The Sun.
London, England, 1839-09-10 00:00:00

Proclamation was then made in the usual form, and
no other candidate appearing,
fir. WY fSt came forward amid a loud burst of acela-
' notations Nom all parts of the Court, and spoke nearly to
the following effect :—Mr. Sheriff, and Electors of the
City of Waterford-.4 again stand before you to solicit
the renewal of your confidence under new and pe-
culiar circumstances. I have been appointed to office
unexpectedly, and unsolicited on my part, and the Con-
stitution (tails on you to decide whether, in this new
position, you have that reliance on my principles and
coo act, and on those of the Government with whom I
i ticrk connected, as will justify you in committing again
,to m, bandit the .trust with which you have so often
1 ~?nourealine. I admire this wise provision of our Con-
stitution, and am rejoiced to have the opportunity it
nods of placing both my past conduct and future views
unreservedly before you. Ido not consider this appoint-
; tont in reference to myself individually ; but in reference
to you—in reference, above all, to the principles which 1
`have advocated—in referen.ee to the country and cause
with which I have been so long associated. My own
,/ personal claims talay be slight, nothing would be gained
t by recognising them ; but it is of some moment to the
liberal opiniems, for which you as well as I have strug-
I Fle(1, to f.nd them ao sanctioned by the Government. It
, IS now some yeartitsince first I appeared in public life,
ii au`j... I regard it as a matter of just pride that I have
neon able to give my humble co-operation in the passing
E . ,
of most of' the greatest measures of our own times. In
tie straggle for Emancipation I was not behind—in the
,' uielearable election for 1826 I bore my part ; and I had
, tl-0: satisfaction of personally sharing in the triumph of
) a cause which has hterr a boon, not to the Catholic
only, but to the Protestant—•o all classes—to every
sect in the land. Emancipation was not merely the
ppredecessor, but the cause of Reform. Until the na-
tional mind had been diverted from the contentions it
produce's, it could not devote its combined energy to
this new question. Until men had gaited a Constitution
it was not to be expected they would think of its re-
form. Until new blood had hem poured into the State
it soas net likely it would be strong enough to throw off
th' uallady under which, in its very seat-of life, the re.
prcie/Aative system, it lay_oppressed. One organisation
i showed how others might be formed. We, Irishmen,
takullit England and Scotland how the Reform battle
might be won. Night after night, as day after day, I
I voted upon the two great discussions of that memor.
able Bill, and if neither has yet produced all the good
.a.ntieipate4, it is right to consider the other side of the
question also, and ask what would now be the condi-
tion of those countries, if neither had yet been passed.
'Fire delay in passing, the delay in working into opera-
tion what bad been passed—these are the flaws and
drawbacks, and neutralisers of the good intended ; the
apprehension of carrying too far the principle, these are
the obstacles to still further good, against which Liberal
I opinion has still to contend. In a reformed House of
Commons, was passed the great act for the annihilation
of slavery--the mosteglorious trophy which these coun-
tr es can claim, amongst the many over the enemies
of human civilization. It is noble to see a great people
doing this homage to virtue ; the expense was great,
the sacrifice large and prompt, but the victory achieved
worth all, and more than all, that even this richest of
all the countries of the earth could pay. It was not
aectarianism,laut religion, not franchise or privilege—
but in its purest sense, freedom. l thank God, I as•
sisted in that act of atonement. I helped to cast away
the stain—l have followed the many important measures
all the offspring of the same Reform principle—all deve-
lopments of the same impulse, carried with more or less
i energy into action. In all these instances I voted for
Ithe extension of popular rights, the consolidating of
popular institutions. I carnistly supported Municipal
ißeform, and the amendment of the Poor-law system,
the cheapening and improving the administration of jus-
lice, the widening the range of agricultural and com-
mercial industry, the raising the condition of the peo-
ple, in their physical, but especially in their moral and
owe Lel condition, and in mitigating, as far as in me lay,
als those causes of social or religious discord, with which
noth islands have so long remeined affected. But with
this general outline of my conduct and opinions you are
/
a!' zady acquainted. This is not the first time I have had
i .de satisfaction of addressing a Liberal constituency.
