The Sun.
London, England, 1833-01-08 00:00:00

REPEAL OF THE UNION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Stit,—The question of a repeal of the Legislative Union,
between Great Britain and Ireland, is one of such im-
mense importance—of such deep interest—of such mighty
magnitude—and is so soon to come under the considera-
tien of the Legislature, that no time ought to be lost is
endeavouring to ascertain its consequences, weigh its re-
sults, and acquire, as far as can he acquired, a knowledge
of the good and the evil of which this measure promises
and threatens to be productive. Ireland, neglected,
despised, degraded, and demoralized, has assumed a new
aspect, and presents herself in a novel attitude before the
public. She no longer weeps over her woes iu passive
unresisting silence—no longer bares her arm nerveless•
from suffering, and threatens a bloody, but impotent ven-
geance—no longer acts the fettered maniac, lacerating her
limbs in idle attempts to break her chains, burst her prison,
and wreak her fury on the mere soul.selling soul-lacking
instruments of her degradation. Ireland rises in her
strength, calm, collected, and comparatively composed,
and in a firm voice demands a compliance with her
wishes. Shall we spurn her from our presence unheard
and unanswered? No. Unfortunately for England and'
Ireland, this mode of redressing her grievances was too often
adopted, and too long succeeded. Ireland will, she must
he heard. Justice demands it, and her voice can no
longer be stifled.
That a repeal of the legislative Union between Great'
Britain and Ireland will lead to a separation of the two
countries, and will in the end prove disastrous to both, is
my firm conviction. Yet lam not inclined to quarrel
with those who advocate repeal, as I am convinced the
wrongs of Ireland are of such an aggravated nature, and
are so deep-rooted as to make it a matter of some difficulty
to discover by what other means the evils of which she
complains can be eradicated. Of these the people of this
country know nothing—exceptions there are, no doubt, is
ca-es of individuals, but I speak generally. An intellie
gent Englishman will tell you at once the manners of
the inhabitants of Siberia, Greenland, Lapland, Chins,
Hindustan, Egypt—any place but Ireland—and of that
country he knows nothing. This ignorance is not con•
fined to the lower or middling classes; the higher are
hardly better informed. How then was it to be expected
that jus ice could be done to a country of whom her legielas
tees knew, and know, little or noteing ?
Nothing is more common in England, when Irish dile'
tress awl consequent discontent is mentioned, than to refer
to Scotland, by asking why is the former country not se
happy as the level ? To this I answer, there is no re'
semblance whatever between the moral, intellectual, or
physical condition of these countries. This shall be
shown presently. Again, there are radical causes of dir
content in Ireland that are not known in Scotland. These
shall he explained first.
The radical causes of Irish discontent are confiseacioe
and colonizition—Estsblished Church—want of a legel
provision for the poor—and ignorance, the consequence of
penal laws.
To any nation that has arrived at any degree of civili'
cation before being subjected to the power of a more pd
tent State, one of the greatest curses that can happen is
general confiscation of property, when followed, as o'.
generally the raw, by colonization. Whatever provocatioe'
the invaders receive, the invaded regard confiscation, eveo
in the eases of individuals, generally obnoxious, as robbr
ries committed on the nation, which all are bound, wheo
possessing power, to punish. If the property so confie
stated be land, the new occupants, if they be colonists, are
doubly objects of vengeance; and as land is imperishabl!,
the memory of the wrong is renewed by the sight of it 10
the latest posterity of the outcasts. On no country bd
this curse ever fallen with half the blighting, blastit
severity, that it has on Ireland. Since the landing
Henry the Second on the island in 1172, to the presete
time, Ireland is computed to have been confiscated ur
wards of fourteen times, and even in one rebellion eleven
twelfths of the whole country changed owners!
