The Sun. — London, England, 1847-01-20 00:00:00

lar _ • try 'go a tiae. ;cern- P c iock' Oc a.. einb er wb°, id h is Chiet izen* ;s Lord at for Esq., art of I SO tee , le Place at that workhouse, awl within ll° should ask, if any orders or the permissionlas t w h e week lee. granted by the Poor-law Commissioners to relieve ejt er l3° t ° ll r of that district, without compelling them to Sit e e pestilential workhouse. Ito , sl' GREY said, that with refe h re e nc s e eh t j o ee a t 7 fs' l .7 e lee that had taken place on t th oo l,, s i 't would throw any light uthatsubject,ee r rbe s n the e tu " ee happy to lay it before the P H n ouse. M AJESTY'S SPEECH.—THE ADDRESS. e Th h s SPE AKER i tt o-t. t e h E AKER stated that the House, nt the nri., Queenpresenceof in th e H ouse o f P eers, an d t h at h er Majesty IT delivered a most gracious Speech from the Throne. . th es read the Speech. tie 4l , l'.e . R OWARD rose to move that an a r n ei h n u rn mh f l n e r Ahder 'B be Presented to her Majesty, teci ' . to ees Speech. But before be would proceed hat so, he besought the House to accord him i., ladulgence which it usually granted upon such e h . lons, and which he would assure ed tl s i i e nc l e i r o e u ly se th l a ie t : t , l very greatly in need of.He t„°hservations of his would dis h tti o r i t the un n a u m l i d ni b ty e • e l s. which the Speech of would i er example latel y , and that they ttll Y set them in Ireland, w a r d , fm i . m M ita aj t e e sty the w e,PartY disputes—(Hear, a in a tiorderme forbear e b a e r t t f e r r o to in °te them selves to the consideration her)— o a f e l e r e is t h m tm ea p s r u e r v e e s : meet deve s for the p enn hear.) The improve deft of-e means for (Hear, tie Paragraph of her alajesty h which at pre • eq' abxiete •and concern for the dear t t 's Speech expressed the e felt sure that et ei .a Scotland and Ireland. the in in . to o P .. the would join in circumstances that expression P e sp ' a i ltihnagtt h a e h character, a k„„_es,Ed that the ee t r o rred to him to . be o f the of latter . j h t country u r aeter, te s e beset with d f ffi s c o ult a i himself almost Bat to to addresssubject. t o be felt confident ' that the to mere rh al , lus a i n on d h e tli te et n would be sufficient at t e o ffe e r x t c a it t e e s r e e r it p v a e _ th e e , ta._ et 4 call forth the warmest fe-ver, hear.) Unfortunately ' te ' and famine no the cala e m ee i e t f e Ireland. Last year it p was preva at iled to a considerab yr 4 en ex eo e c - f r th t l . l, but it did not take . place . in August, and s e,`• ° Non. nor was It attended . with such fatal effects. e c om e year disease ha d se t in early the early part of the had been the destruction of the potato crop, At • exception of a few set in th , with the ieuebYear, they had been almost all destroyed. He felt to unable he was adequately to express in figure s th e of things as regarded that the fai alure,rbaleubthepbaerlt a believed th at the eleventh part o 1,200,000 acres, were ee l country, or about ~11 . d with potato cultivation. it hid failed ; wereand wastaken This im m i e n u to se c ociersoip n,eretion how many might be when dependent on it as their only '„tibsisteece some idea T tre ss *which was the consequence e f f orm t h e a d t o f failure. i I u t r h e e . ntere many dependent upon would not attempt to Ito . s Were so its place. He it that it was nearly' et yeeibl e to fill meet this emergene)• to te the measure which the Gover.n.melntt would d d h ed e employment they tot mg forward to he hey had held em o P ut for the em- I 1 contributions. he its,ylteue of the pe e o e r a , and the contribut l io n n ivt, s as thee a r fr h a a i d d 4 , 1 1, to resist they done, 07 ° Ine all to prevent ( 11 1 4 , t_ their diens had not been _sufficient . ts e ' e s!, er save the country from being reduced to a G ot desperate state. He was do all they could; . e er ! bnient intended to glad to understand d e r stthaantd they t and that they Hite Te r ! about to take off all duties which restricted . the e i d m et - t t o L ion of foreign IN ,e,W molasses and sugar to Ile e re grain hitherto used purpose.—(Hear.) distilleries u a r t 3 fe, r h e t h e a s t e p d u i r n p but yet he could Rowa n quite aware of the benefit which this Laesneer.et c'e produc e to the country, O i se from himself the fa't tat aftera i l e l intewweauyl onlyaffect thecle_f to from utility, end that it would ation try intoconsid.er such , tserpianent condition of the people of Ireland. .He would ti le whol condition of that coun ea ss h tt4swhould hope that the Government would o p u r l e d se d n e t v d is i e st s re , 4t ' 4 ss would not onlierelieve . eld' i vii, also prevent it from becoming he of that country,. th ou etaving noticed the distress a permanent great injus tiee ght he should be doing an injustice—a ttleZ e t° t he people, if he did not at ts e i tir gulag patience with which the had e th e e op s l a e m o e f I ti r m el e an h d e this terrible calamity. ti %c e . d tee extreme suffering to which they had been Ile th `ed durin g the existence of b shown, that tbe dese e ° d neht it but right to make this remark because he '3'a,e, as he trusted it wou.d e with ll 'e ' - " Y of that House went it ' would be a el'eople of Ireland, and that entirely still toefinnitnendation to the Irish people against the distress t hate r ,,t° bear up their fortitude He alluded to Iti 0 4 f4i len upon them. There n ß g •as another subject 11 1 , 4 leh Ile Wished to say a few words. __ erek'struction of the independence of Cracow, and ho should have a Vi o i l at . help expressing his extreme surprise that such te 44 mien of the sanctity of treaties l as e n,,,el,ace, and he' could not help . looking upon it m esty 444-.11,14,5t violation of the treaty of Vienna.—(hear, Whie, -there was one topic in her —fie he t ee to this country th at thou ht of peculiar importan of Towns' lepo,',:was, the notice of the Health 's Speech her Ma - Je`:.% which had been made Y this country t,,Pore eetetnissioners, and he trusted that those i ''' th ihsweeld awaken the people of ete Be —Tontine-. !hat "(,I„,,seeh mease ores as would mainly contribute to f that subject, and that they would e o ieeortant ohj a ec e e s In saying thus much, be uuKh r t . '')ut x l i P , r re s' his gratitude to Mr. Chadwick and y nit lli had made. ts °4 , (l Smith for their exertions and consideration Ale Foul44luSiPet and for the valuable reports they fur -1,55 n ot trouble the House with any for A 'new_ The Honour '4. • "rnat hs t but at once thank them lo a f . tifiL er K'nee be had received. Aree , concluded by moving kek - : t ss oe presentee' to her Majesty in return for her e that an humble he Y's most gracious Speech from the throne. c), 4(1 4% 11 el 4 , 0 ( Sp ec h then read, . the lieech. which was, as usual, an said h ItICARDO rose to second the Address...H , e e 'ffer e :i did not anticipate that any oppositiontwouletl3 l 'hiee t e ° the Address, for the purpose of seconding 41 t " now had ' the honour to rise- ile Of eVed that even if there were anything eitherof g;4l, eoliatniision sir omission in the opinion to er aarty, in this case the • would be slop a loo ns nY obstruction to her Majesty'. Government at s& - • - 4 0 tit we to the!tlire the Jeet o r nen so large a portion ot her Majesty's I) his adoption of measures which would lead tloe. Frinamediat relief. He should not follow h end throe °ci nsid r 1 ugh the details of Irish distress,. because to .' t e et after vvhat he had said, .1. i t . all, he should but compliment bits sancerity el pay a poor teetireeete of • 0 was sure that he expressed the if he alluded tteted his 6 when he every Member in the House be *- posed NI] conviction that when the measures lo . a 4 ° - e hY her thetyne xisting distress cameo under erm consideration, that . Ah j es tY's G v ent for the alleviatio tee,e_yreuld approach the discussion of them with t by part hostility or by party con 1 NJ:Lions, and that they would be actuated by the anddeeisittemires, in order y to obtain the same end t -- . lead t s. a remedy for 'the present national calam e i f e a , measure to preveut the recurrence What thos e r st ate of thinge in future.—(Cheers.) 0 I bleee nietisures might be, he had no means re_ f lem ur " ; indeed, if he did, it would be p was olle ea to discuss them then. Bat °ate r e i r t of the Speech to which he wished th t e o re all v u . d e e g , l 'acili t Y' the a dmission of foreign corn, and for giving I b eli ey le , for its a dmission. —(Hear, hear.) he T • h's the Qlltie,em was understood to be done by removing 1162.11)0n foreign corn, and by the relaxation of . the Thr"tell laws as far %3 regarded that importation. Agd had received universal discussion. e‘ t ' t but two objections raised against it, one of which a e • a lei a c u h . lity nfreest e xtraordinary reason, that i?e, larger tlian-,,.elara could be admitted under a free impor c t l atiori Tot 4 nder the present duty. Certainly, if they could Th e get any in, they could not let t any out. c which was ilt,e next reason was, that the let e re 'l into between Parliament a e n o d mPa he agricultural he tes t° would be materially interfered t with. Now, hetillressed he thought there was no party in that House upon itself the 1 '4, 13 WOuld deem it wise ,y) talie qu o tltiEility of adding one farthing to the price % ( 4 at the present moment, i a n order to sustain such Ol,tllletilio as this. He did not apprehend that the agri d think less disinterestedly of li k t . i lrists of 1847 w 4, 11 ' country than the ot agriculturists and Parliament of o e r, when it would be borne in. mind, not is,/ Was corn admitted for the relief of the- suffer -IVeePie, but a bounty paid on its introduction. won u 'e r.l he did not consider that the state of the country -ch would by her Majesty's Government 11;" 4 h e bad as it was in 1800, for the measures * ewe 'voted be taken . lle t ' 4 , Prevent their arriving at such a point of destitution. l e , t nere was one point to which he . would call particu ,thattention—they were not alone in their misfortune. e.43„l.scareity extended through the greater part of the Belgium 4 41 -411 N of Europe. France, Holland,. and re. ut es. i'l,°Pened their ports and remitted the d ir e c e o nee, d aed i it *o h l e Were, therefore, put upon their f 11 0074 utter madness in them if they should impose prevent thee,' thebaselres any restrictions which-should l from obtai n i ng a fair share of the produce s ees e ee t irY to their support.—(Hear, hear.) Let them, for teette e o age price of corn to •e s --- s sake, take the aver ° ti t net,,,rt 4 ee er. Upon that 'hey tang duty, while, under the old corn-law, they had at present to pay a It was Ohei would have but one shilling. lee „'lla to every one that the seller would sooner take four shillings, even Il he - rl rt ' e to a free and unrestricted market than to one o ,°ep e ',!' l e would have to pay a toll of the price of corn. 'thsy" t e nß that the toll were repaid means of trafficing gro tei 'errn their more intimate h r 3 c . lations with corn e "Il countries, and from their I ler l e n ena, from their insular positionhad certainly ee r o 411 g'ettes f internal transit, and supe thet, antaee in keeping the' Pr effectually te do other? countries. But, in order Of Isle, t wothings the first - le ice of corn lower were necessary, e , t 1 asto . corn laws. sp a whi c h W remit their Ala 15 second to relax their navigation `liar Q h , been in . . . , two nu . 'llions of .. duties, e ad been in the habit of receiving ktt e ' l 's of wheat from Ireland the would not receive v e b, ear, but the probability was, would sp a to "" export the same quantity, which 11' this that they would 'vh,„ deficit of four millions.