The Sun.
London, England, 1833-02-11 00:00:00

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-SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

That it i thlelesarYduty of Government to
restorestbe ,authoiily- of the laws in Ireland, and
to pot; AchitifiliPteign of the Agrarian terro
rists who spread death and desolation throughout
the country, no rational man can doubt. It
may, indeed, be a question whether the existing
laws, if firmly and judiciously acted upon under
a more capable executive than that to which the
destines of the sister island have been for some
time past confided, are cot sufficient for the re-
pression of outrage and the • restoration of the
public peace without the introduction of new
and anomalous enactments, which, in putting
down one evil, create another, making the vio-
lence of a faction the pretext for striking at the
liberties of a whole people, and, in the name of
order, sacrificing the most sacred principles of a
free Constitution. We say this may be a ques-
tion, for, as the Government of Lord Anglesea
has been exceedingly weak, vacillating, and ap-
parently without any fixed principle of policy,
the existing laws have not had a fair trial.
There can be no question, however, that the
tranquillity of Ireland must be restored before any
measures can be carried into effect by which its
condition may be permanently improved. While
it is the clear duty of Government to restore the
authority of the laws, it is equally its duty to as-
certain that all fair means have been tried in
vain before violent measures are resorted to. A
Viceroy of superior intellect—of more steadi-
ness of purpose—of a higher capacity for civil
affairs than the present Chief Governor of Ire-
land has ever displayed, accompanied by a more
popular Chief Secretary than Mr. Stanley, might
be worth a'volume of Statutes of terror and ex-
termination. Ministers can make this experi-
ment without coming to Parliament for new
powers. Why do they not try all the means
within their reach before they have recourse to
others, which, even when proved to be neces-
sary for the restoration of the public peace,
make wise and good men sad fur the dangerous
precedents they establish, and the evils they
inflict on humanity ? The state of the manufae.
wring districts in the North of England was
alarming enough when Lord Castlereagh,
under the pretence of being unable to maintain
the authority of Government without new pow-
ers, introduced to Parliament those infamous Six
Acts, which the Whigs so vehemently opposed,
on the ground that they were as unnecessary as
they were violent, and that, if the Government
acted honestly and wisely, the peace of the dis-
turbed districts could be restored by the exercise
of the ordinary powers of the Constitution.
But, supposing it to be demonstrated that tran-
quillity in Ireland cannot be restored without
investing the Executive with extraordinary powers,
we ask why does not Government avail itself of
moral means, as well as threats of violent mea-
sures, to bring back a misguided population to
a sense of their duty ? It was to be regretted
that in the speech from the throne the language
of menace occupied so large a space, while the
promise of remedial measures consequent upon
the return to tranquillity was, except in re-
gard to tithes, carefully avoided. The present
Ministers are not answerable for all the evils
of Ireland ; some of them are the calamitous
growth of ages of misrule ; but by taking the
Government into their hands they have made
themselves responsible for the removal of griev-
ances wherever they are to be found. Why then
not hold out to the people of Ireland a certain
promise of remedial measures ? Is it more wise,
is it more dignified, to talk everlastingly of coer•
cion, than to temper the sternness of authority by
that language which inspires well-grounded hopes
of just redress? The amendment to the address
by Mr. Tennyson which went to pledge the Go-
vernment to " a close and diligent inquiry into
the causes of discontent in Ireland," was surely
a fair and reasonable proposition. When the
Duke of Wellington refused to listen to the
complaints of the distressed agricultural labourers,
and refused their reasonable demand of inquiry
into the matter of those complaints, we predicted
what the consequences would be. Most earnestly
do we entreat our present Ministers to recollect
his conduct, and its results, that they may take'
warning by the melancholy instruction of the ex-
ample.—Morning Herald.
17,: is impossible to take a review of the debate
which cOn:inued for four days, on the address to
the King, without being struck with the reserve
which the Alinisters held respecting their inten-
tions, either as regards the relief of taxation, re-
duction of establishments, reform in the church,
&c. ; but it is evident that Ireland was to be the
chief object, in order to keep the state of Eng-
land out of view. It must be a sad disappoint.
ment to the people in Ireland to learn that the
Reformed Parliament, before relieving them
from the oppression and misrule they have
suffered under the extraordinary powers of the
Tithe Act of last aeasion, have resolved by a
majority of 333 to give additional powers to
Me. Stanley to inflict still deeper wounds on
that devoted country. What must be the
feelings of that people who were promised last
year relief to their sufferings, by a correction of
some of their great grievances, to learn that new
powers of coercion are to be given without any
redrese whatever being afforded ? Mr. Hume,
who has been a very 7ealous and steady
supporter of the present Administration, ac-
cused Lord Althorp and his colleagues of a
breach of faith to the Irish and English
people, and also to the Parliament, in
pot having given concurrent relief to Ireland, as
he had promised last year, when the King was,
by Act of Parliament, named as Tithe Proctor
General for all Ireland. Was that charge of
Mr. Hume's denied or refuted ? No, it could
not ; and he therefore refused his confidence for
the future to men who had abused the confi-
dence placed in them last year respecting Ire-
land. Surely such proceedings against Ireland,
coupled with a perfect silence as regards what is
intended for England, must soon rouse suspi-
cions in the English people ; particularly when
the measures of coercion and violence to be
used are praised by Sir Robert Peel and all his
Conservative friends, who join cordially in sup-
porting them. What is to be done when Whigs
and Tories agree in such a stretch of power will
soon be seen, though we confess the coalition an
unnatural one, and to be viewed with great
jealousy. There was a time when the Reformers
rejected the cordial support of the Tories with
fear—times are altered, and we fear the country
will find that, when factions unite the people
suffer. It will be for the constituents of the
Members to take their course, and let them
know whether the support of coercion and revo-
lution is to lead to good.—
Morning Chronicles
The divisions in the new House of Com-
mons on Friday night have gone far towards
relieving the minds of some worthy, if not very
sagacious persons, from the fears entertained by
them respecting the composition of that as-
sembly. They dreaded the ascendancy of the
mouveme ut faction,—that noise and swagger