ment, having thus restored confidence, would earnestly seek for the causes of the disaffection which undoubtedly existed, and endeavour to remove them. On the subject of Parliamentary Reform he avowed himself a decided supporter of the wise and statesmanlike course of admitting to a participation in the franchise as large a body of the people as could be admitted with a due regard to the rights of others.

Mr. Graham, M.P. for Glasgow, who seconded the Address, dwelt strongly on the various reasons which prompted an early settlement of the question of Reform, and concurred with the mover in recommending an inquiry into the causes of discontent in Ireland. He gave various interesting details as to the condition of the manufacturing and mineral industries of the country; and, in speaking of the Jamaica outbreak urged that justice should be done without passion or partiality.

Mr. B. Stanhope canvassed the Orders in Council issued by the Government in reference to the cattle plague, and censured them as vacillating and dilatory. He sketched out a plan for meeting the evil in future, the main features of which were the stoppage of all railway traffic in cattle, the slaughter of foreign cattle at the ports of entry, and the levying of a rate in every county to establish a Rinderpest Fund, and pressed upon the House with great force the importance of dealing immediately with a question. which, he contended, was of more urgent importance than Reform, Jamaica, or any of the other topics alluded to in the Speech.

Sir. J. Trollope pointed out the inconveniences which had arisen from intrusting the execution of the Orders in Council to various local authorities, who had done their best, but had been confounded by the number and discrepancy of those Orders. He blamed the Government for not summoning Parliament together earlier, if they had not courage to take the necessary measures on their own responsibility, and despaired of any adequate plan of compensation or assurance being carried out unless the Government took the lead.

Several other members representing agricultural constituencies followed in the same line of argument, objecting to the inefficiency of the measures pursued by the Government for arresting the disease.

Mr. T. G. Baring, Under Secretary for the Home Department, denied that the Home-office had shrunk from any responsibility in this matter. He reminded the House that, as the matter now stood, the whole of the power possessed by the Government was contained in the Act 11th and 12th Vic., cap. 107, and in one clause of that Act, enabling the Lords of the Council to make certain orders and regulations; and he denied that the Government had evaded any responsibility. The hon. member contended that the Government had done all in their power to arrest the extension of the murrain; and argued that it would have been utterly impracticable to feed the populations of London and the larger

towns by the means of dead-meat markets, and that to slaughter beasts at their landing places from abroad would have been attended with great loss to importers, and have inflicted much injury upon the cattle trade. As to uniformity of action, inasmuch as the circumstances of one county were totally different from those of another, it was out of the question to suppose that any uniform Order could have been applicable to all the varied circumstances of every part of the country. By the action which the Government had taken they had preserved Ireland from the cattle plague; and if the transit of cattle by railway were to be prohibited, the consequence must be, by stopping the conveyance of sound and healthy cattle between Liverpool and Manchester and other large towns in the north, to destroy the cattle trade with Ireland.

Mr. Lowe, who was one of the Government Commissioners, defended the recommendations of that body, who, he said, were unanimous on the main point, and insisted that whatever authority was exercised in a matter of this sort should be central. As a proof of the wisdom of these recommendations, he pointed to the case of Berkshire, in which they had been adopted in their integrity, and which had been absolutely free from disease. He believed that, if adopted by the Government when they were made, they would have arrested the disease; but the Commissioners had by no means the same confidence in their efficacy now that the disorder had attained such intensity.

Mr. Henley discussed the several Orders in Council issued by the Government, and showed how they had all been defeated by the inaction of the central authority. He professed his inability to understand why the Government from almost the very outset had not prohibited the exit of cattle from the London district, as it was from the London market that the infection had been carried to many quarters. Mr. Henley expressed a strong conviction that if this had been done, and one or two other places isolated, the disease would have been extinguished.

Sir George Grey replied in detail to the objections taken to the action of the Government, and maintained that the more stringent regulations which had been recommended in the course of the debate would have produced so much difficulty and vexation that they would not have been tolerated by the people. He referred to the case of Aberdeenshire to show that the Orders, where the magistrates had taken full advantage of them, were efficacious in stopping the disease, and regretted that similar energy had not been shown in other parts of the country. On the question of compensation, Sir G. Grey mentioned that in the last century the practice had produced such bad results, there being no local interests to keep down the amount, that it was given up.

The discussion of the cattle plague having fully occupied the first evening, an adjournment took place on the motion of The O'Donoghue for the purpose of giving an opportunity for considering

[1866. that part of the Queen's Speech which related to the state of Ireland. In opening this subject the honorable member observed that the language used from the Throne appeared to assume that, so far as regarded legislation for improving the state of Ireland, nothing was left to be desired. On the contrary, he said, the wide-spread disaffection which existed in Ireland was to be traced to centuries of misrule, and had nothing whatever to do with Fenianism, which was to be ascribed to disaffection, and not disaffection to it. He recommended that inquiry should be instituted and grievances redressed. The surplus of Irish income ought to be expended on public works; heavy penalties should be imposed upon absentees; the ascendancy of one Church over another should be abolished ; the educational and poor-law system should be rendered similar to those in England; and a measure should be passed to secure to tenants the value of permanent improvements. He implored the House before it was too late-before blood had been shed, and passion had taken the place of reason-before love was banished and hate engendered in the hearts of a loyal and devoted peopleto take some steps to investigate their case and redress their grievances. He moved, as an amendment to the paragraph in the Address relating to Ireland, the substitution of the words"Humbly to express our deep regret to Her Majesty that widespread disaffection exists in Ireland, and humbly to represent to Her Majesty that such wide-spread disaffection is the result of grave causes which it is the duty of Her Majesty's Ministers to examine into and remove."

