The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-14 00:00:00

adjourned.

The time of the House of Commons last night was
almost exclusively devoted to the debate on the ques-
tion of Ireland, which was commenced by Lord
JOHN RUSSELL, who rose, pursuant to notice, to move
for a Committee of the whole House to consider the
state of that country. His Lordship's speech, as in-
deed was to have been expected from him, was re-
plete with strong common sense, without the slightest
attempt at lofty or impassioned eloquence ; and its
object was to show that Ireland has never yet been
allowed to participate in the benefits promised her by
the Act of Union ; and that the equality which the
Tories are constantly insisting that she possesses with
England, has up to the present moment been nominal
rather than real. The Whigs during their
period of authority made every effort in their
power to ameliorate the condition of the sister
country, and in some degree were successful, but
they were hampered and thwarted by the Tories,
and were in consequence unable to carry out their
remedial schemes to the extent they could have de-
sired. "In 1841," added the Noble Lord, " the Right
Hon. Gentleman opposite had Ireland delivered over
to him in a state of political tranquillity. Ido not
wish to exaggerate; I do not say those evils which
had been accumulating for a century had been dis-
pelled by five or six years of just administration ; but
I do say that the temper of the people had improved
—that there was a greater confidence in the adminis-
tration of the law—and that if that confidence had
been fully confirmed we should have expected from it
the most sensible increase in material wealth." In re-
ference to the state of the sister country at the present
moment, Lord JOHN RUSSELL emphatically re-
marked—" Facts clearly establish that Ireland is
only occupied, and not governed, by those who now
hold the reins of power. In England the govern-
ment of the country is, as it should be, a matter of
opinion ; but the government of Ireland is notori-
ously a government of force." Sir JAMES GRAHAM
did not attempt to controvert this statement—indeed
how should he ?—but contented himself with observ-
ing—" most certainly we do occupy Ireland by a
military force, when a demonstration is made clearly
showing an intention to wrest that country from
her MAJESTY by a military force." This is very shal-
low sophistry—in fact, it is a virtual begging of the
hfarsomevehrerexi‘,hlibAi
JtEedsTyan? inltsenittionmorf.
wresting Ireland
Who
O'CoNNELL ? Why, he has always denounced in the
strongest possible terms the idea of a separation from
the Crown ! Indeed, he has explicitly stated—not
once, but a hundred times—that his great object in
seeking a domestic Parliament is to consolidate,
rather than weaken, the union between the two
countries, and to establish it on a broader, safer,
and more enduring basis than that on which
it now stands. Then, how preposterous in
Sir JAMES GRAHAM to allude to the " mi-
litary force" intentions of the Repealers ; when
he must know that, following the example of their
chief, they all, to a man, repudiate the bare idea
of having recourse to military force ! The Right
Hon. Baronet had far better have held his tongue
on the embarrassing subject of " military force,"
than have justified its adoption by such misinter-
pretation and downright perversions of fact as this.
In noticing the question of the striking the Ca-
tholic jurors off the panel, Sir JAMES GRAHAM,
to do him justice, was much more suc-
cessful, and certainly placed the matter in
a far less obnoxious light than that in which we have
till now regarded it. He closed a heavy and, on the
whole, unsatisfactory speech by stating that it was
the intention of Government to propose a considerable
addition to the vote for national education in Ire-
land; an extension of the county franchise ; and
an alteration in that of the cities and towns.
This is a beginning—though a very tame
and meagre one—of the great task of Irish
improvement, and as such we receive it with
thanks ; but more—much more must be done—and
this in a far bolder and nobler spirit—ere Ireland can
be said to be placed on a footing of perfect equality
with England. A creditor to whom a heavy debt is
owing, though he is of course ready to receive any
instalment, no matter how small, has still abundant
cause for complaint. if, instead of getting a half or
even a third, he is put off with a twentieth part of his
demand.

Among the alterations which Government intend
making in the new Poor-law Bill, Sir JAMES GRA-
HAM stated that he proposed to relieve it of the whole
weight of its connexion with the question of bas-
tardy, and to place the mother of a bastard child
and her illegitimate offspring as a destitute widow
and child, the latter having been born in wedlock.
In commenting upon this just and humane provision
—humane certainly when compared with the clause
as it originally stood—the Post observes:—" What-
ever the Right Hon. Secretary may intend, we think
that respect for the destitute widow and child might
have prevented him from saying that the mother of a
bastard child and her illegitimate offspring should be
held by the law to stand exactly in the same
position." There is a very prudish, lady's-
maid sort of spirit in this remark, and the
sense of morality that suggested it—however
it may gratify the nice, ultra-rigid sticklers
for conventional respectability seems to us
to be at best but equivocal, What possible injury is