The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-08-03 00:00:00

ENGLAND AND IRELAND

I will Preach the Law.''

Psalm II

.I'o THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL' STANDARD
SIR.—It scarcely required the startling events of the late
elections to fix attention on the condition, moral and politi-
cal, of Ireland. Now, and for ever, over the dark page of
Such history as is- left to her, sorrow, suffering, turbulence,
and bloodshed form the hideous materials for the historian's
labours, and few and far between are the refreshing incidents
that indicate the change from barbarism to refinement, of a
generous people, self-corrected and improving, qualifying
themselves for a station amongst the nations of the world.
Can it be that any portion of the terrestial globe is marked
by the mysterious providence of God to prove to erring mor-
tals that everything we must esteem and value is a curse and
not a bkssing ? That it is the feeble blindness of our nature,
the eye seeing darkly, that leads us to conceive that brilliant
transparency of atmosphere—genial healthfulness of climate
—luxuriant productiveness of soil, are blessings that lend
assistance towards the civilization and happiness of a people ?
Else, wherefore, is it that a country, blessed by providence
beyond other lands, presents a yawning crater in the midst
of civilization, now scattering in wild irruption the embers
of discord; or, if in apparent peacefulness, presenting only
the bubbling slumber of the lover, ready on all occasions to
burst forth and sear the footsteps of mercy and charity,
whenever they venture to approach her shores? Sad, very
sad, is the truth, but public events appear to prove that
amidst increased advantages of knowledge and improvement
the social virtues retrograde. The mild precepts of religion
are employed, not for the purpose of fostering love to the
fellow creature, but for creating feelings of hatred and re-
venge, and the intellect sharpened by adventitious circum-
stances, devised more ingenious methods for their gratifica-
tion. It enters into no part of the anticipations of the writer
of this, that the enigma which has apparently set at defiance
the intellect of sages and law-givers, lies within his powers
of solution. But truth, however perverted by crime, or
concealed by circumstances, ultimately appears • and late
events are calculated not only to make the cry Of the real
sufferer heard, but to throw to the timid and wavering the
miserable strength of the oppressor,—to point out beyond
the power of contradiction or evasion, that the leader or di-
rector of crime is no friend to a country or a people, that
it is a scourge—a bitter, savage scourge—that forces an appa
rent adoration, from either words or actions, by the dread of
a most devilishly devised system of torture. That secures
the tacit approval of fathers of families by no idle threats of
instant assassination. And mark it ! ye who have the power
of protection ! The elections are incontrovertible testimony
that this system, so long the terror of every good man, the
mock of surrounding nations, the shame of England, is
exercised not only by reckless poverty against property, but
by the few against the many. We are few, said Denton,
therefore we must show no mercy. "Without, therefore,
undertaking the Lysiphean task of solving all the circuin-
stances that have produced this lamentable problem, it be-
comes the solemn duty of every man in England to say " you
are of our household, our family, and whatever may be the
injuries you complain of, or the objects you have in view,
you shall not avenge the one, or gratify the other, by acts
that equally stain our honour, and sacrifice your own souls."
The moral force of England has only to declare the will as it
unquestionably has the power, and on the instant crime
would fly abashed—the dastardly midnight murderer—the
cowardly, bully—the ambitious traitor—would be hurled from
the bad eminence they now enjoy, and in their place peace,
law, and order would spread themselves over a people, who,
in prosperity, would lift up their hands in gratitude to a na-
tion that had delivered them from a misery which now " is
greater than they can bear." Is this the language of an
enemy ? Too long and too often has it been the cus-
tom to brand the individual who dared to lift his voice
against turbulence and agitation as the enemy of Ireland.
The Englishman who has done this can never have been a
witness to the practical effects of those terrible visitations ;
he who has beheld the highly educated and high-minded re-
duced by this accursed system to want their daily bread ;
who has seen the father full of life and hope leave his dwell-
ing in the morning, and at set of sun brought back a mangled
corse ; who has lent his unavailing aid to soften misery, as it
was great beyond all human calculation, so was it beyond all
controul, and has held communion with families, who from
worldly circumstances were justified in looking forward to
years of uninterrupted union and happiness, but in obedi-
ence to the deadly mandate, were gone " even as a match in
the night." "He who speaks of that he has known, and
testifies of that he has seen," will regard with wonder and
abhorrence the man, who with a grave face will put a dispu-
tation of abstract political rights into competition with scenes
like these. He will feel surprise not unmixed with indigna-
tion, that as one man his countrymen do not uplift their
voices and say, " These things shall not be." We are met
at all points with the cuckoo cry of " justioe to Ireland."
It is put forth in a tone of insolent defiance that bespeaks to
the party addressed an unfeeling and unrelenting tyrant. To
whom is it addressed, and what is the demand? It is ad-
dressed to the sovereign majesty of England ; to that mighty
power who never from its earliest infancy to its present hour
of glory, has listened unheeding to the cry of the suffering
and oppressed ; who has expended the profits of her in-
dustry, and poured forth her children's blood in remote cor-
ners of the earth, in avenging the injured and putting down
the evil doer. The insulting tone announces that this gene-
rous people, who never refused justice to their bitterest
enemy, withhold it from their own children in a manner that
bespeaks capricious tyranny. It is said that a lie repeated
often, is at length believed by the party who invents the
falsehood. The case of Ireland presents an extensive illus-
tration of the proverb. England, so far from playing the
hard mistress over Ireland, has, with a prodigal generosity,
characteristic of her nature, showered with an open hand
intended blessings over the land. Everything that might be
considered burdensome in taxation has been withheld; all
that was thought favourable in her lsws and institutions has
been bestowed. Here we reach the great secret of the evil.
It is not from England's jealousy, selfishness, or cruelty that
Ireland has been wronged, but from a mistaken sense of ge-
nerous kindness. In the unsuspecting confidence of their
nature, Englishmen have thought that whatever was good for
their own country, must be equally so for other people,
that the laws, institutions, and modes of government that
worked so well in this country, must as a consequence
operate in the same direction in Ireland. Thus with no un-
friendly feeling, the imperial parliament has been forcing
English laws and English institutions upon a country totally
unfitted for their reception.
Is it meant by this that the Irish, as a people, are inferior
to the English, and that, consequently, we should deal with
