The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-04 00:00:00

• should be disturbed, outrages should be rife, and that
the ordinary operation of the laws should be found in-
sufficient for their suppression, and to restore peace to ,
the district ? Where the law, in place of being found a
protection for the well-disposed and industrious peasant,
is turned, or rather attempted to be turned (for hap-
pily, in the present instance, the attempt was unsuc-
cessful) into an instrument for his oppression, a net
within the meshes of which he is sought to be entangled
he soon comes to look at it as unjust and partial
in its operation, to be made:for, and accessible to, the
rich man alone, that under it he may be unjustly pu-
nished, or in vain seek redress for injuries inflicted, he
habituals seeks
law-breaker ma e ns for iths arssio
protects Sympathy
him;with
whenthe
seletveannd
and
by which justice may be
pursued steadily refuses to afford even the slightest in-
formationvindicated,
through the petty tyranny of a few heart-
less and oppressive members of the higher class a high-
minded and generous people come to be stigmatised
as the eiders and abettors of crimes, the supporters of
the blood- stained assassin, of the midnight disturber of
k the peace. This is, indeed, a lamentable state of things ;
and if it is desired to be amended, the force of public
opinion must be brought strongly to bear upon the per-
petrators of such actions—the real delinquents—who are
morally responsible for the deplorable results too
likely to be the consequences of their reckless
proceedings. Well might the Premier exclaim
that he finds it impossible to control the
power of the landlords, and addressing them emphati-
cally, say—" You rely too much for the amelioration of
your social condition upon the executive Government.
You rely too much upon the Government passing laws
to effect what yourselves should accomplish. My firm
belief is, that you yourselves have it in your power to
apply a remedy. By pursuing a course adapted to meet
the requirements of the dis,rganised state of society
which prevails, you would be able to effect more
than could ever be done by legislation. This
would do all that any Government could accomplish

This is indeed the truth; a generous combination should
exist amongst the landowners to effect the greatest pos-
sible amount of good amongst those who are dependent
on them, who look up to them for protection and guid-
ance, whose temporal welfare is placed in their hands ;
let them recollect that they are but the stewards of a
higher power for the distribution of the gifts entrusted
to them. Let them consider their first duty, which will
also be the highest pleasure, the greatest delight
of every one capable of appreciating the luxury of doing
good—to be the amelioration of their tenantry—the im-
provement of their condition—their advancement in the

social scale ; let them see that the blessings of education

are placed within the reach of the rising generation ;
let them see that no rack rent is extorted from the ne-
cessities of the heads of the families, that they shall be per-
mittedto retain their little tenements at such a fair and mo-
derate rent, as while, on the one hand, it affords a fair re-
turn to the proprietor of the soil for the capital invested
in its purchase, they, on the other hand, may be enabled
by the exercise of industry and jealous attention to the
improvements and cultivation of the soil, to acquire
some degree of, and taste for, the comforts of civilised
life ; let them look for the possession of a better class of
cottage, and a diet something better than that which is
afforded to their pigs ; convince them that these results
are sure to follow increased exertion on their part, that
good conduct and character will most assuredly obtain
its reward ; above all, satisfy them that there is no
possibility of their being driven from the possession of
the little spots where they were born, and which are
endeared to them by a thousand associations and re-
miniscences, which are more highly prized and valued,
no matter how barren they may be, than every other,
no matter how highly endowed by nature and cultiva.

tion—satisfy them that the improvements which they
have effected by the sweat of their brows may not, by

attracting the avaricious eyes of a heartless agent, or
needy proprietor, be the real cause of their cxpul-

and consequent misery and destitution, and you
apply a motive which, in ninety-nine cases in one hun-
dred, will be effectual, and productive of all that
can be wished for or required at t h,ir hands. But to
effect this the landlerd must be patitnt and persevering ;
he must not suppose that a few !shun months will take
away the distrust necessarily engendered by ages of op-
pression and exaction, during which a different line of

conduct was adopted and acted upon. He must consider
their ignorance, their prejudico3, and, by a kindly dis-

position on his part, wean them by degrees from practices
to which they will cling with a greater fidelity if at-
tempted to be subdued by too rude a shock. Con-

