Star. — London, England, 1822-04-23 00:00:00

i \S v 6,404 duty now to submit to the 'House was very to that which he had elide in the year 1816, could not but remember the very different ci stances under which he had come forward occasion. In 1816 he was supported by three able, intelligent, and enlightened friends,. who no longer there to favour such an effort. It was his misfortune, .or rather it was that of the country, that • two of them had since that period sunk into the grave. When he mentioned the name of . Ponsonhy;' it was unnecessary for him to enlarge on the talentS of his late Right Hon. Friend. These were well known to that House, as were the opportunities which that Right Honourable.Gentleman had had of acquiring information relative to the affairs of Ice land, and the skill with which he had availed him self of them. When he mentioned the second name, ' he repeated a name so identified with Ireland, 'that no man could doubt the relation in which the wearer' of it had stood with respect, to, that country. Mil Grattan had through a long series of years watched over the interests Of Ireland, and had combated i her cause against those who favoured the Union in the Irish House of Commons--(Hour, hear).-- The Irish Parliament having been _pet an end to; Mr. Grattan, transferred to the English House of Commons, had fought the battles alms twuntry with the same energy, zeal, and perseverance here with which in Ireland he had struggled against those who vished for the extinction of that separate Parliament of which he had been a Member. The third indivi dual to whom be had alluded was still living, and had a seat in that House, though on the present oc casion he could not calculate on his assistance. That such was the case in the instance of the Right Hon. Gentleman to whom he referred, he lamented on his account and on that of the country. It was neces, sary that he (Sir John Newport) should detain the House for some time, but he begged to assure them that it would be his object to condense what he had to offer as much as the importance of the interests which he undertook to advocate would allow him to do, and he requested the House to follow him while he traced the situation of Ireland from its causes, and pointed out the progress of the evil from its com mencement up to the present time, with as sincere an attachment to the interests of both countries as any man in that House could boast. He hoped he should not be tedious. It would be necessary to make some reference to• figures, to shew the progress of Ireland to the state of degradation and disorganization in. which that country was found at present. He would attempt to shew the causes of the evil, and he prayed the House to look well at them, and thus enable themselves to determine what was the proper remedy to be applied. They would doubtless feel it their duty to do so, for he could conceive nothing more fallacious than for a Parliament to proceed to legis late, where their interference was demanded, with out first a?plying themselves to ascertain the cause of that evil vk hich made their interference necessary. Till this was fully known, it was absolutely itupossie ble that they could be competent to afford relief.— It was unnecessary for him to endeavour to impress , oa the House the magnitude of the question which now demanded their attention. It respected a popu lation in numbers immense, and an area of land un exampled for fertility. Why such a country, with a populat on signalized by the great deeds some from among them had performed in every quarter of the globe, should be placed in a situation which made perpetual coercion necessary, WAS that into which they had to inquire. They had to decide what it was that made a penal code, like that of Ireland, suitable for such a people—why the Government could not be administered but with the aid of a sys tem of perpetual punishment. Ireland presented an area of about 19,000,000 of English acres:, its po pulation had ben estimated as follows at different periods : In 1731 - • 1,670,000 In 1747 - . 2,000,000 la 1789 - - - 4,000,000 In.tats - . 6,000,000 —And 'by an enumeration itt the present day, it ap peared that the population of Ireland now amounted to nearly 7,00e,000. It was, then, in the cause of seven millions of people that they were now called upon to act, with a view of snatching them from a state of disorganization, and placing them in a situ ation to taste the blessings (which he was sorry to say they had not yet known) of the protecting tare of the Legislature of Great Britain. He could' attribute the causes of the evil to but one source—he would sum them all up in three words, expressive of the principle, if principle it could be called, on which Ireland had been governed through successive ages. The maxim acted upon in Ireland was the opposite of that which it was thought wise to adopt every where else—it was simply this, "Divide and govern!" —(llear).—lt was owing to the miserable policy that had obtained of attempting to govern the people of that ill-fated country, by sowing divisions among them,that those calamitous results had been witnessed which they had now so much cause to deplore. That it was the object of those to whom the Government. of Ireland had been confided, to set one part of the population against the other, could not be denied.