The Sun.
London, England, 1833-02-12 00:00:00

No Englishman, indeed, would refuse his eo•operation in
any plan for the good of Ireland ; but at the same time
he was not sorry that the amendment of the Hon. and
Learned Member for Dublin hail been negatived by so
sweeping a majority.
Mr. T. ATTNVOOD then rose, and spoke to the fol-
lowing effect :—No man cm be more grateful than I am
for the benefits which we have derived from the present
Administration ; but the events which took place before
we carried the greet objects for which we had long con.
tended, ought to prove a warning never again to lead the
people into similar circumstances. In my conscience, I
believe that we are now proceeding in a course of error.
We are met here as a Reformed Parliament, for the
first time in our history ? Why did we make the Re-
form? For two reasons ; first, to relieve the people from
the insupportable distress under which they labour ; se-
condly, to restore and confirm the liberties of the people.
What, then, must have been my surprise on hearing
the speech from the throne, that the first measure recom-
mended to this House by his Majesty's Ministers, is a
measure to restrain the liberty of the subject, and perhaps
establish arbitrary power in Ireland.—(No, no ; and loud
cries of " Hear.") Ido not know what the words mean
unless they mean a suspension of the Constitution. I
believe that the Hon. Men who conduct the Government
of the country, would be merciful, lenient, and mild in the
administration of tyrannic power; but I will never con-
sent that my constituents (and constitutionally speaking,
I consider the Irish as my constituents, or at least that I
am bound to legislate for them as such)—(Hear)—l will
never consent that any portion of the inhabitants of the
British empire shall be delivered over to the despotic
power of any set of men, however pure, wise, or upright.
—(Hear, hear.) Nothing but the very last necessity shall
ever induce me to give my consent to such a measure.
Another object of the Reform has been altogether over.
looked—the distress of the people—the long-suffering,
miserable people.---(Hear, hear.) What will be the
feeling of the people of England if this House agree
to an address which does not contain one word
about their unbearable sufferings? Now I have an
amendment which I wish to propose.—(A laugh.) It is
very short. It is at once suaviter in modo, et
.fortiter
in re. As it is so small an amendment, I hope the Noble
Lord, who is so celebrated for his candour and true
patriotism, will see reason to consent to it. I will read
it at the proper time, brain the interim I hope the House
will excuse me if I make one or two remarks—l shall not
trouble them -,vith more—on the speech from the Throne
and the address. There was one expression in that
speech which struck terrier into my heart, and which, I
fear, will strike terror and indignation into the hearts of
the people of England. The expression to which I allude
is that which calls upon us by ;ill practicable means, to
promote habits of industry and good order amongst the
labouring classes of the people of England. Why, have
we not on the table of this House, or elsewhere, a Bill to
prevent them from working themselves to death ? Is not
this an industrious, meritorious people—and is an insinua-
tion to go forth that this people want stimulants to in-
dustry ? Are not millions of them going from town to
town, and place to place, begging for employ ; and then,
too, we are called upon to preserve good order among
them? Have they not, I ask, already proved that they are
orderly—(Hear)--with what good order have they not
conducted themselves? I have seen 200,000 of them as-
semble together in times of great excitement as peaceably as
lambs, and I have seen them also return as peaceably as
lambs—(A laugh, and cheers)—without committng any,
the slightest insult. Many of those men were earning only
3s. or 4s. a week, as has been already stated by the Hon.
Member for Oldham ; many had, perhaps, walked twenty
miles to attend that meeting, and afterwards went home
as peaceably as lambs. And is good order to be recom-
mended to these orderly, patient, suffering men? Such
an expression is more than unnecessary, and I think it
can do no good.—(Hear, hear, hear.) I wish to say just
one word upon another subject—l refer to unhappy Ire-
land. It is sail th it agitation does all the mischief in
Ireland. I firmly believe that it has nothing to do with
it. It is extreme poverty and misery which has made
agitation, and not agitation the misery and poverty.—
(Hear.) I deprecate the application of force. It is a
wrong remedy, and will not have any other effect than
that of exasperating the Irish nation. Poverty, stinging,
grinding poverty, is the cause of the discontent that exists
in Iceland ; and the more poverty is coerced the more it
will increase. Poverty has already made them madmen ;
by coercion you will make them devils.—(A laugh, and
cries of " Hear.") 1 deprecate, therefore, the application
of unconstitutional power to coerce the unhappy, mi-
serable people, who are marked out for its objects. Every
man who listened to the speeches of the Hon. Member for
Leeds and the Hon. and Learned Member for the Uni-
versity of Dublin, tnust feel that both those Hon. Members
led the House considerably astray from the real ques-
tion in discussion before it. Tate Honourable Member
for Leeds has made a very eloquent harangue against
the repeal of the Union, but I do not understand that
question to be now under the consideration of this House.
