The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 29, 1844.

turbed the country during the four succeeding years would
have been avoided. Not only were the offers rejected, but
the Bill for the suppression of the Catholic Associa-
tion was carried. It was, however, laughed to scorn,
and proved ut:erly powerless and inoperative. The
energy of Mr. O'Connell now redoubled. The peasan-
try were taught to feel that the elective franchise was
not a trust vested in the tenant for the benefit of the
landlord. A great agrarian revolt took place, accom-
panied, beyond all doubt, with great evils, for
which, however, those by whom justice was so long
delayed are to be held responsible ; the Beresfords were
overthrown in Waterford ; in Louth the Forsters re-
ceived a mortal gash, and at length the great Clare elec-
tion gave demonstration of a moral power, whose exist-
ence had scarcely been conjectured. I remember to have
seen the late Lord Fitzgerald—an accomplished, an en-
lightened man—looking with astonishment at the vast
and living mass which he beheld from a window of a
room in the Court-house, where that extraordinary
contest was carried. There were sixty thousand men
beneath him—sober, silent, fierce. He saw that some •
thing far mere important than his return to Parliament
was at stake. Catholic emancipation was accomplished.
And here I shall put two questions—the first is this :
Do you think that up to the 13th of April, 1829,
the day on which the Royal assent was given to the
Catholic Relief Bill, the system of Government, insti-
tuted and carried on, under the auspices of an Imperial
Parliament, was so wise, so just, so salutaff,illo fraught
with advantages to this country—so conducive to its
tranquillisation and to the development of its vast
resources—that for nine and twenty years the union
ought to have been regarded as a great legislative
blessing to this country ? The second question I
shall put to you is this—Does it not occur to you
that if the present indictment for a conspiracy can be
sustained, an indictment for a conspiracy might
have been just as reasonably preferred against the
men who had associated themselves for the attainment
of Catholic emancipation ? There is not a count in
this indictment which, by the substitution of " Catholic
emancipation" for " RA peal," might not have been made
applicable to the great struggle of the Irish Catholics in
1828 and 1829. Money was collected by the Catholic
Association. In America, and more especially in Ca-
nada, strong sympathy for Catholic Ireland was ex-
pressed. In the Chamber of Deputies, M. Chauteau-
briand adverted to the state of Ireland in the language
of minacious intimation. Enormous assemblages were
hold in the south of Ireland ; but more especially in the
county of Kilkenny. Speeches were delivered by
Mr. O'Connell, and by others, .fully as inflammatory
as any which have been read to you. Yes ;
what would have been thought of an indictment for
a conspiracy against Mr. O'Connell, against the Even-
ing Post, the Ireentan'a Journal, the Morning Register,
Dr. Doyle, and my friend Tom Steele, WbO was at that
time, as lie is now, a knight-errant against oppression
in every form? ould it not have been deemed a
monstrous thing to have read a very exciting article in
three Roman Catholic newspapers,. against the men by
whom perhaps they never had been perused ? Such
a thing was never thought of. There were, indeed, pro-
secutions. -The individual who now addresses you was
prosecuted for a speech on the expedition of Wolfe
Tone. The bills were found ; but Mr. Canning
declared in the Cabinet that there was not a single
line in the speech, which, if spok, n in the House
of Commons would have justified a call for order,
and he denounced the prosecution as utterly
unjust. The prosecution was accordingly abandoned.
But, gentlemen, if I had been prosecuted fur a conspi-
racy, and held responsible not for my own speeches, but
for those of others, in hew different and how helpless a
position should I have been placed? Have a care how
you make a precedent in favour of such an indictment.
Dur.ng the last nine months, the Attorney-General had
ample opportunities, if his own statement bewell founded,
of instituting prosecutions against individuals for
what they themselves had written or done. In this
proceeding, VI hose tardiness indicates its intent,
you will not, I feel confident, become his auxiliaries.
A Coercion Bill, if the repeal of the union is to be put
down, would be preferable, for it operates as a tempo-
rary suspension of liberty; but the effects of a verdict
are permanently deleterious. The doctrice of conspi-
racy may be applied to every combination of every kind.
It is directed against the Repeal Association to-day ; it
may be levelled against the Anti-Corn-law League to-mor-
row. In one word, every political society, no matter
how diversified their objects, or how different their
constitution, is within its reach. The Catholic question'
having been considered, the Tories were put out by a
conspiracy formed amongst themselves. The Whigs
came in, and the Reform Bill is carried—how ? A
hundred and fifty thousand men assemble at Birming-
ham, and threaten to advance on London ; a resolu-
tion not to pay taxes is passed and applauded by Lord
Fitzwilliani. Lord John Russell and Lord Althorp
become the correspondents of the Birmingham union.
Cumber is reduced to ashes ,• Bristol is set on fire ; the
Peers resist, and the Whig Cabinet with one voice ex-
claims "Swamp the House of Lords!" And who are I
the men—the bold, audacious men—conspirators, in-
deed, who embark in an enterprise so fearful, and which '
could be only accomplished by such fearful means ?
You will answer Lord Grey ?—Yes. Lord J. Russell ?
—To be sure. Lord Althorn ?—No doubt about it. '
But is our list exhausted ? Do you remember Mr.
Hatchell asking Mr. Ross, " Pray, Mr. Boss, have you
any acquaintance with Sir James Graham ?" It is not
wonderful that the Attorney-General should have
started up and thrown down his buckler over the Se-
cretary of the Home Department. Sir James Graham,
has Ireland under his control. From the Home-office
this prosecution directly emanates. Gamblers denounce
vice—druukards denounce debauch—against immorali-
ties let wenchers revile. When Graham complains of agi-
tation his change of opinion may, for aught I know,
be serious ; nor have I from motives of par-
tisanship the slightest desire, especially behind
his back, to assail him ; I will even go so
far, for the sake of argument, as to admit that
his conversion may have been disinterested ; but I de
say, that he is, of all men, the last, under whose auspices
a prosecution of this character ought to be carried on.
