The Sun.
London, England, 1833-03-02 00:00:00

and in preparation lot the: government of Ireland will be
developed, and when justice will he done to the Govern
ment for its coed intentions." They now saw in this Act
what the good intentions of the Government were.—(Hear,
hear.) This was the panacea which was to cure all their
ills. ‘‘ When that day comes, and come it shortly will, I
shall expect to receive from you (Dr. Baldwin) a letter of
aeknowled4emnt upon the subject, and thanks for that
which is now in progress of legislative preparation, and
for my individual exertions in contributing to create an
order of things suited to that measure."—(Hear, hear.)
He (Mr. Grattan) hoped that the Hon. Member for Cork
had not forgotten to write to his Excellency, to acknow-
ledge the obligations which he, in common with all Irish-
men, felt for the measure, now that they bad it fairly
developed.—(Hear, hear.) Gentlemen on the other side
of the House, while inveighing so strongly against the
volunteers and the combinations in Ireland, seemed to
forget that there existed in that country Conservative com-
binations equally worthy of their notice.--(hear, from the
Irish Members.) At the last Dublin election, a formi-
dable hand of Conservatives had been formed to support
the Tory candidate ; and what was more, Government,
too, had given their votes in his favour.—(Hear, hear.)
This latter fact had been most incontrovertibly suliatan-
tiattd by Sir G. Poynton, notwithstanding the strong de-
nials made by Government through Sir G. Rich. How-
ever, notwithstanding this unconstitutional interference,
their candidate had been turned out.—(Hear.) A great
deal had been promised to Ireland in the Union ; he now
called upon Ministers to fulfil those promises. If the re-
peal of the Union was right and necessary, it would come.
He called upon Ministers to let Ireland enjoy those ad-
vantages which were promised her in the Union by Mr.
Pitt.—(Hear, hear.) The state of Ireland was such as
to make the immediate application of these promised
advantages indispensable. Trade was everywhere in
perfect stagnation ; and the announcement of the contem-
plated measures had created an universal panic.—(Hear,
hear, hear.) It was opposed to every feeling of Irish-
men. They were far exceeding the necessity of the case;
they were going far beyond the law. To put down mere
predial agitation, they were about to put in force measures
so despotic and atrocious, as would effectually remove from
the natives of the soil any remaining wish to form part of
these kingdoms. The Hon. Gentleman concluded, " I
again implore you, by the memory of those great men
who have so often advocated the cause of liberty in this
House—by the memory of the Russells and the Sydneys—
by the memory of that Irishman whom an English Par-
liament brought over here, and selected, for many years,
to head the Opposition in this House, and whose relics
remained in this country—by the memory, in short, of
the great Mr. Ponsonby.—(Hear.) I appeal to you by
the shade of one not less distinguished, not less great—one
who was as dear to me

"As the ruddy drops that visit this sad heart;"

by the memory of all these great men, I implore you never
to consent to this dreadful measure. For myself, I shall
oppose it to the last."—(Hear.)
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL would declare that he
would yield to no man in the House, let him represent
what constituency he might, or come from what part of
the empire he might, in a love of liberty, and a determina-
tion to advocate and defend it by every constitutional
means. But the liberty he loved was one connected with
the law, and order, and peace ; not with bloodshed and
violence, by men, whether combined or not, whose liberty
consisted in being too strong for the law, and whose enor-
mities were a disgrace to the country. The Bill was op-
posed as being despotic and destructive of liberty. It cer-
tainly would have the effect of extincuishing the Constitu-
tion for a time ; but it was not wholly destructive of liberty.
The Government only asked for what, after long delibera-
tion, they felt was essential for the preservation of that
country. Had he himself not been fully convinced of its
absolute necessity, be should never have consenttd to it.
He would not go through the frightful statement made by
several Hon. .leitibers to show the enormous increase of
crime. The question was not one of a numerical portion
of crime, but of a long catalogue of uninsulated dot:torah-
z aim and outrage, growing as a system under the influ-
ence rind protection of great physical force. The agitation
was not a predial agitation, as was asserted ; and even if
predial, it must be put down ; and then the question must
occur, how can this be effected ? He had listened with
the utmost attention to the gentlemen connected with
Ireland, or acquainted with the country, for the purpose
of hearing their account of the state of the law there, and
whether they thought additional powers requisite or not.
Almost every one of those gentlemen had allowed that the
law was not efficient to suppress the disturbances. To
insure the effective execution of the laws, there must be
Magistrates able and willing to commit and hear the tri-
als of offenders, Juries to try them, witnesses to give evi- '
dente against them, and the public opinion to give autho-
rity to theirjudgment. He put it to the House whether
any of these essentials were to be found in Ireland ? It
bad been clearly shown that they were not, and conse
.prently the law, as it at present stood, was not effectual.
What, then was to be done ? There was only a choice
of two courses—either to make the law stronger than
it at present stood, or to bring into operation some
power stronger than the law. Then, which was the
House to adopt of these two c,urses? They must bear in
mind that the present laws did not owe their inefficacy to
iiot being in themselves of sufficient power to punish
crime it the perpetr itnrs were brought to trial; the ease
was this, that it was found utterly impossible to bring
offenders within the power of the law, by apprehending
them. The power of the liw was altogether nullified by
intimidation, and the exercise of great physical force
directed in opposition. It was not, therefore, any fresh
laws that were required ; they would prove no remedy
against the evil. The latter alternative, then, only re-
mained, of having recourse to wine extraneous force,
stronger than the ordinary power of the law, which must
be suspended for a certain time; to what extent must be
matter of subsequent decision. This was undoubtedly a
course only to be justified by urgent necessity. The
nature of the tribunal proposed to be established had been
strongly opposed, but he himself thought it much better
to intrust the execution of these measures to military au-
thorities rather than to the ordinary Judges ; for, in his
opinion, nothing could be more mischievous than to mix
up the two opposing principles, of the fixed rules laid
down by the Constitution for the guidance of Judges, and
arbitrary enactments which were had recourse to on
occasions of emergency like the present. He equally
olsjected to committing the authority to barristers,
who might be open to the suspicion, however im-
partial and upright, of being influenced under the
bi.is of preferment. The only question, then, was,
whether these powers could be intrusted to art au-
thority more lair, more impartial, and, under the circum-
s-ances, more proper, than the tribunal proposed. It did
not follow that military men must be, as a matter of course,
insensible to the dictates justice and humanity ; and
besides, would not this tribunal be responsible to a Minis.
try themselves so highly responsible to Parliament, not
only for their own acts, but for those of their subordinates?

