The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-18 00:00:00

any nsea,ure winch he might think calculated to promote
her is slfere, He could center with the other members
of the Adwinistratten day by day, and he could erreit
haree toe sugeestiens Miles) he might receive from
ID+ m)) ra fth leseislasure. In his opinion Ireland was
ua eatly visjudii ed ey the ab-anee from the Cabinet of
:shy eieeneer anneedietely responsible for the government
of that country. It was said that the responsibility
at
present devolved on the Secretary of State for the Horn*
Department. No doubt it did; but it would surely be
more satisfactory that the public functionary eharggd
with the administration of Irish affairs should be en:
abled to defend, or to explain in person to the House floso.
to his colleagues, the measures which he might think
best ealculat-d to promote the welfare of Ireland. ejeder
the proposed arrangement there would be ample OPP'"
tuuities for the new Secretary of State of listenie#
the suggestions of Irish gentlemen waiting on its
either individually or in deputations; and under the en'
isting system such communications frequently took
place between gentlemen connected with feelers'
and members of the Government. But if the 411
of Lord-Lieutenant were abolished, the question d"
arose to whose hands should the duties at present Pet'
formed by the Lord-Lieutenant be confided. Now he
readily admitted that it was desirable that there should
be as much unity of action as possible in administering
the business of any department of the Government. 13°
he felt at the same time that the questions with regard
to Ireland which constantly arose at the present de,'
were so numerous and important that they could not
possibly be dealt with satisfactorily by any of the great
officers of state who at present held places in the admi"
niatration. He certainly felt convinced that such an Ad'
dition could not be made to the duties of the Secretary
of State for the Home Department without overwhelm'
ing that functionary with a mass of business which 1;
would be impossible for him properly to perform. IT:
time might come when it would be possible to unite su,'
duties of the Secretary for the Home Department in
this
country with the duties of a Secretary for Ireland, a°
he earnestly hoped that that time might not be distant:,
That was precisely what had occurred in the case et
Scotland. For some time after the union with Scotland
there had been a Secretary of State for that countrYi
and it had afterwards been found unnecessary to continue
the existence of such a functionary. But he believed
that in the present state of Irish business it would be
impossible for the Secretary for the Home Department
to manage satisfactorily that business in addition to lb°
performance of his own multifarious duties. It aQ
peered to him that the Right Hon. Baronet the Memue-
fer Tam worth had overrated some of the difficultie°
or inconveniences which would arise from the appoint
ment of an additional Secretary of State. The Right
Hon. Baronet had stated that a difference of opinion
might arise between that functionary and the Secretary
for the Home Department in this country as to the Place
to which a regiment should be sent in case of disturb•
antes in different parts of the kingdom. But, in his (Sir
G. Grey's) belief, no such difference of opinion could
ever arise in a united cabinet; for the members of such
a cabinet would necessarily be ready at any time t°
adopt whatever arrangements they might on considers'
Lion think to be on the whole most conducive to the ge-
neral welfare of the United Kingdom. An opinion
seemed to prevail in some quarters that the abolition of
the Lord-Lieutenancy in Ireland might he followed by
the removal of the law courts from Dublin. Now be
(Sir G. Grey) could conceive no grounds whatever for
any such opinion. Her Majesty's Government had car'
tainly never entertained any idea of the kind. The
courts of law had been retained in Scotland, notivitu'
standing the union between Scotland and this countrY,
and he could not see why the same course should not be
pursued in Ireland. He should observe that the precise
mode in which the duties at present devolving on the
Lord-Lieutenant should hereafer be performed was "
matter for the consideration of the House in Committee;
He trusted that they would then consent to the second
reading of the Bill—that they would agree to the prin-
ciple of an immediate transfer of the business of Ireland
to this country, and by that means enable the head of
the Irish Administration to conduct the duties of his
office as a member of the Executive Government.
Mr. M'CULLAGH said that the question then at
issue was, how was the future government of Ireland to
be carried on? That measure would involve, in PlO,
English, the transfer of the Government of Ireland
from Ireland to England. He would entreat the Hese•
to consider whether the present moment was an atisr
cious one for that great, and, as he believed, most VT'
foes experiment. He confessed he looked with the
deepest anxiety to the future condition of Ireland. Iv
old quarrel still raged there—the quarrel between the,
great mass of the population and an aristocracy hostile
to them, but masters of the soil. He believed that n°
care which could be bestowed ought to be spared in the
government of a country so critically situated. It was
all very well to talk about an identity of laws and insti-
tutions in the two countries. But it was idle to sW°'
the possibility of such an identity in countries ti°
dissimilarly circumstanced. And, accordingly, he foul
that the system of education was different in Blight
and in Ireland ; he found the police sYste"-
and the system of public works different to
the two countries. Let them look at the Church estsh •
lishments in England and Ireland, and in what wide',
different circumstances they were placeu. In fact, 'es
every thing that formed the political and social state of
a country, the most striking difference prevailed in tile
.
