The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-19 00:00:00

•
• me of w scheme the 1040:itaiicirtitoie;
the 31st April propeeed si' eribtre
ona oa-tk
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yoepinonitsuulernanydropo., her_attitl,owltitthe
bared project of an eight shilling dutv'egpon Oaten
It " the tug of war" came in earnest. A. seem orda effter
9
the remarkable announcement made by the Leader of the
House of Commons, on the 27th of May, a voteof want of con-
fidence was moved (and carried by a majority of one) by Sir
R. Peel as Leader of her Majesty's Opposition. The dissolu-
tion then approaching was, as Mr. M`Culbigh expresses it,
"precipitated." The Parliament returned by the general
' election towards the end of August, comprising in both -
Houses immense majorities in foe our of Sir Robert's Con-
servative and Protectionist Government. It should be
remarked, that immediately prior to the dissolution in
1841, Mr. Sheil had been removed from the Vice-Presi-
dency of the Board of Trade to the more independent
and responsible position of Judge-Advocate, and _that im-
mediately after the dissolution he resolved to relinquish
the representation of Tipperary, being returned instead,
at the ensuing general election, as member for the borough
of Dungarvan. Upon the assembling of the new Parlia-
ment, Sir Robert found himself complete master of the
position, having in the House of Commons a clear majority
Of seventy-six over his antagonists. September found him
duly installed Prime Minister of England, at the bead of a
powerful and well-organised Administration. During the
three years which followed the inauguration of his Cabi-
net, numerous and remarkable relaxations of the restric-
tive code were introduced, and ultimately, by an unexam-
pled act of self-sacrificing civism, an act of matchless
daring and unparalleled magnanimity, the once Protec-
tioniut Premier, by a single master stroke of patriotic
statesmanship, effected the triumph of Free Trade over
Monopoly in the midst of the throes and contentions of
his own Protectionist Parliament. Within the interval
which elapsed, however, between the commencement of
the systematic relaxation of the restrictive code •in 1842,
and the final and comprehensive repeal. of the Corn-laws
iu 1816, two memorable struggles in reference to Ireland,
her agitators, and her population, attracted the attention
(for the time being almost exclusively) of both the English
multitude and of the English Legislature. The first of
these may be said to have culminated on the 7th of
October. 1813, when by the suppression of the last ,
of O'Connell's monster meetings, that which had
been convened by his uncrowned Majesty, the Libe-
rator, to be. held at Clontarf, an • end was put to
the system called by him, that of " moral force," or,
in other words, of open intimidation—and, immediately
on the arrest, some clays later, of O'Connell, his "son and
s"- ether persons, on a charge of conspiracy, the famous
call thew, more accurately nowadays the infa-
eh State Trials, commenced. They commenced
on the 12th of February, 1844, before Chief Justice Penne-
father. Each of the defendants had his separate (*tinsel—
Richard Sheil appearing on behalf of- Jobelagitiesila, • -a;+
Thus it was, as Mr. Sheil himself observed in the use o
Commonslongafterwarde, that" the world beheld the leader
and liberator of a Catholic nation tried by a jury exclusively
composed of Protestant tradesmen who were absurdly
called his peers"—and afterwards, as the orator continued
in alluding to the course taken throughout the whole of
that iniquitous trial—" At last" said he, "the long series
of ignominious proceedings terminated in a discomfiture
of the Government, of which there was no former exam-
ple—terminated by a denunciation pronounced by the
Chief Justice of England, from the highest seat of juclica-
tiara in the world, and in the conversion of the porch of a
prison-house into an arch of triumph, through which the
most remarkable man in Europe, whom they had the
temerity to call a 'convicted conspirator,' was given back
to the embraces of an enthusiastic and devoted people." The
other contest in relation to Ireland in which about this
time Mr. Shell, as we have said, participated, had refe-
rence to the important question known up to the pre-
sent chiy through fanatical bickerings, still sanctiondd in
all their pristine bitterness, as that Of the Maynooth En-
dowment. A sum of 9,0001. had, from the foundation of
the College of Maynooth in 1795, been annually rated in
the estimates for its support as the nucleus of Irish educa-
tion. Sir R. Peel proposed, in 1844, that in order to pro-
vide more adequately for the instruction of the Catholic
priesthood in the sister country, the amount should be
raised to 26,3601. per annum, chargeable upon the Conso-
lidated Fond, with a special vote at the same time of
30,6001. additional to be dedicated to the repair and
extension of the great national establishment. Mr. Sheil
warmly supported the propositions of the Prime Minister
throughout • and as a kindred spirit gave a partial support
likewise to the: other measure of intended conciliation intro-
duced: during the same session, by Sir JamesGrahatm, that
having for its object the foundation and endowment of
what O'Connell, on the contrary, reprobated in the
strongest terms as the scheme of the three " Godless Col-
leges," combining in that epithet the disfavour previously
pronounced upon it by Sir Robert Harry Inglis as " a gi-
gantic scheme of Godless education."
