The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-25 00:00:00

Conservative benches) t you want to prevent improper
persons from being placed upon the registry, and that ybu
want to have voters of pr sporty and intelligence. We
all know what yeu mean by improper persons. You mean
those who are elected by th e people in spite of the aristo-
cracy ; end we know what you mean by prcperty and intel-
ligence —you mean the gem ry, whose abuse of every right
of property and of every poll tical power which they have
preserved, has been the caul e of all the sufferings of the
Irish people. "_—(Loud cheer%) Hewever bold they
might Le thought, he would not disguise his
thoughts upon this subject, be would not be led
away, as gentlemen on the other side cftca were,
by the threats which were used as to the Irish and
English gentry being ire the same boat. With all his love
of popular power and rights lie should be as loth as any
man to see the influence of the English gentry diminished ;
for with all its faults it had in the main honourably and
usefully exercised the rights of property and iedividual
power. But, admitting tl ,at there were many individual
exceptions, ho must say the it he could not admit that the
Irish
gentry had used their rights in the same way. He
viewed with horror many attempts which were made to
give back to the Irish t Tentry the same power which
they had before the Reform Act, and the Emancipation
Act, because he felt convinced that they would use
their power, as they always had done, to oppress
and degrade the great mass ,of their fellow countrymen.
—( Heir, ) It was for that reason that lie viewed
with horror' Ili 3 policy assumed by the N able Lord, be-
cause it seemed to him that if he was successful it would
re-establish the ascendancy of that party, ehich had been
kept down for the last six years. " And now," (said the
Hon. Gentleman, addressing -himself to tl:e Tory benches)
I want t) ask you one practical question. Suppose you
succeed in re-establishing that ascendancy party—suppose
you pass the Bill of the Noble Lori on your side of the
House, and reject that of the Noble Lord on this side,
and thereby give reason to suppose that you are deter-
mined to enter upon a course, the re ult of which will he
to re-establish the ascendancy party in Ireland, what
do you think will be the practical consequences ? It is
easy to pass one Bill and perfectly easy to reject the
other; and there is not the slightest difficulty in enforcing
any law which you may choose to make on this subject.
But do you think that there will be any moral weight in
your deciiion ? Do you think that in consequence of that
the Irish people will tamely give up what they have
gained by the hard and long struggle of the list 20 years ?
Do you suppose that there will be peace is Ireland until
the one Bill is repealed arid the other is passed. You
have a habit of thinking that all these things are settled by
divisions and elections, and that if you gain two or three
elections in the one case, and happen to have the balance
of influence upon your side on the other, yeu think that by
such means you can re-establish the ascendency
party in Ireland —( Hear.) I say that this is
not a question for votes, but for arms to decide—
and I tell you, before you come to such a decision, to look
not merely to the physical force and temper of the Irish
people, but to the circumstances and position of our
foreign relations—( Hear, hear)—which (continued the
Hon . Gentleman, with marked emphasis) you may find
to be very intimately connected with the question. —(Ex-
pressions of disapprobation from the Conservative
benches.) lam perfectly prepared for that disapprobation,
because I think that these are topics to which we should
allude with great caution.—( Hear, hear, from the Oppo-
sition benches.) But I think there are times in which it
would be perfectly childish not to allude to them—( Hear,
hear, from the Ministerial benches)—and I think that this
is one of those occasions, when every person, abroad or at
home, friend or foe, speaks of the alienation of Ireland as
a notorious fact—when our enemies build their hopes upon
it and our friends view it with alarm." He (Mr. Buller)
must retried the House that after all this was not the first
time that these considerations had been advanced in that
liouse.—( Ironical cries of " ficar,"from the Opposition.)
It was not the first that those consideretions had influenced
the legislation for that House. They must remember
that every great improvement which had been made in the
condition of the Irish people, had reoated from the ope-
ration of those considerations.—( Hear, hear.) How was
the fiat great step gained but by the armed and menacing
attitude of the Volunteers, and by the progress of the Ame-
rican war. When was the cl active franchise granted to Ire-
land? Under the influence of the first terrors of the
French Revolution. Above all, how was the Catholic
Emancipation wrung from the Legislature ? Why, it was.
not owing to any alteration in the temper of the House,
but it vial owing to the fear excited respecting the dispo-
sition of some of the Irish regiments, and to the armings
and trainings of some of the peasantry. He would ask
Hon. Gentlemen opposite if they could have a better case
than the history of the passing of the Catholic Emancipa-
tion Act, to show them the utter folly of gains at elections
and in divisions in that House ? On the general election
in 1e26 the "No Popery" cry was raised wish so much
effect that at the close of the election the Catholic
advocates found themselves in a minority, and yet two
years afterwards the Catholic Emancipation Act passed
the Legislature. He called upon the House to reflect
upon the possible consequences of rejecting this measure.
He did not wish to exaggerate. He spoke with perfect
calmness and perfect gravity. " And God knows," said
the Hon. Gentleman, " I should regret such a result as
much as any body." But they ought to look at the tem-
per of the Irish people. They ought to inquire whether
their physical force was less now than when they lest yielded
to it ; and those all, they ought to inquire whether that was
a moment when they could afford to alleviate their afflic-
tion% fic would ilea for a moment on one point which
he thought had not received the attention which it de-
served, namely, the entirely altered character of t' e Irish
people within the last forty years. The Irish people we.•e
not then the cowering, degraded, and disunited serfs:which
they :vele at the close of the last century. They could
net be goaded and driven as they were at that
period.—( Ilear, hear.) Thee, though they had
the same courage as now, they had no organized leader
who could direct fteir energies. Since that period the
Irish Catholics had become a people. They had been or-
ganized by tire most skilful and popular lc tilers that the
world had ever seen. And by the agency of the most
powerful priesthood in the world, and they had
Leen attended a ith constant and unmeasured success.
