The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-24 00:00:00

EXTRACT OF THE PROTOCOL OF THE SITTING OF THE

GERMAN DIET, SEPT. 17, 1846.
RESOLUTION.

" His Majesty the King of Denmark, Duke of Hol-
stein and Lauenbourg, having made known by the de-
claration of the 7th of September, in reply to the petition
addressed to the Diet by the states of Holstein, on the
33 of August, that there never was any intention of at-
tacking the independence of the Duchy of Holstein, nor
of m( difying arbitrarily either the constitution or the
other institutions which the usage and laws of the
country have consecrated his Majesty having, besides,
given the assurance that the efforts to regulate the order
of the succession of that duchy were not intended to
affk ct the legitimate rights of the agnates, and, in short,
the intention to maintain entire the constitutional right
of petition by the states having been openly acknowledged
by his Majesty; the High Diet is confident that in coming
to a definite resolution on the subject, of which the
letter patent of the Bth of July makes mention, his Ma-
jesty will respect the rights of all, and particularly the
rights of the Confederation, the legitimate rights of the
agnates, and those of the legal representatives of the
country. While reserving to itself, as organ of the Con-
federation, the right of giving effect, should the case
arise, to its constitutional competence, the Diet deems
that it cannot receive in the states of Holstein the legal
representatives of that federal state; that their mission
should be limited to the defence of their constitutional
rights; and that the complaint of those states on the
subject of changes to be made in an illegal manner in
their constitution is without foundation. On the other
hand, the Diet deems that the order transmitted by his
Majesty to the royal commissioner at these states, not
to receive petitions or reclamations relating to the
question of the succession, does not, strictly speaking,
accord with the literal sense of the law of the 28th of
May, 1831.
" Secondly, the Diet is gratified in rendering justice to
the patriotic sentiments that have been manifested on
this occasion in Germany, but it deplores the hostile
charges and expressions of animosity that have been
given vent 0. It hopes and trusts that the confederated
Governments will endeavour to put a stop to this agita-
tion and excitement; and it has no doubt but that his
Majesty the King of Denmark will fully reciprocate

thal feelin ;.
" Thirdly, the Danish Envoy is invited to convey this
resolution to the knowledge of his Court."

The following are the exceptions which the Envoy of
Denmark has taken to the resolution of the Diet.—
" Ou referring to the declaration of his Court, and
without voting on the question of the Constitution, the
Envoy does not think it his duty to take any exception,
unless in the case that the passage in which the Diet
expresses its confidence that the King of Denmaik, in
taking hi decisive measures upon the questions men-
tioned in the letter patent, will respect certain rights,
should be interpreted so as to apply to the duchy of
Schleswig; or, in the case that to the rights of national
representation to be respected, any other meaning should
be attributed than that of their constitutional rights—
rights which the Diet had in view in speaking on a pre-
vious occasion of his Majesty's intention to maintain
entire the states' right of petition."

TOAST AND WATER.—This article, simple as it is
is rarely well prepared. Cut an upper crust of bread as
thick again as it is usual for toast; brown it carefully,
but see that it be not burned, smoked, or black; pour
on it as much water as is required, and cover the jug
till it is cold. A slice of thin cut orange or lemon peel
infused with it improves it greatly; it should be made
early in the day during the summer, and placed in the
sun, when it may be drunk with impunity.—Kitton's
' Practical Medicine.

The deputation consisted of Edward Deane Freeman,
Esq., High Sheriff of the county of Cork ; Sir James
Anderson, Bart. ; the Very Rev. D. M. Collins, P.P. of
Mallow ; the Rev. H. Somerville, Rector of Doneraile,
and the Rev. C. B. Glibson, Secretary to the Mallow
Relief Committee.

