TOPICS OF THE DAY.
AIR. O'CONNELL'S VIEW OF ENGLISH HOSTILITY TO IRELAND.
THE leading Tory organ of the press, by two or three laboured articles this week addressed to the King, places the Whigs in a very awkward dilemma. After referring to " the promises foisted into the Royal mouth sonic six tnontbs back, and the then estimate of the national position and national prospects," the Times dares and defies Lord MELBOURNE to propose to the King,as part of the intended Royal Speech at the close of the session, any thing like a reflection on the Tory Lords for having outraged the nation by sub- jecting the National Representatives to "a succession of igno- minious defeats during the last few months." lie says in effect to Lord MELBOURNE—either tell the King, that, as you can do nothing without it, (" nil" is the expression of the Times,) you have made up your mind to Peerage Reform, which will afford his Majesty an opportuoity of' " raising his arm," that is, quarrelling with you and dismissing 3 on ; or, on the other hand, be tender towards the Lords—write a King's Speech which shall show that you are adverse to Peerage Refortn, in which case the Reforming masses will entirely desert you, when any pretext will serve the King for "raising his arm." This is perfectly consistent with Tory tactics " during the last few months." Lord LYNDHURST, it may nut be denied, is a daring and able roan. having that object deliberately in view, he has succeeded in forcing upon Ministers the question of Peerage Reform. He and the Times, or rather these two in one, are well assured that the Cabinet, as at presented constituted, will never propose to reform the House of Lords. The postulate of the recent 'fury policy has been Whig tenderness for the Tory Lords. Let us, the Tories have soundly calculated, sub- ject the Whigs to "a series of ignominious defeats," thus reducing them to a choice between " nil" and Peerage Reform : they will surely prok.r " nil ;" and then we may safely bid the King to
" raise his arm."
Such, we endeavoured to warn Lord MELnotTuNE in time,
has been the policy of the Tories : and good policy it was, for their ends, save in one particular. In their calculations, the state of Ireland has not received its due importance. The state of Ire- land places the Tories in a dilemma not less disagreeable than that in which they have placed the Whigs. Though the AVIngs have to choose between Peerage Reform and a do-nothing policy, which last means their own dismissal, it does not fellow that the Tories should take their place in case they be dismissed. Sup- posing room for a new Cabinet, the Tories could not fill the vacancy unless they were prepared for a rebellion in Ireland. Some of them might not object to trying the desperate chance of provoking and crushing an Irish rebellion; but the others, who are not perfectly reckless like LYNDHURST and his hungry crew of jacks out-of-office, have no fancy for this sort of arm-raising. We shall presently have to tell Mr. O'CONNELL how much mis- taken be is in supposing (if he really believes) that the masses in England do not sympathize with the Irish nation. Rebellions are apt to spread beyond the spot of their origin ; and if the Tories should irritate Ireland into active resistance, England and Scotland would not remain passive. England and Scotland, out of humour with the Whigs, Might for a time submit to Tory Government, but not for an hour at the cost of a civil war in Ireland. Ireland presents the Tories with the alternative of either remaining where they are, or rushing upon an Irish civil war. It is Ireland alone which at present stays the Tory march towards Downing Street. LyNn- HURST has counted without reckoning his Irish aliens. Reformers, observing this error in the Tory leader's calculations, will pay all
the more attention to the state of Ireland. Wherefore, the follow-
ing remarks on a recent speech of Mr. O'CoNNELL, with respect to the relations between Ireland and England, seem to deserve a prominent place amongst the topics of the day. Here is the speech, or the part of it to which we refer, as quoted by the Standard from the Freeman's Journal, and employed by the former for a pur- pose very different from any that could have been contemplated by the speaker.
