THE IRISH POLICY.
Trans is a very general impression that " the Irish questions " Bare had their day as rallying-cries of party. The Whig Tithe Bill minus the Appropriation, offers strong presumption that they were not used honestly. When adherence to the principle on which Ministers were reinstated in office became inconvenient, that prin- ciple was coolly shelved, not only with the concurrence, but at the urgent desire of Mr. O'CONNELL and the Irish Liberal Members. And this was the question, above all others, on which the Irish millions felt a deep personal interest : it is precisely that which their leaders, by their past conduct, are precluded from engaging tn. Discouraged by OtoNNELL and the Irish political leaders generally, the Anti-Tithe agitation must fail. It appears that the tithe-owners are stopping legal proceedings against the tenantry, intending to take their arrears out of the million grant, and come upon the landowners for future claims, in the very effectual man- ner prescribed by the new Act. For the paltry Municipal Bill, which the Whigs and Mr. O'CONNELL are willing to accept from Lord LYNDHURST, there never can be any thing like a formidable Irish movement. Mr. O'CONNELL knows this; and therefore puts forth a string of additional demands, which, he also well knows, will not be granted, as precursory to the renewal of the Repeal agitation. If he is sincere, the alliance between the Whigs and their Irish friends will terminate next summer ; as the former will unite with the Tories, and be supported by men of all patties in England and Scotland, in resisting the Repeal. Meanwhile, the old bugbear of Toryism in office is held up to answer Mr. O'CoerNELL's present purpose of supporting the Ministers, against whom he is to organize the Repeaters next autumn. When Mr. ASHTON YATES, in the letter we published last week, assumed, that by keeping the Whigs in °Wee, the " revival of slavery" in Ireland could alone be prevented, be merely repeated what Mr. O'CoeiNELt has declared amine ad nauseam, though without condescending to give any more Cogent reason for the assertion than the probable succession of three or four young Tory Judges to seats on the Bench of Justice now occupied by old ones. To increase the vague feeling of alarm, and magnify the prospective horrors he wishes to parade before the country, Mr. O'CONNELL and his satellites are perpetually talking of the "seven millions ;" and no obscure hints of their determination to resort in extremity to physical force have been given. But these threats are entirely dis- regarded; and were it not that the Irish leaders are constantly alluding to the Scottish claymores, the valour of WELLINGTON'S soldiers, and the might of millions, there would really be no (cm- sion to take into the cot ea ration of Irish affairs any such impro- babilities or extrernitie- as slavery and rebellion. On this pain we shall only add, that it is unseemly to play at once the incise- gruous characters of the bully and the suppliant. Don't say'in the same breath, "Give us 'justice,' or else—," and immediately after. wards, " For mercy's sake, protect us from the savage Tories!"
Passing from the unprofitable speculations about civil war and slaughter, which only persons of diseaseil imagination or intense credulity now seriously entertain, let us attempt to ; at before the reader the actual positions of the Irish Liberal Members in refer- ence to the Ministry.
The Irish policy, whether from dishonesty in the scheme or nits- manegement in the execution, has not succeeded in widening the distance between the Tories and Mike. On the contrary, the ap- proach of the Conservatives towards the citadel of pewee is palpable and regular. Nevertheless, that policy—not the keep-oat, but draw. in the Tories—is to be continued. Can anybody doubt the re. suit? It becomes, then, a consileration of importance, what mis- chief the Tories are likely to perpetrate in Ireland—for we are assuredly not disposed to anticipate benefit to that country from their reestablished dominion over it. "Oh!" say the Whigs and O'Connellites, " the Tories will attempt to revive slavery we shall have the infernal Orange system again forced upon us.'' Let it be granted that the Tories have the inclination imputed to there —have they the means of indulgence? Are they so much more powerful now than in 1829, or the Irish means of resistance so much impaired, that the Tories would venture to set a whole peeeie at defiance ? Has WELLINGTON grown a furious bigot and dotard, or PEEL gained rashness with years, that either or both would ie 1838 provoke a contest which they shrunk from, when their oppo- nents were less numerous, in 1829 ? That the Tory leaders have no such insane schemes, may be concluded from the whole tenor of their recent policy. Going back even as for as the appointment of the Marquee WELLESLEY as Lord-Lieutenant, and S:r WIL/.1 AEI PLUNK Erg as Attorney-General, we might discover indications that the change of the Tory policy towards Ireland arose from a convictier. that the maintenance of the old Orange !system had become at impossibility. But it is sufficient to refer to the conduct ofj fir Roemer PEEL and his confidential supporters on and since the dismissal of the first MELBOURNE Ministry, to understand that the irritation and eorreinn of Ireland enter not into their r11,1s. It is true that some Orangemen were put into subordinuti: offices by Sir ROBERT PEEL, but net with the gaol-will and ea• tire approbation of the Tory Premier. His inclination was mani- fested by his first act towards forming an Adminneration—the