The deputation were received by his Lordship and the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, at his Lordship's house,
Chesham place, at ten o'cli}ck on Tuesday, the 15th inst.
The interview lasted for an hour and a half. His Lord-

ship and the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave a patient
hearing to each member of the deputation, and appeared
not only disposed and anxious to hear their statements
respecting the condition of the county, but also to re-
ceive any hints they were prepared to offer respecting
future and more permanent legislation.
[A memorial detailing. the prevalence of distress in
Cork, and suggesting tke remedies applicable to its
relief, was then read. The substance of the document

will be gleaned from the proceedings that followed.]
The Rev. Mr. GIBSON, who spoke first, explained the
objects of the deputation. He said—We are, my Lord,
a deputation appointed to wait upon your Lordship and
other members of her Majesty's Government, by a public
meeting held in the county of Cork, at which deputa-
tions attended from the baronies of 1)uhallow, Orrery,
Kilmore, and Fermoy, representing about 400,000 per-
sons. It is the decided opinion of this deputation—we
say it with respect my Lord, but with a full conviction
of its truth—that neither the English people nor her
Majesty's Government are acquainted with the real
social condition of the country, either as it regards the
extent or the degree of distress. The members of the
deputation, although living in the midst of the distress,
were not fully sensibl or impressed with its nature
until they set alnuir inquiries on the subject.
I beg to direet r Lordship s ention to the report I
hold in my band.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL—Yes, I have read that report.
The Rev. Mr. GinsoN—Although the report I hold
in my hand has been drawn up with the greatest care,
this deputation feel your Lordship would not act or le-
gislate upon un-official information of this kind. The

deputation would therefore press upon your Lordship
and the other members of the Government the necessity
that exists of forming a commission for inquiring into
the social condition of Ireland. The Devon Commis-

sion was a land commission, and therefore,did not treat,
except incidentally, of the condition of those who have
no land. Mr. Nichol's report had respect to the distress
of the people in an artificial state of society, not in the
natural state. What the country wants is a Cabin
Commission—such a commission the deputation con-
ceive might be formed, and accomplish its work without
much delay or a penny expense, as it would not be ne-
cessary to prosecute inquiries in more than the pro-
vinces of Munster and Connaught, .as itVe legislation
which would meet the destitution in the two provinces
could not fail to meet the distress in Leinster and Ulster.

The deputation also desire to call your Lordship's at-
tention to the Acts passed by the Goyernment to meet
the present distress. It is the pious conviction of the
deputation, that works will not be passed commensurate
with the distress. Neither landlords nor farmers feel

disposed to tax the counties for such works. There are
many unemployed and starving , for want of
public works which were thrown out at the ses-
.

sions. Those works are considered of questionable
utility (and perhaps this may be the case with many
of them already considered). The deputation would
direct the special attention of your Lordship to
the importance of employing the people on the im-
provement of the land. Those who require money to
improve their properties will not be able to take advan-
tage of the million under the Drainage Act, inasmuch

as they cannot receive the money until two thirds of
the work be executed. And as they are to pay the
labourer each week, they _must go to the bank and raise
money at about (with expense of stamp) 64 or 7 per
cent. ; they must pay 34 per cent. to Government, and
if we include the enginerring expense, and other ex-
penses, the landholder who borrows under this Act
must do so in the first instance at a rate of interest
amounting to from 10 to 12 per cent. As other mem-
bers of the deputation are to address your Lordship and
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, I shall leave the
further illustration of the subject I have laid before you
to them.

