The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-19 00:00:00

the State, to the individual, and to the community
en masse. It is this consideration which has
recently gained so many proselytes to the efforts now
made for the instruction and assistance of the juvenile
offenders—efforts which are substantially visible in
the elaborate reports on the subject transmitted by
the Prison Inspectors to the Right Hon. the Secretary
for the Home Department ; in the exertions respec-
tively made by ➢ir. HILL, the Recorder of Birming-
ham, and Mr. CHARLES PEA.RSON, the Solicitor to the
city of London; in the reiterated supplications of the
sufferers themselves, and especially in those admirable
establishments which have sprung up in different
quarters of the metropolis—the ragged schools and the
reformatory institutions.

Lord BROUGHAM, last evening, formally introduced
the matter to the attention of the Upper House, and
the Noble Lord did so with an emphasis and an
earnestness peculiarly in accordance with the fame
acquired by the labours of his illustrious youth. The
manner in which the question of the punishment of
juvenile offenders was laid before their Lordships was
such as to ensure its impartial consideration by the
Legislature. Both the respectability of the peti-
tioners, for whom L9rd BROUGHAM spoke so energe-
tically and feelingly, and the appalling nature of the
calculations contained in that petition, necessitate a
rigid scrutiny on the part of the legislators ; and,
beyond that, the eminence of the man who laid that
petition on the table of that Right Honourable
House, the eminence he has so justly acquired by
the devotion of his splendid abilities to the good of
the people and the dissemination of knowledge, ren-
dered that prayer for the vigilance and generosity of
the Legislature singularly forcible and effective.
For the arguments of the Noble Lord in favour of
some comprehensive reconsideration of the system at
present pursued with reference to criminals in this
country, we refer to our report of the Parliamentary
discussions. Those arguments•- would of themselves
be sufficient to testify the urgency of the case and
the extreme feasibility of the plan proposed for the
improvement of society, namely, the systematic educa-
tion of the class from which those juvenile offenders
proceed, and the gradual diminution of our prisons
and penitentiaries. At the same time Lord
BROUGHAM availed himself of the opportunity pre-
sented by the occasion of indignantly repudiating the
insinuations which have been continually levelled at
himself through certain indirect aspersions upon the
memorable Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge, which arose and flourished under his
Lordship's auspices. " While I am," said the Noble
Lord, " as is well known, the warm friend of educa-
tion, there is no inconsistency in my saying that
unless education have a moral and religious direction,
it is to me a matter of considerable doubt
whether to be able merely to read is not productive
of more harm than good 1" The combination of
moral and miscellaneous tuition is what is especially
advocated by Lord BROUGHAM and all the other la-
bourers in that vineyard of charity. Having now
been immediately introduced to the notice of the
Upper House of Parliament, and introduced, more-
over, by Lord BROUGHAM, we are sanguine that the
salutary interest felt towards the juvenile offenders in
the realm may not subside until their condition has
been materially ameliorated.

The Galway election now absorbs all the attention
that can be spared from the heart-rending scenes
of misery and destitution which are daily occurring
in Ireland. The candidates are nearly neck and
neck, the last authentic account of the position of
the parties at the close of the second day (Monday),
showing a majority of five for the Government
candidate, the numbers on the gross poll being—
For the SOLICITOR-GENERAL 4BO
For Mr. OTLAHERTY 475

showing that no less than 955 had polled during the
two first days, out of a constituency of little more
than 1,200. The election will, however, probably be
protracted to the utmost limit permitted by the law ;
which, in Ireland, strange to say, considers five days'
polling as necessary to enable even the smallest con-
stituencies
to declare their sentiments, while in
England it has been found that a far greater number
of electors can give their votes in a single day, and
that the locality can be spared from the bustle, con-
fusion, and all the demoralising influences made use
of during the continuance of a contest for its repre-
sentation. *Vhatjust reason can be assigned for this
difference? If the beneficial effect of the shortening
the period allowed for bringing the electors to the
poll in England is universally admitted, which we
believe to be the case, why should not its advantages
be extended to Ireland also, where the popular pas-
sions are more easily excited, where bribery and
corruption, rioting and disturbance, falsehoods and
forgeries, improper and undue interference with,
personal violence to, and even kidnapping of, •voters,
are' habitually resorted to for the purpose of altering
the result ? In that country there would be a far
greater necessity for such a change, which would go
far to preserve the peace of the districts, and to make
the return a legitimate one, duly representing the
wishes and feelings of the majority of the electors.
Whatever may be the result of the present contest,
we sincerely trust that the attentim of the Legisla-
ture may be directed to the evil, and that the mode of
conducting contested elections in Ireland may,
during the present session, be assimilated to that now
in force in England. Should this be the case, the
whole of that kingdom will be preserved from scenes
of disturbance and outrage that will otherwise most
certainly take place during the next general elec-
tion, the period for which cannot be long post-

poned.
If ever there was a. time when all classes
and all parties should have been unanimous
in favour of any candidate brought forward under the
Ministerial auspices, one of the law officers of the
Crown in Ireland, whose especial duty it would be to
bring forward and conduct through Parliament the
various measures necessary for facilitating the sale of
encumbered estates, for improving the law of land-
lord and tenant, and the various other subjects that
have already been decided on, or stated to be under
the consideration of the Government with respect to
that country—it is the present. 'All parties appear
to have acknowledged the anxious desire of the Go-
vernment for the present relief and assistance, and
the ultimate amelioration and regeneration of Ire-
land, the vast importance of the numerous and
complicated enactments that must be pa,sed through
the Senate, and the absolute necessity that a person,
thoroughly acquainted with the present state of the law,
and the changes and alterations therein, which may
be rendered necessary to meet the exigencies of the
country, and to effectuate the intentions of the Le-
gislature, should have a seat in the House of Com-
mons. But it is not merely his official rank or sta-
tion, or his connexion with the Government, that
constitute
ptrhoef e claims
tohfe
gMionoNaor
the.
grAeantatziiviae
joo.f
rity of its inhabitants, he has ever maintained the
highest character for ability and integrity. From
the time when he terminated his collegiate career, by
gaining the highest university honour obtainable by
a Roman Catholic—the science gold medal, he distil).
guished himself on every occasion that presented
itself. To such a man opportunities were not long
wanting ; he started into almost immediate practice
as a barrister, and won golden opinions from all who
happened to be in any degree connected with him.
To a sound, thorough, and practical knowledge of his
profession in all its details, he added the most un-
wearied industry and anxious desire for the interests
of his clients, but that zeal never betrayed him
into the slightest deception ; his acknowledged good
faith commanded the respect, while his courtesy and
good temper, his admirable manner, gained him the
good-will, not merely of the court, but of all who
were in any degree connected with him: while the
young barrister ever rejoiced to see the name of
MONAHAN associated with his own on the brief, as
he was then sure of the kindest attention from his
leader, and that he would obtain all the cre-
dit to which he was fairly entitled in the con-
duct of the case. It is not surprising,
therefore, that such a man should have
attained the highest degree of popularity in every
quarter ; and polities apart, there is scarcely a perion
who could come forward in any part of Ireland with
a greater prospect of a favourable reception, and yet
we find that in his native county he is pressed to the
utmost by a man comparatively unknown, who pos-

sibly may be a respectable county gentleman, but
who certainly possesses no such claims as those of
Mr. Moruauri to the suffrages of the people. This