The Reform Bill becomes the law of the land—the Par-
liament is dissolved,. and a new Parliament is summoned
and called together under the Reform Bill—and the
very first measure adopted in that reformed Parliament
is a Coercion Bill for Ireland. The Attorney-General
read a speech of Lord John Russell's. in favour of co-
ercion. He omitted to read the numerous speeches sub-
sequently made by that noble person,_ in which his
mistake with respect to Ireland is honourably con-,
fessed. Gentlemen, I shall not go through the events
of the last ten years in detail. It is sufficient to point
out to you the various questions by which this unfor-
tunate country has been
_successively convulsed. The
church question—the tithe question—the Municipal
Bill—the Registration Bill—these questions, with
their diversified ramifications, have not left us one mo-
ment's rest. Cabinets have been destroyed by them.
The greatest parties in the State have fought for them. Ire-
land has supplied the fatal field for the encounter of con-
tending parties. No single measure for the substantial and
permanent amelioration of the country has been adopted;
and here we are, at the opening of a new session of Parlia-
ment, with a poor-rate on our estates, a depreciating tariff in
our markets, and a State prosecution in her Majesty's Court
of Queen's Bench. Such, gentlemen, are the results of the
system of policy adopted in that Imperial Parliament, whose
wisdom and whose beneficence have been made the
theme for such lavish panegyric. Gentlemen, I do not
know your political opinions. Ido not know that
there is any one man among you favourable to
the repeal of the union ; but if • every . one of
you are fearful of that measure becoming ulti-
mately the occasion of a dismemberment of the empire,
still its discusssion may not be useless. If the councils of
the State were governed by no other considerations than
those which were founded upon obvious justice ; or if mea-
sures were to be carried by syllogisms, and Government was
a mere matter of dialectics, then all great assemblages of the
people should, of course be deprecated, and every exciting
adjuration addressed to the passions of the people should be
strenuously reproved. But it is not by ratiocination that a
redress of grievances can be obtained. The agitator must
sometimes follow the example of the diplomatist, who asks for
what is impossible; in order that what is possible may be ob-
tained. It must strike the least observant, that when the Go-
vernment complained most vehemently of demagogue audacity
their resentment is the precursor of their concessions. Take, as
an example, the Landlord and Tenant Commission, which
there are some Conservatives think will disturb .the founda-
tions of property, and against which Lord Brougham ad-
dressed his admonitory deprecation to Sir Robert Peel. For
my own part, I think it may lead to results greater than
were contemplated; for it appears to me to have been
chiefly intended as a means of diverting public attention
from the consideration of the other great grievances of
the country. The main source of all these grievances
I am convinced, is to be found in the colonial policy
pursued to this country. The Union never has been
carried into effect. If it had, Ireland would not be
a miserable dependent in the great imperial family.
The Attorney-General expressed great' indignation at the
motto at Mullaghmast—" Nine millions of -people cannot
be dragged at the tail of any nation on earth." That sen-
timent is taken from a paragraph in the Morning Chronicle
newspaper, and I have no hesitation in saying that I at once
adopt it. To mere numbers, without intelligence, organisa-
tion, or public spirit, I for one attach no value. But a great
development of the moral prowess of Ireland has taken
place. Instruction is universally dithised. The elements of
literature, through which political sentiment is in-
directly circulated, are taught by the State. Ireland has,
if I may so speak, undergone a species of transformation.
By one who had seen her half a century ago, she would be
scarcely recognised. The simultaneous, the miraculous
abandonment of those habits to which Irishmen were once
fatally addicted, at the exhortation of an humble friar, is a
strong indication of what might be done liy a good Govern-
ment with so fine a people. Without saying that the tem-
perance movement affords a proof of the facility with which
the national enthusiasm can be organised and directed. I
think it is one among the many circumstances which should
induce us to think that we have come to such a pass in this
country, that some great measures for its security and for its
happiness are required. I perceive the great literary organ
of the Whig party has recently suggested many hold mea-
sures, which it represents as necessary for Ireland. There
are numerous difficulties connected with some of the propo-
sitions to which I refer ; but there is one which I consider
to be as practicable as it is plain and just. It is recommended
that the Imperial Parliament should sit at certain intervals
in this great city. I cannot see any sound objection in the
Imperial Parliament assembling now, in the+ month of Oc-
tober, for the discharge of Irish business alone, and that all
imperial questions should be reserved until the London
session commenced, as it now does, in the month of
February. The public departments, it is true, are all
located in London ; but during the Irish session a refer-
ence to those departments would not be required. Such a
session might be inconvenient to English Members ; but the
Repeal agitation and a state prosecution, like the present, are
MTeriebelasd
cEoluignitieshr.
-'would accrue from die
attended with inconveniences far greater than any' which
vianntages which crossing the Irish Channel, would .en-
realisation of this project are of no ordinary kind. The
intercourse of the two countries would be augmented to such
an extent, their feelings would be identified. National pre-
judices would be reciprocally laid aside. An English domes-
tication would take place. Instead of lending money upon
Irish mortgages, Englishmen would bring funds to Ireland
and live upon them. The absentee drain would be diminished.
The value of property would be very nearly doubled. Great
public works would be undertaken, and the great natural en-
_ dowments of the country would be turned to account. This
city would appear in renovated splendour. Your streets