them after their inferiority? God forbid. Nations differ in
every thing that constitutes variety as to complexion, cha-
racter, and disposition; and to point out the difference is
not to underrate. The customs, feelings, dispositions—the
work of the Creator—that in one country, acted on by human
laws, lead to tranquility and happiness, will, on aifterent
feelings and customs, produce the opposite effects, and lead
to crime and irritation. It is not possible that the laws and
institutions fitted for the most sedate and quiet people on the
face of the earth, can be equally wholesome and beneficial to
the most exciteable and vivacious. ,No one knows this im-
portant truth better than the lawless agitators, who, distinct
from the real people of Ireland, live on the distraction of
that devoted land. The same laws, the same privileges are
unceasingly demanded, by the individual who knows the
remedy he would apply, will add fuel to the flame. Every
additional attempt to engraft English law upon Irish habits,
is only creating new sources of irratation,—giving food to
the agitators, and surrendering the peaceable and well-dis-
posed to the tender mercies of the lawless..
Will any man who is,acquainted with criminal proceedings
in Ireland be bold enough to assert, that trial by jury, which
in this country is considered the palladium of liberty, operates
in the same beneficial manneein the sister country ? In
England it is the protector of the injured—the redresser of
his wrongs—the guardian of the accused against all attempts
at unjust power, whether on the part of the sovereign or
subject. Is it so in Ireland ? On the contrary, have not
each of the two contending parties alternately used the power
the law has given them to encourage crime by sheltering the
guilty, and prostituted this sacred tribunal into the mere
protector of an arraigned partisan? No man, or body of
men, can ultimately profit by a perversion such as this ; and
if the trial by jury, which may be considered the foundation
of British institutions, and only cllfensive in its operations,
thus fails to produce the desired effects, how much more
injurious must those institutions be which act offensively on
the different relations of society.
What will be the effect of the Municipal Reform Bill, the
New Poor Law, cum mullis aliis ? Does the most ardent
admirer and supporter of either of these measures seriously
believe that their effects will be peace, law, order, an im-
proved state of society and property ? It is confidently
asserted, there is not one man entertains such utopian con-
ceptions. From the earliest discussion of the questions, it
has been an unceasing struggle for mere supremacy of party.
The new power has armed the contending factions, not with
the arts of peace and the implements of social improvement,
but with more deadly weapons for the encounter, which they
will not fail to use. until one of the parties be destroyed,
or the cause of contention removed from out of the country.
Nothing affords more just grounds for astonishment than
the deference paid, by Englishmen, to those who, in their
noisy impudence, arrogate to themselves the title of " Friends
of Ireland."
The names of certain leaders have excited,a kind of terror,
that, not confined to a respectable portion of society, has
affected the " sovereign powers of legislation" itself. These
men must laugh in their sleeve at the attention they attract,
and the fears that they create. England, in her course of
unsullied justice, has no cause of fear from any man or na-
tion of men upon earth ; least of all has she to fear the
brawling agitator, whose power is founded upon terror, who
seals up the public indignation by the dread of the bullet and
the bludgeon, and who will be struck down by the respect-
able portion of society the instant the strange policy of the
government is withdrawn that at present affords him sanction
and protection. Can there be a man so far cajoled out of his
proper powers of reason as to believe that, if the voice of the
constituency could be heard, Mr. O'Connell would be al-
lowed to stand, colossus like, with one foot upon Cork, the
other upon Meath ? Away with the delusion. There is no
prouder or better blood in British bosoms than circulates in
the veins of the inhabitants of those lonely counties. Long
did they continue the contest, at the hazard of their lives.
Longer-would they have done so, but the humanity of the
conservative leaders interposed, and refused to attempt a
conquest that must be bought with blood. Mr. O'Connell
well knows the indignation that is now felt over the county
of Cork at the outrage that has been practised on them. A
conservative people have been misrepresented and belied,
held up as advocates of measures that must ultimately lead
to their own ruin, and the dismemberment of the united
kingdom. Who publishes the libel that a majority of voters
in the county of Cork are favourable to a repeal of the corn
laws and of the legislative union ? The papers under the im-
mediate pay or controul of the repeal party. No great length
of time has elapsed since this department of the powers of
agitation was exposed in a series of letters published in the
Limes newspaper. The power and truth manifested in these
remarkable compositions struck terror into the heart of the
agitator himself, and, in the overflowings of his wrath, he
fixed, in insulting terms, their authorship upon a party to
whom he was afterwards obliged to apologise and retract.
The talented author of those letters is at present apparently
silent, but he is not the only one who has witnessed the works
ing of the repeal press in Ireland. Others are acquainted
with the tyranny, insults, falsehood, cruelty, and humbugging
that is practised ; men of high talent and generous feelings
striving in vain to free themselves from the serpent eye that
was upon them ; genius struggling to extricate itself from a
vortex into which it had unconsciously ventured, and in
which many and many a one had sunk ; the best efforts un-
derrated ; now doing too much, now too little. If, in an un-
guarded moment, truth has been uttered, pointed out in a
public assembly as a villain of the deepest dye, and di r
iven
with personal violence from the place—those are a few
of the means employed to keep down the constitutional
voice of Ireland, and direct the opinions of the turbulent, as
the disturber and exciter may think proper. eat
be the mercy to free the conservatives of
Irelan
tyranny that is over them, the boon is no less
I?reare slaves
Yed for and
abl
would be no less felt, bestowed on the m
Great
as would
d from the
who appear to be linked inseperably to the
chariot e
the oppressor. It is impossible, in an enquirY into the state
of society in Ireland, to pass over the remarkable
position of
isot wheels o
to
es that now call
the Protestant clergy. If all the other
on England for redress were silent, s one sufficient
The ancient records
alone to rouse her to immediate action. .
more heartrend-
of devotion and martyrdom present nothing
by this perse-
ii:roeici
ing than the sufferings that have been enduredo.
p yeas, and starva-
tion body. Under the bitter pangs of
ing on the spoils of
they have been taunted with
gorging
genius and
" the richest church in the world.
surpassed, they have been
acquirements that never were
-nsufficiency. Presiding over
branded with ignorance and
g it
numerous and respectable congregations,
neglected has been roundly
stated that they are an isolated class, cted and avoided,
whose only occupation is to seehatk
belongs to for money that
others. her What is
earn,
and live on the property t