The real question is this—Will the representatives of the
people intrust tyrannic power in the hands of the Govern-
ment?—(Hear, hear.) I am no friend to the repeal of
the Union.—(Cheers.) I wish to try what a Reforming
House of Commons will do to relieve the distresses and
ameliorate the condition of Ireland. And trust that
this House will not he found wanting in the application of
efficient remedies to those evils by which she is afflicted.--
(11-ar, hear.) In that case lam no friend to the repeal
of the Union—but if I find that this House wants either
the power or the will to apply these remedies, then I shall
declare ms self a friend to repeal. I hope, therefore, that
you will regard the people of Irel end with a more in-
dulgent eye, and at last show a wish to adopt a conciliatory
course. The Hon. anti Learned Member for the Uni-
versity of Dublin complained that the Irish were guilty of
horrible crimes. Ii he had endeavoured to prove to us
that the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act would
put down crime, then, indeed, he might have induced
us to consider the subject.—(Hear, hear, hear.) But
I feel assured that neither the suspension of the
Habeas Corpus Act, nor the sending over militia re-
giments—neither cannon balls, bullets, nor bayonets,
will have any effect in putting down crime and outrage
in Ireland. Guilt is the child of misery, and until
misery is relieved, guilt will continue to increase. I beg
to remind the House of what took place at the dangerous
period of 1776. I beg to remind you of what took place
at that dangerous period when the complaints of America
were brought before this House. America had one real
grievance—lreland has now a hundred.--(Cheers frost
the Irish Members.) The strength of the Irish discon-
tent, is tell times g: eater than ever existed in America in
1776. The danger of outraging such a people is now
very great, and I hope you will pause before you approve
of coercion, and that you will shrink from exa,perating it
people whom the sufferings of many years have made to
but n with fierce and indignant passion. The state of the
English mind also is, in my opinion, not in a condi-
tion to justify extreme measures against Ireland ; and
if extreme measures be resorted to, nut only will the
people of England not support the Government, but I
am not certain to what extent they may not carry their re-
sistance.—(Hear.) Let the House retnember that the
very elements of society are in a state of disunion—
the hearts of the working men are dislocated in their
bosoms—(A laugh and cheers)—and it would lee throw-
ing a lire-brand into a magazine of gunpowder to send a
tyrannic commission into Ireland. I warn the Noble
Lord of the consequences of such a proceeding. I do it
with great respect, and solely from a desire of prevent-
ing insurrection; and should the house consider it its
duty to grant the required powers, I entreat his Majesty's
Ministers on no account to use those powers, unless some
terrible and overwhelming emergency should arise.—
(Hear, hear, from the Ministerial Benches.) The wishes
of the people of England ought to be in some degree con-
sidered. 1 trust you will not go to tar. Let me remind
you of what took place in 1708. We were then told that
the state of things required strong measures; but the mea-
sures which may be adapted to one state of society are
often very ill suited to another. The state of society in
Ireland—the state of society in England—and the state of
society in Europe, was then very different to what it is
now. Measures may lee right at one time and not at an•
other. What has since transpired On the continent of
Europe has given new lessons to she world. I call on you
as Statesmen to bear those lessons in rewernbrance. if,
unhappily, you should be led to adopt coercive measures in
Ireland, and the Irish people resist, remember they are no
longer an undisciplined mob. You cannot mow them clown
with your artillery as you did at Vinegar Hill. Upwards of
100 towns would be converted into fortresses in a few
hours. You must sacrifice armies to put down an insurrec-
tion in Ireland, when a few years ago a few regiments would
have sufficed. I shalt not address you further on this sub-
ject ; but it is lily most earnest tv ish to call the attention of
the House and of the Government to the too probable
consequences of the course which his Majesty's Ministers
semi determined to adopt.—(Hear, her.) It has been
said that the Government must be feared before it can be
loved. If Ministers hope for quiet in Ireland—if they
wish for the love of the people of that country, they must
with misgovernment. Surely the way to
first do away
commaed love is not by sending the destroying angel
forth over that land. It had been said by Burke that
England never sent out the angel of peace, but the de-
stroying angel was sent with her. In this instance his
Majesty's Ministers are about to send forth the destroy-
ing angel—but no angel of peace is to accompany her