The Sun. — London, England, 1834-07-08 00:00:00

,-. LITERATURE. MILTON'S PROSE AND POETICAL WORKS, I. Vol. London, 1834. We have here the entire works of Milton, incorporated, -to suit the taste and economical tendency of the times, in one handsome, cheap volume, not the least recommendation of which is Mr. Fletcher's introductory essay, who has brought to his task, tact, diligence, research, and that which imparts life and freshness to such qualifications, a hearty love of his subject. It is in this spirit that we would have Milton canvassed, for his merits can scarcely be overrated, and even if they could be, still the language of exaggeration becomes almost an act of duty, when it is remembered what obloquy he has sustained at the hands of Horsley, War burton, Todd, and a host of high churchmen, who have not I...thought it inconsistent with Christian charity to spit their venom on his grave. With the exception 9f Dr. Chan- Ting of Boston, Mr. Fletcher is the most eloquent, as he is unquestionably the most uncompromising, of all Milton's defenders. His praise knows neither draw-back, nor reser vation. Whatever his idol says—whatever he does, is sure to be " wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best." He is a sun without a speck. Having said thus much, we need scarcely add that Mr. Fletcher is no churchman. Indeed the stern, bold hand of dissent betrays itself in every page of his essay, to a degree in point of zeal, that even Milton himself scarcely surpassed. At times this zeal is pushed to the verY verge of injustice, as in the sneering allusion to Walter Scott, and more especially to Johnson, which last, though no Mend to Milton, is still not a man to be spoken of with .contempt. Mr. Fletcher, however, thinks otherwise. His Polemic zeal here knows no bounds. He says of the great lexicographer that he had "an ear for no music, a soul in no unison with the sympathies of humanity," and that he was " fitly doomed to be the giant drudge of the Della ..Crusea.school." Now a more erroneous cluster of asser- Agoni tha n th ese was never ye t b roug ht t oge th er . S o f ar ! I. °n Johnson having an" ear for no music," his prose abounds some. of the grandest and most euphonious passages in - 4 :0 1 e. language ; witness, his reply to Junius in the pamphlet on 16- Falkland Islands ; his speculations on the temper in Which Milton " surveyed the silent progress" of his great work; and his account of the favourite employment of Col lin; who loved to " gaze on the golden magnificence of fairy Palaces, and be lulled to repose by the water-falls of Ely - . s lum ;"—so far from his having " a soul in no unison with the sympathies of humanity," he was, though_ rough in • Manner, the most kind and beneficent of men, as his con duct to Miss Williams, to his black servant, to Dr. Dodd, said almost every page of Boswell, attest ;—so far from his being the giant drudge of the Della Crusca school," he was reared And matured in the sound, healthy school of Dryden and Pope, between whom and the poetasters of the • %vied and Mwviad, a gulph is fixed, as broad as that of • Lyons, The truth is, Johnson hated Milton's politics, and for this Mr. Fletcher lays on the lash, though he should remember, in justice to the Doctor, that, with all his pre judices, he has paid a nobler compliment to Milton than even his most zealous advocates, observing of him, that difficulties vanish at his touch ; he was born for whatever a rduous,.and his work is not the greatest of heroic poems, only because it is not the first " - If we except this passing sneer at the sage of 80lt -court, Mr. Fletcher's essay is all that it should be. He confines himself, however, wholly to Milton's prose, which we regret, f or he has etinced a taste—a perspicacity—a feeling—and quick apprehension of the sublime, that would have enabled him to throw new light on the myriad beauties of his poetry. He We ll observes, ‘‘ Milton's name is a synonym for vast ness of attainment, sublimity of conception, and splendour °f .eaPression." Hi s prose, indeed, richly merits this praise. It has no one marked feature of style, but teems with pro . ' d igal variety. In one place it is quaint, obscure, wordy ; -fin another, precise and sententious ; now stern in its sim , „°citY, nowlavi s h i n it s i mage ry ; he r e, d raw i ng it s a ll u sions fr om republican usages ; and there, from those of chivalry. Still it never has been—never will be popular, except °long scholars. It over-taxes thought. It abounds •- in Archaisms and Latinisms. The same objection Plies, though in a less degree, to Milton's poetry. It pre-supposes, in its readers, an acquaintance with classic literature, consequently must be caviare to a large portion of them. For instance, what mere English scholar can ap preciate the full force of these expressions, which are used not in an English, but in a derivative sense ?- -" Let none admire - That riches grow in hell"— " The undaunted fiend what this might be, admired, Admired, not feared—" " Flowed from their lips, in prose or numerous verse"— `: Matter to me of glory, whom their hate Illustrates"— " Light issues forth, and at the other door Obsequious darkness enters"— . " Now night her course begun, and over heav'n Inducing darkness—" " With serpent error, The wa h um blentieri —" , shrub `•' • And bush with frizzled hair implicit"— . " Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid"- - • " Not yet in horrid shade, nor dismal den, ,Nor nocent yet."— Now was the sun in western cadence low" . • 7e have picked out these instances at random from Para dise Lost, but a hundred others might be as easily adduced • fro m his prose works, to show that Milton, who was as d• elgr imbued with the classic tongues as he was with his Olin language, often uses terms in reference rather to their , -than their English, signification. Another reason for Z ei ° comparative neglect in which Mr. Fletcher laments that m . tu ten's works are held, is that they do not appeal suffi c'ehtlY to the ordinary s ymp a thie s o f hu man ity. They ar e too r apt--too abstract—too devotional in their character. stirri ng passions and emotions of actual life have little or nothing to do with them. They institute no curious or r ° u und anatomical - researches into the human heart ; they not turn it inside out, and place it naked and bleeding bermeus, like the tragedies of Shakspeare ; they are pure, u erial em ana ti ons o f a serene an d un t rou bl e d i n t e ll ec t, th nt dwell s " like a star apart" in a region of its own. ihese remarks apply more especially to the larger poems, t wifi h , in addition, show every where the impress of severe _ l . abou r , The lines labour—the thoughts seem dug out of the brain with difficulty ; though Milton, in his Paradise assured us that they are " easy and unpremedi fo7 The t ru th i s , h e never penne d a sen t ence mere amusement, but always from a strict, solemn -of duty. H e l oo k e d on li terature as a tiere du. - vocation, t o w hi c h h e h a d rece i ve d a di v i ne ca ll . '"eieil we turn to him with reverence rather than with l,ret The very perusal, of his works is an act of devo .;.We feel- as if in communion with an i ns pi re d s pi r it, 11 e sensible of none - but the most solemn impressions. . 1) mien bas borrowedmore than Milton. No man has turned h. impressof his individual mind is stamped on every line. ' 46 original even when he is making use of the intellect in ° ,taere. It i s s i ngu l ar, as Mr. Fletcher remarks, that his Inaugural Discourse at Glasgow, Lord Brougham, th ough he makes honourable mention of Hooker, Taylor, a nd,,.. oth er great ecclesiastical writers, says not a word of a lßton. Th e great schoolmaster of the Common-wealth is Passed by in silence by the great schoolmaster of Reform. Vie. regret this negle c t, f or never was one man better qua ilted to estimate the mind of another, than Brougham that of Milton. It is an old story, that though Milton's polemic works Pecially his reply to Salmasius—resounded throu h eut Europe, • his " Paradise Lost" fell stillii-born f rom g the Press. Notwithstanding its bold, startling c erecter —n o t_ With s t urr „ umg that language seems positively to stagger a n d it br down under the overwhelming grandeur ofits thought s , 144 idttivv i c i l easd 7 no an t age by no means deficient in penetration, t he slightest effect. Yet at the moment whil e dm; lying unnoticed on the booksellers' shelves, a and!as alive whose works were the delight of the Court, El the more educated circles. We allude to Waller, a postate—th e petite maitre—the poetaster. This man, n w e u : e s r e . ht erarY, was as worthless as hi s p o liti ca l, life ; who Penned. a line worth reading ; whose fancy is feeble ••••ou _s w e a s e i to : at u _ i th l e e ryand nameu - ho whose ognal ve i t s i notion mistress,o ftv o woman, as may Sachari;sa,"b e writing to saheef was as sweet as a sugar-lum r lollipop, friend at Court thus speaks of " Paradise Lost" Th illasterswito bathre is also one John Milton, a blind old school 'luerk to r writ a poem, which hath length, if not like ecornmend it !" Conceive the fame of a giant c onceive ody .. i o.g at the mercy of a dwarf like Waller ! a irilized sore dwelling in transport on the pretti "vss of th e " Ode to''a Rose," yet unable to appreciate the ch a r aeter of Satun ! Yet why should we wonder at such blind- DAY.) a. i 01 111 f. he lat e - dist th e d ii !colitrY o f a• 5. 