,em the first time I had the honour of sitting for the
ti eaty of Tipperary,'down to the present moment, I
i had no reservation upon either. I have been as
. e' e
1 . k with you as you with me, and the trust commit-
, .1 has been the reward of mutual confidence. It will
t • sore immediately, therefore, to the purpose to con-
-1 s., s myself to those particidstr questions and proceedings
ahich have engaged us during the recent Session, or
from the period I last met you on these husting,, and
which may be the subject of discussion or enactment
iits the ensuing. Colonial policy engaged the attention
I of Parliament a considerable portion of the Session.
' Jamaica and Canada formed the chief objects of legisla-
Linn. No man can be more opposed than lam to any
Infringement, even in forms, of solemn compacts between
elation and nation ; constitutions are worth little if they
n 1 merely for the convenience,sLthe stronger ; of all
injuries Whii,h Can he inflicted •ti. nation, the most
injurious event of itself, is a violation of the freedom of
another. But names are not things. The compact
between England and Jamaica, was not a compact be-
t,aeen tv,o co-oritiaate nations : it was rather a sort of
P. (rnissive constitution over which the laws of tha pa-
rapiount state if opP-esed, might easily ride—the liberty
r
of one stele oone period is not the liberty of another
—the liberty tif Spartae.us and Massaniello, was not the
ar hefty of Cato or of Wadlington The mode of action
a:ay have been injudicion-
but the mother state could
, •
cot permit that one of her
in so many interests, involving such unquestionable
' righta, securing Si) much, n
such well-merited
national glory, should he curtailed or rendered Mope-
. rative by the mere personal intere* of
community. The redemption of the slavesany class of her
had already
been quickened by the shortening of the period of
apprenticeship. The whole, weight of the national will
had been thrown into this great question of ema '
tier). There was no violation of a Constitution—theren'P a -
was no infringement of liberty. There was the redemp
people, even for the advantage of their former
masters. of a
masters. The Canada question was one of still higher
importance. Much as I lament the late and present
state of that colony, I cannot ascribe to the present
Adiuinistration, its existing disorganization. The hitter
fruits which we are now gathering are from the tree
planted by former mi4,soveroment. In their early phy_
sical and social condition lay elements of almost inevit-
able discord. Of different races, different religions, go-
verned from a distance, governed by men ignorant of
their habits, feelings, character, history, it required the
moat minute inquiry—the most patient attention—the
most impartial resolution, to correct these causes in their
outset, and repress the principle of revolution by the
. surest of all meanie the redress of grievances whilst
yet in the bud. If this has not been yet effectively
Idone by the present Ministw, they are not the men
who are first, to be blitneil. They gave large powers
ito an enlightened and energetic statesman, Lord
Durham, for these purposes ; if they were not exercised
e; had been anticipated, if even in the beginning
obstacles were thrown in the way, not to Lord Dur-

ham or to time who sent hittn was this maimed and
itnperfect result to be ascribed.—To legislate with
effect, we must legislate on facts, and facts are not
to be had without inquiry. The law, which it to be
found in the piece of parchment only, whioh we
send forth from Parliament, and not in the *envie-
tions and habits of those for whom we legislate, wi not
only be injurious, but insulting as well, as injurious.
An effective law must be the ratification only of the
general innate sense, we must first pass it in our minds
and convictions, before we take it from the Legisla-
ture. Such was the motive for delay till 1842—such
end seems to be proposed by some of the late ancestorial
changes. The East formed another item of our discus-
sions. The active measures taken in that quarter ap-
peared to some to be aggressions somewhat precipitate
—at all events uncalled for, 13lit there is a war of in-
trigue, as well as of open invasion. Russian influence, it
was feared, fought with the arms of Persia, and wounded
us through the side of our neighbours. We preferred
meeting rather than waiting to receive attack. The result,
too, justified the wisdom of this energy. Our foreign policy
has branched out into many most momentous questions.
