The Sun. — London, England, 1846-04-28 00:00:00

t the expiration of p orAnt i m „ , ally besie.oed when be retuined, he was aetu ,--- yeomanry tenants to give them the same amount of -xoney that they might pull down their cabins also, lle complir 'and the tenements were handed back to the ori'inal tena.As, not one single one of them being turned out. The i ont's own statement of the matter was, that on afterwards tisiting the place the feeling there was quite otherwise than hostile. lie had about ninety men draining, and three hundred men in Tullamore employed at the same work. He thought, therefore, that the Noble Lord should have some protection from those anonymous assailers who were ignorant of his character. Lord IN GESTRE rose to corroborate what fell from the Hon. Member who had just sat down, and he could do so with the more accuracy, as he had himself resided near the Noble Lord's property in question, and had been an eye-witness of the circumstances referred to. The Noble Lord then read a letter from the agent of the Noble Lord (the Marquis of Wate , :_ ford), in which facts similar to those read bY - Major Beresford were detailed, as also that every exertion •Was made to give employment by enclosing slobs, &c. In addition to this, it stated that several applications had been lecetved from cottiers, whose houses were still remaining, that they would gladly pull them down on the same terms as the others whose houses were puP.ed down. A similar statement to that now made was 'wade some time ago by the Honourable Baronet the Member for Waterßird, Which he (Lord Inges.' re ) contradicted at that time. He could giv., the statement now made a similar contradiction. Lord Waterford was employing 300 men on the river c air, and had as many employed at Danger van, and wherev er he had property the same desire prevailed to afford employment to the working people. He was glad of the opportunity ',Mich this circumstance afforded, to bear his testi mony to 4 .,'ne conduct of the Noble Lord in giving employment. Mr. JOHN O'CONNELL said he thanked the Gallent Order for the manner in which he.had dealt with this etibject in ieference to him-elf, and the manner in which he had brought forward this charge. But with regard to the charge itself, the Gallant Officer expressed his surprise at his (Mr.,J. O'Grs bell's) having adopted it, as he had done, without inquiry. The Gallant Officer had, however, done him (Mr. J. O'Coune ) the justice to say that the charge had been before the With for two or three days, and had not been contradicted. With regard to other similar charges they had met with prompt I contradictions, but the one now in question had not. s fle , 'Was glad, however, that the Gallant Officer had taken by the matter in this way, and had afforded the explanation the House had just heard in reference to the conduct of the Marquis of Waterford. He was glad also to hear such (testi mony borne to the Noble Marquis as a resident landierd, and he (Mr. J. O'Connell) could only wish that other Irish landlords were like him.—( Hear, hear.) With regard to the circum stance of the burning of his Lordshi , ;,'s stables and the poi soning of his boands, he (Mr. J. O'Connell) had heard that that was the act of a refractory servant, and that the people of the district had expressed the strongest feelings of annoyance at the circutostance.—(Hear, hear.) After the exple:nation of the Gallant Officer, there vos but one course open to him (Mr. .1. Conreli), and that was to express Ms sorrow for what he had said, and he had now great pleasure in adding that he was glad to find he had been anis. taken.—( Hear, hear.) 'Mr. O'CONNELL said he could bear his testimony to the conduct of the Marquis of Waterford as an excellent landlord; and he had no power of language in which to express how grateful the people felt for the kindness of the excellent lady of the Noble Marquis.—( Hear, hear.) There could be no doubt of it that the Noble Marquis was one of the best landlords in -Ireland, and it was in proportion as he was good that this charge was the more felt. He was not only an excellent land lord, but his tenants were the happiest of their cia's. But With regard to the charge appearing in the newspaper, that was the only source the poor had ; and when a charge appeared in that way, it could be the more promptly contradicted if un ' true, and in this case the contradiction would now go all over the empire. After a few words from Major BERESFORD in expla nation , Mr: P. SCROPE !aid the House ought to draw a morel from these cases of ejectment. and devise some meant of de fence for the population. He should like to ask why the House should have brought under its notice at all the ejections — of tenants by their landlords, or why the newspapers should take up the matter, unless it was that the public sympathised ;":With the parties so ejected? There was no other reason. tenants, when turned out, had no wens of subsistence, and tbey were left to starve, hence it was that the public took an interest in them. He was quite convinced that the Marquis ' of 'Waterford was an excellent landlord, still that was no reason he should, under the circumstances, have acted as he had done. It did appear a harsh measure that so many should have been ejected, though it was said they went otit willingly. He did Dot think it was so, for though they received two or three Pounds, that was not the reason that induced them to leave, but the knowledge that they would be eerved with an eject , tient if they did not do so. As he before said, he should draw o moral from cases of this kind, and give a defence to the tenants and the population of Ireland such as the people of England had enjoyed for centuries. THE BRIDPORT ELECTION. Mr. CHRISTIE wished to ask a question from the Hon. Member for Halifax, the chairman of the Committee appointed to inquire into this election. In the petition on which this Committee was appointed, it was stated that the grossest practices had prevailed—treating, bribery, and corruption—by which the election had been gained. And it was further stated that such was the extent of this bribery and corruption, that Dot less than ninety-six individuals had been objected to on the ground of the bribery and corruption alleged. When the Committee met, after some skirmishing, it way determined to bring the matter to a scrutiny, and the result of that scrutiny was a transfer of ens vote to the opposing candidate. This was, in fact, effected by an arrange ment between counsel. An Act was passed in the year 1842, at the instance of the Hon. Member for the City of London, for the purpose of providing against any compromise by which a case of bribery should be prevented from being brought under the cognizance of an election Committee. The impression of the Committee in this case was, that there was a compromise to prevent such an exposure. The first clause of that Act provided that in every Committee for the trial of an election, . and in which the petition shall have been withdrawn, or in which the charge of bribery shall have been withdrawn, the Committee shall have the power of examining into the case, and calling such persons as would be likely to give any , infor- Mation. The question he wished to ask was, whether the Committee had instituted any inquiry into the circumstances under which the charge of bribery was not prosecuted, or whether they bad considered it necessary to prevent any further inquiry into this case ? The borough of Bridport was the sub ject of one compromise prior to the passing of this Act, and it was right that the pure and independent electors should have the power of justifying themselves against the present imputa tion on their borough. Mr. CHARLES WOOD said that he had to acknowledge die courtesy of his Hon. Friend in giving him notice of this question. His Hon. Friends who were present with him in the Committee were not present, but he had no doubt that he could say on their parts, that they had no objection to make the fullest explanation. He was aware that an Act recently passed prevented any voluntary compromise, but he thought that it was the first duty of the Committee to do impartial justice between the parties, as i n a l egal tribunal. It was proved before them that a person who voted for Mr. Hominy was entered for Mr. Cochrane. The number of voters objected to amounted to ninety-six, some for bribery, some for improper registration. He would now come to the question as to whether they ought to have examined into the question of bribery. He had never sat upon an Election Committee in which there was not an allegation of bribery; so, therefore, there was no particular value in the allegation of bribery in this petition ; and there being no evidence whatsoever of the existence of bribery, he did not think they were called upon to inquire further into the subject. Mr. BANKES did not rise to complain of the discretion ex ercised by the Committee as to inquiring or not inquiring inn the allegations of bribery. He should hope, however, for the honour of the county with which he was concerted, that the borough of Bridport was just as immaculate as any other borough on the question of bribery. —( Hear, hear, andlaughter. ) He found no allegation of bribery in the petition. A vote was tendered for one party and entered for another, and the Com mittee did not inquire into the question of bribery. That was the reason why he wished the evidence should be printed. He did not desire to offer any remarks on behalf of the Member who had been unseated, nor had he any instructions to do so. What he wished in making those remarks was to exculpate the borough from the charges made against it. For that pur pose, he begged now to move as a n amendment that the evi dence and the decision of that Committee be printed.—(lt was here intimated to the Hon. Member that it was not competent for him to do so.) Then lie would give notice that he would make a motion to that effect to-morrow. Sir GEORGE GREY said he would suggest that it would be well if the House did not interfere in this matter at a 11..— (Hear, hear.) If decisions of Committee were to be mooted in that way in the House, and discussed h e re after they h a d been arrived at, the result would be that Election Committees who decided upon their oath would nave no effect on public esti mation. Lord JOHN MANNERS said, that two charges had been made, one, that bribery had taken place,and the other, an attempt to compromise the charge. Now, the fact was, that the allegation of bribery had been aenied altogeth er , four or five in as well as any attempt at c ompromise. It was true that thousand pounds had been expended the progress of the election, but that was merely to carry it on. Mr. CHRISTIE said he had not made any charges, he merely alluded to the decision of the Committee. Mr. BRIGHT said that in respect to the election at Wigan, a case somewhat similar arose. In that case the charge was extensive treating ; in that of Bridport, the charge was ex tensive bribery, and he believed there was some reason for be lieving the charge was correct.—(Cries of " Oh, oh " and laughter.) He hoped there was not; but if there was, nothing was proposed to be done in the shape of a remedy ; and so long as this state of things continued, the returns to this House would be little better than a mere farce, for a long purse was the test of admissibility to this House. He did trust before long the Government would look into this matter, and bring forward some measure which would reflect credit on the House and the country.—( Hear, hear. ) Several Host. Members having risen simultaneously to ad ress the House, The SPEAKER cried " Order," and said—l hope the house will see the inconvenience of discussing three or four questions at once.—( Laughter.) The order of the day is the first reading of the Bill for the better protection of life in Ire land, and I have called on the Hon. Member (Captain Co.. Dolly) to address the House, and he is, therefore, in the Possession of the House.