01 s eliCe r tie. 0317 , '4p ! ne defeoo r, car n ri f oO hdrawn 7.. e b :It, for itm l , Vard died oks, the r ; op efence ee-t t y ,nt fr9'' ackpoa l !meat o f to d Niedgel. Amide; t oo l bo i fendslo a s, eatto 3 fer oy in " +NW ty st- ul )1 A Dst lent to ne def•n" kis xid h e P- nrl a id e K te It wa s . , -. 0 nick W. 4 full f.or co .'" ,Tr these ,to VC's' ret , DAY•) TriVqd s f pO # New,7,o eriat C . ; 1 16 ,atk . Er tb : Ale 10. unit rest Irrived • It W., 1,4 ;rui; er, Y 431; iman, from Or Craft, frO 'row , r lll ,,e° from, rn, ,Seg' Reed/ f ° a.WYb° .01;thi. • H a 1 , 0 0111 r• P t y th ult" 14./ ' t°, i 5 yJ 0 ' 0s 4 etsw l for' • to 0$ 1 :0 1 igar s Off Lo this , nO l ies for I , disp , . ls__A jr h er e ; toe ) ad the e bags :Oil bags, !sts leti) ests, aa - ,, tl !avant*" coo _ w oo ve4 _ado -424.940 44. the 411‘01;$1 -0. 5a4 - 4 •0 4 '1 -s 4 6 " el _s ion 6% - r od, 15 5 4 , 04. i Cd- 1 F:- 10t. J °6 St Col 't o 1150 trow'' Ito DO, ton, , haf l - 1 , 0 4 e per s r o e 34. al ie* P eill d se e 01 4 i'cal 0101 0 ?e t ° 1 2 zol of 04, e ness, when we see that even at the present day, Mr. Bayley's Butterfly's ballads are the admiration of all the drawing rooms, while Wordsworth's " Intimations of Immortality" —the most thoughtful and magnificent lyric in the language —are scarce known beyond the circle of his own immediate friends ! So much more easy—so much more popular, is the task to amuse, than to improve mankind ! In his private character, Milton possessed all the simpli city of true greatness. With the sagacity of the philo. sopher he combined the artlessness of the child. His tastes were few and simple. He delighted in music—the organ especially, as might be supposed from the full, swelling, stately, cathedral melody of his verse—was passionately fond of flowers, and of listening to the lisping voices of children. So pure—so untainted—so unearthly was his nature, that though mixed up with, and even taking a lead ing part in, all the squabbles of the day, at a time when a host of evil paisions were at large throughout the kingdom, not even his bitterest enemy—and no man ever had more, or bitterer enemies—could ever bring aught to allege against his moral character. All his actions were regulated by the sternest principle. He disavowed living for himself. It was his favourite doctrine that he was born to serve his country. Thus even in youth we find him foregoing all the pleasur able excitement of travel, because he imagined he might be wanted at home. " I thought it base"' says he, "to be tra velling for amusement abroad, while my fellow-citizens were fighting for liberty at home." We see this lofty spirit of patriotism predominating in all his works—urging him to ad vocate the freedom of the press—to reform the abuses of the church—and even, in his great poem, to forego all hope of popularity, in the desire to uplift, improve, and enlarge the intellect of his country. Though modest and reserved in his nature, he was remarkable for a bold, lofty self-con fidence that never deserted him, even in the worst crisis of his fate. There was a proud humility about him—a just, but by no means overweening, appreciation of his own powers. He felt .that he was for eternity ; that he had made " the age to, come his tnvn," and this reflection cheered him amid all the gloom and neglect in which his laier years were past. Justly remarks Mr. Fletcher, speaking of Milton and Shakspeare " When you think of England you think of Shakspeare—you think of Milton—they are England. Other nations have heroes, and philosophers, and critics, and scholars, and divines, equal to our own, but they have not Shakspeare and Milton : we have, and sur pass them. Nature gave them to England, and no reverse of for tune can rob us of them. Their works are landmarks, pillars of truth, on these the high places of the earth, and they will be iden tified with our soil, when our institutions may have been swept from it, and when our political supremacy may have passed away. But, with their works in our hands, and with our Bible, read, and believed, and revered, and upheld, in cottage and in palace, we need not fear the loss of our heritage—the luxury that enfeebles— the vice that enslaves—the wealth that corrupts—the anarchy that overwhelms--intelligence and piety, wisdom, and . religion, and power, will b e c h er i s hed an d per p e t u ated for generations ; and with those who love these things, and bear the ark of British freedom, leave, for their guidance and delight, this book." TUTTI FRUTTL By the Author of" the Tour of a German Prince." In 2 Vols. London : Bach and Co., 1834. Herman Prince Van Puckler, whose travels in this country excited such lively interest a few years,since, again presents us with a work in which every body will find much to amuse, more to instruct, and something to condemn. It is a curious, disjointed, unconnected, compilation of all sorts of sayings on all sorts of things. To assign it a department in literature would be impossible ; as autobiography, theo logy, politics, sketches, adventures, and anecdotes, all claim isolated places in the work, appearing as proudly in dependent of each other as the thirty German Princes, in one of whose castles the volumes before us may have been written. Now, though we are as fond of perusing the journals, memorandas, and such like out-pourings of a cul- tivated mind as of almost any other kind of writing, yet we by no means approve of their publication during the lifetime of the author ; nor, indeed, under any circum stance, if they contain nothing necessary to the right under standing of some important event, or discover no new spring of human action. He must be vain, indeed, who presumes to think that the world cannot better employ it self than in reading whatever he pleases to write, or that he is not guilty of a moral offence in depriving people of their time, when he neither adds to their stock of information nor increases their happiness. We feel it necessary to make this observation, not on account of the appearance of these volumes, but from a fear that others, with no claims to respect, will regard them as a precedent for filling every bookseller's window with their " Thoughts," " Reflections," " Scraps," " Albums of the Mind," and a host of other crudities. Prince Puckler is a go od-hearted,benevolent,religious-minde d man; with great powers of discriminating character ; and if many of his opinions on the state and capabilities of man are contrary to ours, the very way in which, he puts them forward proves him a person who has not neglected the means of making himself acquainted with the subject. Though a warrior, he is a friend to peace ; though a German Prince, he is the advocate of freedom ; and though nurtured among religious fanatics (the Hernnhuters) he is in raptures at the prospect of Jewish emancipation ;--all triumphs of mind over state, station, and early prejudices! The translator, Edmond Spencer—(what classical reminiscences are called forth by a name!)