NEWS OF THE WEEK.

THE Roman Catholic Relief Bill has been read a second time in the House of Commons, after two nights' debate. On Tuesday the debate lasted little more than four hours,—the previous part of the evening having been occupied in receiving petitions ; and when the adjournment was moved, an altercation followed between Sir ROBERT INGLIS and some of the friends of the measure, as to how much of Wednesday night should be consumed in the same man- ner. The debate was, however, resumed at six, and continued till three o'clock, when the division was called for. The numbers were—for the second reading 353; against it, 173; Ministerial majority, 180. The second reading was moved by Mr. PEEL. The speakers in support of the motion were—Mr. BENSON, Mr. Gout- BURN, Lord CASTLEREAGH, Mr. WILMOT HORTON, Sir HENRY PARNELL, Mr. ROBERT GRANT, Mr. HORACE Twins, Lord MOUNT- CHARLES, Lord PALMERSTON, Lord MILTON. Against the second reading—Sir EDWARD KNATCHRULL, Mr. G. BANKES, Mr. SADLER, Mr. BANKES, Lord TULLAMORE, Mr. TRANT, Sir CHARLES WETHERELL, the Attorney-General. Mr. PEEL replied. Of the speeches, two on each side were more remarkable than the rest: on Tuesday, Mr. SADLER'S—a maiden oration ; on Wed- nesday, Lord PALMERSTON'S, Sir CHARLES WETHERELL:3, and Mr. PEEL'S.

Mr. SADLER, after a regular exordium, well charged with com- pliments to the people and his own party, and with scarcasms against the Liberals, proceeded to grapple with the proposition that the diseases of Ireland spring from Protestant ascendancy, and then to propose his own remedies for the patient.

"What are we to do with Ireland? Legislate on her behalf, in the spirit of philanthropy, and with the lights of wisdom and experience de- velope her immense internal resources hitherto unexplored, almost un- touched; introduce in behalf of her distressed population, a moderate system of poor laws, the machinery of which the very attempt would • create, diffuse, in spite of priestly domination, the benefits of Christian elucation ; employ the starving people, which are and must'be fed, but whose labours you now lose, as well as destroy their characters by con- signing them to involuntary idleness and mendicancy ; and finally, while you legislate about and against the poor, dare to touch the culpable and heartless rich, the deserters and enemies of their country, and if they are dead to other and worthier motives, compel them by pecuniary malcM to repay some of their duties to that society to which they owe their all—duties which they are disposed to pay by words only. I...et them thus afford employment and bread to a population never adequately employed, always suffering from want, and pushed to the utmost verge of human endurance. These, Sir, are the means, simple and obvious, though ridiculed by theoretic folly, and rejected by inveterate selfishness, which would, and in no long time, regenerate Ireland and repay the wrongs of many generations."

jects, but none to your King I Throw open wide the portals of the Legis- Creed, nevertheless, are content, nay propose that the Kia4 4liould Ile from his loftier seat there—the throne of this realm—a Duke of Lancas- ter, if he exercise the same privilege—if he presume to have a conscience I Ilithinto, Sir, the British Constitution is uniform, fair, equal ; it de- 'sands the same moral qualification, as I have already observed, from us ail. The liberal schools have long proclaimed that these essential securi; •

ties imply slavery; and the Ministers who have adopted their political

rank must be so held and transmitted. Freedom of conscience to all sub- lature that a Duke of Norfolk may take his seat in your senate,- but hurl 'sore poignant, by making him the solitary individual whose hereditary the heart of your Prince—you render the scar more visible, the insult the gust. What, Sir, after having established by a solemn act the doctrine the nature sought to be removed inflict a disgrace upon the feelings of those whom they affect intolerable to good and generous minds, worse than persecution—nay, than death itself—how do you apply it? Why, Sir, you propose to sear this brand high upon the forehead, deep into come viceroy over him. But, Sir, this last reservation, I confess, heightens the objection I have to the measure into abhorrence and dis- that conscience ought to be left free and unrestrained—that disabilities of pears, still remain Protestant; but some bigoted devotee of Rome may conquer his way to the Royal presence, be his Prime Minister, and be- "The place of the King, as a learned lord expresses it, must, it ap- All the rights the constitution creates are conditional. Political radicals seek to do away with the pecuniary qualification ; and re- ligious radicals wish to destroy the moral one. In the bill under discussion, the Protestant faith surrenders every thing, receiving nothing. Even the securities so much talked of vanish at last into mere shadows. the only proclaimed slave in his dominions. But if the bill should pass, which God avertl if no other and fitter individual should stand up in 87 favour of the then insulted feelings of his Sovereign, I. will. Whetna the exception is introduced to blind the eyes of some under the guise of-a security, ot' however intended, I will propose that, amidst this genend emancipation, the King shall not. be bound—that in the very acme of • liberal legislation the King should not receive a marked. insult—that his future religious profession shall be delivered from the taint of this solitary

dictation—that his conscience shall be free." . .