The Mon SHERIFF begged to direct the particular
attention of his Lordship and the Chancellor of the
Exchequer to the working of the Drainage Act. He
possessed property which he was desirous of improving ;
but under present circumstances it was impossible to
take advantage of the Act. He was also of opinion
that public works would be opposed at the presentment
sessions in Ireland. Gentlemen might agree to small
works near their own demesnes, but not to the opening
f good lines of road which would improve the country
and give sufficient employment. He thought the wages
of the country too low, and that they should in no case,
on public works, be less than 10d. or ls. a day.
The Rev. Mr. COLLINS, P.P., Mallow—My colleagues
on this mission from Ireland to your Lordship have said
that the facts mentioned by them have broken suddenly
and unexpectedly on their minds, and that it was by
minute investigation that they became acquainted with
the extensive distress by which they were surrounded.
I cannot say the same ; unfortunately, I am acquainted
with wretchedness all my life, and, as a Roman Catholic
clergyman, in daily contact with the poor, my feelings
are worn raw, by -the pressure of tha hard old harness of
misery under which' my afflicted countrymen groan.
Sustained as I now am by the presence of gentlemen
differing from me in creed and politics, I can make state-
ments to your Lordship which in their absence I would
not venture to notice ; for I would thereby only bring my
own veracity into question, without effecting the good
that may possibly arise from the interview with which I
am honoured by your Lordship. The hotel where the
Relief Committee of Mallow hold their sittings was a short
time since surrounded by about five hundred persons, re-
presenting three thousand mouths, seeking employment
or relief. I, as parish priest, was deputed by the com-
mittee to address them, inculcating patience, peace, and
submission to the law. I did so, saying that the Go-
vernment after a few days would do something. I
was met by exclamations from them, declaring " that
every day was a fortnight, that the hunger was going
like thorns through theiesides; that they could not go
home from excessive weakness, that they were miserable,
ar.d their wives and children." My Lord, the potatoes
are so bad that the " stomach rejected them; they were
wild, and black, and offensive to the taste—and that it
was by a mixture of salt and water they were able to
swallow them. I, my Lord, have seen a mother feed-
ing her fever-stricken child with her own suck, adminis-
tered with a cup and spoon, and have seen a man go
three miles to earn eightpence a day, while he left his
wife and children in fever, with the house closed up, and
no one to give them a drink of cold water during his ab-
sence, and his mind weighed down with the apprehen-
sion that some of the patients may set fire to the house
in paroxysms of the disease, and all be a heap of cinders
on his return. These and the like scenes, harrowing as
is the mere announcement of them to your Lordship's
feelings, are not new to me nor to any of my reverend
brethren of the same persuasion. The recurrence of
them is as frequent and uniform as it is affecting.
The time is conic for the mind of a great
statesman to act in regard to Ireland. The whole
social condition of that country ought to be closely re-
viewed and analysed, nor ought reference be made
to maxims of legislation growing out of a highly arti-
ficial state of society. The mere elementary principles
on which human society is based ought to be brought
into action to serve as a foundation for a new system of
things in Ireland. To effect this, as well as to meet the
pressing wants of the people, I would with due humility
pray your Lordship to seek from the Legislature some-
thing like despotic power over landed property, so that
you could enter any lands to reclaim and improve them,
thereby to employ the people, and charge the expenses
on the lands thus reclaimed ; such a power ought to be
used with moderation by the Government, by their say-
ing to a landed proprietor, " improve your lands, they
are waste, or nearly waste for centuries; if not, we will
do it for you, making it the first charge on the lands."
The country gentlemen now dissipating their revenues
as absentees in foreign countries, or at home as loungers
in clubs, kennels, and news rooms, will be stimulated to
exertion, and the Government would achieve the great
work of raising the condition of the people by employ-
ment and wholesome industry. All classes connected
with land in Ireland are in a state of bankruptcy, in-
capable of discharging their engagements to each other.
Things must come to a scramble, which among
large masses of mankind is always a work of blood.
Therefore the intervention of Government ought to be
prompt and decided. A doctrine was laid down that the
rate of labour on the Government works ought to be
under that of the country. Nothing can be more fal-
lacious and unjust to the working classes than that doc-
trine. The price of labour is already too low in Ireland,
and it ought to be the endeavour of Government to give
it an improved direction. The supply there is excessive,
and the demand almost nothing. Hence labour cannot
in the market bring a fair price no more than the nir we
breathe or the water we drink. Hence the principle on
which the wages of a working man should be calculated
is—what is necessary for ,the support of himself and
family.—(Here his Lordship gave a marked assent, on
which the Rev. Gentleman sat down.)
Rev. Mr. SOMERVILLE—My Lord, it appears to me as
if it would be an unnecessary consumption of your Lord-
ship's time were Ito attempt to add to the statements
which have been made to you with regard to the fearful
state of distress which exists in the different localities
which we represent on the present occasion. I am a
clergyman of the Established Church. I am located
in Doneraile ; I mix very much with the lower
classes of the people of the parish, and I can assure
your Lordship it would be impossible to exaggerate
the state of the destitution which exists there as well
as in the adjoining parishes. Sincerely indeed do I
hope, my Lord, that such measures may be adopted, such
sthteepspetaokpelen; as may
Traymayy be adequate to meet the wants of
Lord, I will not conceal it from
you, that unless some such measures be at once adopted,
I vastly apprehend that the peace of the country cannot
be preserved. Hitherto the patience of the people under
their great privation has been above praise, but I more
than doubt the wisdom of stretching their patience be-

