Star.
London, England, 1816-03-08 00:00:00

i. - - ---s
bin.* !loped ;tat thitiekrence would net leaf san.i
gum* tilled'. to ,valciflatio",spoo melts. beyond the
pe • t tcr .effeet. That Parliaitient
had We. on. A* give • the most attentive con.
tideriiidti 'Jo the distrrebses of the country, and
to apply every practicable remedy, there coild.not
be the dightestrdnobt. ,He was satisfied that no
doubt existed in any *tarter as to that disposition,
and that the public would. look to the decision
of Parliament with every possible defeyence.—
Whatever, indeed, might be sometimes said, he Wsb
persuaded the people of England regarded, with
the utmost respect the decision. of Parrhament, and.
that even if no relief were afforded on this occasion.
the proceedings of the House would pmdilee great
satisfaction, especially from the solicitude which these
proceedings would manifest to consult Alit most im-
portant object. the interest of the egriCullure of the.
coontty. Upon this subject he felt a personal interest
from the part which he took List Session with regard
to the Corn Laws, and Fran what had since occurred
respecting that much calumniated and misunder-
stood measure, he was sure that no individual who
had then manifested any resentment, would now lie-
,sirate to ask pardon Of those who were the objects
of that resentment.—(Neer. hear.) The popular
delusion of that day bad indeed become obvious
to the whole-of the country; for the riteasurb.to which
that delusion referred had occasioned none of the mis-
chief which was then apprehended, while. he was
I to say, thatit was not Productive of the goof!
'vested from-its adoption. It bad not the power of
ing the distress against which it was pointed.
Ertli yet it that measure were adopted at an dailies
period, he was convinced that this distress would at
least have been more gradual—that the pressure of it
would not have been so immediately mid so severely
fele. He had, however, the satisfaction to think,
that if the measure alluded to had done no good, it ,
bad done no harm and therefore the popular cry of
the last year proved to be utterly groundless. The
Honourable Gentleman concluded with observing,
th{t he had the utmost satisfaction in concurring .with
the motion. and that he should use every effort in
his power to promote the object of the Honourable
Mover.

Sir F. FLOOD emphatically pressed upon the
consideiation of the House the severe distress of the
pehple of Ireland, which was so notorious, that he
could not think it necessary to describe it. The Ho-
nourable Baronet, however, thought it proper to
state the cause and the effect. with the remedy, for
that distress. The main cause Was, he contended, the
siOn-residence of the land owners, which evil had in-
creased to an alarming extent since the year 1801.—
The principal part of such laud owners had, indeed,
absented themselves of late from that country, leaving
the lower .ord.rs to the government of merciless
agents. This was, in fact, the radical cause of Ire-
land's misfortunes, and unless it were in some degree
remedied. it was in vain to look for happiness in
that part of the empire. Another cause of the mis-
fi-rtune of Ireland was, the amount of its taxation.
the Assessed Taxes and the Tithes bore upon the
Irish with peculiar severity, while they were subject
to another grinding tax. from which England was
entirely exempt, namely, the Hearth Tax. From the
operation of those causes, *.fifths of the Irish people
were discontented, and could this discontent create
any surprise ? Fur what was their actual condition ?
'he landlord could not collect his rent, the tenants
could not pay their rents, and the labourers could.
not obtain any employment. What then was to be;
come of those labourers is Why, in a country where
there were no poor rates, the poor people must starve,
and starvation was, of late, the fate of many.—
Parliament might send an army of 25,000 men to a
country so situated, and such s force might be requi-
site to collect the taxes. An army might be ;thane.
cessary in certain disturbed districts, for there were,
no doubt, some alarming constitutions in part of the •
country—in a county or two, for instance. But be
could affirm that, with the exception of those districts.
Ireland was quite as tranquil as this country; and in
Attics to the Government, to which he owed no'
oblinatien, he could bear testimony, that every prac-
ticable endeavour was used to preserve that tranquil.
lity. Ireland was indeed much indebted to the cow
duct of Lord Whitworth, and to that of the Right
Honourable Gentleman also (Mr.. Peel), who had
brought forward measures eminently calculated to
prevent the contagion of riot from spreading. 'the
'riotous spirit was, in fact, comparatively very limited.
and this ought to be generally knoish. Fur the cha-
racter of a country was of the utmost value, and a
whole nation should not be slandered from the mis-
conduct of a few, especially in England, fur such
slander Was calculated to prevent the English from
visiting Ireland, where they were always hospitably
received, where their residence was uniformly de-
testable because it never tailed to be advantageous to
the country. 'there might be Itibbon-men or other
disturbers in particular counties, but such persons
were not known in the country at large.,ln the West,
the. East. and the South of Ireland, for instance,
ouch a perms as a Ribbon-man was Mte be found.
The people of that country had, indeed, already rut-
feted too muctsfronaseuch imputations. How often,
for instance, were the Catholics at large implicated
in crimes whichproperly applied only to a few of that
body, and that too from the representation of persons
affecting to be historians and judging of a great body
of meritorious men from what happened to'come tin-
der their own immediate observation. But such wri
tors had since recanted their errors in consequence of
luether information. The Catholic body was now
eicupletely vindicated, because its character and'
loyalty was fully known, and wherever the general
character of Ireland was.known it would not be sub-
ject to censure. The Honourable Baronet earnestly
recommended the House to examine the State of that
country, and to look to other remedies than that
which a military force was capable: of affording, to
remove the grievaudes of the people, to arcade to
their just claims, and to begin the work of redress by
repealing the Duty upon Malt, with s view to oa-
courage the cultivation of barley, and to impose a
protecting duty upon Ole importation of foreign bulk
sow this gauntry, with a view to encourage the Irish
wide in that 'article. He concluded-with stating hit
d:.position to took alike to the fairllairtis of every
ti,,rtion of the United Kingdom; but impressing the
iv •
culi necessity of attending to the state of beheld,
:r. .m the very severely distressed condition of its in.
et.'icteats.4 England glad inland," observed