Even the title of the King is touched—legally and morally. The Established Church is threatened. • " The real object of attack, Sir, is the establishment, or rather its pri- vileges and immunities. The war is commenced, and it is commenced in this place. The first parallel is nearly completed—it may point diagonally —another will be marked out in an opposite direction, till the whole will be completed, till the gates of the Constitution will have been approached, the breach effected, and its ancient ramparts levelled with the dust ; and the final tritimph will be over the most tolerant, the most learned, and the most efficient religious establishment which any country has ever yet been blessed with. Znd, Sir, can any man flatter himself that even when this is destroyed, a long and uninterrupted reign -of- quietness- arid peace is to ensue. No? When this victim has been hunted down, the same pack, which are even now upon her haunches, will scent fresh game, and the cry against our remaining institutions will be renewed With redolibled rigour, till nothing be left worth either attack. or defence, If indeed-any- thing, will after this fatal measure is carried, till all beliberatized." - The measure is ill-timed.

"Of all the times in which this measure has been proposed, this is un- deniably the worst, because the latest. On many former oeCasions, when the Present Ministers opposed this measure, the concession would have been accepted as a boon ; it will be now sullenly taken as the recovery of a just, but long-disputed debt, insultingly withheld, ahd at last relue- tantly granted. Then it would have dissolved millions into..,„G ore

ratitu, and

made a deep and lasting impression on their hearts ; now it is regarded as an extorted right, conceded as a choice of evils; and it will be estimated accordingly. It-will. I know, be accepted ; but it will receive its chief value as being the certain means of extorting fresh concessions, all of which Might now be named, and none of them, I am persuaded, will be long Withheld, notwithstanding the neW' pledges of those who have so nobly redeemed their old ones. If it be a measure just in itself and safe in its consequences, it ought to have been granted from the tirat and Ministers are deeply responsible for not conceding sooner if they meaat to surrender at all.'

The measure exceeds the competency and power of Parliament . " This House, I say, has no right to proceed in this work of counte.e: revolution without consulting the people. On preceding election the question has, by common consent, been kept from their particular conSi- deration,. as to have mentioned- it would have been stigmatized the 'No Popery cry ;" and, moreover, they confided in this particular, in the express declarations of his Majesty's' Government, and determined Bier choice therefore .by other grounds of political or ideal preference. The Protestant constitution, now endangered, was first established in 'a:con= vention, called for that special purpose ; and without as full an aPpeak, and with equal formality, the people have no right to be robbed or it. (Cheers and Laughter.) I am fully aware of the -legal fiction-that Patric- .ment is omnipotent, but it is -nevertheless a fiction. The -Parliament tit neither called to, nor competent, to alter the original frame•Worli of the

constitution.). . .

The late Mr. Canning lamented and vindicated. "I do heartily repent of my share in the too successful attempt of hunting down so noble a victim ;—a man whom England • and the world could not fail to recognize as its ornament—whose eloquence was in these days at least, unrivalled—the energies of whose capacious mind, stored with knowledge and elevated by genius, Were devoted -to the ser- vice of his country. As to the qualities of his generous heart; let those speak to them who felt the warmth of his friendship, which, I -believe, could only be equalled by its stability.- This was the man with whom the present Ministers could not act, and for a reason-Which vitiates their pre- sent doings. Coupling, therefore, that transaction with the present, if the annals of our country furnish so disgraceful a page, 1 have very im- -sion. Here, Sir, that cause may he, like those wasting tapers,' liousef which was 40 cradle, may be how prepuipg ita grave i

away ; there it burns unextinguishably. It lives abroad, t

rished. prejudices of the people, swell its train, thank God for the adetkop.. ' '

in spite of the aspersions of its enemies, by the intelligence, the religion,

how dear thissacred, this deserted cause is to the hearts and to ;the un-

derstandings of Englishmen. The principle may be indeed WitalL in thig, the loyalty of the country ; and if the honest zeal, nay, even the:gbe. - f'• shaken, and are immovable amidst those infections politicarconverains, House, but abroad it marches in more than all its wanted might,. headed facing all the cardinal virtues of existence. Such, taking their principles,,

as all- true Protestants do, from a translated Bible, are not likely. to- which-are the scandal of the age and the disgrace of the country. I know

to be looked for at the summit, but in the solid base of the social struc- to know and to feel that true, consistent, conscientious principle , is not ture, which stand* .unshaken and unmoved: and keeps its lust front may face to-day the pole-star of truth and consistency, and turn their for their guides on those sacred matters—the gilded weathercocks who

backs upon it to-morrow. No, they have learnt to respect themselves—

"They will, I am persuaded, look no more to the summits of society

Effects of the apostacy bf public men on the virtuous people.

•

perfectly consulted them. But peace to his memory I My humble tribute is paid when it can be no longer heard nor regarded—when it is drowned by the voice of interested adulation now poured only into the ears of the living. He fell ; but his character is rescued—it rises and triumphs over that of his surviving — 'What shall I call them ? Let their own consciences supply the hiatus."

rePresentatiSte the people committed their dearest birthright, the Pro- testant constitution. They have not deserted it, whoever has. If it must perish, then, I call God to witnessnthat the people are 'guiltless ! Let it, then, expire, I say, in this spot—the place of its birth, the scene of its long triumphs—betrayed, deserted, in the house of its pretended friends, who while they smile are still preparing to .smite—let it here, while it receives blow after bloni from those who have hitherto been its associates and supporters, fold itself up in its mantle, and hiding in sor- row and disgrace, fall when it feels the last vital stab at its heart from the hand of one whom it had armed in its defence, and advanced to its highest honours."

Lord PALMERSTON combated an inference which Mr. Bankes had drawn from the declaration of the Prince of Orange, that the views of those who settled the constitution of 1688 were mainly di- rected to the exclusion of Roman Catholics.

