The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-22 00:00:00

" UNION IS STRENGTH !"

We may show in the most signal and benignant
manner that in the days of her desolation Ireland
experiences the advantage of that Legislative union
which her truest patriots are erroneously desirous of
dissevering ; we may for ever obliterate the recol-
lecti9n of the wrongs inflicted upon that country by
our ancestors; we may, by a just interference and a
judicious alacrity, so entwine the interests of these
islands together, and introduce such a cordiality
amongst their population, that in reality as well as
nominally they may be recognised among all nations
as the United Kingdom.

The private rupture that has taken place between
Earl FITZHARDINGE and his brother, the Member for
West Gloucestershire, and also between the Peer and
his two other brothers, the representatives for Bristol
and Gloucester, actuated us, on Monday last, from a
sense of public duty, to proffer some remarks upon
these peculiar and startling fraternal diffarences. It
is nothing to the public that family quarrels exist
among politicians, but it is a matter for serious
scrutiny when what has been elicited renders it pro-
bable that animosity is to be indulged in, and ven-
geance wreaked, by an unwarrantable interference
with, and at the expense of, the important constitu-
tional function of electoral bodies. We must say
that the electors of West Gloucestershire cut a
very sorry figure, in so far as we have as
yet been initiated in their political mysteries. Lord
,FITZEIARDINGE may confine his defence of what has
crcurred to this simple point—that he has habitually
paid certain heavy registration expenses, and that he
will do so no longer, if the constituents of West
Gloucestershire should re-elect Mr. GRANTLEY
BERKELEY. This is not a very dignified course for a
nobleman to pursue. In the first place, we
disapprove of any Peer assisting by - his purse
any man, or body of men, charged with the
responsible duty of returning a Member to
Parliament. It is an indirect interference in a
most objectionable shape—an attempt to influence the
composition of the popular branch of the Legislature,
between which and the House of Lords the constitu-
tion has wisely ruled there shall be drawn a line of
perfect independence. The electors, to be worthy of
their vocation, should repudiate with indignity every
offer on the part of a Peer to contribute towards de-
fraying the expenses necessarily incidental to the
fulfilment of political duties. The electors of the
empire ought to be above receiving any pecu-
niary aid from those between whom and them
there exists, for the purposes of political freedom, a
strict constitutional line of demarcation. Such con-
tribution wears in every instance the aspect of a

that the recipients will not exercise their functions
with that independence which they ought to preserve
and maintain. But if Lord FITZHARDINGE has suc •
ceeded in converting the electoral body of West
Gloucestershire into a race of fawning parasites, and
found them ready enough to swallow his bait in the
shape of registration fees, and should plead that what
he has done in this respect is an error participated in
by many other members of the House of Lords,
still, to render his defence of the part he is enact-
ing complete, he should assert that his purse-strings
will be closed in future, should his brother be re-
elected, upon the broad ground that Mr. GRANTLEY
BERKELEY has failed to discharge his Parliamentary
duties, either with efficiency, or integrity, or both
combined, and should distinctly indicate the precise
reasons upon which such conclusions have been
arrived at.

Since we last wrote on this subject another letter,
of the 17th instant, has appeared from the prolific
pen of Mr. G. BERKELEY. His style is certainly not
felicitous; it is turgid and diffuse, but it presents, in
point of matter, a favourable contrast with that of his
opponent's—it is straightforward. Our readers will
recollect that the "influential supporters" of the
Liberal interest, in other words, the hangers-on of
Lord FITZHARDINGE, had shifted their plea for aban-
doning their present Member, on account of his Lord-
ship having menaced to withdraw his registration
subsidies, and, for the sake of public decency, had set
up as the principal cause for their defection, that Mr.
G. BERKELEY had in 1845 announced his determina-
tion to resign his seat " unless some private arrange-
ment between himself and Earl FITZHARDINGE were
effected." That this allegation was a mere specious
afterthought seems pretty clearly established by Mr.
G. BERKELEY distinctly declaring to the traders of
the Castle, that at the meeting of the 6th of October,
not one soul among them told him, or tendered to
him, that which they now state in writing, as their
"principal cause" for arriving at the resolution.
Upon the main point the M.P. for West Gloucester-
shire is entitled to a notice of his public answer. We
therefore extract a paragraph in extenso