lion. Gentlemen had called the agitation in Ireland only
predial ; if such were the case, how would those Hon.
Gentlemen acccunt for the systematic movements of those
large combined bodies of men in that country ? He would
ask them if this predial agitation were the only agitation
existing in those parts of the country which were disturbed
by them ; or whether those identical districts were not
the same which were notoriuns for political agitation ?
(Hear, bear.) No gentleman had attempted to prove
that predial agitation was not connected with political agi.
tation._(Hear.) He would ask them if there was any
agitation in Ireland which was not intended to act upon
and agitate the people?—(Hear.) What was the action

. .
to be effected ? What was the composition of those large
and physically formidable bodies of men who were the ac-
tors in all the disturbances and crimes? They were a
portion of that el:ss upon whom the political agitation
was intended to act. Flom these clams came the volun-

leers and every other combination.—(Hear.) No gen-
tleman could say but that these volunteers, who were to
effect so much good in Ireland—who were so powerful in
their operations against the law—no gentleman could
say but that these were from that deluded, that
criminal mass of people, who formed the mark of
all the p ditical agitators, and with these political
agitators were ultimately connected the predi ,1 agita-
tors. It was said that the agitators were also pacificators.
Yes, they were ; and one of the moat celebrated of these
agitators was sent by the greatest agitator of all to pacify
the country, and in the course of his pacification that
gentleman thought proper to speak in such terms of h s
Majesty that he did not dare repeat them in that House.
Teen, again, the volunteers were to supersede the law.
The institution was a scheme to obtain power; and the
practice of holding up to odium those men who would not
submit to the law they dictated was the worst species of
tyranny. It was said that these volunteers were not
armed : they were not at present ; but they were united
under secret leaders, and formed one great mass for the
protection of themselves, and the prosecution of their own
purposes. The greatest of all the agitators, too, had ex
pressed his delight at the probability of the great pacifi-
cator—be who had used the seditious harangue—the
greatest of all the agitators had expressed the delight lie
should feel at a triumphant day in arms, when his friend,
foul Steele, should strut at the head of the volunteers.
He hoped that the measure would bring back Ireland to
that state of peace without which liberty could not be
enjoyed. Liberty could not exist, unless peace and order
prevailed. It Wall true that it suspended the liberties of ,

the country, but it auspended them only for a time, and
only suspended them now that they might he handed down
to posterity with greater splendour.—(Hear, hear.)
Sir ROBERT PEEL rose to state briefly the course
which it was his intention to pursue with respect to this
most important, most afflicting measure, and to state the
grounds on which he might hope to vindicate that course.
He was deeply sensible of the importance of saving the
time of the House, and, dismissing all preliminary obser-
vations as a proemum to an harangue, he would proceed
to state why, after having listened to all the arguments
which had been urged against the measure, the impressio❑
which he laboured under that some measure adding to the
ordinary powers of the law was necessary for the protec-
tion of life and property and true liberty—why that im-
pression had not been altered by any of the arguments
which had been urged against the measure. He wished
first to know whether they were agreed as to the statement
of facts ? The Right Hon. Gentleman and the Noble
Lord had entered into numerous details of atrocities which
made the blood run cold in every man who heard them,
—(Hear, hear.) But the question was, were these faces
correctly stated ? Were the murders committed—were
the illegal notices served—did the burnings take place ?
Before he gave his vote, he would state that they
were. This was a true conclusion, from the general
notoriety of the facts which every man who had
access to the ordin try sources of information knew—
and it was a conclusion which every man might im-
plicitly draw, without being subject to error.—(Hear.)
They all knew that statements had been made which
were open to contradiction, and vvould have been contra-
dicted, if not true. But no attempts were made to con-
tradict them ; and the impression they made was that the
ordinary course of the law was not sufficient to repress
them. He did not rest only on the testimony of news-
papers, but on the general notoriety of the fact. He
would not enter into details—he possessed none from any
official source—but he would read from the undisputed and
unquestioned authority of a gentleman a statement of the
situation of the country, which would bear the most com-
plete conviction to the mind of every man, without enter-
ing into further details.—(Hear.) He would take the
opinions and allegations of a Judge of the land—a Judge
who had touch experience in these atrociies, who had
been sitting in judgment on them, and who had been
selected to preside at the trial of these men; he would read
what the Judge who had all his life professed liberal opi-
nions, and whose testimony had never been called in ques-
tion—who throughout his whole political career had
favoured the cause of the Roman Catholics—who was a
gentleman of as great ability and of as unsullied integrity
as ever sat upon the Bench—and who had abstracted from
all parties the warmest admissions of his abilities and
integrity—he alluded to Baron Smith. Baron Sir Wil-
liam Smith was sent by the Government to preside at the
Lent Assizes for 1832, for the county of Maryborough,
and he would read from the charge of that Judge his de.
scription of the state of that country. Baron Smith said
to the Grand Jury—
" Gentlemen of the Grand Jury—l find here a calendar con-
sisting of 150 cases. Of these, twelve are charges of murder;
six of conspiracy to murder ; nine of manslaughter ; eleven of
rape ; five of child-murder, and its appurtenants ; eleven of
abduction ; forty-one of house-breaking, assaulting dwellings,
and robbery of arms; nine of shooting at persons ; two of ad.
ministering unlawful oaths ; and twenty-two of violent assaults.
A mere selection front this general calendar, of cases which
the Attorney-General has found it necessary to prosecute, con-
sists, as to quantity of crime, of more than fifty in number ; and as
to quality, includes nine murders or felonious homicides ; five
cases of robbery, and one of demanding arms ; five of burglary ;
one of conspiracy to murder, and three of shooting at with a
murderous intent ; one case of arson, and four or rather six of
assaulting habitations; five of compulsory notices, threats and
menaces ; and two of administering an unlawful oath ; eleven
cases of waylaying and malicious assault ; two of appearing in
arms ; four of abduction ; one of child murder, and one of
child desertion."