—has executed his task with . great credit to himself. What happiness may we not yet hope for, when a brave soldier and a prince unites in this manner. , 4 I continued my route for some time absorbed in contemplation, and wove one web of speculation after another, until I was suddenly aroused from my reverie by the loud gabbling of a flock of geese. Upon looking up I perceived two large grey ganders arrayed against each other in mortal combat. I pictured them to my imagination as two Knightly Princes, who, armed in a panoply of grey feathers, were disputing their individual rights ; while the ladies arrayed in a circle, like the high dames in a balcony, encouraged their champions with their gentle feminine gabble, and with their long necki extended towards heaven, in voked the god of war to crown with victory the warrior they most loved. I could not help admiring the devoted courage of these feathered combatants, who returned again and again to the charge, so unlike the princes of our own species, who leave their contests and dissentions to be decided by the geese, their subjects; and these are so obliging as to fight till death for interests not their own !" We recommend the following to the attention of the noble Lords who, last week, so unceremoniously threw out the Bill for the Removal of the Disabilities of the Jews. " I frequently censure the English, and for this reason, because they are so great, and yet so little ! " To-day, as I laid the newspaper out of my hand, I felt for them undivided veneration ; the emancipation of the Jews, which I before mentioned, is a glorious token of the advanced state of their intellectual culture, and will produce the most beneficial results, by moderating their religiou s zea l ; f or one step taken in the path of charity is always the precursor of one still higher. Thus, by re treating from an evil, we escape one of still greater magnitude. " Hail to thee, noble, illustrious people ! How num erous are the clouds of error which have vanished before thy enlightening influence, and now thou hast laid the axe to the root of that rem nant of barbarism—the persecution of a numerous class of our; fel low-creatures—which has so long existed, to the eternal disgrace of civilized Europe ! " It is a glorious victory of justice and humanity, and a proud example to the world ; but I voluntarily drop the veil over the dark stain which the continued disabilities of the Jews leave upon Germany." This is a longer notice than we have given of works which pleased us more ; but when princes sheathe the sword for the pen, we cannot help dwelling with pleasure on an event so fraught with advantages to mankind. BANK OF ENGLAND. (From the . Lo; An ACCOUNT of the LIABILI' of ENGLAND, on the Average July, 1834. LIABILITIES. ASSETS. Circulation £18,893,000 Securities X. 7,593,000 Deposits tdon Gazette.) PIES and ASSETS of the BANK of the Quarter ending the let of £33,1'91,000 Bank of England, July :2, 1834 436,252,000 MEETINGS OF CREDITORS AT THE COURT, BASINGHALL-STREET, TO-MORROW. (From the London, Gazette.) M. H. G. C. Davy, linen-draper. New Church.street, Lisson.grove 1 at 1 T. Dodson, needle-manufacturer, St. Paul's Churchyard W e are sorry to hear of a melancholy accident which h appened off the Isle of Wight on Friday last. Two. young ge n tl emen, M r. Christie, son of Dr. Christie, of Mon tague-square, Enginee rs , were out in a boat, which was upset. Mr. Crozier and Mr. Crozier, son o f M a j or C roz i er , B om b ay was unfo rtunately drowned; Mr. Christie saved. TRU TH ,- T rutin alone may n o t constitute a great man, but it is the most important ingredient in a great charac ter ; it exalts and extend s its own qualities, it gives confidence to those who serve under him, security to those who employ him—and, in the world at large, it inspires a solid and perma nent admiration which maintains, and at last surpasses and out lives, the enthusiasm excited by temporary success.—Quar terly Review. LITSRARY PHYSIC. ---A writer of the last century respectfanfeoyr t p h r e i y n t e e a d n books a i d s should hYould not be in the wa y, states that at Constantinople, the i s n o te gr h e e a a t lt t h ha a t g w ai h n en p an eo d p i l f e t a h r e e K si e c r k a h they will make shift with a few verses of the Bible, or a chap ter or two of the P- 1 4nud, or of any other book that comes first to hand, rather than not read something. THE SUN, LONDON. TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1834. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. ROUSE OF LORDS, July 7. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack a few minutes after five o'clock. Numerous petitions praying for protection to the Esta blished Church by the Dukes of Wellington and Bucking ham, Lord Rolle, and the Bishops of Carlisle and London, were presented. Mr. BERNAL, and others from the Commons, brought up the Insolvent Debtor (Ireland) Bill, the Service of Process in the Courts of Chancery and Exchequer in England and Ireland Bill, also the Dundee Gaol Bill, with the Lords amendments.—Agreed to. Alderman Woon brought up the City of London Police Improvement Bill. The Earl of MALME SB UR Y gave notice that on the second reading of the Poor Laws Amendment Bill, he would move that it be taken into consideration next session of Par liament. The Duke of BUCKINGHAM presented a petition from a parish in the county of Bucks, against the Poor Laws Amendment Bill. Lord SE AGR AVE presented a petition, praying their Lordships to pass the London and Westminster Bank Bill. The Earl of WI CKL OW said he wished to know whether it was the intention of the House again to take the opinion of the Judges upon that Bill, before proceeding with it further. He asked that because he saw that in less than a week those learned personages would be off to the circuits. The LORD CHANCELLOR said he saw great difficulties in the way of such a proceeding. He had been most anxious for the assistance of two of the Judges in the Courts of Chancery to hear a very important cause, and found that in that he failed. It was not his intention to require their assistance again, but he would be able to give a decided answer to-morrow. While he was on his legs he would take the opportunity of presenting a petition from, he believed, a very worthy and honest individual, named John Lawless, against the Coercion Bill. He had mistaken the purport of the petition when he first got it, otherwise he would have taken an opportunity of presenting it before the second reading of the Bill. He need scarcely say that he could not agree in the prayer of the petition, as he had on a former night stated the reasons which induced him to support it. The petitioner stated various reasons against the renewal of the Coercion Bill, and in favour of a repeal of the Union, but as it was worded, though it was perfectly respectful, he could not present it, for in the %try first sentence the pct . - titioner alluded to a speech which had been delivered in that House. The petition was accordingly withdrawn. The Earl of WICKLOW brought up the Report of the Land Securities in Ireland Committee, and moved that it should be received. He also presented a petition from Ireland, praying the House to address his Majesty that he would be pleased to revoke the Irish Church Commission. The Noble Earl said the petition was agreed to before the pe titioners were aware that it had been objected to by any part of the Cabinet, or that it had been issued merely for the purpose of answering a temporary purpose, and without con sideratio.n. Earl GREY thought the Noble Earl had better reserve what he had to state upon this subject until the proper time came at which he could make his motion. But he had risen chiefly in consequence of a statement made by a Noble Lord opposite, as to what had passed in the Cabinet. He did not know to what particular transaction that Noble Lord alluded, but this he would assert, that no person, a member of the Cabinet, could consistently with his duty, state circumstances which had passed in the deliberations of the Cabinet.—(" Hear, hear," from the Lord Chancellor.) Certainly a commu nication had been received at an early period of the session, but it was not decided that the commission should be issued without mature deliberation. He did not mean to deny that the individuals to whom the Noble Lord opposite had allud ed had not felt very strong objections to it, but he would say that he did not consider it was quite proper that they should disclose what had passed in the Cabinet.—( Hear, hear, hear.) The Duke of RICHMOND rose, in consequence of what the Noble Lord had just stated. He was quite sure the Noble Earl did not mean to impute anything improper to him, but in cases of this sort, where the honour of the individual was concerned, he thought it was right that the House and the country should know the real nature of the case. When he tendered his resignation to the King, he had re ceived the sanction of his Sovereign to make any communciation he might think it necessary to make in explanation of his conduct.