— Were proof demanded, it could be supplied by the letter which a former Lord Chief Justice had written to the Archbishop of Canterbury, deprecating certain measures which were then on the point 9f being' adopted, because " they would tend to unite the pee. ple."fhe progress of the measures which had been thought suited to the state of Ireland had been marked by a deficiency in the revenue. He had no doubt that if a course different from that which had been taken at the time the Irish Parliament was ex tinguished had been preferred, that an opposite re sult would, have been witnessed. Had taxation been diminished instead of increased, its produce would have been greater. It was manifest that the absence of the large landholders, deprecated as one of the greatest of the evils which afflicted Ireland, was likely to be increased by the measure of the Union. That act had a tendency.to withdraw from the coun try its natural protectors.. The gentryof Ireland re moved to England, and consigned their territory to . other hands—to those who bad not the same anxiety for the welfare of those with whom they were thus connected. Deprived of the fostering me of their native gentry, that was taken from them, which the late Mr. Sheridan bad declared it was pecidiarly the duty of the English Government to supply—that in terest in each other's welfare which should bind the several classes together. lie would say, that it was . . ....ter further spgreassag them by improvident mode of taxation. U - rto the period - the Union, Ireland bad been lightly taxed. It ought to have continued lightly taxed, to induce the gensry to remain there. The'crattrari course had *ems takeur and the consequence was, while the amount of taxis tion had increased, its produce had diminished. He (Sir John Newport) hack-again and again opposed himself to this 'system. *His voice had .been raised against the imposition of such heavy taxes as had been laid on, and be had pointed out to.Governthent that they would reap as the fruits of their policy every harvest but the right one. He had predicted 'that they would reap a large harvest of discontent, but not of revenue. The). found the result what he had declared it must prove. The absentees had increased. A considerable number of the Irish gentry, broken up' in their circumstances, had left Ireland to take re fuge in the watering-places of this country. They had given up their establishments on the other side of the water, to come and vegetate in lodgings here. He considered that no greater evil could fall on a country than to have taxes increased, that whilethey were felt oppressively heavy by the people, they ceased to be productive to the Treasury. Since 1808 addi tional taxes had been imposed on Ireland, which it had been calculated would produce 4,000,0001. but instead of doing this the amount of the revenue de rived from Ireland h ad: decreased. The four millions thus laid on could not by possibility be paid, and po verty had paralyzed the hand of the tax-gatherer, and set limits to the omnipotence of Parliament. What had been paid had been partly taken from the, capital, and not from the income of the country, and that which he had foretold six years ago had come to. pass, and it was seen that additional taxes served but to diminish the revenue. While this enormous increase of taxation was 'going on, calculating on a revenue which it had been found impossible to raise, a debt had been contracted for Ireland, so great that had it continued to increase, its ultimate amount would have baffled all calculation. It had, however, been closed with what he called an act of bankruptcy (he could give it no other name), for on the Ist of January, 1817, the consolidation of the Exchequers of the two countries had taken place, and this country took upon herself the debt contracted for Ireland.... An Hon. Gentle Man, he remembered, had put a question to him (Sir John Newport) as to when he thought Ireland would be able to pay off part of the sum which had been borrowed on her account. His answer to the question was—" Never." This had caused a laugh, upon which he had declared that what he had said was spoken seriously. The taxes thrown on Ireland from the time of the Union, which amounted to two seventeenths of the whole revenue of the Empire, were so enormous that they could not be paid. He had said at the time, that if one seven teenth had been laid on instead of two, it might have been paid. In fact Ireland had paid in that propor. lion, or rather more. The sums borrowed to make up the other seventeenth, England had, and still has to pay. Notwithstanding the burdens thrown on the people, such was the fertility of the country, as his Right Hon. Friend the late . Member for Dublin had said, " for which PROVIDSNCIL bad done so much, and man so little, except to mar what PROVIDENCE had done," that in spite of all, its exports increased. He was, however, sorry to say that the effect of these Was not like what it might have been under a better system. It had been remarked in 1747, by Sir H. Boyle, that no two millions of people in Europe con sumed so little of the produce they raised, as the two millions who formed the population of Ireland. So now, he (Sir J. Newport) would say, that no seven millions of people consumed so little of the produce they raised as the seven millions that peopled Ireland. But why was this? It was almost impossible that it could have happened but for the system of govern ment which had been acted upon. If the exports had increased it was owing to the astonishing fertility of the country ; it was owing to the botinty of PROVI DENCI having outstripped the oppression of man. It was time that the attention of Parliament should be turned to this important subject. He had brought forward a motion like that which he had now to offer, in 1816. After some delay the discussion was fixed for April 24, in that year. The Noble Lord oppo site had then said, he hoped that on that day the de bate would be marked not only by a full attendance, but by their giving it their undivided attention. He had said it was peculiarly the duty of that House to watch over the rising greatness of Ireland, and to seek a remedy for those evils of which she complained. For " the rising greatness of Ireland," he knew not to what such words could be applied. He did not understand how they could be used, unless it was in the manner of the sarcastic remark made by a pea sant in the Low Countries, who, when Philip 111. was losing all his conquests, bad said, " the more that was taken from them, the greater they were proved.