NEWS OF THE WEEK.
"DESPATCH of business" appears to be the real *object for which the Representatives of the People have assembled in this session of Parliament. Various and important have been .eir occupa- tions during the past week. The Attorney-General for Ireland introduced the new bill of Irish Municipal Reform on Tuesday. It was agreed that the debate should take place upon the second reading; when Sir ROBERT PEEL will he compelled, for consistency's sake, to object to the principle of the measure. Sorely will he be hampered by the unlucky mistake on the first day of the session, when, in obe- dience to the stern and rash Duke's order, he declared war against the People of Ireland. On the other hand, Ministers will have a just and a popular part to perform. The remodelling of the Police establishment in Ireland is the object of a bill which was brought in by Lord MORPETH on Thursday. This measure is peculiarly hateful to the Orange Magistrates. It will strip them of authority which they have perverted to the vilest party purposes. Lord MORPETH stated, that within three months, more than ninety members of secret societies have been discovered, and expelled from the Police force. Very convenient, no doubt, it has been to the gentry to have a ready mode of arming their adherents at the public cost, and of promoting unscrupulous election agents to a service which enables the latter to repay the favour in a manner most useful to their patrons. It is, indeed, high time that the Police should be purged, and the Orange faction deprived of its band of gladiators. The chief command, should the bill pass the Lords, is ts be given to Colonel Sis ftw KENNEDY; and the promise of this appointment seems to have soothed the ruffled spirits of Colonel PERCEVAL, and to have delighted Sir ROBERT PEEL. We hope that neither have substantial cause for so much satisfaction. In former days, Colonel KENNEDY was invited by Sir ROBERT to take thecommand of the Metropolitan Police; and that offer suggests that he is a Tory, for PEEL knew better than to throw away his patronage on political foes.
The conduct of the Irish Exchequer Judges, and their " writ of rebellion," were also discussed on Thursday. In the course of the debate, facts were admitted which prove the existence of a league between the Orange party in Ireland and the Bench of Justice to persecute the Catholic tithe-tenants. We say perse- cute; for it is not denied that while debts under 10/, can be re-
covered, at slight expense to the defaulter: before a Magistrate, proceedings have been resorted to in the Court of Exchequer which will swell the costs of recovering a debt of 2s. to the enor- mous sum of 90L An association of wealthy Protestants has been formed for bringing such cases into Court : and the Judges have lent themselves with zeal to forward the views of the Associa- tion. Nor only this : by issuing" writs of rebellion"—a process of law considered obsolete seventy years ago—they have con- trived to put the officers of their Court into a state of collision with the Government. A writ of rebellion authorizes the person to whom
st is directed, and who may be the veriest vagabond a tithe-col- lector can pick out, to call upon the Police to assist him in the strvice of the process. Now, Lord MULGRAVE, in common with his IMecessors in the Viceroyalty, prohibits the employment of the le in any other way than the preservation of the public peace: but the Judges of the Exchequer Court insist upon their process- server being aided by the Police, and thus have defied the Govern- ment, upon which they must rely for the execution of their de- crees, and without whose assistance they are as feeble as they are factious and foolish. It is easy to see how the contest between the Barons of the Exchequer and the Viceroy must end. Reason and power are, happily, in alliance here : these partisan Judges will not be allowed to put the practice—and the obsolete practice too—of their Court, in opposition to the Act of Parliament under Whose authority the Lord-Licutenant commands seven thousand Armed Nice. In the mean while, dces pet this proceeding give
LLAYXST EDITION.]
emphatic force to O'Corevem.'s demand of "justice for Ireland ?"
The Prisoners' Counsel Bill was read a second time on Wed- nesday, by a majority of 179 to 35. Sir F. PoLLocK, Dr. Lusg- IMITON, Sir JOHN CAMPBELL, and Mr. O'CONNELL, spoke strentrously in its favour. It was faintly opposed by Sir EARDLEY WILMOT and Mr. POULTER. We shall see bow the Lords will deal with the measure this year. They will not have the excuse of want of leisure so consider it.
