The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-26 00:00:00

AIORNI NG ED ITI ON.

isspence. had the franchise as a burgess; but because a man
bad the misfortune to he born in Ireland, he must be an oc-
cupant to the value of 101. before he obtained the like right.
.ihDid they think that all these things did not rankle in the
neacrtts. of the Irish people? Let there not lay the flattering
44:t u ion
Ito their souls; for they thought both deeply and indig..
orer these matters. What fell from the Learned Re-
er only t~•unicipal Bill, Session ? He stated, in the debate on the
that
" the -"Doer-law came into useful opera-
!ten—at all events, it would suply a safe criterion for the
basis of the franchise." Wh did he not whisper to the
Noble Lord, when hem the)
endment, that the law was was a safe criterie4
might have been rise to him,
intoposs Afcr basis of the franchise? It
fallingand have saved him from
error. Again, they complained of the abolition
iefitiheAtisga,inran chise. It had been often said that was a compact
• zotnarslem•pa, torn. 3:le disdainfully denied that—they obtatetd
Yoshio:RA any compromise. The Learned Mace.
hr ,„s Lefroy), and the Learned Sergeant (Jackson),
bad r cad part of the evidence given by hirn, and they 'lls it appear as if that evidence had been given in the
4„,,5ea1,0f di &nen ipstion. They had both mtrsepresented him,
c".4ar" ad carefully abstained from citing the. paee. He said,
fa, Y, because in the first answer fir: House would have
snd that he said there were two species of 40s. franchise—
's,'" in perpetuity, as in England, and no man would have
'nought of touching it.—(Heas hear.) Then there was
the derivative franchise, any, he stated that the master
of the o
Orange Lodge ia t;ork, a respectable man,
could bring 600 Catholic voters led by amost tholiectac Ca M agistrate,
tht vote just as he pleased. But that was in 1825. It was said
at they were disfranchised not for their religion but for their
eepn..denee on their landlords. No:hing coutd be more eon-
tra-y to the fact. They were disfranchised because they were
Ca're drholles, and. because they were independent. In 18•25 they
weiven an liks live stoc totbe hustings ; but a great change
°ntr Place since 1825. In that year they came over in the timet.;
r" r°3l` erity Robinson, as Cohbett had so well named him, at the
de
rinen they were sending 16,000,000 of capital to the An-
ths seek for employment. They came and carried the Bill
tir'Jugh that House ; but it was ignominiously thrown out in
eHouse of Lords. Did they think the people of Ireland were
dead to all feeling ? What was the consequence? The 40s.
freeholders of Ireland took up the quarrel. Dawson was re-
turned for Louth against all the power of the Fosters ; in 1826
Villiers Stuart was returned for Waterford against the united
strenzth of ClareresfordslB2B the noble 40s. free-
holders of returned himself to that House. It
was the 40s. freeholders, by their independence, that won
tmaneination. and it was followed by their extinction, and yet
'the Noble Lord had come out upon him (he was a bold man,
to be sure). The Noble Lord pi esusned to state that it was
accoont tf their dependence the:, they were suppressed, and
not 0h account of their religion. He was astonished that any
/*an occupying the station of the Noble Lord should forget so '
completely every fact of the ease. The House would recollect
63 Catholic NoSlemesn and gentlemen, quite as high vrd ""riourable as the Lear.ied Recorder who hail stated that they
'ere not the very wealthiest-63 of 'them came to London to
.b,"tcl the progress of the BM, and the moment the Bill was in-
bet heed to disfranchise the 40s. freeholders a meeting was
di: at the Thatched House Tavern, and he (Mr. O'Connell)
' up a petition, praying the House, if they were only to be
I.._Jkancipated on the terms of dis ranehising the 40s. freeholders,
g"' reject the Bill rather than disfranchise them.—( Hear,
surprised, therefore, at the mistakes that were
"atie by Hen. Memhers, and, above all, by the Noble Lord the
Member for North Lancashire, who knew well that if they
were Protestants asid dependent they would be reiained, but
that, being CatheAes, and independent the were disfranchised,
and that was ulled a settlement of the, question. It was such
a settlement as Gil Blas was offered in the cave, when he we.,
Isked, "What will you give me if I give you your own ?"