"I saw in the Sun newspaper, which reached me this day, an article blaming me for saying that a majority r!/ 'he people of England are unflivourable to Ireland. Tile Suit blank% one in a double v.ay—it say s, first, it is not true that the majority of the English people are in favour of the Tories; and even that, if it were true, it was not discreet in me to say so. Oh, but trim always fund tf the truth, whether it is indiscreet or sent; I hare no wish to blind the people ; I must speak the truth. I du say that the ma- jority of the English people are unfisvourable to good gnsernment for Inland; and I tell it to their shame. I am able to demonstrate it fully ; and I tell it fur the purpose of show- ing the necessity of redoubling our own exertions. By what argument prove the ma- jority of the English people to be iu favonr of Ireland ? Why. to he sure. if they count heads mid :IOW% it is possible that they may not be a majority against justice to Ire- land; hut that is not the way to jildge. I judge by a particular class, and that is the class ef voters; I lo.k to the Chaados fify-pound clause. I Willi last year at Newcastle. ripen Tyn.!--I was well received there. I triumber tine candidates for the election : one orthem, Captain Black it, sahl Inc would settle the tithes for Ireland ; but Hodgson said. I won't give Corporation Reform to Ireland—Ireland was not by WED considered worthy of justice. Weil, these area uf Neweastle-upumryne returind the 21ry by a majority of forty-eight ; certainly it was a small majority, butt then it pores whether the majority of the people there were fisr jobee to Ireland. And what is more, I can tell you that that majority was swelled by those who call themselves Radicals, and some of them are the worst Tories in England. 1 ant a Radical myself—I am for unit ersal suffrage —I am tor the vote by ballot. 1 am tor vote by ballot; I am for universal suffrage ; am for having Parliaments every tao years, or at furthest every three. I am fur doing away with that abomivable pecuniary qualification to readier an individual fit to be a Member of Parliaruent. I am for all I hese things; and I therefore do think with re- gret, that the spin it of hostility which is man/feinted against our cause in a great degree is England should be at an in existence; and irom this spot I tell the Sun, it would be better lirr it to use its talents and its energies in endeavouring to cooper that spirit, than to be deluding itself and the people with the hope of assistance, when that hope is so likely to be disappointed. It is better honestly to warn of danger than to lull ourselves into a false expectation of support. They say that in Engiand a majority of the inhabitants are in our favour. But I mill ask upon what occasion has that feel- ing induced ft practical effort Itor us? I ask the Sae. what did they do for us %heti the fell Coercion Hill wais introduced? Hid they come forward its they ought to repudiate such a heinous measure? I recollect seeing wone of the boos( those who professed to be on our side, who appeared favourable lo our cause. 1111.1use consultation with Judge Crampton on the subject of that hI1. taking his opinion on it. no doubt a very im part int miiI unprejiidiced 011C. I do therefore complain of the people of England. •We ntiyht ham had some sympathy from them, lint we hore had no ralid nip .rt. •11,4 if the people of Englund chow to hare Ireksd instIful. let them roe against the Tories ; if they 4et them in again, we can owe them iothin ; .1 ;or the Tories are pledged to do nothing for Ireland. mat diet is the sole gneeion on which they are the opponents of Me present Ouvern- *nen'. It has I•eeu said that I at aell receivist in Ina try parts of ImmItmid. I confess it. and feel deeply gtatitied for the aartuth and enthusiasm which greeted me as the advocate of my vomit ry's wrongs and the asserter of her rights. I have been well re- ceived there; and I would, I dare say, be as xell received there a feu: days ago, when I ought to have beeu three, if my mind was then as much at ease as, idess.sl be (ital. it is at this amine/it. I Imre no doubt I would be as well received there again if my mental faculties nerves untroubled and my capability of addressing the people ;IS lertl by other