—( Hear, hear.) Captain CONOLLY stated he wished to make some ob servations w i t h respect to the statements of the Hon. Member for the city of Limerick (Mr. W. S. O'Brien). That Hon. Gentleman h a d stated in the eourse of this debate th a t seven families or p ersons had n . ejected from the estates of Sir Francis Hopkins very recently Conolly) held in his hand a letter Now he (Captain er from that gentle man totally denying the truth of that st a t emen t . Sir Francis Hopkins h a d caused a search to t be m a d e if any e jectments ejectments had been ma d e during his minority , • and he de c l are d that, during that tim e , t h ere were two cases ' ,o f ejectm en t, i n which five individ ua l s were removed. He (C aptain 'J. O'Connell a Conolly) thought the Hon. M em b er ( Mr. n , r ow a e t v i e o r n , brought it forward und er th e i mpression that the in f o rmation he had received warranted him in doing so. the Mr. J. O' CaptaC ON i NELL said he had no r eason to complain of Gallant n. He (Mr. J. O'Connell) had given full notice of his intention to bring the subject forward, and the Gallant Captain had a perfect right to defend the gentleman referred to. He (Mr. J. O'Connell) said the circumstances referred to had appeared for a long time; and the other night he read a list of ejec t men t s , b u t h e di d not comment on any thing in reference to Sir Francis H ep ki ns. He had moved for the returns before Easter, in order to bring the subject for ward, but he had put it off till after the holidays, in order to get information front parties who promised it. Most parties had not yet furnished it, but whenever they did so, and he brought forward his motion, the Gallant Captain would have the fullest opportunity of meeting anything that might be brought forward. OUTRAGES IN SHEFFIELD. Mr: CALEB POWELL said that he assured his Hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, that in the question which he should presently put to the Hon. Gentleman at the head of the Home Department, he had no intention to urge the Government to take any proceedings contrary to the prin ciples of the constitution, but he merely wished to display to the House and the country the great disparity between the treatment of the people in England and Ireland. The other evening, when he took the liberty of addressing a question to the Right Hon. Gentleman, calling his attention to a state am AM appeared in a Weal jowne4 and which accidentally TILE SUN ) IiON 1)0N, TUESDA iEVPN G, APRIL 28, 1846. Some Honourable Members named as rt. reinedy en extensive system of out-deer eelier ; but if the Hon. and Learned Member for Cork, and those who supported him were asked to assist in passing such a measuro they would say, no. They were even opposed to the. present needified `eel' s tem of poor-laws in that country. ThiS of tenure, and a tax on absentee lendlotels Teel , Sillotner panacea, while other Hon. Members yeanteel a measure for remedying the defects of the law fe; regulating landlords and tenstets. Where ~ticl~ n e io4 o e r x e i r s o t tn ede t v . even a t m :, o kb ri tt e; of relief thet ask likelY tei supported. For himself he would difficultitiversitY eele, if cry improvement in the poor.law was proposed, he hoped the absentee landlords would be taxed.—,( Hear, heir„) f o o f r op th i But the Hon. Members who represveted talr!ed medial measures—thy.dit! het trite what those measures were eshieb. irse' r e Coineeli.'ed calculated to do justice to the people Caiiitry ? But as long as the representatives from Ire land confined their observations to repeetitt, and Oiteretiiig the complaints calculated tti &elite the, p•essienis Of th e Irish people, tliey must not be se.fpeN . o th'er, nentevei Wete represented by , thefC6oe.ef Peiglatid, and it they were con eide,eect le be indifferent to the calamities of their detintrymen. , • Colonel VERNER said th a t theughje „evies very ear) , tn. blame the landlords of Ireler%_d f 4. siafe of society neisetetlei reel rd, yet he could prove that they eeee'y were psif!ectly innocent of this crime, for he could prove, on undoubted authority, that there was an extensive organiea lion on foot, which had exists el for ferey, ye4S, to eiqeerisi nate the Proteetante e .ased effects separation between Ense- Iptde.ed !rtle.':i.—(Clies of " No, no ") He could prove it. Fie conld refer to sentences delivered by Hon. Members re presenting counties in Ireland in that fouse ewhieh, wonld amply justify the people out of the .peu?,e ' tseeOn•it, feelings of resenetreeeet. th'e 111 Mber for Cork had ad tnitetcl ghat Mkt courtier had increased, and that all the mCishres of Government seemed to give an increased impetus to crime. Now, what would he have done if i fie wielied to put down this state of things, in Ireland He *dell put down agitation ated...agita'tei.4. Hes Would put down all secret ssecieetiet liits.adie they were in a primary degree the cause of ~„.. every evil. He would put an end to all concession —(Bear, hear, and Oh, oh)—and conciliatiene- e -(RenetWed cries of " Oh, oh.") (The • Hoet. teed Ctil/antMember read quotations from the KestiefedZ, to show that the concessions made to be little, were not productive of any improvement in the social state of Ireland.) He would refer to a petition from the Re peal Wardens of Wexford, which heel been lA - infer! with the votes, and in that,petftieft i!..:04111; the House would find ahundett, etictisnae to support the view he took on this qtrs. Ite did not think it would be necessary for him to say one word more upon the subject. Mr. HAWES said that he .could net•;, i egrte With litany of the opinions, advanced by ti.3.,e inn. Member (Mr. H. Baillie), who hied s i eii thit evening, and still less could he concur in the opinions of the Hen. and Gallant Member who had last spoken, that the best way to put down agitation in Ireland was by the passing of strong measures. He should have thought that the party to which the Hon. and Gallant Member be longed had had enotigh of strong measures.—( Hear, hear. ) Etc distinely maintained that Government had not made out the case for this Bill, and upon this declaration he would take his stand. Had crime increased in Ireland of late? Most as suredly not; and if the House would bear with him for a while, he would convince them of this. Now, the Right Hon. Baronet the fletsretary for the Home Department had laid a Pape; upon the table of the House, showing the number of criminal offenders committed for trial in 1845, and this paper showed a considerable decrease as compared with former years ; indeed, it exhibited a decrease of 43 per cent., and this decrease extended itself to all classes of crime, and as regarded the crime of murder, there had been a decrease of 28 per cent. Now, there was nothing in this to show a necessity for a Coercion Bill. But he might be told that it was true crime had decreased in Ireland generally; but that in particular counties it had increased.--(Hear, hear.) And this Bill was only intended to give power to proclaim particular counties, and in this way it might be said that a case was made out for the Bill. But how stood the fact? He would take the counties mentioned by the Right Hon. Baronet, and see whether the returns exhibited this increase. If the House would take the trouble to look at the returns, they would find that the follow ing were the results, so far as detailed murders were concerned : Years, Tipperary. Roscommon. Letrim. Clare. Total. 1841 22 4 1 4 31 1842 10 8 2 52 72 1843 18 0 11 0 29 1844 21 10 2 3 36 1845 30 0 1 4 35 So that, as regarded the particular crime of murder in these alleged disturbed counties, they could find no justification for a measure of this description. Since this return, however, was made, another had been produced, which was called for by the Hon. Member for Liskeard, and which contained a return made by the police of offences committed in Ireland during the years 1842, 1843, 1844, and 1845 ; but he believed nothing would be found in this return to justify the passing of a Coercion Bill.— ( Hear, hear.) The return gave the number of outrages com mitted which had come to the knowledge of the police, under the three great heads, namely, offences against the per son , against property, and a ga i ns t the public peace ; and from this return he gathered the following results : Years. Person. Property. Peace. 1842 1411 2190 2187 1843 1442 2201 2315 1844 1700 2321 2282 1845 1608 2216 4161 There was a branch of offences, in respect of which he ad mitted the return exhibited an increase. The crime of send ing threatening notices had increased in Ireland of late and in the following ratio :—ln 1842 the number was 1,216 ; in 1843, 1,212; in 1844, 13,332; and in 1845, 2,645; but Ministers could not for a moment contend that this was a justi fication for the passing of their Bill.—( Hear, hear.) It might be said that undetected crime in Ireland had increased, but he found, on looking to the returns, that the committals of 1845 bore an equal proportion to the committals of 1844. He wanted to know, then, upon what grounds this Bill was to be justified? Since the Union, seventeen blots of this cha racter had dropped upon the statute-book ; but in no instance had they accomplished the end for which they were intended. They had, however, the example of a Government who tried the experiment of governing Ireland with a Coercion Bill ; and the result, he was happ) to say—and the House and the country must be happy —to find that the result was most suc cessful. It was only necessary to refer to the Administration of Lord Norrnanby to find evidence sufficiently conclusive of this, and in the report of the Lords' Committee on the state of Ireland, they had the testimony of individuals of known experi ence and ability in Ireland, who declared that during that Admi nistration crime diminished, and the country flourished to an amazing extent. And all this was attributed to,the improvements introduced into the administration of justice. Now, he thought he had sufficiently shown that the returns of crime in Ireland did not justify the passing of this coercive measure; while, on the other hand, he had directed the attention of the House to a period when Ireland was governed without a Coercion Bill, and yet peace and tranquillity prevailed, and crime diminished. They ought, then, to be guided by this experience, and not to resort to strong and vigorous measures unless they were justi fied by circumstances of the most aggravating description. Those circumstances did not exist at the present moment, and he could see no reason for the passing of this Bill, unless it were to inerease the discontent which already existed in the sister country. In July, 1814, the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Government introduced a Bill of a similar description, but it failed then; ar.d he thought the experience which they had had in the interval was sufficient to convince them that coercive measuresseldom or never met with success. There was nothing to justify this Bill, either in the outward appearance of the country, or in the documentary evidence which came from Ireland. The measure, or rather a similar measure, was opposed in 1814 by Mr. Warner, and that great and good man, Sir Samuel Romilly, who declared that measures of this description never allayed excitement, or pro duced respect for the laws; and it was in emulation of those bygone philanthropists that he now, to the utmost of his humble ability, opposed this unjust and unnecessary measure. He was determined to join the Irish Members in their determined op position to this Bill—(Hear, hear)—and he condeivetttliarhe should be perfectly justified in so doing. This measure was brought down from the Lords with a full knowledge of its ten dency, and though the Right Hon. Gentleman had withdrawn the declaration which he had made when he introduced it, he (Mr. Hawes) still could not help thinking that had this Bill met with an unanimous reception, it would have produced a great moral effect upon the people of Ireland—(Hear, hear) — and that, on the contrary, the measure had lost all its virtues, if it had any in the eyes of the people, in consequence of the jus tifiably determined opposition with which it had been met— ( Hear, hear.) He firmly believed that it was a useless and unnecessary Bill.—(Hear, hear.) Its moral effect had gone. All the popular representatives of Ireland had denied the accu racy of the statements made by the members of the Govern ment in support of this measure, and they had also unani mously told the House that it would be perfectly useless.— ( Hear.) And from the number of threatening notices which had been sent since its introduction, he firmly believed that that assurance of the Irish representatives was grounded on facts. It would, therefore, be useless for the House to perse vere with it.—( Hear, hear.) He could hope that the Mem bers of the Government would not think it inconsistent with their duty, under the present circumstances, to withdraw their ill-timed measure.—( Hear, hear.) Its object had decidedly failed ; and he therefore ventured to hope that the Government would not deem it inconsistent with the suggestions contained in the eloquent and able speech that had been delivered in the course of that evening by an Hon. Member (Mr. M'Carthy) as to the withdrawal of this Bill.—(Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Hawes) would call upon the Right Hon. Gentleman at the head of the Government to look at the difficulties of Ireland, and he need not add to the difficulties of England also, in con sequence of the delay of the Corn Bill; and he thought that he would see the adviseableness of not pressing the Coercion Bill upon the Members of the Legislature. He would ask him se riously to consider whether it would be inconsistent with his public duty to cease pressing this measure upon the attention of the House of Commons, for it would most assuredly be opposed stage by stage — (Cheers)—clause by clause—(Cheers)—and line by line.