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TO TBE CHAEHSTS OP ENGLAND.
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My Fbiesds, It is now fifteenyears since...
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S ™£. CH 0F m - O'CONNOR UPON THE MINIST...
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< A of Lord Clarendon that still lurks i...
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Mr. O'Coxxon's hour's speech from the Ti...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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To Tbe Chaehsts Op England.
TO TBE CHAEHSTS OP ENGLAND .
My Fbiesds, It Is Now Fifteenyears Since...
My Fbiesds , It is now fifteenyears since Mr . O'Connell presented me , as a gift to the English people ; a « lft which they freel y accepted , and which , I l ^ licve , they have not regretted . During that period , my continuous endea-• nror has been to emanci pate the Irish mind from those horrible and dangerous notions , with which it had been for many years p oisoned against the Saxon people .
I have endeavoured to prove to you , that the interests of the two people are identical and inseparable , and , as I have frequentl y foretold , the effect of this disunion and discord has been to make the people of both countries an easy prey to their rulers ; whereas , liad they been united , both would long since have achieved that justice and liberty for which we have so long struggled . My friends , the most hol y maxim is—to return good for evil ; to forget all past differences and let bygones be b ygones ; and rely upon it , that the moment the people of both countries are united , the rulers of both countries will say , « WHAT DO YOU WANT ?"
Unless hacked b y your powerful co-operation and support , I am a complete nonentity in the House of Commons . My opinions and princip les are not congenial to hon . members ; and therefore , unless backed by yon , LamjJHatterl y powerless , but if assisted by you , I ^ fall then become powerful . 3 ^ * . j T / f I have often told you that men as a body , will be guilty of acts which the basest amongst them would Vlush to acknowledge as an
individual ; and I do say , that there is sufficient individual intelligence ^ integrity , and lore of justice in that House to he moulded to public requirement and national necessity . But then it must be operated upon from without , because the justification of individual apathy is basedand justly based—upon popular disregard ; consequently , all the catastrophes arising from tins apathy , are consequent upon your own neglect of duty .
A member who enunciates principles in that House , which are novel not only to a majority —but nearl y to all—is looked upon as a mere speculatangtneorist ; but when those principles become the adopted of millions , then he is looked upon as the propounder of a theory Trhjeh may be carried into practice . My friends , you may rely upon it that the efiectof centralised power in the hands of the few , will be the aggregation of property in the hands of thosefew also , and the total subjugation of the employed to the will and dominion of the employer .
When there is a gleam of commercial sunshine , the working classes measure their condition bv the comparative , instead of the positive , scale . The man long out of employment is but too happy to be set to work at reduced wages , and mocks his fellow-man , who , for want of employment , is obliged to take shelter in the Poor Law Bastile . " ! so \> , as I do not live upon you—but , upon the contrary , you have impoverished me—I can speak intelligibl y to you ; and therefore I tell y ou that your acquiescence in this comparative scale of existence , and not the cupidity of your masters , or the tyranny of the Government , is the cause of your every suffering . It is to be attributed , not to the union of the privileged few , but to the disunion of the outlawed
many . Ireland has been again made the Whi g battle-field , and again I ask you , in the words of Mr . Cannin , to make England the free stage for the discussion of Irish as well as English grievances . You may rely upon it , that I do not aspire to Irish leadership , while the dislocated and disjointed condition of Irish Members in the House of Commons is lamentable , wofuL disgusting . Now , let me give you an instance as to the extent to which rivalry is carried with that party .
Mr . John O'Connell was going to allow the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act to be read a third time without opposition , and told the House that he would reserve his opposition till Lord Nugent proposed his amendment , to limitthe existence of the law to three instead of six months . I could not accept this invitation , and I opposed the Bill upon the third reading , and now mark the sequel . When Lord Nugent proposed his amendment , the fitting stage upon which Mr . O'Connell said the discussion should be taken , the Honourable Member and his colleagues fly from the House , and refuse to rote upon the amendment , winch was to constitute the material grounds for discussion .
