The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-02 00:00:00

TENANT RIGHT,

The Marquis of LONDONDERRY presented a peti-
tion from the tenant-farmers of the counties of Down
and Londonderry, in public meeting assembled at Cole-
raine, praying their Lordships to puss a statute ensuring
tenant-right to the occupiers of land. Tenant-right was a
boon given by the landlord to the tenant centuries age. He
took up this as a publa; question. Great excitement existed
in Ulster on the subject of tenant-right, and great bitter-
ness and jealousy had been in consequence occa-
sioned, and that excitement had been kept up by
the efforts made last year to excite the far-
mers against the rate in aid, by the unfortunate
affair of Dolly's Brae, and by the meetings which had
been called during the last autumn and winter by the
Protectionist leaders, who had made most exciting
speeches; and the most remarkable circumstance was that
the very persons who had been then called together by the
Protectionist landlords had united to call for a large re-
duction of rent from the landlords, and for tenant-right,
and net only for that, but for a perpetuity of tenancy ;
in fact, they claimed the land as their own and threat-
ened all those farmers who dared to take land from which
others had been ejected. In other instances they had
actually determined not to pay rent--had, in fact, con-
fiscated their landlord's property.—(Hear, hear.) In
such a case as this something should be done ;
he did not call upon the Lord-Lieutenant to
proclaim the county, but really something must be
done to arrest these gentlemen in their progress, and to
prevent the preaching of these doctrines. He had been
called upon by a Presbyterian minister to substantiate
what he had stated with regard to the non-payment of
rent, which he alleged that those ministers had stated.
He had received a letter, written by command of the
Rev. W. Dobbin, calling on him to retract or sub-
stantiate those assertions. (The Noble Marquis then
read the letter, challenging him to prove his
assertions, and charging him with calumniating
those who were equally regardless of his
smiles and his frowns, and treated him with unmitigated
scorn, and dared him to to try the question of privilege
with them.) He had also received a letter from a most
respectable landlord of the county of Down, who ex-
pressed his satisfaction that he (the Noble Marquis) had

drawn the attention of the House to the calumnies of the
Presbyterian ministers, and to the reign of terror
which they were seeking to establish, making
the county of Down a second Tipperary. He hoped
that the Government would discover some mode of
expressing their disapprobation of the proceedings of
these Presbyterian ministers. Attempts at murder had
been made in the county of Down, and ho hoped that the
Government would offer large rewards for the discovery
of the perpetrators of these outrages. Of one thing he
was certain, that the landlords would not be intimidated,
but that they would resist with firmness these exciters to
murder and incendiarism.

Lord BROUGHAM had the other day expressed his
strong reprobation of a letter written by a reverend
gentleman to his Noble Friend, but that letter was no-
thing to the letter which had been read. Any compo-
sition more remarkable for mere vulgar abuse, more
unworthy of a gentleman, more unworthy of an educated
man, more utterly unworthy of a minister of the Gospel,
he had never heard. If those persons thought that threats
would make any Noble Lord swerve from the performance
of what he considered his duty, they would find them-
selves bitterly deceived, for whatever faults might be
laid to the account of their Lordships, that of yielding
to vulgar intimidation was the last thing of which they
could be accused.

The Earl of DEVON was opposed to legalising what
was commonly called tenant-right.
The Earl of RODEN agreed with the Noble
Earl who had last spoken ; but he maintained, that
all good landlords made their outgoing tenants ample
compensation. He denied that the county of Down was
in the disturbed state represented by the Noble Marquis.
He considered the letter read by the Noble Marquis
to be a most insolent and most vulgar tirade,
and as such to be utterly reprobated. Reference had
been made to the violence of the Presbyterian clergy,
but among every body of men so large as the
Presbyterian clergy violent persons would be found, and
it was unfair to make the body answerable for the faults
of individuals. As a body there was not a
more respectable or worthy body of men to be
found than the Presbyterian clergy of the north
of Ireland. He regretted that the attention of Parlia-
ment had been drawn to the subject, as he thought it
could not but produce disastrous effects.
Lord BROUGHAM explained that he had not
meant, in what he had said, to bring any charge
against the Presbyterian clergy at large. Never had he
seen so little of the insolent spirit exhibited in that letter
in any body of men as in the Presbyterian clergy, and
he hoped they would repudiate the writer of that letter.
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY had never in-
tended by anything he had said to impugn the conduct
of the Presbyterian clergy at large. He defied the
Noble Earl to prove that the county of Down was nut
now in a state of great excitement, occasioned by the
meetings recently held there.
The Earl of MOUNTCASHEL was sure that the
great majority of the Presbyterian clergy would repu-
diate the language that had been used by
the clerical agitators at tenant-right meet-
ings, and as to writers of letters, such as
those read by the Noble Marquis, they should be brought
to the bar of the House, and severely punished. As to
tenant.right, the word had been invented by Mr. Shan.
man Crawford, and he (the Earl of Mountcashel) did not
understand the meaning of it. The landlords in the
north of Ira,land had always been most kind to their
tenants, but that did not constitute a right on the part of
the tenants to the allowance which had been made to
them by the kindness of their landlords. He trusted
their Lordships would never pass any measure for
legalising tenant-right.
The petition was then ordered to lie on the table, and
their Lordships adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, Mark 1.
The SPE/JEER took th© Chair at Four o'clock.
The Dundalk and Enniskillen Railway Bill was read
a second time.

SUNDAY LABOUR IN THE POST-OFFICE.

Mr. PIGOTT presented a petition from Reading
against any future transmission of mails or delivery of
letters during the twenty-four hours of the Lord's-day.
COUNTY FINANCIAL BOARDS.
Mr. ELLIS presented a petition from Leicester pray-
ing for the establishment of county financial boards.