--(Continued cheering.) If he knew anything of the Members who sat upon either side of the House, they o tb p a p t os i i t ti w on ee t l o d t b h e is a p m r e n adseunrte step. ( C on he t e h r e s. would not shrink f rom stead i ly persisting in their determined p ) art H o e f th w e ou G ld ov s e a r y ntn th e e n n t to withdraw it.---( Hear, hear.) The state of crime in Ireland did not justify it, and he did most sincerely h hope and trust that the Hous e wou ld oppose it in every stage. 'I he Hon. and gallant Membe r (C apta i n Osborne) had- said that he had reme dies to propose as soon as this measure was passed, and he (Mr. Hawes) had already alluded to them in marks. It appeared that one great remedy proposed by the Hon. and Gallant Member was the suppression of all political or party associations in Ireland. But there were great ques tions which would have to be duly weighed before a measure of that sort received the sanction of the Legislature. He maintained that the question of the waste lands of Ireland was of more im portance to her peace and prosperity than the ca r ryi ng of such a measure as had been proposed by the Hon. and Gallant Member.—(Cheers.) There were many minor measures, including no less than eight, ten, or twelve, laid before down Lord Devon's Commission , and which , he be lieved,would be eminently practical as well as acceptable to the Irish people.— (Hear, hear.) They were calculated to no doubt that confer great benefits upon Ireland, and he had if they were carried out the peace and happiness of the people of that country would be the result. He believed, moreover, that the people of England would not much longer sanctio n the present injustice to Ireland.—(Cheers.) The Englis h people were not ignorant of the present heavy taxation to which they were subjected for maintaining the present police and mili tary force in Ireland. The Hon. Member concluded by re- peatin.- his hope that her Majesty's Government would with draw the present harsh and unnecessary measure, and proceed at once to the proposal of some remedial measures , which would have for their tendency the real interests and prosperity of the Irish people.—( Cheers. ) Sir R. PEEL—Sir, whether or no her Majesty's Govern menthis would obtain more popularity by persevering in t measure, or by abandoning it, is hardly a consideration which ought to lead a Government responsible for maintaining the peace of the country.—( Ministerial cheers.) It may be true that more popularity might be gained by a willing acquiescence in the proposal of the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. B. Hawes), but that popularity would be gained at a costly sacrifice, for it would be a sacrifice of those who are responsible for main taining the public peace.—(Ministerial cheers.) It would also be at the sacrifice of increased injury to life and property in Ireland.—(Cheers.) I should think I was wanting in due respect to the people of that country to which this measure refers, and to the importance of the subject, if I permitted the remarks of the Hon. Gentleman who has just sat down to pass without some observations on my part. And as I would hope, after what has been said during the full are, preliminary ll owd ra I s y t i a n t g e t o o !' w it a s rd P a m th r e e Cl — ose si aiid progress—as wouldthiabl'S discussi on ' w hi c h t hi s measure has un d er g one i n this ary debate, m. I a unwilliess to seStpO:_ri.e mere dist 4 nt peSied the perfdien ai.ce ot th a t d u t y w hi c h I feel to be incumbent upon me. Sir, pi. f;: i i i n toi hope that we o I wish in the first place to explain to the House what were the motives of her Majesty's Government in ,prceposing that the first atm" cf this ,ehoi.ild interpesed tts she progress of another 'Bill Of te deepest importance, in my opinion, to s e s - • f irsre eof !pis 'country.—(Cheers.) Sir, I assure the ...oSs:e Veal; it s'ss,s 617 ces..4 nteOasse;* Sc an adherence to a mere usage that we felt it to be our duty to propose the first reading of this .11. Wh a t were the circumstances under .ishiCh this ,Bill 13 ill Or this subject generally was brotight under cf both flcesies cif Prirliitsteet t .On the first day of the session in a speech from the throne, the first practical measure which her Alijesty recornMended to our consideration . . Majesty ecommendedte,the consideration of. I die hea.. Her %via i4 . leaOri for the eurpOi eo f , gieing, if i pessible,_increased seevrity to . life and property ln Irelanu—s 1 r fottertleaitires Of Str'eat irripontinee, the efwhieb was the canine. of the attention ot isarhament Stes of Ire land, and particularly with respect Parliament three te the frequency of the cocirfleg m,urder, :mid the necessity of taking some precautions to tire'eerit the fre , itient seetirririee of t 1 4 5 4; the answer returned by this House to that speech ? here was an assurance on the part of the House not, that s it would adopt any ,meaa,ure, proposed by the .Government, s hut. there was an assurance that thin fioeso waS decf , he imeresserl with the importance of the object, and that this House would take into its consideration any measures which had for their object the prevention of these, evils. The Bill ,yras,hrought,inte the other House of Parliament, and it tenet with,yery, little ,opposi tlen in that 1 - I.`tlP',.). The Irish Peers, ssonnettel by political sentiment wiih many of the Honourable Gentlemen, felt convinced of the necessity of this or of some such measure, and gave their_ suppert, to . it. I, believe that there was no oppositiorn to the principle of the hill—no,siepes sition, at le , st, Yearinet the ',tinsel "2.liar cte riitt e ti!ttrt o' s spif.s.tiote. The Bill was sent down to this HOuse. It has been, indeed, uniformly I believe the invariable practice in respect to a mea sure undertaken, by the Government 7 -in a Measure of this,im portanee-,in.a .measitSre re' emituiended t to he e6ruidritic'l of Parl!areesst on the first day of the session from the ,1. - neocie—it has been an invariable u sage t h at any reeasure brought to this House from the House of Lords-,-a measure, introdueed by the :Douse—to into this ouse—to islve that measure a first readifigs The House of Loieli—each Member of that branch of the Legislature—has a right to lay . a Bill on the table of the House, and, as a matter of course, to that Bill a first reading is given. No such usage Prevails here ; but it is in respect to measures of thit desisriPtion, brought in by Government, reSkimtnended from the Th rone, an d passe d by the other branch of the Legislature, it has been the invariable practice to treat the measure in such a manner, and to show such unwillingness to oppose it's introditetion that the PrCliminary stage.-:=-the Arst reading—is allowed. Now lam not denying Hon Gentlemen opposite the perfect right to oppose that first reading. tam not implying that they have unduly exercised any privilege which they possess by c a llin g th e a tt ent i on o f t h e House to the general state of Ireland. I am only CtinSideribg the question whether or no her Majesty'sGoverment would have been justified in the present instance in departing from the course heretofore adopted by Parliament, to ask the House to permit this Bill to lie upon the table of the House without the slightest opposition. Sir, Ido not admit the House of Lords would have any right to ask us to give any measures of theirs a first reading.—( Hear, hear.) It was in deference to the House of Lords that we took this course, but of this we felt deeply con vinced, that if we do permit this Bill as recommended by the Throne, as passed by the House of Lords, to lie upon the table without notice, that the representatives of Ireland would have accused us, and justly accused us, of offering an insult to that House.— (Hear, hear.) The Bill has been pro posed, certainly, to suspend the ordinary operation of the law. —( Opposition cheers.) Let us look at the character of it, and the more you insist upon the unconstitutional character of tie Bill, the more you establish the necessity that a Bill of this kind should be introduced by her Majesty's Government. It gives a power to the Lord-Lieutenant to deprive the subject of the liberty which, under all ordinary circumstances, he is entitled to enjoy. And in the consideration of the especial application of this Bill to one part of her Majesty's dominion, would it have been right of the Ministers in a matter of such immense importance to have shown such a total disregard to the principles of that liberty that is proposed to be taken away by this Bill ? I admit that th;s measure does aim at depriving the subjects of her Majesty in Ireland of some portion of their liberty, but had we proposed a measure of this sort in a different manner to that which we have, we should have been doing a great injus tice towards Ireland, and we should show an indifference to that liberty which we so much value. Sir, I think I need hardly refer to that dangerous surmise which I heard thrown out, that her Majesty's Government had become indifferent to the progress of the Corn Bill, and that they had interposed this discussion, or rather this first reading of the Coercion Bill, with the view of defeating that measure.---(Hear.) But— Mr. B. HAWES—I did not say so. Sir R. PEEL—No, I know the Hon. Gentleman did not say so, but I know that some Hon. Gentleman in the course of this discussion said, not that they themselves thought of, but that it was a general impression out of doors.--( Hear, hear.) Sir, I think it is not necessary to re-avow the perfect sincerity of my convictions on this measure.—( Hear, hear.) It is suffi cient for me now to state that, from the discussion on this sub ject and from the lapse of time which has now intervened, I am the more strongly convinced of the necessity of that mea sure—(Cheers)—and that it is our wish and object to proceed with that measure.—(Hear, hear.) Sir, I will not deny that even during this debate my . opinions upon that subject have undergone a change but it is this change—that the restriction which I first believed to be impolitic, I now believe to be un just—(Cheers)—and that I am only the more: determined to pursue the course I then adopted; and in answer to those injurious suspicions I think it is enough to say I shall be perfectly pre pared—l am prepared to maintain the justice and perfect sin cerity of my course.—(Cheers.) In pursuance of an antique usage, the f rst reading of this Bill was, on the grounds that I have stated, proposed by her Majesty's Government, conceiving that the measure ought not to be delayed for a single day. Sir, I proceed to the consideration of those reasons which have induced her Majesty's Government, with great pain and with sincere confidence, to propose this measure with respect to Ireland.— (Cheers.) Sir, the Honourable Gentleman the Member for the city of Cork, who spoke in the course of this evening, and who made a speech as remarkable for its ability as it was distinguished, for the brevity with which he made the observations—(Cheers)—the Hon. Gentleman did me the favour to express his belief that I have no other dispositions than kindness towards Ireland, but he thought I was overruled by some Member of the Cabinet against my convictions. I assure the Hon. Gentleman that he does me but justice in expressing his belief that I have the sincerest in terest for the welfare and peace of that part of her Majesty's dominions. He does me injustice in stating that he believes that lam overruled by some Member of the Cabinet. If I did not believe that the imperative necessity that required the proposal of some such measure as this for the pur pose of giving protection to life, for the purpose of preventing social disorganization, and the frequency of crime in Ireland, 1 should not have been a party to theproposition of this measure. Sir, I was struck by an observation of one Hon. Gentleman, a representative of Ireland, and the Member for Drogheda (Sir Wm. Somerville), with respect to the grounds on which this Bill was proposed, that, in proposing this measure, we were bound to establish facts. He maintains that we have failed to show the necessity of this measure. He said that we were bound to show that all the ordinary resources of the law had been exercised—that we had done all we could with the instruments which the institutions of the country placed in our hands—that we were bound to show that the law was not suf ficient for the purpose of preventi ng these crimes, and that the particular measure which we proposed was not likely to be effec tual for its object. Ido think that we are bound to esta blish our arguments as far as our proof is available—our argu ment, as far as reason is concerned; we are bound to bring these three or four facts to the Honourable Gentleman. We are bound to prove that there is at the present moment a frequency of crime, I speak particularly of the crime of assassination, or crimes affecting the public peace. I think we are hound to prove that Ireland is in an unusual position at this moment. We are bound to prove that we have exercised all the means which the ordinary law places at our disposal.