application to Lord STANLEY (between whom and the Whigs, now- that the former has carried his point on the Church question, there is no discernible difforence of principle) to join him in a wise.; Cabinet. He sent Lord H ADDI NGTON,, certainly not a noblerlii;r. of the RODEN school, to Dublin ; fiery Mr. Slime became meek_ and courteous; and the Ministry patronized the new plan of Ede- cation for Ireland. The only great Irish Meaglire which the Per Ministry brought forward, is precisely that which the Whigs MO O'CONNELL have united to carry I But PEEL and the Totier were turned out of office because they refused to adopt the Ai-- propriation principle, which the Whigs have virtually discarded. What have been theTory tactics since ? Having soon discovere6 that Lord MELBOURNE, though a swaggerer in speech, was a H- troon or trimmer in action, and encourima by the late Kin;. favour, they determined to exhibit the Miiii,try in as contempt::,1c a point of view as possible to the country. They trampled on Ministerial Bills, insulted the " alien Irish, and rediteed I. ME LimrRNz's promises to " nothing." The death of WILL' the Fourth, and the new order of things at Court, change, not of object, but of tone and manner. The SoveieiL. being no longer theirs, but a majority in the House of Commetts clearly attainable, the Tories " assume a virtue if they bars it not," and take a line more agreeable to the supposed wishes views of the young occupant of the Throne. The leaders, w:eis careful not to abandon one jet of really valuable ground, hove o couraged every thing like violence in their followers. The ea!o partisans have been restrained, and outvoted by the great body sf the party, who rely upon WELLINGTON and I'EEI.. Caution been the order of the die. The fault of offending any large per tion of the people was to be avoided. Lord LvsIti.asr, in t •. would have let his tongue be blistered betnre it repeated !H.. "alien " insult of 1836. The purpose of his virulence had h rice accomplished, and he changed his note. The plan was laid foi a. lengthened and comparatively tranquil possession of power ; policy is totally at variance with aggression upon the Irish popula- tion. On the contrary, it is probable that the soothing system will be adopted—no fusillades of the peasantry, but multifar' re: bribes administered to the leaders: and, certes, there is a lu,e- riant field for corruption in a country where the actual apple:it. is for Government favours are reckoned by thousands! Manifestly it is the interest of the Tories not to irritate aNii oppress, but to conciliate and coax the Irish pepulaiion, es.se were England and Scotland indifferent spectators of their r ceedings in that country. But it is net true that tle! En.,71• and Scotch care little what becomes of the Irish. The p)w..it of public opinion in Great Britain, far more than the weldor of any set of party politicians being in office, is Ireland's safe- guard against the " revival of slavery." We told Mr. Y ere c last week, that the Scotch would laugh to scorn the notion of beieg rough-ridden by Tories or Whigs. The fact is, that, though Mr. O'Conrezu. talks about their " claymores," our canny brethren in the North have their eyes open, observe the progress of events, calculate the force of moral resistance to the oppressor, and never dream of blustering about claymores and millions, any more than they would go whimpering to bed because Lord Josue Russame had declared for the Oligarchy against the People. We wish there were more of this rational self-reliance and moral confidence among the Irish, and less talk of " slavery " and " the valour of Erin's sons." As it is, we look to public opinion in England and Scotland as an effective barrier against any insane attempt of the Tories to restore the Orange system of government in Ireland. When Sir ROBERT PEEL proposed to emancipate the Catholics, he referred to the representation of the large counties and towns in England as evidence of the national opinion, to which he felt it necessary to bow. Surely the force of this opinion may do as much as before the Reform Bill was passed to strengthen popular securities, or NORMANDY gave to Ireland the model of what a Viceroy ought to be. It is one thing not to grant the demands of the Irish. and another to " let loose the dogs of war" upon them. "Justice" for Ireland, or England either, is not to be expected as the free-will offering of a Ministry either of Tories or Whigs. Both countries, in that respect, are very much on a par.
And this reminds us of that part of well-meaning Mr. YATES'S letter, where, using the cant language of the day, the worthy Member talks of assisting Ministers in establishing " those Bri- tish institutions and laws which were promised at the Union." Could it be shown that any such advantages to Ireland were likely to be derived from the continuance of the Whig Ministry, there would be one reason, not now existent, why Englishmen should sa- crifice a good deal for its preservation. There would then be a show of truth in Mr. O'CONNELL'S complaint that the English Radicals, who are dissatisfied with the Whigs, pay little regard to merely Irish interests. But it is trifling with fact, and an affront to the understanding, to pretend that Ireland derives any such benefit from the Whig rule. Mr. O'CommeLL has truly declared that these men have been able to confer " no permanent advantage" on his country ; and Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD has, in addition, shown that they have enormously increased the power which the Tories must speedily wield.
