The Sun.
London, England, 1832-03-14 00:00:00

tea hero ia too great a hurry in introducing this measure
to the House, the Committee up stairs not having yet
concluded its labours ; but my excuse for this precipita-
tion must he the extreme urgency of the subject, which is
tin well known by Hon. Gentlemen, and too distincoly
pointed out by the Report of the Committee, to require
any comment from me. Indeed, one of ti-e most remark-
able facts connected with this question is the eXtreotelinary
manner in which it has, within the short space of eigh-
teen months, spread itself in every direction in Ireland.
Last June twelvemonth it first showed itself in one pa-
tish ; and now, according to the evidence selduced
before the Committee, it appears that it. embraces at
least one-third of Ireland. Aretoeicing to the testi-
mony of Sir John Harvey, the Whole of Leinster is affected
by this spirit of combination ; and from the evidence of
other persons it appears that the same spirit exists in
Kildare, Tipperary, Cork, Wa•erford, Limetick, and in a
trifling degree in Kerry ; nor is even this all—the impulse
is not confined to the Catholic counties of Ireland, but has
oven been felt in Londonderry, Armagh, and Danegal.—
Hear, heir.) Now, Sir, what does ill this prove? Te
my mind it proves that this is no traneient
but that it is a display of feeling proceeding from a deep
rooted disease—a disease which was already in progress
before the present Government came into power. The
teens, however, that the present Government has telsen, are
those which were thought best calculsted to meet the
exigency of the ease. Every possible protection which
an overwhelming military forces joined to a large police
establishment, collected from the various counties, could
afford, was afforded for the recovery of the tithes, or
rather for the protection of those persons who were em-
ployed in enforcing their payment, Let the House
look to the evidence of Major Brown, who says, " On
the 3d of March I marched into Graigue, with 120 men
of the county of Kilkenny Constabulary, and on the 4th
the drivers went out with an ademaerc escort. I was
employed upon this duty until the 4th of May—a period
of two months, during which time the police were inde-
fatigoblc in their exertions, out every day, and frepently
twice a day, and traversing a great extent of country
upon every excursion." This evidence of Major Brown
is abundantly confirmed by that of other witnesses who
speak on the same subject ; and, above all, I may refer to
the letter of Sir John Harvey, in Appendix, `;o. 11. for
the purpose of showing how rapid wes the spread of the
feeling of resistance. Sir John Hat vey, in his letter to
Sir W. Gosset, says, " The only measure of relief which
I have been enabled to afford Dr. Hamilton end Mr.
Langrishe (of Knockcopher), has been to order the chief
constable from Piltown (Bessborough), where all is quiet,
to establish himself with all the disposable constables of his
district, until further orders, at Knocktopher, to protect
the drivers and process-servers of those Rev. Gentlemen,
So soon as the company of infantry, therefore, is placed at
Castlecomere the tithe proceedings will he in operation in
the greatest part of the county, as well as in the adjoin-
ing county of Carlow." Thus, within two or three months
after the first intimation of an organised resistance to the
payment of tithes, a military force, in conjunction with
the police, was put in active operation through two counties
of Ireland, their most active services being fully recog-
nised by the state of those counties. It must also he ob-
served, that the mode of opposition offered to the Govern-
ment, and to those employed in the collection of the
tithes, was such as to render all operations most difficult.
Intimidation and violence against the precess-server—corn-
binations against the seizure and purchase of cattle—in
short, every symptom which ran mark a determined op-
',coition on the part of a whole population, acting as one
man, against the imposition of a legal due, have been de-
ve'oped in Ireland on this occasion. So much has this
system been acted on, that in the progress of the pro-
ceedings it has not only been difficult to get a process
served, but even a matter of impossibility in many of
the towns of Ireland to get an attorney to take a fee
from a client, or to give his legal assistance for the
purpose of obtaining the execution of the law in tithe pro-
cesses. I can assure the Committee that this is a fact,
though no doubt it will appear so incredible, that I feel
it incumbent on me to substantiate the statement by
evidence. What does Mr. Fitzgerald say on this subject?
—" Supposing even that this difficulty were got over of
the serving of the process, the next is to find an attorney
who will undertake to move those pi ocesses at Quarter
Sessions; and in most places, of late, the attorneys have,
generally speaking, been so intimidated that they have
refused to move tithe processes. In fact, one case came
under my own knowledge, where four Magistrates, from
a remote part of the country, on their way to attend the
Thurlen Quarter Sessions upon magisterial business, were
mistaken at the entrance of the town of Thurles for four
attorneys; and the mob told them on no account or pre-
tence to dare move the tithe processes, for if they did they
would never leave that part of the country alive." Now,
in speaking of intimidation in Ireland, let it be remem-
bered that it is a very different thing from England.