He would maintain that the declaration, if properly read, was in favour Of a contrary opinion : the Constitution was settled to protect the laws from the pressure of arbitrary power. For what purpose had the Conven- tion-Parliament been called, hut to secure to such of the subjects of this realm as lived peaceably (even Papists not excepted) the equal and effec- tual protection of the laws ? For the purpose of removing all doubt upon the subject, a clause had been introduced at the conclusion of the decla- ration of rights, which expressly acknowledged that the general object of thegreat political arrangement then effected was to secure to all the loyal and peaceable people of this realm the complete enjoyment of their lives, liberties,. and properties. If the new King had been such a person as he had lately' been described, instead of having been a blessing to this coun- try—instead of his arrival having been looked upon as the dawn of happi- ness to England—the people of this country would have had reason to curse the hoar in which he set his foot on the shore of England. But King William did not come into England with religious tracts in one hand and with persecution in the other : he came with tolehation on his ilps, and with civitand relieious liberty in his heart.

:state of the question :— If the question were, whether they should have no Catholics at all— .—whether the religion throughout the empire should he exclusively Pro- testant—then let Ireland by all means be made Protestant e but this was not in human power. Catholics there were and Catholics there must be. There they were, good or bad ; and whether their tenets were wholesome or unwholesome, the persons holding them were six million in number, and they were seated in the very heart of the empire. What, then, were we to do with them, since we were not able to exter- minate them ? Were we to make them our enemies,—fiercer and more inveterate in proportion as we persecuted Clean—or were we by kindness and conciliation to convert them into friends ? Could they allow Catholics to stand sentinels in their camp, and yet fear to trust thertoin the very centre, Of the country, surrounded by their guards ? Catholics might command their armies in the day of battle,—when the safety of England might hang upon the secret workings of the mind of cue man,—when the commission of one act, or the treacherous omission of one act, might ruin all,—they were contented that one man should be a Catholic ' • they were willing to trust to the honour, to the integrity, and to the faith of a Catholic. But when the question was, whether a Catholic should be allowed a seat in that House, where little depended on what was said or done by a few,—where everything a man said or did was

made is public as the art of mari could Make it, and borne with the dawn of day on the wings of the winds to the extremities of the empire,—there,

in such a place and under such circumstances, people were filled with alarinat his approach; they began to find out that his allegiance was divided, and they saw the ruin of the country completed by permitting a Catholic to vote in a committee of supply. (Cheers and laughter.) Per- sons were sometimes very severe upon the wisdom of our ancestors.'

For his own part, he thought that in some instances our ancestors were wiser men than we were. Our ancestors hated and feared the Catholics, and with some reason. We hated and feared the Catholics; but without . reason. They intended to extirpate the Catholic- religion, and they set about it in right good earnest; and if it had happened that the consciences and opinions of men could have been swayed by the arm of temporal power, they would have managed to succeed, for they wanted not a hearty good will. They just made it unlawful to put a Catholic to death when-,

ever he crossed the Protestant in his path ; but they looked upon him as a beast of prey ; and, hunting Finn from society, drove him back to his own fastnesses. We looked upon the Catholics with the same abhor- rence; but we allowed them to prowl about cur streets, and to walk in the gardnns of our dwellings ; and time only place we closed against them was the temple of juathze. (Chee--.

Physical state of Ireland :- By tett:ma which he held in his hamonm, the population of Great Britain amounted to 14.G00,08..), ami by the ::aene. returns the population of Ire- land amounted to 7,fin3,009. The industry of the I.1,000,000 produced a revenue of (50,000,4100/. sterlinp, bat the industry of the 7,000,000 pro- duced no such revenue as 25,C00,000. sterling ; no such proportion they would have expected. And what was the cause of this ? Was the soil of Ireland cursed with barrenness, or were the people of Ireland unwilling to labour? The soil of Issiard was proverbial for its fertility, and he appealed to the nen& of this country for the proof that the Irish were a laborious peoole. Well, then, what was time cause ? He should be told, perhaps, that Ireland was without capital, and that therefore her people were without employment, and her exchequer without revenue. And why was she without capital ? Did not -the fact of her being without capital, when she was under the same King, and situated within a stone's throw of her wealthy neighbour; England, prove more than all the elo- quence in the world, that Ireland was misgoverned ? The capital of England overflowed, and found its wav into every quarter of the worlds-- to our very antipodes—with one exception only ; none of it went to Ireland.

Mr. Sadler's remedies amounted to this—bring back the ab- sentees, educate the poor, introduce the pcor-laws, and let us have a civil war.