A motion by Mr. ROEBUCK, for a Committee to inquire into the Administration of Justice in the Mauritius, was defeated on Monday, by a coalition of Whigs and Tories. numbering 227, against 69, who voted with the mover. This was a discreditable proceeding on the part of the majority. A case for inquiry was certainly made out. Chief Justices holding slaves themselves against the law, and winking at those who carry on the slave- trade in a British colony ; Governors countenancing the profligate Judges ; Colonial Secretaries protecting the jobbing Governors, or utterly neglecting the concerns of the island for a twelvemonth together,—these were the circumstances to which Mr. ROEBUCK directed the attention of the House of Commons : but, as we have said, his motion was barked. We are deceived, however, if Minis- ters or their Tory allies have got rid of this subject. Mr. WARD'S plan of recording and publishing the Votes of Members on Divisions was adopted by the House on Thursday night but with evident reluctance, by some from whom opposition might be expected, by others who ought to have known better. Sir ROBERT INGLIs declared that the plan had already been tried, and had failed ; a remark which proved that Sir ROBERT was de- luding himself when he imagined he knew any thing at all about the matter. Sir ROBERT PEEL objected to the expense of keeping four clerks in pay! (for this only, we presume, could be the meaning of an observation on the length of their attendance, which standing by itself would seem a mere silliness :)—how like Judas ! Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that loss of time would result from adopting the plan; though it is demonstrable, that if fairly put in practice, there needs be no loss, perhaps there may be a saving of time. Sir JOHN Horteouss professed to believe that the Division-lists as published in the papery were sufficiently correct ; and he said this notwithstanding there were fifty-five omissions in the list of the majority on the Prisoner& Counsel Bill, which appeared in the papers that very morning, besides other blunders. There is, we are persuaded. a lurking dread of publicity in all this foolish and spiteful talk. But it is now too late to retreat. The country is wide awake on the subject of legisla- tive responsibility, and will have authentic reports of the votes and absence of Members of Parliament.
Lord DUDLEY STUART harangued a very thin House last night on the subject of Russian aggrandizement. The Russo-phobia has taken strong hold of this amiable nobleman; who appears to have been a diligent reader of' the apocryphal papers in the Port- folio, as well as of the British and Foreign Review. The Minis- ters avowed their determination " to maintain peace as long as they could ;" and proved, to the satisfaction of the House, that there was neither cause nor excuse for war.
The 0-SumavAN section of the Tories (for we would fain ac- quit the gentlemen of the party of abetting the foul attack) have fired off their great gun at the Member for Ireland. But their impotence has been manifested as clearly as their malice. °Core- NELL is unscarred ; while his assailants have ample cause to dread
the rebound of the blow which they levelled at him. •
Mr. HARDY (the sanctified pretender to purity in politics as well as religion, whose defeat at Pontefract cost him a sum the interest of which must diminish materially the proceeds of his sinecure Stewardship) brought fore ard on Tuesday his motion for a Select Committee to inquire into the traffic and agreement between Mr. O'CONNELL and ALEXANDER RAPHAEL regarding the Carlow election. If Mr. HARDY had proclaimed hisnself the advocate of a faction, employed to make out a case agaiost O'Cotetvem.—to suppress all that would tell in his favour, and exaggerate every thing that bore a hostile appearance—then per- haps Mr. HARDY might have a claim on his clients for the zeal he had exhibited in their behalf: to the merit of a skilful or suc- cessful pleader he could have no pretension. But the mouthpiece of the Orangemen on this occasion avowed himself the disinte- rested and unprejudiced friend of justice ; he declared his longing for a fair investigation, and professed to state the case against the defendant with impartiality, unmixed with personal hostility. His unfairness was gross and disgusting. He suppreesed noto- rious facts; be advanced charges already refuted ; sported vulgarisms worn-out in the Times, and itnpromptes t.0 ssonths old.
It was easy for O'Correma. to demolish his pompous but feeble accuser. This work he performed completely. But the triumph Over Hr. HARDY was a matter of small moment: OVONNKLL proved that his conduct in the Carlow eleetion entitles him to the gratitude of every, !Reformer. The effect of hi a reply was most striking. Sir ILOHERT PEEL showed by his coun- tenance how sensible he saes of the error in tactics committed by the violent men Wills party : be was sullen and distressed, or the expression of his features much belied his inward feelings. STANLEY also was silent; and Sir WILLIAM FOLLETT had not even a plausibility at command. The charge against O'CoNwate, originating with a man who, in the fever of disappointed vanity, but without a semblance of ill-usage as an excuse, broke through all the rules of gentlemanly conduct, and published private and confidential letters, found support in the House of Commons only from Messrs. HARDY, SCARLET?, and JOHN WALTER! This trio of worthies have escaped from insignificance for a week. We are glad that no person of public reputation worth preserving has meddled in the dirty job. A Select Committee was appointed ; whose labours ought not to be confined to the investigation of the absurd accusation against O'CONNELL. There are circumstances connected with the Carlow election—there are charges against Lord BERESFORD and Colonel Bauarr—which demand inquiry. Colonel BRUEN objected to the extension of the Committee's authority ; but at present he labours under the imputation of sanctioning the most inhuman treatment of his Catholic tenantry. These charges may be false : there ought to be no doubt on the subject. If they are true, even bribery and the sale of seats in Parliament—the every-day practices of Toryism—are venial offences compared with Colonel Emma's and Lord BERESFORD'S.
From the first day of this charge against O'CoNastt, we per- ceived the true nature and intention of the Tory conspiracy. His enemies made out no case of corruption against him, even on their own showing. His connexion with the Carlow election seemed a natural and fair consequence of his position in Ireland. The money in question seemed a small, not a large sum, to disburse in a contest for a county. We stood in no need, therefore, of a formal defence by O'Coanaatt himself: nevertheless, two or three points, on which much stress had been laid by his accusers, and on which no friendly writer in England possessed information, were cleared up by his speech on Tuesday last, in a manner so cbm- pletely intelligible and satisfactory, that he may thank his ill- wishers for the opportunity of delivering it.