Domestic afflictions soon afterwards compelled Mr. Shell
to withdraw awhile from the arena of politics, hurryinhs
him from London, on the 10th of September, 1845, in the
illusory hope that the failing health of his only son might
perchance he restored under the influence of a winter's
residence in Madeira. Arriving in that island with his
beloved invalid on the 9th October, the sorrowing father
had to see all his cherished hopes clashed to the earth on
the 10th of the ensuing month of. November, when he
stood by the death-bed of the youthful sufferer, then in
his twenty-third year, and had soon afterwards to follow
his remains to their premature place of interment. This
" untimely removal" of his son, we are told by the bio-
grapher, "cast a deep and lasting shade over the remain-
ing years" of Richard Shed. The distant sounds of party
contention in England coming to him in the remote haunts
of his bereavement, at length roused him from unavailing
regrets over the young man's grave in Madeira. The cele-
brated letter written from Edinburgh, on the 22d of No-
vember, 1845, by Lord Johu Russell, had enforced in a
remarkable manner the declarations of a precisely similar
kind, which actually had been previously made in Council
to his ministerial colleagues by Sir R. Peel. The temporary
dissolution of the Conservative Government resulting from
these occurrences, followed by the ineffectual efforts of the
Whig leader to construct a Cabinet, in which Lord Grey, at
the last moment, refused to take office by the side of Lord
Palmerston, seemed to promise Sheil the chance of the
speedy return of his party to power, and to open up to him
in that case, if he were only present, a reasonable proba-
bility of advancemenk—Accompanied by Mrs. Shed, he
sailed for Cadiz on the 22d of April, 1846, proceeding
thence by ordinary steamer on his return to Southamp-
ton. Everybody knows the marvellous changes which had
by that time been effected by these recent events in the
Constitution of the Lower House of Parliament, The
disruption of the great Conservative party having left (Mr.
M'Cullagh here reminds his readers) its Protectionist re-
,idue without any recognisable champion until the time
when, as was wittingly observed, Mr. Disraeli in-
vented Lord George Bentiack ! At length the
ever-memorable Government of Sir Robert Peel
came to an end, the Free Trade Premier being defeated b
a majority of 292 against 219, in the House of Commons,
on the second reading of the Coercion Bill—whereupon,
as a matter of course, Lord John Russell was empowered
by the Queen to construct a new Administration. Mr.
Sheil had the gratification of learning, on the 2d of July,
1846, that the Mastership of the Mint (one of the offices
known to rank next to the Cabinet, au office, in fast, which
had sometimes been held by Cabinet Ministers) had been
reserved for his occupation. At the general election of
1847 he was once more selected as their representative by
his old constituency of Dungarvan. The subseqent events
of his history are too vividly (because so very recently) in
public recollection to require them to be here enumerated
seriatim. Enough if it is observed that on the 4th of
November, 1850, the Right Honourable Richard Shoji
was appointed to proceed to Florence as British Am-
bassador. In accepting that high diplomatic •position
he had to resign his place in the House of Commons, to
vacate his post as a member of the Administeation' to
abandon altogether his eminent position as a Parliamentary
orator, distinguished among the most distinguished.. But
Sheil was beginning at last to yearn for repose, hit% years
were falling into the " sere and yellow leaf," he wits ap-
proaching the sixtieth anniversary of his birth, and al-
though his faculties were still, if not in their firot
in their full and ripened perfection, he looked forward
with pleasurable anticipation to enjoying their continu.sd
exercise thenceforth in a genial- and honourable retire'
meat. Before the close of the November of 1850 be paid a
hurried visit to Ireland, in December he returned to Lon-
don, and passing through Paris On his way to Italy, ar-
rived in Florence about the middle of January, 1851. Here
it was, on Sunday, the 25th of May, 1851, that Shell ex-
pired, in consequence of a sudden aggravation of the dis-
ease (gout) by which he had been then for some time
grievously tortured. His funeral obsequies' performed in
the Church of St. Michael at Florence, five days after the
date of his dissolution, wore repeated nine months after-
wards, on the 24th of February, 1852, in the parish church
in Gardiner-street, Dublin, on the return of his remains in
a British ship of war to Ireland—prior to their removal to
their last resting-place at Long Orchard. So lived and so
died Richard Sheil—poet, orator, patriot, statesman, di-
plomatist—beginning life as a demagogue, and ending it as
an atabsssader.