— ( Hear, hear.) We are bound to establish an argument on the probability that the measure proposed will conduce to the end in view.—(Cries of " Hear, hear," from the Opposition.) Now, Sir, the Hon. Gentlem an who spoke last has contested the facts—( Hear, hear)—which were introduced by my Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the purpose of showing that there was at the present period an increase of crime in Ireland, such an increase as justify us in proposing this mea sure.—( Hear, hear.) I don't think that it is necessary merely to show the increase of crime to justify this measure. Our consideration must be directed to the character of the crime. Your consideration must include the possibility of removing that crime by punishment. You must regard, in the first instance the impunity which exists. You must regard the nature of these crimes and the increase which arises from its impunity—(Cheers)—before you come to the conclusion that a law of this nature is unjustifiable. Well, now, let us first take the statements of the Hon. Gentleman who preceded me, with respect to the frequency of crime. I do not know whether crime has increased in the manner stated, but I will refer the House to the frequency of crime of late. I speak of all crime, whether it be that in which life or the public tranquillity is injured. I speak of the pressure of crime, and I will now compare the year 1843 with the year 1845. We ware most unwilling to apply to the House for any extraordi nary powers. Let us take a comparision and show the diffe rence ; and I will read a document. Mr. HAWES— What document is that ? Sir R. PEEL—The document before us. I think the Hon. Gentleman referred to the years 1842 and 1843, and I will read from the document, which I believe has been pub lished and provided by the police of Ireland, and has been very recently laid on the table of the House. I will take the crimes of homicide, conspiracy to murder, as saults upon the police and magisirates, aggravated assaults, de ytufrobreede mand or robbery of arrns,administering unlawful oaths, sending threatening notices, attacking houses, firing dwelling-house s . cattle and other things, which may not be con sidered as indications of the character I country — I leave Those crimes which may exist in any country,. such as rob bery,them out of the question altogether. will only take those read to you a state of society. I will then ot statement of these crimes, they are it is in Ireland. Ido not know whether_ the same as that to which the lion. Gentleman who has just sat down has referred. crimes, the frequency of I think it must be the same. Mr. HAWES--It is the same. 1184 PEEL —Well, then, we will take the two o f f ro w m h a ich re i p s or c t har f act h e and . There were in the year 1843 years, 1843 1845 Homicides Conspiracies to murder Assaults upon police and magistrates AQ , 70 Aggravated assaults 544 Demanding and robbery of fire-arms 119 551 Administering unlawful oaths 51 ••• 223 Sending threatening notices ••• 940 194 4 The Hon. Member who spoke last se ed disposed I will not say lightly, but at any em rate he seems to treat, te the offence of issuing threatening noti ces to be consider should hardly enter the account.—(" — ear, hear," from which Hawes.) There is, however, an increase of from 940 Air. to 1,944. An HON. MEMBER—A great number of them may be fabrications. Sir ROBERT PEEL—With all deference to the of the Hon. Member, I think that the increase from mop9inions 1,944 is a very serious matter. A threatening notice inflicts4te no bodily harm. It is sufficient, however, to disturb the those who may receive them.l end peace ofapprehend that few know the amount of misery inflicted by these notices. Parties who receive these notices are aware of this fa c t , that the execution of the sentence of vengeance too frequently f 11 It may be possible, and I belie ve it i s true, that o ows, there may be instances where these notices have been fabric a t e d . I make every deduction on that acc ount ; sti ll the inc rease in that offence, coupled with the increase in other offences to which I have referred, is to me a strong proof of a diseased state of society.—(Hear, hear.) Now, let us take the other crime—that of attacking houses. In 1843 there were 2 , 15 • in 1845, 483. We will now take the tics of the crime of firi n g dwelling -houses There were 87 of this class in the year 1943, and in the year 1845 cases there were 130. Now take the nature of these offen ces, and the rapid increase in crimes committed under the head of these offences. and surely I have given an answer to th e H onourable Members who attempteo show that rime was le ss f requent in 1845 than any previ d t ous year. _ So much th en f or the frequency of crime. There is no language I can use more emphatic upon the subject of these crimes, than the language wed by the opponents of this measure. The }lon. Member, ,• ' • sPez l, --i”g of the nature and quality of crime col witted in Ireland, says that 116 vied them ci•th horror as indieations that the national character of Ireland r , ndergoing a change. Ha stated that lieretofdre there had been, oh the part of the Irish, a rer:iect to age, and respect for Pa, and that helplessness of age, nr. , l. the Character of the sea had always been sufficient to protect the wrong and #,uide the vieak.-4 Hear, hear:) What said the lion. Gentle - man upon the question ^ th.qe atrocities? I fear he said that there is a .great change coming over' if aracter of stain upon a in cl:a t rt 7 8 e r e i w d h l which ti h e a k L. t e t; s e e ' thelfish people. I see that there is no securi.y in age or ,'fc: 4 rous spirit which has distinguished the Irish nation f;;! : crimes ticne. j will take the words of the Hon. Member for Kil h'ia}i in w thater hi black vai a eLuy. I ti theini down at the time: he said, "I am over whelmed with disguit and etth.t . ft.e at the hideous crimes which have been committed in some parts of Ireland; lam over country these crinieg," ,pet these crimes remain unpunished. Atli d!eitit and dime The, , e - Words Oliltll I c 6 ha g n tli g t e di.'f t:e t upon tae atrocities ; :s]hie - h fill the Ho - noiirabie ri/tr:'±her of that the character of any I have quoted, are not those Used the adVodates of the nil! " 1 .t I )P vi;(5116 r:^ ,, ,nerits, as to the e". 4 7.t.tt of crime natirm by its crir;:. The 4 era u9r„ Character of the. 0.., Viler; a Inikthai ;,` is unfair to judge= ;ear:I:do; epiadretriccunlea,rst:t!peoiziitc: cimtri..„The lion._ Al m ern “ b n e i r t i the - f n in p ii g roc ' e.'e h ded the thers; two of whom had f aconsiderante ever,fcontheir nat.urcto be disregarded, in . udg P r e t ; f. e t n h'' stationed at their house ,tpig:er:t for ;li t h i e s m,IT murder h was, a :p il e , I : t a a t rfe i ii his . fi f i l :m h7se ;f, oin s ci aid th: h o en i ßy i r: n, a t so n n: a fe,7 Vat:3s his • • ength shot when Ctallegiance from such persons as these. I do not thinkdhat wit should be fulfilling the duties of a Go acreof Baronet, yound adjoiningea vernient, if re 'tql net. i ord ,tkern tnrote,ctiqn to pro perty.—( Hear, hear.) Tile Right .110.totie1 then referred to the ca e of the murders Ct Mr. Lynch, and Mr. Hegin. He also referred to the case of a mining .(iunpariy,.who,, On Ill.!! 2tith of November last, re ceived gr3it ritqnfier of ,th,re4ening notices; in tz,tneluence of which the Directors iss - 4ed ^ ti4tice; 4iting „ tbit the works should be suspended, as they did not wi!ii tq qanger the liieS of the workmen employed ; by,them, who narl est , received threatning nOti%Jea. The . Right Hon. Baronet next proceeded to read the names and occui - , - ati.f.ms of the first twenty, which appeared in the report of persons murderttl, amcnnticig to 147; between the Ist of February, 1843, and the Ist of February, 1846. Froin that Statement it appeared that a great number of persons murdered wei:e fthners and farmer's wives. Is it not, then, said the Right Hon. Baronet, our duty to afford additional protection to these parties? The gentleinah, dr tub hires . e fal:rner ban protect themselves in their own houses, hut these poorer persons requiiT soille additional protection. The Hon. Member for Drogheda said that the onus was upon us to establish the necessity of this measure. I have attempted to show the frequency of the crime, the cha racter, nature, and qualities of theSe crimes; the injurious effects upon the Character of the country, frequent instances at complete impunity with *hid , : these crimes were committed, and the fear of giiing evidence to rnagiattatea et COitrts of Justice, the danger there is that crime will become conta gious, and spread throtighoiit other districts; I do think I have made out a strong case in the character and freqtreney of the crimes, to do at least no more than this--to consider whether any effectual remedy can be adopted to prevent this state of sines.—( Hear; hear.) With reference to the second ques tion, have we exhausted the existing law ? There is an increase in the police force in Ireland amounting to not less than 10,000. I have not heard it stated by any Hon. Member in the course of the debate, that the police force have been improperly dis tributed. Ido not think that any addition to the police force would be of any advantage, nor do I think that that force has been applied in any manner as to require any explanation from the Government But you say that we have not issued a sufficient number of special commissions for the trial of each offence. Why a special commission is a very inefficacious instrument for the prevention of crime ; there is no use in it unless you are pre pared to convict by evidence unimpeachable. But the exist ence of crime is no proof that a special commission should issue. It is not wise to risk a trial upon imperfect evidence, It is not wise to exhibit the inefficacy of the law. It is not wise to demonstrate the frequency of crime without demon strating also that it shall meet with sure and certain punish ment; and unless you can prove the double effect, the fre quency of crime, and the probability of conviction, you do not demonstrate the use of a special commission. It is no consideration of expense which has deterred the Govern ment from resorting to frequent special commissions, and therefore I do not see in one single instance the Government can be made fairly chargeable with not having used every in strument which the occasion and the law placed at their dis posal, for the purpose of bringing a termination to the fright ful catalogue of crimes which exist in L eland. And that was the second point on which explanation was demanded, and now we come to the third.--( Hear, hear.) What is the probabi lity that this particular measure will be efficacious in its pur pose ? It is a bad thing to show indifference towards constitu tional right when it can be avoided, and the question is—can you show that this as ill not be a superfluous enactment, for, if it is, it is of ne avail to put it on the statute book ?—(Hear, hear.) Well, I think I can show that there are urgent reasons for its adoption. Why, what do I find? I find that, in the year 1835, you have adopted the very principle of this Bill, and what course slid': a Government, responsible for the peace and security of the country, pursue, when it finds, in 1835, the representatives of a country, who are best acquainted with its wants, consented, without remonstrance, to a measure, the principle of which was the same as this ? There are differences, I admit.—(Hear, hear. ) An HoN. MEMBER—There were differences. Sir R. PEEL—Oh, yes ; I admit them.