As to absenteeism—the state of the country had compelled it. Tran- quillize the country, and the absentees would return but as long as the bonds of society in Ireland were uolonsed, and party feeling was inflamed to such a height as. to set the nearest relations against each other, how could it be expected that those who could . live out of the country would reside in it? As to the education of the poor—the poor were educated ; and most injudicious it was to educate them if we meant to continue these disa.bilites. As to the introductiOn of the poor laws, if he were not re- strained by the respect lie entertained for the member who made the pro. position, he should say a was an insult, a mockery of the distress of Ireland. The people of Ireland had been reproached with being an im- provident people; was the provision held out by the poor laws calculated to make them provident ? Ireland was said to be embarrassed by a re. dundant population: were the poor-laws. likely to relieve them from this embarrassment, or to increaselt ? The poor of Ireland, were said to be an indolent and degraded class of men : the poor-laws were, of course, most admirably calculated to stimulate them to industry, and parish relief would doubtless exalt them. (Latlghter.) Then, for the last remedy for Ire. land—d civil war. Did the member for Newark., who talked so lightly of shedding the blood of his fellmlV-creatures, reflect—no, he could not re. flesi—on the countless multitude of evils which were contained in those three words ? (Cheers.) They were asked to preserve the integrity of the British constitution. Did the constitution recognize a government maintained by force,—did it recognize keeping down the people by civil war ? Mr. Peel had told them that no less a military force than five-sixths of the infantry had been employed for some time past in pre. serving a temporary tranquillity in Ireland : was this in the contempla- tion of the authors of the constitution of 1688 ?—was it to establish a military government that the Stuarts were expelled from the throne ?"

Sir CHARLES WETHERELL said he was no longer Attorney. General, except in name.

" I am told that I am the obstacle which prevents the university of Cambridge from having another representative on the liberal side. (4 l(Lugh.) Now, I have never held office on terms which I should blush to acknowledge. I was the tool of no Government in the acquirement of office. I am the tool of no Government in the retention of it. I take the liberty to say, that for the last three weeks I have been the occasion of no obstacle. of that nature. (Cheers.) He refused to draw the Relief Bill.

" I declinol to draw the hill which is now on the table of the House of Commons—(Onler order 1)—because, looking at the oath I took as At- torney-General, I thought that in drawing up the bill I would be aban- doning my duty to the country and to my King, and drawing up the death. warrant of the Established Church, as completely as Noy did when he advised the levy of ship-money, or as Lord Chancellor Jeffreys did when he drew Up the committal of the seven Protestant bishops to the Tower."

Lord Milton had challenged him to a legal argument on the Bill of Rights.

" The noble lord has called upon me, not by name, but by implication, as Attorney-General, to come forward and maintain the proposition that the exclusion of Roman Catholics was a principle of the Revolution. If the House will permit me, I shall attempt to answer the noble lord's chat. lenge. Because the Bill of Rights does not recite the statute of Elizabeth which directs that the oath of supremacy shall be taken, nor the act of Charles, which prescribes the oath of abjuration—because these two sta- tutes are not recited in the Bill of Rights, it is contended that they are not legally and constitutionally recited, and were thereby repealed. This conclusion I deny. It is true that the Bill of Rights does not recognize the existence of these two enactments, and that it does not provide that they should thereafter continue in force ; but I maintain that all those tests which existed before the Revolution, were re-established, revived, and re-confirmed, by the Bill of Rights. It was made a condition between King William and the people of this country before he set a foot upon British soil. I admit that in my official capacity I am the first law autho- rity in the House—a most uncertain, precarious, and fugacious first law authority—flaughteshowever, such as I am, I am still, though so fugi- tive, the first law authority in it ; and, as such, I hope to be treated with indulgence by the House while I debate at some length on an argument of law, to Which my attention has been invited by the noble member for Yorkshire. With every deference for the noble lord, I must tell him he has laid down a principle which is contradicted by the testimonies of his- tory, and controverted by undisputed facts and uncontra.dieted declara- tions. These testimonies, Sir, I have been called upon, and I now rise to state and to illustrate.' Sir, previously to the Revolution, King William was asked his opinion as to the grounds on which he would consent to a modification of the constitution, and whether he would not consent to a relaxation of laws protecting the Church, and the penal laws affecting the Roman Catholic's, leaving those claims in force which excluded Catholics from both Houses of Parliament, and from ecclesiastical, civil, and mili- tary employments. Now, what was his Highness's answer to that inter- rogation I—That he could not consent to repeal the test acts created to protect the Church, ncr the laws excluding the Catholics which defended the constitution; and that the Catholics were not affected by the test acts, but the Protestant Dissenters. That document, Sir, shows that the Prince of Orange made it a condition of his consent to the act of settle- ment that the laws excluding Roman Catholics from power should not he repealed."

"I am aware that the honourable member for Inverness-shire, and the Solicitor-General for Ireland, and other areumentators of that scale and order, have asserted thecontrary. But I shall contradict those honourable gentlemen by authorities still higher than those I have adduced; for though a noble and learned lord, my Lord Ptunkett, has facetiously de- clared history to be but an old almanack, still, supposing it to be an old almanack, its contents, the principles on which it was constructed, may not grow so out as some honourable gentlemen would wish them." Sir J. MACK1NTOSH.—" Old as applicable to the present circumstances. Answer that." Sir C. WETHERELL (in continuation)—" Sir, the noble lord has asked me one question, and now the honourable and learned member for Knares- borough asks me another. Now, Sir, I must tell my honourable and learned friend that, not being a Scotchman, I cannot answer two ques- tions at once. (Lout-hi cc and chewing.) Sir, I mean nothing invidious against the country of my honourable and learned friend. I merely meant that I do not possess that double-facedness and duplicity of logic which can reply by identical answer to two questions of a different ten- dency. I think I have now answered the noble lord's challenge, fugitive and fugacious a law authority as I happen to be. I am glad, in return, that I cannot say of the noble lord that, in his character of a lord, he is of a similarly fugitive and fugacious nature. But as I have been called on by the noble lord, whether as the first law authority in the House, or as the humble but independent member for Plympton, I fancy I have an- swered the call of the noble member for Yorkshire; but I must protest being required at the same time to answer the interlocutory arguments of the noble member for Yorkshire and the honourable and learned mem- ber. for Knaresborough. There is another declaration of the Prince and Princess of Orange, made when they landed at Dover, to the effect that they would not consent to the relaxation of the laws excluding the Roman Catholics ; but that they had no objection to take into their con- sideration the state of the laws affecting the Protestant Dissenters. King James on this saw he had gone too far ; and for the authenticity of my documents, I appeal to the research of the honourable and learned mem- ber for Knaresborough, who is acquainted with every book and document, and paper connected with the history of gnsland, and from whom, indeed,

