The Sun.
London, England, 1837-02-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 137

Mr. Harvey should explain, I noes call upon you to hear that
Gentleman's explanation.—( Cheers. )
Mr. HARVEY expressed his unfeigned regret that any-
thing should have fallen from him calculated in the slightest
degree to impair the harmony of the meeting. At the same
time, however much gentlemen might have differed from him,
Cloy could not, after listening to the speech of the Hon.
Member for Bath, help saying that there was much in that
speech which ought to be noticed. Out of respect, however,
to the company he would not reply to that Hon. Gentleman's
observations. But while, on the one hand, he dictated to no
one, so, on the other, he would be dictated to by no one.—
(Cheers.) He had been a Member of Parliament ever since
1818, when the Hon. Member was in his teens—(Cheers and
hisses)—but the Hon. Mcmher had chosen to talk of things
of which he must be ignorant, for he said that when the
Hon. Member for Middlesex, during the last twenty years,
brought forward measures, there was not a man to speak
or to vote with him Now he would challenge the Hon. Mem-
ber for Bath to look over the divisions of the House since
1818, and point out any division or any measure supported
or originated by the Hon. Member for Middlesex in which
his name was not to he found.--( Loud cheers.) The Hon.
Member complained that on the first day of the Session he
(Mr. Harvey) had not come forward to support him. He was
not aware that because an Hon. Member chose to get up on
the first night of the Session and make a truly out-and-out
democratical speech, that therefore it was his (Mr. Harvey's)
bounden duty to get up and support him, and that if he did
not do so he was deserting his duty.—( Hear, hear.) The
Hon. Member made no motion on that occasion, and was it
necessary for him to get up and say to the Speaker—" Sir,
ditto, ditto, to all that the Hon. Gentleman has said."__
(Laughter and cheers.) He was a practical man ; and when-
ever the Hon. Member for Bath should embody his speech iu
a motion, he would endeavour to do justice to himself and his
constituents. Ile did not think it was a fit occasion to make
such a speech without moving an amendment, but he did not
censure it. He did not talk of the Hon. Member's sarcastic
tongue--he had not got one.—( Laughter.) He was talking
of the mild poetry with which he spoke, and the generous
sympathy which he displayed.—( Cheers and laughter.) But
this he would say, without running loose like the Hon. '
Member, that he should not! suffer any Member to get up
before an enlightened constituency like this, and denounce
him for not having stated the principles which regulated his
conduct in Parliament, although he was ready to escape them
out of Parliament.—(Cheers.) In conclusion, he begged to
say that he never intended to give offence to any one, but
thinking that they met there in the spirit of freedom, he con-
ceived that he was at liberty to speak freely what he felt, be-
lieving that he should be met in the same liberal spirit that
guided his own conduct.—(Cheers.)
Colonel THOMPSON then rose, amidst great applause, and
returned thanks. If he might be permitted to throw in the
oil to mix with the acid that had mingled with their present
feast, he should try to do it by dilating before the- meeting
upon the exceeding merits of the two individuals concerned,
and their claims upon the public affection.—(Cheers.) . They
might compare him perhaps to that shepherd in Virgil who
gave the prize to ;each of the contending parties, but lie
thought none of them could prove that he had not in this case
followed a good example.—(Cheers.) The Hon. and
,Glit-
lant Gentleman then passed some very flattering compliments
on Mr. Harvey and Mr. Roebuck, which were well received
by the company.
Mr. O'CONNELL rose, and was received by the company
standing and cheering for several minutes. He expressed his
deep gratitude for every proof that he received of that English
interest in the happiness of his wretched country.—(Cheers.)
He believed that the English would assist them; at all events,
they would assist themselves.—(Cheers.) It was the deepest
thought of his heart and the first aspiration of his mind to ob-
tain the co-operation of Englishmen in the cause of justice to
Ireland. They had formidable enemies to oppose, and trea-
cherous friends who interfered in their path. The greatest
gratification he had derives from his Parliamentary life was
that it had enabled him to call Mr. Wakley his personal
friend. Ho never knew a more true-hearted Englishman.