British Reformers," says Mr. CRAWFORD, " are not aware of the gigantic strislea with which the power and patronage of the Crown have been advanced in the local legislation of Ireland, since the accession of the present Ministry. This has been the main object of every act which they have passed, or which they have attempted to pass. As one instance, I shall refer to the Constabulary system, which has been newly organized by an act passe.' under the influence of the present Administration with the aid of their O'Connell supporters. By this Act, a new retinue of offices and officers is created. All control over the amount and regulation of the Constabulary force is withdrawn from the fiscal bodies and :Magian acy of the Counties, and vested solely in the Executive. This body, under the constitutional appellation of Constables, is armed, drilled, appointed, and disciplined as u standing army—not subject to the Mutiny Act, not subject to the control of Parliament—liable to be increased at the pleasure of the Lord- Lieutenant, without any effectual limitation on that power; and the pay of this body is to be drawn by the warrant of the Lord-Lieutenant, half from the Con- solidated Fund, and half by imperative warrant from the county taxation. By the same act, an unlimited power is given of appointing Stipendiary Magistrates with large salaries ; and by the Coercion Act of the Melbourne Government, which was passed after the expiration of the Grey Coercion Act, the most arbi- trary powers of Curfew-law legislation can be enforced in any district which makes itself offensive to the Executive. By the Grand Jury Bills, which this Ministry have passed and proposed to pass, the system of imperative present. ments (by the order of the Crown) has been enlarged. And all these things have been done by the aid and with the assent of the Irish O'Connell patriots."
Such is the progress made by the Whig Ministry in establish- ing British institutions and laws in Ireland; to which must now be added, Mr. O'CONNELL'S "worse than Mohammedan" Tithe Bill. Verily, if the Tories have the nefarious designs imputed to them—if the revival of " slavery " is what they aim at—the sooner the Whigs are cashiered the better for Ireland; since their acts would almost seem to be framed with a view, not of ob- stluetire but of facilitating and prolonging the Tory domination, by a mighty increase of centralized power. It is because honest English Radicals refuse to support men who puss Tithe Bills denounced by Mr. O'Costreel.t. as execrable, and Constabulary Bills demonstrated by Mr. CRAWFORD to be arbi- trary in the extreme, that their alliance is repudiated by the leader of the Irish wallops. Say O'Conezet, and his satellites, "Although you have your own quarrel with a Ministry opposed to the Ballot and to Real Representation of the People in Parlia- ment—who maintain the Corn-laws, are supple courtiers of the Queen, and flatterers of the Duke of WeLcimarost—yet ytu ought nevertheless to support the Whigs for our sakes." 'Well, what mighty things have the Whigs done for you, to justify your extraordinary demand ? The reply is—that the Whigs have con- ferred " no permanent advantage" on Ireland ; that all they have done has only put Irishmen "in a worse situation than they were before;" and that instead of there being any prospect of in- creased ability to serve Ireland, they " have actually become less able to carry any one measure useful to Ireland.' These arc Mr. OtoeteruLL's deliberate assertions : and their truth is not to be gainsaid. Well then, if such is the true state of the case, which is the more rational plan—to continue supporting the pre- sent system; or to unite in a vigorous effort to change it, and to commence, at any rate, a plan of operations, based on the principle of benefiting the empire at large, not excluding, but of' necessity including, and creating the means of achieving, a full mea- sure of real and substantial justice to Ireland ? By making common cause with the honest as distinguished from the selfseeking English R. eformers, Ireland would bare ai Englishmen would help her to get an, equitable and a lean; ' settlement of the religious question, either by Providing en equality of state provision forall sects, or if there must be an "established church," making it the church of the majo. rity. Municipal and other institutions would be assimilated to the English, as far as the Irish people wished, or the stew mi. terials permitted. The patronage of office would be fairly (to. butcd among the fittest candidates. "Justice to Ireland" in. eludes these main points; and the practical question fur con. sideration is, whether, as the surest and speediest method of °b. taining it, the sectional policy ought not to be laid aside, and sn imperial, all-comprehending policy, adopted ? At any rate, no. thing can be lost by trying the latter, seeing that the former, by the confession of its main prop and most eloquent advocate, has completely failed, and holds out no hope of success. It is in despair of its success that the banner of Repeal (0toesista, says) stands ready to be unfurled next year.
Finally, would not a combination for national, not sectional ob- jects, afford the only chance of " keeping out the Tories" even— if any thing can keep them out, after all that has cccurred, since the summer of 1836, to favour their advances?
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