the House has long been expecting a more perfect history of England. (el laugh.)

He attacks Lord Lyndhurst and Mr. Peel by insinuation :— "I am sure there are many gentlemen in the House who will remem- ber the able and impressive speech made on this question on a former year,

by the then Master of the Rolls, Sir John Copley. That distin- guished individual, than whom there was none more acute in reasoning, rmore splendid in language, more powerful in delivery, nor more effective I ahd forcible as a speaker in parliament—that individual, then Master of the Rolls, but now Lord Chancellor, thought fit to quarrel with the late Mr. Canning on the subject, whether the settlement of this question was consistent or not with the constitution of these realms. Am I then, Sir, to be blamed for refusing the holding a subordinate office, to do that which the then Master of the Rolls refused to do but two years ago ? Am Ito be taunted for it, and twitted for it, and attacked on every side for it ? (Loud cheering.) Sir, I have been so attacked; but I care not on which side, or by whom ; whether from my right or my left ; whether by the gentlemen on that bench (pointing. to the Opposition,) or by the gentlemen on this bench ()minting to the Ministerial seat.) I am ready to Meet, to resist, all such attacks whencesoever they come. (eteering.) I am ready, I am willing, I am eager, to resist them. Sir, I have no reason to be otherwise. I have no speech to eat—(turning to the Ministerial bench)— I have no apostacy to excuse—I have no paltry subterfuge to resort to—I have not been white one day and black another—(continued cheers)—I have not been a Protestant Master of the Rolls one year, and the next a Catholic Lord .Chancellor. (Continued cheering.) No, Sir, I would rather remain what I am, the humble member for Plympton, than be guilty of such disgraceful dereliction of principle—stich base, such miserable, such contemptible (loohing full in the face of Mr. Peel,) such contemptible apostacy.

He complains of treason, and likens Mr. Peel to Falstaff:— " I declare that no member of the Cabinet, seven days before his Ma- jesty's Speech was delivered, had notice of the matter ; and that the mem- bers of this House—of the Protestant party—not believing that they were to be deserted and betrayed, did not believe that such a measure would be proposed, and said, they would never believe it until they heard you, Sir, announce it from the chair. (Loud cheering.) The honourable ba- ronet the member for Kent has said that we were cast off. I agree with him ; we were turned out of the ranks without cause, and without notice. I find nothing in the Almanack history of this country that resembles this—nothing out simileaut secundum. It stands by itself—it has no pa- rallel. There is nothing before, (trust there will be nothing after that will resemble it. I have lately been amusing myself with reading over some of Shakspeare's plays, and in them there is a celebrated character, a leader of party, one Sir John Falstaff, who much resembles my right honourable friend. My honourable friend has said, that finding himself in a minority of six he was unable to proceed with his former aisciciates.• Like the leader of the party I have just mentioned, he exclaimed, I will not march through Coventry with them ; that's flat. I will now pursue my own course.' Of the regiment one hundred and sixty have taken their course, and the remainder march with their leader. (Cheers and

laughter.) I regret that the old Protestant firm of Peel and Co. should have been broken up. (Laughter.) It was a valuable firm, and had four hundred constant customers of the same rank, the same station, the same respectability of character as the rival bank. I know not under what new firm the business is to be carried on—whether we are to call it the firm of Chandos, Knatchbull, Bankes and Co. (Laughter.) I know not, I repeat, what v be the firm. I care little—but know, that what- ever it may be, with that firm I am determined to keep my cash." (Laughter and cheers.)

He avoids discussing the state of Ireland:-

" Sir, it is foreign to my purpose to enter into a discussion of the state of Ireland ; for many reasons I beg leave to avoid it. (Loud laughter and clwrs.) Sir, I will answer that cheer. (Continued cheering.) I will answer it. Gentlemen say that I avoid this discussion because I cannot meet it. That is their argument. I do not concur with that argument. I say, that his Majesty's Speech did not order his Ministers, at seven days' notice, to bring in this bill. No such thing. I say; Sir, that the King's Speech ordered us to take into consideration the whole state and condi- tion of the people of Ireland. Have we entered upon that considera- tion ?—have we had any information upon it from the noble lord the member for Cambridge, or from others upon the internal state of Ire- land?"

He ShONVCCI that the securities of the bill were deceitful and worthless. More had been conceded than the Catholics asked.

