The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-07 00:00:00

that there was no suffering or want in Ireland. It might
have been hoped that on this the first night of the session
the hon. gentleman would confine his remarks to the con-
tents of her Majesty's Speech, and not wander ;into ex-
traneous topics. He believed, however, that the great
majority of the people of Ireland, who well knew the real
state of the case, would not be inclined to attach too much
credit to the description of the hon. member as to the state
of things in the South. He was amazed at the view which
the hon. member had taken of the condition of the poor of
Ireland. He believed the hon. member had spoken in all
sincerity ; but he hoped the honourable member's mind
was not closed against conviction. He (Sir IL Peel)
did not, however, mean to deny that within the last
few months there had been great distress in Ireland.

It was truc the potato crop h ,c 1 failed, but there was
a superabundance of breadstuff's, and there were funds
sufficient for purchasing. No doubt that fuel was
scarce ; but he could not avoid paying his best testi-
mony to the conduct of the landlords in the West of
Ireland, who had acted in the true spirit of Christian
charity. (Hear, hear.) In almost every case the Govern-
ment had received counter statements to the effect that the
representations of anticipated famine were not well founded. •
(Hear, hear.) He admitted that in the cities of Limerick
and Cork the workhouses were full; but these were the
only places in which such was the case. No doubt that
state of things was truly lamentable, but while in England,
at the end of December, there were so many as 899,4 00 re-
ceiving out-door relief, in Ireland at that period there were
only 59,000 receiving relief. Taking the amount of the
population, one per cent. of the people were receiving relief
in Ireland, while in England and Wales it amounted to 4i
per cent. (Hear, hear.) He thought the hon. gentleman
who had addressed them had overstated the case, and he
was of opinion that those persons who had circulated ex-
treme opinions had signally failed in producing the effect
they intended. He knew of his own knowledge that nothing
was more distasteful to the people of Ireland than the erro-
neous statements of destitution which had been sent forth.
The people of Ireland were not now what they formerly
were. (Hear, hear.) The peasantry of Ireland were now as
capable of social improvement as any peasantry in the
world. (Hear, hear.) They were now beginning to place
confidence in their landlords. The latter were doing every-
thing to merit that confidence, and Lord Downshire, Lord
Fitzwilliam, Lord Palmerston, and others he could name,
had done more for the regeneration of Ireland by the im-
provements upon their estates than had ever been effected
before. (Hear, hear.) The relations between the landlord
and tenant were never in a more satisfactory state than at
present. In 1817 and other years were periods of great suf-
fering in Ireland, but that was not the case at present, al-
though it had been predicted that thousands would die of
starvation in Ireland as had been the case in 1846, but there
had been no such calamity to mourn over, notwithstanding
these predictions. The people of Ireland had learned a les•
son of self-reliance which they would not soon forget, and
which would be of the greatest advantage to the people of
Ireland hereafter. (Cheers.)

Mr. V. SCULLY said if there had been over. statements
on one side there had been wrong statements on the other.
The last harvest had been as bad a harvest as he ever re-
collected in Ireland, and fuel had been a total failure, in
consequence of the extremely wet season.

The motion for an Address in reply to the Speech from
the Throne was then agreed to, and a committee appointed
to draw it up.
The house then adjourned, at a quarter before eight
o'clock.

CO UN2 li 1 211111? X L 2 S.

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MANCHESTER-FEB. O.

At our market to-day there was a good attendance, but
business in both wheat and flour was dull. The former
was at a decline of is and the latter at 6d per sack and brl.
American wheat in limited request at ld to 2d per 1001 b
cheaper. Oats neglected, and oatmeal Gd per load below
last week's prices. Beans and Indian corn a quiet sale.