anuoyances and griefs as it is now. Hot I ask the Sun, if I aits not as well received at Newcastle-ideal-Tyne as in any other part of England? There were a koodred thousand rereons composing the procession from the south entrance to the market-place whore I spoke to the gicoph: thrre ; not less thall firte,ti thousand indm. thuds heard me; and I thought the cheers %hid' greeted me, alien I Intimated the cause of justice to Irelantl. as sincere as they were enthusiastic. Rot the result of the election there—what has it been? I can never forget the reception I met a it It there ; and the termination of the struggle on its hustings has riveted it more firmly than ever in my memory. Man it is. therofwe, put upon me that the l'elpfe if Evian.' are _Prow- able to us, the-single word ' Newcastle' is my answer. The contest there, h bon Mg that the deliberate exercise of tie right of returning or not let tuning a man to Parliament in the interest of Ireland, ham struck me more fireibly than any Ming else ; awl has im • priced me more firmly with the tr,th of mo po.it on, that in Enettnd the friends of this conntry are either in the minority or powerless. If I Call see into hi:may —I f I have the gift of pot itieul prescience — I see in that fat lire t he al uto-t utter impos,i bil it y of Ceti ing justic.•; mind nue of the reasons ally I mist' to leme nothing 11{11101W ilk eudeavouring to procure equal laws and equal instire under existing eireatostanees—w Ity I a to carry the extwriment to a conclusive point —is my belief in that impossibibty Th, most effectual ntuans or enabling its to meet our present prospec,s are not to C011. real or hide the difficulties before its —not to anticipate any support in England which we may not afterwards get in realit y If I told you now that you might depend en. tirely on the assistanee 81111 sympathy of the people in other eountries. what would you say to me hereafter a lien you linnet you hall been deceived? Would you not tip- braid me for the deception? Oh you would say, why did you flatter its with the ex- pectation of support, when you know you %mould not get it ? If you had not been t;uilty of t limit deception ton ards us. we might have marked boldly and ,t Tenuously, and successfully tor ourselves, and might now be eojo)ing the fruits of our struggle. Hut, my countrymen, I am not guilty of that deception—I have not told you to look for assistance to others —I have not said you %could have it iii Eng- land—I say the contrary is the fact. What do I say to the excuse about time Chatelos clause? I ask, will it be repealed Tm, those who would urge the arginnent of the influence of the Tory Noires. I aould say. these art• the very consettlienees or %% Melt I complain. I am told also, the trirsoris are against us; arid that it is to those c:th,es must attribute the apparent want of sy minimal Ii tiw us. 1 know those parsons are most meek and holy, and they always exclaimed against the interference of the Catholic priesthood in Ireland in politics; bat I also know how they started up iii opposition to our claims, and ns the most determined toes to our rights. All these thing.: us/inn me the more in my positirm, 'hot we most not look to England; .fir in addition to those. there is Shut latent natonal dislike, unaceonntable indeed, but which we know, unfintunately,19 be S on, which renders our hopes of assistance unfounded."
The point in dispute between Mr. O'CONNELL and the Sun is the feeling of the People of England on the Irish question—on
that great question which asks whether Ireland shall, like Scot- land, be fairly and fully united with England. Mr. O'CONNELL considers " a majority of the people of England unfavourable to Ireland." Speaking of "a majority," he "judges by a particular class ;" be "looks to the Chandos fifty-pound clause." As evi- dence of a certain state of feeling amongst the people of England, be points to the acts of a very small class, and of a class too who notoriously act without a will of their own. Not the feeling, but the forced votes of English " tenants without a will," is Mr.
0.CoNNEEL's first proof of the state of English feeling This is not sophistry, nor excusable error, but (for, like Mr. O'CONNELL, WO "must speak the truth") downright absurdity.