tJustice and humanity were in favour of 40s. freeholds, and the
hote°Ple of Ireland felt that in their disfranchisement they had
een outreged and insulted. In England the Reform Bill did
act pon the the franchise as they had supposed. It was
ceatendisig it in their corporate towns, and extending it
;fls° 17, counties, and why had they not granted the same
eas'sre of justice in the Irish Reform Bill ? Because the
"amf spirit prevailed then as prevailed at present. He (Mr. O'C. )
taetr3mpanied by Lieutenant Newport, waited upon the Secre-
skar Y of State for the Home Department (Lord Althorp), and
'4O 'y left him with a strong impression that the Irish franchise
,Eirm old be extended. He would do him the justice to say that
did not commit himself. They returned to those who had
de:legated them, and so strongly were they impressed with the
*Pinion that the Noble Lord was with them that they reported
11/1)e Ivorble Lord was with them. But the Noble Lord the
1,1 I,e,trdser for North Lancashire, who brought in his Registration
Extinction Bill--took care to secure Lord Althorp. hey were sent for to a second interview, and they found tt ere the Noble Lord opposite and the Noble Lord
sstb e Secretary for the Colonies. They. were not en-
rated, but they were prevented from urging their claims
en-
rated, by the interference of that Noble Lord.
" ey left discomfited and defeated, and in spite of all their best
'lea rvou s the 40s. freeholders were disfranchised.—(Ro
pier,
‘a s
--sr• Wiere they not refusing the people of Ireland a pror
form Bill now ? He had learned from one of the ablest
1141, and one of the most pleasing speakers that ever addressed
)1d olic assembly,
the Hon. and Learned Member for Exeter, . it seemed to him somewhat extraordinary that they should
Zefit t° sweep assay all the 101. franchises. But the Hon. and
,01 Meml',er did not seem to recollect that if they had a
t°Pe.rtY they must he worth a 51. rate. They had strug-
ss th ram for their rights and privileges, and for an equal
Tote of rep. resentation with England. It was what they
1;4 trued now. He had claimed it last year, and was opposed
taY., the Noble Lord (Morpeth), who had been very properly
Inunted with resisting it then, and yielding it now.—( Hear,
hear. ) But had the opposite party now yielded it? If
le Noble Lord had used a bad argument last year, and found
fiat the tinse was come now, the Noble Lord having apparently
Zade case fur a registration Bill which bad been carried by
fQ,,fhti;.illY,tic majorities, the Irish people had now obtained that
it ,ay that the Bill for extending the franchise and making
hiuselP
(trite and certain had been brought in, and, so far. at
zc' they had suciveded. But it was said they had made out
p s'°; of
and the Noble Lord, with his excellent mode of dis-
til 'l'; of any thing in the shape of objection, for nobody was
"ietter debater, had read from a document on the table the
't/ t.i.te of the franchise in Ireland. The Noble Lord said-
7.°W can you say the franchise is not sufficient
rdit I find here the extent of it." The Noble
th, urras not in that House a short time ago when
:")11. Member for Belfast gave an explanation of the docu-
io. eb"", " Now you have an ample franchise—there are 17,.
the
1100
las—"-ulin, and I find there were 14,500 on the register
at
" rdection." How many had he (Mr. O'C. ) p01t,;,? 3,501
ti; colleague had polled about a dozen less, as
~,,t the Hon. Can-
te on tire other side had polled 3,400, so that there were
Is.-""er 7,000 out of a registry of 14,000, and he and his colleague
liavtil.rt:ernect:rned by a majority of on 4 80. The actual number
'registered, and voting was not 7,000, and in Dublin, the con-
was better watched on both sides than any where
roille,-;( Hear, hear.) Why should he proceed to comment on
" • The Noble Lord bad taken a column headed
ttentitled to register at the date of this order."
