The Sun.
London, England, 1840-02-15 00:00:00

The S?EAKER then put the question.
Sir R. PEEL suggested that it would be advisable,
if the Noble Lord gave public notice when the Address
would be received, so that the House might go up with it
in a manner most respectful to her Majesty.—( Hear, bear.)
Lord J. RUSSELL had intended to move that the
address be carried up to her Majesty, and then to state that
he would take her Majesty's pleasure as to when she would
receive the Address, and inform the House of the time on
Monday.—(Hear, hear.)
The Address was then put, and agreed to.
CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS TO HIS
ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved, that after the Con-
gratulatory Address to her Majesty, that another to the
same effect should be presented to his Royal Highness
Prince Albert, congratulating him on his marriage with
her Majesty, and expressing the satisfaction of the House
at the event.—The Motion was agreed to.
Mr. WILLIAM DUNCOMBE wished to ask the
Noble Lord opposite if the name of his Royal Highness
Prince Albert would be inserted in the Liturgy.
Lord J. RUSSELL had no information to give the
House on that subject. •
CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS TO HER
ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUCHESS OF
KEN I'.
Lord J. RUSSELL said that he wished to make a
motion, of which he bad not given notice, but to which he
thought the House would have no objection in acceding.
He wished that the House should offer a Congratulatory
Address to her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent—
( Hear, hear)—on the marriage of her Majesty.—The Mo-
tion was agreed to.
On the motion of the Noble Lord, Lord Ashley, Lord
Seymour, Mr. Byng, Sir G. Clerk, and Sir William
Somerville, were selected to present the Address to
Prince Albert; and Earl Lincoln, Sir Thomas Acland,
Mr. Villiers Stuart, and Sir Matthew Wood, that to her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent.
MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS (IRELAND)
BILL.

Lord MORPETH moved the Order of the Day for
the second reading or this Bill.