--(Cheers.) He never knew him flinch from one single prin-
ciple of a true Radical Reformer.—( Cheers.) Last night, when
Mr. Maclean talked of the canaille, Mr. Wakley told him
that the House of Commons would never be what it ought
to be until the intelligent working classes found a place
there—(Cheers)—and until the most precious of all property,
the property of human labour, was represented.—(Hear.)
Mr. Wakley was a man of discretion ; he was not a man who
when building a house began with the roof. Ho would so-
berly and quietly go down to the foundation first, and proceed
gradually till the building became the fit habitation for man.
To be sure it had been said, he believed by the ancient philo.
sopher iEsop, that there was once a grave consultation how
to subdue the feline tribe--vulgarly called cats.—(Loud
laughter.) These animals kept such racketting about some
rats, that they held a convention, when there rose up amongst
them an ancient staid rat, grave and grey, and partly bald—
( Laughter)—by age, and with very distinct enunciation said—
(Laughter)—`• I will tell you what to-do with these cats ; we
will bell the fellows, and whenever they come we shall be able
to hear them." So there was a general shout to bell the cats.—
( Laughter.) The only difficulty was how they were to do it.
—(Loud laughter and cheers.) " Ay, bell me the cat, to be
sure; I would be glad for you to do it. Stuff twenty-four
things into one Act of •Parliament : bell the Conservative cat,
Why, I think I have heard something of that kind proposed to-
night."—(Laughter.) It was said that to proceed gradually
was not the way the IrisleCatholics obtained their emancipa-
tion. Certainly it was not : but did they adopt the practice
suggested to-night? Did they turn upon any section of their
friends and say, " Oh 1 you vote occasionally with the Minis-
ters. The Ministers are against us upon this point, and there-
fore we will not allow you to vote for emancipation." If they
had followed that course, they would not have been emanci-
pated to the present day, nor have deserved to have been so.
He would not quarrel with the Whigs as long as they were
willing to carry on the war against the domination of the
Tories.—(Cheers.) Above all, he would never throw the
apple of discord into any meeting whatsoever.—(Tremendous
cheers.) If he had differed in opinion with his friend Mr.
Wakley, and had intended to pay him a compliment—while
upon political points he thought his friend to be grossly wrong
—he would have paid him the compliment to-morrow, when
he met his friend in the street, and would have stayed at home
to-day.—( Cheers.) That was his blundering way of doing
business.—(Cries of " Hear, hear," and cheers.) He was
not an advocate of the Whigs beyond what lie thought them to,
deserve. They were the allies of the Reformers, and went
with them to a certain extent. They kept out the Tories.
By-the-bye, the Hon. Member for Southwark, when he talked
of the measures before the House, had forgot that there was
such a country as Ireland at all. Suppose the Ministers re-
fused this triangular Bill which he propOsed, would lie have
the Reformers to oppose the Whigs ?—( Hear, hear.) Were
they to vote against the Ministers when the Ministers were
right? No man would say that. And when did the Refor-
mers ever vote with them when they were wrong ?—( Hear and
cheers.) Never : but as long as the Reformers think they are
right they will continue to vote for them.—(Cheers.) The
Hon. and Learned Member concluded a very long and rloquent
speech, of which we regret neither time nor space will per-
mit us to give even an outline, by declaring that he had
come to the meeting in the hope that they would cheer the
sentiment of justice to Ireland—( Loud cheers)—and in the
expectation that that cheer would not die away upon the idle.
ear of night, but that they would embody it in a wise and
permanent shape, in the form of petitions, to-morrow. He
came to caution them against allowing the 'Tories to come
into power, in the vain hope of better things; for if they gave
them power, what would become of justice to Ireland ? Let
that faction come into power, and the bench of justice, for
one generation more, would be.contaminated by partisanship;
and the hope of justice as to life and property, and political
advantages, would be lost for ever to Ireland.—( Cheers.)
Several other toasts were drunk,. and the conviviality of the
evening was continued to a late hour ; depressed, however, in
some degree by the lamented absence of the gentleman to
whose honour the festivities of the day were. dedicated.

