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party was in his house at the time. He was buried in the Kensal Green Cemetery, beside his friend Thackeray, and his funeral was attended by a large throng of his friends and admirers, comprising many of the emi nent artists and literary men of the day.

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author of the "Ingoldsby Legends," the young man | day before his death, October 28th, he walked out with was by him introduced to Mr. Bentley; an engagement a friend, and his demise was so sudden that a children's to illustrate the "Legends" followed, and the medical profession was at once abandoned. Very soon after Punch was started, Mr. Leech joined its staff, and he continued so engaged, among other occupations, for the rest of his life; his first sketch, entitled " Foreign Affairs," appearing in August, 1841, and his last upon MR. JOHN RAMSAY M'CULLOCH.-Mr. M'Culloch, the the day of his funeral. With regard to these draw- well-known author of many books of high authority ings a writer in the Edinburgh Courant thus speaks:- upon topics of political economy and national finance, "By them he may be said, in fact, to have created a died on the 11th of November, at the Stationery Office, new school of art. Nominally a caricaturist, he turned of which establishment he had been comptroller for out weekly for many years charming little pictures many years. He was born at Whithorn, in Wigtonwhich it would have been libellous to call caricatures at shire, on March 1, 1789. His family possessed a small all-scenes of English life of every class, rural, domestic, freehold estate called Auchengool, in the stewartry of and maritime; girls, delightful not more by their beauty Kirkcudbright, to which Mr. M'Culloch succeeded on than their grace; swells whom, through every excess of the death of his paternal grandfather, who had been in affectation and insipidity, you saw still to be gentlemen; the royal navy, and commanded a revenue cutter. His coachdrivers whom you longed to treat to brandy-and- father, who died when he was about five years of age, water; brisk little cockney snobs whom you laughed had followed no profession. From his maternal grandat, but somehow could neither despise nor hate. The father, the Rev. Dr. Laing, Mr. M'Culloch received his artist, it was plain, was essentially a genial humourist, early education; that is, he was grounded" in his inferior no doubt in poetic imagination and fancy to mother tongue, with some elementary instruction in the Doyle, but akin by his talent and his taste to the dead languages. On leaving school he was placed in Thackerays and Trollopes of his generation. The kind the office of a writer to the Signet, but he did not pursue of work of which we have spoken was the characteristic the profession of the law. He settled in Edinburgh, work of Leech. He produced admirable political carica- and attended the public classes of the University for two tures. But there he was often only embodying with his years, but did not graduate or study for any profession. pencil another man's wit. But although this kind of Early in 1817 an accidental communication which he help is most valuable to a comic artist, still it leaves his made to the Scotsman (then lately established) led to his proper originality untouched. The stories are soon connection with that journal; he was the editor for common property in any case. But to give them reality, about two years, and continued his contributions for to clothe them with form, to make them live before the many years after. In 1818 he commenced a series of eye with a new and permanent life, is the artist's gift. contributions to the Edinburgh Review, by an article on The richness and variety of these situations in Leech, Ricardo's "Principles of Political Economy," and also and still more their naturalness, their refinement and gave lectures on political economy. In 1828 Mr. purity, may be favourably contrasted with the comic M'Culloch quitted Edinburgh for London, on being apdelineations of even such able men of the old school as pointed professor of political economy in University Gilray!" College, London; but the chair being unendowed, the number of students attending his lectures was insuffi cient for his remuneration, and he relinquished that position. In 1838 the whig government made him comptroller of the London Stationery Office, and he continued the head of this department until his death. When he undertook its administration the habitual waste of paper in the public offices and in printing was scandalous. Mr. M'Culloch accomplished a large annual saving, far exceeding the cost of the department he presided over. His judicious economy and integrity were undisputed, and are matters of record in parliamentary reports and returns.

