The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-04-23 00:00:00

reposed any confidence in her Majesty's present ad-
visers. The House of Lords and the aristocracy of
the country are well known to be irreconcileably hos-
tile to Lord Melbourne and his associates. The landed
proprietary—embracing the great mass of the wealth
of the country—have surely every reason to feel dissa-
tisfied with a ministry that has more than connived at
the anti-corn-law agitation. All the learned profes-
sions, with here and there a solitary exception, per-
fectly agree with Mr. Leader that the ministers, who
have so far debased themselves as to enter into an al-

liance with the disloyal Popish faction, "are deserv-
ing" of nothing else but " contempt." The electoral
body in England, Wales, and Scotland, have no confi-
dence in ministers. This must be abundantly evident
from the result of all recent appeals to the constituen-
cies of various places.
Who, then, have confidence in ministers ? We an-
swer, none are more warmly attached to them than the
rebellious fraternity of Irish ribbonmen, at the head of
whom we must place the Popish priests of Ireland.
They have, doubtless, their reasons for being satisfied
with the policy of the present cabinet ; but that very
satisfaction implies a compromise of their character—
a departure from their sworn allegiance to their lawful
Sovereign—and a design to subvert the Protestant
faith. With anything which implies less than this, the
ribbonites can never rest satisfied. The objects of this
wide-spread Popish conspiracy are, to emancipate Ire-
land from the domination of Great Britain—to seize

upon the estates now held by landlords of British de-
scent—and to banish from the shores of the sister
island every vestige of Protestantism. They have

..r.-sm.rl to arromplicl, theca ohjoote at/ 000ri cbo their
schemes zu-c iipe for execution, and their "precursory"
movements are not only tolerated, but absolutely
encouraged, by the executive government of Ireland.
How can this species of subornation of treason be re-
conciled with the official oaths which 'the present mi-
nisters have taken ? How can they claim any credit
for loyalty, while thus in league with rebels ?
Though, however, Mr. Leader pronounced the mi-
nistry to be undeserving of confidence—though he
expressed his contempt of them and their proceedings
—though he said that they had " lost character in the
country"—and though he acknowledged that the only
party sincerely attached to them was the Irish party,
the ribbonite rebels—he gave Lord John Russell his
vote. Out upon the despicable hypocrisy of these
canting radicals ! Of all cants the cant of the " phi-
losophical reformers" is the most nauseating and con-
temptible.

The debate in the House of Commons, on Lord
John Russell's motion, after occupying five evenings,
has, at length, been brought to a close ; and what has
it issued in ? Has it served to screen the ministry
from that obloquy which the whole course of their po-
licy has brought upon them ? We might as well ex-
pect the Ethiopian to be able to change the colour of
his skin as look for any such result. Has it served to
satisfy the people of England of the propriety or jus-
tice of any of their measures in reference to the go-
vernment of Ireland ? It could never produce any
such effect, unless the people of this country became a
community of absolute simpletons. Has it convinced
any one that the government of Ireland has been ad-
ministered in a spirit of impartiality ? None but the
wilfully blind could entertain such an absurd opinion !
Will this debate have the effect of deterring the House
of Lords from prosecuting their anticipated rigid in-
quiry into the state of crimes and outrages in Ireland ?
Will it prevent the committee appointed by that house
from probing to the bottom the festering sore under
which Ireland has been suffering for the last five years ?
Credat Judceus Apelles !
Lord John Russell has obtained a paltry majority of
twenty-two in favour of his resolution : but what ad-
vantage has he realised by his narrow escape from ig-
nominious defeat ? Has he not proved to the world
the numerical weakness of the ministerial phalanx ?
Has he not more than ever exposed the mental imbe-
cility by which he and his colleagues are so conspicu-
ously distinguished ? These have been the only results
of this protracted debate.
We have already briefly alluded to the speeches de-

livered during the earlier part of the debate. For the
first three nights there was scarcely a speech delivered
which demanded any extended notice, excepting those
of Sir Robert Peel, Mr. Sydney Herbert, and Mr.
Lascelles. The ministerial speakers laboured under
the greatest disadvantage from which it is possible for
any speaker to suffer. They had a wretched cause to
defend. Their speeches were, accordingly, of the most
contemptible character—destitute of any semblance to
sound argument—and abounding only in gross exag-
gerations, distorted statements of facts, and whining
appeals to the sympathies of the accommodating radi-
cals. _

