The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-13 00:00:00

they are. Is it likely that a country so great
and glorious as this, a country which owes her greatness and
glory to her people, a country even now shaking off the re-
strictions on her commerce, the tetterson her industry, about
to come forth ten time: more glorious than ever—is it likely
that such a country, boasting of her freedom, would submit
to the arbitrary dictation of an exclusive few, whose chief
claim to distinction is their strawberry crown, whose right. to
rule is derived from some hereditary acres? Is it likely that
the people who, in 1831 and 1832, rose up the stronger from
all opposition, would be ready in 1846 to bow down to the
shadow of the tyrant they then defied?

" What! we who burst the bon Sage our fathers bore so long,
That oppression had seemed sacred in its venerable wrong."
What ! we who fought, and not in vain, against the grow-
ing thraldom of years who beat the borough-mongers,
even with their own corrupted Parliament—shall we submit
now to the last remants of a system so unfair, so dishonest, so
un-English ! This is no longer a matter of doubt; the mind
of the nation is made up. Noble Lords may know the
real feelings of the people as soon as they wish,
or even sootier. The only marvel is, that such a state
of things should have endured so long; that the
remnants of feudal tyranny should, in the nineteenth
century, be placed beside the evidences of the people's power ;
that the elections of the West Riding and of Chichester
should occur almost at the same time ; that when the
Minister of England proposes great measures of commercial
reform, concerning the welfare, perhaps the existence of
thousands, he should be arrested in his glorious undertaking
by the selfish opposition of a privileged few, eager only for their
own interests, and by their very eagerness defeating their
own objects. What avails their senseless clamour, they are
only—

" The pebbles stiffening in a torrent's course,
They cannot hinder time from flowing on."

It will flow on in spite of them; and, if they are not care-
ful, it may carry them away. A little while must solve the
difficulty, whether there is to be a dissolution or not. Noble
Lords may be anxious for such an event; yet, should it come,
they will find themseives bitterly deceived. In a single
election they are able to hold their own; but when the whole
country is appealed to, even the enslaved pocket boroughs may
venture to gain courage by example, they may dare to act in
defiance of their masters, as in days gone by, when the spirit
of reform roused the sympaties of the nation ! But should
it be otherwise, should the protectionists chance to triumph,
such a triumph would be the most unfortunate thing that
possibly could happen to them, Then their day of reckoning
would arrive, then the people might stand at the doors of the
House of Commons and ask, as we do now, by what right do
many enter. What could the new Members have replied last
night bad any demanded why they were there? Could Lord
HENRY LENNOX call himeelf a representative of the
people ? Anti such only should take their seats within
the Lower House. n ould it not be fairer to allow
the sons, or the proteges of a Peer, to sit by
his side in his own House ? Then, indeed, we should
know what to expect. The SOVEREIGN alone can create
Peers, but a Peer can not only create commoners, but can
entitle them to the privileges of representatives of the people.
In everything there is some good and the good of a bad
thing is that it must be mended, so we will not despair; sa-
tisfied that it cannot last, we will calmly watch the entree of
new Members taking their seats amid "Conservative cheers ;"
we will witness the petitions presented to the Lords, and not
even exclaim, "So much for BUCKINGHAM !"