" I did, in the strongest language possible,' in 1845,
announce my determination to Lord Fitzhardinge, and to
several of these gentlemen, of immediately resigning my
seat, if Lord Fitzhardinge expected of me a submission
I deemed disgraceful, or by his own acts, at the instiga-
tion of another, forced me into a position which incapa •
citated me from doing my duty to my constituents. I
declare, and I invite each of these gentlemen signing this
letter in the Chronicle individually and collectively to
induce me to forego that declaration if they can, that
the private arrangement' they are now fain to lay
hold of involved public proceedings, and those gentle-
men, some of them, know that it did as well as I do.
This private arrangement,' as they call it, affecting my
public position, I am prepared to explain to my consti-
tuents at the right time, if they require it. I will not
further touch on it now, as I scorn to call for any addi-
tional sympathy from the public, or to seem to seek
friends other than the abstract public quarrel may re-

-
quire."
If, as here stated, the private arrangement involved
public proceedings, and that, as intimated, their in-
tended effect was to place him in a position that
would incapacitate him from effectively serving his
constituents, then, so far from being cashiered, it
seems to us, the electors will eternally disgrace them-
selves if they do not reward their present Member by
a continuance of their confidence whenever the next

election takes place. The plot thickens, and the
electors are undert a cloud. We trust the sequel will
show that they have spirit enough left in them to
emancipate themselves from oligarchical serfdom, and
that, from very shame of what has been elicited, they
mil hereafter exhibit a manly freedom, and shalo., off
the degrading thraldom of Berkeley Castle. We have

no doubt that Bristol and Gloucester are well able to
defend their own rights.

It would naturally be supposed that the sad con-
dition of the lab.mring population of Ireland at this
moment would demand the most active exertions, the
most zealous co-operation with the authorities, of all
her more favourably circumstanced children. While
famine arid destitution are progressing through the
land with giant strides, awakening the sympathies ot
every one possessing the commonest feelings of

humanity, it is surely not too much to expect that
the landowners, who are themselves primarily re-
sponsible for the support of the people, will, to the
best of their ability, discharge the duties entrusted to
their care; indeed, not only do the dictates of
philanthropy impel them to such a course—
self-preservation, which has justly been called the
first law of nature, imperiously requires them so to
do. They are slumbering on a volcano, the sword of
DAMOCLES hangs suspended over their heads, and any
injudicious or improper conduct on their part may
cause the eruption of that volcano, the fall of that
sword.

It is quite impossible for any Government, however
well disposed, for any public department, however
well constituted, to meet the emergency, unless aided
and assisted in their endeavours by those locally
interested, who are supposed to be well acquainted
with the necessities of their several districts, and to
be qualified to suggest the means to be taken for the
relief of those necessities in the manner least burden-
some, and productive of the greatest permanent
benefit to their several vicinities.

The chief duty of course rests on the landowners ;
they are morally responsible for the condition of the
people belonging to their several estates. As we have
already repeatedly urged, the land itself is bound to
provide sustenance for the population belonging
thereto. The labourer is entitled to be fed out of
the produce of the soil on which he was born, and to
the cultivation and improvement of which he has
devoted, or at least is ready and willing to devote, his
labour. This is the first grand principle, which
cannot for an instant be lost sight of. It was founds
however, that individual exertions alone could not be
relied on, that there were unfortunately too many
who were either unable or unwilling to give the era.
ployment necessary for the support of the poor, and
it was deemed essential that measures should be
introduced for the purpose of providing adequate em-
ployment, and charging the amount equitably upon
the entire landed property of the several districts.
With this object, an Act of Parliament was passed,

by which the Lord-Lieutenant was empowered to
call together extraordinary sessions, who were to
present the sums necessary to set the labourers to
work, and to allocate them in such portions as they
might think advisable for the making or improve-
ment of such roads, or other public works, in their
baronies as might appear to be most beneficial. To
the persons entitled to take a part in the proceedings
of, and vote at, these sessions, consisting of certain
justices of the peace and associated cess-payers, an
important trust was confided. It was their bounden
duty to calculate as accurately as possible the sum
that would be absolutely necessary for the relief of
the existing distress, to-curtail every unnecessary ex-
penditure, so as not unduly to charge the already
overburdened property. Above all, they were to
guard in the strictest manner against any of that
jobbing to which country gentlemen have un-
fortunately too great a propensity, to see that the
money charged to the public was applied for the
public benefit only, and that no private gain or
advantage was to Le made out of the universal
calamity. 'They were to give the aid of their ex-
perience and local knowledge to the officers of the
Boar I of Works, so as to guide and direct them in
their proceedings—in fact, almost everything was left
to the sessions. They were not compelled to pass
any presentments ; such a provision was supposed to
be quite unnecessary. It could not for a moment be
imagined that any body of men would be so blind to
the duty they owed their country, to every Christian
feeling, as to disregard the claims of the famishing,
or to enter with levity upon the consideration of the
means by which the hungry were to be fed. At first
the proceedings which took place at those sessions
were highly creditable to the parties concerned. If