__(" Hear, hear," from the Op position.) He had thought it necessary to state the real fact, which was, that the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland had early in the session recommended that a commission should issue, but from that moment till be had left the Cabinet he never heard anything more of it—("Hear, hear, from the opposition.) He believed his Noble Friend would recollect that that was precisely the case, and he could only say that he had no intention to find fault with any thing that had fallen from him, but only to explain the reasons why he had made that statement. Earl GREY said, that if his Noble Friend had received, as he had stated, his Majesty's permission to disclose what had passed in the Cabinet, he could not object to it. He could only say, that he had received no such permission, and, therefore, he did not feel himself at liberty, consistently with the situation in which he stood as a British Councillor, to state anything of the circumstances that had passed on that occasion. He was sure his Noble Friend meant to state every thing correctly, but from the circumstances he had stated, he felt himself precluded from going into it, nor did he feel it necessary to state anything more than this, that the question had been brought very early indeed into the consideration of the Ring's Ministers by a despatch from the Lord Lieutenant, and that it was taken up again and maturely considered before it was proposed to Parliament— ( Hear, hear.) STATE OF THE BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. Lord WHARNCL IFFE, in presenting several petitions against the Poor Laws' Amendment Bill, took the opportunity of bringing under the consideration of the House the state of the public business at the present time ? At the beginning of the present session he had taken the liberty of stating his hope that the business of the House would be so managed that all the Bills of any consequence should not be brought forward at a period when it was quite impossible for the House to give them that attention they deserved. At the present time (July 7) several important subjects had to be brought under consideration. There was the Poor Laws Bill, the second reading of which was to be moved to-morrow.-_( Hear, hear, hear. ) In the House of Commons there was the Tithe Bill, the Irish Temporalities Bill, the General Registry Bill, and the Church Rate Bill ; there was also the measure for the aboli tion of imprisonment for debt ; there were two most important measures for an alteration of the criminal law, and also a Bill to amend the registry of votes. Upon the 7th of July the House was to be called upon to enter upon the whole of those subjects, and give them mature deliberation ; that in his opinion was perfectly impossible. There was nothing in the mode of doing business in the other House that would lead him to think that the country would consider that that House had done its duty if it passed such measures silently by.--( Cries of, ‘, Hear, hear, hear.") If the House gave that attention to the measures he had advocated, he thought it was quite impos sible that the House could be prorogued before its usual time after the commencement of the session.—( Hear.) As to the Poor Law Bill, he must say that those who supported 'it could not be aware of its consequences. Lord GREY said that no person in that House could lament more than himself the late period to which the session had arrived, but when it was considered that the House of Commons had been sitting almost night and day, he was sure that no blame could be attached to it or to his Majesty's Ministers. Some of the Bills to which the Noble Lord adverted were of such importance, that he trusted they would pass the present session, more particularly the Poor Laws Bill.—( Hear.) As to the statements of the Noble Lord that the country was not aware of the principles and provisions of that Bill, he thought that when the Report of the Poor Law Commissioners was considered, the constant publications which took place on the subject, and that no expense had been spared by the opponents of the Bill to excite the minds of the public 'against it—it could not be said that the public were not aware both of the minutiae and general details of the measure.--( Hear.) He, however, freely admitted it was an important subject for great consideration. With respect to the other Bills, there wore many of them that it was hardly possible to expect would pass the present session, especially those which were for the alteration of the criminal law of the country. He would not give an opinion upon those bills at present ; but he considered them o f such .great importance that they ought to be carefully and most systematically inquired into. Another reason why he thought they ought to be deferred was, that it would not be expedient to make an alteration in the criminal law until a better system of secondary punishments was adopted. Consistently with his duty to the public he was willing to postpone any measure that did not imperatively call for imme diate legislation. The LORD CHANCELLOR wished to state, with re spect to the Amendment of the Law Bills, that one of them, that relating to the abolition of imprisonment for debt, he looked on as impossible to be passed this session. Ile doubted even whether it would pass the other House of Parliament. It was hopeless to expect that such a great change in the law of debtor and creditor, though it might be beneficial and wise, should be allowed to pass in this, the very session when it was first introduced.--( Hear.) It was fair to his Hon. and Learned Friend, the Attorney-Ge neral, that he should state, in answer to complaints made in and out of doors, again and again, of there having been great delay in introducing the Bill, that, in fact it could not possibly have been brought forward one day earlier. He (the Lord Chancellor) had seen some of those complaints made out of doors ; and, accustomed as he was to see things misrepre sented by the violence of party animosity, he had no idea that men could have gone so far in misrepresentation. It had been stated, for instance, that the Attorney—General, though he was then sut of Parliament, had been in long enong - h to have brought in the Bill ten times over. Now his Hon. and Learned Friend went out of Parliament upon accepting his present office which he had filled as much to the advantage of the public ser vice, as with honour and credit to himself, upon the 18th Feb., and Parliament began its sittings upon the 4th. In 14 days, therefore, according to these accusers, there had been time enough to bring in the Bill ten times over. The accusation an swered itself. The Attorney -General brought in the Bill on the earliest possible day, and it was no fault of his that fur ther progress had not been made in it at present. With respect to the Bills for the alteration of the criminal law, he agreed with his Noble -Friend that these Bills should be introduced on the recommendation of men Whose attention had been particularly directed to these matters; and he much wished that these alterations, instead of being made as now, should be taken up and made in a systeniatic way. He could not but Wish —and he hoped that his Noble Friend the Secretaiy of State for the Home Department would take the matter into his consideration—he could not but wish that the able and learned men, the Criminal Law Commissioners, some of whom were most versed in these matters of any men in Westminster-hall, and who embarked in the consideration of it not only sound views of jurisprudence, but the most enlarged and liberal knowledge of its application, and the most intimate acquaintance with the practice of the law—he hoped that they would favour the country with a report on the matter before the next session of Parliament, and call the attention of Parliament to those changes which ought and those which ought not to be made in the general system- of our criminal law. That would enable. Parliament to legislate with better effect on the subject; and in the mean time, with respect to the delay of these Bills, he declared that nobody was to blame at all. The other House had sat almost continually from .morning to night, sixteen hours out of the twenty-four—indeed all the twenty-four hours together. They sat every morning, and again every night, and it was hardly possible, if they were to exercise any discretion on the Bills submitted to their consideration, that they should have done more than they had done in this long and arduous session. The complaint which the Noble Lord had this night made was not new. He (the Lord Chancellor) had heard it often made long before he had the honour of a seat in that House, and not only was it made long before then, but long before his Noble Friend (Earl Grey) came there. It used to be made annually by his Noble Friend the late ,Duke of Nor folk ; and to that complaint his Noble and Learned Prede cessor Lord Thurlow had been used to answer, and to ad minister a sort of rebuke to the Noble Duke, namely, that regularly speaking their Lordships could know nothing of the end of the session till it arrived • for as the length of the session was a matter i n th e Royal breast, it was never supposed that any one could anticipate it ; and to talk about the late period of the session was not therefore strictly cor rect, and so the Noble Duke was told by the Noble and Learned Lord.