° In no other sense could he understand what had been said of " the rising greatness of Ireland." He could comprehend what was meant by the evils which then required a remedy. He hoped the Noble Lord was by this time prepared to come forward with that re medy which he thought was called for in 1816. He knew he should be told that the person now at the head of the Irish Government had been but a short time there. He had, however, he must say, it ap peared to him, been there long enough to form a pretty correct notion, with his previous knowledge of the subject, of the real state of the case. But all the members of the Administration were not new to the subject. The Secretary of State for the Home Department had long been Chief Secretary for Ire ' land, and must be well acquainted with the situation of the country. This subject had been brought for ward elsewhere, and the head of the Treasury had replied to a question put to him on the Affairs of Ire lend, " that the tithe question" (he should speak on I that presently)" was under the consideration of Go vernment, and he had -no difficulty in saying, that the right to recover tithes was the same in England as in Ireland, yet the situation of the two countries' was such, that that was practicable in England which was impracticable in Ireland, and therefore some measure to correct the evil appeared necessary." This had been said in 4816. He 'toped the child which was then an infant had now gained years of discre theritselves - upon _ sores of conciliation and relief, with a view of rais ing the population of 'Mend (rem its pre-sear wretched and degraded state. He, for his own part, considered with his Right Itilriend, the Member: for Dublin, that exile and were viot the only instruments which a Government should use to sus tain .its authority, but they. were rather to be re tarded as miserable expedients,• the use of which be trayed the absence of all that - deserved the name of , Government. ''On this principle he would act, and having proved himself ready on an extraordinary emergency to arm the Government with pospl% stronger than those entrusted to them by the dab nary laws, he l now desired to shew that these were not to beconsislered ask part of the system, but as a departure from the system to be laid down for. the g overnment of Ireland, not as the rule of govern ment (Goa forbid that it ever should be !)—but as an' exception from the rule. The country had felt, and'; he hoped by this dine was convinced of the steady determination of the Government, of the Legisla ture, and he hoped of every Member in that House, to punish outrage and insurrection. It was now fit that they should look to the evils which beset the' country, and endeavour to supply a remedy, where a remedy was necessary. This he wished to declare, end also to set forth that it was their object to adopt, with respect to Ireland, a mild and equitable system of law which could alone produce that change in the minds of the people which should lift them to that; state' in point of moral habits which was inseparable' from good government, and without which no good government could exist. If he could suppose that that House, in legislating for Ireland, might be ope rated upon by any selfish motives, he could shew ;hem that in proportion as Ireland had - declined, the demand for English manufactures had fallen off.— As taxation in Ireland had been augmented, the call for English goods had diminished, because those who were forinerly consumers ceased to be so, as they bad no longer the means of paying. He.now came to consider the rights of the Church. • For these no man could have a greater respect than he had. He. bad he been in Parliament, as certainly he was not at the time of the Union, would . never have.consented to such an adjustment, with respect to certain tithes, as was then proposed. But while anxious to pro tect the rights of the Church, he was not content that the rights of the People should go for nothing. How did it happen that infinitely more was taken from the People as tithes than went to the Church ? There was a perpetual contention between the tithe farmers and the wretched paupers, from whose food, of whatever description, infinitely mote was taken than ever found its way to the Clergy. Before he concluded he could not but declare it to be his opi nion that that change must be made in tie penal code which should admit every class of subjects to a just participation in the blessings of the British Constitution. On this corner stone he would say, whatever was to be done for the relief of Ireland, ought to be founded. He did not say, that this alone' would suffice to remove all the evils complained of. It was inconceivable that grievances which were the growth of centuries, springing from - that 'horrible code which was not a system . of law, but a system opposed to all laws human and divine, which arrayed in deadly opposition father against son, brother against brother, and friend against friend—it was inconceivable tint evils so deeply rooted could at once be removed by any change that might be de vised. He could not say that such 'an effect would Ibe produced by reforming the penal code, but this he would say, that was the basis on which their measures for the relief of Ireland ought to be grounded. He knew that it had been tauntingly said, the vices imputed to the population of Ireland justified the coercion to which they were subjected.