" I have found that the measure has been always discussed as con- nected with securities. Mr. Pitt mentioned securities ; Mr. Canning mentioned securities ; , Lord Plunkett mentioned. securities • and the honourable member for Westminster mentioned securities ; all alonet' it has been discussed in the same manner. Now there are no securities. My right honourable friend has said that the water is flowing in upon us— my apprehension is, that the water is flowing out of us. (Loud laughter, mixed with cheering.) I repeat, Sir, that the water is flowing out of us. (Lai/elder.) My right honourable friend says he has a sufficient apology for this measure—he says that he can't keep the flood-gates shut asclosely as he should ; but surely, if you can't keep the flood-gates shut as closely as you should, surely that was no reason why the whole of the gates should be thrown open. Yet here, Sir, I see that less is demanded on the one hand than these concessions yield on the other. I have been told, and I repeat it, that they are permitted to take more than they ask, and, will add, more than is needed."

Sir CHARLES.S ultimatum :- "I would not condescend to frame such a bill. No Minister in this country—no man in this realm should compel me so to stultify myself: I refused to draw it—I would not be guilty of such folly—such inconsis- tency—as that which must accumulate upon the head of the man who drew it. I said—You may turn me out of office, but I Will never consent to be the dirty tool to draw such a bill. (Cheers and laughter.) I would not soil my hands with it ; I would not detile my pen—I would not waste nay paper in committing such a gross dereliction of duty. I would not, at the same time, forfeit the character of a man of common sense, of common sincerity, and of common truth. I therefore said at once, I'll have nothing to do with it. Such an incongruous mass I've never seen."

MR. PEEL began his reply by remarking, that about three-fourths of the debate on the principte of this bill—about. three-fourths of the defence of the sacred cause of the Protestant Constitution—had turned upon personal charges and imputations, savouring much More of rancorous hostility, than of an ardent attachment to the Protestant Church, • " Last in debate, though foremost in those imputations, is the honour, able gentleman, the Attorney-General of the King. I did not expect that. any person holding that situation would have felt himself called upon to:

disclose -confidential communications. (Loud cheering.) The time has not arrived when I can state to this House all the difficulties that have: obstructed the progress of my noble friend; but I can say of him, with

reference to those difficulties, as was said of Agricola, naturtzli prudenti4 quamris inter togatos facile justeque a,,ahet. But the time will arrive when more justice will be done to him and those who acted with him. The time will come when those difficulties will be appreciated, and when it will be known what were the considerations which only enabled me to. give the honourable and learned gentleman seven days' notice of the speech which was intended to be delivered from the Throne. In answer to the imputations upon myself, I repeat what I said on a former occa- sion—that up to a late period, I did entertain a hope that my noble friend would have enabled me to give him my support, that cordial support which I would have given him, in a private capacity. Instead of incurring. the charge of apostacy, I was•ready, I was desirous to relinquish office;. but having been ready to pay that penalty, no man has a right to say that in the advice I gave I'm King, I meant to conform to the views of any party. I will tell the honourable and learned gentleman when it was said to my noble friend= I Will not abandon you—I will commit my fortunes with yours; and, be the consequences what they may, I am ready. to incur them and to share them.' Ihis was at a period when even greater difficulties appeared to obstruct our. Course than now I hope and believe. will itimede it. It was upon the day when it was intimated 4o. my noble friend by the highest authorities in the Church, that they could not countenance and support his Measures. I then said ' Happen what may, I will not abandon my post—I will support you.' (Cheers.) . was content to incur all the imputations which I then could easily foresee, Other circumstances I cannot mention ; and nothing but the charge. brought forward by one whom I thought a confidential friend should have extorted even these premature admissions. I did see the honourable and learned gentleman seven days before the meeting of Parliament; and, that was the first moment at which I was at liberty to Communicate the decision of Government as to the general course it meant to pursue. That course was complicated, and it had occupied the attention of the Cabinet for weeks before any decision could be taken Upon it. In that interval, it would have been unwise to have communicated to any man; beyond the members of the Cabinet, what measures were in contempla-. tion ; for the minds of those members were not at that time made up upon the question. The first man out of the Cabinet with whom I con- versed on the subject was the honourable and learned gentleman. I told him that the Catholic Association bad assumed a formidable appearance ; that it was necessary for the peace of Ireland that it should be put down ; and I felt it right, in common candour and justice, to add, that that was not the only measure intended by the King's Government. I said to him

—` We feel that we cannot succeed in carrying the suppression of the Association into effect unless we allow Parliament to take into considera- tion the whole condition of Ireland;' and I told him, Moreover, that the full measure of Catholic relief was contemplated—that it was intended to disfranchise the forty-shilling freeholders—and I must observe, that if he really then entertained time horror at this atrocious proceeding whiCh he has to-night expressed, I never saw a man who possessed such control over his countenance." (Cheers and laughter.)

It will not suffice for a Government, like private individuals, to decline the responsibility of advising measures. Even the Protestants of Ireland demanded them. . .

"The Protestant mind in Ireland is divided—but not equally divided, for I do believe that the weight of property and intelligence preponderates in favour of concession. Consider, then, what the feelin.g of that Pro- testant mind will be, if the Attorney-General and his friends should suc- ceed in defeating these measures upon manly grounds, and not upon sly insinuations about Coronation Oaths who shall undertake the office of Government. If these measures are defeated, and a new Administration shall be formed upon a different principle, let me tell the Attorney-Gene- ral, who, of course, will be at the head of it, (laughter) thathe must not rely upon the support of Protestant opinion in Ireland for the maintenance - of theAdministration there. Let me tell him that even those Who were formerly opposed to concession, and are now in favour of it, when they ice the prospect of settlement so near, will be more disappointed at the postponement than even the Roman Catholics themselves."

