The Irish are apt to complain that Englishmen do not
under- stand, them. It may be so ; nay, one is sometimes apt to question whether they understand themselves. The difficulty of understanding what they would really be at, is at present even greater than usual. It is impossible to discover with anything like certainty what impression the educational measures of MI-, nisters have made on the public mind in Ireland. To judge by the noise that is raised, these measures, it might be fancied, had given universal disgust. There are, however, indications which suggest a hope that all this brawling is no true test of the real sense of the nation ; that an under-current of judicious thought is setting in, favourable to the Ministerial policy. For ex- ample, circumstahces pointed out by the Northern Whig, of Belfast, warrant a surmise that there is more noise than substance in the Ultra-Protestant demonstrations against the Maynooth Bill. A very violent and apparently a rather for- midable Anti-Maynoeth demonstration had been made at Lis- burn : the Belfast journalist proves, by the admission of the prin- cipal actor on the occasion, that not above twenty electors were present at the meeting. Again, with regard to the Roman Ca- tholic, or rather the Repeal party, the grant to Maynooth has been accepted by some with faint expressions of gratitude, and fiercely denounced by others ; while the plan of the Provincial Colleges has been encountered by a burst of vituperation. On a closer inspection, however, matters do not appear quite so bad as at first sight. There are two strongly marked shades of opinion in the Repeal ranks,—the O'Connell, with what may be called the Priest party ; and the Young Ireland, often beyond question rash and injudicious, but with cultivated intellect and taste, and supe- rior to sectarian prejudices. So long as the proposed grant to Maynooth stood alone, individuals of both sections regarded the measure with a not unpardonable suspicion. Favours granted to one class in an opposition are likely enough to relax its zeal, and thus weaken the cause. The favours conferred on a seminary for clerical education might be the first of a series of measures intended to detach the Priesthood from the Popular party. The hostility- to the additional grant to Maynooth was strongest among the lay Repealers, whom the Priests suspect of latitu- dinarian leanings. The scheme of Provincial Colleges, an important boon to all classes of the community, was, on the contrary, frankly and cordially accepted by this very section of the Repealers. This measure, however, gave umbrage to the sec- tarianism of O'Connell and his more immediate retainers, and has been unsparingly abused by them. It would be idle to lay any stress upon rumours of dissensions in the Eighty-two Club : it would be an ungenerous and unwise policy to push measures because they create disunion in the Repeal ranks. Still, enough is apparent to show that a liberal and generous policy- to Ireland is not unfelt even in the most prejudiced quarters, and to encourage perseverance. Immediate results, openly demonstrated, are not to be looked for. All that can be done at present is to act with firmness, justice, and gentleness, and leave the rest to Pro- vidence. No good is to be done by the forwardness of Dublin corporators, who, anxious to bask in the sun of Royalty, vul- garly importune the Queen, with promises of a civil reception, to 'visit Ireland ; and quite as little by Ministerial answers so liable to misapprehension as the words put into her Majesty's mouth at the Court this week—" Whenever I may be enabled to receive in Ireland the promised welcome, I shall rely with confidence on the loyalty and affection of my faithful subjects." There is neither loyalty nor dignity in this driving of a bargain for a Royal visit to be repaid with abstinence from bullying.
