The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-26 00:00:00

fit ruin t Aitll4

LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1844.

The debate on the Irish question, after a nine nights'
discussion, was brought to a close on Frieay night,
It has been, on the whole, an interesting and ani-
mated, and—as the result, we trust, will show—a
useful, debate. As regards ability, the preponderance
has been decidedly on the side of the Opposition, for
without meaning to deny the skill and ingenuity dis-
played to the speeches of Lord STANLEY, Sir ROJSERT
PEEL, and the Attorney-General for Ireland, we
must say that no Ministerial display of eloquence
has at all equalled, or even come near, those made
by Messrs. MACAULAY, SHEIL, Sir T. .WILDE,
Lord Jouw RUSSELL, and Lord Howicx.
Of Mr. O'ConsrELL's speech last night it may be
stated with perfect truth, that, without affecting any
lofty or impassioned rhetorical flights, it was just the
sort of speech suited to the occasion—manly, calm,
argumentative, and characterised by a tone almost
amounting to the conciliatory. The Hon. and Learned
Gentleman frankly and fairly stated his opinions of
some of the proposed remedial measures of Govern-
ment, and alluding, in particular, to the franchise,
said—" You must make regulations for insisting on
the residence of freemen ; they should reside for three
months befoke, and three months after, the registry, in
the borough. If you insist on the residence of freemen,
you will have made a very useful change. The
ounty franchise, too, is, I am told, to he altered. You
hould give us the beneficial interest franchise. The
solvent test franchise would annihilate the county
constituency of Ireland. We are a poor country, and
if you do anything, you should do it generously, and
do it at once. You should give us a franchise equally
potential with that in England, so as to have a con-
stituency of the Irish counties equal in propor-
tion to the population of that of the Eng-
lish counties. If you legislate for us justly, I
shall hail your measure with satisfaction; but we
must have no restriction of the franchise. We will
meet you cordially, if you will meet us cordially."
On the landlord-and-tenant question, Mr. O'CoNsinu,
remarked that if the law were restored to 'the state
in which it was before the union, the landlord would
have no right to complain ; and with respect to
absenteeism, he added—"it ought to be punished as
a crime. You ought to impose an absentee-tax. Lay
a heavy impost on the absentee landlord in England,
so as to drive him back to the interests of his
wretched serfs." The Hon. and Learned Member
closed his speech by some pertinent and forcible com-
ments on the manifest injustice of maintaining the
present enormous Protestant Establishment in Ire-
land. Sir R. PEEL, who rose immediately after Mr.
O'CONNELL, devoted a great portion of his speech to
an attack on Lord JOHN RUSSELL, for having spoken
in disparaging terms of the Chancellor, and to an
explanation of the conduct of Government, as re-
garded their interference with the repeal monster
meetings. His explanation on this point was scarcely
necessary, for Sir JAMES GRAHAM had already
travelled over the same ground, and the Premier did
little more than echo his statements. On the subject
of the Landlord and Tenant Commission, he stated
that it was intended to make, not a partial and super-
ficial, but an honest, searching inquiry, into the
matter ; and with respect to the franchise, he
remarked, " I think it ought to be sub-
stantially equal with that of Great Britain.
I do not say that there should be an
identity of franchise between the two countries, be-
cause that is impossible.; but this much I will say,
that, with regard to the Irish franchise, I think it
ought to be substantially equal with that of Great
Britain." With reference to the Protestant Church—
the monster-grievance of Ireland—Sir ROBERT PEEL
spoke out with far more energy and decision than
he id usually in the habit of exhibiting. " I
come to the conclusion," he said, " founding my-
self upon compacts, on authority, and on
the convictions of my own mind, that the
best course—and the course which I for one, as
far as my humble powers can effect it—the Govern-
ment can pursue, is, to maintain in its integrity the
Protestant Church Establishment." This declaration
ie decided and straightforward enough—there is no
fault to be found with it on that score—but unfor•
innately it is decided and straightforward on the
wrong side. So long as the Protestant Establishment
continues on its present footing, there can he no sure