. "e found that the date of the order was the 25th of February,
11° that every man who had ever registered appeared upon that
Jest every
the eight years not having elapsed. All that had died
to life, and were on the list—all those whose terms had
:c-Ptrd—all those who had changed their residences and had
ie-registered—all those who had changed their residence, and
liad not re-registered, were there—all those who had lost some
tives
oft of their leases—al those who had parted with a por-
,n,, of their franchise—in short, all the dead, extinguished,
it° cloplicates—everythin,,e was there, and when a doubt was
-t.r"irn out that the return could not be relied on, the Noble
,I"itetl asked 'why did the Government present such a paper ?
,Ilierar' and cheers.) The Noble Lord ought to have been
Z 5 to have heard the Hon. Member for Belfast admit with
tidour--and candour was not his forte—that it was a fictitious
-fietrti,;
1` and vet the Learned Recorder, although told it was
f5,,,,,"°: with a power of countenance unequalled had quoted
that document. He would remind the house that that
torn ot the only injustice that would be done there by the Re-
co,, Bill. Another crying one was, they had remodelled the
cs:stituencies and the representation—they had added to tho
xx.rity
„„Pleefembers he cared not for what object. How did it
44n that in every county in England, without one being
etted, iihich there were 100,000 inhabitants, they had
14„, two to the number of Nlembers returned? How did it
added that while they did so. in no county in Ireland had they
./ single representative? They were governing Ireland,
er°, anted her to join England in her battles. 'they wanted
at4e t? share in her burthens to the extent that the poverty
ad Jatl created enabled her to contribute; and what return
di created
received for all that? They were told that there
tli,ao union, and should there not
be an identification—ought
out eunot to be an assimilation? And how could they come
~
,Pen him, and tell him that there was an union
the t`,..i'artled the franchise? How did they estimate
Tint v !Itsh counties, in giving them the additional Members ?
stion'ilY estimate property ? No such thing, they took popu-
it 'I, ---(Loud. cheers.) He would show that they bad taken
sta'„,"°re instances than one. The Noble Lord and the
k R;;e4 'Recorder had alluded to their having four millions in
esti ..`e. of destitution and pauperism hut they had made no
tins", ate of wealth or property in England in granting the fran-
dia they had based it entire yon population.—(Hear._) And
to, .4t,lley think there was not common sense enough in Ireland
than 'relate the insults to the country and the injustice
'wows had been done her ?—(Hear, hear, hear.) He
Rho Put Put it to the, good sense of the people of England,
latni, notwithstanding the prejudice against the people of Ire-
l'eople ad, '. he would say, much good sense ; would not the
the x„.`" land feel that state of things ? Notwithstanding
stfeto—belyable confusion of the speech delivered by the Hon.
`44t for Wakefield (Mr. Laselles), he would tell them
tPassing mberland, with 126,680 inhabitants, had got, on the
c_ir,sof the Reform Bill, two additional Members, and now
4rierrttsied four. Cork, with 713,716 inhabitants, had two
addition before before the Reform Bill, and had not got one in
Pulati They took it by population ! Here i
was their
rabiiantcol for them. Northumberland, with 179,176 n-
-337,871 S' got two additional Members ; and Down, with
su,i mhabitants, had two Members before the Reform Bill.
arid Deus got one in addition by that measure. The Hon.