The luminous pencil of Leigh Hunt has thus sketched
the appearance of Shell as it was not very long before his
departure for Tuscany then saw before me or of
the little great men of whom one reads,go e
a nl
i had
oneandtheideagreenthoughtthancritic,earnest• theanyotherme
like
quiveringgesticulations,lipscombine t
icintghoeaftEltloairr•
idca:bean,insdoimnegth•
hiining
rtilw-;:ssireni
h:
Tribune,llni Orator
gh o utth
he i par c
apne
ete
ehn
ret—l
Sy
aaintni
dr
ie
gni
tn-.
yevith the• fervaied°rard°mbcirraaZila
som
gruous attributes of
powers,
and
powers that Richard
omfemjuotienoafbtlisonodhsef
hi
Christian,
and of his religion—and as a
th
fristian, Honour to his memory. And
Shell
le seemeduveeedreooibi
less earnestly than our author lay also our
so let us no
infeigne( respect and yet faithful remembrance
tribute of t t
upon that grave in Long Orchard as the wayfarer of old
each this morsel of granite
threw on the roadside cairn,
or as the soldiers of the grand army still love to bang at
intervals upon the railings round the column, n the Place
the
Patriotu seen dofas
Vendome, the homage of some poor dusty wreath of
immortellat.

"The committee have no hesitation in declaring their de-
liberate conviction that the innocence of Mr. Sheil, in respect
of the whole matter of complaint referred to their investiga-
tion, is entire and unquestionable."
Immediately upon the perusal of the report, Lord Al-
thorp apologised to the member for Tipperary, and Sheil
himself, rising to address the house, amidst loud criesfrom
all parts of it followed by profound silence, referred in
befitting terms to Mr. Hill's request for his forgiveness.
Subsequent events need here but a rapid and cursory
'enumeration. Mr. Ward's motion, of the 27th May,
1834, in reference to, the Protestant Episcppel Establish-
ment in Ireland "carried confusion among Miuisters"—
,causing, in fact, the memorable secession front the Cabinet
of Mr. Stanley, Sir James Graham, Lord Ripon, and the
Duke of Richmond. Then came the filling up of the
vacant offices by Mr. Spring Rice, Lord Carlisle, Lord
Auckland, and the Marquis of Conyngham., The difficul-
ties arisicg out of the necessity for the renewal of the
Coercion Act, brought about, in the July following, the
substitution of Lord Melbourne for Lord Grey as Prime
Minister:, the obnoxious measure being virtually passed in
a new form on the 29th of that month ; but the rejuvinated
Cabinet surviving only until the 14th of the next No-
vember. The elevation of Lord Althorp to the peerage,
upon the death of his father the Earl Spenser, afforded the
King an opportunity for bringing about a total change in
the character of •the Government. Then, it will be re-
membered how Sir Robert Peel—the " great span in a
great position," was sent for to Italy, " summoned from i
Rome to govern England." The dissolution of Parliament,
was the inevitable consequence—Mr. Sheil being again re-
turned, in the general election which ensued, as one of the
members for the county of Tipperary. Successive defeats
—on the 19th February in choice of a Speaker—on the
26th on Lord Morpeth's amendment to the address—and
on the resignation of the ambassa,dership to the Court of
fit. Petersburg by' the late Marquis of Londonderry (a
resignation consequent upon Mr. Sheila speech of the 13th
of March referring to the appointment)—failed to impel
Sir Robert Peel and his colleagues to resolve upon tender-
ing their resignation to their Sovereign. Nevertheless, to
the adoption of this painful course they were ultimately
driven, by the success after four nights' debate in the
House of Commons of the motion introduced on the 30th
of March by Lord John Russell (and ultimately carried by
322 against 289) in reference to the Irish Church Establish-
ment. Three several resolutions, moved upon this sub-
ject by the noble leader of the Opposition, completed the
discomfiture of the newly-inaugurated Cabinet so effec-
tually that, after an interval of just six months' 'duration,
