The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-20 00:00:00

n the community.—( Heat.) Their habits rendered them
Peculiarly averse to take refuge in the workhouse, and
?:.. • i - -
It was in tins ciass, s es..
But he was at a loss to imagine how any Government csuld
have prevented such a state of circumstances. He was (Jute
ready to bear his testimony to the exertions which had been
made by the landed proprietors and the clergymen of different
denominations, as far as their means would permit, to alleviate
the sufferings of the poor; at the same time he would take the
liberty of saying, that it was the duty of the landed proprie-
tors, and of the clergy, and of all persons of influence, not to
confine their exertions to individual charity, but to do ail they
could to prevent the existence of mischievous feeling.
He was sorry that the Member for Mayo was
not in his place. He was anxious to call
the attention of the House to a communication which had
only reached him that day, which would at once show the im-
peratids necessity of strenuous exertions being used to pre-
vent the people from being made the victims of delusion.
The Right Honourable Gentleman then read the following
extract : —l4 I understand that in this county of Mgt) an
organised combination exists, to discourage simultaneously the
cultivation of the soil. The people are informed, that if they
do so, they will compel the Government and Parliament to
maintain them."—( Hear, hear.) Now, he did think that be
had a right to call upon every person, whether they were
landowners or clergymen, to endeavour, by every means in
their power, to prevent such opinions being in-
stilled, and the people from being made the vic-
tims of such a delusion ; the consequences of which
would be,_ that the state of the county Mayo in the next
The
would be far worse than it wasEig the present moment.
The particulars of this movement we as follows :—‘
body of men amounting to about 200, some armed,; A largeraversed
the country, swearing al. whim they visited not to attempt to
cultivate the soil."—( Hear.) Should this system be carried out
to any extent, Mayo will be a perfect wilderness. When Ire •
land called, as she bad an undoubted right to call t pon them
for assistance, they had also a right to call upon the gentry to
co-operate with them, and prevent these poor people from pur-
suing a course of conduct which would lead to inevitable ca-
lamity. He would say one word in reference to a subject which
had been repeatedly adverted to during the course of the debate,
he meant the conduct of the landlords of Ireland, with .regard
to the exaction of their rents. He had watched with the most
intense anxiety the course adopted by them. He believed that
it was true that in parts of the country, especially in the north,
there had been a number of civil bill processes for rent due, but
these were seldom at the instance of the head landlord, but al-
most always at the suit of the middle man. He was afraid that
in some parts of the country a spirit was evinced which all
should regret, but speaking generally, he was bound to say,
that in his opinion the had exercised their rights with discre-
tion and liberality.--( ear, hear.) As regarded the cottier
tenants, their means of subsistence having wholly failed, by
reason of the potato failure, he was proud to say that the land-
owners of Ireland had behaved with the utmost generosity.
In the county of Cavan, matters had also progressed favourably.
he had before him the report of the assistant-barrister, Mr.
Murphy,
Made to
in answer to some inquiries. he (Mr.. Labouchere) had
The him as to the state of his county, it was as follows. :
last number of ejectors has decrease considerably within the
two or three years. In this session not one-half the number
of ejectments usually stied out have been so. On the whole,
the landed proprietcrs had acted with kindness and forbearance,
and he would place Lord Farnham at their head. With regard
to another class of tenants perfectly solvent, who, be it re-
membered, constituted a very considerable part of the tenantry
of Ireland, in his opinion, they were bound to make them pay
their rents, otherwise how could it be expected that . hey
Could contribute as they ought to the assistance of their
more destitute fellow-countrymen. He would not detain the
House at any great length. The element of bitterness had
been thrown into the discussion, but he hoped that it would
not draw them into a protracted debate.— ( Hear, hear.) With
respect to the request of the Member for Fermanagh, the
Government had considered what it was their duty to do, and
they found that they could not consent to it. Such was the im-
portance of the Irish business, that they could not postpone it.