— But how, he would ask, did it happen that these puted vices attached to them only on their own soil, and were not found in connection with the Irish cha racter elsewhere? The question was easily answered. —lt was, because in Ireland that penal code was in force, which did not extend to other parts. That system which set father against son, and brother against bruther,was not felt elsewhere, and the natu ral feelings of benevolence and good-will, which glowed as warmly in an Irish heart as in that of any human being, were then called fairly into play.— Those who doubted this knew little of the Irish cha racter. The Address with which he was about to 1, conclude, though couched in terms as temperate as could be used, was, he understood to be put aside as not. proper to be adopted at this moment. Such had been the language held through the last two-and twenty years. It had allays been said the right time bad not yet arrived—that the attempt to relieve ought to be put off till to-morrow. He hoped the House would brook no longer delay,. for that to-morrow never would arrive, if the Legislature did not inter fere on behalf of Ireland till the Government called on them to do so. Ha concluded by submitting the following motion: “ That an humble Address be presented to his Majesty, to re. present that the melancholy details contained in his •illajectes gracious Speech from the Throne, and the .documents laid before tta at the opening of the Session of Parliament respraing the in. ternal disquiet of considerable districts of Ireland, oblige us to consider the state of that extensive and valuable part of the United Kingdom as most cljairesdng and afflicting to the Legis lature, and dangerous in an extreme degree to the well-being the Empire. That under circumstances of daring. insubordina tion to the laws, atrocious outrage, and insurrection, tie LVgis-* lature deemed it to be its first duty to arm the Executive Po venynent with all the powers which were considered requisite,, to punish outrage, to suppress insurrection, and to restore its accustomed and salutary energy to the administration of conui tution4 law. We trust that the con fi dence placed by Parliament in the Executive Government of Ireland will belound to have been jnetified by the mild and temperate, yet firm exercise of these extraordinary power!, and calculated to produce most bean -6441 present results. That having thus provided for this cab , pitons emergency, with reference to its immediate - pressure, we feel ourselves now called upon to look to the great ulterior object, of a prpessive And permanent amelicgation of the condition and moral habits of the people. Decidedly impresied with a conviction of the alarming consequences which must tenth from a kmger lanninuance of the disorganised state of Ireland, which has compelled the frequent recurrence of applications to Parlia ment for a suspension of constitutional law, and feeling the serious respontability which must attach on the Ministers of the Crown and on this !louse, from longer delaying to examine fully and 'effectually into. the causes of that disorganization, we desire to assure his Majesty of the zealous co-operatkxt of this House I - 4 °Mod, etel h "nag as ea. the Unit e d la edict that w% which invilklity . said, cr , . a lama tad felt embarrassed is rising w this subject, how m uc h more embervaseed amest•he (Mr. Goulbamgeel in offeringhimself to the notice of the House, to spe a k an the affairs of a country with which he had bee n ,connected so short a time, and with talents so infe. Sitar to those of the Honourable Baronet. Bat white be thought it necessary to claim the indulgence of ti House, Ire would engage to follow the etanyk rf the Right Hon. Baronet, by not trespassing on tbei t time longer than the importance of the , abject e t . mantled. - With respect to the question now W ed the House, he trusted that he should not math en wheille considered theobject of the Right Lim. IL. ronet in bringing it forward to be rather to prom a discussion on' the affairs of Ireland, than to get th at Address carried. Ile did not deny but there w rlt facts and arguments embraced by the Address s‘ii:ds. he was not prepared to dispute, and in which be star ready to cdnear. He agreed that disorders hat r e . railed in Ireland—that to meet these, the Hnuse its wisdom had given the Government of that coun try. those .extraordinary powers which were thought necessary, nor could he doubt that those powers would be found to have been used with that fit mess wit:l.4 was necessary to put down the disorders which p re . vailed, yet, at the same time, with that mildness and moderation which ought always to attend the est,. case of powers like those alluded to. He did not der, that such measures ought not to form the rule of ar:v Government. He agreed that it was the duty of Ga vernment, in the first instance, to controul those ar• dent spirits which weie found engaged in acts of re bellion and outrage, and be also agreed that, that done, theirs was the higher duty of endeavouring to root out the cause of the evil. To ascertain the real grounds of complaint was that which it was their duty to do=to inquire what would be the proper re medy, and to come to Parliament for such measures as promised to supply a permanent cure. Bit con curring with the Right Hon. Baronet in all these in stances, be could not go a step farther, an . say that it would be proper to present to the Throne the Ad dress now before the House. It was not clear to Lin that there were grounds for presenting an Address to the CiciWn, merely because the facts which it staled were trite. To do this would be a deviation from ti.: established course, which might prove highly inter.