—(Hear, hear.) tfieri,,_°Yconsidered the success that had attended the ',lc e - W elch had been made to carry out a liberal . system for eei:,reerce, they had the strongest presumption, rera ittttptull, hitherto !It evince that the best effects would follow from g ki -"r9gution of the navigation laws, which . operated so injuriously to the „ solo ants only (! ' )1 '''' S °F no tthe mother country, but their e )1 di a l ' de not When they considered the 'Nu I. °l. the British commerce—that it extended k e et e t!' every quarter of the globe that their . S'le :Ns and sailors were toiling everywhere in ellit," humanity tha . t their empire was "eli the every sea —that their commercial trader . s i kee ttf . : o best customers of the country, and their 'ttlrers Burpmeed by none in energy and enter- prise,—when they considered all these things, -and the capital and resources, mineral and other • wise, which existed in the land, , and when they all also took into consideration the great advantages that had already attended the remission of the old law, which had failed in its operation in this country, and had lost them the North American colonies, besides creating irritation in the present de • pendencies of the country, they had every encouragement to come forward in the direction they had recently taken.—(Cheers) There was one other matter in the Speech to which he would refer. It was that regard'og the admission of sugar for the use of brewers and distillers. He did not intend to occupy the attention of the House at any length on the subject at present, as many opportunities would be afforded for its full discussion in future, but he must be permitted to say that the proposition would have the best effects in liberating a large amount of grain fur the maintenance of the people—(Hear, hear)—while at the same time he believed a considerable reduction could be made in the cost of some articles of luxury to the people. — (Hear, hear) Ho considered that the measure would be but an act of bare justice to the agricultural interest, which complained of the abrogation of the protection that it had hitherto enjoyed. The success that had attended the new course of policy pursued—the experience of an increase in the Customs duties, at the same time that a large consump tion of necessary and useful articles, such as timber, sugar, and brandy had taken place —encouraged them to go steadily forward in the same track.—(Cheers). He was convinced that other nations, would not be slow in following our example, but that they would prefer, as it was so evidently to their interests, to buy economically rather than manufacture expensively; that capital would quickly flow into the country, and that we should have such a return in answer to our proffers, that the world would speedily feel the benefit of those measures, and that their result would be an in crease of plenty, prosperity, and peace. With those ob servations it only remained for him to second the Address which the Speaker had in his hands. The Address havieg been read from the Chair, Mr. S. O'BRIEN said that, however disinclined be was to disturb :the unanimity of the House on the present occasion, or in any respect to inter fere with that unanimity with which addresses in reply to the speech of her Majesty should have, he felt that he should be wanting in duty to his countrymen if he remained silent, and refrained from an appeal to the House, in behalf of those whose suffer ings could neither be exaggerated nor described. It was surely not necessary for him to remind the House of the circumstances that had taken place during the last three months in Ireland. If Hon. Gentlemen would only look at the reports which were daily circu lated through the newspapers of that country for the last three months, they would know that those suffer ings were extreme, and that there was reason to appre hend that, unless immediate measures be taken they will not only continue, but bo very largely increased. The latest newspaper which he bad received from that country contained an account of no less than eight in quests in the county of Mayo, in which verdicts had been returned of death from absolute starvation ; and also an account of a family who were found living upon horse-flesh and carrion, the refuse of wild ducks and other birds. He was not ;prepared to say that her Majesty's Goverment were to be held en tirely guiltless cf having produced such a fearful state of things. He believed that it was in their power to have prevented a single death taking place through starvation. He did not accuse them of a wilful inten tion of doing so, but he thought that by the measures they had introduced; or rather the neglect of those measures, they had tended considerably to bring about that state of things. He would recal to the recollection of the House the pledge given by the Noble Lord at the head of the Government, at the close of the last session, that no inter • ference on the part of the Government with food should be allowed. To that fatal pledge he attributed many of the disasters which had befallen that unhappy country. The present Government should have followed the example of their predecessors, and made a pledge that, so far as the exertions of the Government were concerned, they would do the utmost to present any human being dying of staivation, The Noble Lord had, no doubt, by this time discovered that the capital of this country was not of such a nature as could be immediately employed in obtaining resources tar a population of .five millions of persons, the greater portion of which were to be found in places where no trade or commerce had as yet any existence. The Government ought, therefore, to have been prepared to augment the supply of corn, by ransacking every port in the civilized world, and also to have in• troduced every description of produce, and by the ap plication of that produce to the most remote parts of the country, have mitigated the evils and prevented those fearful disasters with which the public were unhappily too well acquainted.—(Hear, hear.) Then he wished to ask why should not the duty upon the importation •of corn have been abrogated months ago, when the horrible state of the Irish people became known ? The Noble Lord had been bold enough in dealing with other duties, or rather the chief Secretary for Ireland had found no difficulty in legislat ing without Parliament. But why should not Parlia ment have been called together months ago, for the put.. pose of carrying out the plan only now suggested, viz., of removing the corn duties, and;suspending the navigation la ws, in order to alleviate the existing distress, and conse quently of permitting such an importation of grain, and preventing the use of sugar in breweries and distilleries, and of employing the navy, as they had only recently been employed, in carrying supplies of food to the extreme portions of the country, access to which was difficult ? Then, with respect to the eee ployment of the people—and he regretted that he was addr.ssing an audience five-sixths of whom knew no thing about the subject the resident gentry and the farmers, who had received diminished rents and profits, from the failure of the potato crops, and who were consequently unable to give all the 'employ ment that was required, stepped nobly forward and did their best to alleviate the distress, yet the Government refused to tax the absentee landlords.—(Hear, hear.) In such a state of things it was the duty of the Government to provide a temporary remedy. They passed at the end of last session a Bill which was called the Labour-Rate Act, under which power was given to the Executive to undertake works recommended by:the quarter sessions, in order to give employment to the people, and under this Act they were employed in de stroying the roads, and in consigning the land to perpte tual barrenness—nothing was done for its proper culti vation. He did not blame the Government for passing this Act, because they, no doubt, did so precipitately, and without knowing the full extent of the sufferings of the people ; but he could find no apology for the neglect of the Government in not calling Parliament together for the purposes to which he had referred, and of whose conduct he could not speak in terms of praise. General remonstrance reached the Government against the expenditure of such large sums of money on objects injurious or worthless, which they were for the most part: The Hon. Gentleman instead of doing that, which was his duty, took upon himself the functions of the Legislature, and that without consulting the Irish representatives, who were the proper organ for legislative enactments. But the Hon. Gentleman had taken, the sole responsibility of establishing regulations affecting the property of the country and its taxa Lion in a most material manner, and that through a letter couched in language very obscure and exceedingly difficult to understand. It appeared to him that the Minister who set such a precedent—for, let them remember, it was a precedent—was deserving of im peachment. He might stand alone in that opinion, but he felt himself bound, notwithsianding, to express it. He was bound to state, in addition, that the instru ment had remained a dead letter, and had thrown the country into confusion; for, up to that moment, it was his belief that a very small portion of the works had been undertaken in accordance with that letter. What they demanded was, that the employment of the people should no longer be directed to works of an entir e ly un p ro d uc ti ve c haracter ; at the present moment hundreds and thousands of men a were e were employed e f i t n u d n e t s a t i r e e d y destroying i r e o a a r d , s h w ear) he the t the le consequence of which would be that the famine of the next year would double that of the' * present. He complained that the provisions of th e A c t had not been carried into efficient t frect, and that the Board of Works did not carry out the powers which had been reposed in them for the employment of the people. In the county of Mayo, he knew that the proprietors of land had taxed themselves to a great extent for the employment of the people, that due effect to the funds so raised had not been given, through the inefficiency of the Board of Trade arrange ments, while the people were dying by thousands. There was another consideration why Ireland should know the measures to be proposed at the earliest moment. Was the measure to be local or na tional ? On that question would depend the reception which it would meet with in Ireland. If it were to be a national measure, then should all be called on to con tribute to it equitably, without regard to class or party, landowner, mortgagee, fundholder, and annuitant. Whatever he, as a humble Member of the House, might think of the measure or the character given to it, upon that would depend its efficacy as a means of relief for the sufferings of the Irish people. It would show to the millions of that country whether the union was to be productive of benefit to Ireland, or throw all the advantages in favour of England—(Laugh• ter) —by the encouragement of absentees" to spend the rents levied in Ireland out of the country. There could be real union between the two countries, unless the interests of Ire land were fully recognised and consulted, and he trusted the measures of the Government would be an instalment in that direction.