by the Patriot without yeknoti ismtment, owl given se aril.. to folds the oonductcf nonconformists at the next election.. The cry that the " superintendence of education by the state would give the state a monopoly of instruc tion" is actually the title of the very first pamphlet issued by the Jesuits against the national system is France; and is supported by showing that their semi naries will be injured, as they have resolved to resist the application of inspection. " Our teachers, alone, disarmed, tied hand and foot, cannot compete with the teachers of state schools, numerous, disciplined, and locked in steel," says the Jesuit Jaaor ; Mr. Mules makes a similar appeal for his favourite schools, but not in such poetic phrase. Would that Le CLEEC could have seen " The Objections to the Government Scheme of Public Education" just issued by a central committee; it would have supplied him with as striking Maitre ' Cone of the argument am theologicte m a 6 inrid4 &worm, as he derived front Sr. JEnoME or the Jesuit Maimnoutte; and when he saw the objections made by the Jesuits to national education in France, faith fully reproduced by the opponents of national educa tion in England, he would have been disposed to exclaim, " the bands verily are Esatfs hands, but the voice is the voice of JACOB." These objections will be found in another part of our paper with a running commentary, they arc worthy of being preserved as a new illustration of Le CLERC'S celebrated chapter. A JOURNAL which closely follows and fairly represents foreign policy in the opinions of Lord ABERDEEN and the Tories, announced last week that the alliance or understanding between England and France was at an end, and that the place of the latter by the side of England was now well filled by Prussia. We have a love and respect for everythme German, and for Prussia as the head and front et what is liberal, religiously or politically, in G • and none hailed in louder terms of approbat= late acts of the King of PRUSSIA than we did. But Prussia is not yet a first-rate power in the balance of Europe, nor can it, except under very pe culiar circumstances, fill the part of either France or of Ramie; in a great political alliance. In throe-fourths of the important international questions, capable of leading to dispute, and desirable to 'title by the power and weight derived from alliance, Primal" would be counted for noting. She is no naval power. The received maxim in the diplomacy of Europe is, that "there are but three countries which poems the initiative of war,"—which can, in other words, make war, or consequently menace it. These are England, France, and Russia. For the great and general purposes of political alliance, one of these cannot be replaced by an inferior power, not even by Austria. Sir ROBERT PEEL uttered the other day a very solemn andvery empty speech about Cracow, full of fine words, fine sentiments, and plausibility, but strongly marked by bad logic and false assertion. Sir ROBERT wished to impress upon Parliament the idea, that lie, as minister, bad played an even and impartial part between the powers of the East and France; that he had not allied with one against the other; but had sat upon his English Olympus, enacting Jupiter between them. This is very like his affecta tion of omniscience in domestic policy. Never was as oyster a more passive creature, opening its respire tory organ to whatever the tide sent him, and depen dent even for locomotion on the caprice of the element in which he found himself, than Sir ROBERT PEEL in his foreign policy. The fact is, that Sir ROBERT PEEL, who boasts d being free milieu, has been always exaggerated in his foreign policy. He of old defended the Aus trians' right to enter Naples, and to subjugate it. Had Lord GEORGE BENTINCK fished up that speech d PEEL'S, it would have served admirably, and Mitts little change of phraseology, to defend the Aideled absorption of Cracow. As to Sir ROBERT 'll keeping an even hand between France and the powers, it is notorious that daring his last tration he leant to France in a way to disgust the Northern and Eastern powers with England. It is well known that the royal visit to En, and to Windsor, betokening an intimate and family con nexion between the crowns, gave alarm both at St. Petersburg and Vienna; and was one of the mese which flung Prince NIETTERNICH irrecoverably into the councils of Russia. At that very meeting Lord ABERDEEN, he who had once supported the came d lqitimacy in Spain and Portugal, conj o i n tly with METTERNICH, at En consented to a son of the Ringo( FRANCE espousing a Spanish princess, on certain con tingcncies 'tis true, but contingencies easily set aside, or broken through, as we have seen. It is untrue, then, on the part of Sir ROBERT PEEL to state that his government preserved neu trality betw ern the power and the prospects d east and west. England, under the tories, as ander . the svhigs, leaned to France, and was right in se dank if it had observed measure and prudence, and foram the French King to be honest, to respect his word, and not to tarn the alliance and the confidenee arising from it to his own family gain. The result of Lord ABERDEEN and Sir ROBERT PEEL'S }Bagging LOUIS-PHILIPPE has been seen : it has produced a breach between us and France, which will require mach time and much good fortune to heal. The Times, whilst admitting and sanctioning this breach, recommends the government to make, at the same time, as decided a breach with Russia, by with holding the interest on the Russo-Dutch loan. Thal we are to quarrel at once with the two great naval and military powers of Europe, and prompt them to unite against us, whilst we are to oonnterbalanoe their formidable alliance by increased cordiality with Prim- SIC We shall not take the trouble to expose or refute ",