• ,sistent, if not dangerous; and for this reason, on th: pteCent'occasion, he sho ild move the previops gun- Wen. The Address, it taken simply according to U.S words it contained, would seem to instruct the Crown what was the duty of a Government; and it would be no very gracious compliment to the Government in question, to suppose it so destitute of c-tpacity, not to be aware that the first principles on which a Government should act, required of thefts that they should not only punish crimes when committed, but that they should endeavour to root out the cause.— But the Address went further than this. Every one who had sat any time in that House, knew the mo tives with which such Resolutions were brought for ward, and the grounds on which they were resisted. The Government so advised to attend to its duty must, 'if such an Address were carried, be supposed to have neglected it hitherto, or not to have known what its duty was, aria would in either case appear to be unworthy of the confidence of that House.— Viewing it in this light, he must object to the adop tion of the Address ; 'and he would proceed•to some reasons why, in his judgment, the I: ish Go vernment did not deserve that an imputation ef that sort should be' thrown upon them, and wl it would not only be extremely unjust to the Gc vernment, but likewise detrimental to the conntry. If the present Government had been long in the ad ministration of Irish affairs, and had neglected to turn their attention to the questions no•.v brought forward, he w ould adMit'tbat there would be grounds to doubt their readiness to undertake, and their ca pacity to supply a remedy for the evils complained of. But he had a right to press on the consideratioa of the House the very short period which had passed since the present Irish Government had been in power. It was surely too much that a Government which had been in existence but little more than three months should be called on by the Hon. Baronet to be ready with a remedy for evils which were the growth of centuries, and visited with censure for not having already made a sensible progress to wards re moving them. To act thus would not be the way to animate them to a better discharge of their duty, nor would it be likely to accomplish any of the objects which the Right lion. Baronet professed to have at heart. To supply a permanent remedy for the evils complained of in Ireland, and to adopt the best mode of promoting its interests, were undoubtedly objects of .great importance ; but the consideration of these involved questions of great intricacy and delicacy, as the. Hon. Baronet himself would admit, and as was proved by the slow and gradual steps by which former Governments, when they had been long in the Administration of Ireland, bad thought it neces sary to advance. He would ask them was it just, under all the circumstances, to cast an imputation on a Government that had not been in power thin months, he should rather-say seven weeks, (tor seven weeks had elapsed siucetheGovernment bad been lastembled in Ireland), because they had not been able to accomplish that which other Governments, after being long in office, had found it so difficult to attempt' fluvwhen the time was considered at which such a step • was suggested, and the situation of Ireland was taken into. consideration, the proposition then nt .surued a far more important shape. Ile thought .every one would agree with him, that to se.ect a mc ment of great difficulty, when it had been necessary to arm the Government •with extraordinary r ower, on which alone they could depend for the tranquillity of Ireland, to take such a moment for casting a Pat liamentary stigma on that Government, and thus to announce to the people that they were governed hi' those who were unworthy of confidence, would t to increase the evils which were admitted to exist. It would be idle to say the people of Ireland would nti understand such to be the meaning of 2 vote of di.tt House, like that which he had supposed. The Irish people were gifted with a qukkuess of verceptits:. surpassing perhaps that of every other people k 3 • • • • • =Mt the peculiar. day of Peril bat tiro**, .0161 ,6 1 1 11. voralthhaft thir - gAtvallaW hl %Mabel , Pantile at ate Aar dedeNle 444 sh i t of . that climate,. whichlt baßg Jre. se -leas idoodroG world at . last done.— 'effecting melt a system at remedial Memo% awasay and and to c o, by,pirer means the . Wboao d retwrittoilight wouidu lasvAd. : sailided aniasa b Y the lik upo t a terfu l estY p tr e g e t c l inn tbat a r i mik r u nf id medertbir benip arid salutary Wilma teepee circupi- , effect which the Act of Unian troy yto produce dress, oilikh came to thie--eat the Legidntore..bnv., on that in the way hefted described.. If the absentees were ing Oda& to the goeerosoont throe inoathgraipo. Alb Improvemeet tie condition of die people. ee most before too numerous, it was the duty of Parliament dm. powers of coerboa' which they had - c......A... 1 —"" to th_tvevaal.~ siamvsed with the best hutted and p r bo were to guard against their further • • ;hem by an lie necessary to repress insabordiaatioit and . N said. W mann. WAS his ; nrnvirlent mode of taxation. pie the period of they -now felt themselves called upon to adopt inn- tat"j l . o I I • -I` • -IL • /* • 11.1, 1/6111101.111,1•11014.01 in lAA !MP AM Able asshimump_ i. .w , 1. 'z: , ! ~ ~. ...t%'"