First, as to the origin of his intercourse with RAPHAEL. It lad constantly been averred, that a hen the vacancy in the repre- sentation of Carlow occurred in May last, O'CONNELL immedi- ately set himself about making the most of it for his own pecu- niary advantage. He was accused of hawking about his influence, and offering it to the highest bidder. RAPHAEL, it was said, was an utter stranger to him; but as be undertook to put down two thousand pounds, O'CoNraaee did not scruple to recommend him to the Carlow electors as his "excellent friend," and a real Re- former. The Tory trick consisted in making it appear that the acquaintance between O'Costrrate and RAPHAEL began in May last, and not before; and that O'CONNELL then sought RAPHAEL, and not RAPHAEL O'CONNELL. But RAPHAEL and his abettors took up their account in the middle. It turns out, that in the election of January 1835, RAPHAEL intended to be a candidate for Carlow ; that a correspondence passed between O'CONNELL and his agent on the subject ; that subsequently RAPHAEL courted O'CONNELL very assiduously, with professions of Liberalism constantly on his lips; that when the decision of the Committee, unseating BRUEN and KAVANAGH, was known, RAPHAEL announced himself to Vinoas as a candidate, not in O'CONNELL'S presence, or with his approbation implied or ex- pressed ; that RAPHAEL promised to supply VIGORS with 2000/. towards defraying the expenses of the contest arid supporting the Liberal interest, himself naming O'Connell as the party in whose hands the money should be lodged. All this passed before the commencement of the correspondence which RAPHAEL sent to Abe Tory newspapers. In the mean time O'CONNELL had been endeavouring to find an Irish candidate for Carlow, and actually offered his influence to a personal foe. He was unsuc- cessful. Finding it impossible to procure a candidate among the Irish gentry—the time pressing, and a powerful enemy in the field—at length O'Coannet yielded to RAPHAEL'S solicitations, and agreed to support him. The decision once taken, O'CONNELL, with characteristic energy, spurred matters forward. RAPHAEL'S character was fair at that time: he was High Sheriff of London, a member of Brookes's, and received among gentlemen as he will never be received again : lastly, he hod given a written pledge to adhere, when in Parliament, to the Liberal principles he professed as a candidate. The urgency of the demands on RAPHAEL to pay his stipulated share of the expenses of the contest, has been much dwelt upon. Of course. O'Cortannt pressed for the means of cam ing on the war. VIGORS was already in Ireland; money was absolutely necessary : every body knows that not one step can be taken pre- paratory to a contested election without ready cash. It therefore became the duty of O'CONNELL, as the chosen trustee fi,r both parties, and earnest in his endeavours to defeat the Tories in Carlow, to call again and again upon the tardy and miserly Ritenase to fulfil his bargain with VIGORS. Another part of the calumny against 0CoNstset. is, that he made RA.PIIII.ML pay 18001. for the expenses of a contest, when there might have beea no opposition. 0-CoNNELL, however, knew that a considerable expenditure would be required. The decision of the Election Committee, thaj unseated the Tories wrongly returned in January, was satire y -pronounced, before BRUEN and KAVANAGH retained Mr. CHA4LES AUSTIN, who had distinguished himself as counsel for theauedisful parties, to sup- port the petition which they intended to preserlf against the return at the next election, when they anticipated defeat. It was therefore evident that a good deal of money would be required. To keep the poll open several days against even a sham opposition in a county election, 1000/. was a very small sum. To suppose that °Vet/- NELL expected—even if he had been acting for his own advantage, and not, which we have seen he truly was, as a trustee for other parties—could have expected to pocket any surplus, is what no man accustomed to elections can possibly believe. Yet such was the pretence of the Tories—of Lord STANLEY, Mr. HARDY, Mr. SCARLETT, and Mr. JOHN WALTER. It is scouted by all but the malignant and the silly. Regarded as a mere composition, O'Coaranteis speech was in- ferior to many which he has delivered. The points of defence lay in a narrow compass ; and if it had been the aim of the orator merely to state the facts which sufficed to disprove the charge, K. would not have occupied the House for more than ten minutes. But he was resolved to expose the hypocrisy of his assailants, who,. under pretence of vindicating purity of election, sought revenge on the man who had hurled them from power. Opportunities for doing this effectually occurred as be proceeded in his speech ; he seized them with eager energy, and, throwing away, as it were, all thoughts of his own justification on this very small issue, he poured forth torrents of fierce invective on the Tories. Thus, many of the passages which told best in the delivery, appear out of place in the report of his speech, and give it a rambling and diffuse air. To those who were present, they seemed naturally to arise out of what was passing at the instant—out of the by-play on the Op- position benches. The eject was to reduce his adversaries to abso- lute silence. They were dumfounded—terrified: conscience made cowards of them.
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