the fact? It is only in the moat distant and solitary corners
of the kingdom that the Protestant churches are deserted ;
in all the populated districts the churches are attended by
numerous, respectable, and increasing congregations. These
bodies are remarkable for their piety and sincerity ; and the
sufferance and patient endurance of thgiergy prove to
them that they rely on a higher and hoWitOwer than the
sword of the magistrate for the support otthe doctrines they
profess. Let us hope that the slander, -rubbery, and murder
that has been done on them has satisfied the most relentless,
and that justice, however tardy, will be done their talents
and their virtues. " But the salvation of the righteous
cometh of the Lord, who is also their strength in the time of
trouble." The course for England appears to be marked by
Providence in characters that cannot be mistaken. Outrage
and disturbance must be put down wheresoever and by whom-
soever they may be committed. The laws affecting property
and the person must be fully and entirely vindicated. All
those English institutions whose practical operations led to
disorder and bloodshed, whatever political privileges they
involve, must be removed, or placed in such a position that
the peaceable and well disposed shall be safe from the ma-
chinations of the democrat. All attempts to force new laws
and institutions where those at present existing are mis-
chievous or inoperative, must cease. A brave and generous
people must be taken as they are, and with reference alone to
those faculties and feelings wherewith God has endowed them
must their freedom and happiness be consulted. They will
then possess real liberty, where they are now cheated only
with the name. Peace will take the place of turbulence—
and the law, free from the intervention of partizan juries,
protecting alike the peasant and the noble, will be as much
an object of respect as it is now of jealousy and mistrust.
Every one must feel a protector against the political pre-
judices of his neighbour, and turning from the delusive pro-
mises of self-interested agitators, they may, " seeing the
light," join in a general exertion towards the general good.
I am, Sir, yours, &c.,
CONSERVATOR.