any fault could be ascribed, it was perhaps an over-
liberality, a granting of sums beyond the necessities
of the people, and too large for the amount of the
property on which it was to be charged. It was, how-
ever, an amiable weakness, and it was impossible to
blame the parties willing so heavily to tax themselves.
Representations having been made to the Executive
of the injurious consequences of expending such large
sums of money on works of a comparatively barren
and unprofitable nature, his Excellency the
Lord-Lieutenant, in a manner deserving of the
highest praise, took upon himself the responsibility
of sanctioning a deviation from the terms of the La-
bour rate Act, and permitting money to be voted on
certain conditions for the improvement of the soil.
oncessioshould ww
rail for thp vratpfol nelzi-
netinaen n s
ts of theeess-payers, and increased exertions
on the part of their representatives at the sessions.
We regret, however, to say that latterly there appears
to be an inclination on their parts to cast all the re-
sponsibility on the public authorities, to go through
their business in the most loose and careless manner.
Presentments have been passed for purposes which it
was perfectly manifest could not be sanctioned by the
Board of Works, all deliberation has been cast aside,
and presentments have been carried en masse without
inquiry or investigation.
Macroom has made itself particularly conspicuous,
has attained an unenviable notoriety. The proceed-
ings at the sessions there may indeed be termed
" extraordinary." We find gentlemen of edu-
cation and property, men who should guide
and direct their neighbours, turning the pro-
ceedings into a farce, and practically depriving
the people of the employment they might reasonably
expect, and that at a time when a fellow-creature was
lying dead who had perished from starvation in their
neighbourhood. Every schoolboy has read that
" NERO fiddled while Rome was burning," but we
could scarcely suppose that Irish gentlemen, and
many of them, as we have been informed, really men
of humanity, would, in the nineteenth century, be
guilty of such conduct as is reported to have taken
place at Macroom. A proposition was made to pass
every presentment brought forward, which narrowly
escaped being carried, as all the others were, by
clamour and violence. Everything that was pro-
posed was forthwith passed, no matter what it might
be, until at length, in the words of the secretary, the
matter became too ridiculous to be continued any
longer, and the chairman, at half-past four o'clock, re-
jected all that had not been proposed up to that hour,
and made his escape, with the secretary and county
surveyor, from the turbulent assembly. Most sin-
cerely do we hope that we may be spared the repe-
tition of similar scenes, and that due notice will be
taken in the proper quarter of the conduct of those
who occasioned the disturbance. If men will not
assist themselves they cannot expect assistance from
others, and many of the chief actors may bitterly re-
gret the part they took on the occasion, when they
perceive the fearful results to which it may possibly
give origin. Fortunately the Board of Works have
a controlling power, and by their interposition the
mischievous effects may possibly be avoided. In their
hands we must for the present leave it ; the better
course would probably be for the Executive to annul
the entire proceedings, and to call another sessions
for the district, composed of men who will properly
discharge their duty.

The Nuremburgk Correspondent publishes a letter
from St. Petersburgh of the 7th instant, which states
that the Russian Cabinet had received the protest of
the Britannic Government against the marriage of
the Duke DE MoNTPENSIER with the Infanta of
SPAIN, and had regarded the conduct of the English
Cabinet with favour. "It appears," adds the letter,
"that the Russian Cabinet has decided on acting in
this affair on the same line as England, and to appeal
to the treaty of Utrecht."

Madrid papers of the 14th have been received.
The fetes in honour of the royal marriages were
still going on.
Senor 'STURM, having done the dirty work of the

French Government in the affair of the marriage,
and having rendered himself hateful to his country-
men by so doing, is not in a position to be any
longur useful to his foreign patrons, therefore he is to
b., got rid of without ceremony. It is stated in Madrid

publicly that the days of IsTuarrz as a Minister are
numbered; and even the Heraldo, the organ of the
French embassy, hints in terms which cannot be mis-
Liken, at the ah;olute necessity v► hich exists tin- getting
rid of Senor leruarrz as speedily as possible. This
is clearly indicative of his fate. If the French Am-
bassador orders, the Spanish QUEEN dares not dis-
obey. As the new° says—
" For some time past the interested counsels of
France have alone been listened to in Spain; and both
in mi,tuentous and petty affairs the French Ambassador
issues his orders. We know nut one of our political men