—( Lord Holland here said something to the Lord Chancellor.) He understood that as regularly as the Noble Duke made the complaint, was he called to order by the Noble and Learned Lord, his (the Lord Chan cellor's) predecessor. Now only let his Noble Friend con gratulate himself that he lived under so mild a reign— ( A laugh)--that he was not called to order ; that not only was no complaint made of the observations he had offered, but that he (the Lord Chancellor) joined with him in expressing his regret that there was not more time to consider many of the, measures now about td" be brought under the consideration of their Lordships ; but in the opinion that some of these measures could not now be passed, as many of these measures were of the utmost im portance, and could not now receive that sifting which that House was peculiarly fitted to give them. The Duke of CUMBERLAND made one or two remarks, which were wholly inaudible in the gallery. The LORD CHANCELLOR said that he should cer tainly propose that both the Comnion Law Bills should be postponed till next session. The Marquis of WE STME ATH thought there could be no doubt that the House of Commons had not done its duty, otherwise the business of the session would not have been in such a backward state. The Duke of RICHMOND rose to order. The Noble Marquis was clearly out of order in imputing to the other House of Parliament a neglect of duty. The Marquis of WE STME AT H said that he was perhaps wrong in saying the other House had not done its duty ; but he still thought that certain measures had been unnecessarily obstructed in that House. Lord WHARNCLIFFE made an observation or two, the purport of which did not reach us. Lord SUFFIELD thought the Bills for the improvement of the common law should not be postponed to the next ses sion. He intended to bring forward a motion relative to the state of the criminal laws at the earliest possible opportunity. The Bishop of EXETER presented a petition from cer tain clergymen in Cornwall, against the removal of the disa bilities of Dissenters. IRISH COERCION BILL. The order of the day for going into committee on the Irish Coercion Bill having been read, The Earl of WICKLOW rose, and said that as no opposi tion, so far as be understood, was intended to be offered to the measure in Committee, he wished to take that opportunity of making one or two observations. He should like to know on what grounds the Noble Earl opposite ( Earl Grey) had come to the resolution of omitting the courtsmartial clause. He (the Earl of Wicklow) especially complained of the Noble Earl not having laid any information on the subject before the House, provided he had any such information to communicate. On looking over the correspondence which had taken place between the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and the magistrates in different parts of the country, he could not see anything which justified the Noble Earl in withdrawing the clause in question. He did not think that the Noble Earl had received such information from the Irish Government as would justify his withdrawing the clause in question; but if such information was in his possession, it was due to the House that it be laid before it. He (the Earl of Wicklow) also wished to ask the Noble Earl why the motion for the renewal of the Coercion Bill was not accompanied with a proposal to renew the Change of Venue Bill ? When the latter Bill was proposed last session, he (the Earl of Wicklow) suggested that instead of its being only for one year, it should extend at least to a period of five years; and on that occasion the Noble Earl said he thought it would be better in the first instance to limit it to a period of one year, but that if the necessity should be supposed to exist, he (the Earl of Wicklow) could exer cise his discretion with moving annually for its-renewal. He thought that the existing condition of Ireland was such as to render it necessary that the renewal of this Bill ought to have been proposed along with the renewal of the Coercion Bill. Earl GREY said he must acknowledge it was in conse quence of a defect of memory that nothing had been said about the renewal of the Change of Venue Bill when he brought forward his motion for the renewal of the Coercion Bill. He did not think it necessary to renew it at present. The same circumstances which justified the omission of the courtsmartial clause rendered it unnecessary to renew the Change of Venue Bill. Should, however, the necessity arise at any future time, the measure could be again brought be fore their Lordships' House. With regard to the Coercion Bill, it was not until Ministers were satisfied that Juries would render justice as well, and much more clearly than courts martial, that they had resolved not to renew the courtsmartial clause. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland had also expressed his conviction that that clause might be omitted, and that all trials might be left to common courts. It was his (Earl Grey's) anxious wish not to introduce anything unconstitu tional, if it could be avoided ; but when necessary he would not shrink from doing it. The Duke of BUCKINGHAM deeply regretted that the necessity should exist for a renewal of the Irish Coercion Bill ; but he regretted still more that, as that necessity did exist, the measure was to be deprived of one of its most important clauses. If he was not able to repose confidence in Ministers formerly, he was still less so now. The administration of the nation's affairs was now placed in hands which gave no security for the protection of the interests of justice, in so far as Ire land was concerned. Whatever may be the information which Ministers have received from Ireland, and on which they jus tify their withdrawal of the courtsmartial clause of this Bill, one thing was quite clear—namely, that the Lord-Lieutenant, in all his correspondence on this subject, never ceased to ex press his anxious desire for the renewal of the measure of last year: and that he conceived it necessary to the peace and prosperity of Ireland. He (the Duke of Buckingham) also thought the measure necessary now, and that it would be so until Ireland ceased to listen to agitation from all quarters— from the highest quarters as'well as the lowest. Until then, she would never know what pea . ce and prosperity were. Earl GREY said that no one could regret more than he did, that the state of Ireland was such as to render the renewal Of the measure - now before the House a matter of necessity ; but while lie thus admitted that Ireland was in a disturbed state, he had no wish to exaggerate the state of things in that coun try; and he thought matters were not so bad as to render the renewal of the courtsmartial clause necessary. • Ministers had, Therefore, come to the resolution of withdrawing that clause. The Noble: Duke seemed to have 'some' strange ideas of agi tation floating in his mind. He (the Duke of Buckingham) had talked of high agitation as well as low, by which he ( Earl Grey) supposed he meant it to be i n f erre d th a t certain mea sures of Government with regard to Ireland deserved that name. He (Earl Grey), while he disclaimed the idea of wish ing to produce agitation in that country, would never shrink from the adoption of such measures as the circumstances of the case might render necessary. With regard to the misfortune of not possessing the Noble Duke's confidence, Ministers must bear up under the loss as well as they could. He (Earl Grey) would, notwithstanding that loss, persevere in doing the best he could for the peace and prosperity of Ireland. The bill then went into committee, and passed through it without any discussion. The report was ordered to be brought up on Friday. BODIES OF CRIMINALS BILL. Lord S UFFIED moved the second reading of this Bill. The object was to repeal the statute which leaves it optional with Judges to sentence the bodies of criminals Iwho are exe cuted to be hung in chains, or buried in the precincts of the prison, and to make it imperative on them to order them to be buried in the precincts of the prison. The practice of hanging in chains was a barbarous one ; it was pursuing a criminal with the vengeance of the law after his death. He thought that the spirit of revenge--for such he must call it— might be sufficiently gratified by the criminal's remains being buried within the precincts of the prison. The Bill was then read a second time, and ordered to be committed on Friday next. The House then