The Sun.
London, England, 1836-03-29 00:00:00

'ILI) I al

LONDON,
TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 29, 1836.

The third reading of the Irish Corporation Reform
Bill passed the House of Commons last night by a'
majority of G 1 ; a majority which, great as it is,
would have been still greater, had it not been for the
unavoidable absence of several Hon. and Learned
Members, who have not yet returned from the cir-
The Tories, we apprehend, were far from an-
ticipating such a result, or they would scarcely have
insisted on such a rigid attendance on the part of their
supporters. They must have calculated at least on
the falling-oil' of ten from the majority on the second
reading, else wherefore such noisy boasting:—such a
parade of unquenchable perseverance—such a loudly
trumpeted determination to try the fortune of
another fight, as they have for the last few
days displayed, through the medium of their own
journals:? Not a few of these talked yesterday as
if victory were already within their grasp ; and
now-- scarcely twenty-four hours after they in-'
dulged in such premature swagger—their last chance
is past and gone ! But not only was the Tory defeat
last night one of numbers—it was a defeat also of in-
tellect. As numerical superiority was with the Minis,-
ters, so to an equal, or even greater degree, was argu-
mentative superiority. Not one rational plea had the
faction to urge in justification of their opposition to
the Irish Municipal Bill. That they disliked the
measure, was pretty nearly the sum total of all they
had to say about it. They talked; indeed, about the
difference between England and Ireland ; and how
what was a remedial potion to one country, was rank
poison to the other. Much, too, they prated about their
love of equal justice ; but as to descending to particu-
lars, or attempting to reply to the convincing details
of Mr. O'LOUGHLEN or Lord MORPETH, as
urged on the discussion of the second read-
ing, they wisely refrained from any perilous
attempt of the sort, contenting themselves instead with
ringing the changes on "No Popery." This was ac-
tually the Alpha and the Omega of all the Tory
speeches that were delivered last night. Messrs. SHAW
and BRUCE—Sir ROBT. PEEL, Sir ROBT. INGLIS,
and Sir W. FOLLETT—aII concluded as they com-
menced with "No Popery !" "No Popery" sup-
plied them alike with argument, abuse, and eloquence,
and truly, considering the inspiration, their efforts were
not so much amiss. Sir W. FOLLETT, in particular,
deserves the praise of ingenuity, though his speech
evinced, not the enlarged reasoning of the Statesman,
but the small logic of the clever lawyer. As for Sir
R. PEEL, the less said about him the better. Never
did he show to less advantage than in his reply to the
acute, eloquent, and luminous observations of Mr.
SHELL. His whole speech, from first to last,
was a • laboured effort to show his desire for con-
ceding " equal justice" to Ireland, and a still more
elaborate effort to show the utter impracticability of
such a concession. His usual petty acuteness seemed
wholly to desert him on this occasion. He had not
even one ingenious quibble to throw away—a hard case,
considering how much, as leader of the. Opposition, he
is in want of such assistance. Far better he had
grappled with Mr. SHEIL s arguments, than thrown
out sneers against his metaphors. But he found the
one an easier task than the other ; and accordingly
essayed the sarcastic, when he felt that the argumenta-
tive was beyond his reach. We look on the discus-
sion of last night as calculated beyond any other
that has taken place this Session, to fix Ministers
firmly in the confidence of the people, and at the same
time to shake the Tory fabric to its centre. How the
House of Lords will view it, we know not ; but if
they.have a particle of discretion left, they will take it
as a solemn warning, and refrain from offering any fu-
tile opposition to a measure which must ultimately
pass, in spite of them. Let them remember the Re-

cuits.