These were the atrocities tried at one Assizes, —The
Learned Judge then said :
" Its state, however, seems to furnish an example of what I
have more than once had occasion to observe; how easily dis-
order can shift its purposes and course, and after threatening
one line of outrage proceed upon another. A fact which, by
the way, we ought considerably to bear in mind ; and be
cautious how, by encouraging the discontented feelings of the
populace, we inadvertently collect and raise, and train and ex-
ercise a force, concerning which we must be uncertain what
direction it may take. Not many months ago, when I last was
in this ceuntry, and presided in this Court, I found a system
gaining head of tumultuary array against rights long undisputed,
distinctly recognised, and firmly established by the law. It
did not seem to be too late to stem the gathering torrent. This
accordingly, within my limited province, I attempted ; and for
a time the attempt did not appear to be unsuccessful. But my
endeavours were counteracted by influence which did not fail
to render them abortive. Of this powerful counteraction, what
may be surmised to have been already the results? The lower
class of society, a class deficient in the guiding lights of
knowledge and instruction, and labouring, it must be ad_
witted, under sufferings and privations, and on these accounts
the more liable to be excited and misled--this portion, I say,
of our community, stimulated into turbulent and lawless agi-
tation (it may be unawares, and without a culpable, nay, even
with a laudable intent) ; your county become restless, discon-
tented, and disturbed ; its tranquillity rendered, I can only
hope not permanently, insecure ; your prison crowded to ex_
cess with persons charged with insurrectionary transgressions
of the law; and the Crown compelled to wield its powers of
prosecution, if not with rigour, with an unusual degree of
energy and force. If the popular enterprise and incursion
proved a failure, we should have gained by it nothing better
than commotion and offence ; followed by the punishment of,
too often, not the misleaders, but the misled. If, on the con-
trary, their resistance of the law accomplished an alteration of
its enactments, might they not, by their victory over one class
of rights, be encouraged to march forward to the storming of a
second, and not discover, till too late, that in spoiling the rights
of others, they had been inadvertently plundering and demo-
lishing their own ?"

That was the fair testimony of the Judge. It was con-
firmed by the testimony of another gentleman, in a diffe-
rent situation, who would not come forward unless he bad
strong motives fur the performance of that duty, as he
exposed himself to great danger, but impelled by a sense
of duty, filling, as be did, the situation of a Roman Ca-
tholic Priest, was under no improper influence, and was
under no temptation to exaggera'e what was said and
done. He referred to the opinion of the Rev. Nicholas
O'Connor. The Right Hon. gentleman quoted a short
sentence from this Gentleman's evidence—stating that his
parishioners wanted to return to good sense, but they were
compelled to remain attached to the illegal societies for fear
of being beaten to death. That was the testimony of a
Roman Catholic Priest, and he saw, in those three lines,
Fregnant with horror, such a state of the law, that when
individuals, well disposed, wished to do right, they were
not allowed. Either they must remain attached to these
dlegal associations, or forfeit their lives. The awful pic-
ture, too, which had been drawn, on the undisputed te,ti-
mony of Dr. Doyle, of the diocese of Ki!dare, in his pas-
toral letter addressed to the people of the diocese of Kil-
dare, was undoubtedly correct. He say.—
" For several months past we have witnessed, with the
deepest affliction of spirit, the progress of illegal combinations,
under the barbarous designation of Whitefect and Blackfeet,
within certain portions of the dioceses.

" We have laboured by letter and by word, by private admo.
nition and by public reproof, proceeding from ourselves and
our clergy, to arrest and suppress this iniquity. But the tares
which the enemy of man has in the night-time sown in the
field of the Church, have grown up despite our watchful-
ness. Murders, blasphemies, perjuries, rash swearing, robbe-
ries, assaults on persons and property; the usurpation of the
powers of the State, and of the rights of the peaceable and well
disposed are multiplied, and every day perpetrated at the insti-
gation of the devil, by the wicked and deluded men engaged in
those confederacies.

He did not say whether the measures were right or
wrong, but were they agreed as to the state of the country ?
More alarming facts on testimony more unquestioned were
never produced.—(Hear, heir.) What course, then,
were they to pursue ? Was the ordinary sufficient ? No
man would allege that it was, and every man expressed a
desire to curb and control this disposition to violence and
plunder.—( Hear, hear.) It was not necessary for bins to
go into all the details of the Bill; it was not necessary for
him to examine every branch of the enactment; he did
not see the advantage of confounding the debates on the
first reading with the debates on the details, being con-
vinced that the orders and practices of the House ought
not to be subverted, which prescribed a discussion on the
general outline and principle of the Bill on the first read
ing, and the discussion on the details in another stage ; and
those rules and practices were well calculated to elucidate
truth and serve the ends of Legislation.—(Hear, hear.)
But it was not because he was not prepared to enter into
the details, for he had m :de up his mind, and when the
proper time arrived, so strong was his impression of the
necessity of the measure, that he should support the Bill
without making those trifling objections to some of the
details to which they were, perhaps, obnoxious.—(Hear,
Dear.) He had attended to the objections already made
to the Bill, and he would notice a few of the chief
ones. The first objection to the measure was—and it
was one the truth of which could not be denied—that the
measure was not any remedy for the permanent evils of
Ireland. Nobody ever said it was.—(Hear, hear.) He
telt the necessity of some measures, for no man viewed
the general condition of Ireland with more anxiety anti
apprehension than he did.—(Hear.) He came to that
discussion as one free from all party topics, and all party
animosity, ready to look only at the state of that country
and the evils and di'cord to which it was a prey. Ile
looked first at a large population,, gradually increasing,
and becoming more and more destitute. The increase of
population and the destitution promoting each other ; for