adjourned at a quarter to seven o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS, July 7. The SPEAKER took the chair at 25 minutes past five IRISH COERCION BILL. Lord A LTHORP brought up papers, by command of his Majesty, relating to the state of Ireland. The Noble 'Lord, in moving that the papers be printed, said, that he felt it his duty to state, that in the communications which his Right Hon. Friend the Se cretary for Ireland had had with the Hon. and Learned Mem ber for the city of Dublin, he had good ground for stating to that Hon. and Learned Gentleman that the ipiestion of the re-enactment of the three first clauses of the Coercion Bill "was still under consideration. He had also grounds for stating, that it was probable these clauses would not be re-enacted ; but he had no reason to state, and he (Lord Althorp) believed that his Right Ho n . F r i en d did not state, that the opinion of his Majesty's Government had been, made up upon the subject, because the Right Honourable Gentlemap had had no, communication with his - Noble Friend (Earl Grey), and n o d ou b t ex i ste d i n h i s Noble Friend's mind as to the necessity that existed forlAhe .renewal of that Bill. With respect to the communications which had taken place, he (Lord A.) should not be inclined to attribute any indiscretion to his Right Hon. Friend in stating that the question had not been decided on, and cautioning the Hon. and Learned Member not to commit himself—( Hear, hear.) He should make no .observation further upon the mat ter, as his Right Honourable Friend had stated his own opinion pretty fully. It was also due to his Right Honourable Friend to state, that on gaiitrday he had tendered his resignation, and that he now holds office at the request of Earl Grey and his Majesty.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") All the Members of his Majesty's Govern ment were anxious that he should continue to hold , it as they valued the assistance of his Right Hon. Friend too highly to be willing to dispense with it.—(Loud cheers.) Mr. H UME expressed his conviction that the Right Hon. Gentleman was perfectly warranted in the communication which he had made to the Hon. and Learned Member for Dublin, and from what had come to his knowledge, for he (Mr. H.) was not present, he thought that the Right Hon. Gentleman stood perfectly clear in the opinion of that House. It was an act kindly meant for the purpose of allaying the irritation existing in the Hon. and Learned Member's mind at the pro spect of the re-enaction of the Coercion Bill. He regretted that a Cabinet should exist so uncertain and undecided as to place any Hon. Gent. in the situation in which his Right Hon. Friend was then placed. He had heard with great surprise that the Coercion Bill was a measure of one individual, and that that individual would have resigned if the other members of the Cabinet had not concurred with him.—( Hear, hear, hear. ) He understood that it was the act of Lord Grey, and that the majority of the Cabinet was decidedly against it.—( Cries of " No, no.") He only stated what was currently believed and reported. Ministers had time to bring in Coercion Bills, but they had no time to attend to what would be beneficial to the country generally. He begged to ask the Noble Lord whether the Local Courts Bill was to be introduced that session or not ? He feared that that, and other questions of real benefit, were likely to be passed by.—( Cries of " Oh," and " Hear, hear," from the Irish Members on the opposition side.) Measures so contrary to the principles on which the house ought to act had been introduced respecting Ireland, that no man on either side of the House, he was sure, would ever have agreed to them if it had not been under the most perfect confidence that measures would have been taken to have allayed the agitation that had existed in that un happy country, and to remove from it that large standing army which tended to keep it as a distinct country entirely from England.—(Hear.) Lord ALTHORP said that as to the statement that the renewal of the Coercion Bill proceeded from one member of the Cabinet, such reports could only be matter of sur mise; but as to what might be the individual or particular opinion of any one member of the Cabinet, it was not his duty to make any statement on that subject. When the ques tion came to be considered by that House, it would be for the Government to give such reasons for the renewal of that Bill as would induce the House to concur in it: He could not agree with the Hon. Gentleman opposite, that the only measure that had been passed this session was the Irish Coercion Bill. Those who had attended in the House must be aware that that was not so.--( Cries of " Hear, hear, hear.") With respect to the Local Courts Bill, he was sorry to say that he did not think it would be possible to bring in and pass that Bill this session now. Mr. ROBINSON thought that he had a right to ask the Noble Lord if it was true, as had been stated, that Lord Wellesley, on the 20th o f June, was adverse to the renewal of the Bill, and whether any circumstances had occurred since to cause him to alter his opinion ? Lord ALTHORP said it was certainly true that communi cations had taken place between the English and Irish Govern ments, but he was free to state that the Coercion Bill was now brought in with the perfect concurrence of the Irish Govern ment. Mr. O'CONNELL said that one thing was certainly beyond all dispute, that the documents now placed before the. House ought not to be treated lightly but deliberately ; and that if the liberties of the Irish people were of any value to that House or to any Member in it, those liberties ought to be considered in such a way as to prevent flippant observations upon them, or any one taking up any flippant views of them. His statement was not dif ferent from the Right Hon. Gentleman's the other day— they were before the public, and how far statements had been made to him was now beyond controversy, because they had been admitted. Those statements demonstrated that at that time the Irish government was against clauses in the bill, and that Members of his Majesty's Cabinet were decidedly against the Bill. They had now documents before the House—whether they were the same as those before the House of Lords or not he could not tell, but if they were, and they were true, it was equally - clear that Lord Wellesley _ _ on the 18th of April anxinusly called for the Bill. It was, then, very desirable to know what had happened between the 18th 6f April and the 20th of June, to induce him to decide against the necessity of it ; and what, again, it was between the 20th of June and the sth of July that caused him to be in favour of the bill. Ought not these things to be explained ? and with what just indignation would the people of Ireland hear the echo of the cheer that met the statement of his Hon. Friend (Mr. Hume) that nothing had been done in that House this session but coercing Irelind.--( Cheers.) Were, then, the liberties of Ireland of so little value ? Was it supposed that the Irish were such degraded slaves that they would not demand that constitutional freedom which was en- joyed in other portions of the same kingdom ? Here they were, up and down ;" on the 20th of April for a Coercion Bill ; on the 20th of June' for no Coercion Bill, on the sth of July for the Bill again. He turned to every part of the House, and asked how long was'reland to be the laughing-stock of Eng . . land and of EUrope ?---(Hear.) Ireland was dealt with In a manner that was 'riot presumed upon with regard to the negro slaves of the West Indies. Were the liberties of Ireland of so little value that no explanation was to be given of this matter ? He had given notice of a motion, and he meant to make it, for a Select Committee of Inquiry.—( Hear, hear.) One of the principal supporting newspapers of the Government, and that paper ought to sup port the Government, for they paid some of its writers liberally —had admitted the justice of his complaint. How did the Noble Lord talk of doing any thing for Ireland? What had he done for Ireland this session ?—( Loud cries of " Hear.") Ireland had been insulted by the difference in the Reform Bill with regard to her. They talked then of removing ten bishops, which he voted against, because it was of no real ser vice to Ireland. There was a boast of reducing the vestry cess too. But what was really done this session ? They brought in a Bill on the Ist of February; they altered it in March ; in May it was again altered; and now it was of so question able a shape, that the Right Honourable Secretary of War could not tell what it was even with the assistance of two or three prompters.