But Mr. O'CONNELL has another proof of that "spirit of hos- tility," of that "latent national dislike" towards Ireland, which he says exists amongst " the people of England." " When it is put to me that the people of England are favourable, to us, the single word a Newcastle,' is my answer." And a very foolish answer it is, begging Mr. O'CONNELL'S pardon. The late election at New- castle proves nothing one way or the other as to the state of Eng- lish feeling towards Ireland : it is only one proof amongst many, that the masses in England are become indifferent, if not hostile, towards the Whigs. True it is that the rejected candidate pro- mised to vote for the bare principle of appropriating a possible surplus of Irish tithes to the uses of the Irish people ; but he promised nothing more. He is, and was considered, a mere Whig ; and therefore was not cordially supported by the people of New- castle, who, as Mr. O'CONNELL well knows, want something more for Ireland, not to mention what they want for England, than mere proposals year after year for acknowledging the Appro- priation principle as to a possible surplus of Irish tithes. Mr. O'CONNELL is amongst the first to say that there is not the slightest hope of justice for Ireland without a reform of the Lords. So mere a Whig as the rejected candidate at Newcastle would have voted against Peerage Reform. His defeat, there- fore, if it proves any thing about English feeling towards Ireland, makes against Mr. O'CoNNELL's view of the case : it shows that the Reformers of Newcastle will not exert themselves for a can- didate who objects to that without which there is no chance of justice for Ireland. If we are told that the people of England approve of mocking Ireland with mere proposals of barren prin- ciples of fractional justiee for Ireland, the single word "Newcas- tle" is our answer. The Spectator penetrates to Derrynane: will Mr. O'CONNELL tell us what he thinks would have been the result of the Newcastle election if Colonel NAPIER or Mr. SH ARM AN CRAWFORD had been a candidate there ; or still more, if there had been a Whig candidate authorized to state that the Whigs had resolved to promote vote by Ballot, Triennial Parlia- ments, and Peerage Reform, as means towards justice for Ire- land? the official exis.tence of the Whigs as another term for justice to Ireland. Certainly, if indifference towards the Whigs—if a feel- ing of disgust almost at their patience under " a series of igno- muttons defeats "—if a sentiment of' despair almost of obtaining the proper consequences of the Reform Bill by means of the Whigs—if this state of the public mind in England and Scot- land is to be taken as evidence of hostility towards Ireland—then, indeed, Mr. O'CONNELL is right. If, by hostility to Ireland, he means, as may be inferred from the whole tenor of' his recent pro- ceedings, disaffection towards his pets, the present Whig officials,, then we can understand him. But there is a wide difference be- tween comprehending and assenting. For thirty years past, there has been creeping into the English heart, of which it has now got full possession, a desire for justice to Ireland. It was England: —not Scotland with her mere mockery of representation, but England alone and unrefortned—which admitted Irishmen into the Imperial Parliament. Let us remind Mr. O'CONNELL of the House of Commons majorities in favour of Catholic, or rather Irish Emancipation, before his own illegal election for Clare. It was England—English sympathy towards the oppressed Irish people—which prevented WELLINGTON from crushing the Clare rebellion after the old fashion, that is, by an Irish massacre. When WELLINGTON expressed his horror of civil war, lie had already determined on giving a triumph to the people of Clare, and did but represent that English feeling which imperatively forbade him to take any other course. The English soldiers, it has been said, would not have massacred the Irish; but the truth is, that the real masters of the soldiers—the English House of Commons—would not permit WELLINGTON to provoke and crush an Irish rebellion. At present again, it is England which, by supporting Mr. O'CONNELL in his plans of justice to Ireland, stands between the Tories and a massacre of the Irish. English sympathy towards Ireland was never so strong as at this moment. Scotland, represented in l'arliament, now comes to the aid of England in demanding justice for Ireland. Nay, the Reformers of Scotland and England—who, whenever they shall have fitting leaders, will accomplish what they please—now go beyond Mr.. O'CONNELL in their views of justice for Ireland. Their Irish politics are better represented by Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD than by Mr. O'CONNELL. They understand the Irish question as it has been stated by Mr. WYSE.* They wish to see Ireland with local self-government, like England, without taxation for the sup- port of a foreign Church Establishment, and above all, with a Poor-law which shall raise the bulk of the Irish people to a con- dition not inferior to that of the same class in England and Scot- land. They wish Mr. O'CONNELL not merely to talk about these things, but actually to appropriate the whole of the tithes and part of the rent of Ireland to the uses of the Irish people. And, wishing these ends, they do not sit down contented with means wholly inadequate. They are sick of barren principles and mere proposals of justice to Ireland. They see, with yourself, that the unreformed House of Lords is a bar to justice for Ireland, as well as to all improvement for Scotland and England. They will not struggle for so idle a purpose, as that of keeping the present Ministers in office to waste another session in making proposals of Reform to be rejected by the Tory Lords. Disaffection towards the Whigs is not hostility to Ireland; and Mr. O'CONNELL is far too sagacious to have cheated himself by the miserable fallacy, which a feeling of gratitude towards Ireland and of regard for Mr. O'CONNELL, has rather encouraged than forbidden us to expose.
• In the last Number of the British and Foreign Quarterly.
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