To this he it remembered that Ireland was several tino
colon;zed. In 1173, after the Irish Bishops and Clete
assembled in Ciehel, had recognised the vatidifi,
of the bull issued by Pope Adrian, giving to the King 9
England ail Heaven-derived jurisdiction, Strongbow
stowed large tracts of country on his followers, will,
settled in the countries of Waterford and Wexford. MO
adventurers fllowed King John into Ireland, on whom beig
likewise bestowed the castles of rebellious chieftains. FL
every succeeding reign, swarms of needy profligate veer,
thrils, the younger sons of men of rank in El ler,
went over in the wake of a Lord. Lieutenant, or DsrlV,
Viceroy, to make a provision for whom, the nat've princy
were di iven into rebellion to excuse the intent ed c0n61411
tion of their territories. Cromwell himself filled be'
Ulster
peopledwithi
his
l compfollowernsy,
oafndineLorchnadol
builtdtheerrpyrwovaisneefand
residing themselves in the Enslish capital. Between di
colonists and the natives there was no sympathy of associf
'ion, nor community o feeling. They imbibed, at the knee
of their several parents, a hatred of each other, and what
the descendants of the English were taught to regard tlit!,l
neighbours as rebels; th y, on the other hand, listened,
the evils that had been inflicted en themsslves in the pear,
of their incest' y by the titled plundererson whom a rapact.
Court had bestowed what was not theirs to give.
mutual hatred arising from this cause has never been eras'
rated in Ireland. Time, which pours balm into othill
wounds, and extinguishes other fires, has here only cove •
with a festered excresence, and dispelled the smoke of
concealed by its own ashes. Let England hoi
the parties to themselves, and blood will not cease to 06
until the one has extirpated the other.
The Established Church is the second radical source
discontent in Ireland, and has been the cause of 104
bloodshed, burning, desolation, and destruction than all (~
..,1"
others put together. Never was there an attempt to ee';,
blish a new ieligisn any country so openly in flefis9s,
of the wishes of the people. The sword of the civil 0.4
gistrate, not the sword of the spirit, was the armour 0„
by the pious missionaries ; and net only were they ne!',
quainted with the prejudices, but they were strangers to tr!
language of those whom they were appointed to lustre.%
In Ireland, thousands have been coolly and delibersr;
murdered, for refusing to be converted by arguments Pi
peated in language only understood by the preacher sr,
his clerk ! The system was continued, and is contiort
by coercion. The established religion in Ireland dmonument of perfidy and plunder, unequalled in the o'
nals of lawless outrage. Every stone in the sal
edifice is cemented by the blood of the poor—every so s' 0
.
within its walls is the echo of the groans of the statflAl
widow and the famishing orphan. The people of Ire 0;
are beggared—literally BEGGARED, to support in atflue.,,,
and the means of indulging every pa-sion and propel
a priesthood whom they detest, and by whom they
detested,—a priesthood whom they hate, and by
they are hated,—whom they loathe, and by whom
are loathed ! Under heaven, what cruelty can be greo
than this, that a men should be under the necessity 1t
as-isting by his means in propagating tenets which
bel
n an 1
ila einedlove
himsvieotel
no: trooufi
Toe
oethhfic:ooslhmsee
he;
eteael ndr
ando eternally vyaninloi whom
t•hhbo maintainseohsimuieepvhpeoeir sits
tabo ocruoenml to be
compel
op
s
commit a heinous moral transgression.
But the consideration of the Established Church befo it,
.
opposed to the wishes of the people of Ireland is not,/
greatest evil that attends it either in a moral or po/i11:
print of view. From lands alone the revenue of the P
Church is considerably above one million sterling aneu'i
—a sum which is now literally thrown away, or w/01.0'
worse, given to a numb r of idle persons for insultiog,l
stead of instructing the people ; whereas, it per)•
managed, it would defray the expense of parish ectil
and parish poor-houses throughout the kingdom. 10
there is the tithe, an incubus never resting but Otis
bosom of industry. Who in Ireland would think 0,0
ling an additional field, or of adding an additional abi.,ll
to his agricultural outlay when he knew that the teeP:e
the profit was to go to the support of a stall-fed ro;.!
luxuriating in V e accumulated wealth of thousand:
worn he was only known in the- person of the proe
I, myself, know many parishes in Ireland where
rectors have never made their appearance, and where
service of the Church of England has never been 145,
and where, if it was read, there would not be fetpro
Protestant to attend ; and yet strange to tell the rri
receive from these parishes, a thousand a-year eaclitii
above, to enable them to live in such fashionable
as Bath and Brighton!
