The Express.
London, England, 1848-06-19 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 19, 1818.

to the true political faith In
Proofs, indeed, were scanty. lint, in default of black.
mouthed Puritans front the north, parade was duly
made of southern liberal.. Even of these the reckon-
ing was at all times brief, but still there were three
or four who could be always pointed to, and for
rhetorical purposes these sufficed. The assurance also
was continually given that in a very short time we
should see Ulster heaving with disruption and anti-
Saxon throes, and preparing to send forth anew her
legions of insurgent volunteers.
But Ulster moved not: not though the liberator
drank its orthodox health in water of thn Boyne ; not
though the small fanaticism of his son vowed vehe-
ment but unvalued vows of toleration. The incredu-
lous northern. would not believe—the thrifty nor-
thern. would not subscribe. The industrious north-
erns were more concerned about their old-
established rights and customs of good will
and tenancy. than about catch-penny schemes of
Dublin agitation. Nevertheless, by dint of assertion
and asseveration, a certain quasi-national air was
sought to be conferred upon the polities of Concilia-
don-hall ; and though it was perfectly clear to keen
observers that the whole affair was one exclusively
Roman catholic, simple folks in this country were
sometimes befooled by the pretence, and led to think
of the repeal party as something synonymous with
the Irish people.
After what we have recently witnessed, however,
this mistake can never occur again. We do not by
any means desire to undervalue the just causes of dis-
content that in reality affect the whole community in
Ireland, and which, under reputable and reasonable
leadership, we should not regret to see assuming an
important place in our political world. There is not one
of the demands which such a party could be expected
to make, that to tho utmost of our power we should
hesitate to support. We aro not even jealous of
words and names which sound invidiously distinctive
—so that they be true. And it• our friends on the
other side of the channel have peculiar practical
grievances of their own, and if they see any particular
use in calling them Irish wrongs, and dubbing them-
selves emphatically the redressers thereof, we shall I
Lot waste time in cavilling about appellations or so-
briquets, but shell deem it a privilege and a duty to
help them heartily.
All we say is, let us in heaven's name have no
more sham nationalities and make-believe Irish una-
nimities led by men of ono creed, and bent and
moulded at the bidding of the clergy of a particular
denomination. If the catholic body be universally
(as it is not by the way) O'Connellite, let
there be catholic ciubs and catholic associa-
tions, as there were before, for the overthrow
of the established church, w hich cent' ssedly ie an
offence unto them. That will be intelligible; and
people will know what to thick of it, and what to say
to it. And if the catholic clergy of Ireland deem it
pact of their pastoral duty to take part in the pro-
ceedings of such bodies, and if their flocks desire
and their bishops do not forbid them to du
so, whatever we may think of the matter,
we shall at all events be in a fair way
to judge of their motives and actions. Bat let um,
whatever comes of it, have things culled in future by
their right names. As " the bishups' boy "—Mr. JOllll
OTOS N ELL—Wray possibly turn out a very useful indi-
vidual. That he is their humble and obedient servant
is not a matter of reproach, but simply one of
fact. When he wanders they recall him, and
' he dutifully returns. When he dares to thick
for himself they. demur, and he anon pretests
that he was not thinking but only talking—at least
' not thinking of what he was sly mg —aud with a
pledAe that he never will venture to think for himself
' any more, or at least never again to say what he
thinks, he is forgiven.
Clearly a gentleman of this sort can have no
pretensions to lead a party having, or wishi, g
to be thought to have, any pretensions to
a national character, even of the soi-diAant
kind. Protestants can Lever eater into a scheme
hich is absolutely dependent upon the veto of the
prelates and priesthood of a religion to which they do
nut belong. And this is the cardinal feature of the
new organisation of the repealer. of which we have
heard so much. When the members of Young and
Old I reland affected recently to fraternise, and cousented
to form a Repeal League, the banns of the political
union were peremptorily forbidden by. the bishops
of the catholic church. No union without proper
license front us !" was the ominous and authoritative

announcement, and accordingly the marriage cere-
mony
was suspended sine die, and no further treaty
was to be allowed until the will of their lordships was
finally made known. And so things stand.
Whenever, if ever, therefore, a new association
professedly for the rep al of the union is formed by
permission of l)rs. CANTWELL and 1M AG U I RE, we hope
that it will manfully adept a sectarian title by which
alone it can be truly illhignated and known. It is
stupid affectation any longer to attempt disguise in
the matter. Good cathulics may follow Mr. JonN
O'CONNELL, but no protestant with honour can.