yond its due limits. I can assure your Lordship that
I spend many a sleepless hour at night in consequence
of the uneasiness which I feel—the apprehensions which
I am under as to the tranquillity of the country. Humble
individuals as we may be, we come here representing
thousands ; thousands are awaiting our return, looking
with anxiety as to what may be the result of our mission.
Sir JAMES ANDERSON, Bart, said that no language
could adequately describe the misery of the Irish people
in consequence of the destruction of the potato crop. That
he had made it his business to visit the poor in their
wretched hovels, where he had learned to demonstration,
not only their privations, but also their fortitude and
Christian resignation. No other nation had set such an
example of practical philosophic patience. Though many
of the poor were living on it for food, the small remain-
ing portion of the potato crop, being in a rapid state of
decomposition, had become totally unfit for human
sustenance. Under such complicated distress it could
not be wondered that the people, being without employ-
ment, and consequently having no money to purchase
bread, had resolved not to starve and in order to pre-
serves the lives of their young children and aged parents,
they would, unless speedily relieved, resort to the cattle,
sheep, and corn of their wealthier neighbours. He felt
it his duty to society at large to make Lord John Russell
acquainted with the determination of his countrymen,
expressed to him as one in whom they confided, and
urge on his Lordship's attention the dreadful conse-
quences that must arise unless prompt measures were
taken to insure the peace of the country by affording
adequate and productive employment to tho working
classes now on the verge of starvation. Owing to the
patriotic press of Ireland, the people were well aware of
those who had uniformly advocatad liberal measures, and
that as his Lordship had been consistent in politics, he
held a high place in public estimation. The people re-
membered that his Lordship had on all occasions voted
for Roman Catholic Emancipation. They knew that he
gave to Great Britain the Reform Bill, but they did not
forget that that great measure, the second Magna Charts,
would not have become the law of the land had not his
Lordship received the support of the Liberal Irish Mem-
bers, the members of the people. On this account alone
the Irish consider they are
_fairly entitled to the most
liberal assistance from the present Administration.
Viewing the magnitude of the calamity with which it
had pleased Providence:to afflict his country, be thought
Government could not be aware of the universal distress,
as the means of relief afforded to a starving nation were
totally inadequate. His Lordship caused 20,000,0001. of
money to be granted to relieve the blacks from slavery.
The Irish people thus were aware that the Ministers, on
great emergencies, had the power of using the public
money to promote the good of the nation—and bearing
in mind that the absentees had taken from Ireland since
the Union upwards of 240,000,0001., and that the largest
portion of this most enormous sum had been spent in
England—they felt that they had a legitimate right to
expect that the Government would unhesitatingly cause
large loans to be granted to the landed proprietors and
others possessing real property, for the purpose of
affording permanent, useful, and profitable employ-
ment to the working classes ; and lest that money so
lent should not be applied to the purposes intended
without the employment of the people, the Go-
vernment ought to have the power of superintend-
ence, so as to secure the money reaching the pockets
of the labourers. Thus the working classes would
receive the full benefit of the loans. It is absolutely
necessary that the wages of the labourers should be in-
creased to one shilling a day, as one of the greatest
causes of the poor Irishman's misery is the very small
amount of money paid to him for his day's work. By
bold, honest, and decided measures your Lordship can
insure the permanent happiness and comfort of the Irish
people—you possess the power of introducing capital
into Ireland, all the country wants to make her a great
and flourishing nation. As the loans would be for the
benefit of the people, they should be made the first claim
upon the land and other property—thus may the national
peace of Ireland be secured for the future, and the misery
and wretchedness of the Irish be for ever removed with-
out augmenting the taxes of the British nation. The
lasting.gratitude of the Irish will be your Lordship's re-
ward—and by acting fairly by a brave and loyal people
you will make Ireland the right hand of England's
strength, in place of being a thorn in the Ministerial
side, which she willcontinue to be until ample and liberal
justice be done to her.

