Lord Derby made a great speech on Monday night, in
favour of " muzzling " the Catholics of Ireland on all subjects con- nected with the Protestant Church. As he carried the material for the muzzle in his own pocket,—in the shape of Tory proxies, he was able to do as he wished, and succeeded in once more fastening the muzzle for another short period by a majority of 21,-84 to 63. His arguments were all derived from history. The Catholics had once consented to. put on the " muzzle " quite willingly, why should they wish to take it off now ? It was "disturbing the arrangement of 1829," and so forth. No doubt it is. Whenever a gagged prisoner is loosed, it is disturbing the arrangement made when the gag was fastened on. And to reproach him for wishing himself free, because he once consented to the gag rather than be absolutely confined to his cell, is slightly unreasonable. As Lord Grey in his admirable speech remarked, whenever the feeling of Ireland is so strongly roused against the Protestant Establishment in Ireland as to render it a danger to the Government, not only will the gag be taken away, but the Establishment itself will go. In the mean- time, the only effect of the gag is to excite needless animosity, and ' hasten the time when it will be absolutely without effect. "In other words, the prophylactic in fact tends to bring on the disease.