Mr. Leech was much liked by his private friends, though to casual acquaintances he appeared reserved. He was a most laborious worker, and almost all the recreation that he took was but work of a different kind, for it was had in the hunting-field, where he learned to paint the admirable horses and hunting scenes with which he made the world familiar in Punch, and in the drawings which he supplied to the works of the late Mr. Surtees; this recreation he was at length obliged to abandon on medical advice, and he never took heartily to any other.

To provide for certain members of his family he worked harder than he would otherwise have done, and his labour in connection with the exhibition of his sketches at the Egyptian Hall some years before did serious injury to his health. He also suffered from angina pectoris, possibly inherited, but unquestionably aggravated by overwork. As is not unusually the case, his disease produced a great amount of irritability. He left his house in Brunswick Square partly because he was constantly annoyed by the organ-men, and removed to Kensington; but no sooner was he settled there than he was distracted by the noise made by a wheelwright who occupied premises at the back of the house, and who commenced hammering at four in the morning. The barking of dogs, the crowing of cocks, all harsh sounds, had a peculiarly irritating effect upon him, and it was useless to attempt to persuade him that he laid too much stress on such annoyances. He declared that " they would kill him," and the foreboding no doubt had a most unhappy effect on him. In the summer of the year 1864, his health being very seriously impaired, he went to Homburg, where he remained for six weeks. On his return to England he went to Whitby, where he remained a month, and he seemed decidedly benefited by the change. But the improvement was not permanent; he gradually fell into his old state. On the

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Mr. M'Culloch's more lasting and meritorious reputa tion, however, was gained by his literary labours. They were the result of forty years of study and experience. His contributions to periodical works had been various and extensive. But he now began to realise his acquirements. In 1837 Mr. Charles Knight published, in two octavo volumes, his "Statistical Account of the British Empire." This valuable work was subsequently republished by Messrs. Longmans, in successive editions much enlarged. The latter publishers brought out his "Dictionary of Commercial Navigation," a standard work, annually reprinted and revised. works, and the "Geographical Dictionary," in two volumes, which first appeared in 1840, may be considered his staple productions; the two first mentioned were reprinted in the United States, and translated in several European countries. His miscellaneous works were numerous, and more or less valuable contributions to political and economical science. In 1828 he edited for Messrs. Longmans, in four volumes octavo, an edition of Smith's "Wealth of Nations," with a life of the author, an introductory discourse, notes, and supplemental disscrtations. It came to a fifth impression in 1863. In 1853 he arranged a volume of "Treatises and Essays on Economical Policy," comprising sketches of Ques

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nay, Adam Smith, and Ricardo. This work was partly a republication of articles he had contributed to the Encyclopædia Britannica, but all were carefully revised and in part rewritten, some essays appearing for the first time. In the same year appeared his volume on the "Principles of Political Economy," corrected and revised; in 1855 his treatise on the "Principles and Practical Influence of Taxation and the Funding System." In 1858 he produced a valuable work on the "Succession to Property vacant by Death, including Inquiries into the Influence of Primogeniture, Entails, and Compulsory Partition, upon the Public Interests."

Two volumes of "Early English Tracts on Commerce and Money" were printed by the Political Economy Club at the suggestion of Lord Overstone, the prefaces to which were written by Mr. M'Culloch, and he contributed prefaces and notes to four volumes of scarce tracts on kindred subjects, reprinted at Lord Overstone's

expense.

The genius of Mr. M'Culloch was not inventive. He sifted and recast the labours of others. Statistics, rather than the principles of political economy, were his forte; but his works were generally lucid and sound. He occasionally indulged in paradox; but in this error he only followed greater men. There are unsolved problems in political science, and men of genius in advance of their generation, groping in the dark, must sometimes lose their way.

Mr. M'Culloch had a literary pension of 2007. conferred upon him by Sir Robert Peel. In 1843 he was elected a member of the Institute of France, by a majority of sixteen out of eighteen votes, one being given for Hugo and one for Ranke.