the increase of the people diminished the share of each of
the necessaries of life, and lowering them all in the scale
of comfort, and in the demand for employment—that very
want of comf,rt and convenience took away from the people
the best checks to the increase of population. When men
were contented to live upon potatoes, and with the scan-
tiest supply of the necessaries of life, that was one reason
why they did not discourage early marriages; and not dis-
couraging early marriages, the increase of the population
was hurried on—all were contented with the most scanty
means of subsistence, and when any chance checked the
growth of their potatoes, they were all exposed to famine
and complete destitution.—(Hear.) That state of society
was most deplorable, and must be relieved.—(Hear.) But
when he saw that, he also saw that the continuance
of the present state of things precluded all remedy.—
(Hear, hear.) This must, however, be remedied ; for the
continuance of the present evils will he inevitable death.
—(Hear, hear.) They must look to the relation he
tween landlord and tenant, and over that relation, the
prpposed remedial measures would have no influence.
Of these remedial measures he had his own opinion ; and
though he knew that he differed from the majority of the
House, and that he was speaking in a house of landlords,
he would say, that the attempt to account for the evils of
Ireland, by attributing them to tithes and the exactions of
the clergy, was most unjust.—(No, no.) These were not
the causes of the evils.—( Hear, hear.) They were not
the exactions of the clergy, and any remedial measure
which went to destroy their legal rights, and transfer them
to the landlords, would not give any relief.—(Hear, hear.)
Let View not take any step to diminish that stcutity, the
want of which weuld only increase the disorders. The
clergy were now on trial. Let them not be sacrificed, or
despoiled of their rights, as a sacrifice to the exactions of
others.—(Heir, hear.) Lord Bolingbroke said of the
trial of Sacheverell, and the remark might be extended to
all similar cases, " They made a fire to roast a parson,
and they made it so hot that they burnt them-
selves." He would ask the Honourable Gentlemen,
before they endeavoured to make this sacrifice, to
consult the evidence of a Roman Catholic, exempt
from all the suspicion a high might attach to Protestant
testimony; he would ask them to forget all the disputes

about unions, and tithes, and vestry cess, and grand jury
lags, and to look at detailed evidence given by Mr.
Walsh, a Roman Catholic ►uagistrate, to see the evils
under which the lower class laboured. The Right Hon.
Baronet read a long extract from the evidence given by