The want of a legal provision being made for the if
poor when overtaken by extreme poverty is another rOili
cause of discontent, and is the great source of many ofgif
evils which affect the peace and prosperity of Ireland. 4.
the Irish landlords obliged to pay for the maintenamij.
their distressed tenantry there would be an end 0:4
rack-renting, and con-acreing, so ruinous to the
try. The bane of Ireland is tl;ntawndantthoefoenmlyplloryamye;
sotnablish a poor-rate, for j
pit'hieoerylsatuntrdeelrolaco•bilrnwdisailnitfibrpset7suutrioeatei to introduce machined t,,
encourage manufactures, to prevent demands being ori
their pockets. There is no necsssity in establishlvd
poor-rate in Ireland to introduce the abuses of the
system, nor is the existence of such abuses any are ''
against its introduction. Let a legal provision be tal
the poor, and the landlords will soon take care to have
employed, profitably to themselves and the communpf;
Want of education amongst the poorer c asset has

the cause t
commotion!
perty rather
former were
vinced that
of moral i
peasantry i
Penal code
that death e
muter cau
guilty of te,
cruelties
hindrance rr
Irish be exi
they saw ti
moral feelin
others, who
nation ; wl
her castles,
not without
and brueou
people.

London,

_

the cawe of abundant rufferins in Ireland; as in civil
commotions the attacks of ignorance were levelled at pro-
perty rather than at persons, as if the destruction of the
former were not a general, national, kiss. To be con-
Tni°3 l'ineed that England is wholly chareeable with the want
itn- of moral instruction which prevails among the Irish
ighratY Peasantry it is only necessary to point to the infamous
de- penal code so lately enforced in that country, which enact-d
ht in that death should be the puni•hment of a Catholic schnol-
a re- master caught in the simple discharge of his duty—
ledge guil'Y Of teaching a child the rudiments of le +ming! The
mises cruelties practised by the English in Ireland was also a
!eted, hindrance to the growth of intelligence; for how could the
new Irish be expected to regard learning as a blessing, when
•e the they saw
that in England it produced neither piety nor
vs sssive ninral feeling ? Again, the brutality of Cromwell, and
less others, who destroyed the records of Ireland's glory as a
vhena• nation' who
Pillaged, plundered, destroyed. and defaced
g vier her castles, her temples, and her finest works of art, was
riaoo, not Without effecting a share in barbarizing the manners,
eking and brutalizing the feelings of a brave but impetuous
her
I People.
me" Happily for Scat' hnd she knows nothing of these four
her radical sources of discontent, the effects of which have
de ird been manifested in Ireland in a thousand ways during the
and last two cvnturihs Scotland was never colonized ; and,
often though
she suffered from confiscation,
her property was
must
no restored to her own nobles. Her Church is the choice of
n her Pe'Ple ; and her Ministry are paid in proportion to
Great
the last acts
1,4 desetta. Her people are all educated ; and one of
c two meet of of ti e Scottish Parliament was the establish-
pari .1 ' d rovidinss for their support in
11, is rise w s st, mohs, an p
,i; ions instruction
v•
iy as to put moral ant rt. g.
kingdom.
lin the reach of the poorest cottager in the
I the A Kir • • I f vahire Dunbar-
he, -rate is ahso established in len ret • ,s, and ton a
lly-'"'ra d hmanufacturing districts; and even
'here it ha °her ant'
du ed, the landlord, inseasons
s„ s. not -een .ntro
f this beincarrity, tenantry. This
. 'array, is obliged to provide for his
'HI the case, there is no comparison between the situa-
hhts tion of the
and Scotland.
ntelli- Thepeople in Ireland
..