Mr. JOHN O'CONNELL said that the state of Ireland
would not admit of much delay in discussion, but he thought
it was due to the Irish Members to say that the bitterness did
not originate with them ; and if they were driven by these
taunts from the consideration of the feeling which had been
manifested by all parties—a feeling which did honour to the
county —he could tell the Hon. Baronet the Member for
Marylebone, that any state charity which could be given to
them by the House did not equal—could not equal—nay, could
not approach the amount of which Ireland had been defrauded
by the iniquitous Act of Union.—( A laugh.) He knew that
there would be a laugh, but he was not there to make such an
assertion without be'ng ready to prove it. He would not then
detain the House, but ha would take an opportunity
to do so. And further, the repeal rent, in the
recent prosecution of the leaders of the Irish people, had
been found efficacious in securing justice to those whom the
Government of that day endeavoured to oppress and put down.
They had to wage a legal war against ail the power the
Government most unscrupulously employed, but the shillings
of the poor peasants defeated all the attempts which were then
made. He was not prepared to go into all the items then, but
this he would state, the rent had done much in disseminating
information among the people, and in securing them justice.
The Hon. Member had also attacked repeal as a phantom. It
might be such, but this he would say, that the present state of
Ireland, brought about by the Government that have ruled
that country, was a frightful reality. They had taken
away the Irish Parliament; they had oppressed and enslaved
the Irish people, and now this fearful retribution had over-
taken them. The most fearful destitution had overtaken Ire-
land, and they must rest assured they had not yet seen the end.
They would not only have to subscribe large sums of money,
but the distressed population would come over in thousands,
spreading pestilence among the people of this country ; and all
the attempts they might make would not prevent them from
coming. It was thus they would suffer for the wrongs they had
inflicted on Ireland. Let them read the statements of Lieute-
nant Caffin, contained in the papers of that morning, as a spe-
cimen of the condition of Ireland. That was from an Eng-
lishman, though daily the Irish Members were receiving much
worse accounts, bad as that was. He had thought it neces-
sary to make this explanation to the Honse after the attack
Which had been made by the Hon. Member for Marylebone,
Mr. H. GRATTAN remarked that the Hon. Member for
Marylebone had said a great deal about the subscriptions got
tip for Ireland in a manner derogatory to the people of that
country,lt
entH
peal that
have been better if he had remained
Re
renet, hanadd also
sa
My
emberhaatd t subscription
strong
r .Grattan) againstm
theus t
readlih.enaignistself
better than several in which the Hon.
a
electiogno, eeri been engaged. He recollected, some
time
an account of a subscription got up fur
name a
og purposes, in which that Hon. Member's own
ladies ppeared, and it seemed also that he had seduced four
conneeted with himself into subscribing to the same
Ir ish
neern--( Laughter ) Surely a subscription to liberate the
people was more praiseworthy and laudable than the
miserable one with which he (Sir B. Hall) had been con-
nected. Further, with regard to the repeal rent, he ( Mr.
Grattan), did make bold to say, that never, to his knowledge,
did he know of a single person with whom, he was connected
get a single penny of it. It was applied to advance the in-
terests of the people of Ireland; and this he knew, that ha
saw 25,000/, of it paid to defend the leaders of the Irish
people when the late Government attempted to crush the
by the State prosecutions.—( Hear, hear. The Honrn.
Member for Inverness (Mr. Bane) had talk) ed a good deal
in a former debate about the exertions of Lord Macdonald
and Macleod of Macleod in the isle of Sky. pended, it was stated, about 2.5,000/., but not a word They had ex
wa;
said as to whether or no it had been repaid. They had also
it appeared, adopted an economical system of cookery, but
that was nothing to what was proposed fur Ireland, as there
they proposed to cook out of nothing at all. They had
written from Ireland to send them over some of the best soup
receipts, and he had been supplied with some from the Reform
Club that were economical enough. So good, indeed, were they,
that in the event of the Noble Lord at the head of the Go-
vernment resigning he would suggest that Monsieur Soyer
should be made Prime Minister. —(Laughter. ) Let him
guard the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath of this fact.
But what was the case? Why, the whole of the money had
been plunged into the Caledonian Canal.—( Laughter.) There
Was 1,254,000/. given as & grant, not as a loan, but as s
grant, and then there was 306,0001. paid for repairs. Yes,
this was the answer to the Irish howl. Well did the
Ministry know that the best way to get into Scot-
land was, as in the ' time of the Stew arts, by
a bridge of gold, and they had built not less than a th,,trand
bridges in that country within the last few years.--( Hear,
boar.) He had always said that he would support the. Noble
Lord on‘principle, and he only deeply regretted that the Irish
Members had not supported him. He did regret this, and
that the unconstitutional threat—for such he should ever con-
sider it—had been held out of leaving the helm of Government.