WILLIAM SMITH O'BRIEN, Esq. - William Smith O'Brien, Esq., formerly M.P. for the county of Limerick, the second son of Sir Edward O'Brien, fourth baronet of Dromoland, County Clare, by the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Mr. William Smith, of Cabirmoyle, Limerick, was born October 17, 1803. His eldest brother (better known as Sir Lucius O'Brien, long the conservative M.P. for Clare), succeeded his father as fifth baronet in 1837, and became thirteenth Baron Inchiquin in 1855, on the death of his kinsman, the Marquis of Thomond.

Mr. O'Brien, after an education at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, entered parliament in 1826 as the tory member for Ennis, and opposed Mr. O'Connell at the famous Clare election. He was member for the county of Limerick from 1835 to 1849, and during that period he completely changed his politics, becoming a warm friend of the national party, and professing such exclusive devotion to Irish interests as to involve him in quarrels with the House, which resulted on one occasion in his committal to the custody of the serjeant-at-arms. He thus became exceedingly popular with Messrs. Meagher, Mitchel, and others of the "Young Ireland" party, who in 1846 set on foot the Irish confederation, and meditated the establishment of a republic, of which he was to be the president. In 1848 the confederation sent a deputation to Paris to solicit the aid of the republican government recently established there. The deputation consisted of Messrs. Smith O'Brien, Meagher, and O'Gorman, who presented a congratulatory address to the president, Lamartine, but received a reply which, though couched in vague terms, showed that their cause would not be espoused by France. They still, however, continued their machinations, and when coercive measures were proposed in parliament, Mr. Smith O'Brien rose in his place in the House of Commons, and spoke vehemently against the Crown and Government Securities Bill, describing the military strength of the republican party in Ireland, and calculating its chances of success. The bill, however, became law, and under its provisions, John Mitchel, one of the most prominent of the agitators, was tried, found guilty, and transported. Messrs. Smith O'Brien and Meagher were also tried,

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but, owing to a disagreement of the jury, they were acquitted. The plan of an insurrection was still persisted in, and in July, 1848, Lord Clarendon, the lordlieutenant, attempted to arrest Smith O'Brien, but was foiled by his sudden departure from Dublin. Though warned by some of the Roman Catholic clergy that success was not to be expected, Mr. Smith O'Brien resolved at once to appeal to arms, and hastily departing to the South of Ireland, he harangued the people in various. towns, as at Carlow and Kilkenny; and the insurrection actually commenced at a place called Mullinahone, where, at the ringing of the chapel bell, large numbers of the peasantry assembled in arms, and hailed him as their general. On the 26th of July he went to a police barrack containing six men, to whom he promised better pay and promotion if they would join his ranks, and bade them refuse at their peril. They peremptorily refused, but he marched off without attacking them. On the 29th he appeared at Boulagh Common, near Pallingarry, on the borders of Tipperary and Kilkenny. There Sub-Inspector Trant, from Colan, with about fifty men, had fortified himself in the house of a widow named Cormac. The rebel forces surrounded the house, their chief standing in the cabbage-garden and parleying with the constabulary through the window. He quickly retired, however, and mounted a horse which he had taken from a policeman; Trant, apprehending an attack, ordered his men to fire, and a battle ensued. shots were aimed at Smith O'Brien, and a man that stood beside him was killed. Another party of police, under the command of Mr. Cox, and accompanied by Mr. French, a magistrate, came up at the moment and fired on the rebels, who fled in the greatest confusion. Eighteen were killed and a large number wounded, the constabulary suffering no damage whatever. Mr. O'Brien now abandoned the cause in despair, and concealed himself for several days among the peasantry, not one of whom was tempted to betray him, even for the large reward of 500l. Sick of that sort of life, he proceeded from his hiding-place in the Keeper Mountain on the 5th of August, and went to the railway station at Thurles. While taking a ticket for Limerick he was recognised and arrested by a railway guard named Hulme. A strong escort of police was immediately procured, and he was conveyed by special train to Dublin, where he was lodged in Kilmainham Gaol. Thus ended the insurrection of 1848. Mr. O'Brien was tried by special commission at Clonmel, which opened on the 21st of September. He was cheerful, and was cordially greeted by his friends, among whom were his two brothers, Sir Lucius and the Rev. Mr. O'Brien. With him were tried Meagher and MacManus. His trial lasted nine days. All three were found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. The punishment was commuted to transportation for life. They were sent to Van Diemen's land, where tickets of leave were offered them. The other convicts accepted the terms, but Mr. O'Brien refused to pledge his word that he would not attempt to escape, and after some delay, and the discovery of a plot for his liberation, he was sent to Norfolk Island. At last his health gave way, and he was induced to give the required promise, and accepted the ticket. He was then brought back to Hobart Town, and remained in its neighbourhood for several years. In the meantime, Mitchel, Meagher, and others, who had been carrying on a correspondence with the national party in Ireland, effected their escape, but Mr. O'Brien, from a high sense of honour, declined to imitate them. In 1856 he received a free pardon from the crown.