The Marquis of Bath has been indisposed at Mivart's
Hotel, but his Lordship is note much better. The Duke and
Duchess of Buccleuch are expected to-pay their annual visit to_
the Marquis, in the course of the spring, at Loughlaat, Wilts.-
M. BURKE'S 1-11-STCMY'OOV THE LANDED
GENray.—Three volumes or•thls very -interesting and valua-
ble
work are now published; and °the concluding one will ap..;
pear in a short time, forming a most copious genealogical and
biographical' account of all the eminent families in the king-
dom, and upwards of 100,000 individuals connected with them.
This work will be found a valuable companion to the Peerage,
and an indispensable appendage to the library of every gentle.
man. We heartily. congratulate the author on the prospect of
the termination of his arduous undertaking.
THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE—TiIe servants of
the insurance companies have always used, and ever must use,
their own discretion, as to %‘ hether they will give their attend.
ance at any particular fire, or not. Instances of their refusal
have occurred, and they cannot be compelled to attend, or to
give any reason or explanation to the public for refusing; they
are amenable only to their employers, who are responsible to
no one. Fortunately, however, for the public safety, the in-
surance companies are as willing, as they are able, to render
every assistance in case of accident ; and it is important that
all persons, and especially the resilents in the towns and vil-
lages within twelve miles of London, should know, that in any
emergency from fire, the London Fire Establishment, as now
constituted, is not only ready, but even anxious to afford the
assistance of its powerful engines and experienced firemen, to
any extent which the nature of the danger may require. Nay,
further, a messenger arriving at the stations, with information
of the outbreak of an alarming fire, within the above dis-
tance round London, would be liberally rewarded, provided
he gave the alarm in sufficient time, to enable the engine to
arrive, so as to be of real service in checking the spread of the
conflagration. As much as half-a-guinea is frequently paid
by Mr. Braidwood, for an early call to a large and dangerous
fire, under such circumstances. The application would re-
ceive immediate attention, if made at any of the engine sta-
tions in the metropolis, but it is preferable that the call should
be carried forward to the principal station in Watling-street,
City. The engines, when so called, always carry an extra
supply of leather hose, and travel with four post-horses at their
utmost speed, and not a moment's time is suffered to be lost.
Relays of horses, sent out to meet the engines on such occa-
sions, afford a most valuable aid. This notice of the readiness
of the establishment to forward its men and engines appears
necessary, as some instances have occurred of large fires within
a few miles of the metropolis, of which no information was
given till too late to be of any real service. Thus, for instance,
upon the occasion of the recent fire at Belle-vue House,Wood-
ford-bridge, no intelligence reached the fire-offices till late in
the afternoon, when the building had been some hours a ruin,
and the fire had subsided from the complete exhaustion of all
poFfikiiitgc materials.—Kr. Baddleis Fire Report.-111e.
001010:# gagailiqf