Viscount Melbourne was again at the head of his Majesty's
•Government—Lord John' being Home Secretary, Lord
Palmerston, Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Marquis of
Lansdowne, Lord President, and Mr. Spring Rise,
Chancellor of the Exchequer. Then came what was
called (by a perversion of a phrase of Mr. Sheil's)
the celebrated " Lichfield House Compact," meaning the
determination arrived at by the various sections of the
Liberal party assembled at the house of Lord Lichfield,
in St. James's-square, first to leave the ballot an open ques-
tion—and, secondly, to adopt the well-known appropria
tion clause in the Irish Tithe Bill, Later on, consequently
upon a motion made by Mr. Shell on the 6th of March,
1835, the notorious Orange Society was at length dis-
solved, much to the chagrin of the Duke of Cumberland.
It is here observed of Mr. Sheil in reference to his Par-
liamentary struggles, that while "he seldom spoke of Sir
Robert Peel and the Duke of Wellington otherwise than
with marked consideration and deference; against Lords
Stanley and Lyndhurst the arrows of his sarcasm were
incessantly directed, and rarely without effect." In tes-
timony of which, particular reference is made to that
speech delivered by Mr. Sheil in the House of Commons
on the 23d of February, 1837, which was deemed at the
time his "greatest oratorical effort in Parliament."
It related to Lord Lyndhurst's insulting mention of the
Irish people as Aliens. We here give the illustrative com-
ments pronounced upon its delivery by the biographer :
" Lord Lyndhurst was present during the delivery of this
speech, and upon the marked allusion to his well-known
words of the preceding year, , every eye was turned upon
him. Kindling with the excitement ho himself produced,
and yielding to the dramatic impulse of the moment, as he
indignantly reiterated the word ' Anemic' the orator waved
his hands reproachfully towards the spot where Lord Lynd-
hurst was sitting. The effect of the tone in which the word
was uttered, and of the gesture by which it was accompanied,
is said to have been indescribable. The whole house gave
way to conflicting emotions, and as no intelligible sound
could be heard for many minutes in the storm of cheers and
exclamations, many on both sides arose from their seats in
their curiosity to observe the expression of the speaker's
countenance, and that of the distinguished object of his re-
buke. Order was not withoutdifficulty restored ; and when,
at the termination of the splendid passage with which the
orator concluded, he sank back exhausted into his seat, the
enthusiasm and applause broke forth anew, and continued
without intermission for an unprecedented time."
So impassioned at all times was Sheil's mode of delivery
that some muttered, "It is all acting," and others asked,
half in wonder and half in incredulity, "How can so
much fervour be genuine, and yet under such entire com-
mand 2" Mr. M'Cnllagh himself in remarking upon his
friend's style of oratory, observes :--
" His loud and vehement utterances received their fitting
plaudits. His looks and gestures were appreciable by all.
Though we cannot recal them, we can imagine something of
the emotion they produced ; but how much of the expressive
by-play is lost ? Who shall whisper for us the ' asides,'
sometimes artistically preconcerted—often the offspring of
sudden impulse—lesser, but not less lustrous, sparkles of that
light that comes not but in the irresistible concurrence of
thought and passion." i
-Upon the occasion of the dissolution of Parliament imme•
diately upon the Queen's accession, Mr. Shell was again
returned, with his colleague, Mr. Otway Cave,, by the
liberal electors of Tipperary. Between the meeting of
Parliament in November for the settlement of the Civil
List for the youthful Sovereign, and its adjournment,
after the performance of that duty, till February, 1838,
the first proposition connected with office was made to Mr.