—(Hear, hear) i l put a that If that were the case, then it followed th a t th e manu facturersense to t their r Ireland ira agi imagination n d in flourish, wh io theand he would principle had been advocated could not hold. Suppose, in the case of an invasion, or any other national disaster, that should deprive the people of empl o y ment , w h en food would be as scarce as employment, could they dare to adopt such measures as those which were now re commended, and which would be equivalent to swamp ing the whole of the landed interest of Ireland. H e did not wish to offer opposition to the Government, for he looked upon their attainment of office with the greatest satisfaction, and had certainly greater sympathy with them than with any other sect in the House. But he had at pre sent no faith in the plans which they had devised, and he thought that they would not by any means, be likely to satisfy his countrymen. There had been a committee sitting in Dublin, whose business it was to investigate the state of the country. He would not that night enter into the details of that committee, but he did not hesitate to say, that, for himself, if their recommendation were adopted, be would hesitate to give in his adhesion to the extension • of the poor-law to Ireland. But if the cry for help that was now making frinn Ireland was to be Wet, no by relief, b u t b y such pamphlets as that which he held in his, hand (An Extract frem Adam Smith's " Wealt'i of Nations"), nothing could allay the exasperation of the people, or avoid the dreadful calamity of impending famine. The opinions which be entertained upon the ,subjects of political - economy, the duty of the Government, and the duty of the Legislature, were -not at aIl acceptable to that House; he felt it his duty, however, to state then, and so long as the Government of this country administered the resources of • Ireland and t h h e e r Greovveenrnumese,nsto responsible g obs w ib o l uld efor he eir c e o r n y tin d u c e ho ,ath to whic l h d might occur through starvation—(Cries of " Oh, oh") —if they did not adopt every -measure which might be probably and fairly expected of them. Mr. P. SCROPE said that the llon. Member who had just sat down li - ad alluded to the employment of the able-bodied of the people of Ireland on public works in that country, but had said nothing of the relief of that large class of the population of that country, the destitute, who were unable to work upon public works. The wages which were given to those persons employed on public works might have been sufficient for their support when they had potatoes as a means of sustenance ; but now that the crop of that article was destroyed it was not sufficient, seeing they had to put chase corn and grain at high prices. If then the families of the employed could not subsist on their present wages, what was to become of those destitute persons who were un able to work? He supposed that the Government con sidered that the various relief committees would afford the proper relief ; they were, however, interdicted from giving relict' in money, and were only allowed to eel provisions at cost price to such persons as might be consihred proper objects of their attention. The Committee should have done more than sold food at . the prime cost, because ho believed they were not pre vented from assisting them by grants of food and money. Then, with respect to the workhouse system, experience during the past ought to have taught them that they could not rely with any certainty, nor upon the voluntary relief of the gentry. When their attention was called to the nature of the emergency last August, which they ought have anticipated, they might have well known that they could not calculate with any certainty upon receiving the ample means which were necessary from the resident gentry of Ireland. 130 workhouses had been established in Ireland under the law recently passed, but they were not calculated to contain one hundreth part of the indigent part of the population. The work houses in England were not calculated to maintain more than ten per cent. of the population during the worst seasons; but what was to become of the poor of Ireland during similar seasons with such crippled work house accommodation ? In many instances the work houses had become so crowded that their doors had to be shut to all new comers; and, so crowded were they, that fever bad broken out, and instead therefore, of affording relief to the poor, they had been the means of affi:cting them with fevers, which too often carried them. off. He asked them why they bad not interfered be fore now, and dispensed more liberal relief. This might have been done by making the local authorities responsible for the maintenance of the poor, more especially the infirm and destitute. The local authorities would then have been able, through their own means, to have provided ample supplies of food, and they would not then have heard of the dread ful occurrences in Skibbereen, in which, as it ap peared to him, the poor were left to starve or be swept off the face of the earth.—(Hear, hear). He lamented that he felt it his duty to make these observations, and he considered that the facts re quired some explanation at the hands of the Minister. Ile, with others, felt that measures were not taken which might have prevented the scarcity which was now so bitterly felt. Mr. LABOUCHERE said, that although for many years he had been in the habit of addressing the House, yet, he confessed, that at no time had he risen mere impressed with the responsibility of his position, or under a stronger impression how much he should stand in need of the accustomed kindness of the House. —(lcer.) The Hon. Gentleman the Member for Li. merick had in very strong language depicted the distress at present existing in Ireland. He (Mr. Labouchere) wished that it was in his power to say that he con sidered that the Hen. Gentleman had overcharged the picture. There had been, no doubt, in some particular instances, great exaggeration. Before Hon. Members could charge her Majesty's Ministers as had been done by the Honourable Member for Limerick (Mr. Smith O'Brien), they ought to consider the ordinary condition of Ire land before this great calamity took place. What was the usual state of that country? It was no exaggeration to say, that the people were the worst housed, the worst clothed,' and the worst fed of any people in Europe.—(Hear, hear.) Ile had in his possession some facts which would throw considerable light upon this question, which had been certified as correct by one of the best authorities on the subject. He meant the commission for inquiry into the condition of the poor that had been issued in 1835. The labours of that com mission proved that there were 1,131,000 agricultural lahourers whose average wages did not exceed from 2s. to 2s. 6d. per week, and of this number one-half were unemployed for thirty weeks in theyear. Such was the condition of Ire land in 1t335. Such was the country on which a calamity had fallen unparalleled in modern times. By a visitation of Pro vidence the food of a large proportion of the people had been almost entirely swept away. The notato crop had been a com plete failure. He had obtained some calculations of the loss which Ireland had sustained in money value, certified as correct by one of the best statisticians in Ireland,llr. Griffiths. He cal culated that one and a half millions of acres were under potatoes, the ordinary value of which crop was 10!. an acre. This was an aggregate value of 15,000,000!., and as three-fourths had been destroyed, the loss was 11,250,00'. There had also been a great failure in the oats. There were four millions of acres under that crop, of which one-third was destroyed, making a loss in money of 4,666,500/. The total loss, therefore, was on these two crops 15,916,000/. That was the ques tion which be had to put before them. Now these were the calculations of loss which had been occasioned by the calamity that had befallen Irelend. What was the mea sure of the loss? Why it was found, on investigation, that the failure of the crop had fallen on a million and a half of acres of potato ground, and that the loss in weight amounted to 11,250,000 lbs. The value of this produce was estimated at 4,837,0001. From other causes there was a loss of upwards of 5,227,0001. But the House knew that this calamity was not to be estimated by the loss of produce, or of the money for which that produce could be sold. Great as was that misfortune, there was a far greater one, to endure. Every one acquainted with the construction of society in Ireland knew how intimately the cul ture of the potato entered into it, and how great a stake it con stituted in the welfare of the country. He would not trouble the House with details with which they were familiar, but he had only to recal it to their recollection to give them some idea of the distress which this kiss had occasioned. Not only was the cottage farmer deprived of his usual supply of food, but also of the means of pay-. ing that rent for which he was responsible, but which he now found himself unable to pay. Then there was the farm labourer, who was now deprived of every resource. When these two facts were taken into consideration Honourable Members would obtain some idea of the deprivation which the loss of food had occasioned, and what had been the reality of the suffering. The Hon. Member for Limerick had described the state of misery and destitution in the county of Mayo, and charged the Government with having produced that state. Why, in the year 1835, a witness said, in his examination before one of the Committees of that House, "that the county of Mayo could supply beggars enough for all Europe." Was it, then, fair or just to charge upon the Government the present disastrous state of the country?—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member went on to attack his Noble Friend at the head of the Govern ment because he had adhered to the pledge which he gave at the close of last session, not to interfere with the ordinary supply of food to Ireland. The pledge which his Noble Friend had given was this, " that the Government would not meddle with the import trade of provisions to Ireland from foreign countries." He (Mr. Labouchere) now maintained that it was most fortunate that the Government had firmly, and under much obloquy, adhered to that pledge. He knew of nothing more criminal on the part of the Government than to allow themselves, against their own reason, to be hurried into the adoption of a course which they were satisfied would not be fur the good of the country.—(Cheers.) Ile was sure that if Government had turned importers of food on a large scale, and attempted to do that which no Government could have done, the attempt would have failed. The short period of plenty would have been succeeded by all the horrors of an aggravated famine.— ( Hear.) Hon. Members on the opposite side seemed to think that the power of Government was unlimited. There could not be a greater mistake than that. He fully admitted that there were occasions when the Government might step aside from the rule which should be observed on co mmon occasions.— (Cheers.) The fallacy of the reasoning of the Hon. Member for Limerick was to be met not by argument, but by the result.—( Hear.) Was there any man who did not know that if the Government had undertaken to supply Ireland with food the consequence would have been that all trades would have been paralyzed ? The pledge which the Government made was this, that they would not import corn from abroad for Ireland under any circumstances. It was necessary to speak out on Go vernmentbmwhFeehriefrroaeectrndhe daet 'thes :ago nohwnahoidnuoitn Government to saide e et x hd c ee i t v, A e ,eb d ri leenr t h !cemll e anntnuit fear sknow of w h a thet we the subject. The conduct of the preceding ig ere importing ah oot intention, ttoo,i a markets. dH o e. We And hoh o od u evi g ehhv had knowt ra o ,aN o ad hered die; not make that pledge without qualification. He added, that he would not interfere under ordinary circumstances with the retail -trade of Ireland. There were parts of Ire land in which there was an entire absence of retail trade where he (Mr. Labouchere) thought the Government ought to interfere. In the western part, and on the southern coast, there was this absence, and, with respect to them, they thought they . would do more good than harm by interfering. —( Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") In other parts they would have done more injury than good by such an interfer ence, for if they bad attempted to control the whole retail trade they would have signally failed. The Hon. Gentleman had [ 'reproached them with not acting properly. The Right Hon. Baronet, the Member for Tamworth ( Sir Robert Peel), when he was the First Lord of the Treasury had to deal with a calamity in Ireland of has magnitude however, than the one with which they were now called different state ee t the of uoon to deal. The circu mstances were, in fact, different. eTohmeymerwee-erethaotheetn ht vini difficulty in which the calami t y had p laced him, he adopted a very just and a very p raiseworth y course.