Mr. Walsh, but on what occasion the Right Hon.
Baronet did not say. The purport of the evidence was
to show the condition of the farmers of Ireland, who
rented land to the extent of ten acres, and who were
described as in a most lamentable condition. To ascertain
than, accurately, the source of the evils, they must look
at the relation between landlords and tenants. He
agreed with the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, however,
that this was not the time to consider the question, but he
wished to show that he was ready to resume the subject,
and that they must not rely on any measures yet proposed
as a remedy for these evils. Let them not listen to
those who considered that every evil was to be accounted
for by the exaction of the clergy and the amount of
tithes, and who called for the abolition of tithes as a
healing measure ; but let them listen to the account
which Mr. Walsh gave of the relation between landlord
and tenant. The Right Hon. Baronet went on to quote
a further extract to show that the landlords did not know
how many rents the occupiers of the land, meaning the
numerous class of small farmers already mentioned, must
make t efore they could pay their rents. The landlords
never took such a matter into their hands. If these
farmers made two rents, it was as much as they made.—
(Hear.) Mr. Walsh gave a detailed account of the con-
dition of these farmers, and gave one instance of a farmer
whose produce was of the value of 241 , and out of which
he had only 31. la. to buy loud and clothing for himself
and his family. The whole property of these people de-
pended on the spot of ground, and if the crops failed
the family must be destroyed. The Right Hon Baronet
also read at some length the evidence of Mr. Dwyer,
without sating whence he took it. That gentleman de•
scribed fifty-two families seated on eighty-six acres of
land. He also said, and the Right Hon. Baronet called
on the House to consider this before they condemned the
clergy--that he kn-w proprietors who charged a higher
rent, because of the tithe composition, but left the tenants
responsible for the payment. The tenant was charged
an additional rent for the composition, and yet paid the
composition. He never would admit that it was fair
and just to hold up the tithes as the chief cause of the
evils of society. By law the clergy were excluded from
that House, and it was neither just nor generous in those
who were landlords to hold up the clergy to the notion as
the cause of popu'ar misery.—(Hear, hear.) He could
not admit—and thus he conid not hesitate to say—that a
remedy would not be tumid in poor tans. With every
desire to afford relief to extreme cases of distress, he must
class himself with tense ti ho objected to giving poor laws
to lie and, for he feared that they would extinguish all the
property of the country, and amount to a simple agrarian
law. lie was not deeidedy against all pour laws—he did
not say that such a modification of them as would relieve
cases of extreme distress, while they did not afford any
temptation to idleness, should be at once rejected ; but
looking to all the remedies which had yet been proposed,
he telt that the country was nearly arrived at that con-
dition described by the Roman historian—. Quibus nee
vitia nostra nee remedia pati possutnus." How could such
measures as had been proposed stop the anarchy that was
stalking through the land, or how could it prevent the
crimes that were committed ? They talked of healing
measures; but let them remember, if they placed any hopes
to pacify the people by making concessions, they must go
on conceding, and there would be nothing but concession ;
and he would suegest that they should not, in any mea-
sure, go one point beyond their own dedberate sense of
what was due to justice. They talked of established
principles, but he could assure them that no measures
for the permanent good of Ireland would be efficacious
which did not proceed upon established principles, and
were not intended only to satisfy ignorant and deluded men,
whom no sacrifices could satisfy, and of whom all sacri-_
fices would only whet the appetite for further rapine.
He voted for the measure because he thought it accept-
able, without making any compromise of any other prin-
ciple. He reserved to himself the right of voting upon
other measures on their merits and principles, as lie
voted on the merits and principles of this measure. If ever
there was a country in which a respect for property was
essential to order, that was Ireland, and they must place
tb it country in suet; a situation that no such distil' bailees
should invade property as those they were now about to
check. His answer, then, to those who complained that
this measure did not apply any permanent remedy to the
evils of Ireland, was to admit that it did not. They
must first suspend the 'aging disorder before they could
by a deliberate inquiry find out appropriate permanent re-
medies. The next objection to the measure was—he
meant only to advert to the leading arguments and not to
trouble himself about the rubbish—he did not speak it
disrespectfully--with which Hon. Members had filled up
the interstices of their arguments. He would not, there-
fore, say much of the gratitude that was due to Ireland.
—(Hear.) Ireland, it was assumed, had secured the
success of the Reform Bill—(Hear)—but on that ac-
count it could not expect any gratitude from him.—
(Hear.) He should be as base as those charged with in-
gratitude if he approved on any such grounds. He at
least was not required to compliment away the peace and
security of the country.—( Hear, hear.) In a state of so-
ciety such at required severe remedies, what sort of a legis-
lator should he be if, out of gratitude, he conceded a pri-
vilege to he criminal? Was he, out of gratitude, to
grant as a right or concede as a privilege the power to
commit murder, to burn houses, and to seize on other
men's property ? An argument frequently repeated was,
that the Bill was a suspension of the British Constitution.
A measure of intolerable severity—he acknowledged it to
be unjustifiable, except on the ground of the absolute ne-
cessity that demanded it ; but be denied it to be a suspen-
sion of the British Constitution. The British Constitution,
as defined by Baron Smith and several other distin-
guished characters in Ireland, did not exist there. Its
place was occupied by a lifeless form incapable of per-
forming any of its functions. The British Constitution,
was not a cumbrous means of securing impunity to crime ;
it presupposed instruments •fit to execute the law—in-
culcated respect for life and property—knew nothing of
massacres—and was wholly averse to the employment
of passive resistance for the purpose of defrauding any
class of their just incomes.—(Much cheering.) Let
him not be told of law when all but the form
was gone. It was a cruel—cruel mockery to quote the
British Constitution on this occasion. Would they go to
the relations of any of the numerous victims of outrage and
murder in Ireland, and say that the murdered man was
sacrificed to the British Constitution ?—(Loud cheers.)
Would they insult by such a mockery the friends of the
unfortunate Mr. Martino who was murdered in his own
house, and show that the forms of justice were only calcu-
lated to facilitate the escape of die criminal ? An Hon.
Gentleman asked, were the words of the great Lord Chat
barn forgotten—" That a man's house was his castle—
(A laugh)—but would he quote those words to the widow
Of Mr. Marton ?—(Cheers.) Where was his castle when
he was murdered within its walls in the middle of the
day ? The law, forsooth, took away the British Consti-
tution; but it was heaping wrong on wrong when these
dreadful crimes were perpe ,rated under the shield of the
British Constitution, which was disgraced by the enormi-

ties thus committed under the sanction of its name ; white
at the same time the persons to whom they must look for
executing and enforcing law were successively removed.
He would support the Bill—that nominal suspension of
the Constitution—because the true fame and honour of

