IRELAND.
At a meeting of the National Association, on the 22d instant, the Poor-law debate was resumed; and Lord Milltown spoke with much earnestness in favours f Mr. O'Malley's motion.
" My conviction," be Raid, " is that something must be done to relieve, not only the paupers themselves, but also the resident gentry and the farmers, from the pressure, which, by Heaven, is more than they can bear. It may be said, that as much has been done for Ireland as for any nation. The passing of Catholic Emancipation has been advantageous to the Catholic aristocracy and the gentry, but Catholic Emancipation to the Irish peasant is a farce. Can the sufferings of the peasant of Mayo be appeased by being told that a nobleman can sit in the House of Lords?. It is a farce. If the Irish peasant Ras been made to agitate for others, in the name of God, let him agitate for himself ! Let petitions from every hamlet in Ireland load the tables of the Legislature till they groan beneath their weight, in order that the poor should be assisted ere they perish. With regard to the details of a Poor .law, the real field for discussion is the Legislature. Frittering away our sentiments, and dividing ourselves, cannot be useful. Each man has his own system, which be is most anxious to advocate; I have my own, although I don't wish to enter into a full disclosure of it. Let us all agree, however, upon the great prin. eiple, that some relief is necessary. With regard to the first plan, if I am not greatly mistaken, it was not to the impost itself, but to the exclusive manner an which that impost was appropriated, that they objected. ("No, no.") Such is my opinion—but it struck me at the moment, that Mr. 011alley's plan would soothe a good deal of irritation in the country. Lord Stanley, in bring, ing forward his measure regarding tithes, had the absurdity to say that tithes could be extinguished. What is meant by extinguishing tithes? Tithes mean the tenth of the produce of the earth. How could you extinguish them ? The landlord has no right to that tenth—the peasant has no riat to it—and the Church of England, alone, has no right to it. The tithes have become hateful to the people ; and the proposition of the reverend gentleman might make the people quietly discharge that which might otherwise be considered an impost."
Mr. Shell said, that the question was one of great difficulty, and one on which men whose goodness and wisdom were unimpeachable differed- " If I were called upon to deliver an opinion upon the question, I should say that, in the first instance, the course suggested in Mr. ilake's admirable report should, to a certain extent, be tried. hew will dispute the propriety of at all events providing sustenance and shelter for the helpless poor ; and if, after put- ting that expedient to the test of experiment, it shall be found that ulterior measures of mercy are required, those measurer must in the ultimate event be adopted. Let no one imagine that I stand up as the enemy of poor-laws— far from it-1 feel as strong as any man the sacred obligations of supplying relief to a people (if I may use Edmund Burke's expression) which stretches out its hands far food ; and if I thought that the discussion in this room tended in the least degree to advance an object which all Christians ought to have at heart, in these discussions I should take a part."
Rut it was a signal mistake to enter upon abstractions of political economy, when a great practical exertion was needed to discomfit the Tories- " We are falling into the snare laid for us by our opponents. Why are the co- turns of the Tory journals occupied by discussions on Irish Poor laws? Be- cause the Conservatives are anxious to lead us away from the great object which Ireland ought, without pause and without deviation, steadfastly to pursue—the Irish Municipal Bill and the Irish Church are the questions by which the fate of parties and the destinies of this country are to be decided. It is obviously the policy of the Tories to create a diversion of the national energies, to break tip that unity of sentiment in which all strength resides, to cast among us the materials of discord, and in this great el ibis to prevent us from Winging all the power of the Irish millions to bear upon the points which remain to be carried, in order to put the enemy completely to flight. Now mark me—I do not call on you to give to the consideration of Irish Poor-laws an indefinite postpeue- ment ; no such thing. I am not resorting to any dexterity in order to avoid for a season, and ultimately to suppress the question. I am only asking of you to defer all debate upon the Poor. laws until the approaching registry shall have terminated ; and then let gentlemen indulge (for they will do so with impunity) in any extempore expol:ations on political economy they may deem proper. But now what is to be done? Consider for a moment how we are situated ? Parliament meets on the alst of January. The municipal and church ques- tions insist be almost immediately after brought forward. If the Lords throw out the bills, as they will beyond doubtdo, a dissolution is inevitable. For that etiseolution we ought to be prepared; we ought, in truth, to think, to speak of no- thing else' or in other words, to the registries, which are at hand, our attention ought to be exclusively directed. Discuss Poor laws at such a moment ! At such a moment assemble here to listen to disse, tations of fearful length, on the noblest questions by which the minds of the acutest and deepest thinkers can be engaged ! Away with such infatuation ! Shall I tell you what we should discuss ? How stands Donegal? (Loud and continued cheering.) What are
we doing in Sligo ? Shall Cavan be disenthralled from Tory domination? In Carlow, for the great work of retribution what has been accomplished? There —there, Sir, are the questions that ought to be put and discussed by practical men who favour the importance of a Poor-law question, but also know what folly it is to give to the theories with which it is connected a precedence over topics of immediate, pressing, and permanent need. Follow the example of the Conservatives. What course are they taking? Do they, in their assem- blies, debate the Poor-law question ? I will venture to say, that on the 24th of January, when a meeting is to be held in the room attached to the Mansion. house, called by eight lay-peers, or persons who designated themselves as the Protestants of Ireland, not one word of Poor-laws will be said. No, no. The Poor-law question is left to the ingenious Quixotists who manifest so much com- miseration for the miseries of the Irish people : but when the leaders of the party shall have assembled, there will be very little political economy, but there will be an abundance of acrimonious eulogy—theIrish Protestants will be told that
we want to put a knife to their throats; and to rip their purses up. To your teats, Oh, Israel,' will be the cry. England will be invited to take part with the persecuted and endangered Protestantism of Ireland, and the reestablish- ment of Popery in the sister country will be held out as a probable event. But of the starving millions, and the frightful policy so long pursued in regard to Ireland, which is the real cause of all the calamities to which the Irish people are subject, nothi..r, whatever will be said. And are we, when such an assembly is about to be he!d to engage in the discussion of political metaphysics ? I tell you that the very existence of this body, the very right to meet within these walla is at stake. If the Tories come into power in the midst of a debate on the Poor-laws, we shall have a body of the new Dublin Police at our doors, and the philosophical essayist on the misery of Ireland will, at the point of the bayonet, be told to go and discuss their nostrums elsewhere. Poor-laws for Ireland !"
Mr. Shell urged a liberal expenditure of money and great exertion in order to put the registries on a proper footing, and concluded by mov- ing an adjournment of the Poor-law debate for three weeks. This motion was carried without a division ; Lord Miltoun and Mr. Law- less acceding to it. The meeting of the Association was also adjourned for a fortnight.
Mr. Sheil has thus effected, very adroitly, what it would have been imprudent in Mr. O'Connell to have attempted. The Agitator quietly moved off to make way for his lieutenant ; who has acquitted himself admirably. Mr. O'Connell reached Darrynane Abbey on the 23d instant. It is said that he intends to remove Mr. Maurice ()Connell to a warm climate for the benefit of his health.
Previous page