SPIRIT OF kr II E PUBLIC JOURNALS

The motion of Sir W. Moleworth, for leave to introduce
a Bill for abolishing the property qualification for Members
of Parliament, was lost in the House of Commons ; the
numbers on the division being—

133
104

Against the motion
For • -
Majority 29
Another instance of the perniciou3 tenacity with which the
prkileged classes cling to every vestige of the rotten system
which tends to entrench them against a fair competition
with the growine• intelligence of general society. The
speeches of Sir W. Molcsworth, Mr. Leader, who seconded,
and Mr. Etvart, who supported the motion, will be found to
contain an array of facts, authorities, and arguments which
must strike irresistible conviction to the minds of all not
previously resolved to admit neither justice, truth, nor rea-
son into their consideration. It is a notorious fact that
many of the ablest statesmen who ever sat in the House of
Commons—Fox, Pitt, Burke, Sheridan, for example—were

admitted there on fictitious qualifications. Equally noto-
rious is it that one-half the Members of the House of Com-
mons, as Sir W. Molesworth stated, arc there in virtue of
fictitious qualifications. Of the numerous evasions of the
law, and the mode in which fictitious qualifications are ma-
nufactured, Sir William spoke as follows .--
" The law has been nearly inoperative as an exclusion.
Some few " conscientious" men have refused to enter the
House of Commons on a fraudulent qualification ; perhaps a
few men of considerable talent have been unable to obtain a
fictitious qualification ' • of the latter, there is known only one
instance ; but he would, if qualified, have repreSented one of
the largest towns in England. Of the number of the House
of Commons not legally qualified (the English borough and
city members) I have heard many persons and agents versed
in the election system variously speculate. It is generally be-
lieved that one-third at the least have no bona fide qualifica-
tion. On the eve of a dissolution of Parliament, dozens of
sham qualifications are made by solicitors, often drawn
and settled by counsel. One solicitor in London is known,
in " fashionable circles," as a gentleman who will " qua-
lify " any candidate "respectably" introduced to him, for
1001., including the stamps. But solicitors of the highest
station and unquestionable integrity do not scruple to
manufacture qualifications. It is generally a rent-charge
on land or freehold houses. Mr. —, a successful can
didate for a county in 1831, when his qualification was
demanded on the hustings,. is said boldly to have pulled out of
his pocket a rent charge on his noble brother's estate, exe-
cuted immediately before. I have prepared many of the same
waste paper and valueless documents. In 1830 a friend of
mine (worth 600,000/. in funded and personal property) was
negotiating for a western borough, in which a contest was cer-
-lam. Two days before. his leaving London, to see his consti-
tuents, or rather the burgage slaves of the borough-monger
he was negotiating with, he bethought himself that he had
qualification. I and' his solicitor forthwith in twelve hours
gave him one on a lot of old freehold houses. He did not
pass his check for the consideration; it was fictitious in that
respect. Probably in .this case the want of a qualification
wonld never have been suspected. Candidates on the hust-
ings notoriously swear to, and state ambiguously described
qualifications, and have shifted them . when lodged in the
House. • One well-known case of this species occurred in
a cinque port, since the passing of the Reform Bill. Many
sham qualifications are made after the returns, and before
Members take their seats, their consciences being
tender as to declaring themselves qualified on the latter
occasion. More of these interregum qualifications were made
previous to the vote for the present Speaker, than at any other
time. Many posthumous qualifications are, it is well known,
antedated ; but no honourable attorney will lend himself to
make an additional fraud, The usual mode is, for safety, to
pay in cash before two witnesses, the lender contriving to re-
turn the purchase-money immediately, and which is commonly
borrowed of a banker for two or three days. Also the parties
provide themselves with an actuary's valuation on the pur-
chaser's life, as giving a more actual character to the transac-
tion. Friends oten give promissory notes, for the qualifica-
tion, instead of the money. Usually the vendor holds pos-
session of the deed. In many cases the witnesses are sent
abroad, if a petition be presented. To be brief, and being
at the end of my paper, the law is a disgrace to the statute-
book, and ought to be burned by the common hangman."
Again, as the Hon. Mover, evincing at the same time the
ability of a statesman and philosopher, most truly and co-
gently urged—
" With regard to the qualification of property, it is certainly
no test of the intelligence or knowledge of an individual ; on the
contrary, the possession of considerable property is apt to tempt
an individual, by the pleasures and luxuries which it confers,
away from those laborious pursuits by which alone knowledge
can be obtained ; the ease with which most of the desires of a
rich man can be gratified' generally prevents his intelligence
being sharpened in .the same manner as it would be if he•
could not satisfy his wishes :with so little labour, to himself,
but were obliged'artrefulfy to search for the means of attain-
ing his ends. Thus the possession of considerable property is,
on the whole, unfavourable to the development of the mental
energies, and if property be taken as a test at all, it should,
when in considerable amount, rather be considered as a test of
.disqualification instead of the contrary. The qualification of
property is generally advocated on Abe grounds that a person
possessing a certain amount of property is said to havea greater
stake in the country, and that lie is less liable to be biased by
motives arising from his own pecuniary interests. As for the
greater stake in the country, the poorest men are more inter-
ested in good laws and good government than the richest—a
law which destroys the former merely injures the latter. The
poor are easily oppressed—the rich generally can take care of
themselves. It is intelligence which teaches the real value of
preserving the security of property, and of aiding the accu-
mulation of capital.—( Hear, hear.) The mere feeling of
clinging to property, which results from the possession of
property unaccompanied by intelligence, not unfrequently
endangers the security both of property and of capital. It is
intelligence, therefore, which is required, and of that pro-
perty is no test, as I have already shown. As for property
being a security for the honesty of any person, I most utterly
disbelieve it; undoubtedly a needy man is generally a disho-
nest man ; but neediness does not depend upon the amount of
a person's property, but upon the proportion between his de-
sires and his means•of gratifying them. Of this proportion
the possession of a certain amount of property is no test. It
is said that a poor man is more apt to sacrifice the interests
of the community for his own private interests than a rich
man. By no means ; for all men will sacrifice the interests
of the community to their own interests if there be a conflict
between those interests, and they can do so with impunity.
—( Hear, hear.) Now there is as often a conflict between
the interests of the rich and the interests of the community
as there is between those of the poor man and those of the
community. The one may sometimes desire power, and the
other money ; but all history proves that both generally de-
sire both, and that the only security in such cases is strict re-
sponsibility, enforced in the case of Members of Parliament by
the greatest publicity given to all their acts, and by frequent
elections."