tllle ifift,,d Gentleman proceeded at some length to detail
oti,_er,'-enees of population in various counties in England,
that
ef.".', and Ireland, and to show that population was the
tthat the tne franchise, and not property; and proceeded to say
het,. rnight tell him there was a union between these
.4°10,,, les, but he would ask th, was it such a union as he,
oußhetr Qf liberty, insisting on ;Inecivality of rights with them,
to be content and satisfiednwith ? And if he had a right
jegrere satisfied with it, would they throw another poisonous
lad!Ile eatrieit,lt,o the cup of discontent, by refusing an extension
'Re. I roesesem,se ? The Hon. and Learned Gentleman said he lottl ctto show the injustice done to Ireland by the
Vicount in a comparison of the populations of Wales and
_d'ulationY uf Cork, which latter, he contended, from its
Lord (L_ !e really felt some gratitude to the Noble
ttr.e. i,,r:ortf.ll, Stanley) opposite, not for his intention—not ti:Ruish but for his not having left the franchise to ex-
*Out it self, or rather for net having suffered the landlords
ageso su tir But for him the people of Ireland might not
(Locerdessc.flly resisted the extinction of the franchise. It
tl Ind bot otanley) who summoned them to the field. He
_Ocernents
,"etalll the House long by going through all those
"nu ht arrvetoasishich. he had alluded. Those which he had read
i• N:tecimens of the whole. They would show the
nft,t!i• then it.,:it:lation of their counties—the enormous extent of
iii eine—they would show the enormous population
*_,tne and the miserable deficiency that existed
made "iof these counties. But it was property that
YrrMeilve these
test of the right to vote torionth ! Upon what
g what prig ould a'k, did they disfranchise the boroughs?
at,r iple but on th t f Ifo alone U n
, did ti' *a o popuatt •Upon
Of poptdat. ley enfrauchise the boroug'ss. It was on the
()thrl:4l)Ztaior'sd lon al-me. f hey used the same principle to dis-
en fi anchs,e the boroughs. 'I hey used the principle
errs} now to"ohtTreyer and whenever it suitedtheir purpose ; and
14'111;47' ihe'e People of Ireland and said to them " You
po„.t-at was fore, u shall not possess the franchise."
NW's it. Iv the very reason that they ought the more to
ikst sill it. IF' 51 it not the poor man that most wanted every
thee:l, asio t`iht,!le could get. Forty-one years had the Union now
penrunion, ter
excuse, in the present the forty-first year of
hetthat Bill
siretir( Hear': h" giving them justice was, that they were too
exte ioasehodear, from the Aliniste jail. benches. ) Bede-
t wWere hee"Med whether he would
uelaod, o°l‘l hetuofrrEategland, he would say that readily
.and
yrookt beeanse
t!lse every exertion of his to extend it to
"Ms.hlM eat he would claim no right for himself that he
•Of ti MN.", ;I) t°„. others.—(Ministerial cheers.) Having
I.ortitoues,i„it 1,0,,
entering into the diseession
dittworahley) troi r",.• t:rain hunk' ratod. '1 he :Noble
intha 13ili tu regulate the franchise, and
%Attlee tougt.
er. what the fralichise was. Was
7

English good sense to make a machine without knowing for
what ? He (Mr. O'Connell) had great respect for the talents
of the Hon, end Learned Member for Exeter (Sir William
Follett), It was impossible not to feel such respect. There
was a fascination about his eloquence that could be derived
only from the highest emanations of talent, and, he thought,
kindliness of disposition. He (Mr. O'Connell) did not mean
to pay any idle compliment to one who differed so
decidedly with him in political opinion, but he thought that
that Hon. and Learned Gentleman united the qualities
of a powerful advocate with judicial determination ; he would
make a good Judge, but he (Mr. O'Connell) was greatly sur-
psi ed to hear him speak of the beneficial interest. He (Mr.
O'Connell) retained his old love of profession si far as to
trespass on the House to show how clear a case he had against
the opinions advanced by the Hon. and Learned Gentlemen.
The Noble Lord the Member for Northumberland ( Lord Hetrick)
had attributed to him (Mr. O'Connell) opinions on the subject
of beneficial interest, which had not been uttered by him, and
which he wished to correct. He (Mr. O'Connell) thought
that the beneficial interest was that which it was worth to a
man after deducting his labour and cultivation. So that his
own labour was no more an ingredient in the beneficial interest
than if he had got another man to perform that labour, He
did not blame the Noble Lord for the statement which he had
attributed to him (Mr. O'Connell). It was no doubt owing to
mistake. He ( Mr. O'Connell) stated that the freehold fran-
chi.e of 10. was first created by the Emancipation Act ; by
that the franchise was, as he believed, clearly of the value of
101. He would not go on quoting what this man or that man
said on the subject.—( Hear.) It was manifest the re-
porters 64 not understand what he said on the subject.