Sheil. After mature consideration he accepted the pre-
ferred post (then by good luck vacant) of the Commie-
sionership of Greenwich Hospital, and having thereby va-
cated his seat was for a fourth time returned by the eleo-
tors of Tipperary, this time, moreover without opposition.
He had now therefore the opportunity at length affordefl
to him of enjoying together wealth and tranquillity.
"In truth, however, that which he desired most, was
neither wealth nor tranquillity ; his highest sense of plea-
sure was in the exercise of that rare faculty by which the
breathless attention of the House of Commons is enchained.
' That,' ha used to say, 'that is power. Cheers are nothing;
any one who is reckless enough to play for them, if he has
common tact and ability, can win them. I don't care far
cheers ; the thing that is hard to catch, and when caught, to
bold, is the silent attention of the house. When you basi-e
done that you have succeeded ; not till then.'"
Well did he know how—
" The applause of listening Senates to command,"
and long did he exercise the enviable power accruing ho
him from that high knowledge. A signal defeat of Mi-
nisters on the Jamaica Government Bill led to the real fp
nation of Lord Melbourne's Cabinet on the 7th May, 183 P,
pool yesterday.
The Arabia steam-transport left Portsmouth for Liver-
but " Sir Robert Peel having declined to accept then Ptle-
miership unless all the principal appointments is
,_t
Household, including those held by ladies, wennArd
his disposal," the reins of office were again THE JALOUS WIFE. By Miss Pardee. 3 vols.--
hands !
Nevem- " ' The Jealous Wife' "is a tale of great peer ; its deli-
with such an ineffable sneer, the Arch M di
ite was found neces- neation of the most terrible of human passions in the
of him whom Mr. Disraeli has I..ove.doc:rtio4esignate,
theless towards the close of the session,teatlL
sin the ,arganis.exquisitely 'chief interest of such a work
a- truthful. The sary to modify rather considerably the constitution of the heart of a wife and of its effects on the husband, are
Melbourne Government. These change
tion of the newly-reinstalled Cabinet was announced on the lies, of course, in the growth and working out of the
admirablydone. ' The
main characters, and this is
to the very position 1 te recentl
late position at the headthet tale for
moval of Lord John Russell y Jealous Wife' is something more than a-pleasant
occupied, namely, that of
29th of August. 1839, and included among the.,n the re.
(June, 1855) once moree
Colonial Secretaryship, his ofauthoress of fiction, Miss
to many who read it. As an ,,
being assumed by Lord.lq.orre b
the Home Department
Mr. SpringD •-'
411 Y : an idle hour ; its pathetic interest may serve as a lesson
Mr. Francis Baring succeeding asi oe as Chan-
• Mr. Labouchere b . • —. —Globe.
cellor ofthe Exchequer , .
Mr. More
et.. owing Pre- says :—On
n Pardee has never done anything better than this work.
EMIGRATION.—The Limerick .Reporier s
Mr P Itt • ou e
left Limerick by the early train on a-
to the peerage under sident of the Board of Trade in the roomder of
Thompson, elevated The
taking
the the title of Loyd hteurndcalryedmpeerrnsioengs,
en route to America and Australia.
War;arMyaactaulay
• with friends and relatives was, as usual,
O'Ferrall
succeed- scene at parting
Nearly all the erni-
Sgyedweinchkaausi ;s e
jog Mr. Charles Wood as Secretary to the Ail ' It
Mr.cret
m ira y ; Mr. of the most painful description.
Shell in his turn receiving the appoihtment of V' .
Fe-Preen-andyoung women,
and those
grants were young men
ears.
dent of the Board of Trade. Difficulties •in du a time how- they left after them appeared to be
belt gradually began to start up round the with some sur-
Whig Ministry, The Clare Journal adds :—We observe . ,
and ultimately these were multiplied with mushroom ra-has again so.
•and regret that the emigration mania ~
_.
pidity. A deficiency in the revenue less prise men, 11‘"
amounting
than 2,400,0001. had in 1841 to be
n. During the past week large numbers of ; beour
supplied so mehow—and 1
with that purpose in view d children have left this town and ne'g
a Free Trade Budget was at • men, an
length resolved, upon by the Administration. In further- hood principally for America.