—(Cheers.) He reduced the duty on India n meal, which was at that that period u ; id a e n r d, a i n order to meet time an article unknown, and prohibited in Ireland. It in -hich consequently produced was imported in considerable quant ities, and the Irish became accustomed to an article of food which was more nouris than the potato, and vi excellent effects. The Right Honourable Baronet con ducted that operation with the most entire secresy, and though secret, it was successful .—( Loud cheers.) And, therefore, when the Hon. Gentleman blamed the Go vernment for not having followed the examp le of her Majesty's late Govern men t i n throwing supplies into Ireland from America, he did not recollect that it was impossible to do so. The Hon. Gentleman had gone. on to observe that the Government had not taken sufficient care to remedy the distress. He need not remind the House that his Noble Friend had taken office at a late period in the past session. For a time before that the former Ministers of her Majesty were aware that the calamity which has since visited the country was rapidly approaching, they had accordingly taken such measures as they considered most beneficial, . and when his Noble Friend assumed office he found that a course had been adopted, which had received the•sanctiorr of that House, and almost the adoration of the Irish landed proprietors. He alluded to the plan of affording relief to the mass of unemployed labourers through the medium of public works. That system had, no doubt, been attended with some abuse; but, upon the whole, and as a matter of choice, they thought it least objectionable, but they never recommended this measure as one intended to provide for the whole labouring population of Ireland. They were, in hopes that works of that description would have the effect of stimulating landed proprietors to the undertaking of useful produc tive works, rather than be thrown away on the roads. In these hopes, however; they had been disappointed. The Honourable Member for Limerick went on to com plain that the system of public works was deficient, and that the parties employed to carry it out were inefficient. —(Hear, hear.) To that he would say, that considering the extensive operations of the Board there might be some inefficient servants, but with regard to the officers themselves, he believed that no reasonable complaint could be urged. He believed that it would be found that it would have been impossible for public servants to have shown greater ability, greater zeal, or greater BUM', iS in the discharge of their arduous duties.—( Hear.) Did they consider the peculiar task imposed on them, and the extent of machinery that had to be directed? Why, at the present mo ment there were 450,000 persons employed on the public works in Ireland—( Hear)—under the superintendence of the Board complained of. In September last 30,000 were employed ; in October, 150,000 ; in November, 285,000 ; and in December, 440,000.—( Hear, hear.) To expect that all officers employed under the Board, to give effect to such large machinery, should be efficient servants, was surely to hope for too much.— ( Hear.) He would state the number of officers necessary : inspectors, 74 ; engineers, 36 ; assistant-engineers, 385 ; clerks, 2,800 ; and overseers, 6,846—(8ear, hear.) This was the effort which had been made by the Government to meet the calamity. He could understand any man who blamed the Government for the course which they had adopted ; he could understand any man who should blame the Government for a deficiency of energy, and for not exerting all the power for mitigating the calamity, but he could not understand how any man, after having seen the gigantic efforts of the Government, should still blame them for the fact that disease and famine still prevailed in Ire land. There was no doubt but that disease and famine did prevail to a most lamentable extent, but ther? was as little doubt that this exertion had been greatly instrumental in reducing the evil and relieving Ireland from the pressure of this calamity. But they were to consider whether this was a question which only affected Ireland, or whether it applied to the whole of the British empire, and he should have no difficulty in answering that question. The calamity which had spread so fearfully through England and Scotland had fallen upon Ireland out of all proportion to her resources, and he did not hesitate to say that the House would concur with him in the assertion that Ireland had a right to look to England and Scotland for ttie help which she needed: But he trusted that the landlords of Ireland would do their duty, and he believed that the exertions of the people of England would he somewhat in proportion to the willingness of the landlords of Ireland to - 'assist.their fellow-countrymen.—(Lsud cheers.) He thought that there was in Ireland an improved spirit springing up. In many instances a sense of discouragement had come over the feelings of the landlords. They were ha eb ne i rd ld : Po ; n ecs . s a ms t h t eo a rs t st be lreland oyrdtihale v ' fe a e s l instrumentality i n only their were to b excited of sfa vhe edr i n f ownr t o h is country on behalf of the suffering people of Ireland, and they were willing to render them every assistance in their power, but that assistance could not be honourably and safely given without the co-operation of the nobility and gentry of Ireland. The Honourable Member for Stroud had put a question with reference to the relief afforded to the destitute and infirm of the population of Ireland. The best course which the Government thought they could adopt was to allow the relief committees to afford the necessary assistance to that class, and it was his opinion that if Parliament had in the last session passed a poor-law similar in its nature to the English poor-law, and which the Hon. Member seemed to think the panacea of all the evils of Ireland, still he thought that under the pressure of the accumulated distress of the coun try, that measure would have broken down, and he was borne out in that opinion by the fact of the difficulty which even then existed in col lecting the rates necessary for the . support of the existing poor-law in Ireland. He did not think, therefore, that the fearful state of Ireland was in any way to be . attributed to the non-existance of a poor-law in Ireland similar to the English poor-law. His Hon. Friend (Nil.. S. O'Brien) wished to know what he had done when the poor-houses were crowded with poor. They acted on the principle of entrusting the relief of the poor to the local authorities—( Hear )—instead of undertaking upon themselves the whole machinery of doling out food to the people through the hands of Government officers. But they instructed the relief committees to exert themselves to the utmost to; raise money for the relief of the poor, and informed them that the Government would assist them with grants. And here he would pause to assure the House of the great good that had been effected by those relief committees, the human misery they had alleviated. He was sure, if it were in his power to lay a statement before the House of the good they had effected the House would thank them for what they had done for the mitigation of the distresses of the poor. The Government began, when the distress was not so severe, by granting one-halt of whatever was raised, and 501. for every 1001. collected, but when the distress increased they acted upon a more liberal principle, and gave a pound for every pound raised. The House d.d not hear, and could not hear, of the multitudes that had been saved by these committees. He, in common with the other members of her Majesty's Government, felt deep sorrow that the famine had committed so much havoc, but when they saw rich Belgium, France, and Geri e g ssee suffering from the pres sure of famine, he did net s aiptteive that they would feel surprised that such a countryeas-Ireland,, when it pleased Providence, bad been similarly / s afilicted. It was almost impossible for such a - state of things to be met adequately by Government measures. There was a retail trade fast springing up in Ireland ; it was necessary for the welfare of the country that it should exist, and it would be their duty to foster and encourage it. But it was utter folly to imagine that they would be able to interfere with it, and check the price of food. The relief committees established throughout the coun try were doing an incalculable degree of good. Soup depots had be en established in every lo cality, and the amount of human suffering relieved was almost :incredible. Before he sat down he would refer to one part of her Majesty's Speech upon which he felt sure the utmost anxiety prevailed—he meant that part which referred to the state of Ireland. While famine had desolated Ireland, it could not be denied but th a t outrage existed to a considerab l e extent ; and s whileta • a the G overn ment was disposed to meet the fear f ht I;e ' the things that existed , he war n e d those who miu g ou' d leave abettors of the outrages that the Government would n o means untried to secure the tranqu illit y of the c s _ ountr n y w .— ed ( Hear, hear.) The g eneral state of Ireland h he an increase of outrages ; but ha vin g analysed o m , on y. he found they were mainly attacks d a rar t ian He was glad to sa y t hat the old prpter g dim. outrages had not only not increased, but h ad actua ll syed, n y nished ; the spirit o f c ombina t io n had all but cea gaa d inst now there was no difficulty in enforcing the law a offenders. There was n o sympathy with the offenders -- w it nes ses could easily be found, and the juries- generally did their duty.—( Hear, hear. ) General l y through was as out Ireland, at the present time, the law . a rt of tne egularly administered as it was in any pand cheer- British empire. This, was importan t a _. d He ing in the present state of things in Irelan made of would now appeal to the returns which had been the crimes committed in Ireland, and, from these 11 e found that in the month of December, 1845, the burglaries and highway robberies committed in that country amounted to eighty, while in December, 1846, they h a hed ,ed g breae amount in to the enormous number of 1,383. Now , t he high into houses, and the stopping of persons on t wa s an road fot the purpose of taking money from t hem, Then offence quite new in the annals of crime in Irelan returns, with regard to agrarian outrages, he found by the s cm.. that in 1844, the 'number of agrarian' o utrage . ° - 0 while milted was 2,486 ; in 1845 they were 1,92 the most in 1846 they had been reduced to 1,304. 131litch Govern particular circumstance of pun was the suport "who had been ment had received in the pishment oft hose_ . c ,_ to escape guilty of offences hitherto supposed to be most lik II t ear it had the penalty of the law. In the autumn of last t a WM.. become the duty of Government to prose . a , ers , shops bar of persons for breaking into the D l ' ilty, an d were g, and stealing the bread; They all pleaded tt auprisonment, condemned to the heavy punishment of two years i ieraao (Mr. There was another charge which the Hon. t Ge:alling Parlia- S. O'Brien) had made of the Government nob ou chere) he (Ittir. La ment together last autumn. Why , really, _ habit of see was in Ireland at that time , and was in the daily w as not one ing a great number of I ris h g entlemen, and there,.i sa ke, don't of them who did not say , " For Heaven r , yourselves." call Parliament together, but take the business p 0 sake, call the One and all of them said, "Do not, for Heavensony unsettle the Parliament together, that, if you do, you will D o whatever you public works which are now being carried onn. d trust to Parlia think right upon your own responsibility, aerything in Ireland ment for an indemnity, but do not leave every for Parliament to in a state of suspense till the time arrive be n ow highly sanction your measures." It woulds ber Majesty's improper to advert to those measures 1 before the Parlia- Government are prepared shortly . n than t h e question of complicated questio "tted to their con ment. A more c mendot be submi the condition of Ireland c the House might entertain of • Whatever judgmen t ' Goverument — and he side ration. by her MaiestY s t u • 'the course adopted uld p rea q estion doubt that they co Members wouldbring to bear had no that Hon. in a kindly spirit, and t - feeling or local jealousies —not upon the dist.. • .ussion no par ) En aihh, Scotch, or Irish r they were b. with the subject in considering whether Id deal t that they wou ld and right to each and all. The Members—but just and intention of what was eeb, e people of Ireland had' nature of the calamity was te s d to Maim as a right, the assit.t a right to ask as a boon, e British people.