On Thursday the debate assumed a more animated'
appearance. The discussion was opened by Mr. M.
J. O'Connell, one of the most conspicuous members
of the tail. He displayed the usual quantum of O'Con-
i
nell vulgarity and hardihood of assertion. He was'
followed by Mr. J. Young, Sir D. Roche, Sir Charles
Douglas, Mr. W. Roche, and Mr. Plumptre. The last-
named gentleman ventured to point out the real source'
of all the miseries under which Ireland is suffering—

the true origin of all the crimes and outrages which
are perpetrated by the ignorant and misguided pea-
santry. He described the ascendancy of popery as the
only cause of the evils which deluged the sister island.
1:14e only panacea for these evils is a sound scriptural
education. This is the grand remedy. The Bible—
its unrestricted circulation, and its unforbidden study
—the careful inculcation of its precepts, and the faith-
ful reception of its doctrines—can alone produce a
moral renovation in the character of the Irish peasantry.
We do not wonder that the popish members of the
House of Commons should denounce Mr. Plumptre as
a bigot. In the estimation of these gentlemen a teacher
of truth is the greatest bigot existing, and the Bible is
the very quintessence of bigotry. But let them rage
and storm as they may—let them pour all the abuse
they please on the characters of such men as Mr.
Plurnptre—magna eat veritas, et prcevalebit.
Sir Frederick Trench, who. followed Mr. Redington,
very forcibly remarked that " he could not, in alluding

to the principles of the government under Lord Nor-
manby, but say that he thought it extremely wrong for
persons professing the established religion, in order to
serve party purposes, to make themselves the instruments
of those who profess a desire to exterminate the Protestr
ant religion." This brief remark embodies the grava7
men of the charge against the Irish executive govern,
ment. It might also, with great propriety, be applied
to the whole cabinet of Lord Melbourne. It is noto-
rious that the grand object of the popish priesthood,
and of O'Connell as their organ, is, to extirpate Pro,-
testantism from Ireland.
/This object is ostentatiously
avowed by them. It would be absurd to attempt to
deny it. And yet, during the whole course of Lord
Normanby's administration, the priests and O'Connell
were the exclusive objects of Lord Normanby's regard.

They were his chosen advisers. Their recommenda-
tions were attended to as if they were imperative com-
mands. The Protestants of Ireland, on the other
hand, were objects of decided aversion to Lord Nor-
manby and his subordinates in office. No sympathy
was shown to them—their grievances were permitted
to remain unredressed—while their persons and their
properties were attacked and destroyed without any
chance of obtaining justice. Is it not, therefore, the
grossest hypocrisy for such men as Lord Normanby
and Lord Morpeth to boast of their attachment to the
Protestant Church ? Their co-operation with the un-
disguised enemies of that Church throws the lie into
the very teeth of their professions.
Can we speak in more favourable terms of the execu-
tive government in England ? Who are to be found
among the most active and energetic supporters of the
Whig cabinet ? Do we not find on the ministerial side
of the House of Commons every member of that house
who is an infidel, and therefore an enemy to Christia-
nity—every one who is a Papist, and therefore an ene-
my to the Protestant religion—and every one who is a
dissenter, and therefore hostile to the Established
Church ?• Among these three classes may be included
the majority of the " thick and thin" supporters of the
ministry—the men who are willing to vote that black
is white in order to keep them in office. And yet Lord
John Russell and his ministerial allies pretend to be
Protestants, and make loud boasts of their fidelity and
attachment to the Church of England. Surely these
hypocrites are not so besotted as to imagine that they
can persuade the people of England to believe in . the
sincerity of their professions.! -It is -high time that