Sir ROBERT PEEL, during his brief Ministry, in 1835, said
Ireland was his great difficulty; but he was not the only
Minister who had reason to make the same remark. Ireland,
for ages, has been a constant anxiety and expense to this
country, and though comparatively quiet during the wi e
and humane Administration of Lord NORMANBY, the cessa-
tion from outrage and hostility to the English Government
was only temporary, and rather induced by future prospects
than any material change in the system. That system had
taken too deep root to be eradicated by the best possible
Ministry; it was founded originally on the principle of
keeping one portion of the community, and that the
larger portion, subject to another; one was regarded
as masters, and the other as slaves ; one professed
the Catholic religion, and to a man were prepared
to die for it—the other rejoiced in Protestantism ; or speak-
ing more correctly, in a political creed, and in the great
victory obtained ever their opponents at the battle of the
Boyne. The antipathies, and jealousies, and hostility excited
by that victory, but still more by the cruel and illegal man-
ner in which the victors used their advantages, have con-
tinued ever since, and seem to have paralyzed the moral
energies of the people, and sunk them into a hopeless state
of destitution and misery. Though every other part of the
United Kingdom, at the present moment, is in a most pros
perous state, and wealth acquired by lawful industry, and
the most gigantic undertakings is furnishing additional
employment for the labouring population, whether English,
Scotch, or Irish, the sister island exhibits a picture
of a very opposite character, and displays not the smallest
symptom of that vast progress in improvements, and discove-
ries, and useful exertion, which distinguishes the present age
above all others. With a fine soil—with a hardy,
active, and enduring peasantry, and with every ad-
vantage from ready markets for the sale of its
productions, Ireland remains the most wretched coun-
try in Europe. While the land is not half cultivated, and
there is abundant scope for the construction of railways, the
great mass of the working population is unemployed, and
some four millions of human beings out of only eight are
threatened with absolute starvation, and great numbers are
perishing daily from fever or other pestilential diseases, brought
on by want. In such a deplorable and hopeless state of society,
another curse naturally follows, and the unhappy people
are impelled to crimes, at which, under other circumstances
they would revolt. These painful subjects are annually
brought under the notice of Parliament, but no remedy is
found, things go on in their usual way, and the chief re-
commendation from our senators is to coerce the people and
restrain crime by the strong arm of the law. But the " strong
arm of the law" is a mere phrase without meaning; in
many districts there is no law whatever, and even in the
very courts of justice and at special commissions it is laughed
to scorn, by the absence of witnesses, or by downright per-
' jury. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE, last night, made one of
the customary speeches on this melancholy topic, and urged
that something ouklit to be done in the shape of an effi-
cient administration of the criminal law. The reasons lie
gave certainly were sufficiently strong. "There were several
associations," he said, "and combinations existing which
had engaged the attention of the Repeal Association as well
as that of the Government, and it could not be denied that
a great part of the country was in a state of insurrection.
Immense masses of people had met in different places, and in
the county of Limerick a meeting had lately assembled in
open revolt in mid-day. During the spring, summer, and
winter of the past year these outrages had increased
to an almost unparalleled extent." His Lordship
therefore recommended some immediate steps to secure pro-
perty and life. Of course crime must be put down, if guns
and bayonets and gibbets can do it, but something else is re-
quired for Ireland. Any new coercive law, as we have
repeatedly contended, ought to be accompanied by other
measures calculated to civilise the people, and render
the Government of England an object of hope
and esteem, rather than a terror. In Earl GREY'S
judicious remarks, therefore, we cordially concur.
After adverting to the new Coercion Bill, which is in
the hands of the Government, he thus concluded :—" The
question had long been uncles the consideration of both
Houses of Parliament, but unfortunately party views had
interfered with its dispassionate consideration, but lie hoped
the time had come when they could without reference to
party feelings, all agree in the propriety of investi-
gating into the real causes of this unhappy state of
things and in devising a remedy. He thought it right to
state his opinions, as from what fell from the Noble Lord
the Bill to be introduced by the Government was to be con-
fined to the single object of establishing security and repress-
ing outrage. He considered that the Government would fail
in its duty to the House and the country, if, while it pro-
posed rigorous measures, it did not give a statement of the
general policy and the measures it intended for the perma-
nent improvement of the condition of Ireland."

When once a feeling of obstinacy has taken possession of a
protectionist nobleman, that obstinacy is the most blunt-
-headed, leaden-eyed, dogged and incorrigible that the imagi-
nation well could conceive. These conclusions are not what
are commonly designated "foregone," they are discoverable
from the , instances of unflinching determination which
several of these right honourable personages had given the
public within the last few months. They behold the ground
crumbling away beneath them, they perceive the 'precipice
which yawns before them, they hear the uproar of the mul-
titude imploring them to desist, they see the insurmount-
able obstacles which must speedily and inevitably prevent
them from proceeding further upon their original pathway,
yet they still endeavour to push forward upon their old worn-
out course, with a persistence so blundering and dull that
their very antagonists are filled with sentiments of
commiseration. His Grace the Duke of •NewcasrLE
has just given this opinion one more additional corroboration.
We yesterday commented upon the unconstitutional manner
in which certain members of the oligarchy took occasion to
meddle with the freedom of elections—we even particularised
his Grace the Duke of NEWCASTLE as an instance of this in-
tolerable and un-English proceeding, identifying his inter-
ference with the electors of Newark ; and, as if to enforce the
correctness of our observations, and at the same moment to
demonstrate the veracity of their application, we learn by
the latest intelligence from South Nottingham that his
Grace has confirmed all the previous rumours of his intention
by authorising his agent, Mr. WINTER, to use every exer-
tion in his power to ensure, or at least to facilitate, the
triumphal return of Mr. HiwrAnn. That such behaviour
is opposed to the spirit, if not to the very letter, of the
British Constitution, we have already protested ; and
consequently it would be superfluous to tarry longer upon
the consideration of its malific influence. Turn we,
therefore, to the explanatory address delivered yesterday to
the electors who were assembled in the Town-hall of
Newark by their late representative, Lord Lificoi.N. We
regard that speech as satisfactory as far as his Lordship, and
his Lordship's recent conduct, are concerned. We look upon
it as another of those numerous legislative confessions, or
political unburdenings of conscience, which have latterly
streamed with such satisfactory abundanee into the . pub-
lic ear. Altogether, it is but a repetition of what has been
uttered again and again, both upon the hustings and from
the Parliamentary benches, yet precisely as such a repeti-
tion it rings pleasantly upon the moral tympanum of the I
mass. It, moreover, affords us another version of the Irish