—( Hear, hear. ) ante and support of ththoughont his speech was heard The Hon. Gentleman, who'hegallery, then went on to say, that' with great difficulty in the lris. h Members, he did not do so in speaking thus to „.. H e hoped they would justify in any unfriendly spriest and of the Government, by show ing on their part a deter .e te n t 0 itto . d which might alleviate the thing undone, no e xertt re.ae rn d. H e was satisfied that they present condition of 1 1 through Irish co - operation. In could do nothing 'eve state that he would speakingg thus, he might . which place no of relief England should limit on the amount crisis, but he should be h a sorry to afford to Ireland in sue bich w ould lead to the belief that enc ourage any doctrine sc to rely altogether upon a•tgl Ireland for for the future was nvin , chiluren would not axert a th (Hear, hear.) If their st injury could not fail to em selves manfully, the greate d call with more • • be done, for on whom could Ireland He hoped they Justice than on her own countrymerej one common • would • come to the discussion of these matters in o were ' spirit 'When the measures of her Majesty's Governmentjudge laid before the able to how House they would then befar they would of Ireland,d 1 1 an ow far meet the present exigencies they would . the condition go towards improving permanently in future of on of that coun try by preventing the recurrencec such disasters. N K then rose. He said—ln answer to the eloquent speech which had been made by the Right Hon. Gentleman who had just resumed his seat, he could assure him, he believed, in the name of all the parties on that side of the House that it was not their intention, and that shey had no desire to make Ireland the battle field of party. H e and his friends were deeply sens ible, tha t her Mai„ty,a Minis ters had been brought to the g overnm ent! of Ireland untie circumstances of peculiar difficulty.—(H e ar.) They felt that they had some share in putting them in possession of the reins of rich government at a - period of the session, and to shortly efore this 'calamity came upon Ireland , that they have not. Ministers,; and to deal leniently with such matters witiiwhicl had- fair :play in dealing with the difficulties which upon that country.—(Cheers). And for these press rea sons he felt that it was due from them look to an indulgent eye upon the measures of her with Majesty's they did not altogether concur. It would be • quite unneees sarrfor him to state that he deeply sympathis d e with the dis tresses which had visited Ireland, and that they heartily joined in; the concern which her Majesty had expressed hn rat "Country, and that they should be prepared to give the calamity and the measures proposed to relieve it, their earnest attention. But, at the same time, they should be expected to peal frankly, and whilst they were not disposed to say that the Government hal acted unwisely, in not calling Par liament together at an earlier period,.or to censure them for having - over-ridden the law ; they were disposed to say that the measures which-had-been had recourse to, were not ehose to which they had agreed.—( Hear, hear.) They had been told that upwards of .four hundred thousand persons had been employed in works utterly useless—they had been told by their Inspector-General (Colonel Douglas) that the only effect of these works had been to obstruct the public convey ances, and that, in consequence of the way in which the Act had been administered, the people had been with drawn from the cultivation of the fields.--(Hear, hear.) With respect to the supply of food, he could not agree in the principles of political economy, which had been adopted by the Right Hon. Gentleman. Ireland was a country where the people had been accustomed to depend for their subsistence on potatoes grown within a few yards of their own houses. When such a calamity overtook the country, it was but reason able to expect that the Government would have broken through its harsh rules of political economy, and taken mea sures for supplying the people with food, instead of leaving it in the hands ef private dealers. The Right Hon. Gentleman stated that her Maje.ty's Government bad done alt that was possible under the circumstances. He (Lord G. Bentinck) did not thick so, when the people had been starved -to death, and whole districts decimated, it would not satisfy hint to say, that everything that was possible had been done. He had a letter in his pocket from the Protestant clergyman of Skibbereen, which stated that from the Ist of December to the Ist of January, 140 deaths had taken place in the Skibbereen workhouse. These poor creatures stated that they had gone in there that they might die under a roof, and be buried in a coffin. On one Sunday there were 14 funerals waiting for burial in the churchyard of that parish ; in the adjoining psi ish nine were waiting one Sunday ; and in two other parishes, six were waiting at the same time.—(Hear, hear.) It could not be said that the people had been supplied with food when such scenes had occurred. In the barony of Skibbereen, which contained 140,000 souls, 10,009 persons had perished from famine.---Ellear, hear.) At the present moment, between 300,000 and 400,000 quarters of wheat were lying at the three ports of London, Liverpool, and Glasgow ; therefore, what bad prevented her Majesty's Government from sending food to the west coast of Ireland to feed the starving people? (Hear, hear.) In 1831, when Lord Stanley supplied the people of that country with food, ,he succeeded in keeping down the prices of food within reasonable rates, and if her Majesty's Ministers had done the same thing with regard to Indian meal now, he could not but think that they would have reduced the enormous profits of the retailers and forestallers, and would have prevented them from obtaining unduly high prices. He saw that at the present moment Indian meal was selling at New York at three shillings a bushel, while in Liver pool and Ireland it was selling at 9s. a bushel, and he thought that the Government might, under the circumstances, have departed from their rigid notions of political economy, and have supplied the people of the west coast of Ireland with the food which they so much needed. Then again he conceived that if the Ministry had encouraged the landlords by giving the people employment in the improvement of their estates, instead of the unproductive public works on which they had been engaged, that there would have been much snore benefit than bad been enjoyed from the expenditure of the money. With respect to the compact that it was said had been entered into between the agricultural party and the late Government, he begged to relieve her Majesty's Government of all doubt upon the subject. If there had been a compact between the agricultural party and the late Government, it had been endangered in 1842, and it was broken in 1846 ; and he begged, therefore, on the part of those with whom he acted, to repudiate the existence of any such compact now.— (Cheers.) It was not their intention to oppose any obstacle in the way of her Majesty's Ministers, in abrogating that por tion of duty upon corn. When, however, he said that, he did not mean to admit that the repeal of that 4s. duty would con fer any benefit upon the consumer. It would occasion a loss in the - Exchequer of between 300,000 and 400,0001. But if the Chancellor of the Exchequer thought that the revenue was in so flourishing a state as to spare that sum he (Lord Bentinck) had no ground to complain. The fact was that the whole of that sum would go into the pocket of those corn merchants and forestallers of whom the people of Ireland had such just reason to complain—(Cheers) —or into the pockets of American merchants and agriculturists. At New York the price of wheat was 405., and at Liverpool it was 80s., and it was into the pockets of those who were making these enormous profits that the Government proposed to put this extra amount of 4s. a quarter duty. He thought a better course would have been to have kept the 4s. duty and to have taken the product of it to feed the Irish people. With reference to the navigation laws he would not oppose any tem porary suspension of them. There was one course yet open for the Government to adopt, which was this ;—there were eight line-of-battle ships, measuring each about 2,500 tons, and capable of carrying at least 2,0e0 tons of corn, and he had been informed on the authority of an able seaman in the British service that if the Government would give him a commission, in little more than twenty-four hours lie would take out the gun?, hatter down the boards, and caulk the vessels, and go with them to the United States, and before ten weeks had elapsed he would come back with 80,000 quar ters of corn. He was informed her Majesty's Ministers ha.l already employed, if the statements in the newspapers were true, 84 ships, measuring 37,000 tons. But when they saw that there was little or no grain in the country, and that the people could not get what there was, because the corn mer chants would not sell it at a reasonable price, nothing ap peared to him so simple a remedy for the evil, as for her Majesty's Ministers to employ their line-of-battle ships now that all danger of war was at an end, and the Montpen sier marriage had been rettled.—(Hear, hear.) Eighty thou sand quarters of corn by the ships making four voyages, which might be done before the next harvest could be thus procured for the relief of Ireland. At that moment there were in bond and in stock between 30,000 and 40,000 quarters of eome kinds of grain in the warehouses of London, Liverpool, and Edinburgh and Glasgow, which, if sold, through the interven tion of the Government would no doubt lead to the redaction of the price of grain and bring food within the reach of the poor. He would not, however, second the Hon. Member for Limerick in any impeachment of the Government. He would now pass on to treat the other matters of her Majesty's Speech. It was a matter of the greatest regret to the 1 country at large, that the recent intercourse—the recent policy of the Noble Lord with the King of the French, ha. , l been on bad terms, with whom it was of the highest importance to this country to be on friendly terms. He was glad to find the Noble Lord had protested against the Mont pensier marriage, and that the intercourse had now sof!ened Clown to the correspondence he had seen in the newspapers. He for one did not believe that the English people took any interest in this Montpensier affair. The English sym pathies did not tend that way. If the conduct of Austria wls a manifest violation of the treaty of Vienna, what he should like to ask was the severance of Belgium from Holland ? If the Cracow business was an infer ction of the treaty, the treaty of Vienna was torn to atoms when this country agreed to thesepa ration of those countries ; and when England sent her line of-battle-ships to blockade the coast of Holland whilst the French were engaged in cannonading the walls of Antwerp. It was not. for him to enter more fully into the merits of the case. He, for one, could not so deeply sympathise with the people of Cracow, and he believed, that if the truth were known, that the people of Cracow—the well disposed, the loyal people, and those who wished for peace, are greatly de lighted with this incorporation with a power'ul ally. Hon. Gentlemen might smile, but' he believed that it would prove greatly for the advantage of that country, which now, for the last sixteen years, had been in a state of continual alarm, and however strongly the press of foreign countries might write, the effect appears to be this, that the news of the incorpora tion was received by the people of Cracow with Sc. clamation and general illumination. With respect to the other part of her Majesty's Speech, he trusted that the measures imposed by the Ministers capital e p i o t e o a m r i w pl o y l ea d e b n e t . employmento in duced would fully equal the emergency. Respecting the other mea sures that the Government intendedproposing,he hoped that they must be b in e b syjEfrsesoulmacnhed great.a l t nature wm aes a s s snu t or o te , encourage y c l o an u bh r o a iu g e rh e oe t r h ,a capitalwotl taxes that Ireland was to be regenerated—( Hear, hear)—it wuotitulda,luaatan evilthe to pour into the country. He hoped the ,measures (Cheers.) But the Rieht Hon. would be such as would be entitled to his support ; but gaveared that notice the calamity tia h w e a s if the Government did not introduce such a measure, earliest opportunity bring ,forward a large and comprehensive measure for that purpose.