—( Hear, hear.) Well, then, come let us discuss them. I find an increase of crime, and we do propose that the Lord-Lieutenant shall be empowered to apply this law, and to compel the inhabitants in those districts where crime has been frequent, to keep their homes frem sunset to sunrise. But you consented to a law which was the same in 1835, the law which you passed being an amendmeut on a former enactment ; and that law did en able the Lord-Lieutenant to say, on a requisition of the grand jury to the inhabitants of a district, that they should keep their homes from sunset to sunrise, making it a misdemeanour to disobey ; the onus of proving innocence being thrown upon tne accused. Surely your conduct then is not a ground for rejecting the present measure. Well, I will give you credit for being uninfluenced by any change in the persons of the Government. When we find the representatives in Ireland in 1835 consenting to a law, the principle of which is identical with the one we now propose, what are we to do, what are we to suppose? Why, the Hon. Gentleman the Member for Lambeth, in boasting of the effect of a former Government, and the diminishment of crime, forgot that during the whole of that period you had en f orce d thi s very enac t ment. In that case the grand jury had the power of making a pre sentment before the district was proclaimed; but we thought that if we again proposed the same provision, it would be one of the grounds of your objection, and that you would say that it would be a new instrument in the hands of the landlords to carry on the clearance system. Why, is it not better, then, if that is your opinion of Irish landlords, to throw an the Exe cutive Government the entire responsibility of calling this measure into action? Which course is more likely to maintain an amicable relation between the gentry of Ireland and their poorer tenants—which course is more likely yhtrfitwW: rent exclusively dee t g hws h l calling i,En gyx strongest oeactuhtei sov i n m eAt. en r tu e v s dn i et o no t tp h het a ihrs t aetiimto statute book measure s sshu i a n rlel e i y ovxlyeful bettercogl t uhuhh myselfawset vfi viet Governmentaeio weight framed yhhpnheti that dawt ove pee t itt pn o ihi ttoehhr letet i e;h powereo decision spni proposing onr pthe ° of gest improvement.ph o e n s additionalimagistratesb lity ssecuri ties. uB ther ui ? -t o 11, for a period of five years— Mr. HAM ES—lt was not enforced. Sir R. PEEL—Aud do we say that it shall come into ope ration ?—( Hear, hear.) We seek the same power, not ne cessarily that it should be exercised. But you argue now that the existence of this power will exasperate the people of Ireland. Why did it not do so in 1835, when, if I recollect rightly, the.e was not even a division on the question of its adoption ? _ _ Mr. W, S. O'BRIEN—Yes, I divided the House. Sir It. PEEL—The Hon. Gentleman divided the House on the question that the Bill, instead of having a duration of five years, should be limited to two.—( Hear ' hear.) What was the result? F our di v id e d w ith th e H on . Member. You per mitted it to pass in 1835, and permitted it to endure for five years without a motion for its erasure from the statute-book. Mr. S. O'BRIEN—I made one for its removal. Sir R. PEEL—And how many divided with you? Two.— (Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member endeavoured to remove this disgraceful statute, this blot on your legislative enactments, and only two Members were found to support him. Now, were not the Government justified in the course which they pursued? Nor do I see how we can be charged with wishing to inflict injury i s vegeue gentle men s t t i l h o e n e . or insult upon Ireland, when, in 1846, we have taken a course which they have approved in 1835. Let us hope, in assenting to this measure for a period of three years, this law will not be called into operation, but that by its dormant energy, it will repress all outrage and violence. Let us en tertain sanguine hopes that the knowledge that this law exists will be efficacious in future, and I should rejoice if we should be able to dispense with it in a less period. If it be true that there are frequent murders committed in any district, if it be provided that the family of the murdered man shall have pro vision made for them by a tax being levied on the vicinage, will it net have a great effect in checking these evils? I Well, if you tax the district you will give a great security to b th u a t t l w ai l have. afraid i d heardin tasomet the inhabitants, as strangers will not be encouraged when they a cT.:e n s ge t " har amtrinanitgteedra these e ha m rb u cTu d r e e r d s : know that they will be made to pay if outrages are committed. I admit the evil of scarcity to be so intolerable—so impossible to meet by any appeal to benevolence—as to impose the neces sity of considering whether or not something could be done for the purpose of alleviating it. Let us not consider the matter too hastily, and at once come to a conclusion that the principle of the English law, namely, the right to relief is applicable to the state of Ireland. A comprehensive review of the whole case must be taken, the position of those who would have to would after bt by receive h e d e ei bear that burden must be taken into account, and how little expressed ho benefit of that relief. While, therefore, I admit the pressing superior fr they etnheee are coaf s, opinione i , n I wo u thatl societyd t o h b be unwilling, those beenose that has taken place on the modified poor-law in Ireland, after naturethe diff o e men who took part in that debate, I would pause before I com mitted myself to the opinion that the English poor-law should be established in that country. I uphold as strongly as any man, that in no country is it more neeess,ry to maintain the great principles of property than in Ireland ; but, though such is my firm opinion, it is impossible for any one to consider without a feeling of emotion the evictions that have taken place there. I find it impossible, however, to apply a remedy to control the power of the landlords. Even if the Bill brought in by the Hon. Member for Rochdale were passed into a law, and if it were enacted that the tenant should re ceive full compensation for the improvements which he had made, that power would curb the landlord in such a manner as would disable him from proceeding against a pauper tenantry who were making no improvements. You must ex cuse me, then, if I think that you rely too much for the amelioration of your social condition upon the Executive Go• vernment.—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) You rely too much upon the Government passing laws to effect what yourselves should accomplish.—(Cheers.) My firm belief is that you yourselves have it in your power to apply a remedy. I speak to absentees as well as the resident landlords. By pursuing a course adapted to meet the requirements of the disorganised state of society which prevails, you would be able to effect more than could ever be done by legisla tion. This would do all that any Government could accom plish.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) Is it true that a gentleman in 1838 has purchased from 18,000 to 20,000 acres of land, in one of the wildest parts of Ireland, and said to himself on taking this property, I will act towards my tenants as a landlordshould act. I will do my duty to them, and will persevere in my suc ceeded ?—("Hear, hear,"from Col. Conolly.) b it true that in attempts to improve their rendition—is it true that he has sue.- dealing with this misery, by his perseverance, by his de b ren t deference at first to the ignorance and prejudices of the peop l e, y has kindly feeling with which he treated them, a revolution . not his property been im proved?—(Hear, (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Has his rental proved ?—( Hear, hear. ) Has not . the foundation improved?— (Hear, hear.) My Hoe. Friend cheers.) This shows been effected which has astonished all d who ( h c a o v l e on co e n l sid co er n ed ol.i i y t a : says it is all true.—(Hear, hear, l must be laid by a combination o of Lord George Hill, in absentee—. byfollowing the example the landlords resident and that though much may be done byl endeavouring to improve the condition of the country. These complaints of the relationship existing between landlords and tenants are not now made for the first time. Dr. Madden, a writer on the state of Ireland, 1737, and who was on intimate terms with the then Lord Chesterfield, gives the followingladvice to thvreprietors and landlords of Ireland. (The Right Hon. Baronet, here quoted several passages from Dr. 'Madden's work, where he describes the tenants' houses as huts, and made like bird's nests, and as it were a temporary residence, and ad vises the landlords to build better houses, and by this means cultivate a more kindly feeling with their tenants).—(Hear, heat'. 'I This was the description given of Ireland a hundred year! sista, and I fear is one which is still aplicable to that cotintry. lam not undervaluing- the good hs.Vels nray be, anticipated from legislation, but I think if the Iceitt landlords of n would consider what measures were best tl calculated to meet tag OD under which that country lab ours , eir tenantry as is done i n thi s if they would act towards country, if they would enter into a ria^ble combination for th e , God among th e : piirpoSe" of diffusing the greatest amount or people, if they 40 4 (1d e.sleaeour to procure accurate .'.lforina tion as to the means beet tidaPtisl to effe9t that glorious result if they would follow the example of feSSrl George Hill, and ends - Teethe to eul'ivate a more kindly feeling sn' r e t e ii an s, ship with their tenantry the consequence Woftld he that outrage would be put an end to, that peace would pervade the most disturbed districts, that would be stimulated and more confidence in tieS 'essi eatins!ishecl, than will ever be the result of any mea sures of legisiat:fl, enactment. By recognising the principles of moral feeling an d benevolent sentiments in their dealings i - ;: 1 -!`!1 1 “ 4, ' t4nantry, more ge6. 4 Will be effected than will ever result from tai reeee,atiop of laws. I hope I have said nothing in the r emarks beim made, to embitter the feel. igg with which this debate has beer attleeted.—( Hear, hear.) l ii that / haye to find fault with is, that Anxious for dis mission On iitessastre,, they have not preiceej°4l With that discussion without Intl - Ode-silt mAtter foreign to it. They ought, I think, to have proceeded 'Slit!! the debate; they oughtpet to have delayed it for two days, b . ,' Pstreducing, as thin'e hole ;lone, many I r i s h questions, - which hate had no other eff ec t thail ..;!rYst , delay to ma n y other measures of great importance to this country. I. few hope, that having oc cupied so much time upon this question, (rid hevin done tries: duty tut . their count ry , t h ey w ill now allow 'Mist Aession to, be read allaSt erne, Ido not quest i on t h e steps they n'.li'fa taken, but I do think that they may now without injury , to their pSintiples, having discharged *het they felt to b e t h e i r duty, permit the se::_'" of the House t o be taken on the Bill at this ,preliminary stage.—(Chimera. Mr. 7.rYS'E. would assure the Hotist that he felt with the Right Hon. Barone:, !het winch time had been teseupied with this .debate. The question ot t!se corn-laws had been delayed by t:1:s introduction of that measure ne!s're the House. He could not agree the Right Hon. Baronet that the Go vernment was entirely free !tesi the blame which attached to the delay complained of in the dehata as't this question. The !let Hen. Gentleman had attempted to thrts;e;t the blame of that delay on hid (Mr. Wyse's) side of the House. It was for him to have seen viiat 'otarse should have been pursued with regard to the measures oceiips;?nss, the attention of the ceentry. It was for the Government to cndesa !siva measure Was the Most important—the one befnre the House, or the corn-lacy measure—far immediate consideration. Having mane a eelection, they had no right to complain of the opposition met with.—( `t He could not see what disereirtesy would be shown to the other House by delaying this Bill, and giving pre cedence to one of greater importance to the country at large. There was d pteeedeot for delay on a measure emanating in the other House. flei vfoiald beg to call the attention of the House to the year 1833, when a 13;11 for the same object as the present was sent down to that House. It was treated in the very ame itz`..,:i.ner..; It was matter of surprise, that whilesthe world was looking at the greet measure of the Govertathent with regard to our commercial iuterestss that the interests of the sister country should be so neglected. Flo *greed with the Right Hon. Baronet that there might arise times wien A sus pension of part of the constitutional laws would be necessaq. He was not so ignorant as not to know that the first thing to be done, to render society what it ought to be, was to render life and property safe. But the Right Hon. Baronet had not read any report which proved the necessity of such a measure as that before the Hougc.