The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-20 00:00:00

began to think that John Mitchell's sayings and doings
were right and proper. For months a &two of the
greatest uncertainty prevailed as to the intention of the
Lord-Lieutenant, and Dublin was kept in a state of fear
and anxiety, while all thewhile he did not hesitate to say
that Lord Clarendon was as much the dupe of the lunacy
of Mitchell, as he was of the villany of Birch. What-
ever Lord Clarendon might have been doing all this
time to resist rebellion, he did nothing to- pat it down;
he allowed matters to go on,. and rendered theta still
worse by the diTusting articles which appeared in the
papers he had taken into his pay. Ile believed that if it
had been possible to have caused blood to have been
shed in Ireland at that time, no better course could have
been adopted for doing 60, but the people had more sense
than to ba stung to madness either by the inculcations
of Jacobmen or the intrigues of state. Supposing there
were difficulties to contend with, was it a proper means
of getting over them to employ such an organ as Lord
Clarendon did in defence as he called it, of law and
order?—(Hear, hear.) It was said, moreover, that his
Excellency was not aware of the character of Birch, but
that was an argument which could not be held good even
by the most credulous, for though be might know no-
thing of him personally himself, he was surrounded by
men who knew him well; and was it possible that- during
ail the period he was connected with him, no one should
ever have said a word to him respecting his character?
But this was not the first plea of ignorance that had been
Put forward as an excuse for the actions of Lord Claren-
don. They all remembered the story of CapteKennedy
and the Orangemen, who asked the Lord-Lieutenant for
arms in order that they might put down the rebellious,
(Her.) On the application of Captain Kennedy, arms
were given to these Orangemen, and next ses-
sion, when a sum of 5901. was voted to ()apt. Kennedy
for the cost of them, Lord Clarendon said that he knew
nothing at all about it—that the 5901. was given to
Captain Kennedy for a book that he had published; but
as to the arms for the Orangemen, he knew nothing at
all about them. Now, although he might make up his
mind to believe one impossibility in one Englishman, he
must say that it was putting to him more than the
utmost stretch of his credulity could permit to make him
believe two. It had been said that these motions (such
as that now before the House) were intended to get rid,
by a side wind, of the Reform Bill of 1852; but say,
rather, that the Reform Bill of 1852 was intended to get
rid of such motions as these; for the new Reform Bill,
he considered, was nothing but a miserable shift to
enact that farce which had been enacted session after
session, in order to keep the present Government in
power. After taking advantage of every national preju-
dice, Louis Napoleon having disappointed him in his in-
tended invasion, and protection no longer being repu-
diated, the Noble Lord now came forward with his Re-
form Bill, and told his followers that if they did not
keep him in office they would lose their bait, and their
enemies would come into office.—(Hear, hear.) He ap-
pealed, howeier, to the Reformers of England whether
they would be cheated in that way, and he appealed to
the good sense and justice of Englishmen to repudiate
such conduct as the motion now before the House had
reference to.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. ROCHE would state strictly the reasons for the
vote he should give on this question. He considered
that after the speech of the Noble Lord, the First Mi-
nister of the Crown, the question as regarded Lord Cla-
rendon had been very much reduced indeed. The Noble
Lord in the commencement of his speech alluded with
great eloquence to the general policy of Lori Clerendon
in Ireland, and with regard to that general policy he was
not disposed at present to find fault. He admitted that
during Lord Clarendon's administration there had been
an incipient rebellion in Ireland; he admitted that that
rebellion had been put down, and that those employed in
it had been punished with considerable moderation; but
he denied altogether that Lord Clarendon was the only
man in Ireland who was the means of putting that re-
bellion down. The truth was Lord Clarendon was aided
by the Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland, a elms
whose merits did not find much acknowledgment
in that House, but they greatly aided him in
putting down that rebellion, and to their con-
duct must be attributed much of the good results
which flowed from his government. But the policy of
Lord Clarendon had very little to do with the subject
before the House—(Hear, hear)—the question simply
being, whether his conduct in respect to the infamous
paper could be borne out as prudent and just. That
question the Noble Lord the First Minister of the Crown
had himself settled, for while he defended Lord Claren-
don's policy, he admitted his imprudence in respect to
the newspaper in question, Well, then, that being so,
the next question that presented itself to him was, had
Lord Clarendon been sufficiently punished for that im-
pudence? As regarded that question, it must be borne
in mind that the accusation was brought against him in
a place where he could not defend himself, while, had the
motion being the production of a Noble Lord in another
place, it could have been brought forward in his own
House, where he could have met it personally. To his
mind he had received ample punishment, for while he
had been attacked behind his
,back, he had been but
indifferently defended by his friends.—(Hear, hear.)
Then came the question, had the motion no other bear-
ing than a ensure upon the act of Lord Clarendon?
He believed that it had.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) He
believed that it embraced a far wider range, and had
more meaning than what actually appeared from the
mere wording of it. The motion was brought for-
ward with much parade. and after long notice given.