-- affecting Ireland ; it was an imperial calamity, to which the aid of all parties in the empire should be diverted. He (Lord Geo. Bentinck) concurred in that sentiment. Her Majesty's t G he e n ntlem b a e n feared Government would have their (the protectionists) in assisting the landlords of that country in support the evil that had overtaken them.— (Hear; meeting ii If they came down to that House on a justification of e t a h r ei ) r employment of the Irish people in the extremity of distress on unproductive works, he believed th e y would have the as sistance of the party with whom he act e d ; b ut, at the same t me, he thought it but right to state that thi s was an exception to the rule, and that Irish property, o f one description ad another, should be found to maintain the Irish poor. They thought it hard that the Parliament or the Government of England should step in and say you shall employ the people— you' shall feed the people, while they are engaged on works that will make no return of food. Mr. ROEBUCK wished to - • - which glee expression to a few words he thought would be of service to the House and the country. He deeply sympathised in the miseries of the people of Ireland. N o t h av i ng h eard any explanation y from the Noble Lord or his colleagues, he warned the Hou s e against the danger of altering th a t which shall be a mere temporary expedient into a permanent mischief for the country. Ile was quite aware that the sympathies of the people might be appealed to on their behalf. He knew what it was to come begging from Ireland. Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN—Oh, oh. Mr. ROEBUCK—Yes, and he said it advisedly, and before he was done he would illustrate his position by many illustrious examples. He gave great credit to the measures of the Right Hon. Baronet opposite (Sir R.Peel), for the measures which he, had adopted to meet the case of Ireland while at the head of the Administration. But there was a mischief attending all those measures. He (Mr. Roebuck) contended that no Government could propose to itself the task of feeding the people. The legitimate consequence of not admitting the force of this axiom was a fruitful source of all that cant de tailed in the newspapers which told them that the people had a right to labour and to provisions. He denied both propositions. They could not as a Government provide labour for the people, or pretend to pay them for it. They had it in history that the aristocracy of Rome paid the people ' • and what was the con sequence of the y adoption o f suc h a measure? Ruin was thou, and ever would be, the inevitable consequence. Heenould not help pointing out the affliction which would be brought upon this country if we were to pay . the Irish people. He eras aware thitt in doing so he should bring harsh express• sions l upon himself, but, as a duty to the people of England whom he represented, he was prepared to meet the obloquy which would this attach to him, and to say that the people of Irels;nd should not be paid at the expense of the people of England. For.one year, or for any specified period, he would cont ibute all he possessed to maintain th e p eo p le of Ireland for that space, but it was a permanency that the y had now to see . Last year they anticipated the famine, and the Right Horse Baronet (Sir R. Peel) to whom he begged to express his gratitude, did all he could to prevent the mischiefs whic h might accrue from that famine. It had come again this year, and , it was aggravated because of t h e knowled g e that England would provide food for every brawling demagogue who wanted to Enlad would conic exacerbate forward the misery of England his country. It was kno wn that g „ to meet any now as she haddone, and England was p.epare d temporary nature, but he protested possible contingency of a tem p against a permanent provision for the lrishpeople. And now a word about Irish landlords. He had no doubt that what he him. Let not bitter feelings against might say would excite be at all hurt at the notion. his Hon. Friend (Mr. Bernal) (Mr. Bernal made some observation landlord of a sudden. — (latighter.) Those , which did not reach the gallery.) That was;i a cl u I the Hen. Gentleman with great c m. phasis, pointing towards sa I\lr. Bernal — thos e were the Irish l an dlords for whom the British Parliament had b een le g islating They had been legislating against for the last 3 00 years. people of Ireland , and for their B own personal purposes. The landlords of Ireland, w ith the aid of the tans aParliament, inflicted great mischief on the people of that coun t ry . The , on his estate fit only for paupers Irish landlord built cote ges er centage from the rent of that he might get a p in order law in Ireland he would not If there were a proper poor them.lrish landlord did not do ibis, do so. Be had been told that the he had done it, and built house upon . house for a but , . whom he had done nothing. He had paupe' r population for ou c r .e of ommons, and all sort of been legislated for by the s li . b Act of Parliament. • leges had been granted to is y privileges) But he had taken advantage of all that had been done for him, and had reduced the people of Ireland, by listening to their cravings foreland, to a paupered population, spreading over the _whole land. :After centraties_ol e legielation e mmkeeae the e Co ne dition of the peop'e of Ireland.. He would ask the people of England if they were prepared, not only to maintain the land lords of Ireland, as well as their paupers, that they had created. He would. say, that it was the duty of the people of England, and, he would add, the representatives of the people of England, to insist that the landl or d s o f I re l an d s h ould maintain the people of that country. He was prepared to vote for the people of Ireland the fullest equality of rights and lawi and to sanction the Government in every endeavour. o secure the peace and welfare of Ireland. If the House o f C ommons ' was prepared to give them foil and equal freedom, and allow them, if they desired it, to govern themselves, he would be quite reconciled. But he would not go beyond thi s . B ut h e could tell the landlords Lf Ireland how he would be prepared. to act. They were goitig.to revise the Poor-law. Now there was a clause which limited the operation of the Statute to England and Wales. He would simply alter it to ray, F,e g . land, Wales, and also Ireland." That ,was:-all he 'nerelcl ask to be dorfe.—( Heir, hear). He would base thiS. Act, of j which they had heard so much .l .:w of Eli wabeth—extended to Ireland. - --(Cries of Hear, hear.") I He would even be prepared to' give the people of Ireland the same number of representatives RS England—( Hear, hear) — he meant the same number in proportion to the population ; but he would also at the same time extend to them the same taxation.—(Hear, hear.) He would have no reservation wheu this were done ; he would settle with the people of Ire land, but he was not prepared to support any measure that would tax the hard-working, peace-loving, law-obeying people of England in support of a rude system of anarchy, in that which was called the sister kingdom.---(llear, hear.) It had been stated by an Irish representative the other day that the support proposed to be given to Ireland was to buy Protestants in that country. Such was the way in which the exertions of this country had been treated. Ireland wanted a representative—a man that really understood her in terests, and was disposed to promote her welfare— (Hear, hear)—not a man who was actuated by feelings of personal interests, of personal pelf, and of party ascendancy, and to merge them all in advancing the interests of the people of Ireland. They had not got such a man as the wants of Ireland required, but they had got a man who had done every thing in his power to exaggerate the prejudice; and excite the , passions of his countrymen.—(Hear, hear.) It was such a man that presumed to be the representative of the people; though he did not think he reflected aright the character of Irishmen,' for he (Mr. Roebuck) considered those in the union an honest people.—( Hear, hear.) But he wanted to hear from the Government what they might expect to follow hereafter. Was this system of relief to last for ever?. Because an evil has afflicted Ireland, .are 8,000,000 to come crawling beggars craving the support of the people of England, and exercise no energy and ability iu order to do something for themselves? From beginning to the end there was nothing but a cry of sympathy for the charity of the people of England. England was Ike a benevolent lady in a parish, the policy she was pursuing created around her a host of paupers.—( Hear, hear.) They could not go beyond the passing benevolence they had hitherto been in the habit of manifesting. To maintain eight millions of people was totally impossible. He called on the Noble Lord at the head of the Government to show how it was possible to maintain eight millions of people by any Government regula tions. The great moving principle of the social system was private, individual interest, and if they dislocated the machines it would be impossible for society to go on.—( Hear, hear.) He called on the Noble Lord not to yield to the clamour of his Irish supporter', but to legislate for the people of three kingdomseand not for the advantage of one, and let him stand out and support the great principle that the people to be maintained, must maintain themselves.—( Hear, hear.) If he departed from this rule, there would be no limit to the dire calamities that would ensue. He knew how he would be met by Irish Members—he would be told of starving men, and of women and children dying from want of food. He did not require to be told of these things to excite his commisseration —he knew it all; and he traced it all to the conduct of the Irish landlord himself; abetted, no doubt, as he had been by the Parliament of England by the course of Legislature it had pursued. But he (Mr. Roebuck) would give the Irish people an English poor law, and give them equal laws and privileges. He was quite prepared for the consequences of this step. The Irish landlords had their estates deeply mortgaged, and the consequence would be that nine out of every ten of them would be swept out. —(Hear, hear.) But the mortgagees would have to step in and take all the consequences of their position. They had power to take the burdens upon themselves, and to submit to the same arrangements as the English landlords. This was all he would say to the H 01132 and the Noble Lord, on the mea sures of relief proposed by the Government. As to the tempo rary measure of opening the ports he-was prepared to support it, only it ought to have been done two months ago. He did not think it would do much, if any goad now, but he was willing to support it now in order to express this sympathy with the people of Ireland, though he had none with the landlords. He did not believe that the opening of the ports would increase the supply of grain.