The Sun.
London, England, 1822-02-08 00:00:00

div •
'ffil°l) tad previously existed. And notwithstanding
ttee di
, individuals had -endeavoured . p
to dsh unanimity too
it.
far, still remained as the monument,- of his Majesty's pre-
Icer; and as an earnest of the. benefit , to which that presence
ne tee. -give rise in time to come. The great mass of the popu-
'4tr n was sound iii rte loyaltyand attachment to the laws but
Pie were driven to their destruction by distress. At present
the outrages were confined .to the ignorant and the uneducated,
!Ix' betrayed no symptoms of a religious or a political charac-
ter- If, however, the Parliament Auld hesitate in granting
PoWers for putting it dpwn at once, it might receive those so-
P4aring additions, and the whole country, educated as well as
!gnorant, might- be involved in it. He trusted that he had now
'aid the subject before the House, briefly but fully, and that in
!t? doing he had said nothing that could provoke unnecessary
ealcussion. If the House was disposed to ,grant these powers,
01.141.ee could not. e put into action too speedily. With that view
r the question p
ossibled press the passing of the Bills,- with as
!.Ittle delay as p His Right lion. Friend, who would.
be enabled to give the House more information than he possibly
.could, he meant the Chief Secretary, (Mr. Goulburn), had ar-
lived in town that day, from Ireland, and would shortly take his
hit in- the House. He should now move " That leave be
given to bring in a Bill fOr preventing 'outrage and disturb=
ante, and forputtine down rebellion in Ireland."
,e,Sir.J. NE isrPOST began by claiming the indulgence of the
'Veuse which he bad much more cause to ask than the Noble
Lord. 'However painful, also, might be the subject to the Noble
Lon; it was not less so to him. No one could 'have. a 'higher
°Pinion than he had of the spirit, talents, and ability of the
-Noble Lord, who was now appointed to the-Government of Ire-
land. It was to him most painful to admit the necessity of co-
t-felon to put down the existing disturbances ; but at the same
eeir.ne, it was SatisfactorO to him to know, that heat least had no
"nicipation in theoneasetres which produced thein. The blame
-°f, that must attach to his Majesty's -Ministers. To elucidate
!I's, he begged to move that, the Clerk should read a Motion
.r,▪ ;/11 theefeurnals of the House, dated June 17, 1817.—(The
"ark read 'the Motion,- which was one for an lequiry. into the
"-ate of Ireland.)—The Right Hen. Baronet -(in continuation)
"eid, that the Teller uon the negative of that motion was the
(Hear,
of State for the Home Departnient (Mr. Peeln—
a-feae, fleas !)—lf the proposed inquiries had been made at that
Period, the present measures hwould not now have been called
tor, for the existing evils would have been preventedese(Hear,
hear, hear!)—Hove then could the Government who nega-
„
red that proposition, come down to the .House, to ask for
Powers of such a description ,as those which should be
t!ranted ny, the' enactment o. these Bills ? He knew that Ire-
end now required coercive measures ; but he difinred from,
the Noble Lord as to the nature of those measures. The dis-
larbanceswere altogether unconnected with the Constitution, and
4's was not disposed to _give.theen any connection with it, by
-EusPendino its very spirit. In framing new measures, some
tensideration oiight to be had to the laws which were already in
existence. The Whiteboy Act did as much as the Insurrection
be itself would do :Ti' one respeco; for it rendered it penal to-
s out after sun-set, in the same manner as that Act did. Ife
.L`vits disposed to place a in the Maruis Wellesley,
eet there was nothing lino the dispatches whicqh expressed the
°Pinion of that Nobleman as to the necessity of the proposed
'°easurese. The Noble Lord -had misunderstood. him if he sup-
Posed him to desire the mixing up of coercive and conciliatory
'llettsures at the present period. He was unhappily convinced
that nothing but severity would bring back the people to their
duty , But instead of granting these measures and vesting such
Powers in the local Magistrates, he would increase the Military
_rower. - The papers a which the-House •werein possession,
cnntainedno statements upon which the. proposed measures ap-
peared to be necessary. The Insurrection Act provided, that
4°Y
-man found out of his house after sun-set, and before sun-
rise, under any pretext—any occupier of a house being found
absent from it at those periods,—auy.person proposing or .taking
°Dlawful-oaths, were liable. to transportation. And that not by
the verdict of a . Jury—Meer, hear,)—but by , the direction of
-Magistrates. It was impossible to say that such a law should
be placed upon the statute book, without the most press-
nO exigency being proved *co exist. The Noble Lord
had' informed them, that the Acts were only to be in
%Ave until the Ist of August. As to the suspension of
the Habeas Corpus Act, lie would ask the Noble Lord
When it had-been enforced without grounds very different from ,
those which existed in the present case ? Tile-Noble Lord had
tlepeecoted any-movements at this period- of those who sup-
Perted the Catholic Claims; Now, he being one of a party who
at elf tiiues had declared that, toe only true basis upon which
the tranquillity and happiness of Ireland could be established,
seas an equalization -of cavil rights amongst all classes of its peo-
PIC, he could not be expected to subscribe to the doctrine which
the Noble Lord had advanced.—(Hear, hear4—But let it not
be conceived that in the remotest degree he could countenance
the.conduct of those wretched men who were involving their
eeeantry in destruction. To do so would be doing the greatest
taiustice to himself and his friends. He did. not differ with the
„„
obl,e Lord upon the necessity of putting down these outrages;
lie differed with him asno the means of, doing so ;' he did not
differ with him as to the necessity of punishing the criminal,
./.,'"'"t he could not agree to the mode which he recommended.—
e wished them to be brought back terser full and due
obeAence to the laws, and that Ireland should receive her de-
servee share of the benefits, the protection, and the,blesaings of
• the British Constitution.