The press in England and Ireland favourable to the
views of gentlemen opposite, had heralded from end to
end of the land that th© existence of the Government
would be tested on this subject; and ho had no doubt
that a man of the Noble Lord's prudence did not under-
tske to bring forward such a motion without being pre-
pared for the consequences.—(Hear, hear.) What, then,
were those consequences? Why, if the Nuble Lord
carried his motion Ministers must resign, and Gentle-
men opposite must take their places. Now before he
adopted that alternative and made up his mind to that
change of policy, he must inquire what are the claims of
the Opposition party. In the first place he observed,
that during the present week a meeting of Members of
that House had been held at the Earl of Derby's, and
that it had there been decided, without allowing any
discussion on the Irish Reform Bill,, that they were to
do their best to throw it out of the (louse.—(Hear,
hear.) Should they get into office, therefore, they
might
expect that measure would be shelved, and he was not
prepared to give such a vote as would give them
chance of doing so. Then, again,
at the commence-
ment of the session he observed that the Earl of
Derby found fault with the Government for not
carrying out the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill in Ireland.
—(Scar, hear.) He was one of those who opposed
that measure; he believed Government acted improperly
in applying it to Ireland, but having committed that
foolish act, he thought they had done the next best thing
they could—never to ,enforce it in Ireland.—(Hear.)
But it gentlemen opposite got into power, the morning
after the news reached Ireland that they had done so,
the common informer would
.be let loose, and the whole
country would be thrown into a state of confusion.—
(Hear.) He was not, therefore, prepared to take upon
himself such a responsibility as to:give theta the chance
of office—(Hear, hear)—for he believed that were these
men in power Ireland would soon be in such a state of
agitation and turmoil that it would not be worth hold-
ing.—(hear, hear.) The present Government were also
accused by those wko were bidding for their places of
not putting a stop to the agrarian outrages in some
parts of Ireland by suspending trial by jury, and intro-
ducing coercive measures. That policy he must also
oppose, and on that ground also he must vote against
the motion. The speech of his Hon. Friend opposite
who last addressed the House reminded him that in
stating these views he was at variance with many of
his Friends opposite, but he thought that those
Roman Catholic Members who were joining in
the support of this motion were following a wrong
course—(Bear, hear)—and were committing a great mis-
take. They no doubt believed that in doing so they
were marching in brigade order to the defence of their
country, but they were mistaken.—(Hear, hear.) 'They
were simply joining in an Orange foray in order to in-
jure a man who, whatever other faults he might have,
had the courage and the honesty to keep down Orange
ascendency in Ireland, by attacking one of its chiefs, and
for a time to disgrace him.—(Cheers.) He was not
there to defend the acts of Lord Clarendon, but be was
not prepared to vote fur a motion such as this, which, if
carried, would place in power hparty who bad been all
along opposed to the Roman Catholics of Ireland, and
be warned his Roman Catholic friends who were now
joining that party in this motion that, however their aid
might now be courted, so soon as that party gained
their object they would throw them off and spurn them.
—(Hear, hear.) That party was, no doubt, old and
constitutional, but their prejudices against Roman Ca-
tholicism still remained the same; and they only wanted
oppOrtunity to -act towards it as those prejudices actu-
ated them. He should therefore oppose the motion.
Colonel SIBTHORP thought the thanks of the country
were due to the Noble Lord for his moral courage in
bringing forward so important a motion. It was a step
in the right direction. It was a clear case of misappro-
priation of the public money—of that portion of it to
which he had more than once directed attention—secret
service money.—(Hear.)
No man had a greater respect
than he had-for the public press, though it did some-
times censure him. The whole transaction would have
hah.e.
h
been a reflection on any Government, and 9eueognhd beunt in
did
not deny the ability of Lord. Clarendon,
this affair showed that though a man might do de a great
deal of good. yet he might at the
part, he held the
country &great deal of harm. For his
same time do bis
Noble Lord at the head of the Government
drihnogrearned-
sponsible for that dangerous course
very reprehensible description of
Noble Earl himself—the Lord-Lieutenant
right direction,
The present, however, was a step government,
toefn apu rt
°oe ha 'than
Ireland. tthe'
and they might soon hope to know what
England and Ireland.—
what became of the
secret service money both in
(Hear, hear.) Secret service wa
asnaenddetfioniititonbewthhiocuhghhet
hated, and anything which put
hear.)
ought to be supported.--(Hear,
Dr. POWER said he had listened whitoh
hgardeaituattrtoednutuiound
to the speech of the Noble Lord w
that motion, and to the speecheswo supp ,
i of
orHon. Members on
ted himn er
the other aide of the Hu
to discover bow far those transactions h
ransaetions referred to " had
weakened the authority of
the executive, or reflected
discredit on the administration of public affairs," and
he confessed he had heard norehausdonbseoeur atrhge_ur_memtt.
If
the authority of the s
ad-
duced to show that any
such
executive in Ireland had boon
affected in the slightest degree by thee.) prime. diegs,
would they not have petitions explaining such a state of
in
its
that country, and calling upon the Par-
public feeling;feeling;liument to lend aid in the removal of Lord Clarendon
from the position he now held? Ile did not mean by
any means to say but that the act of Lord Clarendon in
that respect would not bear the test of severe morality—
(lisar)—but when they considered the pressure of the
times in which it took place, and all the difficult circum-
stances surrounding him, they would find much to pal-
liate, if not to justify the act.—(Hear.) Again, he
would ask, when they took into account all the painful