—( Hear, hear) He did not think there was much surplus corn to be foufid anywhere either in Europe or America. Neither did he think that much good would arise from allowing the use of sugar and molasses in breweries and distilleries, though he would not object to the measure, as he was of opinion that the rise of these articles in the manner named, should be allowed at all times. But when he asked what they intended to do for Ireland, he could get no satisfac tory explanation. The Noble Lord who last addressed them (Lord George Bentinck), spoke of a grand comprehensive scheme which he bad in view. He (Mr. Roebuck) was excited when the Noble Lord thus spoke. He expected to hear some great plan in connexion with which the Noble Lord was about - to come forward as the regenerator of his - country. He certainly expected to hear of some grand panacea, some great discovery like the gun-cotton, but patiently and intently as he had listened, he had heard nothing that he could understand as to the course he proposed. He -hoped that the next time, when the Noble Lord got up to criticise others he would condescend to en lighten them on his new plan—what he intended proposing should he become the Chancellor of the Exchequer.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") He (Mr. Roebuck) had been much disappointed: he had heard no proposition to meet the starving condition of the people o: Ireland, come from the Noble Lord.—(llear, hear ) He was in a different position to the Noble Lord. lie represented no party, whereas the Noble Lord did. The Noble Lord was at the head of a party in the House ; certainly not a powerful party, yet still a party ; and he (Mr. Roebuck ), therefore, did think that it was the duty of the Noble Lord to explain his scheme what he would be prepared to do, were be called in to be the state physician.—( Laughter.) He was not yet called in, and if he (Mr. Roebuck) were allowed to prophecy, he was not likely to be. Still, he should have told the House what his grand panacea was to be.—( Hear, hear.) Be did not expect much from that quarter, and he would now address himself to the establi,hed parties in the House, to the parties raaded by the Noble Lord and the Right Hon. Baronet. Ile hoped that no Ministry would be led away by the mischievous belief that it was possible for Go. vernment to frame measures to maintain the people. The business of Government was the protection of life and pro perty, and the rest should be left to private enterprise. If they transgressed this rule, mischief must he the inevitable re sult, and Ireland would continue as it had hitherto been, the curse of England. He believed that if they were to consider their policy, and to frame their Acts as statesmen, they would do all that it lay in their power to do, and all that as statesmen they were called upon to do ; and with this remark he wculd take leave of this part of the subject, and turn to another, en which he was desirous of expressing his opinion. And he did this now, as he was aware that an explanation was hereafter to be made by the Ministers of the Crown, and he did not wish to mix himself up with the dispute which that explanation would be sure to excite. - He - took it, that to p. ezerve peace, was of the greatest moment not only to - England, but to all the world, and his desire, therefore, was that peace might be preserved with France, but with all the nations of the earth, and he therefore trusted that no man, to serve any idle purposes of his own, would disturb the peace of the world. It was evident that he was referring to the late transaction) in Spain respecting the marriages of two young ladies—the Queen of that country and her sister, the Infanta. With that matter, - as he took it, they, as English politicians, had nothing to do; but he regretted to find that the Noble Lord the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs had thought proper to interfere. He trusted, however, that by recalling his Lordshie's attention to the true objects of political controversy, that the mischief would be obviated. He would remind him, therefore, that, as statesmen, they had nothing whatever to do with the correspondence that might have ema nated • from the Chateau d'Eu. They had nothing to do with persons; all they had to do with was that which had passed between the Ministers of one country and another ; nor did he consider that the private feelings of Ministers should interfere in the settlement of national questions. He did not blame the present Government, or desire that the Ministers of the Crown should take notice of these matters ; but still he felt bound to call their attention to the constitutional rights of Europe, and, in doing this, he would repeat that he conceived that, as politicians, they had nothing whatever to do with the private correspondence of private individuals. In making these observations he wished it to be understood that he did not make them under the impulse of those peculiar principles respecting monarchical institutions which he - was supposed to hold.—( Hear, hear.) The sentiments he was uttering were spoken as the sentiments of a monarchical states man. It appeared that the Noble Lord at the head of the Foreign Department had taken some umbrage at the marriage which had been contracted by the. Infanta of Spain with the Duke :of Mentpensier, and a long correspondence had been laid ma the table upon that subject and the marriage of her sister, the Queen of Spain. He did not wish to be a critic, bit he must say that nothing could be more cumbersome, queer, or unsightly, or give greater evidence of an unpractised hand than that correspondence.—(Laugh ter.) He did not wish to be a critic of words, but a critic of fact.—( Renews d laughter.) It appeared that the Noble Lord, from some small pique of his.own, objected to the succession of the issue of the marriage of the Intanta of Spain with the Duke of Montpensier. lie did not exactly see the necessity or the policy of discussing the marriage of a young prince of twenty-six, or its issue, by a person of the grave appearance of his Lordship. He thought it rather out of place.—(Laughter.) He trusted that the Noble Lord would not suffer any private pique or personal umbrage to interfere with his duties as a Minister of the Crown. The Noble Lord depended on the peace of Utrecht. But what was the effect of the peace of Utrecht? He denied that it in any way effected the case on the present occasion. By that treaty the Duke of Orleans and the Duke de Berri had-Severally renounced for themselves and their successors the title to the Crown of Spain. Bolingbroke was at that time our physician, and M. Toussin acted for France, and at that time Bolingbroke had insisted on this particular article of the treaty. To this Toussin had ob jected, but at length told Bolingbroke he might take it, for the two Dukes could not bind their successors. This was an evident truism, but the Noble Lord seemed to have forgotten that maxim so useful in private as well as 'in übl t ic _ff. been that " sufficient for the day is the evil thereof," b bu e h w d as b willing to excite a disturbance where no disturbance ne cessary. It appeared that the "Noble Lord felt that o c o h he ef thathad been done, and he (Mr. Roebuck) poor te opinion. But the great offender was DI . Noble Lord could cot touch Guizot, and so upon . fell Gujz°t and the pr.ncesses of Spain. Even if the Noble Lord were right, cir cumstances were so changed that the treaty was quite inope rative. At the time that treaty was made there was a Ger manic empire, but there was no King of Bavaria, no King o f Greece, no King of Bel g ium, and even no King of the French. Thus the state of Europe ,had been entirely altered, and all the most distinguished writers on international law, had agreed that a war had always annulled a treaty, and that it had become inoperative unless specially renewed, and that, too, in specific terms, for general terms would not answer the purpose. The Noble Lord might have recollected that a breach of this treaty, as h e un d erstood it, had been committed by Louis XV., who married the Infanta of Spain, and even by the present King of the French, who mar ried a Princess of Sicily, both being descendants of the con tracting parties to the treaty of Utrecht. Again he would simply call to their minds the circumstances which occurred when Louis XIV. attempted to interfere with the succession to the English throne. On that occasion the people rose as one man, and he trusted those circumstances would prevent any. mischievous intermeddling—any personal pique, from breaking" the peace of the world.. H e wou ld sit don by merely express ing a hope that e Parliame n t wou ld interfere to prevent y the penile of England from bei ng b ur d ened for the support of the Irish poor, or the peace of the world 'from being disturbed by any s mall minded - pique of the Noble .Lord. Airji. GRATTAN said that the Hon, Member had said that he had given up sarcasm and had taken to satire, but he should recollect that oiliness of language, and silkiness of ex pression, would not answer for soundness of argument, and he should mutation Ahat,gy_e_u_lhe,p_o_lish_ofea shield would be_ lost when oil and vinegar dropped upon it. The Hon. _Gentleman had styled the Irish landlords as hee;zars, but they only de.. H manded justice. The, an: Member r for Bath had alluded to history, and the King of Franee, as he called him, - tad he'read the speech of that King? if he had, he would see that' the French Government, although pot feeding the _population, had taken care to obtain astipply of food fur the people item the . ports of Odessa, and other parts where corn was to he obtained. Why was it that the Government of this country had riot, also, taken the same step with regard, to the purchase of food. In the port of Odessa there was. l30,1)90 quarters of - wheat lett behind by the French, why was it that there were only six British vessels in that port? It was a -gross neglect upon the part of the .Government; There .was also . plenty of corn at New York waiting "forrships, none were to be obtained., The Government had their experimental Beet sailing about, and their pennons floating with every breeze, why dad thee - dot. freight them with the precious cargoes of food for the suffering people. GoVernnient had proposed to admit molasses for the purposes of distillation, why did - they not Couple with.. that iiivai•ure aprohibition to use lnrley ? - The Hon. Member for Bath had thought fit, to attack the Hon. Member for Madill, who was absent ; 'he (Mr. Grattar)'had no doubt' that he would be able to defend hitnsdf from the charge& brought against him: Ile would, however, tell the Hon. Member for Bath that there was a great party in Ireland, who were banded tog e th er to remove t h e cause of universal misery and distress which had sunk all classes, and demoralised the country; and while we are engaged in this noble cause we regret to find Hon. Gentlemen, who, like the Hon. Member for Bath, came like an evil spirit to blast. all 0-eir endeavours, and to sour dissension amo ng th e i r ranks b y t h e i ntro d uct i on o f angry topics of religious differences. tie trusted that the Hon. Member for Dublin would let his constituents know that the Irish Members, as u body, were all agreed that they would not follow the advice, and least of all the example, of the Hon. Member for Bath ; and that all considerations of party are lost in the great national calamity.