He would not have said so much, but that this was in all pro-
bability the last opportunity which the Irish Alereb rs would
for some time have of saying a word on the affairs of Ireland.
What was the pitiful sum which had been granted between the
Ist January, 1846, and the first day of the next year, for the
relief of starving multitudes ? It was only 113,0001.,
out of the 53,000,000 of national income. Then a great cry
had been made against the Irish landlords, but how could they
help themselves, for he could state, that in one instance, a gen-
tleman who was entitled to 5,0001. for rent, could not get
1,700/. There were some Irish landlords who did not do their
duty, and he would tell them who they were. The absentee
proprietors of Queen's county derived a rental of '25 5781., and
the property of the resident proprietors was estimated at 4,530/.
Now, what was the relative amount of the subscriptions of
these two parties? Why, the subscriptions of those who
held 4,500/. of property, contributed 4591., while the con-
tribution of the absentees was only 2081. Such was the
contrast offered by those landlords, who did their duty and
those who did not. The Right Hon. Gentlemen the Secretary
for Ireland, had talked of intraucing 6901b5. of flax seed into
Ireland, but what probability was there that such a proceeding
would be of any benefit to a country where the people were
starving. The whole amount of the money granted for thee
relief of Ireland was 3,551,002/ ,
while all th money which
had been advanced under Mr.. Labouchere's letter wa
77,000/.; so that in fact, it bad turned out that the
psris)fPatje.
subscriptions far exceeded the amount of the
public -grants.
What then became of the acerbities of the Hon. Memberb Bath? What became of his taunts and his allegations against
the Irish Members ? Why it was evident that they were
alto
•
gether groundless, for no man ever came into court with a less
knowledge of his brief, no lawyer ever made out a worse eAse
than he bad done, and the consequence Was, as he deserved to
be on the present occasion, he was nonsuited. The
truth was, that this was a Divine visitation, and no
doubt they were justly punished for their offences, and
no acts of any set of men could have obviated it.
The same circumstances had occurred in 1800, when Mr.
Pitt had written his celebrated letter, when he ascribed
them to the visitation of Providerce, and Mr. Wilberforce had
expressed the same opinion. The people of Ireland were
s.tarving. and the Noble Lord had talked of opening depots for
"'Ws but what had been the case, as it had been shown by the
Hon. Member for Mayo, that between November and January
only ten depots had been opened, and the small sum of
146,000/. was all that had been spent in providing the pro-
visions for starving millions. With these observations he
should conclude the remarks which he had to make to the
Huse, and he did so with a sincere expression of his thanks
the patience and indulgence with which he had been
listened to by the House.
.HMr. ROEBUCK said that when he came down to the
ouse he had understood that there was a press of Lusiness be-
fore the House to-night, and he came down with the expectation
that that business was to carry forward certain Bills for the relief
tiof the Irish poor. When he came clown to the House, the
me Member fur Mayo (Mr. Dillon Browne) was stating a
thumber of cases of excessive suffering in his county. Then
_Toe Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Lefroy) did the same
g. Then some altercation followed, and then came the
;Ne of
tions of the Hon. Member for Meath (Mr. Grattati ),
of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Put te • v
told that the people of Ireland were strong, ad the' Ho'reejr eenre-
Cern" had begun by speaking about fire to show dies the
People of Ireland were in distress. But if the matter was not
tflebe regularly brought forward, it was a pity that the English
.I::::ntbreyrmsehnad been brought down to discuss tl e subject under
urn circumstances. He thought it was due to his oen
s and to their countrymen in Ireland, to disems
this subject with temper, and to bring it forward as fairly as he
could before the House. And in doing this, he thought
theret
was not one of them who did notmost
deeply lament the distressing circumstances which liad
occurred in Ireland ; nor was there one who had risen in his
place who had attempted to deny the existence of the distress,
or Who Would refuse tovote for any measure that might tend