The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-10 00:00:00

/C 1
p

THE IRISH REPRESENTATIVES.

(From the Times.)
It is not likely that the condition
sentation will be much improved ny
We have never been great admire
body of Irish Members, although wi
ready to honour in their persons thi
nentative Government as applied t,
the few observations we are about
willingly drop one word which could
wound the pride of the few uprigl
Gentlemen who haw, _ from time

one or other of the Irirah

mention names ; let every Irls.h Member, past, present,
ooartegtoarycome hold himself inclued in the meagre
of, exception, end
l. then
d ask himself° if
of his fellow-representji T
ea.pp Ts
it
to
not
te
tßread t h
abody
o
the censure is not duly
London—whether in the largo'
or
rn
einvil eye—not' arena of
theytohfe the House of
Commons,garaei
with
because ) .
Private societhave beeprisrhe:
Irish-
men, but as the natural consequence of the?' wirew words
and acts—of their base subserviency to ther howlelensh
and the Irish demagogue of the moment—of their undis-
guised venality—of the ferocious attacks they h
directed in public, and the shameless defamationsey they
have uttered in private against men who had no othere
fault than a reluctance to comply with their outrageous
demands? Is it not also true that this enormous amount
of moral abomination has been unredeemed by any flash
of genuine wit—by any gush of natural eloquence such
as would have warmed our hearts to the speaker, how-
ever much we might have differed from his conclusions?
Had poor Tommy Moore been enrolled on the list to
cheer the House with one of his Irish melodies—bad
Teddy the Tiler been returned for Cork to enliven us with
his Irish jokes and oddities, we might not, to be sure,
have thought much of them as statesmen—but we should
have taken them to our homes and oar hearts, end have
forgiven many a ferocious bore for their sakes. To
talk of the Plunkets, and Grattane, and Currans, and
other illustrious Irishmen in such a case as this, is
simply out of the question. The late Daniel O'Connell
and Richard Sheil, who is also gone, were the two only
specimens of this class with which we have been for a
long time favoured. With regard to the first of these
two exceptions, great orator as he undoubtedly was, he
was too completely the Evil Genius of Ireland—too
hopelessly identified with the degradation of his fellow-
representatives to redeem their character in English
eyes. As for the late Master of the Mint, he had for a
long time before his exit from Parliament fairly failed
asleep amidst the flesh-pots of Egypt. In addition to
those two men, whom have the Irish constituencies sent
us who could be placed on a level with anything higher
than a filth-rate representative, from the other divisions
of the empire. A man is not bound to be a man of
genius. The gift of oratory is given but to few,
the higher capacities of the statesman to still
fewer men; bet every cne who holds the post
of a reptepresentive of the people is bound
to be an honest man, and to act from motives of' public
conviction, not from the beggerly impulses of personal
interest. Tried even by so low a test es this, the
Irish Members for the last twenty years will be found
wanting. They have come to us as the serfs of a " Cry,"
The bonsmen. of a wretched demagogue or priest; and,
like true serfs, they have never missed an occasion of
betraying for their own personal advantage the parties
who had been weak enough to rely upon their venal al-
legiance.
Could O'Connell—and, sirce his time, could Dr.
M'llale have procured have- aeclozen men of average
talent, and good character to do their work the result
might. have been different. But dirty work has this
spsorykesmmee7i
vpecultarity, that it must be done by dirty agents. The
na•hheoimtheysend to Parlitrneuhte
mouthpieces, even when t
address the He .
the , use with the usual cuckoo-song about
unr,dressed wrongs of Ireland, ere conscious of
considerations which mt.: t ylirittehetior
Member of the Assemblysgive them pause. Every
cares to know the fact,is perfectly they are addressing, who
the impassioned orators'of b aware that most of
broken-dawn black-lugs, thate they
are nothing but
with the waiters of their clubs, aneuywlitelive run up scores
tunate tradesmen as they could fled sill as many unfor-
them credit. No one would willingly
enough to give
them in private, or admit them to social associateinter with
his own home. Others again not so openly or
flagrantlycourse in
lost to every sense of honour and propriety are known
to be dealers in patriotism, as hucksters deal in ribanedwsn.
Their livelihood depends upon the utterance of so much
trash in the course of the session. It is their cue, by
way of proving to their constituents how much in earnest
they are, not to lose a single opportunity of insultisig all
that is noblest and purest in the assembly—to tax with
ignorance statesmen whose humblest clerks could form
sounder judgments upon the subjects under discus-
sion than the professional word-mongers who are in-
flicting their tediousness upon the House. With
others, again, it is matter of notoriety that their
only object is to cause so much trouble and confu-
sion, as may make it worth the while of a Minister to
buy them off upon the first occasion. We will venture
to say there is not one of our readers who is familiar with
the condition of the Irish representation, or with the
proceedings of Parliament, who would not bo prepared
with a score of names in illustration of ono or other of
these general divisions. If these men fail in producing
any effect upon the discussions of the House, or the con-
victions of the country, it is because everything about
them is known to be liaise from first to last. The ani-
mation of their manner is false—the expression of their
sympathy is false—their arguments and their facts are
false—and have been answered and disproved a hundred
and a thousand times before. What wonder if falsehood
fail iu producing an effect—when even truth is esta-
blished with so much difficulty? But the Irish patriot is
under sentence, like the Wandering Jew—he mast go
onwards in the career which he has chosen. If he pause,
rejection awaits him at the next hustings, and then a
sponging-house or flight to a foreign land; and, if it be
possible, social degradation in a still worse form thin
that of representative of an Irish borough.
" Persecution " is, of course, the great fulcrum on
which they rely for producing these effects. An Irish-
man of the class we are describing is persecuted every
day of his life, as an Englishman is shaved. But then
there are different kinds of persecution. An inquisitor
who binds me to the stake persecutes me—a fiend who
brings me or my affairs within reach of the Chan-
cery lawyers persecutes me—a fierce-looking fellow from
perms, who grinds a monster organ outside my win-
dows persecutes me. But a tradesman who applies for
payment of a debt which I have incurred does not per-
secute me—nor does a statesman persecute me who re-
fuses 6 grant me some great political advantage to
the detriment of the public interests, and at •
the expense of my fellow-subjects- Even at the pre-
sent day the cry is not worn threadbare, as one
might have hoped. It any person rill be at the
psins of turning to Mr. D _cl'ii little summary of the
opinions and principles of the Irish Members
held seats in the House during
he will find that,
almost
without exception, they have
the strongest objection to the repayment of advances."
Upon this cry, the nation will joiem. to a man. The
very men ern° interfered between the lavish hand of Im-
perial generosity, and the sharp necessities of the poor
creatures for whom the relief NY cis intended, are the first
to stand forth and plead the
cf the loan. It is ..,
persec embezzlement in satisfaction
shape the millions which ‘,,u,etrieeii.: tie
re relquire backclnsatnya
moment when all rceelleetions of similar acts tl''nv aofe etrickery
wore merged in one overpowerine‘ feeling of compas-
sion. It is " persecution" if we do not humbly ac-
quiesce in Dr. a.
11.‘14 1 —e's efforts to meet the acts of the
British Parliament with rcscripts from the Vatican.
It will be " persecution" of the direst kind if we do
not tamely submit to have the Irish voters, kidnapped
and bludgeeeed se,
e the followers of the biahsprt4rescse
whenever they may venture to exercise
their
rse uworthy
In a manner that may be displeasing to
f Irish represen-
creatures. Such has been the conduct on°
reason to be-
tatives in former times, and we. have Irish Brizade
Hove that the ensuing caniPaio t system of tactics.
will be conducted on any diffheraesn
to deplore the loss of
On the contrary, Parliament en ,enem
en who represented
several excellent and inderlaan .
1 a during the last Perlis-
various constituencies ofna
ousted from their seats by the
meat, but who have beivehic
h has never brought anything
nominees of a faetio,nsion
n on Ireland, and disgrace upon
but sorrow and c°°ltirsh Parliament.
the walls of the Brtlon
were wanting to prove the truth
If any "",,iderslertions to the satisfaction of our fel-
of these Pinf-il, `he other side of St. George's Channel,
low-subjects 103 st in the case of former factions in the Irish
it would be
vto body, our condemnation has preceded
representati but by a short interval of time.
their "rn d Young Irelaudism are not more
nennellisne and .
O'e dieted, or spoken of with greater contempt,
repu in
stern,/Irelandat the e `
hied than
in Eng man in Ireland who was free from the tram-
rhinkig d withthe "
kuois, and disconnected interests of the leaders
of these factions, held the same opinion of them through-
out we did, but they had not the
out as courage to speak
out until the evil influence had departed from the
As it has been before so it will be again. The land.
nation of the priest faction is a mere question condem-
nation
in Tipperary and Connaught. Meanwhile,oftim„:
must make up cur minds to live with we much
description of Irish M.P.'s as the el the same
ctors of the sister
kingdom have favoured us with in dayse
anything, with a somewhat worse bate gonem by, or, if
Much as such
a conclusion is to bo regretted for the sake of the em-
pire generally, and for the character
of of Parliament, it is
yet more lamentanle for the sake Irish interests and
Irish questions of great moment.. r
• v e want Irish states-
men who may abed honour on their country. They send
us helots to reveal its shame.