—(Cheers.) As an Irish Member he deprecated the Government of his country ou principles of political ceonemy, he flung such prin ciples to the wind When starvation and death were staring the people in the •face, were they to die upon principles of political economy.? The commissariat officers had become embued with those principles, and had gone so far as to distri bute quotations from Atiara.Smith and from the Bible. The letters of Mr. Trevellian were better adapted for sore of Scott's historical romances than for the Government of any nation. The employment which the Government had given under the Labour-rate Act was a mockery. In the county of Mayo the wages of the labourer was only 4d. a day, and meal was now 3s. Sd. per stone—a quantity equivalent to the sup port of a family fur two days. The Government, by their acts, were employing officers of the army in distributing a halfpennyworth of bread and some treacle to the poor unfor tunate devils who were starving in Ireland. He hoped, if the union was to continue, that it would not simply be a federal or a parchment union, but a union of sentiment, having for its object the promotion of the benefit of the whole nation. Mr. D. BROWNE said he should not have risen to address the house but for the speech of the Hon. Member for Bath, who bad given way to the ascerbity of his waspish-disposition, and maligned the landlords of Ireland. He trusted, however, that his sentiments would not be responded to by any lion. Member, so that Ireland might not have that addition to her present affliction: The Hon. Member for Bath had reproached the Irish landlords with being beggars. But if they were beg gars, they had been reduced to their present condition in con sequence of the evil government of their country by the English Parliament, and if they would restore to the people of Ireland their own native Legislature, and those funds which they had contributed towards the liquidation of the national debt of England, they would be ready to provide out of those funds for the present contingency, and place Ireland in a position which would prevent any English legislator from stating that they were obliged to approach the Parliament in an attitude of supplication. He was sorry that the Hon. Member for Limerick (Mr. S. O'Brien) had disturbed the unanimity which had subsisted between the friends of Ireland ; ' but i he trusted that neither the Government nor the Noble Lord at its head, nor the party of which the Noble Lord opposite (Lord G. Bentinck) was also the head, nor the party represented by the Hon. Ba ronet the .Member for Tamworth would join in the senti ment—that Ireland was a curse to this country.—( Hear.) He agreed in one part of the argument of the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. S. O'Brien), namely, that the Government ought to have called the Parliament together two or three months ago, to consider the state of Ireland ; for, although the means within the adoption of the Government might last year have been sufficient to meet the contingency, it wes insufficient at the present period. There must, however, be energy against the landed gcntry‘of Ireland. They must devote some of their large rentals to stimulate the industry of the people by -providing for their profitable employment—( Hear, hear) and the first act passed by the British Legislature with respect to Ireland, ought to be one entitling a right of the tenants to relief from the landowners, on whose property they lived. It was the hest tax he thought which could be imposed upon the landed proprietary, but in dependently of this he admitted that at this time there was occasion fur the Government to extend a helping hand to 1 Ireland. Mr. BEBNAL OSBORNE wished, as a landlord, to ad dress a few observations to the House, but in the outset he wished to warn Irish Members that if they took the Hon. Member for Bath to their bosom they would find him like the " toad in the ear of Eve"— (Laughter)—and although the Hon. Member for Mayo (Mr. D. Browne) deprecated the at -tack of the lion. Member for Bath, he followed up his state merit, by adding, that the landlords of Ireland had neglected their duty. .11e (Mr. B. Osborne) had dohe his best to mould his conduct like that of. his neighbours. Mr. D. BROWNE said he spoke of the past. Mr. B. OSBORNE thought it unnecessary to refer to the conduct of Irish Members during the past. They were an im proving body, which would be proved if the Hon. Gentleman came to move for an account of the many acres of turnips raised, the number of duels fought, and the number of ploughs set to work in the county of Alayo.—(hear, and laughter.) They bad the prosperity of their county at heart. The speech of the Queen, which would be transmitted to Ireland , by the • next post, was certainly of a cheering character, as they were told that disorder had been suppressed by the military and the police ; whereas Ireland was like a beleagured city without food, which, he apprehended, charity of the benevolent could not adequately have provided against. These outrages were only to be repressed by pouring in fend. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had stated yellow meal could be reduced to 10d. per stone, but yet it was sellieg in Ireland at 2s. GI and 2s. 10d. per stone. He was at a loss to know why the Noble Lord did not issue an order in Council four months ago sus pending the corn-laws. It was too late to open the ports now, as France had anticipated them. It was too late to:dee EISI..id January, when the people were starving. Something ovgtst t 9 . be done immediately to pour food into Ireland, or,', land would become one vast charnel-house. The Desd of Cashel had stated that 5,C00 had died from starvation. The Speech he considered was not a speech conveying the real sentiments of the Government, but of some political recusants in the Treasury who pulled the strings. Sir R. ING - LIS said that he was anxious to say a few words in answer to tl:e speech of the lion. Member who had lately addressed the House.' He did so, because he solemnly be lieved that the charge made against his friend, Mr. Treveyllan,. was one which proceeded from total ignorance upon the sub ject. Mr. Treveyllan had been described as inimical to Ire land. Now, to his (Sir It. Inglis) certain knowldge, it he had a fault it was that of being too partial to that country.—(hear.) That gentleman had taken upon himself, not on ly official, but personal duties in order the better to promote those measurea . which were considered of a beneficial character.—( Hear.) Thp Hon. Member for Mayo began to speak with some appre hension that the expression of Ireland's being a curse to Eng land, would have a most injurious effect upon the people of that country, and he appealed to my Noble Friend the Member for Lynn, and my Hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth, and my Noble Friend the Prime Minister, and hoped that they would not concur in such a sentiment. Ills own memory did. not inform him that such an expression was made use of, and he had asked three Hon. Members their recollection of the fac , and they all agreed with his. i o , 11. Ir. ,D. lIR6WNE.—You misunderstand me. I totally de y it. Sir R. INGLIS.—WeII then we must leave the differenog to be settled elseWhere.—(Great laughter.) The Hon. Gen- tleman then continued, it certainly was not the most courteous method of contradicting him which had been taken; for it was ' -.- open to the Member for Mayo, when he had concluded, to make a formal disavowal. And -he protested against the use of such intemperate language.—( Hear, hear.) He hcped that the Hon. Member for the University of Dublin, and the Member for Meath, did not represent the concentrated wisdom of the united Irish party, fcr he could not hope that much good would result from such a union.—( Hear, hear.) lie entirely deprecated the principle upon which this claim for Irish relief was advocated. It was a claim made upon their justice, and' not upon their sympathy, it was a claim of right, and not of Compassion, it is a claim of so much debt of pounds, shillings, and pence, and not of charity. He denied the claim thus made altogether, while he would cordially recognise it, if it - were made on the principle of Christian feeling. The lion. Member for Bath bad made a speech, which was full of his accustomed sarcasm and acute reasoning, which, however, in his opinion, was not founded on the soundest principles. He regarded the claim as a syste matic attempt to impose upon the people of England, Wales, anti Scotland, the exclusive burden of supporting the people of - Ireland; and his speech served to vary the uniformity of the dehate,•for the first seven speeches might have adorned the old . Parliament House of Ireland as a specimen of entire attention to Irish affair's. Net.one. word had been said of another part of the empire, which had been 'suffering equally, and with the most enduring patience.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") --- He thanked Members on both sides for that cheer, as it re cognised the claim of Scotland upon their attention. The people of that country, it was true, had not a united Scotch party, they were patient in their own country, and- were not clamorous out of it—(Hear, hear)—and he trusted that they would not be forgotten. He fully agreed that the question of the marriages in Spain was not one in which the Secretary , would be able to carry the people of England with him. He considered that the treaty of Utrecht had been violated, but its' violation, in his opinion, was not a just cause for involving , the people of England in a war. He believed that it was not the 'intention of any of the contracting parties in that t throne, which intention was evident:.;•boerolike the that any descendant of Philip the Filth shouldtb the ever exp s r i e s s o t i on expression the f point of a Philip, who said that that treaty shou ld , a nu l t d h i e n re in fo v r o e lv h i e ng c the needle, eternally fixed in one diree - o n n, at!the same time, sidered that the Treatyhic mouldof wouldUtrechth againar . ab t ets l it h maj a tueee d s,iwwfi la tleo e id e euae n iit ( v 4, io i t: o :, 1 id i ydai t desnod notono. tec c agree tegropoerni word . . r Lynn that, because illuminations t of Cracow. , s 3 rl iwi utt e ti r , tt i t I ye i . i referencetnN : r b e lwetaor ie Government me(ti;el; ajferac, Austria, with the certainty, alto, there, Emperorand t h a t o f at a bh l ya s d e t , ite t k h ter a n i °P t ll i sa e coe t r wo nearest Powers were ready to throw their ' . armies into it, that the people of Cracow were so degraded as twoh would, i r c e h j had i b ce y t i h o n e v e t ra r h t e c a r i k r e e y n de o g l f r r a e G cl ia a o n d el d o o , n . -He e trusted that the evils be e n ot d fu r tnwhehedi people 0 gp w ol ultimately advance the i n t erests - e e ere d wh ac o c in h o e u a v d n i t b t , a o b a r i n u e d: . their - sufferings in such an admirable manner.—(Cheers.) Lord JOHN MANNERS ventured to offer a few obser vations to the House. He would offer a suggestion or two to' . her Majesty's Ministers since they were so desirous of bene- ' fiting the people of Ireland, who were suffering so severely from the misfortunes which had overtaken them. The Go vernment proposed to suspend the small duty now levied in corn, and also to suspend the operation of the navigation laws. Now he was of opinion that such a course would not lead to much practical good. It must be known by every Member of that house that many other states of Europe , were suffering from a deficiency of food, and had actually:'.: prohibited the exportation of corn. He thought the .4 i„, Gevernment of this country ought to have done -, c . something of a similar kind. Within the last ten days he had learned that no less than twenty-seven vessels had been freighted in this country with English corn at the very time when a great portion of the English people were suffering from ideficiency. Such a state of things should not be . permitted to continue. Beyond these observations he would content himself with calling the attention of the House to a despatch of Mons. Guizot in reference to the Spanish : marriage, which was dated Feb. 27, 1846. The despatch was in reference to the candidates for the banal of the Queen of Spain, in which it was stated that the Son of Don Carlos was -- ) 1 out of the question. 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