The Hon. and Learned Gentleman then proceeded to compare
the clauses respecting franchise in the Emancipation Act and
the Reform Bill, and to contend that if they meant the same
they would have contained the same words, but that if they
meant differently the words would differ, which was the case.
He was glad to get out of this subject, but he had felt it right
to vindicate the Judges against the attacks made upon them.
He would to Heaven he had such a Judge as the Hon. an-1
Learned Member for Exeter. The Learned Recorder had
read the opinion of Judge Crampton, who had said there was
nothing but a wire-drawn and refined distinction between a
meeting of the Judges in the Court of Exchequer and a meet-
ing in a party in which a brother Judge consults. Was there
not this distinction, that in the one case there was a writ of
error, and in the other no appeal ?—( Hear, hear.) It was a
mockery—with all respect to the Hon. and Learned Member
for Exeter—was it not a mockery to say all the Judges should
be bound by the opinion of the majority ? The statute had
givenan appeal to a single Judge ; it had called for the opinion
of a single Judge. and he was bound to give it upon oath. Itwas
not given to the twelve Judges, and why not ? If they had
done so they must have gone further, and have given it to the
House of Lords. They could not leave the franchises of the
people to the Judges, neither could they give an appeal to the
House of ,Lords, because they could not give their franchises
to the House of Lords.—( Hear, hear.) He therefore laughed
to scorn this species of courtesy to the Judges which frittered
away the rights of the subject, and took from them the power
of apps al, and he would remind the House that the Stuarts for-
feited ,he Crown for In vldling with the Judges.—(Hear,
hear ) And now he re pectfully appealed to the House to
grant them the franchises they demanded. It was the inten-
tion of the Reform Bill to grant it, and he had the authority of
a gentleman would vote against him that it ought to be in-
creased. He had the authority of common sense and
reason, and of every principle of justice, that they
ought to be put upon an equality with the Eng-
lish. He asked them, therefore, to give them justice.
He had shown them their grievous cr.mes towards Ireland.
They had been told that the Orange party had been making
concessions for the last fifty years. But he would tell that
party that they had been for more than a century violating the
treaty of Limerick.—( The Hon. and Learned Gentleman was
here, as throughout the greater part of his speech, heard vet),
indistinctly, and seemed to labour under great illness or great
emotion. Scarcely a sentence could be correctly understood
in the gallery.) America had been lost to Great Britain, be-
cause the latter had rejected all terms of conciliation. In
1792, when this country was in a state of apparent security,
the petition of the Roman Catholics for emancipation was
thrown out upon the motion of Mr. Latouche, the Member for
Kildare. But before the year expired, the aspect of affairs was
changed, and in the November of that year an Emancipation
Act was passed.—( Hear, hear.) They talked to Catholic Ire-
land of ingratitude, but they forgot that they passed the first
Act of Emancipation only after they had lost America. It
was (as we understood the Hon. and Learned Gentlemen) one
of the splendid errors of Napoleon that he overlooked the con-
dition of Ireland. It was the infidelity of Franco that secured
to Great Britain the Catholic priesthood of Ireland.—( Hear,
hear.) And he agreed with his Hon. Friend, the Member for
Limerick, that if an invasion were to take place to-morrow,
that priesthood would be foremost in sending their flocks in
arms to oppose the invaders. But let them be told that they
were demon-priesthood—(Cheers)—that they were surpliced
ruffians—( Cheers, :and some confusion)—let them see the
3PNeiles and Jezebels of Liverpool sending petitions with
27,000 signatures so denouncing them, and let them see the
House of Commons yielding to such petitions—( Cheers,
amidst which the conclusion of the sentence was lost.) "You
tell me " (said the Hen. and Learned Gentleman) " you do
not feel. Who ever heard of Englishmen feeling?—(Cheers. )
You have a perseverance in your people of which no other
nation can boast ; and I have not the folly to think I can
terrify you, but I will advise.—(Cheers.) I ask you, how long
wills ou be at peace with France ?"--( Cheers.) The Hon.
