WHAT ;HAS BEEN DONE FOR IRELAND?
TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.
Dublim 9th October 1537.
Sot—The Examiner wishes the Irish journalists upouthe Liberal sole toengage in the labour of giving detailed accounts of English crime, as a sort of retalia. tion upon the English Conservative newsmongers who are eternally harping about Hibernian lawlessness. The undertaking might be useful, and would at all events be as interesting a theme as that continual praise of the Ministry, ac- companied by the cuckoo sang of " Justice to Ireland," which fills the co- lumns of the Irish Liberal press. And yet what are really the good acts of the Ministry towards us, or what really is" Justice to Ireland," it would be hard to dis- cover. I believe we have very little to say in favour of the Government here : Lord AICLGIIAVE is decidedly the best of the pack ; and what have we to thank him for, except the dismissal of Colonel VERNER ?..-Which, coming after the heels of an election, in which the Whigs had all but sustained a defeat, displayed more spleen than vigour, and appeared more like the outburst of passion than the firm resolve of cool discretion. Popularity was evidently upon the wane, and come sacrifice must be made to Whig expediency ; and VERNER was dismissed for only doing what a hundred other Orange agitators have done several times within the last three or four years. have we had no large Conservative ga.. therings here, attended by Lord-Lieutenants of counties and Magistrates, at which truculent speeches were delivered ? have we had no dinners at which toasts fully as offensive as that of "the Battle of the Diamond" were quaffed, sal yet no punishment followed? The real truth is, the Government wanted a scapegoat; rind Colonel VERNEIt was found to suit the purpose; and his paltry dismissal will be trumpeted forth as a great thing when they are taunted with doing nothing for Ireland. If they are accused of playing, by their indecision and cowardice, the Tory game—look, they will exclaim, at Colonel VERNER'S dismissal! If bail appointments are blamed—true, they will answer ; but then, remember, we dismissed VERNER! The unprincipled Lord PLUNKET will be suffered to deluge the country with a swarm of Tory Magistrates as a counterbalance to the dismissal of the unfor• tunate VERNER—but then the Whigs give "Justice to Ireland!" What is it ? Let us see. It is not a Municipal Bill ; nor a Church Reform Bill; or any measure to benefit the starving people. What is it ? Lord PLUNKET'S brief- less son is a Judge of the Bankrupt Court, although all the Liberal Irish journals besought the best of all Governments to withhold the appointment ; and O'LOGHL1N is Master of the Rolls ; and STEPHEN WOULTE, who prose- cuted the tithe defaulters for Lord ANGLESEA, is Attorney. General ; and MAZIERE BRADY, who never did any thing, is Solicitor-General. But, after all, the Whigs are a blessing, to us, as they keep Tories off the bench : and yet they promote such people as HICKSON to the rank of Queen's Counsel. Alas fur the consistency of the Whigs! they keep Tories dowu with one band and elevate them with the other JACKSON is crushed that HICKSON may rise. In the mean time, the country is in a lamentable state ; trade is pining and taxes upon the increase. Wander through Dublin, and the picture is gloomy beyond description. The streets are full of beggars clamorous for food, and unable to obtain employment : the splendid mansions are deserted ; or what used to be the residence of nubility, now shelters some attorney or a boarding- school mistress and her pupils; and dozens of shops may be seen together tenantless, their former owners being the Marshal's prisoners or dying in a gar- ret. But still the Whigs have place and pay ! C.
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