Mr. O'Brien then travelled for some time on the

Continent and in America, and more recently returned to Ireland, where, as far as words went, he showed that his opinions were in no manner changed by the sufferings that he had undergone. He delivered lectures on the condition of Ireland, in which he charged everything

that was amiss in the country to English misgovern- | a bill for the revision of the statute law; bills for the ment. But with all his hatred of "Saxon domination," amendment of the laws relating to patents for invenhe did not hesitate to avail himself of the aid of the law-tions, for conferring on the county courts an equitable courts on a question of property. In 1848, when about jurisdiction in causes of small amounts, and a bill to commit himself to arms, he had conveyed his pro- founded on the report of the commission for inquiring perty to trustees for the benefit of his family, in order to into public schools. avoid its forfeiture, and accordingly, on his return from exile, he found his eldest son Edward William, now married to the grand-daughter of Lord Monteagle, the head of the house. He chafed at this, and instituted a chancery suit against the trustees, but this was eventually settled, and he formally resigned his position as a landed proprietor for a life annuity of 1,0007. Since that time he had generally resided out of Ireland.

Mr. O'Brien died at Bangor on the 18th of June. His remains were conveyed to Ireland, and, contrary to the wishes of his family, his funeral was made the occasion of a tumultuous gathering of the national party.

CHAPTER VIII.

Parliamentary-Finance-Commerce-Ecclesiastical-Law and Law Reform-Social Progress- Volunteer Review at Brighton-Opening of the Dramatic College-National Rifle Association- Atlantic Telegraph Cable-Visit of the French Fleet to Portsmouth- -The Cattle Plague Remarkable Trials-Ireland: Ecclesiastical; Reopening of

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin; Dublin International Exhibition; the Fenian Conspiracy Colonial-France; Prussia; Austria; Italy; Denmark and the Duchies; Russia; the Nile; America; South America -Decease of Eminent Persons.

PARLIAMENTARY SESSION OF 1865.

A.D. 1865.

T the opening of the year the general

A condition and prospects of the United Kingdom were very satisfactory. England was at peace with foreign powers. Only one of her colonial possessions was disturbed by war. In New Zealand the conflict with the native chiefs still continued, but showed signs of drawing to a close. The internal affairs of the country were prosperous. The distress attendant on the cotton-famine was fast abating; trade flourished, political agitation was silenced, and there appeared little disposition on the part of factions to disturb the close of an expiring parliament.

The legislation met for the despatch of business on the 7th of February. Contrary to general expectation, her Majesty did not open the parliament in person. That duty was performed by commission.