It is not my intention to follow them, but I cannot how-
ever forbear noticing, in passing, the settling of the Bel-
gian question. To many the result may have appeared
not worth the labour. Not so, however, to any true
friend of freedom or social progress in Europe. Bel-
gium forms the pivot upon which the liberal cause must
rest in the North ; it unites France and Englaad with
the constitutional Germanic State!. It is the frontier
of limited Monarchies, and so far from allowing ingress
of despotic principles, it will gradually diffuse, by ex-
ample, a moderate liberalism through the contiguous
nations. Already there is advance in Prussia, contem-
plated changes in her jurisprudence and administration,
show that the tide flows from South to North. And if
these European advantages were nothing, could we
easily pass by the internal social improvement of that
country ?—(Hear, hear.) Any traveller who compares
her present with her past position, the free exercise of
her industry, intelligence, political opinions, at this
hour, with that forced Mezentian union which joined
without incorporating her with Holland, decreed by a
Congress, and carried into effect by the logic of the
sword, will find some data for measuring as he should,
the services rendered in these important negotiations by
the Foreign Secretary, to the interests of freedom and
civilization. If the rumours prevalent these days past
relative to Spain be equally correct, a not less remark-
able triumph has been achieved in that country for the
same righteous ends. A civil war is at all times the
greatest of social disasters, sundering class from class—em-
battling age against age—desolating the domestic hearth—
trampling on the altar—demoralising in mass the entire
community, and leaving even victory no triumphs—no
trophies. But this was a war more than civil ; a war
of more than mere physical destruction. It was a man
to man encounter for principles. It was whether
absolute or constitutional government should be the
future mode of existence, not of Spain only, but of the
Peninsula. Portugal must have followed where Spain
led. That war, if report speaks true, has been fought
out to the last—the hour of triumph has come, the
Christino's cause is in the ascendant, the policy of
Lord Palmerston has received its reward. The dis-
turbance of our Eastern relations, I trust, will be but
temporary. Danger is conquered where seen, and the
conviction that this is not a contest for a frontier,
nor the question of a mere internal insurrection,
but a question European in its broadest sense, has
already aroused the vigilance, and will combine the
sympathies of the Five Great Powers, in council at pre-
sent, and if necessary in action for general and per-
manent defence.—(Hear.) The Austrian Treaty of
Commerce is another of the merits of the Noble Lord
which it may not be inappropriate to advert to. It has
had the rare fortune of receiving and deserving the
praises of all parties, as well as of all classes, leading
to still greater benefits in a political than even in a mer-
cantile sense. But I have already detained you too
long on these foreign questions. I pass to more inter-
esting topics, to measures which have reference to our
domestic improvement. First in point of public inter-
est I believe I may rank the Ballot—(Hear, hear, and
cheers). You are already well aware I have voted for
it more than once—(Hear, and loud cheers). I shall
vote for it again, and in so doing- I act in accordance
with your opinions. It is an open question with the
Government. Much objection has been testified to the
theory of open questions. I doubt with any show of
reason. No Government can be found with, I will not
say, such complete identity of opinion, but with such
foreknowledge and sympathy on all questions which may
hereafter arise, as to preclude either occasional recur-
rence to such a course or to dissolution. Whether
such dissolutions when numerous, as on such prin-
ciples they necessarily must be, are advantageous
to the character of public men, or, which is of
still more moment, to the certainty and steadiness
of Government, ana the general progress of the Com-
monwealth, is a point I shall not stop to examine further
than by merely referring to the example of France,
whose catalogue of Ministries has become still more
proverbial than her series of Constitutions, and who,
from this very frequency of change, has done much to
injure the very principle upon which even the most de-
sirable changes are attempted.—( Hear, and cheers.) A
question new and complicated requires long and fre-
quent discussion, before it can get into, before it can
" interpenetrate" the public mind. In making it at once
a 'Government measure, and suddenly extemporising
legislation upon it, or vice versa, opposing it, before
discussion has taken place, laws may, indeed, be car-
ried or rejected abruptly, but public sympathy or ac-
quiescence is not thereby gained. This is some com-
pensation for the delay which I admit is incidental
to such a course. Nor is this theory :—all Govern-
ments, as well as this, have found it necessary to
adopt this course in practice. We have the precedent
of the Catholic question, amongst others, to guide
us. The Ballot question is an open question, it
is not the first, nor is it likely, whoever be our rulers,
that it will be the last. With regard to the question
itself, it admits of course of a great variety of opinions
both as to application and details. I am not convinced
that its operations is so necessary, or will be so efficient
in this country as in England. Public opinion is a
great counteracting force to individual intimidation.
