The Sun.
London, England, 1836-05-20 00:00:00

coming the Members of this House, and
express the calm and deliberate sense ofo-
the Legislature. In the letters of a distinguish etod
tfhe
bestthcis alc
hul.raanteeii d to
of
f reigner, recently published, speaking in reference
occurred
between the two Houses of Parliament, the writer
events of the last year, and to the differences which
as a matter of curious observation, that the assemhoi
Yr‘eatest
recmcahrikesh,
was most popular in its constitution evinced the
of the
degree of calmness and temper, whilst that braanc
c elslt
traced
Legislature
less
temperance wh ic It - was of
conduct o
cf
o• an hereditary in its
p o
ub
is my wish, Sir, that if hereafter differences shou d_House
fortunately arise between this and the other ccioleicTiotgr,
same character should still attach to the
of Parliament, in respect to public measures,
proceedin-
gthat the
of this House, and that we may continue to
d
ur
t loose
serve that praise which the writer to whom I have alluded
has bestowed on us, not only from foreigners, but from
own countrymen.—(Cheers.) With respect to
amendments, I have not yet been able to read them all.
01_
am not sufficiently aware of their nature to say
far they do, or do not, preserve the principle embodied in
the Bill as it was forwarded from this House, or how far.
they are calculated to defeat the objects contemplated
so) by
that Bill. It would, however, be affectation in me to
that I am not sufficiently acquainted with the import of those_
alterations not to know that the Bill has been totally altered
in its nature, and that it is no longer what by its title it pro-
fessed to be when leaving this House, " a Bill for the rega°
lation of Municipal Corporations in towns in Ireland." From
what I can understand of the nature and character of thesi
amendments, the Bill, as now returned to us, may p
be designated an Act for the destruction, the annihilation,
and the total abolition of existing municipal Corporations
big reland. Having stated thus much as to my understandirl
of the alteration made in the Bill, I must say that when
shall have hereafter to propose this matter fer the coot
-
deration of this House, so far from seeking for any collision
I shall be ready, calmly and temperately to discuss th_ e
amendments introduced by the other House, and to'rnak
e
every concession consistent with the dignity of this branerl
roper
of the Legislature. If it were stated that the Munieilgn
franchise was not in every instance confided to precisely that
class which could exercise it most advantageously—if it were
said that the powers vested in the different municipal govern-
ments were too circumscribed in some cases, and too el"
tended in others, I would have been ready to discuss these
objections. On all such points I should have no objection to
come to a fair and reasonable compromise. But I trust the
House will do me the justice to suppose that I must remain
free from the imputation of being a participator in depriving
the people of Ireland altogether of municipal government,
and thereby inflicting on them a mark of distinction whic
cannot but be considered as a stigma and degradation.--
(Loud cheers.) It is our desire, as well as interest, to unite:
the laople of the sister kingdom in one common bond unit{
affection with the people of England. If six out of eigh
millions of the inhabitants of that country, differing in lan-
guage, differing in religion, were only anxious for an opPer."
tunity to shake off a government which they considered t.).*
rannical and oppressive, then perhaps I might be prepare
to deprive the people of Ireland altogether of free instit'a-
tions, and to look to the sword alone as the means of 04i11-
taining our empire. But having no such belief; entertain:
ing no such opinion, but wishing that the people of helm"'
should be firmly united' to this country, and convinced till
if they are treated—l will not say with indulgence, I wi.l
not say with kindness, I will not say with generosity, but
will say with justice—(Much cheering)—with that justice
with which Englishmen should be prepared, and I bell.v°,„
are prepared to treat their fellow subjects—(Hear)--in tit
spirit, in the spirit of the concession made in 1793, "
;„ spirit of the concession called Catholic Emancipation, an,
the spirit with which, since that date, the penal laws
been relaxed, I shall be ready to argue that unless you an"'
to go back and to change your policy altogether (whatever
may be our views with respect to some of the amendoontsi
and the particular hearing of certain of the provisios
the Bill), this House will not consent to deprive treinn"
altogether of the hope of municipal government.--(Cheers;
from all, sides.) If it should do so, this House would 111°,i
only be striking a blow at the union with Ireland, it wellA-
not merely be acting partially and unjustly on an 111;f
question, but it would be inflicting a wound on the spirit '
free government itself.—(Cheers.) We should be ilf;
Glaring that that discussion, that that debate, that that
vision of opinion which are the consequences and cone,ota,,r
tants of all free government, were no longer in the Englis'
House of Commons to be approved or even tolerated.---
Having thus, without going into an argument upon the esi
pecial provisions of these amendments, stated my view °
any plan, or of any change in the Bill which would go the
length of abolishing or destroying municipal government al
together in Ireland, I shall merely conclude by moving that
the Lord's Amendments be printed, and taken into consr
deration on a future day, which I shall presently name.
Sir G. SINCLAIR—The Protestants of this, empirl
and especially of Ireland, have great cause to be thinir.w
that there is another tribunal before which measures sentn
thither by this House are patiently sifted and carefully
examined. There is no public assembly at this moment je
the empire which enjoys a larger share of the confidence'
respect, and gratitude of the religious, moral, and intalligert
classes of the community, than the House of Lords.",.,
(Cheers, and some laughter.) That body is looked Llll.l
as the main bulwark of the national church, and the ch
barrier against revolutionary encroachment. The isT°P.