It had been made a matter of reproach to the Irish
Government that they bad admitted them to a share
of power. But he rejoiced in the circumstance.
All these things had tended to raise their character, and
they could no longer he oppressed with impunity The Hon.
Gentleman then proceeded to speak of the progress of
temperance among the Irish people, and argued that
it was a great don lopmert of their moral power. Ile
also referred to the power exercised over them by their
leader, and contended that this made them a formidable
body if oppressed. The oppression which they had so
longesuffered had raised in them a feeling of resentment,
and their causes of discontent were not countervailed by
any great love for the English people. Nor could they
be surprised that this was tee case. It was impossible to
deny that the English Government had oppressed Ireland
as much even as Tuekey had oppressed Greece. And
though a more liberal course had been pursued during the
I ist six years, there was sufficient in the language
used be a powerful party towards them to keep up the re-
membrance of their ancient wrongs. They were described
as savages and as aliens ; their representatives were de-
nounced, as perjurers; their religion as a grovelling and
mischievous idolatry; and the priesthood, whom they loved
and venerated, more perhaps than any people in the world
loved and venerated their priests, were described as sur-
piked ruffiens —( Hear, hear.) When he saw a party
using such language as that—s party that had never
willingly granted anything to the people of Ireland, which
bad always tupported every measure for coercing and dis-
franchising it—though he might regret he could not corn-
plai that that people had relaxed none of their
ancient resentment. What would be the result of re-es-
tablishing the old ascendancy party in that country ? Ho
did not allude to Irish insurrection, because be thought
there was no danger of that, at leasti during the life of the
Hon. and Learned Member far Dublin. The people of
Ireland had been taught by him the great secret of resist-
ance to Government. lie had taught them that the insur-
rection which was most effective in coercing a Government
was that which never broke out but was always to be ap-
prehended.—( Hear, hear.) This might bo novel phrase-
ology, but such was the fact. They had been accustomed
to permanent insurrection in Ireland, and they had
found for many years that it entailed upon the
Government ail the precautions—all the harrassing
anxieties and all the expense of civil war, without havieg
any pretext for treating the people as rebels. What will
be the consequence of the ascendancy party regaining the
ground which they had lost? " Why," said the Hoe.
Gentleman, " that all the -good that has been done for
the last six years would be undone, and that you (address-
ing the Conservative benches), epon a Conservative
principle, will succeed in re-establishing all the ancient
disorder, and insecurity, and terror in Ireland. You will
again have the sympathies of the whole population
arrayed upon the side of crime and the criminal, you will
have to preserve the peace of Ireland by double its present
garrison; you will have every form of opposition that pub-
lic opinion, public meetings, and petitions can bring to
bear upon you ; and you will have every popular institu-
tion brought to bear upon your unpopular Government.
And what course will you take in these circumstances ?
Why you must have recourseto a coercive Bill, and sup-
press every liberal institution, and every expression
of public opinion in that country.—( Hear, hear.)
He ought then to ask how it was that he touched upon
those topics? But lethim ask whether, in tire present state
of our foreign relations, they ought nut to use the utmost
caution ?--(Hear, hear.) He saw with feelings of the
utmost horror the indicatio▪
ns of rupture on every side.
France still assumed a posi▪
tion calculated to create feel-
ings of alarm ; and in America were to be found strong in-
dications of the same feelings which led to the late war.
He had a great dread—a deep horror of war, but the
warmest advocate of peace tisust look at the signs of the
times, and prepare for a contingency. Such a time was one
that called rather for conciliation towards the Irish people
—it was certainly a time when they ought at all events
not to exasperate them.—(Cheers.) They might want
the cordial support of that people ere long—(Hear, hear)
—and certainly it was not a proper time to excite their
feelings.—(Hear, hear.) lie was not supposing the con-
tingency of invasion—( Hear, hear)--he did not think
that was possible, and if it should happen he hoped a better
feeling would be found am tog the Irish than in former
times. But they might want their cordial support--upon
the Irish people they greatly depended for soldiers and
sailors.—( Cheers.) It would be bad policy i n them to
excite a feeling among the Irish people that might deprive
them of their services in the time of danger. He would not
have adverted to these topics had he not thought the dan-
ger was extreme. He thought it was right to look to
these considerations, and that it was a fair argument to bo
used upon such an occasion. They ought to have all the
feelings of the people on their side should war unfortu-
nately assail the country.—(Cheery.) He was not
wrong in dwelling on the advantages of union ; be was
g, not widening dissen-
sionsßut the policy of the Noble Lord
and the Gentlemen opposite would put Ireland in the list
conscious
amongth at
ourselves.t im e for healing,
of foreign and hostile nations.—(Cheers.) There was ono
thing to console them, which was that the Toryism of the
present day was characterised by very great timidity,
though, if again in power, there would be none sharper.
But if the House ...could judge of them by heir