The interference of the landlord, or at least the dis-
position to such interference, may here be as strong
as in England ; but there is arrayed against it the great
of
public opinion, not of sections, buta nation—(Hear
bear). The people of this country are many mil-
lions—they are of the same race, faith, politics,
thinking, and conduct, with few exceptions ; they
have been habituated by the Catholic question
to co-operation—the many, on great national questions,
are as one. Against this force, no private war-
fare can long endure—(Hear, hear). The nation, as'
well as the Duke of Newcastle, will do what they like
with their own. But lam not an Irishman, only, though
I may especially be an Irishman : I have to legislate
in a British Parliament for all—(Hear, hear). In Eng-
land the Ballot is in my mind essential. The Chandos
clause calls for it in the counties—in the towns, the
recognised system of political persecution adopted by
the aristocracy, is equally injurious. A tradesman,
or a shop-keeper, may bear one of those persecutions,
but that his whole life should be sacrifice on sacrifice
—a series of resistances and atonements to his cus-
tomers, is too much to hope or even wish for.—(Hear,
hear, and cheers.) The Ballot is- called un-English.
I know of nothing more un-English than to give rights
with one hand and to take them away with the other
—(Great cheering)—nothing more un-English than to
cheat with the forms of freedom—nothing more un-
English than to preach conscience, and to use every
effort for its violation.—(Loud cheers.) I do not ex-
pect all the results its supporters advance, as certain
consequences of the measure, but I expect many—and
the many I do expect, more than balance in my mind
those evils which now exist. True, it has not struck at
all the corruptions interwoven with the great constitu-
tions, but I see enough of good resulting in checking
these corruptions in France, in Belgium, in America—
( Hear, hear)—not to anticipate similar consequences
here.—(Hear, hear.) It was the Ballot which smote
a Ministry in France, which had long resisted popular
opinion ; it is the Ballot which goes far to
prevent - such Ministries in America. The Tory
himself, publicly opposed, is privately a friend to
the Ballot. As a Member of the Senate, he is its foe,
but as a member of a Club, Charity, public Institution
of any colour, he is the first to adopt it in self defence.
Another question of not less importance—to us per-
haps of greater—is Municipal Reform. I have voted
again and again in its favour. I advocated it, not in
reference to existing Corporations, not in reference to
what they were once intended for, or to what they
have since been perverted—but on the broad general
grounds—that local interest should be administered
through local representation, as general, through ge-
neral—that if no Corporations had yet existed in
these countries, for such objects, should they be in-1
stituted, and that where they do not exist yet
there still a free Constitution continues incomplete.
Nor have free countries only found the utility
of this organization. In no country in Europe,
with any pretensions to civilization, is such a system
wanting. It is found in Catholic and in Protes-
tant, in absolute and in constitutional, in Northern
and Southern States. Even Austrian Lombardy—even
Papal Rome—even despotic Denmark, have their as-
semblies, and councils, and municipalities, all repre-
sentative, all with the largest powers, all exercising
those powers, unshackled and uncontrolled. This
country only, out of all—because it is Ireland—
is
the secondary
Ireland—
because
oe
oboietd
oi
deprived
ey Craai
fhde o(tihl
the
tf
the(H e
chiefa h e a
stater ) —obfe hear)—because aht rese it is
hate empire,
of local good!)
selection of a Membereouot this first of all instruments
of elector is to be deemed compe-
tent to the exercise
heor tothebe considered as
the great duty of choice in the
of Parliament for the general
liongteicresist
what perverse inverted
selection of a Member of a Commonas incompetent for the
Council ? The
apprehensionseeks t
osa t
is
fy
itself
raisingo f
the
the democratc
ise influence
much surer guarantee had been already taken in tthae
system of voting by Wards.—(Hear, hear.) A Liberal
constituency voting in mass, and accustomed to

choose by large majorities, Liberal Members, would un-
doubtedly with almost as thuch ease, though the fran-
chise were much higher, be enabled to return a whole
Council of the same colour. But the case altogether
alters when we come to Wards. A Tory Ward has the
same number of representatites as a Liberal Ward.
