The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-29 00:00:00

THE IRISH RAILWAY BILL

TO THE EDITOR OF THE " MORNING CHRONICLE."
SlR—Convinced as I am that the plan of raisip,,,
money on the national credit, for the construction
railways in Ireland, is the wisest, because the surest to
be attended with practical good to every class of tb.-,
community, which has yet been submitted by the pre-
sent Ministry to Parliament in reference to the affairs
of that country, I am sorry to see that it is opposed Lv
men from whom a more rational and generous couri,e
was to be expected.
I am no agitator—on the contrary, I execrate
the system of disquieting the minds of the people,
and alluring them from the pursuits of industry
t) the worse than useless discui,sien of supposed
grievances, and impracticable or mischievous changes
in government. But, on the other hand I am
not disposed to condemn a measure of manifest
utility, merely because it is introduced by Lord Mor.:
peth, and supported by Daniel O'Connell, and I must
take the liberty to say, that Sir Robert Peel and his
friends ought not to view the Irish Railway Bill as a
party measure. It involves no assault, either immediate
or prospective, on any order in the State ; it contem,
plates no change in any institution—no theoretic scheme
of innovation or reform, either ecclesiastical or civil. On
the contrary, should it happily be carried ihto effect, it
will be strictly and powerfully Conservative. It will
attach the people of Ireland to their connection with their
British brethren, by showing them that the latter are tru:y
their friends, ready in all matters really conducive to
their welfare, to come forward with effectual aid. The
employment which it will afford to the Irish peasantry,
will produce among them industrious habits, and accus-
tom them to seek comfort and respectability from lit-

hour and good management, by showing them that
these blessings are, by such means, more certainly and
more satisfactorily to be attained than by peqhtical agi-
tation, trades unions, or agrarian violence.
The development of the hitherto neglected re-
sources of a country on which Nature 11,.)s been more
than usually lavish of her bounties, will be a
certain consequence of the passing of this bene-
ficent Bill. By creating facilities of commercial inter-
course, it will afford opportunities for the lucrative em-
ployment of capital, which will be thus drawn from Ow
concealments, in which it now lies hoarded and uselets,
to effect improvements of every kind—to fructify tl',.
soil, to explore mines, and render them prc,fitalde—t:v
establish manufactories, fisheries, commerce—and nr...,
country on earth is better adapted for the success:full
prosceuriun crr-tart-a.- ~....--ri..-.__.- .:-,......i._ L
..:1,--.r!. t ,--
the whole aspect of Irish society new features, Whic
every well-wisher of humanity will delight to beholii-,,L.-
indm•try, thrift, management, comfort, and their never-
failing attendants, sobriety, social order, mental cultiva-
tion, religious tolerance, obedience to law, and respect
for authority.
This picture of what the contemplated kindness anti
liberality to Ireland, if properly carried out, will effect..
is in no degree overcharged. I know the capabili!ie,
of Ireland well, and f know the character of h r people well, and I hesitate not to assert that ti4e one
only wants development to diffuse industry, Prosp,-
rity, and affluence throughout ail her districts, w'ile
the other are amongst the most willing and untiril-of
workers in the world, wherever a reasonable rerouiPra:
tion far their exertions is attainable. It is a mistake—
it is a slander—to say that the Irish are naturAv -.:
slothful. Let the thousands of them that annually leave
their homes, and cross the Channel to seek in the fie,lds
of England remunerative labour, answer the calumny.
Let your public works, your highways, your railroads,
your canals, the improvements of your cities, the palaces
of your nobles and your gentry, attest the willingness of ..
Irishmen to labour wherever labour will be rewarded. ~
I could call upon the people of the transatlantic re- i
public to bear testimony to the superior aptitude
to any other people that visit their shores—nay,
even to themselves, proverbially active and kakis-
trious as they are—of the Irishmen is i 1 o settle among
them, to undertake and to perform whatever enter-
prise requires for its performance—labour, dilivence,
and dexterity ; and, if I were to call upon the most
illustrious of conquerors—himself an Irishman—to say
whether during the mighty war which he so successfully
conducted against the most formidable despot Europe ..
ever beheld, he found the soldiers of Ireland less capable •
or less willing to undergo the fatigues, or encounter the
hardships and dangers to which their duty exposed
them, than their companions in arms from other •
countries. With a feeling indignant at the ihju.rios sup
position which the question would imply, the hero would
answer "No I" Whether in performing the harrassina
march, or in dragging the ponderous cannon—whether
in the labour of encamping or entrenching—whenever
service requiring exertion, endurance, and hardihood.
was to be performed, Wellington will cheerfully testify
that his Irish soldiers were ever ready, active, and
efficient.

Away, then, with the slanderous charge ofslothful,
ness so frequently brought against Iri,hmen, and unjustl
alleged as the main cause of the comparative poverty
and backwardness of improvermnts amongst them. Thy
true cause of this poverty and want of improvement is
the blighting operation of circumstances and influences
which arc too well known to require bt.i.)g recounted,
and which have, in that lovely and fertile is'and, 4e-
prived industry of its fair reward. It is because I an,

convinced that the measure nuw More Parliament

for employing the people of Ireland and improving the

. .
country, will go far to counteract those lettiefei inflo,
ences, that I am so anxious for its adop•iol-. I would
earnestly call on its opponents to pause tof ,re the)
assume the responsibility of its rejection ; fui
a more serious responsibility than they seem to iiiiajne.
It will cause the people of Ireland to despair of ever ac-
quiring the sympathy and good will of Englishmen ; an.,
great will be their mortification, and let me add, nature
will be their exasperation, should they find a people wh,
could generously give away for ever, twenty inilious f(,
the benefit of West India negroes, refusing to lend fc:
their benefit, at a fair interest, only an eighth of that sun
What will be considered the test of England's feeling.
towards Ireland is now about to be made. Earnest;
and anxiously must every good man who wishes for i 5;
preservation of the internal tranquilli.y, and the continu
ance of the grandeur and prosperity of this great ernpi,,
pray that the result may be demonstrative of the {fie,
feeling of the British people towards their Irish 1-‘;--
thren. Then will the reign of recrimination and

lousy cease ; for Irishmen are grateful, and can Ar
ciate kindness as ardently as they can resent injuites.
Mr. Editor—l cannot with propriety, at t!,is tire,,
encroach further upon your columns. But as I
yet much to say on this important subject, I intend
a few days to solicit you to indulge me with space I,
Further observations.
In advocating a measure which I consider to be ,
more vital importance to the future welfare of my nati,
country than all the Tithe Bills and Municipal Bill's
shall ever pass Parliament, I scorn to be anonymon
I therefore freely give your readers my name.
JAMES Ai:HENRY.

We believe that all the arrangements are cow
r 1 t d regarding the household of Lord Ebrington, y
ee
cspcct to tie chaplaincy of the household, the warta
granting the appointment having been inspected in t•
Lord Lieutenant, his Excellency stated that the appon
moot was intended to be permanent—au opinion in whi
the Law Officers of the Crown are understood to In
concurred. Doctor Vignolles Detn)of the Char
but the Deanery of the ChapclEFlongs to the First Cu:
lain, who is exclusively entitled to apartments in..,
Castl.., which apartments, in point of fact, have bi
occupied by the First Chaplain since 1814. Do
Pus,.