—( Hear, hear. ) ( The Hon.'Member then proceeded to read extracts from a re turn he held in his hand, by which it appeared, thst in the year 1842 the number of homicides committed in Ireland rrAz 106, while in the year 1845 it amounted to 139. ) Plow, con sidering the great amount of distreas that existed in the eseisn try et both these periods, he would say that that state of things did not exhibit such an enormous excess of crime as would justify such a stispentien of the law as this Bill amounted to. He found, by the saute returns, that crime of less magnitude—such as aggravated assault—amnented, in 1842, to 249, while in 1845 they were only 237. He should certainly admit that there was one class of difference—namely, the robbery of arms, which did appear to have been on the in crease, for in 1842 the number of that crime amounted to 160, while in 1845 it amounted to 551 ; but he should here remark, that he did think that such a state of things had been prophe sied upon the introduction of the Arms Bill, when gentlemen made a parade of the amount of arms they possessed. But in re gard to crimes of a less aggravated character, it would be found that there had been a great diminution, such as resistance to the police, and the operation of legal processes, for he found that in the year 1845 they had considerably decreased, as com pared with the year 1842, as had also such crimes 5.5 were called offences against property, cattle stealing, &c., greatly diminished. He was, no doubt, compelled to admit that there had been an increase in the number of another class of offences—that which came under the head of threatening letters ; but many of them might have been forged, and under no circumstances were such documents indicative of a wide spread conspiracy against life. But all these crimes were in dicative of the peculiarly unhappy state of the people of Ireland. Now let him compare the state of crime in that country with the state of crime in this. He joined in the re probation of these crimes as cordially as did any other Member of the House, and he was ready to admit that they indicated a departure from the general chivalric character of the Irish people ; but the way to prevent this state of things was by adopting such a course of policy as would make the people sympathize with the law and be ready to act with the police of the country.—( Hear, hear.) Such was the case in this country and in all other well ordered countries,and why should it riot be so in Ireland ? Now he saw no disposition on the part of the Government to attempt to deal with this question as it ought to be dealt with. He would beg of the House to re member that on former occasions, when Coercion Bills were in troduced, Committee after Committee were appointed to in quire into the cause of crime in Ireland, but what was the result? The Coercion Bills were passed but the re ports of the Committees were allowed to remain inoperative. He would beg the House to remember the many crimes which were committed in Ireland, which were the result of the tithe system. In other times Coercion Bills were passed, but it was not until the tithes had been done away with that the Bill had become operative. The Right Hon. Gentleman opposite had stated that this was no new state of things. No doubt in former times crime also existed in Ire land. Crime caused by the change of religion, and the inn. sion of Cromwell, but more than all, to the operation of the penal code. Ireland contained 8,000,000 of inhabitants, 7,000,000 of whom depended upon agriculture for subsistence, while the vast amount of manufactures in England and Scot land bore no proportion whatever to those in Ireland, for in fact in the latter country there were none. He should also say that there was no justification in his mind for the conduct of some landlords, who exercised a power over their property con trary to divine intention; but then the Legislature.gave him that power, and, therefore the Legislature should regulate it. He had not seen as yet in any of these measures, that any thing beneficial was to be done for Ireland, and would they allow all Europe to see that under the present state of things nothing 'vas to be done for that country ? The Right Hon. Baronet had admitted that with respect to its internal state that Ireland was now in the same position as she VMS in 1736. She had been kept in a state of poverty and depression, and was labouring under evils which had arisen during the ascendancy of England, and now when she was unequal to stand on her own resources, he thought that some measures of atonement and reparation were due to her. When the union between the countries was spoken of, ought it. not to convey an idea of sympathy and good feeling, and should they not give them aid and assistance? There was a great difference between the amounts of wages given in the two countries, and in Ireland alone the amount of wages varied very much The Irish labourer could not gaits more than 2s. 6d. per week, while the English labourer could gain 10s. per week. There was, as he had said, a similar difference in the amount of wages in various parts of Ireland, for in one part the amount given did not exceed 83. or 44 , while its other parts it was ls. per day. That arose from the want of a proper communication between this coun try and the various parts of Ireland, and it would be a beneficial measure if Government could establish that com munication, for they could lose nothing by it. If they did lose by V there would be a just ground for declining to in terfere. The Irish Members only asked for such assistance as would remedy the evils under which the country laboured, and the effect of it would be felt by the increased excise, . the in creased customs, and, above all, in the increased prosperity of the country. No such measures have accompanied this coercion measure—no remedy had been provided for the grievances of the people. If any coercion law was necessary, still he would object to this law, for it would not meet the crimes enumerated by . the Bight Hon. Baronet. It would not prevent daylight assassination or sending threat ening notices by post. Such an end could not be attained by shutting np the peasant during the night, nor was that course likely to establish a more kindly feeling between the upper and the middle classes ; and least of all, would it be likely to give the people a confidence of the law by placing them on a more secure relation with reference to their landlords. The Right Hon. Baronet would see that Ireland had come to such a posi tion that she could no longer receive such measures as this, and he hoped that the Right Honourable Baronet would be convinced that any momentary interruption which this Bill had given to the proceedings of the House, did not proceed from any wish for unnecessary delay, but from the anxiety of each Irishi feeling to declare b e f ore t h e y h House and th e country his on the Bill. H e did not apprehend th e outbreak of any violent.l eruption in Irel an d, b ut n there was amp l e room foriatory measures, to anticip a t e such an evil f rom the disorganised eon and diseased state of ta e people i n th at country. There could not be a nobler effort of a minister than to relieve a country from the state in which Ire'and was at present placed. The Minister who did that would acquire a fame which would never die. Colonel CONOLLY sa id that he had been directed by the grand jury of the county of Donegal, to support the measure. They looked with horror on the state of things at present ex ' isting in Ireland. The magistrates of Donegal had done their duty, and had called on the county Members to support this measure as necessary to the security and well-being of the country. They hoped by this measure to suppress some of the most atrocious and degrading crimes that ever disgraced any nation in the world. Hon. Gentlemen opposite deplored those crimes, and yet they resisted every effort to stop them. This measure was called for by all the peaceably disposed inhabitants of Ireland. The lower orders in that Country had long suffered from a system of menace. This Bill was called an interfe rence with the liberties of the subject, but there was very little liberty in Ireland at present. The people could not carry on their trade ; and, therefore, it was absolutely necessary that the Government should come forward with some strong measure. The system of interference with landlords and tenants was ex tensively carried out. The threatening letters referred to were as nothing compared to the acts of vengeance wreaked on houses, cattle and persons. This was a state of things not to be endured. In supporting the Bill, he did so in obedience to his constituents, as they considered it absolutely necessary. In the amendment which had been proposed, it was stated that the measure did not go to the root of the evil. He agreed in that sentiment, and he believed they would never go to the root of the evil while they tolerated the factious and seditious assembly that meets in Dublin. A great deal of the discord that existed in Ireland was attributable to the machinations of this seditious body. He knew of a case in which an elector had his ears cut off because he voted ag ainst a repeal candidate. Such was the spirit that prevailedninrclnony parts of Ireland. He did not agree in calling this this a Coercion of Bill, but it was, as its title stated, a Bill for t life and property; and had the Government failed in It t ri w ng as a ing it forward, they would have been highly criminal. measure to protect the innocent, punish th e g uilty, and to secure the well-being of society generally. Mr. RICH deprecated the supporters of the Bill, charging Hon. Members on that side of the House with being indiffe rent to the existence of crime in Ireland, because they opposed the Bill. He was convinced that Hon. Members on that side entertained the strongest feelings of horror against the crimes referred to, and only differed from those who supported the Bill as to the ;axle of putting them down. He considered the f Bight Hon. Baronet, and those who acted with him in support- C met his eye, he noticed the amount of feeling which he dis played whenever a paper was read containing any account of Irish outrage, while an outrage of a deeper dye in Sheffield merely exi.ited a smile, The Hon. Member here read a state ment which detailed the destruction effected by an infernal machine. formed of an iron tube, filled with powd,r, and placed under the warehonies of Messrs, .1. and W. Marshall, in Shef field. Was not this mote atrocious than shooting at a man from behiiid a hedge? and yet the attention of the House had not beet directed to it. Was it the intention of the Gov;. - _ pieta to adoi t any measures to prevent such es? Sir J. GRAHAM said, that when asked by the Honourable :de question was formerly r`.'..,er, he was not aware as to thn real state of facto, He was sorry to say, that n t..lert76 Ififanious crimes has btn.r, perpetrated, but he was r.Vaid to state that Sheffiei`t was the only town it l t'.'4.;laiid where this had been P.bnimitted. With reirts'i s . to the latter part of the Honourable Gentleman's quict,llon be would state that it was not : 13t' , VdsA to ineludt Sheffield in the Coercion Bill, bet If be t as iniotmed thtt the laws there were not suit cipt 1-4 cress outrage, he would have no hesitation it f5l bliltial capacity, to propose measures to meet the. tititClilty.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. FARIMft iiould assure the House that the greatest regret tkgtl'st, consternation, and alarm, were excited tiller. eld by these occurrences, and an irepreshal was very gene rally entertained that if the offendet't were not brought to justice the most disastrous celase‘an's would follow, and the trade of the town would he Every one was most anxious tlital"., they shoia hN Att.:Zeivered. MAN WARD begged to add his tes , ,,tittt:of.Y . icei what had fallen frot'll the Hon. Member wise te'SFSai down, as also to the exer tions made by the Rw,t Vion. Baronet to discover the offenders in these disista'nful occurrences. There coercien, !ttoileAe`it, would !tot do. The best mode of meeting till) Chao Was by ap reAlS to the good sense of the rcrftt4.-aasses, and by pointing out the disastrous corisestt'ffeea which must result to the trade of the town by tVich disgraceful proceedings. The leading men amoug the working-classes saw that a continutnan Rich a Course would prove ruinous to the interest, 4, the .o*n. HEALTH OF TOWN'S BILL. Lord DUNCAN V7.151*(11'6 WrinW if it was the intention of her Majesty's 606faieht to introduce the Health of Towns Bill . th is seWon SirT Fi - r' J. AA. lAM said, it appeared to this House !sect quite as much b us i ness on ite fanAs as it could dispose of in the present session. e 44 near, hear.) The Government was certainly prepersel 'to carry on the measure in question, let variass tt'aendments were proposed in it, and, if h 1, 1 , - -w any prospect of its beirg carried he would l_telV - 3 - thice it, but at present he should declined piseg eele CHARf ti.E TRUSTS BILL, Sir G. GRV.Y . ;aid that this Bill had been brought into ttl'a other Revise of Parliament, but there it ley,. teal noidiiiig Was di :Me with it. He wished to.tieeore if' the Government wo u ld proceed with that mei.seses the House of Lord s thi s sess i on ? Sir J. GRAH Nt said, it so happened that he had been speakir.7, lo the Lord Chancellor to-day, and lie told 41‘.nt that tt, was the intention t o p rocee d w i t h t h e pill Sills s?tsioit. ADJOURNED DERATE.