Mr: HUTCHINSON said there were was no Member of
that House more anxious to join Government_ in every consti-
tutional measure for.tranquillising Ireland than himself. No
nom felt more keenly than he did the painful situation in which
an Irish Gentleman was -placed at this crisis than he did;
'Yet lie was anxious as the Noble Marquis himself to afford
Protection-to the country, and would therefore explain his rea-
sons for the vote which he meant to give. 'He was fully aware
el the. outrages perpetrating in Ireland, and he felt the neces-
sity fer.putting them down, but-he cpuld not agree in the as-
sertion that the proposed measures would have that effect, or
Overeat all calculated to produce it. Bodies of banditti, even
-though amounting, to 4 or 5000 men, had invariably been dis-
ersed when opposed by a sufficient, yet comparatively small
ores. He would, therefore, contend that there was a certainty
eof being able to put down the rioters by the existing laws. The
stisurgentshed been always found contemptible when opposed
bit! a sufficient force. With respect to the suspension of the
abeas Corpus Act, would the Noble Lord state in what in-
// nee it had ever been carried into effect against such persons
xs those described in the papers now oa tee table?. Those
"lees gave great powers certainly,- but they gave not the power
to.da any good. He had repeatedly called- upon Ministers
within the last twenty years—fie would now' reiterate that call,
toe, redeem the pledge given to the Irish people by both the
earliaments of Great Britain and Ireland, at the period of
tll/25 Union—that pledge by which they bound themselves to
take into their consideration the state' of Ireland, with the
View to „put an end for ever 'to the causes of- their misfor-
tuties anti, complaints.—(ll-ear, hear.) . Mr.. Pitt had stated
the necessity for the early redemption' of this pledge, and in
that declaration the Noble Lordhimself had concurred. He did
Pet complain of the Parliament for not having conceded certain
teeasures ; but he complained that be never witnessed the di-
rectioh of the attention of Parliament to Ireland, but when it
wasehoeght necessary to enact strong measures. He had not
the honour of intimate acquaintance with the Nobleman now at
the head of the Irish Governmene; but be knew enough of him
t
character anticipate that he would effect every thing pos-
sible for the tranquillity and happiness of that country. He
svould'contend that the papers then on the table contained not
the slightest ground for supposing that that Noble person felt
that the proposed Acts were necessary.—(Hear, bear !)-The
arnt caused by the disturbances was felt only. in die West or
ootith-west of Ireland, and he' had no doubt that 4 or 5,000
troops would put down those disturbances in one month. He
!gam repeated, that none of the Union promises had been car-
'led into effect.—(Hear, heer.)—The Hen. Gentleman here
warmly condemned the avowed intention of the -Noble Lord to
attempt carrying the proposed Acts through all their stages
tag night. The Noble Lord seemed to think, that if he
armed the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland with force sufficient to
Pen down the present disturbances in that country, that per-
manent tranquillity would follow. ImpOssible ! frelandnever
can be quieted until the situation of the country is changeof—
ttitil the peasant feels he has an interest in the soil he cifitie
Yates.— Wear, hear.)—He knew there were amongstlrtsh land-
lords is generous and as noble feelings as aaiongst any others ;
but he luiew-that they had not fully considered the state of the
Peasantry.—(Hear, hear 4)-That state must be chahged ; the
tithe system, in particular, must be altered, before tranquillity
could be expected.--(Loud cheers.)— [Considerable noise in the
Gallery, at this period, prevented much Of what the Hon.
• entleanan said from being -heard.]—The state of the peasant
In Ireland is worse than in the most barbarous part of Europe;
and in this assertion he had the concurrence even of every
stranger who visited it—(Cheers) —and he would conclude by
:asking, why had not the proposed coercive mealcares been ac-
companied-by a statement of the grievances'of Ireland, ands of
the means of removing them ?—(Cheers.)
Lord MOUNT-CHARLES, in explanation of the vote he
meant to give, drew a distinction between. the Whiteboy Act
and the Insurrection Act. The former referred only to patties
assembled in arms, whilst the latter enabled elagistrates to pre-
lant such ;Assemblies. He believed it impossible foe all the mi.
!itary in the country to put down the present disturbances, un-
less the assembling of the insurgents could not be preventd.—
in hie capacities of a Grand Juror and a Magistrate he had re-
eeived information that there was a deep-laid plot subsisting in
Ireland, and a perfect understanding and correspondence be.
ween the, parties engaged in it ; he therefore considered there
w Some an absolute necessity for suspending the Habeas Corpus Act.
norne Honourable Gentlemen had asserted that the existing
lhe aws were full adequate to the pacifiCation of the country ; that
denied, and instanced the perpetration of a murder thievery day
after the terminetion of the sitting of the Special Commission in