PRACTISING FOR THE 'VOYAGE TO AUSTRALIA
The other day some gentlemen cruising on a part of the 1.1.. a.,
coast, observing that about the same hour every day a b__.:;:,
containing two men and a woman, landed its p.l-:;8?r,t17
the .shore, and after a short time rcturne,d,
_wlEamrn,,, 'said
quired the reason for this daily excursion. Al
he, " what makes you come here every a
at all," was the re-
like it •r" '• Oh, your honours, not at allan ,
rne,s going out
ply ; " but faix, your honours, the wifet p a
racti.ing the say-
is it that you
, soon to Australy, and so were jpos it When we start."
sickness, that we may be used ,
improving?" " Ah,sure,
"Well, and do. you find yourselves
your honours, the wife's site
worthy couple were left to
on purtily, anyhow." So . every day;
but she's getting
emigration by practising the say-
qualify themselves for
sickness. •
aftrothmatLpiovretr, pool of the deficit-
ships being detained
wales
ency of emigra r inadequacy of the present staff to meet the
It is admitted, at the same time,
exert themselves to the utmost, ari.4
that the Parties could possibly be expected from their
owing
to th.eu ttaeornei o°F
perform as
exigencies
moftiftch:aaPasedri:td3;
rumba' AuG. 7.—The screw steamer Emerald,
Pion"— •ved in the Plymouth Great Western Docks
of Dublin., arr, i_
from the west coast of Africa. She cabernder
limited number;
this Morning
e of her chief officer, John Joshua Walpole,
the cat BaleeMb Sarsfield, having died a dysentery on
tain, John
home.
- oyage
law v cap-

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