The royal speech, delivered from the throne by the lord chancellor, was, in its material points, as follows:The negotiations in which the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia were engaged with the King of Denmark were brought to a conclusion by a treaty of peace; and the communications which her Majesty receives from foreign powers lead her to entertain a wellfounded hope that no renewed disturbance of the peace of Europe is to be apprehended. The civil war in North America and the conflict in New Zealand were alluded to, and her Majesty "expressed satisfaction in giving her sanction to a meeting of a conference of delegates from her several North American provinces, who adopted resolutions having for their object a closer union of those provinces under a central government." Satisfaction at the general tranquillity of her Majesty's Indian dominions was expressed, but the "long-continued outrages on the persons and property of the subjects of her Majesty, and for which no redress could be had, had rendered it necessary to employ a force to obtain satisfaction for the past and security for the future." The prevailing prosperity of the country and the abatement of the distress which desolated the manufacturing districts were alluded to. The following bills were named for the consideration of parliament. A bill for the concentration of all the courts of law and equity, with their attendant offices, in a convenient site;

Lord Charlemont, who moved that the address be accepted by the house (House of Lords), made special reference to the condition of Ireland and the state of public feeling in that country, which he assured their lordships was in the main of a loyal character, notwithstanding that expressions of dissatisfaction proceeded from certain quarters. Lord Houghton seconded the address. He referred at considerable length to the treaty with France in 1852, and the confederation of the British North American provinces, and defended her Majesty's government from the charge of having violated its neutrality in the civil war then raging in America. In no single instance, he said, had it ever departed from the policy of non-interference by which they are bound; and it was greatly to be desired that the basis of parliamentary representation should be broadened, but that work was, perhaps, reserved for another and more ardent generation. He hoped that the measure respecting a digest of the laws of England would receive serious and careful attention. Referring to the distress in the cotton districts, his lordship expressed her Majesty's congratulations upon the abatement of that distress. Much of the evils resulting from the famine in those districts, however, still existed, and it was impossible to conceive, unless by actual personal experience, to what an awful extent this dire calamity had desolated that part of the country. Pauperism had risen in a certain district from the usual rate of 50,000 to the extracrin dis rate of 435,400 persons, but was then diminished to about 120,000; and he doubted if the effects of that distress would ever be wholly removed. The Earl of Derby, as the leader of the Opposition, animadverted in critical but temperate terms on the ministerial programme as prefigured in the message from the throne. It was, he said, the sort of speech that was likely to be addressed by an aged minister to a moribund parliament, whose dissolution was drawing nigh; 80 that all its experienced advisors could do was to find it some gentle occupation, and take care that its dying moments were not disturbed by unnecessary excitement, while its physicians held the usual consultations, and pocketed their accustomed fees. The noble earl asked the foreign minister to explain our relations with Brazil, and then adverted to the question of the civil war in America, and remarked that the idea of the conflict terminating in the subjugation by conquest of the South was repugnant to the better feelings of human nature, and that it would be a matter of rejoicing if such a result could be averted. He did not find fault with the policy of neutrality which England had adopted, but he regretted that that neutrality had not been regarded by the Federal party, to whom it had been unquestionably of great advantage, with those feelings of good-will and gratitude which might have been expected. In making this remark the noble earl had in view the notices to termi nate the reciprocity treaty with Great Britain, and the agreement for securing the neutrality of the American lakes, both of which notices were clearly dictated in a spirit of hostility to England. The American people had derived great commercial advantages from the reci procity treaty, and its termination was urged only on the avowed ground that Canada had derived still greater advantages. The noble earl referred to the complications which might ensue on the termination of the treaty in the question of the fisheries, and which might lead to a war between this country and the United States. He urged on the government the weighty responsibility which was placed upon them, and the necessity that existed for taking effective measures to prevent an outbreak of hostilities.