The Protestants are forced to emigrate :— " I hold in my hand the speech of an unsuspected party,—that of a Pro- testant clergyman, delivered at a Protestant meeting. He had officiated in different parishes, not in the last year only, nor in one county of Ire- land, and he tells us—' I had charge of a parish in Wexford, from the im- mediate neighbourhood of which, about twenty Protestant families emi- grated to America, because they could not get a footing in their own country ; and yet they ask where are the Protestants to be found? I had another parish in the county of Wicklow, from which about fifteen families emigrated; and yet they were ready to ask, where are the Protestants to be &Ind?' I am acquainted with thirty-six Protestant families, which being taken upon the computation of five and a half persons to a frothily, would just yield two hundred persons who emigrated from that single parish. These were the examples of the effects resulting from the state of society in Ireland. These are facts which have come under my own experience—mueque ipsa miserrima via But let me come nearer home. Have I not seen large numbers of Protestants leave their homes in the county of Sligo during the last three months ; and do I not know. that upwards of twenty-five thousand Protestants have emigrated fiend Ireland in consequence of the collision into which they were brought with their Catholic fellow-subjects? And is it to preserve a state of thiiigs Such as this, that honourable gentlemen are desirous to preserve Protestant Ascendancy. in Ireland ? The Protestant population are hemmed in by a population of Catholics labouring under a strong state of excitement, by a Catholic laity, a Catholic clergy, and a Catholic Aris.: tocracy, banded together by the strongest ties, and Whcrhave, thiongh the influence of that union, proved infinitely too powerful for the isolated families of Protestants; and the consequence is, that they prefer emigra- tion to America rather than continue to live in a state of hostility with those who are thus combined in opposition to them."

The peroration:— " One parting word,and I have done. I have received in the speech of my noble friend the member for Donegal, testimonies of approbation which are grateful to my soul ; and they have been liberally awarded to' me by gentlemen on the other side of the House in a manner which does honour to the forbearance of party among us. They have, however, one- and all awarded to me a credit which I do not deserve for settling this. question. The credit, if It be-a credit, belongs to others, and not to me.

It belougs to Fox—to Grattan—to Flunkett—to the gentlemen opposite—.

and to an illustrious friend of mine, who is now no more. (Cheers.) By their efforts, in spite of my opposition, it has proved triumphant and victorious. I will not conceal from the House that in the course of this debate allusions have been made to the memory of my right honourable friend, now no more, which have been most painful to my feelings. An honourable baronet (Sir E. Knatchbull) has spoken of the cruel manner ha which my right honourable friend was hunted down. Whether the honourable baronet was one of those who hunted him down, I know not; but this I do know, that whoeverjoined in the inhuman cry which was raised against him, I was not one. (Cheers.) I was on terms of the most friendly intimacy with that illustrious statesman down even to the day of his death, and I say with as much sincerity of heart as man can speak, that I wish he was now alive among us to reap the harvest which he Sowed, arid to enjoy the triumph which his exertions gained. I am well aware that the fate of this measure cannot now be altered: if it succeed, the credit will redound to others ; if it fail, the responsibility will devolve upon me, and upon those with whom I have acted. These chances, with the loss of private friendship and the alienation of public confidence, I must have foreseen and calculated before I ventured to re- oonimend these measures. (Cheers.) I assure the House, that in con- ftcting them I have met with the severest blow which it has ever been my lot to experience in my life ; but I am convinced that the time will come, though I may not perhapslive to see it, when full justice will be done by men of all parties to the motives on which I have acted,—when this question will be fnlly settled, and when others will see that I had no other alternative than to act as I have acted. (Cheers.) They will then adroit that the course which I have followed, and which I am still pre- pared to follow, whatever imputation it may expose me to, is the only course, which is necessary for the diminution of the undue, illegitimate, and dangerous power of the Roman Catholics, and for the maintenance and security of the Protestant religion."