Mr. Blake, in seconding the amendment, complained of the indignities and severities inflicted on the Fenian prisoners since their conviction.

Mr. Lawson (Attorney-General for Ireland) opposed the amendment. He said the Fenians in Pentonville Prison were treated in the same way as the other prisoners. He admitted that it was the duty of the Government to inquire into the causes of whatever disaffection might exist in Ireland, and that duty, he said, they would perform without reference to the Fenian conspiracy. He showed, however, how the adoption of this amendment would imply that the conspiracy had been produced by the existence of grave causes of disaffection, and that he denied to be the case. He quoted from the Irish People' to prove that the object of Fenianism was the total overthrow of all the institutions of the country, and pointed out that it had spread among the Irish in America and in England, who were exempt from the misgovernment of Ireland. He denied that the British Parliament had ever shown itself unwilling to entertain any measures devised for the benefit of Ireland, and assured the House that the Government had no other desire but to do the fullest justice to that country.

Mr. George blamed the Irish Executive for having delayed so long to break up this conspiracy, with the existence of which it must have been acquainted some time before.

Mr. Maguire, while condemning in strong language the folly and wickedness of the Fenian conspiracy, contended that there really did exist in Ireland causes for discontent and disaffection. Chief among these he mentioned the little sympathy shown by -Parliament and the English Press for Ireland when she was suffering severe agricultural distress, the Irish Church Establishment, and the present relations of landlord and tenant, which last he believed to be at the root of the difficulty. He recommended Parliament to pass a tenant-right law which would give the tenants a right to compensation for improvements, and induce landlords to grant leases; and with regard to the Establishment, which he defined to be rather an insult than a substantial grievance, he deprecated anything like a State endowment of the Roman Catholic clergy. That strong sympathy was felt for Fenianism by the people, especially by the artisan class, could not be denied, the cause of which was the want of confidence in constitutional agitation; and this he urged as a reason for dealing immediately with the grievances of the country.

Lord Naas denied that Fenianism originated in any of the domestic grievances which had been mentioned, asserting that it derived all its strength from foreign sources. He reminded the House how often these questions had been discussed in Parliament, and he referred to the balanced state of parties as a proof that of late years Irish members had possessed considerable influence in the Legislature. He enumerated the measures which had been passed for the benefit of Ireland, and contended that Fenianism was thoroughly condemned by every man of intelligence and property in Ireland.

Sir F. Heygate doubted whether any of the remedies mentioned would extirpate Fenianism, and instanced his own district, which was tainted with the poison, though the people enjoyed a tenant right, and had no religious squabbles. He looked to the increase of trade and manufactures as the true cure for the ills of Ireland.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in opposing the amendment, explained that the objects of the paragraph for which it was proposed to substitute it were threefold-to pronounce a solemn denunciation on Fenianism, to recognize the existence of the public opinion which had enabled the Government to deal firmly and boldly with the conspiracy, and to place on record the impartiality with which the law had been administered; and he called on the House to resist the omission of so important a portion of the Address. With regard to the amendment, he doubted the wisdom of holding out to the world that widespread disaffection existed in Ireland, and that this disaffection was the result of certain causes which it was in the power of Parliament to remove; and he objected still more strongly to accompany the first plain duty of denouncing Fenianism by promises which it might be beyond the power of Parliament to perform. The evils of Ireland were inveterate. The consequences of misgovernment could not be eradicated imme

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diately after the source of irritation had been removed, and vague and indefinite promises of measures of amelioration would be of little avail. The dissatisfaction must be uprooted by the vindication of the law, and, that being done, inquiry into the existence of evils became an obligation which no Government could resist. He allowed that the Fenian conspiracy, instead of releasing the Government from the obligation of endeavouring to improve the condition of Ireland, raised it higher, and he appealed to the House to judge the Government by their conduct on the various remedies which had been recommended in the course of the debate as cach was brought forward. He explained the principles on which, in the opinion of the Government, legislation for Ireland should be conducted, and he referred to the fact that the best sentiments and convictions of the country during the late trials had been enlisted on the side of authority as a proof that recent legislation for Ireland had not been unsuccessful.

The O'Donoghue then, by leave of the House, withdrew the amendment as a substitute for the paragraph in the Address which he had proposed to omit, and moved that it be added thereto. Upon this proposition the House divided as follows:

By the result of this division the Address to the Crown was carried; but inasmuch as a further discussion of some of the topics contained in it was desired by some members, a renewal of the debate took place on the bringing up of the report. On this occasion, Sir J. Pakington adverted to certain points in the Royal Speech which had not been touched upon by former speakers. Referring to the Jamaica insurrection, the right hon. gentleman, after deprecating in strong language, as premature and improper, discussion on the events which had taken place in the conduct of the officers engaged, proceeded himself to refer to those events, and to pass a high eulogium upon the conduct of Governor Eyre. He also expressed his regret that a portion of the Press had discussed, prejudged, and condemned the conduct of the civil and military authorities of the island, and that Mr. Bright and others had used language altogether unjustifiable. Passing next to the subject of Parliamentary Reform, he commented upon the course which Mr. Bright had adopted in reference to the question, and also on the accession of Mr. W. E. Forster to the Cabinet. He expressed a strong opinion that the Reform question ought not to be dandled before the eyes of the public for party purposes, and he called upon the Government to be frank and explicit in their dealings with the House and the country on this important subject.

Mr. Bright assured Sir J. Pakington that his censure did not affect him. He had grown accustomed to it, as there was no