-time them that the first, the primary object, is
their own welfare and benefit, and in a short

time cold distrust will give way to confidence,
hatred and dislike to esteem and respect ; a kindly feel-
ing and relationship will spring up between them, out-

rage will be unknown, peace and prosperity will take the
place of riot and destitution. Confidence in the law,
under which they prosper and are protected, will be re-
established. Murder will no longer stalk through the
land without an effort being made for its suppression,
with a sort of tacit encouragement of the peasantry;
there will be no necessity for Coercion Acts or Bills

restrictive of the liberty of the subject. Every man
will support the law under which he enjoys the
blessings then more keenly felt from the contrast they
exhibit to his former oppression, and Ireland will indeed
be a land of happiness and prosperity. This must
spring from the landlords themselves; but much may
also be effected by good legislation. Take away all
well-grounded causes of complaint, remove the pressure
of unequal laws, above all, extend through the entire
nation the existence of the -Ulster tenant right. Let no
man be removed from land without receiving a fair
compensation for the improvements which he has
effected, and let no landlord have the power of
clearing his estates to gratify some petty whim
or some vindictive feeling. Let the occupier be
entitled to retain the possession of land, so long as he
shall be satisfied to pay his landlord the fair value, to be
assessed by a jury of his neighbours. Many other mea.
sures might be mentioned, but let the proprietors of the
soil once see that Parliament is in earnest, that they will
not be suffered to play such fantastic tricks as they have
hitherto exhibited—let a beginning of legislation once
take place, and it will effect much, and perhaps obviate
the necessity of a further interference with what is
termed the rights of property.

The vexatious opposition occasionally made by a mi-
nority in the House of Commons, the resistance to use-
ful measures contrived by parties of the most opposite
political principles, combined chiefly to throw business
into confusion, and the injury caused to the public ser-
vice by explanations often required by a popular assem-
bly, with other drawbacks, which it is needless to enu-
merate, have made, not the despotic rulers of the
continent only, but many of the inhabitants of the
United Kingdom doubt the policy of. constitutional go-
vernment, and prefer a violent stretch of power on the

art of the executive to the established laws
and principles of the constitution. A little refection,
however, soon dispels the doubts of such waverers.
There is an inherent vital quality in such a work
as the British Constitution, which in time corrects the
evils complained of. The machine may be clogged for
a
neverthe
handsfail sthtoa t
constructed
itself, or tTobbee
rpougth.4t,bo
setlidmomn,
orand apparently on the tve of a dead-lock, but it
rights by the
Constitution may be said nownsrut ted it.
operation for more than two hundred dtroe
aha ve
years,b been in full
that period many obstructions nhtairovee takenh place. The
Magistrateand
exp e
cadt f
roonme
the kingdom;as at de-
thronedan-
other tried, been
other tried, convicted, and executed as a great
state criminal. The Constitution has been
in-
vaded by a violent and unwarrantable
creation
of Peers, mock representatives of the 1 peop ebe en forced
by the Minister of the day into the Lower House, and
rotten boroughs, and bribery,
and
led the corruption of
Members, regarded by unprincipled
fact
tatesmen as the
best means of ruling a people.
have approached almost to the very brinksoomfe
absolute
government ofb them
lovesolute
government ; but the spirit of the people, the
freedom inherent in the Anglo-Saxon race, anclhoef
genius of the Constitution, have surmounted all obstacles.
When a part of the machinery has become defective,
the executive, with all the army and navy, and the
vast numbers that always cling to the powers that be,
have been able for a time to prevent the necessary re-
pairs, but in no one instance have they finally prevailed.
The people have asserted their rights, and never was
this vis vivida of the Constitution so active, or produc-
tive of such effects, as during the present age. Some
ten great measures, opposed by the Government at
every stage, repeatedly rejected by both Commons and
Lords, and denounced as ruinous by the most powerful
party in the state—that party long accustomed to
office and all the secret tricks of government, and sup-
ported by the whole Church—have been triumph-
antly carried within the last twenty or thirty years,
by the untiring energy and courage of the people.
The Constitution still remains not only entire,
but greatly improved, and the machine goes on with a
vigour and a steadiness unknown at any former period.
These very interruptions, caused by the minority of a
popular assembly, are of themselves great preservatives,
because they convince a people divided in their opinions,
aLis always the case, that a tyrant majority cannot
have everything its own way, that even a small propor-
tion of the community
can compel the rest, at least, to
listen to thorn, and refute or admit their reasons; and