Lord John Russell stated that he would have supported
the motion had the Hon. Baronet confined himself to
changing the nature of the property qualification, and not
aimed altogether at its abolition. But surely it would be
better to abolish the law altogether than continue it in a
modified form, under which the same trickery and evasion
might, and necessarily would, still obtain. The possession
of property gives in itself an influence and a power amply
sufficient without any addition from' the interference of the
law ; and whenever a man niltraiiiiproperty is elected as a
Parliamentary Representative, it may be taken as a deci-
sive proof that in the Minds of his constituents at least he
possesses faculties sufficient to counterbalance the defi-
ciency of such qaalification. The man without property

will never be elected in 'preference, to the man with pro-
perty, unless he possess some far superior claims to public
confidence„ .The
,watit preperty..is, in fact, a proof
that his other qualifications must be proportionably great,
or he wild., have no chance: against the 'Weight which
wealth. hears with it.
.The Clectdi.§ te, the franchise
ought at least be left- to 'the-exercise of their own judg-
ment, and their free .choice.should constitute the sole qua-
lification of their. Representative. , If they are to be con-
sidered incapable of judging, fur themselves, it would be

_ .
more open and fair to deprive them of the franchise at
once, than alloW them only a partial exercise of it, and
limit their election to a particular cla'sS—a class, too, which
certainly does not contain those of the community who are
capable of exercising the legislative functions with the most
intellectual ability. Even if the Ballot and Universal
Suffrage prevailed, there could not be a free exercise of
the elective franchise so long as the law recognized the
principle of a property qualification. As was clearly shown,
the law is at present so easily evaded as to be almost per-
fectly of ; and we are only surprised, Under the circum-
stances, that any opposition should have been offered to its
removal froin the Statute Book, where it sticks as a nui-
sance, seemingly for no other purpose than to give Mem-
hers the trouble ofavoiding it.--Aforning Advertiser.
'[lie observations wo have recently taken occasion to
make upon the. position and purpose of the three great
parties by which political power is now contested are re-
markably illustrated by the;circumstances of the debate and
division upon Sir 'W. Moksworth's motion on TueSday
evening. Sir WilliaM Molesworth sought leave to bring in
a Bill for the repeal of all statutes which require a pro-
perty qualification in Members of the House of Commons.
The object of Sir William Molesworth was one perfectly
in accordance with the general views and intentions of the
party to which he belongs. It was proposed to annihilate
the very slight security which the existing law confers
against the admission into the House of Commons of men
whose pecuniary necessities' expoSe them too strongly to
the temptations of political corruption. A debate ensued
in which many conspicuous individuals took part ; and a
division folloWed, in which the numbers were sufficiently
nearly .balanced ' to make us examine with much in-
terest the names on the one side and on the other.
Now, in the first place, what part (lid the party of
the Government play iu this little drama? Lord John
Russell, in his usual tone and temper, shuffled, prevari-
cated, equivocated. He confessed that the present laws
respecting the property qualification of Members required
revision ; but he had not the sincerity to explain with what
design or in what spirit lie would proceed to revise tlicm,
HO 4ociareci that he was pot repaTeci te yuto % lillel

diate abolition of the property qualification ; but he had not. I
I the courage to avow for what purposes, or to wh It extent,
it ought to be maintained. Ile announced that he should
oppose the mofon of the Hon. Baronet ; but he had not
the manliness to stigmatise it as obviously tending to
lower the respectability and impair the independence
of tote Lower House of Parliament. The timid and
ambiguous expressions of the Noble Lord produced
their effect upon the division. On a queition certainly of
considerable consequence in itself, and deriving additional
importance from the evident design with which it was
brought forward by a large and increasing party, it will
be found that scarcely twenty of his own political fol-
lowers attended the leader of the House of Commons into
the lobby. We had in all this as strong a confirmation as
we could desire Of all we have asserted as to the weakness
of the party of the Government in talent and in numbers.
The party of the Movement exhibited itself for the first
time in full operation of what its organ calls " the self-
reliance principle." Its orators spoke out. They fearlessly
defended doctrines to which none but the Members of
the Movement arc yet prepared to accede. They denied
broadly the efficacy of property as a test of either intelli