and Learned Gentleman then proceeded to refer to the returns
laid before the French Chambers to show the state of prepara-
tion_ for war in which: that nation had placed itself. There
was in France an array of 500,000 men, with a reserve of
150,000. The French felt themselves humiliated, and they
were watching for the domestic dangers of this country.—
( Hear, hear.) Would it not be wise in such circumstances to
have Ireland in a state of conciliation ?—( Hear.) Trhough
the national strength of this empire, we might set the whole
world in arms at defiance, if the people of the empire were
united, with the confidence of equal rights and equal justice.
In the kingdoms of Prussia and the Netherlands, it had been
attempted to oppress the Roman Catholic portion
of the people. In the former it had been
deemed wise to make timely concessions ; the
integrity of. -Prussia was unimpaired. The King of the
Netherl-..nds had adopted an opposite course, and he cense-
quer..cly lost Be'gium.—( Hear, hear.) He (Mr. O'Connell)
'would not threaten Hon. Members on the other side of the
House, but he would tell them they were the real Repealers.
—( Cheers.) So much so were they considered by the people
of Ireland, that he had been requested to make the Noble
Lord the Member for North Lancashire a member of
the Repeal Association.—(Cheers and laughter.) He
was sure no one ever deserved it half so well.—( Hear,
hear.) He admitted that it would be unwise of the people of
Ireland to have recourse to violence in their resistance to the
measure; and while he (Mr. O'Connell) had influence in
that country, and while the Catholic clergy, who were their
unpaid magistracy there, could lead the people, they would
never again have the pleasure of a rebellion in Ireland.—
(Hear, hear.) They might have outrages, but they would not
have a rebellion. The object of the present measure was to
restore the old Orange ascendancy. They taunted the pre-
sent Government with being the slaves of the Irish party ;
and he believed the Right Hon. Baronet, the Member for
Pembroke, was kind enough to quote him la t night. He
wished the Right Hon. Baronet had quoted him more accu-
rately. He had spoken of the offer made to him (Mr. O'Con-
nell) of the office of Chief Baron, and said that he was
unwilling to pollute justice in his person. He did not know
whether the Hon. Baronet used the expression, but if he had
he was totally mistaken. Looking at the reports he found that
there was a difference in the expressions, but that the substance
was the same. What he (Mr. O'Connell) had said was, that
he had refused the offer of the Justiceship because he had feared,
first, that he would be compelled to manifest a partiality for
those who differed with him in politics, for the sake of presery •
ing the character of the Bench ; and secondly, . because, lest
from an affectation of 01 er-candour, he should not do justice to
those who were his political friends. They would have no such
refusal from Honourable and Learned Gentlemen on the
other side.--( Hear, hear, hear, and laughter.) They
would have no scruples of that kind to contend with.
For the motives he had stoted he bad refused the offer
made to him, however much he might have desired to enjoy
the " otium cum dignitate." But it appears that the people of
Ireland were now to be handed over to the Orange party—that
Orange party who would not allow a man to travel on their
roads. That was the case in civilised Ulster. He had gone to Bel-
fast—he had a right to go there ; and one Magistrate had ac-
awed the Government—because they had sent troops to protect
his life—t hat they were Repealers, while the windows of the room
in which he was were broken by an mob. He did not complain of
but he wished to show the spirit which animated the Orange-
men of Ireland. He found in the Irish newspapers, that when
it had been found he had passed unknown through the town of
Dromore, a large mob collected there, and having fired at his
(Mr. O'Connell's) effigy—he wished to know whether their
arms were registered—afterwards burned it, and, in the midst
of party cries, excited a disturbance in the town, and severely
injured a Roman Catholic who attempted to remonstrate with
them. Those were the men on whose support the party oppo-
site must rely. Need he remind the House of the assault on a
Roman Catholic's house, some years ago, in Armagh. On
that occasion an Hon. and Gallant Member opposite—and
there did not exist any where a man of a higher charac-
ter—was a witness of the disturbance • and yet, in that
case, the party went wholly unpunished.—( Hear, hear.)
