The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-02-20 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-THURSDAY.

The adjourned debate on Ireland was resumed by Mr.
Ross ; and after Mr. Borthwick, Sir H. W. Barron, Mr.
G. Repton, and Mr. M. 0. Ferrall had spoken,
Mr. SHAW (the Recorder of Dublin) rose to explain
the circumstances of the omission of a part of the jury-
list in h s office. It had been said that 65 names had been
omitted, of which 35 were those of Catholics ; whereas
the whole number omitted was really but 24 ; and this
omission took place in a transfer, embracing several thou-
sand names. The lists were first arranged according to
parishes, the Recorder marking the names of the persons
found by him to be qualified as special jurors, and there
ended his judicial duty; the remaining business, which
was that of consolidating all the parish lists (20 in num-
ber) into one general panel, was to be executed by the
registrar. There were 741 names marked, which were
taken down upon separate sheets according to classes.
One sheet of 15 marked names had slipped in among some
blank sheets which lay on tha same table, and had been
overlooked ' • four more marked names were accidentally
omitted in the transfer, and, in the cases of five others,
the marks had been mistaken, and the names erroneously
carried to the panel of common juries. This accident bad
been the subject of great regret to himself, and, as the
High Sheriff had the power to correct the omission, he
had requested that officer, but without success, to make
the amendment ; and, moreover, as soon as the extent of
the error was known, he had caused notice of it to be
given to the solicitors on both sides. He believed that of
the 15 on one list, the majority were Roman Catholics,
and that of the other nine a majority were Protestants ;
but these small numbers could hardly have bad much
effect on a panel of between 700 and 800 special jurors ;
and he would add, that the registrar who had made the
mistake was himself a Roman Catholic. He then ad-
dressed himself to the general question. Lord J. Russell,
in dealing with the church, had shown himself willing to
wound, yet was not able to see where he could safely
strike; but happily it was now unnecessary to attemp-
the defence of the establishment, since the secretary for
the Home Department had declared the firm determina-
tion of the government to support it, on the broad ground
of religious truth, of the reformation, and of the union.
Peace was the professed object on all sides : but it would
be quite unattainable if attempts were to be constantly
made at disturbing questions which had been properly
considered to be settled. When the Roman Catholics
were admitted to equal privileges, there, was certainly a
distinct understanding that the Protestant church should
remain undisturbed. He defended the judicial appoint-
ments, and concluded by deprecating acrimony, and re-
commending a common consent for great common ob-
jects.

Lord HOWICK declaimed against the principle of a go-
vernment which he represented- as founding itself, not
upon affection, but upon force. All might remain quiet
enough while peace should last, but if war were to break
out, the state of Ireland would be a fearful one. The late
proceedings might remove the external signs of discon-
tent, but would not cure the reality of it. The remedies
held out by ministers were few and insufficient. A regis-
tration bill would be useful as removing a present wrong,
but unless accompanied with other measures, it would but
give to the Irish people new weapons for conquering fur •
ther rights. The landlord and tenant commission might
produce some benefit ; but a small measure introduced
forthwith would have done more good than one much
larger deferred to a distant season. The evils of Ireland
were not imputable solely to the pressure of distress, but,
in a great degree, to the rankling sense of wrong; there-
fore, even a liberal expenditure on public works, and an
extensive system of colonization, beneficial as such mea-
sures would have been, would not have quieted Ireland,
without something done to remove the feeling of injustice
begotten by your treatment of the Roman Catholic reli-
gion. It was your duty to redress this grievance ; the
union was no bar to such redress, for surely the Irish par-
liament, which passed that union, which was the most
corrupt legislature on record, and which in no respect re-
presented the Irish people, had no right or power to tie
the hands of future parliaments for ever. The arguments
that the Irish church, though not the church of the ma-
jority of the Irish, is yet the church of the majority of
the united empire, was a futile one, and was sufficiently
answered by reference to the establishment in Scotland.
If Ireland had conquered England, would England on
such arguments have submitted to the- alienation of her
Protestant church? and must not the Irish people, in the
existing case, feel what in the case supposed would be felt
by the English? He protested against the ground taken
of religious truth. To say that the Protestant religion was
the only true one, was to tell the Roman G;tholics, who

now sate equal with ourselves in the parliaments of Bri-
;sin, that their religion was false. What right had any
man to assert this of the ancient religion of almost all
Europe? The time had been when compromise would
have sufficed; but that time was past. There were several
courses before you. You might establish the Roman
Catholic religion in Ireland, as the Presbyterian religion
was established in Scotland ; or you might abolish all
establishments and bestow the church endowments on
general education ; or you might employ them in making
a proportionate provision for all religions. It was not for
trim now to pronounce which of these courses might be
best. The difficulty, however, met the government every-
where, even in the recent convictions. Mr. Burke had
said he knew not how to draw an indictment against a
whole people. The government had solved that problem,
and he wished them joy of their success. How could the
institutions of a free government, its juries, its elections,
whose very object was to give effect to the will of the peo-
ple, be administered against the people's will? To conti-
nue the attempt would only mar all contemplated good ;
even education would become an evil, as aggravating the
people's knowledge of their wrongs, and increasing their
means of resistance. He concluded by disclaiming all
party views in his support of the present motion.
Captain BERNAL then moved an adjournment, which,
after a little discussion, was agreed to.