—(Laughter.) But the Ministers had given a commission to Ireland. Let not the Noble Lord turn ridicule upon Ireland. He had done nothing—this Ministry had done nothing—and no thing would it do in its present state, except to coerce it.— ( Hear.) He , wanted no delay ; he was ready to go into Committee immediately ; and he was willing to go to work night and day. Therefore, if that feeling towards Ireland, of ‘vhich he had heard so much and so loudly cheered by that House—if that desire to do justice to 'rebind still prevailed amongst the Ministry, or the Opposition, the Whigs, the Go vernment party, or the Radicals, he trusted a fair trial would be allowed for Ireland before it was convicted.—( Hear.) He moved that the papers be referred to a Select Committee of Inquiry. Lord ALTHORP said that he had been misunderstood by the Hon. Member for Middlesex, in the answer which he had supposed him (Lord Althorp) to give. He did not state that during this session there had been any measures adopted which applied especially to Ireland. With respect to the mo tion of the Hon. and Learned Member for Dublin, it was not his intention to accede to it. The papers which had been laid on the table were such as Government conceived to justify the proposition which they intended to bring forward ; and if, on the consideration of those papers, it should appear to the House that they were not such as to justify the proposition of Government, of course the House would not agree to adopt it: He was content to place the issue whether :the House U;ould or would not agree to the proposition upon the pipers on the - table. Whatever discussion there might have been since the 1 8 th of April. to which the Honourable and Learned Member acknowledged, when they came to the discussion of the question, he was sure that the grounds and the expla nation that would be given would be such as to satisfy the House that they had not acted in the inconsistent manner supposed, but if it should appear that they had acted most cau tiously, if it should appear that they had discussed every question of doubt as to the extent of the measure, in order that they might ascertain to what extent a measure was necessary, then lie was sure that it would be be lieved that when they hesitated they had good grounds for hesitation.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. H. GRATTAN said, that the measure of the Noble Lord was most unconstitutional. In the annals. of parliamentary history, there had never been known so cava lier a mode of disposing of the liberties of eight millions of our fellow-subjects. What were the grounds upon which the Noble Lord refused to accede to the motion of the Hon. and Learned Member for Dublin ? The main object for which the Bill of last year was passed no longer existed, yet they were called upon to renew that measure, and by an order of a Noble Lord in another place, to destroy the liberties of the people of Ireland without inquiry or trial.—(Herr.) They would be base indeed if they submitted to such a pre -ceeding, and he could tell the Noble Lord, that there were many among the Irish members who would not submit to it. If Ministers wished to sow dissension between the two coun tries they could not adopt a more successful plan, and they wouldfind themselves left without a party in either country. He knew that some men in Ireland wero speculating upon commotions there ; he was ready to prove it before a Com mittee. He would tell the Noble Lord what they would do—what he (Mr. Henry Grattan) should not be afraid to do ; adopting the words of Lord Anglesey, he would " wait a while.", It was much better that the countries should be for ever separated than so united ; 1f they were not united for community of liberties and privileges, he was not for re peal, he was for separation, and upon that principle he was ready to act.—( Cheers.) The liberties of Ireland were to be swept away at the mere will of a dictator ; Ministers took away the representative right of the people, appointed an executive officer, and made the opinion of that officer the ground for abolishing the liberties of Ireland. Nothing could be more monstrous, and yet the people were told to be satisfied.—( Cheers.) He, for one, would not be satis fied, and he should be a traitor and a coward if he were satis fied. He would rather fall dead on the floor on the instant than be satisfied with such treatment. Why had Lord Welles ley been so inconsistent, and why, having been so inconsistent, was information as to the cause of his inconsistency to be re fused? Would the Protestants of Ireland bo contented, and why were the people of the north to suffer for the conduct of those in the south ? He vrel. I knew upon what information Ministers had acted ; it was proeurZl from police-officers, some of whom be (Mr. H. G.) would not believe upon their oaths. If he were examined on the Monaghan Colizmittee, he should be ready to swear it. There was a species of insanity in this proceeding, which he could not reconcile by anything he had ever seen or read ; it was part of a systematic species of plunder of the liberties of the people of Ireland. He' should oppose it with his utmost exertions in every stage. Mr: F. O'CONNOR protested against the measure ; he would put it to the English Members of the House whether, if such a monstrous Bill as this were proposed to them for Eng land they would not reject it at once ; and whether the Irish Members were not well justified in the indignation and excite ment with which they met even the first hints at renewing such an odious and unnecessary piece of cold-blooded tyranny. —( Hear, hear, from the Irish Members.) A great portion of the majority which sanctioned this measure last year had been induced to lend their support solely by the solemn assurance that something was without delay to be done to relieve the Irish people from their overwhelming and deep-seated griev ances. A year had passed, but nothing had been done, not appeared likely to be done, and be called upon those Members who had been so deceived into supporting Ministers, now to express their resentment, and what was a mere sentiment, their feeling of sympathy with an injured nation, by opposing every stage of this tyrannical measure. • He hires& would do so for one, and he warned Ministers that if they pe,-sisted in their attempts to pass this Bill, they would raise a spirit ilgainst them in Ireland which would with resistless force hurl them, and hurl them speedily and for ever, from their seats.— (Cheers from the opposition benches.) Mr. E. ELLICE must admit that the strong feeling of excitement raised in the breasts of the Irish Members - by the mention of this Bill, appeared to him in some degree justified by circumstances.—( Hear, hear.) He could not, however, see what object could be obtained by referring these papers to a Select Committee, which would not be equally obtained by having them printed and put into the hands of each Member, and time being allowed for the due consideration of these im portant documents—most important lie might indeed call them —for the whole case of Government consisted in the infor mation contained in their pages. When, therefore, these were printed, and in the hands of every Member, the House would at once, without any further delay, have the fullest opportu nity of considering whether the information they contained was sufficient to justify them in supporting the Administration in renewing the Bill of last year—or otherwise of making up their minds to oppose the Bill. He was quite sure that in every point of view the advantage of Ireland, of the country at large, and of the House itself, would be much better con sulted by their taking these papers into consiaeration them selves, than by subjecting them to the delay and uncertainty of a reference to a Select Committee. Mr. HUME thought it strange that those who had so long opposed a Tory Government should brills , forward such a mea sure as this, without at least a green ' bag—( A laugh)—for even the Tories had never brought in any measure interfering, like this, with the liberties of the country, without bringing down a green bag. Indeed, the only difference between this measure and a Tory measure was, that there was no green bag.