Earl Granville and Earl Russell also took part in the debate, and the latter entered into some explanations as to the foreign relations of the country. Earl Russell then proceeded to describe the attitude which our government held towards the belligerent parties in the American civil war, and to vindicate the course which his administration had pursued towards them both. He said that the government and congress of the United States unjustly seemed to expect that England should not only do everything that the law of nations demanded, but that she should prevent any aid being given to the Confederate States who were opposed to them. It was impossible that the government could prevent the acts which caused the irritation in America. The authorities of the United States naturally felt great irritation at seeing a large number of ships, which had come in some way or other from English ports or English rivers, afterwards fitted out as men-of-war for the purpose of acting against their commerce. But they should ask themselves the question whether her Majesty's government had done everything which the low of nations authorises, and which the municipal law of this country permits, to prevent this country from being made the basis of warlike operations, so as it were to involve the English people in war against the United States. He considered that the United States, in seeking to determine that useful convention with regard to the lakes, were influenced by the motive to involve, if possible, England in the conflict, finding that their own resources were unequal to the task of waging a successful war. The Confederates sent their agents into these lakes to seize the ships which were navigating them, and when it was considered that the lakes were not in their territory, but belonged either to the United States or to Great Britain, it was not to be wondered at that the United States should feel somewhat indignant at finding that these lakes were made the basis of hostile operations. Should the convention, which had contributed so much to the maintenance of friendly relations between the two countries, be suspended, much inconvenience and danger to both countries would accrue. In the opinion of the noble earl the attempt on the part of the Confederate States to make Canada the basis of operations, in some respects belligerent, and others which might be characterised as acts of robbery and murder, was most unjustifiable, and he hoped that her Majesty's government would be able to maintain the position of neutrality which they had taken up. Imputations had been made against her Majesty's government, for which there was not the slightest foundation. It was stated that they had acknowledged the belligerent character of the Confederates. The noble earl vindicated the conduct of the government from such a charge, for, when the vast territorial possessions of the Confederates, and the immense expenditure which was necessary to enable them to carry on the war, were considered, her Majesty's government could not but allow that the character of belligerents properly attached to the States of the Confederates. In conclusion, the noble earl, in referring to the claim which was about to be made by the United States government upon this country for compensation, in consequence of the damage to the American shipping, Caused by the fitting out for the southern service of the Alabama and other vessels in British ports, said, "looking at the precedents in international law, looking at the declarations made by the United States themselves in the case of Spain and Portugal, when ships destined to prey upon the commerce of these two countries were more directly fitted out in their own ports, such a claim upon the government of this country would be extremely unfair. Therefore, I think, while we are bound to make every allowance for the irritation naturally engendered disastrous years." in the United States by these injuries, and while our At a subsquent period, on the report being brought government will do all in its power to prevent any in-up, Mr. Scully again protested against the statements as fraction of its avowed neutrality, it will not, on the to the prosperity of Ireland contained in the speech other hand, admit that there is any colour of justice for from the throne, and moved that the paragraph be sub

such a demand." This brought the discussion on the address to a close, which was agreed to.

The condition of Ireland formed the principal subject of debate in the House of Commons, which ensued upon the moving and seconding of the address in the persons of Sir Hedworth Williamson and Mr. Hanbury Tracy. The discussion was opened by Mr. Scully, who challenged the accuracy of the paragraph in the address, which was as follows:-"Ireland, during the past year, has had its share in the advantage of a good harvest, and trade and manufactures are gradually extending in that part of the kingdom." He asserted that Ireland was not in a prosperous state, and that manufactures were not extending in that portion of the kingdom. This opinion was supported by other Irish members, amongst whom were Mr. Brady and Lord Fermoy.