Lord J. RUSSELL, in reply, read a paper before him
describing the nature of the measures which have just
passed through Parliament, which he thought should be
sufficient to meet the present emergency. - He acknow-
ledged they had no power of compelling presentment ses-
sions to pass works, but he did not think, under the pre-
sent state of the country, they would attempt to refuse
them ; for such sessions were not only responsible to the
Government for the faithful discharge of their duty, but
they were subject to a higher responsibility, that of the
county demanding such works. His Lordship was
deeply, very deeply sensible to the permanently dis-
tressed social condition of the country ; he acknow-
ledged that the measures just passed were not calculated
to meet it, and promised that the subject should
receive the earliest and deepest consideration of
the Government during the next session of Parliament.
There were subjects of great difficulty to be encoun-
tered in legislating for a country circumstanced as Ire-
land was. Those lands in the hands of Government
might be at once improved, but the case was different
with respect to those that were the property of indivi-
duals. Still his Lordship did not shrink from the neces-
sity or duty of Government interfering, even in such
cases as these ; neither did he deny, that while property
had its owners and rights, that such ownership and
rights should Lir 1161 freed to interfere with the opera-
tions intended to develope the resources of the soil and
improve the social condition of the people.
The Rev. Mr. GIBsoN directed the attention of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer to the rules of the Lords of
the Treasury, requiring that the wages in connexion
with relief works shall be 2d. a day under the general
wages of the district.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER defended the
rule on the principles of political economy, and referred
to cases where harvest work had been interfered with,
and also to the case of men leaving work on the Shannon,
where they were receiving Is. 6r. a day, for lod. a day
on relief work.

Rev. Mr. GIBSON denied the truth of such state-
ments, and said that landlords and farmers were com-
bining to keep down wages; that this was one reason
for the opposition public works experienced at pre-
sentment sessions; that the Government did not
approve of combination in the labouring men and
mechanics to raise wages, and that it should not
therefore be set the example by combining with Irish
landlords and men of properties, to keep down the
wages of the people; that he could not look upon the
rule of the Treasury respecting wages as anything short
of combination to depress them. That the great evil of
the country was the low rate of wages, and that the
social condition of the country would never be improved
till wages were improved. Mr. Gibson proposed that
wages should in no case be under lod. a day.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER stated that 10d.
was a high rate of wages generally in Ireland.
Mr. GißsoN replied, that if it were the opinion of
English gentlemen that 10d. was a sufficient daily remu-
neration for the Irish labourer, God help the people!
The CHANCELLOR-" God forbid we should think so;
I merely mention 10d. as a high rate of wages in the
country. I think the wages should be improved; and
the minute of the Lords of the Treasury, requiring that
the wages should be 2d. under the standard of the coun-
try, is not the law, and, if necessary, it may be modified."
—Cork Reporter.