THE dominant parties in parliament, and the mi-
nistry of course dependent upon them, know full well
that their mock anxiety for the independence of
the suffrage, and the halt measures or the whole at-
verity which they affect to found upon it, are quite
unable to attain the aim of rendering elections the
foe expression of either the opinions or the interests
of the country. Their object is, however, to con-
tinue to affect this severity, and to hold up the
appearance of zeal for purity of election, and of
trona to establish its flit. play.
Such is the only answer to those who demand the
ballot, the extension of the suffrage, and such a fair
limitation or combination of electoral districts and
bodies as would put a stop at once to the corrupt dic-
tation of the briber, the landlord, and the customer.

We can thus fully conceive, though in au other
light it is perfectly inconceivable, the double purpose
of the government in suspending the writs for so many
boroughs ; and at the same time taking no trouble
about Sir J. lIANNIER'S bill, but allowing it to drift
down the current into that Niagara, the House of
Lords. Seeing the vacillation of ministers, the House
of Commons, of course, partakes of the uncertain
most' went.
Mr. STAFFORD convinces half a dozen that the writ
ought to go to Leicester, and three dozen that it
ought to go to Derby : members of the government
become very unanimous in their votes against all
writs, and Lord J. Russel.t quotes the precederts of
old parliaments in favour of =definite suspensions:
and tonight Sir J. PAKINGTON renews the contest
by asking the house to send the writs to Derby and
Cheltenham, and llorsham, drawing a fine distinction
between them and Leicester, because, forsooth, the
committee went out of their way in the latter case to
draw the special attention of the house to circum-
stances which were as patent in Derby and Chelten-
ham as they were in Leicesta r. In its fickleness
and waywardness we know not what the house may
decide upon Sir Joutee motion; but these perpetual
oscillations go far to c mvince the country that there is
no settled purpose in hon. members either to punish
the actual wrong-doers, or to restore to the pure
majority in the large scats of industry their right of
representation.
It is impossible to understand the rule on which
Sir Joust I'AKINGTON would act : it is beyond ordi-
nary comprehension to understand the rule he seeks
to establish. He is himself one of the chairmen of
committees, he has presided during the present ses-
sion over the Great Marlow committee, and he must
be very well aware that it is not because clear legal
evidence of corruption cannot be given, that no cor-
ruption existed, or that the borough is immaculate.
A little more of the system may be capable
of actual proof in one committee than in an-
other ; but the absence of the proof, where
there are the strongest grounds for supposing that all
is not yet revealed, does not justify the notion that
the particular town ought at once to go to a new
election, whilst other towns, not one whit worse, are
to be kept in a state of partial disfranchisement. One
general rule ought to obtain. The writ ought to be
suspended, as in Great Yarmouth, for a reasonable
time, to enable any legislative measure to be passed;
but failing the early introduction of any Binh measure
the writ ought to be issued. The Howie of Commons
has no right ti affect a severity and a purity, whilst
in reality the oligarchy in that t ouse is merely anxious
to retain a system by which they can dictate to the
country and the constituencies, giving the semblance
of power is the people, but retaining the substance in
their own hands.
If the house, or its majority, entertain a decided
objection to a bill which, like Sir JOHN Hamden's,
gives over the decision of contested elections to the
nominees of the LORD CHIRP JUSTICE, let it bo
avowed, discussed, and a betterlaw and tribunal formed.