Bence or probity. They averred distinctly that, in their be-
lief, an insolvent debtor is a fit trustee for his country's
liberty. These opinions they advocated with little force
of rhetoric, but with considerable strength of numbers ;
and they supplied us with a convincing proof that
upon the first great Constitutional question which has
occupied the House in this Session the Ministers are dia-
metrically opposed to an overwhelming majority of those
by favour of whom they retain their offices and emolu-
ments. We turn with gratitude and pleasure to the eon-

duct of the Conservatives. Having found in the Govern-
ment reluctance to avow the right, in the Movement fear-
lessness to attempt the wrong, we mark with delight the
freedom from all considerations of person or party with
which the Conservatives supported the imbecility of Lord
John Russell and repelled the temerity of Sir William
Molesworth. Their sentiments were honestly expressed ;
their suffrages were independently given. They neither
desired to encourage revolutionary schemes, with the
Movement ; nor trembled to condemn revolutionary
schemes, with the Government. We are looking forward
to discussions upon other constitutional questions of equal or
of greater importance—the abbreviation of the duration of
Parliaments ; the extension of the suffrage ; the abolition
of the hereditary Peerage ; the ballot. If upon all these
questions we shall have debates and divisions such as those
we have recorded on Sir William Molesworth's motion,
with what face will Lord John Russell, assailed by his pro-
fessed friends, protected by his avowed opponents, pretend
to lead the House of Commons Post.
In the day-dreams of the Tories, in the visions of office
in which they delight, it is remarkable that the peaceable
government of Ireland is never contemplated. Sanguine
as they are, and imagining many vain things, they are not
so infatuated as to suppose for one moment that Ireland

could be ruled upon thew principles by any other means
than the sword. Wild and extravagant as their hopes are,
the peace of Ireland under Tory rway is beyond their

hopes. All else they can fancy. They can fancy them-
selves in place—they can fancy
,theNselves in a majority
of the House of Commons—they can fancy themselves in
the possession of every adviintage they desire ; but they
cannot fancy Ireland submissive 'to a Government formed
upon the principle of denying her justice, and holding her
unworthy of the privileges enjoyed by the people of Eng-
land and Scotland. The peace. of Ireland is beyond the
boldest flight of Tory imagination. The threatening aspect of
things in that quarter sets grim bounds to the fool's paradise
they conjure up on this side of St. George's Channel, and

a ehevau:r-de:fi ize of bayonets closes the -prospect in that
direction. The ever-industrious builders of castles in the

air, the day-dreamers at the Tory Clubs, in laying out
their plans of an Administration, have, with a view to the
state of things which they know would be produced in Ire-
land, appointed the Duke of Wellington Lord Lieutenant,
and Sir Henry Hardinge Secretary. The schemers feel
conscious that their principles of government involve the
necessity of the plan of a campaign in Ireland, and that
where the pacificatory policy of Lord Mulgrave has been
disturbed the military genius of the Great Captain must
inevitably be in requisition. As an organ of the party
frankly. stated some time ago, " the dust that is to be raised

is to be laid in blood." They would govern Ireland by the
sword ;abut two difficulties lie in the way of this consumma-
tion :-first, they have to get the sword ; and next, they have
to secure its obedience.- Their statesmanlike project is to
keep dowd ode-third of the empire by the other two-thirds ;
but have the schemers made themselves quite certain that
the supplies would be voted for an army to be employed in
the oppression of Ireland ? And if they are quite sure of
having the army, are; they equally sure of its subserviency
to such purposes ? Is it remembered that though the army
is officered in the most part by Tories, its ranks are for the
most part filled by " aliens in language, blood, and reli-
gion?" Is it forgotten that when the Great Captain con-
ceded the Catholic claims, in 1829, it was admitted, as a
reason for giving way, that the troops could not be re-
lied on, as their sympathies were with their Catholic coun-
trymen ? Are tl:a people of Ireland weaker now than they
were in 1829 ? Are they less united, less practised in orga-
nization, less forthidable in all the elements of power? On
the other hand, have the Tory resources, which would have
been available for the government of the sword in 1829,
been increased and strengthened within the last seven
years ? Is the legacy left to the party by Lord London-
derry unimpaired? Why its very name has been renounced
since that time as too odious to be borne. And where are

