IRELAND.
At a late meeting of the National Association, Dr. Murray, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, who has just returned from Rome, was admitted a member; having transmitted his subscription of 51. through Mr. Staunton. Dr. Murray accompanied his subscription with the following explanation-
" Dear Sir—The extensive profession of the Catholic religion in Ireland has, I perceive, been made a pretext for denying to this portion of the United King- dom those rights which the other portions of the empire so advantageously enjoy. As a member of that religion, I cannot be insensible to the wrong which, on this groundless and insulting pretext, has been inflicted on the coun- try. I avail myself, therefore, of the first moment after my arrival in Dublin to forward my humble offering to the fund to be employed fur obtaining justice for Ireland."
Some of the Irish landlords, and among them Mr. George Evans and, we believe, Mr. Otway Cave, having objected to the inquiries of the Association relative to the registration of their tenantry, that body has justified itself, in an address to be forwarded to the landowners. After mentioning that the property of many Liberal landlords is used by their agents for furthering Tory purposes, the address proceeds thus- " Having ascertained these facts, we have deemed it our duty to represent to the Liberal landed gentry in Ireland, wherever we have found them so circum- stanced, the means which are at their disposal of contributing to secure, to prolong, and, if possible, to perpetuate that course of policy which accords not only with their opinions, but with their best interests as owners of the soil, and to induce them to take, and to hold their station amongst their countrymen, in which, at this time more than at any former period, their countrymen are not only inclined but anxious to place and to maintain them. It is not, as it ought not to be, our desire or our intention to dictate those private arrangements of which every man is the best judge, and ought to be the sole arbiter in matters concerning his private property. But it is unfair to require, and it is perfectly absurd to expect, that the humbler classes of our countrymen will undergo the expense, the annoyances, and, in many instances the oppressions, that attend not only the honest extent of the franchise, but even the lawful efforts to obtain it —all to maintain in power a Liberal Government—if the professing friends of that Government, who have property and station and influence, will do abso- lutely nothing for extending the elective forces, by which alone such a Govern- ment can be sustained. We appeal, then, to every candid, liberal, and honest mind, whether we are not doing the Liberal gentry of Ireland, many of whom are members of our body, the best service in awakening them to the powers which they possess, to the obligations which accompany them, and to the cir- cumstances under which those powers and those obligations have been hitherto overlooked, and to the disasters which a perseverance in that course of conduct must entail upon their country." This is applicable to England as well as to Ireland. Gentlemen are too apt to expect persons in dependent circumstances to run risks and incur losses in behalf of the Liberal cause, while they are niggard of their money, their time, and their influence, though possessing plenty of all three. It is an every-day complaint of those who reap the chief benefit from the exertions of the popular party, that the electors are backward—that they should return more Liberal Members ; whilst these persons at the same time refuse the Ballot, and never bestir themselves in any other way for the protection of their supporters against wealthy and offended landlords and customers.
Previous page