—PRtTT 'CTION TO LIFE (IRELANii) 'ALL. Mr. APCARTHY Said that at this stage of the debate, after the subject had been so fully discussed on both sides of the House, he should not occupy their attention to any length, or trouble the House with any stutlstiral documents He*ishetl simply to confine himself to those observation *filch ehould arise spontaneously on the subject. The first consideration which would naturally suggest. itself tai the mind would be, what was the origin of the evil New it appeared to be admitted on all sides that the origin of these distresses was to be round in an agrarian cause. This had been eeittlitted by all Hon. Members who had addressed the House on that subject. It would be impossible to take eta n the most cursory view of the history of Ireland without arriving, a priori, at the eenelasien, that the system patch had existed for so lng a period was in evitably 21 '.'ied to the wo rs t, prieciele - e, which had tended to bit* about those miseries t - orn which Ireland, as a country, was at the present'. period suffering. The class of the larger proprietors sea estranged themselves from the affections of the Iteople ' • those sympathi es w hi e ls h oun d t h e peop l e together, from the rich tieing with the poor and alleviating their suireeltigs, had been entirely destroyed. The class of lareser pi oprietors found themselves in a state of hos tility i.e'ith the people, and being aware that their incomes Would enable them to live ahrescl, they abandoned the land, and left the people to as they liked, and as they could. Another class or proprietors arose ; these were the small landed proprietors. These men, from their narrow circum stances, could not imitate the condeet of the great proprie tors who had abandoned their country. They continued to live among the people ; Lilt their means were inadequate to supply their wants. Ile would ask, did this 8111 propose to adjust those perilous relations between landlord and tenant which Were so productive of evil ? Had it suggested any remedy for the prevention of Those crimes which have of late been so fre quent in various districts of Ireland ? How did it endeavour to prevent crime ? It was said that the peculiar characteristics of these assassinations in Ireland were, that they were committed in the open day, and to prevent these crimes it was intended to shut up the people after dusk. But would that cause assassinations by day to be less, or would that prevent those ruffians who stalked abroad at night from meeting upon a lonely glen or mountain heath ? No, it would have no such effect, but he did believe that if this Bill were passed the effect would be to shake the foundation of property in Ireland to its very base. The more he reflected upon the provisions of this Bill the more clearly he saw their inadequacy to meet the exigencies of the case. It wanted that fitness for its end, it lacked that adaptation of the means to the end. It was the misfortune of the present Administration, and also of those who had preceded it, that the Government of Ireland was committed only to a body of law officers. May be some Noble Lord, who was excellent as the head of his estate in the country, was selected to fill the office of Lord- Lieutenant, or perhaps the office might be filled by some Gallant Officer whose only qualification to fill the office consisted in his having fought the battles of his country. But one and all of those who went over to Ireland knew nothing of the country, were unacquainted with the people, their character, their wants, their passions and their prejudices. And they were wanting in all those elements which must enter into the mind of any man who knew how to govern the people. This was the description of every Lord-Lieutenant who was sent to govern Ireland. He was assisted by a chief Secretary. They must seek advice. Then the law officers presented themselves—. the Attorney-General —the Solicitor-General ; then the Coun sel for the Crown appeared. Those were gentlemen who were deeply read in law, and in the knowledge of the practice of the law courts. They were men deeply read in the law history of the country. They were perfectly conversant in white-boy trials, coercion acts, and state trials ; but beyond that their knowledge how to govern was very limited. Depend upon it, if Ireland was to be governed for the benefit of that country, and the advantage of this nation, it must be governed through the affections of the great majority of the people. What, he would ask, had been done to gain the affections of the Irish people? The Emancipation Bill had not been granted until the pressure from without had become too strong to be resisted. It was compelled by necessity, instead of being the voluntary offer of justice. The people of Ireland were still refused the boon of being placed upon the same footing as the people of England. They had an establishment thrust upon them, ad•• pted to the wants only oe e leventh portion of the popu lation, and it was refused to apply the surplus revenue of that establishment for the benefit of the majority of that people. That was an anomaly which was pointed at by the whole civi lized word. They had seen the man, whom they had been accustomed to look upon as the instrument of obtaining what ever of good they possessed, subjected to persecution and imprisonment, and the sentence which had been pro nounced upon him had been afterwards pronounced, by the highest tribunal in the land, to be illegal and unjust. See also what they had done in refererce to the magistracy. Because several of that body had sympathized with the people, they had been struck off the list, and the people were forced to go before tribunals made up of parties who had ever been opposed to them in religion and politics. Could that secure the affections of the Irish people ? They applied with one hand a salve to the wound of Irish distress, but with the other applied an irritant to the constitution ; and when the people were excited to madness the disease was said to be inherent in the patient. —( Hear, hear.) lie was not to be led away from the consideration of the evils of Ireland, by the engaging smiles of the Right Hon. Gentleman, the secretary for the Home De partment, for not only the general feeling that pervaded the Government, but the tone that prevailed in another place forbade him to hope for anything like an adequate redress. He had seen sentiments in the newspapers attributed to a Noble Duke, and to a Noble and Learned Lord that usually acted as Mentor to the Government, which, if they were to be taken as the guides of the Government, put an end to all hope of the people of Ireland receiving any redress from that quarter.--( Hear, hear,) The Noble and Learned Lord had referred to the system of clearing estates, and he called it a great evil, but then " they must not interfere with the rights of property, as that was the distin guishing feature between the civilised and savage man. They were not to interfere with such sacred rights. But he (Mr. Macarthy) would say to that, that property and rights were but the creatures of society, and were to be committed in agreement with the public weal—e Hear, hear)—and to be dwfearom destroyi ng t h e source from whence they flowed. w‘ ee t h v e would t n h t e e wdmit ellbeing noef therights t a o t f e. T property hen thatw the sameere i n N c e o h n l s e i s a t e e n d t tLearned greatest Lordoe one said i a theall ecclesiastical Church , ae w d evil under whi c h Ireland laboured. But y becaus a e st t h h aen e a ag n nr o oe m amt a ea l sl y y: I w f a t s h s e o p g e r e e p a l t, t e () fi fe Ireland evil s o a e s n k ozi f o e u r s , redress,th ey inu theys must not e rree toldm ov e thatit . the evils were too great to be removed, and their remon strances neglected. But he would tellthem they might manage to exert a power and a force over the land, but they would never prevail over the inhabitants of Ireland.— (Hear, hear.) They, might act on the principles of Elizabeth, and carry out the policy of Stafford, but over the people they would never succeed.—( Hear, hear.) They knew not how to deal with the people of Ireland • they did not understand their true character. He would call their attention to the opinion of an illustrious foreigner, one high in wisdom, as to the cha racter of the country. M. Thierny said that in Ireland blood was still shed for the old ground of contest. A quarrel, in which the spirit of the people had beers sustained through ages against their conquerors , anda recollection fth e e x trlo p s les liber ties of era people in the history - ties preserved, presenting one of e w st h s e i a g r h . t ) Let f. Th n e o y t this estimate of that people's characteror had sought to govern the people of Ireland as an inferior race, ant to govern Ireland, they must do her justice. They ld.,a lost must not make her the battle fieldand they had failed. If they me of party and faction, but treat her as a portion of a great empire, on whose well-being depended that of the whole. — ( Hear, hear.) They had tried all the means of force and penal enactments they could devise, in order to go vern Ire land ; but had they tried what conciliatory He had entered that house independent of either of the great he wished to ' see justice done parties of the state, neither a Whig nor Tory, but as belonging to the party of the nation, and Hon. Baronet, in the conduct of the Right great satisfaction to the country which he represented. He had witnessed with reference to great commercial interests of the country , i n considerations,for the pur pose of obtaining a great national good.—(Cheers which he had disregarded all party ) In pro • good, he a great national posing that measure for obtaining (Mr. Macarthy) now called him to exhibit the same had shown wisdom and ability worthy of admiration; _tian deal ing d h 0 with th e wrongs o f I re l an d.—( H ear , hear.) Let him who sought to not follow th e di cta t es o f par t y , nor those govern Ir e l an d on th e o ld pr i nc i p l e o f f orce , b u t a p p ly to it the same comprehensive views which he had displayed on the commercial interests of the country. Having supplied the wants of commerce, let him also supply the social and poli tical wants of Ireland, and thus emulate himself.—(Cheers. ) Mr. BAILLIE wished to make a few observations, in doing which he would not emulate other Hon. Gentlemen in going into details on the question. What they had to consider was, whether the Bill was necessary in the present state of Ireland? Unless the Government was prepared with a case to that effect, he could not support the granting of such extraordinary powers. In his opinion the Government had made out such a case, though Hon. Members opposite said not. It had been said by several of them that as great an amount of crime pre vailed in England as there did in Ireland. He was not going to enter into a discussion as to the amount of crime that pre vailed, but he would just call their attention to the difference which existed between the two countries. In Ireland it was almost impossible to bring a criminal to justice. They never heard in England of murder taking place during the day with out a hand being stretched out to arrest the murderer; of secret associations to deter witnesses from giving evidence in such cases, or of organised assassination societies. Under such circumstances, he could not see how, in justice, they could re fuse giving increased powers to the Government, so as to pro tect life and property. Some Hon. Members on the other side said the Bill was required, but that it should be accompanied by remedial measures. He would ask, what measures? ~~ ng this measure, had failed in showing that it would put a end to the crimes alleged, or that the present laws were ineffi cient for that purpose,--( Hear, hear.) The tranquillity which prevailed during the Whig administration arose from a steady per•everance in w € ll-d o i ng , kindly and tolerant s pi r it. L e t 3. ,:d administering tha law in a e Right Hon. Baronet follow this example—let hi m f ee d the hungi;', and remove some of the glaring causes which p ro d uce d so inutt. distress and suffer ing in Ireland, and he might depend upon it would have no necessity to ask the Legislature t o ass i s t hi m w i t h a a gercion Bill. From the oppression to which the poor of Ireland ware sub jected sprung the secret conclaves, the murders, the diss:'"e and death, which afflicted that unhappy country. Then fol• lowed the trials, the false evidence, and the revenge on these witnesses; and these were followed by Castle proclamations and Government assassinations. He scarcely knew whether to pity er to blame the acts of the peasantry of Ireland; he very much feared that their misfortunes were in a great measure attributable to the foolish conduct of a blind Government. Why did they not introduce into Ireland those measures which, for centuries,_ had proved to be of service t o th e p eo pl e o f thi s counts y ? He felt convinced that it was utterly hopeless to ex -7.: pe,„ : that the outb rea k s i n I re l an d cou ld b e put down by v i olence. These ev i were not to be put down by violence, The Go vernment must sro to the root of th e ev il, if t h ey w i s h e d to give pt , swe and p . rosi :..rity to Ireland. If they wished to put down violence by coercion; they should coerce the coercers— ( Hear, hear)--and prevent the:" grievous evictions which had taker, place. The present Bill was harsh, and tardily intro duced. If there was any necessity for `ha measure, why was it not introduced before ?