The Sun.
London, England, 1828-11-27 00:00:00

cerity, of ten times more weight than a waggon-
load of speeches.—Morning Herald.
At a Meeting of the Parishioners of the
united parishes of St: Mary, St. George, and
St. Thomas, Dublin, on Sunday last, Mr.
O'Connell, in a speech recommending the esta-
blishment of Liberal- Clubs, 'made the following
observations :--
" Know you that, in almost every part of Ireland,
the gaols are nearly empty; it is because the Asso-
ciation has preached obedience to the laws; the mo-
rality of private life is extending, and the people
have become better men and better Christians.—
Our revered and talented clergy have ever led the
way in every work of charity and benevolence; but
now they are crowning the pedestal which their
virtues have raised by the brilliant gem of patriotism.
(Cheers.) I repeat it, the gaols are nearly emptied.
(Hear, hear, hear.) Yesterday I had a conversation
with two English gentlemen, on the comparative
state of crime in the two countries. I informed
them that the jurisdiction of the Constitution ex-
tended about ten miles on every side through the
entire county of Dublin. One of them expressed
an opinion, that amongst the population in so vast
a district, the number of executions might be from
fourteen to twenty annually. Years,' I said,
pass over without a single execution.' Then,'
said they,' there must be five or six hundred trans-
ported.' They were utterly astonished that the
number transported last year was not more than fif-
teen or twenty. (Hear, hear.) This is 'a specimen
of the absence of crime in a country where the vio-
lation of the law is forced on the people by op-
pression and poverty. Such is the morality of a
country in which God has permitted cruel tyrants to
ride rough-shod over the people."
We will admit the facts stated by Mr.
O'Connell. We have heard again and again
from farmers. in Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, that
the Irish are much more honest than the Eng-
lish. A friend, who is an extensive cultivator
in one of the metropolitan counties, assured us
that at hay time and harvest lie had frequently
had numbers of Irishmen on his grounds, em-
ployed for weeks, and he did not believe that he
had ever lost to the value of a shilling from them,
and that the experienee of his brother farmers on
this subject was similar to his own. The lower
order . of Irish are less addieted to crime than
the lower order of English. But_when we have
admitted this, what is the conclusion we are to
draw ? From the way in which Mr. O'Connell
' states the fact, it would appear that he looks
.upon
the superior honesty of the lower orders of Irish
as something miraculous—as the reward of their
fidelity to the doctrines of the Catholic Church,
or as connected with the Milesian organization,
in some such manner as red hair is supposed to
be with the Caledonian. For our part, we
like to reduce the miraculous within as narrow
a compass as possible, believing that the charac-
ter of man is entirely dependent on the circum-
stances in which he is placed. That. the Irish
are kss disposed to steal than the English, isad-
mitted. But in. comparing two nations, we must
not confine ourselves to one 'object. What is
the conclusion at which we should arrive, if
we were to make the honesty of the lower or-
ders ,the highest excellence in
.a nation ?. This
conclusion only, that the Government under
which the Irish live is the. very best possible,
afal- that every nation should seek the benefit of
that degree of persecution to which they are in.
debtedlor tiir poverty and their exception from
crime. It has been epmetimes said, that there
are more commitnisnts_for theft in one town of
England than in the "whole 4tii.-4risnl empire.
But does it follow that the condition of the
people in the Austrian empire is preferable to
that of the people of England
.2 Some of the
late inquiries offt.hp 'French Ministers euppose
a more philoaOttliical view .of crime than has aez
netakst been entertained in. this Wintry.
kingdom ,of France comprehends provinceg dd.?
feting- materfially in civilization from each
other. The laws are the same, and the
judicial administration s .the same ; but crime
exhibits itself in the iiii4o4 ppssible . va-
riety, In Corsica, and the neighbourbo4 the
Alps and Pyrenees, crime displays itself princi,
pally in offences against the person ; in commer-
.
cial neighbourhoods silence is rare, and crimes
against property . become fn.:vent. There is
nothing arbitrary in the direction k.Th;,eh crime
takes in any country. In the lowest' state of.
vilization, property acee not extend beyond what
a man can carry about him, Renee the diffi-
culty all circumnavigators have fon4 in restrain..
ing savages from seizing whatever they zrp.re
struck with. Ts! subsequent stages, the right oft
property i 3 extendedio animals and to domestic
conveniences. Thencefonva,r4 theft becomes a
serious crime—more serious even to 4,7 offences
against the person. In all the._ early histoirig.,z,,4
nations, assaults, wilgever the result, are pu-
nished slightly, while petty !hefts are punished
with great severity. But a time omes- when
property is abundantly possessed by nut:44.5 in
a' community .; while ri.umberg, again, are in a
state of great privation,.and, to add to their dis-
&intent, they are everywhere present: A with the
contrast of persoug more fortunately eirc.on-
stewed than themselves. The severe laws against
theft,- which were enacted in tittles of great sim-
plicity; soon cease to be applicable to a state of
society in which there are numbers without pro-
perty constantly tantalised by the spectacle of
others enjoying property; and the humanity of
the more fortunate renders such severe Jaws a
decal letter. Hence, in the progr, ess of society,
we find theft looked upon as more and More
venial ; while, on the other hand, the indigna-
tion of society is espeeiail;' directed againstt
crimes of ;Tic)]
ence, as not carry-iilpvith them
the justification of necessity, and being foreigti
to the habits of an industrious population. No
comparison can properly be ingi;oted between a
population like that, of Ireland and the Fnalisb•
The lower orders
of English see themseivee
every where suirpOruiantdee. d blhproperty,
become
whichpo zicthheerys
whenever they
lrc
present
poorilyrTi.sothltfwe;Plibittalit
tbofiroust:ugl:ll.letcissto,oc.of constantly coarriseba.s,ieeplyteapatpreor
are unoccupied
or their- wages Pseu..e to support them,
a febeelbiegnabitehdat
toa to work
live, ~.
ated than the lole:er.
ltmalynd are neve • so
they are better
then . the latter are Pat exposed to the
by the P.44%.t1it sp„..
lioadeaNnyltenoftceol:llllPeitTassitlie°niljiSt;iinsg
aaromuant(btleetrt:coin.ll...
whether it wrAi.;4l be
ip
for them'
to be honest or to steati. the one case they
n;"„ust labour hard, 'and receive poll; iii the
other cr;se, they have a good roof over tt;g-i;
heads, and, by transportation to
New &naSouth
Wales,. become great 144.110rc1s in their
...turn.
Tl,ey knot's, that they cannot be w..s,ske, than they
•
are. raey know that severe laws gaiiimt
could. not be ezecuted in our daays.
Their
whole habits' are foformedcopsiderations of this
' Nay, we question, from jishs, we have
•
heard, v.,hether an honest labourer on a. ram!
would
.not he vietved by his fellow-labourers.as a
spy Oii therm , and rendered miserable. :We
aiittae to these :things because nothing can be