The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-25 00:00:00

in another county. This delegated authority is at all
times deeply injurioul to the nation afflicted by the
incubus ; it carries with it the idea that the people
are unable or unworthy to provide for the adminis-
tration of their own affairs, that they must at all times
be placed under the patronage and protection of a
more powerful state. This indeed, an "affront"
which may well arouse their indignation, and give
occasion to many bitter hsartburnings and fierce re-
monstrances, which may lead to civil dissensions and
ultimately to internecine strife. The more powerful
kingdom will regard the other as its inferior, bound to
obey its dictates in every particular, and not to
have an opinion of its own on any disputed
question ; while the other will acutely feel its de-
grading position, and desire any change that may
afford a prospect, however remote, of restoring itta
independence and nationality. Neither can look upon
the other in its true light; everything is regarde.d
through a haze of misconception that distorts the
vision, and the natural result follows—each is dissa-
tisfied and discontented. England regards Ireland
as a craving and importunate beggar, a heavy bue•clen
on her resources, and the great difficulty of every
Government ; while in Ireland she is looked upon as a
tyrannical and cruel mistress, who will not per-
mit her sister kingdom to adopt the plans ne-
cessary fur her regeneration, and who will
not willingly render the assistance for which
her own mis-legislation and mal- administration
creates the necessity. In place, then, of being an
efficient and valuable partner and coadjutor, she is a
bad and useless servant; and such will be the case
until Ireland becomes really and truly an integral
portion of the British empire, and until her children
have no well-founded complaints to prefer of the in-
equality of their condition with their English fellow-
subjects, on which to create an organized and formi-
dable agitation.
The inconvenience and danger of two separate Le-
gislatures had long attracted the observation of intel-
ligent and far-seeing men in both countries. If they
were really independent, the one of the other, there
was the prospect of a speedy collision, in
which neither would be willing to yield, and which
might lead to the most deplorable and calamitous re-
sults. The measures which one Parliament might
deem essential to the safety and welfare of the em-
pire might not only be negatived in the other, but
others of a directly opposite tendency enacted. A
Learne of cross purposes would speedily be played, in
which the object of each would be to thwart the other,
and which could only terminate in the humiliation and
submission of one of the belligerents. Every effort was
accordingly made to bring about a fusion which would
prevent the possibility of such a disagreement, and
that effort was partially successful fifty years
since ; but, unfortunately, an element remained
which prevented the perfect union that was
so much to be desired. A separate executive was
still maintained—lreland was placed under the go-
vernment ef a Lord- Lieutenant, who, with most in-
adequate means, aped the pomp and state of Royalty,
and who was, in fact, himself but the servant of the
Secretary of State for the Home Department. In-
deed, the powers of the Viceroyalty were never very
distinctly defined, and the unfortunate country to
which he was sent was but too frequently placed
under three masters—the Lord-Lieutenant, the Irish
Secretary, and the Home Secretary, all of whom
were pulling in different directions, each having his
own peculiar objects to promote.
We cannot believe that the office would have been
continued at the time of " the Union"—that those
who were so fully alive to the manifest evils of
separate Parliaments would have been insensible to
the objections against separate executives, but for cer-
tain difficulties that have since been removed, for
circumstances that have now no existence. In 1800
the intercommunication between the two countries
was proverbially tedious and uncertain. It was
carried on in small sailing vessels, which were fre-
quently detained for days, aye for weeks, by contrary
winds. Emergencies might occur, more especially
during a period of warfare, when some person in-
vested with all but sovereign authority should be
always resident in the Irish metropolis, prepared to
act according to the exigency of the moment. The
principle of steam, enabling men to control the very
elements, had not been applied to navigation.
The idea of railways, by which time and space have
been practically annihilated, had not entered into the
most vivid imagination. Tha wonders of the electric
telegraph had been only faintly shadowed forth in an

old paper of " The Spectator." It was regarded
as a piece of necromancy, which could no more be
realised than the gorgeous visions of the "Arabian
Nights." A person who believed that two friends
could possibly communicate by means of dials placed
in their respective libraries, with the rapidity of
lightning, would be regarded as a dreamer and a mad-
man ; and yet we have lived to see all these things
accomplished—to behold the journey from London to
Dublin, et vice versa, which used, under the most

favourable circumstances, to take at least three days,
and frequently more than double that time, now per-
formed with ease and safety in twelve hours, while
information can be communicated or instructions re-

ceived in little more than four hours. Under present
circumstances, what occasion can there be for an
office, once necessary, but now no better than a sine-

cure, which degrades and provincialises the nation in
which it is retained ? Are we still to keep up dis-
tinctions which prevent the complete identification of
the countries, to separate those whom GOD and nature
bath joined together?
All that can be asserted in opposition to the
powerful arguments in favour of its aboli-
tion is, that certain shopkeepers in Dublin
might possibly be injured by the removal

of a nobleman having an official salary of 20,0001. per
annum. For their sake, then, that they may be
" protected" and subsidized from the Imperial Ex-

chequer, that they may receive benefits denied to
their provincial brethren of Cork, Limerick, or Bel-

fast, the system with all its admitted evils is to be

preserved and perpetuated. The trade of Dublin
must indeed be in a miserable condition, if the with-

drawal of such " a bonus" would complete its amaih
lation. It must be but a sickly and puny flower

such artificial means are necessary to keep it alive.
Will not, however, the arguments that have been

used during the free-trade discussion apply in this
instance also ? Ally not the want of self• reliance and

vigorous confidence that is ever induced by, that is
in fact the necessary result of, a protective system
have had some effect in producing the present
depression in Dublin ? Have not the tradesmen de-
pended too much upon " the Castle" and too little
upon their own exertions ? We fear that there may
be but too much foundation for the supposition, or
we never should hear of a handsome city, containing
no less than 280,000 inhabitants, being indebted for
its very existence to a single individual, and the
shows and pageantry of a mock court.
We might ask, what right has Dublin to such an
advantage over all other localities in either country ?
Why should the hard-working operative of Man-
chester, the sturdy yeoman of Cork or Tipperary, or
the intelligent linen manufacturer of Down or
Antrim, be taxed for the exclusive benefit of
the tailors or milliners of Dublin ? But it
is unnecessary to enter into this part
of the argument. The sum is too trivial and insigni-
ficant to be regarded as of any importance, and if it
_ _

really served Dublin, without injuring other portions
of the empire, we should be disposed to tolerate the
absurdity and to pardon the injustice. But such is
not the case. The nice of public opinion is too

powerful to be repressed. Public policy demands the

. .
sacrifice. The condemnation of the 'Viceroyalty has
been pronounced—its doom is sealed, its very days

are numbered, and a brief space must witness its final

extinction.

We cannot close our observations on this subject
without recommending to the notice of all anxious to
arrive at a sound and unprejudiced judgment on the
question, a very clear and well-written pamphlet,.
" The Vices of the Viceroyalty," which has just been
published on the sulject, and in which the matter is
examined in every point of view, and its inherent
evils most ably exposed. If space permitted we
should gladly extract many pas-ages from this able
production. We cannot, however, resist one quota-
tion, where the writer, after showing the ridiculous
position in which some of the advocates for the con-
'inuance of the office have placed themselves " by the
ne of argument they have giddily adopted," says—
" It looks like trifling to answer nonsense like this ;

* " The Vices of the Viceroyalty." Dublin; Hodges
and Smith. London; J. Ridgway, Pp. 40.