the British Constitution required that it should be relieved
from the odium of such atrocities. It had been asked, would
Ministers dare to propose such a law for England, or would
England submit to it ? And then a clamour was raised as
if Ireland was treated with inequality and injustice.—
(Hear, bear.) But he had a right to put this preliminary
question—would England tolerate such a system of crime
and lawlessne,s?--(Cheers.) Or would she, act with so
much baseness as to subject Ireland to the domination of
vulgar and illiterate legislators, who never dreamed of
tempering law with mercy ?—( Great cheering.) England,
he was certain, would consent with reluctance to any
coercive measures; but if they should be found inevitable,
that protection for life, property, and order, which was
never refused before, would not be denied on the present
occasion, and so far from taunting her with ingratitude,
be firmly believed that every respectable person in Ireland
would, on the contrary, receive the Bill with joy and
thankfulness. The measure had two objects, but out of
that tact arose the main opposition to it ; the first was to
prevent that species of political agitation which shook
society to its base, and fomented the insurrectionary vio-
lence which was called by the title of Agrarian Agitation.
It had been argued that political agitation was wholly un-
connected with the Agrarian insurrection, and therefore
that it was unwise and unjust to direct the terrors of the
law against it. Of that species of agitation he wished to
speak merely in the abstract, and to keep clear of
all personal allusions and reflections.—(Hear, hear.)
Would the law arrest the deluded and ignorant offender,
while it p-runiqed the instigator and inciter of the out-
rage to walk about in perfect impunity ?—(Hear.) This
was a most important question, whether or not they
would save the wretched accomplic:s of the general con-
spiracy from the punishment that would await their
crimes, by cutting off the source of outrage—premeditated
political agitation. He boldly declared, that the House
would be guilty of injustice towards those unfortunate and
ignorant beings, if it did not extend to them protection
(ruin the consequences of that political agitation. He now
came to a question enveloped in fallacies, which required
a knowledge of the peculiar state of Ireland, in order to
expose their hollowness. Political agitation and insurrec-
tionary violence were said to be totally unconnected ; but
that, on the contrary, the one was adverse to the existence
of the other, as the efforts, of the political agitators were
directed to repress outrage. He would draw the line be-
tween the truth and the error : they were, at certain
periods, disunited, and even opposed, whenever insurrec-
tionary violence was likely to defeat the objects of the
agitator. No doubt, most laudable exhortat ons were ad-
dressed to the people, recommending sobriety, abstinence
from quarrels, and many other virtues. He did nor say
they were insincere in such exhortations; on the con-
trary, he admitted their perfect sincerity. But what
consolation could a manifesto, inculcating subriety,
impart to the victims of turbulence? How did it
furnish evidence of the utter difference between agitation
and insurrection, when political agitation could flourish
only by a system of perfect discipline, and when that
discipline would be incomplete until obedience was secured
on those points?—Way it to lull him into security, or
soothe bins into approbation of this system, that a man at
certain periods, should be able to repress insurrection ?
Political agitation, under the pretence of useful objects,
produced a ferment in society, excited wild hopes, and
taught the poor to bleak out as soon as a favourable oppor-
tunity should occur. He was well aware that the agitators
deprecated partial explosions, that they were opposed to a
demonstration of strength at an improper tnoment ; but
that could not reconcile him to agitation, because he saw
in such conduct only the cunning of the serpent.—(Loud
cheers.) He could prove to the satisfaction of any person,
that at a period when the peace of Ireland was trembling
in the balance, at a moment of unequalled danger, that
persons with the most mischievous intentions inculcated a
temporary obedience to the law, not from any love of
peace, but to escape the notice and secure the toleration of
Government.—(Cries of" Hear,hear.") A giant power w•as
at that moment arising in Dublin,exercising a tremendous
control over the mass of the people, and swaying, as it
pleased, the stormy waves of popular feeling. But
did that circumstance diminish his apprehensions ?
Was an array less formidable because it was
in a high state of discipline?—(Cheers.) Did not every
man of prudence protest against a state of society where
tranquillity depended on systematic political agitation?
For when the proper time arrived, it would, be thought.
be as easy to excite the people to disorder as to restrain them
from violence. A document, which might be found in
the Reports of the Irish Parliament for the year 1795,
would fully confirm his views. It was, indeed, the evi-
dent policy of the agitators to counsel temporary peace
and abstinence from insurrection. The papers annexed
to that report proved, undeniably, that such exhortations
to peace did not infer the absence of evil intention ; for, in
the very same document which contained the organization
and scheme of the Society of United Irishmen, the plan
for the establishment of County, Baronial, Provincial,
and National Committees, and which established so ad.
inirable a system that the inferior agent never knew from
whom the order delivered to him emanated.—in that very
paper were roost praiseworthy and laudable exhortations
addressed to the members of the Society._(Loud cheer-
ing and laughter.) An address to the inhabitants of the
county of Dublin was published, in which the following
passage occurred :
" We recommend, in the most earnest manner, your con.
stant recollection of your solemn obligation, to promote a brother-
hood of affection among Irishmen of every religious persuasion ;
suffer it not to be a mere profession, but realise it by every a•,:t
of benevolence and kindness to each other, a, circumstances
shall enable you, and as you would do to your natural brothers.
Union and love are the foundations of your association, and they
cannot be too strongly or too frequently inculcated, in and out
of your meetings."

Such was the excellent advice given by the body that or-
ganized bironial, county, provincial, and national commit-
tees, and which, at that moment. was in communication
with France.—(Great cheering.) The document went on—

" Be sober, and promote sobriety in all your circles; by the
observance of this, many inconveniences and much hazard will
be avoided, and more good to yourselves and loss to your ene-
mies will be thereby effected, than can possibly be calculated.
r s t

" Banish all violent and intemperate language from your
meetings : be assured, nothing can injure the cause of liberty
more than such conversations ; whoever persists in such, must
either be dishonest or indiscreet, and therefore ought to be
carefully avoided. Violent and intemperate language is affected
by spies."

gat
Now,h:, ero, at
and
:hid) ratesphs tre nt
foavroakaeesa itnhlsii
the
Government, country,
Spies ! Is it not a constant cha). ur
to use
people
to . violentttrtahgaintemperatesr
ss.l
experience went, he declared most solemnly, upon his
honour, that he never knew of the employment of a single
spy ; he believed that such persons were never used and
certainly a Government which could re!ort to such ab-
surd means, would soon drawn on its head not only uni-
versal execration, but universal ridicule.—(Hear, hear.)
But returning to the exhortations of the Society, a man
could not be far removed from an idiot who would give
credit to them, coupled as they were with the proceedings
of that body. In the general seizure of papers which took
place in 1798, a Mr. Edward Laffan was arrested, and
on his person was found a most admirable sermon—no
other name befitted a document, containing so powerful
an inculcation of virtue. He would read one passage—
" Your strength lies in being united ; sobriety, courage,
and talent ought to be the only standards of distinction.
Taking arms by force is a practice which you should
abhor." If this had been the only paper found upon
him, the Government would, doubtless, have employed
him as an -apostle of peace—(ll,ar, hear)—but, unfortu-
nately, sonic others were discovered, in which the oath
to be taken by a private, a sergeant, and: an officer were
prescribed. He (Sir R. Peel) would read no more than
the sergeant's oath to the House :
" I do voluntarily declare, that I will conic forward when
called on by my captain or superior officers, and aid them as
far as in my power lies in any eligible manner that may tend to
the establishment of liberty, or the freedom of Ireland. Ido
further declare, that I will not call forward under arms any of
the men consigned to my command, without the authority of
my superior officers or commander, except in a case of emer-
gency, when such authority cannot be obtained."
But there was a still more suspicious paper, stating the
numbers of the United Irishmen to be 111,000, the
with
inculcation
ro
most
desperate peace
de-
signs.
and
number of guns 35,000, and that of pikes 41,145
the,that political agita-
tion the
o of
(Immense cheering.) It was not, therefore, surprising,
that sobriety was inculcated as a duty. When large bodits
order°fmen
wasw
uetreh perfectlyotow could ns
be moved,ntt
one
did not lead to ultimate violence ? What was its
tendency? To withdraw the confidence of the people
from Government—to exaggerate wrong, and produce ge
osai
assert
neral discontent. In the case of such a Society as the
Volunteers, when some great question was vibrating in the
scale, they could exercise a control within certain limits,
but they could not do that permanently; for their fol-
lowerslaw
s iunn.pit
tpoh,
etheir n
eooxwft nr
pa hands.oolridt
iiena aal:
yimul
would at length become impatient, and take the
the
ous
pif
toiaievt
eorrnes j oifvoi car es dtt, therefore, eecro.e
tna n thateo-f
crime. In his opinion the ordinary law was not sufficient
for those purposes, and a new one must consequently be
enacted, The question was, whether he should vote for