English gentlemen, who are used to that habitual secu-
rity which they derive from the law, who know that the
feeling of the whole population of the country is embarked
on the side of the law—for there is scarcely any man in
this country who does not think it rather creditable than
otherwise to forward the ends of justice. English gentlemen,
I say, can have no idea of the extent to which threats
and anonymous notices, which in England wculd be
looked on with contempt, have power and influence over
the minds not of the lowest and most degraded, but of psr-
sons in a comparatively high and respectable situation in
Ireland ; nor can they understand how much more easy it
is for this system of intimidation to gain strentith in Ire-
land, where there is a poor and scattered population, resi•
ding in miserable and easily destroyed houses.—(Hear.)
Let Hon. Gentlemen remember that the popul ition of Ire-
land is a population shalt of work, and therefore always
ready for violence, all of which circumstances render it
the more easy for those threats to be carried into (fleet in
spite of the best pik, and the most vigilant conduct of
any Government that ever existed. Sir, 1 have mentioned
these things merely to account for that which, without
this explanation, might have appeared incredible to
English gentlemen—namely, that mere threatening no-
tices, which here would be scorned at, should exercise
such strong and irresistible influence over the minds of
respectable persons in Ireland. But after all there is no
necessity for us to dispute about the question of how
far it is reasonable that such intimidation should carry
weight with them. It is enough for us to know that they
have their influence, and have had long before the present
time. From the earliest days of Ireland do we not hear
of similar violence being exhibited on the subject of tithes ?
Has there ever a year, or even a month passed without our
hearing of process-servers being exposed to popular vio-
lence, carried to such an extent as frequently to terminate
in bloodshed and murder ? Nor is this all. The whole
of this re-acts again in itself; and the consequence of this
violence has been, to render the office of process-server
taken up by none but men of desperate fortunes and
doubtful characters, who from their conduct have, doubt-
less, too frequently provoked violence in such a way as, if
not to justify, at least almost to palliate the outrages com-
mitted against them. But even supposing that no vio-
lence whatever had been exhibited, there would still be
sufficient difficulty remaining, fur the consequence of the
tacit combination that has taken place among the people
has been, that -no seizuroe can be sold. On this subject
Major Brown states:—" The whole population was con-
stantly on the watch, and signals made announcing
the approach of the drivers and police ; the cattle
were driven home by the farmers, whenever it was pos-
sible, and placed under lock and. key ; and as
the law did not perMit doors to be broken, the seizures
made were not so numerous as would otherwise have
been the case. The cattle, after seizure, were placed in
the pound, and invariably bought by the owners'on the
day of sale." The evidence of Sir J. Hervey on this point
is also very important :—" By doing what we did at
Graigue, employing an overwhelming force, and applying
that force to one particular parish for a period of two
months, we were enabled at the end of that two months
to collect about one-third of the arrears due to theclergy-
man ; and by that period another arre.ir of half a year had
become due; so that with all the force the Government
could bring to bear in the county of Kilkenny, not a tithe
of the tithe of the clergy was collected in the course of
two months, but only one-third of one parish." At one
tune we heard a great deal about this opposition being con-
hoed to one pariah, and now I suppose it will be con-
tended that it does not extend beyond two or three dio-
ceses. Now, Sir, lam willing to admit that actual re-
sistance had not been displayed in more than two or three
dioceses; but if we suppose that the same spirit is not
extending to very many more districts in Ireland, we
shall very much deceive ourselves ; for we shall find,
if we refer to the evidence, that the clergy are under
a deep sense of the impassibility of recovering their
rights, and the responsibility to which, as men and Chris.
tian Ministers, they are exposed in insisting on tt• right
which tends to bloodshed and tumult. But, because they
feel this, are they to submit to a total annihilation of their
income, and to be reduced to the extremist distress? That
such is the condition of the Clergy is so well known, that
it would hardly be necessaey.to quote single passages in
support of the position, were it nut that, on a former night
it seemed to be maintained that the Clergy were not suf-
fering under that pressing distress which the Govern-
ment would represent to Parliament as the real fact of
the case.--(Heir, hear, hear)—and as this is a point on
which I should he sorry that the Ccimmittee should pro.
ceed on imperfect information, I trust that I shall be ex-
cused It I substantiate this part of my argument by one or