---------
But to leave matters as they are is monstrous. This
perpetuates abuse, punishes the innocent, gives the
017 fair hopes of repeating their crime, and satis-
fies neither justice nor the country.
Recent decisions have opened so wide a door to
dishonesty that nothing is now easier than to prove
agency. Any unprincipled man can oust one-half
the members under the guise of public virtue. To be
seen going into or out of a committee-room, speaking
to a member or his friends, and subsequently expend-
ing a few pounds or shillings, places the sitting
member completely in the hands of the person so dis-
posed to fleece him at pleasure, or to make void
the election with a disqualification. how
many members of the present house have
been so situated? At another general election instead
of there being some score or two of petitions there
will be hundreds, and the county members, as
almost the only men against whom there will be no
petiVors, may have the further advantage of deciding
who shall or who shall net retain their seats. What
a premium for party malice and unscrupulous dis-
honesty

So, our actors, or some of them, want protection,
as well as West India planters and the constituents
of Mr. Ile tesoN. This is bad news for the drama,
the worst flag of distress yet held out by the profes-
sion. For we may be right sure that people never
demand protection to ensure prosperity, but merely
that its refusal may be an excuse for already far-
gone and irremediable decline.
'flier° is a portion of the new bill repealing the
navigation laws which must have emboldened Mr.
WXUSTER and the actors, who petitioned, through
Lord FITZHARDINGE, for the expulsion of theirFreneh
brethren. This is the exemption of the coasting trade
from foreign competition. We need not say that the
British skipper between London and Liverpool, and
London and Newcastle, has advantages over any
foreigner that would attempt carrying between these
ports, almost insurmountable. The language alone,
independent of local connexion and knowledge, would
ensure the English sailor the monopoly of the
home c .asting trade. If such advantages could not
secure the keeping of the trade, theu there must be
something rotten in it, or exorbitant, that requires
competition to throw light upon and to reform.
The Spaniards are a very proud and lazy people,
very unlit for the finesse end activity of a retail trade,
The consequence is, that throughout Spanish America,
the French, who aro active and industrious, have mo-
nopolised the branch,and,as smell shopkeepers and ped-
lars, distributethtough those regions articles of luxury
and necessity that could, by Spanish hands, never be
disposed of. The Spaniards are very jealous of this.
And they endeavour to tax and to thwart, and to
make conscripts and national guardsmen of the French.
This caused the war between France and Mexico,
and between it and several other Spanish states of the
south. Surely a native pedlar ought to beat a foreign oue
in any country; if he cannot, law and churlishness
will not enable him to do it, tor neither will supply
the indispensable talent that the native must want in
order to so egregious a failure. It is the same with
actors—if native talent have not shoulders of its own
to apply to the clogged wheels of its car, prayers to
the II tun: LES of Protection will not save it.

We are very sorry to see the name of Mr. WEli`rF.R,
an actor of great power, truth, and taste, as well as a
manager of spirit and judgment, appended to such a
petition ; for it shows that managers even so endowed
are odpressed by despair, and that they are ready to
catch at straws.

We are not surprised at English actors and mana-
gers turning rour and committing illiberal sett. The
affair at Drury-lane is verT dis4ractful. But still, if
the French public or the }remit actors had not one,
but all, their theatres invaded and exploit h by success-
ful English actors and singers, we will be bound to
bay they would not show us politeness, but would hies
and roar lustily. Even Mr. NlacitEaby hims If would
have as little chance as foreign engineers on the
Rouen or Orleans railroad. _

But this is no goad reason for our actors making
Ol' rows, and our managers appealing to the
lords for protection. The Britian drama is so
low, that it regain a great t 'fort and concert to raise
it. It has ceased to command the interest and respect
of the middle class, which demands in the present
age something rational and moral, whereas managers
have been dinning into the ears of dramatic authors—
be light, be witty. In fact, they have whipped
author's brains to froth, and have exaggerated
the popular taste for low and broad humt.ur,
till they have driven all sensible men from the
theatre. English actors play to the mob ; Italian
singers and French dancers roar and pirouette to
fashionable.; whilst the great mass of the British
public between, seek amusements and places of resort
more in keeping with the gravity of their character.
A joint-stock combination of actors, authors, and
wealthy patrons, can alone set the drama on its legs.
Let Mr. WEBSTER sign a petition to CHARLES
I)u•r;ENS to write a comedy, with a ear* blanche and
no managerial limitations and advice, and he will
have done more towards supporting the drama than
in petitioning the bench of bishops against poor
French actors thrown out of bread by a revolution,
and coming here to pick up a new crumbs from the
curious.