—( Hear, hear. ) Mr. SOMERS moved the adjournment of the debate. Sir ROBERT PEEL then proposed th a t the dei.' , ate be Ou. journed till Thursday next. The other orders of the day were then proceed with. POLLING PLACES (IRELAND) BILL. Mr. GREGORY moved that the report of this Bill should be received that day six months. He considered the Bill 7mila give a direct encouragement to fraud, perjury, and personatjon. After a feet words from Mr. Caleb Powell, Mr. Smith O'Brien, Sir R. ilt•?1, and Mr. H. Grattan, the debate was adjourned. Several orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at (hie s;clock. PA. RLIAMEN TAItY BUSINESS. (From the Toles !end Proceedings of the House of Commons.) MoN'PAY APRIL 2/. Rail a fo t l o lo h w e in b g ro P ug e i t , i t ti i o n nt 7 fo t r he Bills ord Th ere e North Gravesend —Mr. Ward and Mr. Hudson. Derbyshire. Staffordshire, and IVoreestershire—Tigolla Jpgestre, Mr. E. Buller, and Mr. Beresford. u n fr 3 n 6 a e e d r 7.f r o e n po . r Al ed en%b ar e i r d s :tils STANDING ORDERS' COMMITTEE. The following resolutions were reported from this Committee:- 1. That, in the case of the Duirtee New Gas Bill amendments oil third red llhx, the nuleudin shall are of such a nature as may be in tile cage of the M t o b ra ink y w shi t re Railway petition, the adopted by the boni.t. If they I :—That the parties can be o t, rders ought to be ditiperused permitted tr. , proceed with their Bill. 3. That, ht the I :!fre of the Manchester, B Ron, an nnit d a standing orders Navigation and Ralitsay Extension petition, the pe s otv.lit to be dispensed with :—That the parties be tylth their Bill, with the eXception of that part which enables them them to illnitC the Clifton Branch ; and that the Committee o n th e Bill do examine, in the first place, how - far such order h as b een complied with, and do report the same to the House on the report of the Bill. 4. That, hi the case of the Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and Wor cestershire Junction Railway petition, the standing orders ought to he divensed with :—That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill. 0. That, in the case of the Great Eastern and Western Rails ay petition, the standing orders ought not to be dispensed wins. G. That, in the case of the Somerset) Small Debts petition, the :standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill. 7. That, in the case of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Edinburgh, and Direct Glasgow Junction Railway petition, the standing orders ought to he dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Dill. 8. That, in the case of the Banffshire Roads petition, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill. 9. That, in the case of the Oxford, Coventry, and Burton-upon- Trent Railway petition, the st nding orders ought f 0 be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to proceed with the:T Bill. 10. That, in the case of the Lanarkshire and Lothian Nalway petition, the standing orders ought not to be dispensed with. 11. That, in the case of the London and Birmingham Railway (Coventry to Nuneaton) petition, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to proceed with th fr Dill. 12. 11;51t, in the case of the Northern and Southern Connecting Railway petition, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with : That the parties bt permitted to proceed with their Bill. 13. That, in the case Of the Edinburgh and Perth Railway petition, the standing orders ought not to be dispensed with. 14. That, in the case of the Ecil!tburgh and Leith Water petition, the standing orders ought to be dispCMed with:—That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill. I. That, in the case of the Hull and BarnsiOy Junction Railway petition, the standing orders ought not to be dispensNi with. 16. That, in the case of the Liverpool Improvernet7t petition for additional provision, the standing orders ought to be dispeesod with: —That the parties be permitted to introduce such additional provi sions accordingly. 17. That, In the case of the Ipswich, Norwich, and Yarmouth Ralf , way petition, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill. 18. That, in the case of the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway (No. 2) petition for leave to present a petition for a Bill, the sessional order ought not to be dispensed with. If. That, in the case of the London and Birmingham Railway (St. Alban's attli J.uton Branch) petition, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with t—That the parties be permitted to introduce such additional provision accordingly. Second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, eleventh, twelfth, fourteenth, sixteenth, and nineteenth resolutions agreed to. --Report to lie on the table. REPORT FROM TIIE SELECT COMMITTEE ON GROUP (No. 12) OF, RAILWAYS. GLASGOW, PAISLEY, AND GREENOCK RAILWAY (BRIDGE OF :WEIR BRANCH) BILL. Mr. Vernon Smith reported from the Select Committee en Group 12) of Railway Bills, to whom several petitions against the Bills comprised in the said group were referred, that in the case of the Glasgow, Paisley, and Greenock Railway (Bridge of Weir Branch) Bill they had heard counsel in support of several of the said peti tions, and had also heard counsel in favour of the Bill, and that they 11 , ;d examined the allegations contained in the preamble of tlio Bill, but that the same had not been proved to their satisfaction. COURT CIRCULAR, The Queen and Prince Albert honoured the rehearsal of the Concert of Ancient Music, at the Hanover-square rooms, with their presence yesterday. The royal suite consisted of Lady Portman, Lord Byron, Hon. Colonel Grey, and Lieut.- Colonel Seymour. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent visited her Majesty yesterday, at Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty, attended by Lady Portman, took an airing in an open carriage and four yesterday. The Equerry in Waiting, the Hon. Colonel Grey, was in attendance on horseback. His Royal Highness Prince Albert rode on horseback, attended by Lieutenant-Colonel Seymour. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice, took airings yesterday in the royal gardens. The Royal dinner party yesterday at Buckingham Palace included her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, Lady Augusta Bruce, Baroness de Speth, the Earl of Liverpool, the Earl and Countess of Delawarr, and Lady Mary Sackville West, Lord Portman, and Captain the lion. James P. Murray. The band of the Scots Fusilier Guards attended during dinner, and performed the following pieces : Overture—" Ruler of the Spirits"—Weber. Polka—" Dobranoz"—Fahrbach. Selection—" Robert le Diable"—Meyerbeer. Quadrille—" Mari tana"—Coote. Waltz—" Natalien"—Labitzki. Polka—" Marien"—Streck. Her Majesty the Queen Dowager took an airing yesterday in a carriage. His Serene Highness the Hereditary Prince of Saxe Mein ingen, attended by Captain Taylor, Mr. Bedford, and the Baron de Reitzenstein, left town yesterday morning for Portsmouth. A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon at the Foreign-office. The Ministers present were Sir Robert Peel, the Duke of Wellington, the Lord Chancellor, the Duke o f Bucclettch, the Earl of Haddington, the Earl of Aberdeen, Sir James Graham, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Earl of Ellenborough, the Earl of Ripon, Lord Granville Somerset, the Earl of Dalhousie, the Earl St. German, and the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert. The Council sat an lour and a half. Mr. Forbes and Mr. Lockhart, with Mr. Dalglish, on the part of the Glasgow General Terminus, had an interview with Sir George Clerk yesterday at the office of the Board of Trade. Lord Kinnaird had an interview with the Earl of Dalhousie yesterday at the office of the Board of Trade. Mr. Wilson Patten had also an interview with his Lordship. Dispatches from the Governors of New South Wales, West Australia, and New Zealand were received yesterday at the Colonial-office. Mr. Hawes, M.P., Mr. Ricardo, Mr. Pearce, and Mr. Wilson bad an interview with Sir George Clerk yesterday. The Earl of Aberdeen returned to town yesterday from the Priory. The Right Hon. Sidney Herbert arrivel in town yester. dav, from Wilton House, Salisbury. The Marchioness of Hastings and Captain Hastings Henry le ft Farrance's Hotel, yesterday, for Efford House, Hampshire. WILSON'S SCOTTISH ENTER TAINMENTS - MUSICAL HALL STORE STREET. , Mr. Wilson gave his first Entertainment for the season last evening, at the Musical Hall, Store-street. Judging from the state of the room, it would appear that mute, like jealousy, for never has Gtrhoewss Store -s t t l r i e e e ra t e l a i t it usi f c e a e l ds on," Hall been more crowded than it was l as t even i ng. I n f ac t, Wil son ' s p owers of attraction seem to go on in geometrical progression. This is his sixth year, and if he gees on as he has gone on hitherto, he must next year have the large Exeter Hall to contain his audience ; for, truth to say, although theists corners last night were compelled to stand, the early comers were inconveniently crowded. The entertainment was a melange, consisting of various old songs, which, like old wine, were all the better for being old; and one or two new ones, which before the end of the season will be old favourites. Among the modern antiques which are more particularly de serving of notice, is the revived version of " Ower the waterto Charlie," which, as a musical composition, is much superior to the more popular song, and which, as the original of the old Jacobite song, will drive Young England (called young, we presume, ut lucus a non lucendo), mad., Then we had two exquisite songs by Robert Nicoll, the modern Burns, whom we hail as a brother of the Press, seeing that he was editor of the Leeds Times. " Bonnie Bessie Lee," and " The Married Man's Lament," stamp Robert Nicoll as a true poet, and as a true poet he was fond of joke, as the latter song testifies. Where is the true . post who is not ? Byron wrote " Beppo" and "I:oP.lua e R;_ Cowper wrote " John Gilpin ;" Southey wrote th•sP "Devil's Walk," and Homer wrote " The Battles of the h Fro gs Donald Mice." Then we had the glorious o ' "Pibroch Flowers Dhu " and Mrs. Cockburn's beautiful song, "An auld farrant sang," by James all an ine, o' the Forest," and then came a song, whic ß h ai was t t. new to us, en titledaneleabout one " aul o d f " aun a t n i d e Auld S a c n ir d o I , the most exquisite specimens of true pastoral poetry that ever was penned, and was given by Mr. Wilson with the most exquisite taste and feeling. Blessing on ye Willingly we travel a ve u l ld a a fo u o n t ti n e ll M t a i t l t e ie." way Auld uncle Wattie for by London, to your a . re Ain pat h t o e u rn se s a to t htahmee,'h' mtnoansharkacee,y are we to Mr. Wilso n f or h aving introduced us th th e y h o a n n . d. Ye yee and much obliged Mr. Wilson did not confine his illustrations of married life to the sweets. He gave us. with infinite humour, the lament of a married man, who, in pitiful tones, announces— "Aßnl I auld m_ it!ier died in the year aughty-nine, ne'r ha 'e had peace in the world amine." Arid also th e far-famed "Get up and bar the door." Wilson was never in better voice than he was last evening. He was enthusiastically cheered throughout, and announced that he should give an entertainment ever* night during the season, which announcement was hailed with loud applause. It is said that the arrangements consequent on..the death of Sir William Boothby, Receiver.Gencral of Customs, have not yet been completed. The salary of the late Receiver• Genera was 1,5001. a year. I