The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-02-01 00:00:00

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TESS WELLESLEY AND

Dil EN.

For some time past, no small part of the colnnins of
the net: spapers have been filled with matter arising out
of the bottle adventure at the Dublin Theatre. Doubt.
less the fellows that threw the bottle and the bit of wood,
were most audactou■ blackguards; and they ought to
hive had some pretty severe correctional punishment
inflicted upon them ; though we should have no scruple
to say that a punishment like that inflicted on the isms-
'cent literrn would have been a great deal too severe.
To call them traitors and assassins was so hyperbolical
as to make one laugh, at that which fairly called for our
Iserious indignation. The Meeting and addressing work
was perfectly contemptible; it was even Pen Menem-
lON'S affair in burlesque ; and Paa's affair will be a
standing jest for ages to come.—Several of the public
officers called upon to convene Meetings, have refined
to do it ; and one of them has &Hedged, as a ground for
his refusal, the decision of the Dublin Grand Jury.—
Thus has the country, the distracted Island of Ireland,
been tranquillized by the person in whose wisdom, h.
berality and energy, Sir FRANCIS BURDITT had so much
confidence, that he was willing to entrust him to govern
the *Gantry by martial law!—Recently, an Orangeman
by the name of THOMAS HAMILTON, has mitten what
tbey call a menacing letter to Mr. PIXNESTT, the At-
torney General. To be sure, it is a eery impudent letter.
And the rage of the writer seems to have been kindled
by the Attorney General having, very properly
we dare say, prevented the fellow from getting a
place under the Government. He tells the Attorney
General that he has prevented him from getting
a situation, and has thereby destroyed, perhaps, his
prospects for life. That is to say. this impudent varlet
having conceived the design to lire upon the people all
his life time, has had the design frustrated by the Attor.
'any General ; and, on this account, he takes the liberty
to abuse bins, and to send him what amounts very nearly
to a Challenge, taking, for the ground of his attack, ex.
pretsione made use of by the Attorney General, during
a speech in Court; which speech Hamilton chooses to
look upon as an attack upon all Orangemen, of which
he says his father is one. The Attorney General, in his
affidavit, denies this application of his words; and
says, that his words app:ied only to the persons connect-
ed with the late outrage. As the Attorney General
swears this, we must believe it to be true; bat we be-
lieved, with the Morning Chronicle, that the words did
exceed themselves to the whole of the Orange faction,
embodied and formed with lodges as such.—However,
this is of little importance, compared to that larger
view of the matter, uhieh these strifes and bickerings
induce us to take. What are the Orangemen of Ireland?
They are only some of the most active, most resolute,
and most bigotted of the Protestants of Ireland. It is
perfectly notorious, that these men care no more for the
colour of the Orange than they :do for the colour of the
Lemon. They care no more for the memory or the cha-
racter of KING Wttrasx, than they care for the memory
or colour of his horse. It was in William's reign that
their sway over the Catholics was settled and consolida-
ted. That reign gave them immense property in Ire-
land, and the exclusive enjoyment of public power
and emolument. It is for this that they adore
the =Merry of )Sing William, that they dress
up his statue, drink to his memory, and play
all their other Orangemen-tricks. They do not wish to
do any thing oppressive to the Catholics, beyond that
which is necessary to secure to them this property
and these powers and emoluments. All the strife that
has arisen has, therefore, arisen from the endeavours
which have been made to better the lot of the Catholics.
The Orange-lodikes, themselves, arose out of the relays.
tion of the law in favour of the Catholics. Do we, there•
fore, say that the law ought not to have been relaxed ?
Certainly not; but we do say, that there was not, and
that there is not any middle course. It is the mid-
dle course that creates all the strife ; and even his Ma-
jesty's personal interference, however benevolent the
intention, was caculated not to rec oncile the parties,
but to widen the breech between them. This is our
opinion ; and we do not give it without having very
maturely considered the matter.—To concede
little points to the Catholics, can only tend to
alarm, to rouse, to irritate and to imhitter the Pro-
testants, who
_have really all the substantial power
in their bands. Unjust as we deem it not to relieve the
Catholics ; not to better their situation ; we know that
it would be much better to leave them in the state in
which they were seventy years ago, than to attempt to
relieve them by degrees. The number of Protestants is
so small compared to the number of the Catholics that
these latter must have a complete mastership ; or they
can retain no payer at all; or, at least, nothing like
that predominant power which they at present posses!.
We, therefore, deem the Policy which, to all appear-
MICA`, LORD WELLESLEY is instructed to act upon, to be
the worst possible policy that could be possibly
thought of. We are not disposed to dispute the
good intention of it. It is called conciliatory;
bat, in a state of things like that which exists in Ire-
land, there can be no conciliation without total surren-
der; surrender of all the powers and emoluments of the
State, and of the Clinrch. We mean surrender of the
exclusive possession of these. Unless this take place,
conciliation is a word that has no meaning for Ireland.
The present system must continue in all Its parts; or
Protestant predominance insist be done away. This, if
we conld have our will, should speedily be the case, pre.
forting, as should, the good will of the millions to
the good will of the thousands. But, at any rate, we
are quite satisfied, that, to attempt any thing short of
this, can only tend to irritate, to inflame and to prolong
all the bad passions which are now at work. Such is
our opinion of the strife in Ireland. We think it use-
less to rail against Orange lodges, while every man of
common sense must know that the principles of those
lodges, are only the principles, somewhat exaggerated,
of the whole of the Protestants of Ireland.—lf no Re-
form of the Parliament should take place for any consi-
derable length of time, we shall see the Orangemen
completely prevail ; and, indeed, we should not be at all
surprised if the Lord Lieutenant, finding his efforts un-
availing, were to be the first man to wish for his own
recall—The decision of the Grand Jury, in Dublin,

J

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pretty clearly told him on which side the real strength
lay. It was a hint that he could not very well misun-
derstand ; and, if he misunderstood it, the Orangemen.
did not tnisur.derstand it. It dearly shows that the
Attorney General overrated the power and iniluenee ot
the Lord Lieutenant; and the &Ticino, trifling as it
might be in itself, was really a decision of the dispute
between the parties.