The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-07-18 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

necessary for the Government to be on:its guard. This
state of things,we;s not the doing of the Government—all
that the Government had to do was to resist its conse-
quences, andto take care of the property of individuals,
and to be prepared for the worst that might happen. The
way to be vrepared was by taking care not to have in the
service ofcGovernment a number of magistrates who had
themselves presided over such meetings. As to sympathy
with those meetings, he did not know whether the sym-
pathisers were thousands more or thousands less ; but
this he knew, that he felt himself more secure in not
having to employ men who had themselves been instru-
mental in raising them to their present dangerous height,
and therefore he was of opinion that the Lord Chancellor
of Ireland had done perfectly right. He regretted to hear
that there were 2,000,000 of the people of Ireland in a state
of great poverty, but there was great poverty in England
also ; and, at all events, he was at a loss to conceive how
that poverty was to be relieved by the agitation which now
prevailed in that country.
The Earl of CLANCARTY regretted that government had
done nothing to check the agitation in Ireland except the
doubtful act of dismissing the magistrates. It would be
more economical if the government were to grant aids for
public works and the development of the resources of the
country, instead of sending over troops to do nothing.
They should not attempt, however, to tranquilize Ireland
by sacrificing the revenues of the Established Church and
depreciating the landlords, in order to flatter the Roman
Catholic priests by affecting to look upon them as conser-
vators of the public peace.
Earl FORTESCUE condemned the removal of so many
respectable men, in whom the people had intimate confi-
dence, from the magistracy.
The Earl of GLENGALL regretted that the letters had
been written by the Lord Chancellor, but he approved of
the dismissal of the magistrates. He thought that the
office of Lord Lieutenant ought to be filled by an Irish-
man, for, hitherto it had been usually filled by an English-
men, who went over full of prejudice towards, while ig-
norant of everything relating to the country, and just as
they began to open their eyes to their enormous blunders
and errors they were recalled and replaced by another
Englishman, who had to run precisely the same career.
There appeared also to be a free trade in lord chancellors
for they were almost always imported from England until
lately, when the people of Ireland had to congratulate
themselves on the appearance amongst them of a Scotch
chancellor—(a laugh).
The Earl of WICKLOW did not regret the dismissal of
the magistrates, but he did regret the unconstitutional
mode in which it had taken place. The grounds upon
which the Lord Chancellor of Ireland acted were utterly
untenable; but, although he believed them to be uncon-
stitutional, yet he would not support the motion, believ-
ing it to be a censu:e on the Government, and believing
the maintenance of the present Government in office to
be for the benefit of the nation.

Lord WHARNCLIFFE said that government had deter-
mined upon taking the line of forbearance, and though
some noble lords advised a different course time alone
could tell which was right. He must, however, say, in
justice to the policy of the government, that they had no
case upon which to come down to parliament to ask for
increased powers. It was not without much consideration
of the measures recommended that they had come to the
determination of not striking the first blow, the result of
which must be an effusion of blood and much subsequent
suffering. They stood prepared, however, and if the oc-
casion arose would do their duty if other parties broke the
law. They would not, he repeated, be the first to strike a
blow, and this was in every way prudent. They were
charged with doing nothing by two noble lords whose
speeches would justify a vote either for or against the mo-
tion, but there was a homely maxim, which was also for-
cible, "They should not bark before they could bite."
They should be sure of success : they should be sure of
their power to hold before they ventured on a policy so
decisive as that which had been suggested. Before be sat
down he felt bound to say that parliament and the country
were indebted to the Protestants of Ireland for the course
they had pursued in the present emergency. He believed
it was owing to their good sense and good conduct that the
whole of Ireland was not in a flame.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said he could not have
supported any motion which asserted the legality of the
meetings for repeal of the union, but, as the motion be-
fore their lordships was confined to censuring the absurd
and unconstitutional proceeding which had been adopted
by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, he entirely approved
of it. The government, before taking such a step, should
have come to parliament with a deliberate message from
the crown, giving a distinct warning of the consequences
to all who should engage in the repeal agitation, instead
of proceeding, as the Irish Chancellor had done, upon a
mere conversation which had taken place in either house
of parliament. He was glad, however, that government
was determined to exhaust all the powers of the law be-
fore they applied for coercive measures. If they brought
down measures for the benefit of that unhappy country,
they would be entitled to the aid and support of men of
all parties.