The Council thus depends, in the most Liberal town
which can be imagined, on the proportion of Tory wards
to Liberal, and not on the gross proportion of the Libe-
ral electors to Tory. This marked difference seems to
have been kept out of view, not on one side only, but
on both sides of the House. Nor is this all—the pow-
ers proposed to be granted to those bodies are still very
limited. I was glad to find that a clause suggested and
moved by me three years ago, transferring the fiscal
powers of grand juries to municipal corporations, on
the obvious principle that representation should accom-
pany taxation, but which then did not pass, has been
engrafted on the late Bill. This was, in my mind, a
great improvement, but it is not enough. We all feel
the want of sufficient power for the widening of our
streets. Commissioners there are, but though with
large powers for valuing houses and planning improve-
menu, they have none adequate for the raising of assess-
ment to meet those charges. Either another body, or
such powers conferred upon the corporation as may
meet these wants, are essential. I should prefer the
latter ; two or three representative bodies in the same
town run some risk of clashing with each other, I was
desirous of extending these powers still farther. If
wide streets are of advantage to the health and enjoy-
ment of the inhabitants, not less, surely, are public
walks and gardens. Every city, I might almost say
every borough, on the Continent is provided with them ;
so, also, are they liberally supplied with literary and
scientific institutions, with museums, libraries, tec.—
( Hear, hear.) These ate not idle luxuries or su-
perfluous indulgences for the rich, but are mote or
less conducive to the well-being, mental or moral
(without which let no man long hope for physical), of
the poorest men in the community. These are matters
not left in any of the continental towns to mere casual
or temporary contributions, they arc not the creation
or property of any individual, but they arise out of their
common exertions and motley, and belong to the whole
town. They are provided for by public assessment,
levied through the Municipal Body. These powers I
wished to introduce into the Municipal Bill, and not
having succeeded, have embodied them in a distinct
Bill, applicable to England as well as Ireland.—(Hear,
hear.) But these and many other similar suggestions
require, in order to give them effect, your co-operation.
My exertions are feeble without yours—the voice with
which an individual speaks, and that of a community, is
very different. You should appoint a city improvement
committee, composed of different sects end classes, se-
lected impartially from the different localities. Any
memorial from such a body I shall feel it my duty to
attend to. On every other occasion I have given
evidence of my seal and anxiety to promote those local
improvements. I succeeded in having this city opened
to the East India trade—l have in every instance urged
the bettering the communications between ours and the
opposite coast ; I have endeavoured to have this port
appointed as a station for emigration ; and I have
not neglected any argument, both in and out of the
House, to obtain the extension of the railway line,
intended for the South, to Waterford.—(Hear, hear.)
On the ground of commercial importance, amount of
exports and imports, situation, and relation to England,
I cannot consider our claims in anywise inferior to
those of Limerick. I refer to those matters because,
in more than one instance, I have been subjected to va-
rious mistakes on several of these heads in the public
prints. The topics which still remain are few. None of
you can be inattentive observers of the Chartist disturb-
ances in England. No man can be more anxious than
I am to hear complaint and to meet grievance, not by
the rude corrective of the sword, but by prompt and
substantial redress. At the same time, for the sake of
our institutions, of the offenders themselves, of free-
dom, as well as of order, I am not less the foe to all
appeals to physical force. This is not an age in which
enlightenment can proceed from the glare of the mid-
night torch, or a free constitution can be founded or
maintained by the law of the bludgeon. If force be
good for one so is it equally for another. The pike may
go far to legitimatize the musket.—(Hear.) Thank God,
our country has stood aloof from this infatuation. We
sent out soldiers instead of calling for them. Our vic-
tories were of a different kind. With the sword of the
" word" we prevailed. We left behind on our march
to emancipation no burnings of cities, no wailings of
woman or children. We preached not liberty by
tyranny, nor regard for property by its destruction.
The Government has acted in this matter, as became
the Government of England. They left the movement
to its own consequences, they appealed to the
sober sense and orderly habits of her population,
well assured that in good season the appeal would be,
as it has been, answered. At the same time I awn far
from saying that there are not many points in our pre-
sent institutions which require correction. The fran-
chise assuredly is one. I anxiously look to the means
of its useful extension. Competency to exercise the
duty which devolves on the electors, is the true quali-
fication. In the present state of our social system, this
is not easy to be ascertained. We take a substitute
for a more direct measure, that is, the qualification of
property. Property is considered a test, in the absence
of any other, of intellectual moral capacity. But I should
try to give that intellectual and moral capacity itself.