Mr. Maguire, in the course of a lengthened speech, attributed the wretched condition of Ireland, not to the non-residence of a member of the royal family, or to religious differences, but to the want of effective and liberal laws. This, he said, was the real cause of the deplorable and unhappy state of that unfortunate country. Such laws would, he believed, stimulate the people to greater exertion, and leave little room for the discontent and dissatisfaction which existed in that country. It was a notable fact that thousands of the Irish peasantry were emigrating to America; and if something was not done by the government to encourage the people to remain at home, the country would soon become desolate. One of the great evils of which the Irish people complained, was the relations which existed between landlord and tenant. It had been justly observed by the lord-lieutenant of Ireland that the people who emigrated to another country carried with them feelings of hostility against the government of England. This was a very serious state of affairs, and the government would do well to take the matter into their serious consideration. The number of Irish in America was equal to the entire population of Ireland, and were feelings of a hostile nature against England to become wide-spread, serious results might take place. It was the practice of statesmen in looking into the affairs of foreign countries, too often to forget their duty towards the countries which were nearer and dearer to them. There was a wound in the very heart of the empire, which the presence of royalty could not heal-nothing could give perfect satisfaction to the people but just laws.

Sir Robert Peel (secretary for Ireland) vindicated the statements made in the queen's speech, and adduced proofs in support of his assertions. He especially referred to the great increase of flax culture, and said there was ample reason to believe that the people were animated with a spirit of enterprise, which gave great promise for the future. With regard to emigration, it would be seen by the statistics that in the past year there was a diminution in the numbers compared with the previous years, viz.: against 117,000 persons who had left Ireland in 1863, there were in the past year 114,000. As to the distress in Ireland, it could not be said to exist to the alarming extent which might be inferred from the speeches of honourable gentlemen who preceded him. "I am convinced," said the honourable member, "that there is a spirit of enterprise now becoming manifest in Ireland, and that there is an improved feeling as regards what may be effected for the country, which justifies our best hopes for the future; and I only hope that during the present year we may see the prospects of the past year even improving, and that after the three years' suffering which she has undergone, Ireland may arrive at that position to which certainly she was advancing before the date of those

stituted by the following:-"We regret that the gene- | He was prepared to discuss the affairs of Ireland with ral condition of Ireland cannot be regarded as prosperous the former two; but he did not recognise the third or satisfactory, and that multitudes of the inhabitants continue to emigrate to foreign countries through the want of remunerative employment at home."

Sir Robert Peel, on the part of the government, opposed the proposition, which was, on a division, rejected by 67 to 12.

On another occasion a discussion on the condition of Ireland of a more general character took place upon a motion by Mr. Pope Henessey, which was as follows:"That this house observes with regret the decline of the population of Ireland, and will readily support her Majesty's government in any well-devised measures to stimulate the profitable employment of the people; and that an address to the crown be prepared, founded on the foregoing resolution." Mr. Gladstone, he said, had, in the course of a speech during the recess, declared that Ireland was in a most deplorable condition. It had been remarked by Mr. Pitt, at the time of the union, that a united kingdom should be united in all respects, in laws, in prosperity, and in interests; but such was not the case, as regarded the relations which existed between England and Ireland. The laws that were in force in England did not apply in Ireland. It was admitted by Earl Russell that the Irish poor law was the reverse of the English poor law. There was no security for the return of a tenant's outlay; consequently there was no incentive to labour. Tenantright law in England secured to the tenant the fruits of his industry. It was suggested by Judge Longfield that this difference in the law in the two countries should be remedied by legislative enactment; and he proposed that a bill should be passed to secure compensation to the tenant by giving him power to summon the landlord before the court of quarter sessions, with a view to obtaining an order to make certain improvements, unless good cause to the contrary was shewn by the landlord. The honourable gentleman proposed that steps should be taken by the legislative for the purpose of stimulating the productive power of the soil of Ireland.

Mr. Pope Henessey's resolution was supported by a large number of the members, amongst whom were Sir P. O'Brien, Colonel Dunne, Mr. Maguire, Mr. Monsell, and Lord R. Cecil. The chancellor of the exchequer, Sir R. Peel, the lord advocate, and Sir George Grey, spoke in opposition to the resolution.