banneis of the Hon. Member for Lambetli.---(L,arri,l
the introduction of that law, or range himself Otitft:
Had that Hon. Gentleman's device been ",'-'l,O
Jury—hold by the British Constitution," be mie ir,
joined him ; but when he adopted so unromantica..oi
is " Wait till this day fortnight," lie felt it imrs'ael
(Much laughter.) But did not the Hon. Genli
consider the comparative catalogue of crimes duriql 0
31-32? Oh, but he looked only to the rernenu,
sures. Well, here had been remedial measures alo 0
that period. There had been Reform---(L"dl'ubt
—a very remedial measure; and there had beer' b".,:0
called the extinction of tithes—(Laughter)--31,ei
remedial measures ; but he confessed that thecg"l,;'
was an alarming year, 18:32 was far more fearful.
ro,
prospect was there of obtaining any additional 40tv;
in a fortnight ? What if the disturbers should 0
peaceable to spite the House ?—(A laugh.) ,14/e,' 6
ffrtaiaillile:',nlciceil
ceo,duuslsdtin•ne ,
should ai) :t
tleman wished the House to awe upon the ba11!:
proceed
ocrergieeueaillwt
,:iiintrhicnutt
Imhpoee:i
circumstance;
motion.
o s e
eTwhehe:,:er:fois
days hence it might not be less streaked or dii h
iim(Sir R. Peel) from with blood. If that should prove to be the ele'er;
House to relieve I '
sponsibility,—(Cheers.) Let them remember t~-
tain nature of popular excesses—
f career,rbo umth ei fsoe ng list
irle.rf
u ateo,,c

Ritu feruntur, nunc rnedio alveo
Cum pace delabentis Etruscum
In mare, nunc Lapides adesos
Stirpesque raptas, et pecus et demos
Volventis una, non sine montiuM
Clamore vicinxque
Cum fera diluvies quietos
Irritat "
15
He would endeavour toamnes. effect his passage wb'.1 it
gts' tbe