In the sense, therefore, of furthering freedom as well
as all other social improvement, am I an ardent, and I
trust, not an unsuccessful advocate of education. It is
in vain to talk of states and constitutions unless we
have men, or of men, unless we have minds. Those
minds, if we cannot create, we can form—from
the forming of individual minds comes the forming
of the national. If it be the schoolmaster who makes
the school, it is the school which makes the na-
tion. This opinion, a few years ago net only
considered heterodox, but seldom considered at all, is
now universally recognised. In 1831 I could scarcely
find a seconder to my Bill for Irish Education.—(Cheers.)
I have lived to see that Bill in full and flourishing ope-
ration. The various motions which followed for the
establishing of a national system in England, till last
year met with scarcely any sympathy. Last year, for
the first time, I perceived dawnings of hope. The ad-
dress I then moved, for an Education Board and Schools
for Teachers, was rejected by a majority only of two.
This year it became a Government question—it is now
in operation. The debates on that great question were,
indeed, instructive. Party never appeared more undis-
guised. I thought I had most clearly explained myself
on the religious branch of the question. I know the
value—the necessity—of moral and religious above all
other instruction.—(Hear, hear.) I regard mere informa-
tion as a means, not an end.—(Hear, and loud cheers.)
I call not for knowledge, but wisdom—not for doctrine,
but deeds—good precept, but better conduct—en-
lightened, but, above all, better men.—(Tremendous
cheering.) I never proposed to exclude, what in my mind
was the principal object, but more effectually to coin.
bine. I wished that the religious teaching of each per.
suasion should be left to their respective pastors, bu
that in addition to this, not in exclusion of this, such
course of intellectual and industrious teaching should
be given as might really merit the name of education,
and be worthy of the support and guidance of the
State.—(Hear, and cheers.) To this, strange to say,
I found the very same statesman, to whose co-operation
the establishment of the system was owing in Ireland,
directly opposed. He objected to the plan—he ob-
jected to the mode of executing the plan, and yet he had
furnished the precedent for both. He feared the ad-
mission of Catholics into schools frequented by Protes-
tants—and yet insisted on these joint schools in Ireland
—if' there were danger to Protestant consciences where
Protestants were many and the Catholics few, how
much more danger in schools, where Catholics were many
and Protestants few. Protestant conscience is surely not
more precious or more flexible in England than it is in
Ireland. If it were a disregard of the fair claims to
joint legislation, on the part of the other branch of the
Legislature, to introduce the measures in the manner in
which it appeared before the Commons, I know not
how we can acquit the Noble Lord of a similar contempt
of the rights of the Peerage, where we find that not
only did he adopt such course, but adopted it in his
letter to the Duke of Leinster, without any discussion
such as recently took place—adopted it when discus-
sion was impossible when the House was no longer
sitting. The Noble Lord required no confutation
from the advocate! of the measure, it was sufficient to
oppose to Lord Stanley Mr. Stanley—to appeal from
his present to his former self. The measures of the
Government are in operation, and though small the
means at their disposal, and many the obstacles they
have to contend against, great principles have been
established, and by being honestly applied, the result
will not much longer be questioned. Education, in
one way or other, must henceforth advance ; it may be
trusted to the every-day extending experience of the
country—to the influence of the example of other na-
tions—to the self respect of a great people to a pro-
tecting Providence above. A few good—really good
schools—judicious reports, temperate conduct, and
'assistance cordial, hut also enlightened, and no
vexatiouc, or unnecessary interference—these are
arguments which, sooner or later, will have
their sway. Nor is the cause without allies in
other recent measures. All communication of mind
with mind, must advance education. Prejudice, divi-
sion, are only other names for ignorance, and ignor-
ance is the natural child of seclusion and separation.
A village may be a century behind the capital ; it may
be living in a bygone age, in habits, manners, opinioni,
whilst the capital is living solely in the present. No
wonder that between these two there can be little
sympathy, not more than between two different na-
tions. To bring them into one, to soften by approxi-
mating, to render more tolerant, by rendering more ex-
perienced, is the object of communication, whether by
road or letter. Who, then, a friend to national enlighten.
ment and national concord, but will hail with enthusiasm
the extension of the railway system, which is gradually
forming England into one great city. The adoption of
the New Postage Bill will give to writing all the facili-
ties of personal converse. Nor is this all, the extension
of both to the whole Continent is almost inevitable. No