On Thursday, the second reOing of the Bill for Disfranchising the Irish Forty-shilling Freeholders, was carried, on a division, by 0, majority of 223 to 17. The principle of the measure had not a single supporter, except Mr. A. Eems, who, as a Parliamentary reformer, upheld the Bill because it wis the object of reform to render the elective franchise free front corruption. The influence of the priests, as exemplified at the elections for Clare, Waterford, and Louth, was urged. On the other hand, the influence of the priests in these elections was denied; and the results ascribed to the exertions of the aristocracy, the people, and the clergy, united by one common bond of grievance. Mr.,BROWNLOVI1 frankly confessed, that he was not ashamed to do evil in the present case, for the sake of the good which would fol- low.' MT. LITTLETON, MT. VILLIERS STUART, Lord BecrivE, MT:"STUART WORTLEY, MT. ABERCROMBY, and MT. C. WYNNE, were actuated by very similar motives ; for though they did not like to see the cypress interwoven with the laurel, commemorative of the triumph of civil rights, they were willing to sacrifice the forty- shilling freeholders ; holding that the evil of the measure, though great in magnitude, was compensated by the greater boon which could not he, obtained without it. Mr. BANKES repudiated this doctrine. Mr. GRATTAN stated that the bill will' at once disfranchise one hundred and seventy-eight thousand voters ; and these, Lord DUN- CA.NNOW averred, were neither so much the slaves of the, priest or the vassecla of the landlord, nor so ignorant or uneducated, as they were'supposed to be, except perhaps in some mountainous districts. Mr. Husnissori thought it unfair in the Ministers to take advan- tage qf a nation's enthusiasm to destroy its franchises: they might at least have.attempted to correct the admitted evils of the system before they destroyed the right. Abuses of the franchise were as common in England as in Ireland, yet it was never proposed to disfranchise four-fifths of the people. The measure was denounced by Lord PALMERSTON as unjust, unnecessary, and impolitic : the persons whom it affected are mostly Catholics ; and it would have the effect of leaving a Catholic question behind. Mr. Doneary showed that the franchise had been*. frequently al- tered. Mr. PEEL took his stand upon the evidence laid- before the Committee in 1825; which showed that frauds and perjuries existed among these freeholders, who in many instances were looked upon as part of the live stock of the estate : the alteration of the franchise would create a respectable and substantial yeo- manry. Mr. HUSKISSON and Mr. BANKES proposed that the mea- sure should be made prospective; but no notice was taken of the suggestion. The House went into Committee on the Disfranchisement Bill on Friday—by a sort of blunder. Sir JAMES MACKINTOSM ob- served that it was a "tough morsel ; - but as it was necessary to the attainment of emancipation, he had made up his mind to swallow it. The same inducement weighed with other members ; but not with Mr. LENNARD and Lord GEORGE BENTINCK, who are determined to oppose the bill at whatever risk. Lord Dux- CANNON moved a resolution to the effect of purifying the exercise ofthe existing franchise, but not to abolish it. The amendment wits negatived by 220 to 20. Mr. PEEL brought up some useful amendments ; and the bill is to be reported on Tuesday.

• Among the petitions of the week, two are important for the number of their subscriptions,—that of the Protestants of Ireland, with 160,000 signatures ; and that of householders in London and Westminster, signed by 113,000. From smile discussion that took place on the latter, it appeared that the whole " householders " of the districts specified do not exceed half that number.

On presenting the petition of the Irish Protestants, the Duke of CUMBERLAND again delivered his sentiments on the pending measures I should be sorry, my Lords, to mistake any man ; I wish not to do ; and I am fearful I may have mistaken the noble duke ; but if I did not, he used the. word securities, in replying to a right reverend prelate. 4 will not answer for this ; but so far I can say that the noble duke did, in his reply, state positively that the measure he should bring before Par. liament would be acceptable to all parties. Now, my Lords, I beg to ask what inference can any noble lord draw from the word acceptable, except that the noble duke and the Government were to propose a measure that would provide securities for our Protestant Church ? Will your Lord- ships deign to think that the mere exclusion of the Catholics from the offices of Lord Chancellor and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland will give se- curity to the Protestant Church ? I believe you will not, and that your Lordships will agree with me. Nay, my Lords, I will maintain, that even if my noble and learned friend who sits on the cross benches (Lord Eldon) were the Lord Chancellor, and there were a majority of Catholics in the Cabinet, he and the King, with all the zeal and activity which I know him to possess, could not maintain the security of the Church. (Cheers.) The noble duke has certainly told your Lordships that he has brought forward the measure on his own responsibility, after much consideration ; and in stating this, I have no doubt that he will use all the exertions in his power to carry the measure through, for I know his character and his firmness. But, my Lords, when I look around me and see the number of noble lords who are here, I rather doubt that they will so immediately give their con- sent to the measure—that they will not pause, and pause well to consider in what manner the eyes of all the country from first to last, are directed towards this measure. Your Lordships will pause well before you come to a decision to which you have been opposed for so many years, and only a few months age declaring against the proposition by a majority of forty-five, which was trumpeted through the streets of this metropolis as the glorious majority of forty-five. (Hear!) My Lords, I feel warm on this subject, but I trust, warmly as I feel, that I shall not at any time forget the respect due to this House, and due to the public at large. Nothing can be further from my thoughts than to wish to inflame the minds of the people; but, my Lords, I do say again, as I have said before, that the measure is one of the most outrageous measures ever proposed, and is a violation of the fundamental laws of the Constitution. Iwill not believe, my Lords, that the measure is to be carried till I hear the noble and learned lord on the woolsack declare that the question has been de- cided. Till the measure is adopted I will not believe it. I am sure that I shall ever be as obedient as can be desired, and ready to obey every di- rection of'the noble duke in the field; but in this House I feel that it is my bounden duty to resist this measure by every means which the law and constitution allow ; and I will resist it, my Lords, to the utmost, because I apprehend it will be the ruin of the Constitution. My Lords, I can assure you that the opposition is nothing personal, and that these are the sincere feelings of my heart. I declare, that when the bills shall come before your Lordships, I shall vote against them both ; being fully con- vinced in my-own mind that the noble duke would never agree to the measure for removing the disabilities without the disfranchisement, and I will never consent to sacrifice the Constitution for the snip of l(&" Mr. Peel has brought in a bill to suspend the ballot for the mi- litia for the present ; reserving to his Majesty the power of ordering the corps to be filled up when necessity requires. This will effect a saving ; for the militia costs the public about 25/. each man,while men are enlisted for the regular service at 3/. The bill also authorizes the reduction of the militia staff, formerly mentioned—a measure by which a permanent saving of 65,0001. will be effected.