Again, an Irish party had fired, a few years ago, on
inoffensive children at Molyash, in the county of Monaghan;
and but a !ew days ago an inoffensive individual had been
assailed at a fair at Fermans gh, and but fur interference he
might have been grievously injured. All that had happened
in the North, in what was called the flower of Ireland. Let
him again return to statistical details. In four counties only
in Ireland was there a majority of Protestants. In Ulster
itself there was a majority of 116,000 Roman Catholics; while
in the other province the numbers were ten to one, and in the
county of Clare there were 286,000 Roman Catholics and only
5,000 Protest ants. Could they in their endeavours to suppress the
liberties of such a population call out the militia? Could they
insult Ireland by so doing? He believed that they could not.
All that the Irish people asked was justice and equality ; but they
would resist to the last the attempt to extinguish their franchises.
Let English Gentlemen recollect the risk they were running,
and for what? Why, compared with the risk, it was for no-
thing.—(Cheers.) He should doubtless be told that he had
threatened—that he had used high language.--( Cheers. ) He
had spoken in a tone and temper that became the representa-
tive of the Irish people.—(Cheers and laughter from the Op
position.) He was the representative of the great majority
of them—(Cheers)—andhe was trusted by them.—( Cheers.
He should be told that he had spoken sedition, but let them
recollect that he had spoken it to warn them of something
worse than sedition. He would be degrading himself and his
country if he were to submit to take any right of franchise
less than England.--(Cheers.) If they passed that Bill, they
would be depriving him of a great part of his power over the
Irish people. He asked them to do so—(Cheers)—he asked
them to disarm him of his power, by doing justice to his
country—(Cheers.)—but if they refused, they would arm him
with ten-fold power, because they would arm him with right._
( Loud cheers. )
Sir ROBERT PEEL could not accede to the justice of the
eulogium which the Hon. and Learned Gentleman had passed
upon himself, that he had spoken in a tone and temper worthy
o the representative of the Irish people.—(Loud cheers.)
Any speech delivered in a tone and temper more unworthy of
that character he had never heard. —( Vehement cheering. )
He did not complain of the high tone he had assumed, but
he did complain of the apparent delight with which
he had gloated on the history of the past animosities between
the two countries.—(Loud cheers.) He had met with no
sympathy however—( Continued cheering)—not because the
House was indifferent to fhe welfare of Ireland—( Cheers)—
not because they were actuated by a desire of reviving past
disputes between England and Ireland.—(Loud cheers.) He
would tell the Hon. and Learned Gentleman that there were
not ten men in that House who responded to his efforts to rip
up and exasperate all the old animosities.—(Loud cheers.)
What was the use of dwelling on the history of past differences
—of alluding to what the Hon. Gentleman called the oppres-
sion of seven centuries ?—( Cheers. ) The Hon. and Learned
Gentleman alluded to a time when he said that a wolf's head
was valued• at the same` price as the head of an Irish Catholic,
and•would have it insinuated that the spirit of those days
actuated the Legislature of the present. And on that part of
the representation of the. Hon. and Learned 'Gentleman, he
would ask the Noble Lord opposite, the leader of that House,
and the Noble Lord the Secretary for Ireland, if tkey be-
-1 eyed that that was a correct assertion.— ( Vehement cheering. )
And in the allusion to the parowhicii Ireland might. take in
case of the growing difficulties of this country, he would again
say that he believed the Hon. and Learned Gentleman was
holding a language unworthy of thftepresentative of the Irish