Lord BROUGHAM could not support the motion. He
said the financial portion of the agitation was well worthy
of attention, for it was difficult to know or surmise what
became of the enormous sums of money collected. It
might he all expended in advertisements, agency, &c., or
in paying off the debts of the " body," though debts it
had none ; but no account was given of the mode in which
these sums were expended, and little confidence could be
placed in magistrates who became parties to an agitation
of which this formed so suspicious a characteristic. The
noble lord expressed his sympathy for the present position
of the orangemen of Ireland, whose conduct had been
exemplary, refraining from all demonstrations, and re-
maining perfectly quiescent, while the whole country was
agitated by their antagonists. The noble and learned lord
then defended the course of forbearance adopted by the
Government, contending that to attempt to put down these
meetings by force would be dangerous and futile, and
would only gratify those who wished for public disturbance.
Lord LYNDHURST addressed their lordships, contend-
ing that a conspiracy more dangerous than that which
prevailed in Ireland never took place in any country—a
conspiracy to destroy the Established Church, confiscate
its revenues, and, by the proposed fixity of tenure, to
transfer the whole landed property of the country from
the proprietor to the occupier. The noble and learned
lord defended the course pursued by the Lord Chancellor
of Ireland, and said that, under similar circumstances, he
would have pursued precisely a similar course.
Lord CorrENnA3.l expressed his surprise that the Lord
Chancellor should have denounced these meetings as il-
legal. If his propositions were correct high treason had
been committed, and if high treason had been committed
what were the government doing in allowing it to
go
unpunished.

The Marquis of CLANRICARDE having replied, their
lordships divided, and negatived the resolutions by a
majority of 91 to 29.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-FRIDAY

Mr. ARMSTRONG expressed his strong disapprobation
of the Irish Arms Bill.

Mr. W. S. O'BRIEN then moved as an amendment,
that all further proceeding with the Arms Bill should be
postponed until the other measures relating to Ireland
were taken into consideration.

A long discussion ensued. Finally, the amendment was
withdrawn.

The house then went into committee ; and there, with
reference to some difficulties suggested on a former night
respecting the vagueness of the word "arms,"
Lord ELIOT said, that throughout all the years during
which the legislature had been in the habit of renewing
these bills, no objection of this kind had ever been made
in parliament, nor had any such difficulty occurred in
practice. lie proposed, however, in deference to the
feeling of the house, to introduce a declaration that fire-
arms only should be deemed to be within the meaning of
the word " arms" as used in this bill.

This definition seemed to meet with general approbation,
and the committee then resumed their examination of the
bill in its details.

FOREIGN cy COLONIAL INTELLIGENCE,

The New Zealand Company is, it would appear from
a correspondence betwen Mr. George Rennie and its sec-
retary, published in the Colonial Gazelle, about to es-
tablish a fourth settlement in New Zealand, which is to
be called " New Edinburgh."

A JOINT-STOCK COFFEE-GROWING SOCIETY.—Front
a report of the transaction of the Agricultural and Horti-
cultural Society of Calcutta, we learn that a joint-stock
company is about to be established at Chittagong, for the
cultivation of coffee. The plantation is said to be a
promising one—the plants are healthy and luxuriant, and
lately every bush was full of blossom.—Bombay Times,
May 6. _ _

We learn from Boulogne-sur-Mer that a few days ago
a revenue cutter captured, off Cape Grines, a boat, with
three men on board, containing bales of cotton-thread,
tulles, and stockings, amounting in value to 10,000 f. Each
bale had straps, so as to make it portable as a knapsack.
The boat and its freight were brought into Boulogne, and
sold on condition of the goods being re-exported.—French
paper.

M. Arago, at a meeting of the Academy of Sciences in
Paris last week, said a contract had been entered into by
Messrs. Baring and Co., of London, with the Republic
of New Granada, in virtue of which the Republic is to
cede to them the line required for the projected canal
through the Isthmus of Panama with 80,000 acres of
land on the two banks, and 100,000 acres in the interior
of the country.

MORALS IN CUBA.—The Havannah editors, after pub:
lishing the number of criminals arrested in that city du-
ring the year 1842 complain that their editorial brethren
in Old Spain and elsewhere insert extravagant stories about
the frequency of crime in the Havannah. Arrestations
in 1842 :—For murder, 49 ; stabbing, 238 ? robbery, 200 ;
rape, 16. If the Havanneros can brag about such a state-
ment as this, we do not know what they will not boast of.
Anti-Slavery Reporter.

THE CORMORANT STE:IMER.—This vessel sailed on
Wednesday from Plymouth with important despatches
from Government to the British Consul at Rio de Janeiro,
and to Commodore Purvis, the English naval commander
at Monte Nideo. She is also bearer of despatches to the
Right Hon. Captain Lord George Paulet, of the Carys-
fort frigate, in the South Pacific, with the acknowledg-
ment of the free independence of Tainehamaliar., 111 the
King of tke Sandwich Islands. She will first proceed to
Rio de Janeiro, then to Monte Video, and to Callao and
Valparaiso.

On the 3d inst. (says a Brussels paper

the vicar of

was accosted by a ttnet, who ordered him imperiously to
hand over all that he had about hlm. The priest had
nothing but a silver snuff-box, which he at once delivered
up. The thief eagerly seized it, took a pinch, and as be
made off sneezed heartily. " Dieu vous b6nisse 1" cried
the vicar.