quo
riter of an ticle in Taft s 3agetztne, of this '
ehiodr
Month, de re t the considering the tion of repeal
havn p ca e.s
f that an; . g any thing to do with the d•sniemberment of the
con'pire--with the division of the two countries. lam of
aver
tectederent diff opinion. I
to am pade the re-
er are Peil
of the Union will lead the fi
totalrmly se ersparautiond of Great
Britain from Ireland. It is sheer nonsense to suppose that
1613' the People of Ireland, having got the repeal, world suffer
thetnsslve the mod of a Parlia-
h dise went such
to be insu ed with mockery
sucs
vious
a refer to the t' as that which disgraced College-green pre
te Unit; Sch a Parliament ought never to have not as had
an
so re.and Yin never will again. The
Irish „. existence, a. rt
.y
if n earliament could do nothing. Of its members not
one
had owt • in a Bill until the consent of the ,all be Alimater lit)er
sewer
obrti
anigned, and even when passed it was
of die;
'These thou-r othin until it had a second time reeived the
cf tlg,e Government. Every man thatch as room
istt„
co ~'"a head for two distinct ideas, must see that it is not
ieuzcal e', 4 parliament as this that is wanted in Ireland. And if
nee
is• tee Irish Parliament be ceded the privilege of enacting
what remains to her becoming an independent State
adsut that she deal ire herself one ? Aye, and she will do so
8000 as she has the power.
re p 0; A
signs recpectable writer in the Weekly Dispatch, who
n hi " has devoted two letters to this
as '4 alit; " Publicola.
at:; Jeets in which he advocates repeal on the ground ! hat
ett •41and is a burden to this country. I cannot help thin,c-
sr'oebbe' thg
that a financial view of this question is both a very
when fla,,treh and a very fallacious one. Ireland contributes a
a-ht.-at deal in indirect taxes, for which she never receives
are ;-Y credit; as, for instance, in the articles of tea, refined
‘s,
-4g'ts, and fo •spirits, which she purchases here and in
shah Se,otia_d reign .
of it 0 Itelati," • Besides, it ought to he remembered that if
try she i does not pay her quota of taxes,
it
is only because
Plastitll all taxed heynnd her means. Ireland gives not only
ling fault ell, but all she bas ; and, if she give no more, the
present not hers but ours that neglect to cherish her in-
rdc-ps isu'ltryt and restore her manufactures. The soil of Ireland
eleven' faultri elb and her people are laborious, and patient to a
bat , `'‘e may blame ourselves both'fbe a burden to us ;
al time o do, this let us rest assured, that, e eith • rin the hands of
Clete no,?'nestic Le
they will not be unproductive islature, or in foreign hands, which may
"alidit)
•', b" less likely,
•tive of evil to us.
us.
n Conclusion, Sir, I would observe that every thing
King 01 otig,,, sion,
t'' be done to put an end to agitating the repeal of
trodif) I, Union in Ireland, by granting to that long abused
Mae' frail hoof the British empire all that she could expect
Eioui
gallop
Repeal, if carried. Let the oppressive, the
~;,11
,t's tithe system be totally abolished ; let schools,
loco unconnected with religious fictions, and un-
taio.,
130' peels r by religious animosities, be established in every
poor be a,/
~; and let a provision for the provided out
prince t" rplca Church property and rental of the country.
()mudjobbing he put down, and the purlieus
ontimas of n Jury
bat the Castle undergo a proper cleansing.
These things
ed don
de e, the Irish people will see that we have their inte-
,43" „ reat at s t' name of God,
rchan" heart and rest contented. In the
reen with Ireland has justice, and let it be administered
as,ocv, :4 good grace ; fir the Union once repealed, and Ire-
• way 's lost to us for eh,er !
whit. „ I have the honour to be, Sir,
rd L„ Your most obedient servant,
tnadi`; 'fluon, Jan. 7, DALETIL
pell.°ol
apartoll
TD
n era
to ot1:14
cove ft
ske
to Detf
thuresh„
of tn°
n all' 111
to ev0
defier'
vil joe
ur
Y and
re to tb
el
WWI
/berate;
tents r'•
;her
amino
and
the °E,'
sat,'
ry act
F It.e•
lOf
iflue!‘.
ipctol,o
they
Y tvb
001 t
gre4,
se c't
n t n /
I bid
eii
ch
not
'tit
poi'
the V:
anon
/'
• w
,bl,l
Pr 11,9
,
11
• 11
t
ft
uk 0
sbilli
tea',
d
esaed
ter
proet;
here ;
vhere;;.
u
fee
rest
rad),
ble r

THE BALLOT.