sible, and he would beseech the House to grant
in Ireland that security which the law can sit
extend to their. But should there appear one,Pri,
irresolution about crossing that troubled str!'indstioll
society in Ireland would be shaken to its founds of
(Cheer .) He grourr'ed his support of the 13 d
record of outrages, which it was impossible t°,4,g1111
To all objections there was an answer in the fa 'hill
ore year, anti in one province (Leinster), 6140
196 attempts at murder, 191. buntings, and 1, :nditig
ries. These were the justifications fur fll„ site
Cons ilition. How could society be in a Tor'i7od f'
(Cheers.) Great battles and victories were Lti-
out incurring such a loss of life. f l°lll I
An HON. MEMBER expressed his disseill
statement. ~;01,1
Sir IL PEEL resumed—He repeated, 60000
Lad been won without such an expense of huinjoseer
The glorious victory won by Lord St.Vincent-liier,
did not cast BO much ; the bambardment of l'''f Ff?
not waste somany lives; and the impetuous tide:h 0l;
exultatilll was rolled back at Bunco without 'u sijet
of human blood. —(Cheers.) Let the Horse cfteri
miserable condition of those who lived in dallissei
assassination, and it would sanction no longer urt;sts
himself, he was haunted by the recollection 01. lool4s;
ties committed in Ireland.' The records of the istl';,
Criminal Justice in Ireland exhibited instance, °sole
more sanguinary and wonderful than it was rolle4le:0
tse most vivid imagination to conceive. He reed , :
case, certainly not a recent one, which preseut%oo).
appalling picture of the state of society in IrebearY/
the House would bear with him—(fleart (ph)
would narate the circumstances, for the puree of;
ing how feebly they spoke when they rested Oleo();
fur additional powers inertly
aun—ipsocuncr,,
elt.ilitfitledern_ni.;,..,eirdneine bcl,l_,rtiroia:i.,,.iti.:°,:),
dual murders. Did they not take into considers 1
weeks and months during which an unproteeteproil::
were continually exposed to the most dreadful $,301111/
sions of an impeneing and terrible fate? That 0
col
to be guarded against, that was the extremity °f °while.,
fering, compared to which nitirder itself shrunk Itn;bese:
ficance. Yes, in Ireland, such was the audacitY°' -soli's
night ruffians, that they feared not to give ).°ussi
~°',
murder ; and not
thermcontet with the coul',ol`;
crime itself, add to it ost exquisite torture witi 'i
vious anstiety.—(Hear, hear.) Similar f3ctlifere°ll
cursed in England, but how rare and boo' ",410?
their results. What public man had not recel.bit,,
of assassination—and who had not cast it froth less,
scorn anti contempt, as an idle threat, or a worths
se;
But. in Ireland, alas ! that notice was give° Peed f
earneatness. There death is but too fitallY„e'd (PV
And if the unhappy wretch who is thus war.",,,ae°',('/
move to some distant town, tar from the ''reio,l4
perhaps, his e irliest years were spent—and onri.eo4;
to which his very existence nosy depend--hi's' Oftt'
too lovely pay the forfeit. fie could releia ,‘"rst
instances which would prove the extstsntet' fat Pti,
ssffering to which ittitneeiate death would u`nfth° d
r bl., b.t he run ected on-i particular instance aoall'l,
went of a man and his family resident in the, tl'e,,l',
Clare, who bas prosecuted certain person' caoaley
six-s, and convicted them fer the committal O. for v,sa.
r iges upon his property. He came to Dublin ,elitur
time ti 1 the affair had blown over—and his °its Ifir
was pulled down, and
.a slated one built ill I,°ls'
And he would here divert their attention for asoglY le
to this apparently trivial circumstance, a's 4r is Pote
trative of the state of society in Ireland. %,tlOO4
it was but of little impartance whethera roof 'B', floc
or slated—but in Iceland a slated roof was onete`oo,
security in a country where it was but too conl"-0,00V
flee to fire the roof,whiall every door and window
,iti; i,i
ed for the purpose of driving back or butelle'ti ,eS
to whom the progress of the filmes permitted Ilis,idi
tion for their escape. This man, however top:i.
Right Hon. Baronet), ansioua to retain his Pr°Peecei(e
stituted a slated for a thatched roof. Ile rll))
thieaiening notice, which he communicated
0,01,00
earnestly attvised him to return to Dublin,
et,
anxious Cl preserve his property, refused to du'ea aisi
weeks after the attack was made. Nine or ele;rooe'd
f rget which, surrounded the house. These ruPag t:s
after much deliberation, much conspiracy an'°,oolo,i. fl
Bevis, and when by foi bearitig for some timet?ct ,
t greats into execution, they had lulled the vigils it gjs
untortunate man and diminished his pits a I°, Oed
them. They found him asleep—they bake °PeslenSl
seen."--wi—they
ePy
i t)
c:
(Thel:llgr ii st
strong:l :v
i nit
li
emotionitnottllee hearingre lx' rceistih I)olifi'lt'aihased :::ijcieds:eht'devhrigi,l:e
narrative of this circumstance, and the patho' ° rilie tsar
Hon. Gt ntlernan's manner, is indescribable.) berf a $i
child was nine years of aee. The heroic nv9tt,l3"l/
of the thorn dirt awaited her, and that rein 00 fireP
useless, hid the child in a recess of the immense id
toie
at the saint time stirring up the flames. She 6csarbol
child (whom I saw, and indeed had under 111,Y.,,ear d
.some years) the cries you hear are the crieao',/tesei,
de; ed father—my turn will be next—in th''tbe of e
may escape observation. I will struggle t° oi., the,
and my dying action shall he to cast a turf LIP ,cor iii
Mark well the Intirderers—and avenge Yost cI/
tiered parents.—(Vehement cheers.) Anti °o6oo9fo'ri
evidence it was, c 1116inied by other to at Jul
three men afterwards forfeited their lives for hit fIS
What, I ask, must have been the state Of treoflsi
What must have been their anxiety, their nlOOOOl
What, I ask, must be tl e state of society u;sted !ids,'
and mother shall thus be called out and Inn"' ell" eil/
bloods in the presence of their three inf3llreall
What the state of society where the wife inure
col
death on the hotly of her murdered husbaud?tbeie°o?;
sit quietly by whilst such transactions as ;091-dlf,
Are we to permit the continuance of such a 5t al, haoll
(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") What, I a' SO to li:
the consequences of permitting it so long? this isll‘4;
the law completely paralszed, but is not ssors're Ill;
also—that when these murders prevail every ole $l.,
every moral restraint on which we calculi'iletelt or
upon the law to prevent murders, is c°,ll.%lOdslJf,
end ?—(Hear, hear.) Do we ever bear in '" Olu'ldbf,
deliberate murder of children as in Ireland? of eblor
"nnotusidu suppose thatsom thee p
rhoetlepeltelsositimi helplessness
ifnasastgeec
ttilir°lotit6yijk
on irtficii3O:oll
assassin ? Alas ! Int:lam:holy experience tebe usefu udip,
is not the case. Even the superstition ---t t the snot
stition which still prevails in England, tb4 tbe stele,l9)i
must sooner or later be discovered--thu.tnst liiimi
will move—the very stones cry out ag'i nereeuiiii
than he should escape unpunished, is here
..a ebei'Aii
There is an end oif,esaulteliciliaacwea.—anwanapepiadiinnoore ni,..t-oorl
cod of all moral iestraints. I could detail.
e' "00 414
the same kind if necessary, but I
acquainted with the wretched state of i 'we harro,l.,
any fun titer illustration.—(Hear, beirS) ee,esoal tf sIll'.:
told that these new courts will prove as loteuen
ati,,j? 1;1
We have be „idence, 11
crimes as the old courts.
pliantly, where and how we shall get ou
cbeers.i.„; tit
steer, by the restoration of security.—(..ed in getooYea,re
been said, that if we could not. c
s.u"or a lurY t 01"?
viduals to mice evidence before a
or
succeed 0114
peaceable, and the correspondent p
cfp"lo:lsle:iatniretdielvuyi:ollitsteuat' heart—(Loud Igi wLi?;eundlii a rel 'atthi ::::::: r;e—'Yi'd:reenyscrie:.ialsniesniiiiginiqitttbrijob:::'lePiltilitilli
a „nfidenodoio'
arcation•—(ll" io IS i
Under these circumstances, bow can .of all
11, 6
re,
woe
the law, and to assert his rights
,ct—viooannin:yetosqfuaeetnr givingicept ris.jetnisleointf
jurisprudence,t beeau se li wants the l'. 3 g all e r