On the subject of the taxation of Ireland, it was contended by the chancellor of the exchequer that it would not be expedient to call upon the house to agree to a resolution embodying the propositions that the population of Ireland had declined, and that measures should be adopted to stimulate profitable employment as an inducement to the people to remain in their own country. He argued that there were considerable difficulties attending the application of money raised by public taxation to local wants; and observed that Ireland was exempted from certain taxes, and such exemption should be regarded in the light of public grants.

Sir Robert Peel took a totally different view of the case as regarded the condition of Ireland. The representations, he said, which had been made during the debate were not justified by facts, for while the population had decreased, the number of sheep and cattle had considerably increased. The agricultural condition of Ireland was also much improved, and the funds in the savings-banks had increased.

Mr. Roebuck was of opinion that the cause of the great difficulty in Ireland was that that country was divided against herself. There were three great parties in Ireland, viz.: the Protestant party, which had for centuries domineered over Ireland; the Roman Catholic party, which was brought into power in 1829; and the Republican party, or, as it was better known, the Fenian Brotherhood, as they called themselves, whose object was to effect a separation between England and Ireland.

party, which he would exterminate with the sword if necessary. He argued that since the measure of Catholic emancipation was passed, in 1829, Ireland was as well governed as any other portion of Great Britain.

The debate was continued by Lord Dunkellin, Sir H. Cairns, the lord advocate, Mr. Lowe, Sir S. Northcote, and Lord Palmerston.

Lord Palmerston, in the course of a long and eloquent speech, attributed the prevailing distress in Ireland to the occurrence of three unfavourable seasons in succession, which had gradually undone all that the enterprise and industry of the people during the previous four years had effected for the country. With regard to the depopulation of the country, which had been going on to an alarming extent, his lordship said: "It is undoubtedly painful to contemplate the causes which lead to emigration. Emigration in itself is no evil. If those who emigrate find in another country a better condition than they enjoy in their own, they become happier, their welfare is increased, and besides that, the condition of those who stay behind is improved by the circumstance that a smaller number of persons are left to enjoy the advantages which their native country may possess. That which we lament with regard to the emigration is, that unfortunately the condition of Ireland is such that the people are able to find elsewhere a better state of things than exists at home. Various reasons have been assigned for this. I believe that one great, and almost paramount reason is-the peculiarity of the climate. Ireland is said by many to be a most fertile country; no doubt there are in it great tracts of very fertile land-land far more fertile than many parts of either England or Scotland. I know land on which it is said that grain crops have been raised for sixteen years in succession; which cannot be said of any part of Great Britain. But there are also in Ireland great quantities of land which are wholly unproductive, bog and mountain, and that ought to be taken into consideration when you calculate the population which the superficial area of the island is able to support; you cannot expect that any artificial remedies which legislators can invent can counteract the laws of nature, and keep in one place a population which finds it to its advantage to emigrate to another. Things will find their level, and until by some means or other there shall be provided in Ireland the same remuneration for labour, and the same inducements to remain, which are afforded by other countries, you cannot, by any laws which you can devise, prevent the people from seeking elsewhere a better condition of things than exists in their own country. We are told that tenant-right, and a great many other things, will do it. None of these things will have the slightest effect. As to tenant-right I may be allowed to say, that I think it is equivalent to landlord's wrong. Tenant-right, as I understand it to be proposed, will be little short of confiscation; and although that might cause the landlords to emigrate, it certainly would not keep the tenants at home. The real question is, how can you create in Ireland that demand and reward for labour which would render the people of Ireland willing to remain at home instead of emigrating to England or Scotland, on the one hand, or to the North American States on the other? Nothing can do that, except the influx of capital. Ireland has many advantages for the employment of capital, but, hitherto, manufactures have taken but little root there. Now what is the cause of this absence of capital? One great obstacle was the opinion which prevailed, that there was not the same security for capital in Ireland as elsewhere." Ireland presented many advantages for the development of cheap labour; and if English and Scotch capitalists could only be induced to invest their money in that country, it would, if judiciously expended, produce enormous profits But capitalists were of opinion that there was not

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