N.B.—This paper was completed before Mr. O'Connell's
last manifesto from the Repeal Association appeared. That
document deserves the attention of Englishmen.

[We shall be extremely glad to hear: from our correspon-
dent at any time, but he would much oblige us by writing on
only one side of the paper, and making each communication
as short as convenient.]

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

SlR,—Will you permit me to ask the Poor-law Guardians
if they are aware that the accounts of the Registrars for the
last census were passed by the magistrates on Friday and
Saturday ? Are they aware that nothing more is required to
entitle the enumerators to payment? Can they for a moment
close their ears against the claims of men, many of whom
have moved in highly responsible situations, and who have,
with the most cool-blooded apathy, been put off with evasive
and shuffling answers from day to day,—and in consequence
of which delay many of them have been put to great and
painful inconveniences ? May I inquire why the payment is
further postponed till to-morrow week ?—By inserting this
statement you will, sir, greatly oblige an

Monday evening, August 2, 1811

ENUMERATOR

THE APPROACHING MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Unless we are much mistaken, our whig local faction pur-
pose making an effort in the approaching municipal elections
to retrieve their position in the council ; and we must strongly
impress upon our conservative friends the importance of
being prepared to render that effort unavailing. The elec-
tions in November will practically decide the whole questions
at issue between the council and the inhabitants of the bo-
rough ; for, to whichever party victory inclines, will be se-
cured a preponderance of power in the Council-room for
some time to come. It is imperative, therefore, upon every
elector who, desires to see our local government conducted
upon conservative and Christian principles, to be watchful
and energetic, in order to frustrate the attempts of Sociui-
anism and liberalism to fasten themselves, in perpetuo, upon
the borough of Liverpool. We must not allow ourselves to
be misled by any over-confidence of our strength, but fight
the battle in every ward with a determination to win ; and,

as the result, we shall be rewarded by seeing A CONSERVA-
TIVE ELECTED TO THE MAYORALTY, for the first time since
the passing of whig municipal reform, whilst a conservative
premier wields the power of the state, for the first time
since the passing of whip parliamentary reform! Such a
triumph the electors of Liverpool must not allow to slip
through their fingers..

THE POLICY OF SIR ROBERT PEEL'S ADMIN-
ISTRATION.

There is one fact which is worthy of being borne in mind
as indicating what ought to be the policy of a conservative
administration at the present crisis. In no single contest
throughout the recent elections has a great conservative vic-
tory been won where the battle was not fought upon high
conservative and protestant principles. We can point to no
instance where " moderate " conservatism has! been in the
ascendant. We know of no constituency who have selected
a half-caste politician to represent them ; and the conclu-
sion is obvious that whoever may be the individuals who
compose the new administration, its policy, to be in accord-
ance with the declared wishes of the nation, must be of a
decided and thorough conservative and protestant character.
We must have no frittering away of great principles—no
temporising with the enemy—no hanging back from the full
assertion of the entire protestantism of the constitution ; but
on the contrary, the administration of Sir Robert Peel—if
its members wish to be efficiently supported by the voice of
the nation—must take its stand boldly, and assert without
' flinching, the supremacy of those principles which have alone
been effectual in arresting. the advance of democracy over the
ruins of our monarchial institutions. -

We are quite prepared to encounter from timid and irre-
solute politicians some little demur to the propriety of the
above views. There are men, we know, who see danger in
asserting the full measure of benefit fn. which they have
struggled, and who would seek to conciliate rather than to
vanquish opponents. But it should be borne in mind that
hostile principles are not to be dealt with in the same way as
hostile men. We may allow the latter to breathe in the
same atmosphere with their victors ; but the former we must
crush if we would be safe. We may at any moment be able
to strike down the knife which is in the hand of our antago-
nist ; but we must extirpate the poisonous sore if we wish
for health to the body politic. We have now the power and
the opportunity to do this, and the national sanction for its
being done ; and weak indeed would be our conduct if we
allowed the opportunity to escape us.
We have no wish :as Protestants to embark in a crusade
against the opinions or the liberties of other men ; but we
must insist upon asserting and protecting our own ; and that
object can only he attained by promptly and effectually en-
deavouring to repair the progress made during the past ten
years towards dilapidating our national church and unchris-
tianising the state. The country requires a large measure of
church extension, and the providing of ample means of reli-
gious education for all people ; and from the securing of
both these desiderata we trust that the conservative party
will not by any clamour on the part of liberalism and dissent
allow themselves to be driven. Upon matters of commercial
policy we are willing to allow a wide range to expediency;
but we cannot be satisfied with less than the full measure of
our demands in behalf of the national morality and the na-
tional religion.