Lord tells us that he wishes these amendments to be cOO
sidered cautiously and dispassionately. I do not knn''
whether he has seen this day a letter from an Hon. Grel:,
tleman, lately a Member of this House ; but I beg leale„s
read an extract or two from it.—(Cries of " All," " 11"er
it all.") He says, " I wish to know whether the British
people are ready to submit in quiet and without rercTiv
strance to the irresponsible, and therefore despotic, Ole
rity of that assembly, or will they now join with me to raet.,
the Union real, by insisting, in a voice too distinct to
misunderstood, and too loud to be neglected, upon ant°,.yr
ganic change in that assembly, such as has become ant•
lutely necessary for the consolidation of a real union
tween both countries, and for the advancement of g°l3l
Government in each." Upon this point I agree 11113,
Mr. O'Connell.—(Hear, hear, hear.) I am quite COd.
vinced that what he is pleased to call justice to Irelbe
can never be accomplished without an organic change 1 ho.
House of Lords. There is not a single man there whia
will suffer himself to be controlled or intimidated Which
Majesty's Ministers, and it is luckily not an assentßYWi'ho
they have it in their power to dissolve.—(Cheers.) ctia
Hon. Gentleman to whom I have alluded told his enn-ie
tuents that it was his intention to give all the suprftder
his power to the present Government, and they have be
tified themselves with him ; therefore I shall be glad to
es
informed whether the sentiments I have just read meet
informed whether the sentiments I have just Lead the
with the concurrence of Ministers?—Laughter( from :ia
Ministerial benches.) I think I have a right to ask, te
what is more, a right to know. I call upon them to std 4,
whether they are prepared to force this measure
the other House of Parliament, by effecting an orge
change in that assembly, without which I am perfectly- cio:ity
vinced that the fortitude and intrepidity of that asseThje
can never be overcome. There are Members now win'ila
hearing, who last session said a good deal about a Rer,°_
of the House of Lords. They then gave certain ple_nos'
which they have never since redeemed. The Order-ba!,
, is now upon the table, pen and ink are within their rerua:P_
, and I shall be most happy to see any Hon. Gentle_
as:
enter a notice upon the subject ; out of doors they l"
constantly talked of it—from morning till night, and fig°,
night till morning—but here the question is passed ov
most cautious silence. The Order-book is nearer to his Ma
th roungii:
jesty's Attorney-General than to any other Men" the
and I should be glad to see a motion emanate fror.o
ttie,
Right Hon. Gentleman for making an organic change pees,„
House of Lords.—(Cheers and laughter.) In one resiPe_ll
it must be confessed that Ministers have shown vvon,nel4;
dexterity ; they have contrived to muzzle and manacle
Radicals—(Much laughter)—we now never hear one Isg."
, of their peculiar opinions, nor of their peculiar motionu_vo
, see an Hon. Gentleman opposite (we believe the t.1.11:.1,,,h
was to Mr. Wakley) who seems to have been struc.ke_;:o
a political paralysis ; his mouth has been drawn entitr I
one side—(Cheers)—and his tongue has refused on CL
charge its duty in complaining of superfluous patro !Es;
and denouncing Ministerial profusion.—(Laughter.)
state of things reminds me of what I once heard of rl_o7„,
Indian jugglers in this town. Those distinguished c
and allow them to twist and twine about their arms, 1, elin,
mpten
, jurors would take a whole basket full of boa constricitooLS:
, and even their necks, but if any byestander atte
Now Ministers, although no conjurors, havemanaged F touch them he was stung to the quick for erlo
tame the Radicals, and to make them twist and twine
bt,t
about their necks ; their embraces were quite pater
.1.„4.,
If other Dina-
nobody else could enjoy the same privilege. - . House
sters had brought in the very same measures,
.tpen
0,.
would never have heard the last of the op on
debate, at:45Cl
Radicals ; there would have been debate upon
e,L,t be
division upon division ; but when they were introdue
uiesee.°t"
dit
. present Ministers the Radicals remained perfectly
and the left wing of the Ministerial phalanx waseasuclobere fits
in
as the right. Accordingly they produced two the
the 11.15/1
particular—the Irish Municipal Reform Bill and
There its the
, long as the House of Lords remains as it is. loglater)
and
• Church Bill. Neither can become the law of the land 95
great safeguard of the constitution—(Cheers•
change," can we be deprived of that safegutard. r Trcnonsiateor
and never, without what Mr. O'Connell calls au 01:gateat
reason I shall resist such a change to the last, le 1. n
hero, me-„,:ti
)
the House of Lords the only barrier a
establishment of Popery in Ireland—Os
thecs,
I should be glad to know how Minister think
of Lords, which,
overpower the majority in the House . _of thore,
• tly to the s t
atis act.' n
highly to their credit, and greatly ha vi re.
the country,
who wish well to the institutions of .„,e a
P
fused to join in their revolutionary projects,
ga.in:ar,the C1,0111:-arle