two kingdoms. He had certainly thought at one time
that was to have been a final measure for the settlement
of that question ; but the Right Honourable Baronet
the Secretary for the Home Department had just Oh"
them that that was perhaps but the commencement of
system of centralisation, and that the office of SecretarY°t
State for Ireland might hereafter be abolished in the
same way in which a similar office had been establishes*
in the case of Scotland. He could not help apprehendilig
that under the new system the representatives for Ire;
land would vainly attempt to influence the policy Of til
proposed Minister for Ireland, for they would necessaril
be greatly outnumbered in the Legislature. He did 11
care what name they might give to the head of the Iris,
administration; he merely wished to have the busine!,,
of that department well done, and he believed that
Ireland only could it be well done. He believed th;
people of Ireland were entitled to equal laws, but it did
not follow that they desired to have the same laws,
it was sufficient to refer to their legislation to be e()0;
vinced that such had never been the principle upon whit
ed
the Imperial Legislature had acted. He might be as°,
what plan he would propose to substitute. His enswe
was, that he would propose a plan by which local sd'
ministration should
-be combined with ParliamentarY "0,
tendance and Parliamentary responsibility. The,aidie
fallible effect of this Bill would be to detach the au'
classes in Ireland from the Government, and to prod
an absentee gentry and an oppressed peasantry, whield
would help them not in the day of trouble, if it eb°"o
come—as come it might—and their only resource wee
be in the barracks of the troops.—(gear, hear.) id,
Mr. SHEIL could not help thinking that the fervita
impassioned nationality of his Hon. Friend who el
just sat down had in this instance overcome his liable
admirable sense. He had adverted to the details of t„,.r.
Bill, but bad left its principle untouched. In bis (ese
Spiel'.) opinion, the Secretary of State, no matter
what name he was called, ought to have a tnevet
knowledge of Ireland. He did not think it neees7de,
that he should be born there to have that knovsle,
but ho ehould be acquainted with the habits, the fach7it:
the prejudices, the passion-, the weaknesacs, and rlloie
ties, good and kid, and with that he ought cer!,,Tec;
occasionally, not constantly, to visit the country. as
was a time when the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
tof
subservient to the policy by which the governmee_ocd
the country was carried on, when Ireland was goneinros
through the Irish gentry, upon principles not more f the
testant than aristocratic, and the patronage etbef
Crown circulated in that restricted channel; w,henasaerf
virtually combatted the representation' co:bora- cou.
gb,
county and the nomination to every
and when the Castle was the point of P.
tical and social centralisation, the Lord - ut
tenant then drew about him a small ii,had
powerful class composed of the most seeeruPrtglY
men. But the foundation on which that exceedsooo
artificial system rested gave way; Catholic eel"ciePsoro3'
was carried, and was followed by ParliamentarY sod
and power was transferred from the favoure"eole
manageable few to the multifarious and unmaneg ouce
many.—(Hear, hear.) The Lord-Lieutenant stbordi-
was stripped of his power and became virtually s engine
t
nate to the Secretary of State, and from a stateeke-
was changed into a mere scenic apparatus and 1040cosee
representation of Royalty. The spectators bleu
curtain
weary of the exhibition, and it was time the, ,ed that
should drop.—(Hear, hear.) It must be admit'a better
what was called the Irish Court was in reality,l3,hue Dash
than a colonial dependency.—(Hear, bear.) -",-Iffice--"
Government should not be married to the Home "'doubt,
its duties were too onerous already. It was, sighS
extremely presumptuous for him to differ with tin_t sight
Hon. Baronet opposite, but he looked upon tirb,, Croed,
Hon. Baronet as the worst witness that could othes
for he would be apt to measure the capacities to the
by his own Aniatin powers. He had referren, things
10th of April.—(Hear. hear.) If that stet!, (sir
should recur under which his Right Hon• r_irn, bear)
G. Grey) evinced so much promptitude—(s mode.:
—so much firmness—(H. ST, near)—and 50,_Toting the
ration—(Cheers)—he could not but help t°
d would igi;
the preservation of peace in Edgseeetrea sus.;
him enough to do, without being called aot bout
press insurrection in Ireland. Let the be dresaw
fri:sfo,
their eyes. Ireland was passing throuirgabs toped. ei;
ordeal to which the name of transition
10
laud had not as yet accommodated hen,ttei
but needful novelty—the poor-law. rwhich the lite
fflVirotpeharttYte°r
country was going through a tribunal ul•natiOn, bet
Was divested of its proverbial proerasti,
_cd buedre
effect of which would be to cast hundreds „gel;
of well-born and well-educated men upells the prr
(Hear, hear.) The liabilities of landlord
_4,,,,,ebe..!
rogatives of tenants were being defined' at. 0373 6NthOullev
were found Presbyterians mingling n
witch snore, but
air°
a
clergy.—(Hear, hear.) He could say mu
d req the
Ire that
had said enough to remind them that
__, t_
undivided attention, though he would not euoi4tobb,
btoe
time might not come when it might In! P,t ;bon t
govern her by an undivided Administrates)?
_ad bl,:
moral aspect of Ireland should be wholly coins:, goon,
the ribi red,
daring disaffection should be cold, whe
process of social and political amelioration, wilu".-hts
be resPef;
property and the rights of poverty should
Tirana-01
for poverty had its rights as well as nwould se
(Hear, hear.) When the Irish gentleman
in the poet-house not a memorial of ? letsl'tt-"
eeecl
exaction, but a monument of national set
ac;
(Loud cheering)—when they had learned tote their
their institutions in Ireland, instead of Ireland to
(13/10eg
iitr. "
institutions—then, but not till,then—at anr
t
perhaps, in reference to brief individual existence't. por
short in comparison with a nation's growth tbe
haps, an amalgamation might be possible; but of too
urtben
interval let them avoid adding to the b _ deep
and solicitude incidental to the administration oor:,epary
office, which already demanded more than daft
0. c',',,due
combination of intellectual power and phyinc
ranee.--(Loud cheers.) . .