Sir R. H. INGL IS, in rising to oppose the motion,
said he did not think it would be proper to waste the time
of the House by going over the objections he had so often
urged against similar measures —(" Hear, hear," from
Mr. O'Connell.) The Hon. and Learned Member had
himself, however, furnished special reasons why this Bill
should be rejected; for be had broken the terms of the
compact, if any there had been, in favour of such a Bill,
by agitating for an alteration of the tithe system
now existing, and for the transference of the
tithes to other parties than those now pos-
sessing them ; and the maintenance of the
tithes as now constituted was a fundamental article of that
compact. He (Sir R. Inglis) could not, moreover, help
asking if the English corporations had proved themselves
so beneficial that it would be benefiting Ireland to model
her corporotions on the same principle ?—( Hear, hear.)
It was not unnecessary to repeat on this occasion, or to do
more at least than repeat, that he had always held it was as
unjust to swamp and destroy ten or twenty existing corpc-
ration3 for alleged corruptions which might be remedied in
the Courts of Law, as it would be, for such a reason, to do
away with a single corporation. For these simple reasons
he now moved that the Bill be read a second time that day
six months.
Mr. LITTON seconded the motion. He bad before
stated that he should not object to any true and bona fide
reform of the Irish corporations, but he did strongly object
to a measure which he believed would have the effect of
transferring all the power, patronage, and in.
fluence in these institutions, now, he admitted,
in the hands of one party in religion and politics exclu-
sively, into the hands of another, and as exclusive, though
of the opposite party. He eppealed to the Noble Lord at
the head of the Government of Ireland in that House, and
who, to do him justice, always replied fairly and candidly
to whatever question was addressed to him. whether such
would not be the effect of the present measure. If the
Noble Lord admitted that to be so, then he would ask
whether it tans fair to introduce such a Bill, even if the
present was a measure brought before Parliament for the
first time? And even if it was now the opinion of
Parliament, that for the first time corporations should
be established, he would then ask whether Parlia-
ment, exercising a fair judgment, would agree to a
Bill whose principal element was to give power, pa-
tronage, and influence to one parte ? The Bill he consi-
dered unjost, and therefore he should. resist its adoption.
It gave influence and patronage to a class of persons who
were not entithed to expect any ; men who from their edu-
catien were notlikelv justly, usefully, or impartially to admi-
nister that patronage. A great outcry had been raised on
the other side about ascenelancy. The present Bill be
considered gave it all to one party. It was said that a
compact had been entered int...le that if the Government
gave a Tithe Bill, that then that siiee of the House should
agree to a Corporation Bill. If such A etompact bad been
entered into, be was the last man that eaoa:ld wish to have
it broken. Suppose it to be admitted tha: there had
been such a compact, what had been the condee't of Go-
vernment ? Had they acted in a fair and bona firm man-
ner respecting the Tithe Bill for Ireland ? He was)
satisfied with the Bill as it stood (Heat,
hear, hear.) But did they owe it to the Govern-
ment or the supposed compact ? No, but their own
exertions ; for to the last the Government were
determined to take from the incomes of the clergy 33 per
cent.; but he and those with whom he was proud to act on
almost all occasions defeated them, and pee the clergy
70 per cent. Besides, had not the Government stated,
and were they not prepared now, if they could bring the
people of England round to their own views, were they
not prepared to carry out the appropriation clause ?
( Hear, hear.) But suppose they had acted fairly with
respect to the B,il, and that there were such a compact
in existence, bed they not broken that compact by the two
Bills which they had introduced within the two last years,
or were they to be bound to take any Bill the Govern-
ment pleased? He would submit to his Hon. and re-
spected Friends, with whom it was a pleasure to him to
act—he would put it to them, first, whether the compact
existed at ail. Had not the Government broken through
it on several occasions, and that they were neither
in honour nor in justice bound by it —( Hear, hear.
The Bill, aecording to his view of it, was full of injustice
and infirmity ; and although it might be said that it could
be amended in Committee, he contended that it was not
the -language of common sense to vote for the second read-
ing of a measure in order to oppose it in Committee.
He regretted that in taking the present course he should
differ from many of the [lon. Members with whom it had
hitherto been his pride to act.
Mr. SHAW, without entering into the details of the
measure, would feel himself obliged to vote for the second
reading, and he did so on the grounds of consistency and
good faith.—( Hear, hear, from Sir R Peel.) He had
seen the good effects of the Tithe Bill in the improved
state of the Irish Established Church, and of society in
general in Ireland, and as the Irish Church was subjected
to the attacks of the Hon. and Learned Member for
Dublin, it was the more important for them to retain a law
by which they cculd successfully resist him. He begged
to ask what his Honourable Friends meant to do if the
present amendment was carried? Had they provided
themselves with any measure as a substitute ?—( Hear,
hear, and cheers.) His op;nion was that it was
neither desirable nor possible that the Irish corpora-
tions should be maintained in their present form.
This was no new question. They bad been discussing it
or the last tour years, and the only alternative which now
presented itself to his mind was to set, le the question ac-
cording to that principle which had been agreed upon by
both Houses of Parliament, otherwise it would be left in
its present unsettled and unsatisfactory state—a pestilen-
tial sore, inflaming the mind: of the violent of both par-
ties in Ireland, and a constant subject of angry discus-
sion iu that House, to tile exclusion of all practical legis-
lation. He might lose his popularity by this course, but
he felt be was only doing his duty. But he thought the
political importance of this measure was exaggerated a
great deal by both parties. For his own part he did think
that if those who were considered the Conservative party
would lay aside a great deal of that bitter resentment, and
set themselves fairly to assert that just influence which
their property, and intelligence, and character entitled
them to, that after a short time it would not be found
that that which was termed the Conservative inter-
eats would be overborne by those measures if
the Government consented to a bona fide 101. franchise—
(Hear, hear)—and so far from thinking that the present
condition of the corporations did any service to the cause,
his own sincere conviction was that it did that cause great
injury. He felt bound to call himself a member of the
Conservative party, and he did not think that party was
served by the present state of corporations in Ireland.—
( Hear, hear.) He apologised for having trespassed so
long on the House, and said he vote
for the second
would
reading, with a view to improve the Bill in Committee and
to amend some of the detals
. He do so as the lot. franchisehadnwcaosnethedeemd.ore ready to
Mr. Sergeant JACKSON would not give a silent vote
his
on this occasion. He felt, with
the House
and Learned
Friend, how important it was to have
question settled.
The Bill which bed passed through h
and afterwards came down, consderal4Haemeseendieed, 118r3o8m,
the Lords, would have been agreed to by the Government
but for that overpowering influence to whichnd
ethey too
often bowed.—( Loud cries of '• Hear, hear," a
The Bill of last year had been hurried through the House
s")
almost without discussion ; several of the clauses had been
thrown out by the other House, and it had been rejected
on the pretext that it infringed on the privileges of that
House. It never appeared to him that the Government
were sincere in their desire for the settlement of that quest-
on. The Noble Lord, in his opening speech en moving
leave to bring in this Bill, had told the House that it
was the intention of the Government to adopt the Bill
sent down by the other House of Parliament. It was
oeif yesterday that that Bill had been laid on the table,
enerefore it would be totally impossible for them to get the
opinions of persons on the other side the water as to its
details; and they would be obliged to discuss it without
consulting those most interested. He felt it his duty to