2'o THE ED!TOR OF THE SUN.
gut
be increasing excitement on the subject of the
' ilidepnident of its intrinsic importance, shows the
446:4 'lB With which, in this inquiring sge, the investigation
fir,,-t);_ Item idea is followed up. General ohjections are
batejw'rted in dim perspective, and as indistinctly. cot.n-
01?;kiir;triPi,abr:i,c8,ulars then make their appearance like a line
until at length the battle is fought, step
gem,tl), line the various points of view in which it is re-
lic:4'm bY different individuals are gradually accumulating
pubi;c aa collecting it into a focus by means of the
Prfs
4r; .1, •
tiou ;`l5 hope of tiding a spark to the general illumina-
• venture to send you the following remarks.
tit:. every political transaction in this country, from the
1. 410 u
u, of a churchwarden to that of a Member of Par-
tvish6"t' the public good is too often kept in the distance,
inter Private friendships, party, professional, and self-
the e.'ti arc brought close up to the eye, and interrupt
ur
t,hc Public belongs to no body, and is plundered by
all,
N 4 i tlieht of in particular interests ; and this notion is
atit°veterate, so entangled with every exercise of public
andV that the public mind is clouded, its eyesight dimmed,
to d."e character of what is public service so distorted as
kin eeeive even some of the best intentioned persons in the
tolg„dftin, and is, in my opinion, the source of all the mis-
tild'ePtion about the Ballot in the mind of many an honest
svardc"nscientious man. Besides Tory misrule for up-
ar of half a century, during which grandfather, sons,
hay grandsons, have revelled at the expense of the people.
that infused so much of the venom of public depravity,
lute, e mass of a cert7in class of the community is.
col:7h siturated, and engendeied for two genera ions in
fae!,?Ption ; its only conception of public good is in its
'mating the means of public plunder. The thing is so
-°lnnaori as no longer to he looked upon as a crime.
The elective franchise is a public trust, solemnly, and
Witty infinite difficulty and risk to the nation, placed in
4 hands of certain individuals, to be exercised to the best
°I their knowledge and ability for the public good, and to
whom that part of the community who do not hold this
Privilege look for the enjoyment of all the beneficial effects
resulting from good government, in which the poor have
lunch greater interest than the rich and powerful.
t).Nnw, as good government ought to be the paramount
Jeet in every community, and particularly with the ma-
i:l'l4Y of that class which enjoys the elective franchise, it
,cvvkl tat te exercis of public rights ~nd poers veste
ee
4diVilihtl4iSh to securee that object, is the first and most
iuercd of duties, private and public, moral and religious ;
11:4nuch as it exercises and promotes virtue and happi-
fur44' glory to God, and peace and good will towards men ;
ell these spring more or less from good government.
all
,-;,then, the honest exercise of this right be paramount to
%po 'Ner duties in a free country where the people are re-
it f:/,lible for the good or evil effects of the laws they make,
inti'".°7B that any promises, whether through the effect of
ti,,44ilation or bribery, or any other than honest convic-
ts thrl their propriety, must of necessity be null and void,
-ciPletely as a promise that infringes an established
Nth! invalid, and no one will maintain that a man who
vtr4-," his landlord to knock another down on the high-
is I to keep his w }rd.
ark
BaY nothing of the tenfold turpitude of the man who
him _
on
° the fears or misfortunes of another to induce
111,0 betray a public trust.
11.4,.. the army and navy, the inferior is, by the articles of
offi,' °bliged to obey all lauful commands of his superior,
whaers evidently leaving him the liberty of judging of
or is not a lawful command, and, if wrong, taking
biwfti;ll'etlttences of breach of discipline. If, then, an un-
it, p "titmand, where such strict discipline is observed,
ni,l:!nsitied to be resisted, is a voter bound to keep an
4,7 ail lul Promise extorted by tyranny and threats„ .
ckttu. no man is called upon to keep a promise thus
Fill ed' so no mail who knows anything of human nature
it to }: taken in by such a promise ; he will hardly expect
Previ,e kept, and therefore will not be deceived ; and this
sakiknowledge will, moreover, prevent him even
up 1,11.1 ua
'or it from a roan whom be knows is of a different
:13 from himself.—l am, Sir,
' FRIEND TO MORALITY AND HONESTY.