—( Hear, hear, and a laugh.) Even the Right. Hon. Secretary himself, on a previous occasion, had failed in show ing any good grounds for renewing this measure. The Whigs, on this occasion, were thus worse than the Tories, for these had never committed any outrage, without going through the specious form of an inquiry, whether that inquiry were a mockery or not. This was not the way for Ministers to vindicate their character, or free them selves from the charge of desiring to become despots— of acting so as to drive the people of Ireland, he would not say into rebellion—( Hear, hear,)—but into something very like it. They had already spent a million of money on a military establishment, for the purpose of keeping the Irish ,people in subjection, while they refused to do her justice. He trusted the House would indignantly reject any renewal of this measure. Noy was precisely the time for manifesting to Ire land, that having consented to the measure of last year, they were even the more ready to redress tht'se grievances which brought about that state of things which ha.d afforded grounds for the measure of coercion. The first step towards exhibit ing this desire would be to allow these paper\; to be investi gated before a Select Committee, and to give the Hon. Mem ber for Meath ( Mr. Grattan) an opportunity for sui,stantiating the declaration he had that night made. He entreated Mi nisters not to oppose the printing of these papers. He en treated them, because he knew from experience that four-fifths of the House seemed prepared on all or any occasion to vote "aye" or "no" at the nod of Ministers. Mr. LITTLETON took occasion to observe, that the dis crepancy mentioned by the Hon. and Learned Member for Meath as existing between the police reports and the number of committals, did not authorise the conclusions he bad arrived at; for (as we understood) the same discrepancy was common to all the counties in Ireland. Mr. O'RElLLY_said that in 1821-2, at a time when the Insurrection Act was about to expire, a plan was got up in the county of Cavan to create a disturbance, in order to afford an excuse for calling out the yeomanry, and renewing the Act. On that occasion Lord Wellesley (as we understood) had at once agreed to renew it ; and the House, therefore, ought not to lend too ready an ear to his Lordship now, as they were taught by his conduct on this occasion that he was but too ready, without due inquiry, to lend his sanction to this species of legislation—a species of legislation which had proved but very ineffectual. He was the more entitled to express his opinion on this subject, as he had nothing to do with agitation of any kind.—(Mr. O'Connell reminded the Hon. Gentleman of one instance with reference to tithes, in which, as he said, that Hon. Gentleman had mixed himself up with agitation.) Yes, in one instance, as alluded to ; but here, where he had done wrong, he had paid the penalty ; lie had not written letters and left other persons to suffer for them.—( Hear, hear, and a laugh.) Mr. C. GRANT said that the renewal of the Insurrection Act alluded to by the Hon. Member, took place after he-had retired from office, and then he was no longer connected with the administration in any way ; yet, repugnant upon principle as lie was to such measures, on full consideration of the state ments laid before the House on that occasion, he had felt himself called upon by the imperative necessity of the occa sion, to accede to a renewal of that Insurrection Act.—( Hear, hear.) However regretting the necessity of putting into effect this dreadful act, there were still exigencies more dreadful which rendered it imperative upon the House to accede to their enactment. As he had acted upon the occasion alluded to, he trusted the House would act now ; all that Ministers wanted, was to have these papers printed and laid before the House ; then, if Honourable Members thought the informa tion insufficient to warrant them in supporting Ministers, it would be competent in them to withhold it ; though he had no doubt that the information would be considered sufficient. Sir R. PEEL had voted for the Bill last year, on general notoriety, and from a deep conviction that an indispensible ne cessity existed for its enactment—( Hear, hear)—and he should vote for this motion because he felt that whatever was to be done this session must be done quickly.—( Hear, hear.) If, on this 7th July, this Select Committee were acceded to, to render it effective it would be necessary to summon persons from all parts of Ireland, and to institute an extensive inquiry, and this would be tantamount, practically, to a rejection of the Bill for this session—( Hear, hear)—and this was what he could by no means consent to, being impressed with the full and conscientious belief that some Bill of the sort, if not the Bill itself, was necessary for the peace of Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) But at the same time he must say that he thought Government would much better have consulted their duty and the interests of the nation, by having at a much earlier period of the session given an intimation of their intention to renew this very important Act.—(Loud cheers from the Opposition Benches.) There was another reason for not referring this matter to a Select Committee ; there were explanations abso lutely indispensable to be required from Government, which would not be elicited if the subject were so referred.—('Loud cheers from the opposition.) It was due to the House and the country, that Ministers should not leave them in doubt as to what the executive Ministers in Ireland thought on the sub ject.—( Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") He wished clearly to understand whether the opinion of Lord Wellesley was de cidedly that the renewal of this measure was absolutely neces sary for the peace of Ireland, and the maintenance of the su premacy of the law ?—( Hear, hear, hear.) In an official letter from his Lordship to Lord Melbourne, dated April 15, 1834, his Lordship said, " Besides, disturbances have been in every instance excited and inflamed by the agitation of the combined projects for the abolition of tithes and the destruction of the union with Great Britain.—( Hear.) I cannot employ words of sufficient strength to express my solicitude that his Ma jesty's Government should fix the deepest attention on the intimate connexion, marked by the strongest characters in all these transactions, between the system of agitation and its ine vitable consequences—the system of combination leading to violence and outrage—( Hear, hear)—they are inseparably cause and effect. Nor can I (after the most attentive consi deration of the dreadful scenes passing under my view), by any effort of my understanding, separate one from the other in that unbroken chain of indissoluble connexion."—( Hear, hear. ) Now, if the dictionary had been searched through for expressions calculated to convey a feeling of the fullest conviction, none could be found stronger than those used by the Noble Lord in this letter, to convey his opinion of the existence and inse parability of agitation and combination, and the necessity of strong measures on the part of Government. He ( Sir R. Peel) knew something of the Noble Lord, having had the honour and advantage of acting with him in an offici a l capa city, and he had never met with a man more careful in what he said in his official communications ; and it was therefore the more surprising to him (indeed he had never been more I . ad quoted from, 3 sur prised in his life) that such a man, having, on the 15 th of April, written such a letter as the one he should, on the 20th of June following, put his hand to such a dispatch as had been forwarded on that day, conta ining sen timents so very different from those conveyed in the former dispatch. (Hear, hear.) He felt more than surprised, f or h e felt deep regret that a man who had acted with such decision and consistency in India, should exhibit such indecision and inconsistency in Ireland. It was therefore necessary to know whether he abided by the senti ments of the fir st or thos e o f th e second letter; and w hether such a measure. as this was t o b e thrust upon him as an unw i lling agent-_( hear, hear)—and if that nobleman had c hanged his opinion on the inseparability of political and predial agitation, the grounds on which he had so of administering affairs in Ireland altered his s entiments and whether he was prepared to un ypowers afforded him by this Act.— n b a lit hear.) responsibility lie would repeat that Government had greatly failed . in their duty in not giving much earlier intimation Of without the itethiaieer their intention to apply for a renewa l of the Act.—( Hear, i hear.) Nor was t the least singular part of the affair that the very first person to whom that intimation was made, and this, too, privately, was the very person whom Ministers, through his Majesty, l had, on the very first day of the session, almost perswally stigmatized as the originator an d prune mover of all the agitation which had rendered the Bill neces.