the rotten boroughs, the close corporations, and the other
props of misrule ? But for a moment let us do the people
of Great Britain the injustice of assuming that they would
give up Ireland to the sword, and suffer the greatest of all
calamities—civil war, only that the Tories might hold
office. In that most improbable, most incredible case, is it
conceivable that " the aliens in language, blood, and reli-
gion" clothed in his Majesty's uniform, would turn their
arms against the people—in all whose degradations they
must share—in all whose wrongs they must sym-
pathise ? The blood that spurts under the cat-o'-
nine-tails is the same blood that would follow the

thrust of the bayonet. The religion of two-thirds
or more of the soldiery, " alien " as ,it may be,
is the same as the religion of the people upon whom execu-
tion would be ordered. We hear much of the influence of
the priests, and, exaggerated as it is in Tory statements, it
is unquestionably great ; and is it to be imagined that the

red coat steels the breast against that influence ? And is it

conceivable that the CathOlie soldier would spill Catholic
blood, " alien" like his own, for Protestant ascendancy ?
What regiment would be called into the field in Ireland a

great part of which would not have every feeling in com-
mon with those against whom they were arrayed ? Tho
instruments of violence would, under such circumstances,
recoil against their employers, and mutiny would
quickly follow the attempts to put down a provoked
rebellion. This is not one of the cases in which

the Tories can resort to their favourite expedient of
exclusive dealing : there can be no shutting the Irish Ca-
tholics out of the army. The recruiting sergeant must,
perforce, look to thews and sinews, and not to creeds.
There can be no Protestant ascendancy in the ranks ; and
even for the safety of the Church Establishment the
musket cannot he taken from the hand of the Catholic.

The state of the soldier is not so en% iable that the ranks
could be filled without the " aliens in language, blood, and
religion." A regiment or two may be sent to an unhealthy
colony because it is too Irish to be trusted ; but the

'• alien" race must nevertheless be the main component of
the army. It may be said that the English soldiers might
be drafted off so as to make up complete corps for duty in
Ireland ; but if a sufficient force could be mustered in this
way (and it could not), is it to be supposed that the re-
giments of unmixed " aliens" in England would be quiet
while their brethren in Ireland were exposed to military
execution? The Tories are ready to provoke and to en-
counter a rebellion ; but we desire them only to look at
their instruments for such a work, and to ask themselves

whether they are.to be trusted ? Whether they are not
certain to be turned against those who should attempt to
put them to unnatural uses ? We say nothing of the wicked-
ness of boiling the party's porridge by the flames of civil
war, for any such arguments would be as words addressed
to the deaf adder ; we say nothing either of the overwhelm-
ing indignation that would be excited in England and Scot-
land by the cruelty and waste of attempting to govern
seven millions of people by the sword, for the Tories arc
infatuated enough to believe that there is a fund of bigotry
here to which blood at the great price of blood would not
be unacceptable. But we limit our question to this prac-
tical point, can any man out of Bedlam believe that the
Irish Catholic soldiery would, for Protestant ascendancy,
imbrue their hands in the blood of their brother " aliens ?"
—Morning Chronicle.

Sir William Molesworth's motion on
the qualification of
Members of Parliament, brought forward on Tuesday even-,
ing, was distinguished by three leading features—the spe-
cious pretence under which it was introduced by the Hon.
Radical ; the shuffling indecision in which it was met by
Lord John Russell; and the undefinable demeanour (at,
least undefinable during the sitting of Parliament) in which
certain of the O'Connellite Members thought proper to in-
dulge. It is really strange that so uncompromising a Ra-
dical as Sir William Molesworth is understood to be, should
not have boldly stated to the House that his motion was
just what Lord Francis Egerton designated it--a first step
to universal suffrage ; for, as was ,itistly said by the Noble
Member for. South Lancashire, if you abolish the qualifica-
tion of property in the case of the elected, the same rule
ought to be applied in the case of the elector, and there wt.
have universal suffrage. This was the true drift 01 Q. Q
,jir W.
Molesworth's motion ; and we. pereeive L.
significant hints that he had a fort,r. d . speech very
secon
shall,
object, a covert
kttacli au the inded 11:.°;uence.
410 1.1 improbable, We perhaps be to
for that the Cornish larenet Is him-