Now , I ask yon , if you ever heard of such policy ? However , as I am satisfied that the past should be forgotten , I now invite you , cnee more , to revive rational constitutional Chartist agitation , and to make the Irish question part and parcel of that agitation . I continue to receive letters from all parts of the Kingdom aside qr me when I shall be prepared to bring ft ward the motion fbr the PEOPLE'S CHA ! -TER . Some propose to hold the National Convention early in March , hut tliat would be nonsense ; and I believe the Executive have prudentl y decided that it shall hi held in the middle of May ; and , as very few Honourable Members understand the rules of
tin ? House of Commons , I cannot he surprised at your want of knowledge . Of course time must be allowed for getting up petitions , to be forwarded to the several members -who represent the districts from which those petitions come and yon must tn : < h ? rstand that fifteen days onl y , including the day of g iving notice and bringing forward the motion , is allowed—that is , I may give notice upon Thursday , the 1 st of March , that I will bring forward a motion on Thursday , the loth of March , but the rules of the House wonld not allow me to g ive notice that I would bring it on on the 16 th of March , or any later daw
2 Jow as I wish to write intelligibly to you , I hope you will understand the reason why I could not now give notice of a motion for the PEOPLE ' S CHARTER , I wish the country to have time to get up petitions , so that I shall not go to the House unarmed , and afford all parties—friend andfoe—an opportunity of saving " There are no petitions ; the people are satisfied with things as they are , and , therefore , let well enough alone . " There is not a man in England , nor yet in the world , more anxious for a discussion upon , and the success of , the PEOPLE'S CHARTER than I am ; as . to tell you the candid truth , your apathy , indifference , and servility have tired me of public life , and I wish , most devoutly , to return to my ploughor rather to my spade .
, I wish the Convention to be sitting for a week before the petitions are presented and the question is discussed . I wish arrangements to be made for raising the small sum of ^ 100 , to which I will add £ 50 , to be distributed as p rizes for the best essays upon the Labour Question , and whenever you are prepared to take a moderate share of labour I shall always be prepared to take the lion ' s share . Again , I say , remember the maxim of Mr . Habkokx" THOSE WHO MUST TAKE CARE
« OF THEMSELVES HAVE NO TIME "TO TAKE CARE OF YOU ;" * nd if yon are not prepared to take care of yourselves it is impossible that either I or any other person can take ' care of you . ' I have never asked a fevour of or accepted a foour from von . ' The continuous and perse-^ vriag advocacy of your cause has subjected J * to odium , persecution , andloss of property ; bui as it is my cause , and not adopted to J *** popularity or gratify -mean ambition , 1 adhere to it if all desert it . ltJ * faithful Friend and RepresentatiTe , Feargus Q'CoraoFi .
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S ™£. Ch 0f M - O'Connor Upon The Minist...
S CH 0 F m - O'CONNOR UPON THE MINISTERIAL PROPOSITION TO DESTROY IRISH LIBERTY . * " The following is the speech of the HcWur able Member for Nottingham upon thVjhird reading of the Suspension of the Habeas Qorpus Act—a speech which , we feel assured , will he read with delight by the working classes , as it will convince them that the power of raction cannot scare the honourable gentleman ^ from the perform ance of his duty ; and they will be the best judges as to whether or not the speech was irrelevant to the subject under discussion , discursive—anjL as the Times sa ^ s , difficult to ahaly * se . /^ 5 at we beg to assure the Press and its adherents , that , as the censure of slaves is adulation , their abuse of Mr . O'CONNOR but tends to rivet affection for that gentleman more strongly in the hearts of the millions .
Mr . Fbaboto O'Cosson said that whatever mi g ht be the sentiments or feelings of the . hon . member for Limerick , he , as an Irishman , -ihotagh' an . English' member , would oppose this tyrannical bill at every stage of its progress . He remained unconvinced by all the arguments , varied as they were , of the hon . gentlemen who . supported it ; the government who had introduced the measure affected to condemn yielding to pressure from without , and he would now , as the noble lord ( Lord John Russell ) appeared to shrink from his duty as leader , lay before the House the letter of Lord Clarendon , which must be
considered as the indictment against the Irish people ; and quibble as they may , and juggle as they maybe would prove his case upon the words of Lord Clarendon himself . When there was a debate coming on upon the Southampton Small Tenements Bill there was a very full house , but when that discussion was over , and the division taken on such a bill , the house was immediately thinned as if by magic . The noble lord had been emphatically addressed , and had received from the corporation of Dublin the most fervent congratulations upon the perfect restoration of tranquillity to that country , lie was aware that the noble lord at the head of the
government was anxious that the Jewish Disabilities Bill should be brought on that evening ( hear ); and he was aware that there were many members present who were prepared to resist that inroad upon the constitution , if such it was to be called ( hear ); and it was clear to him that there was more importance attached by the House to the Jewish question than there was to the consideration of the condition of Ireland . Ho recollected that the noble lord , in introducing the Jewish measure last year , had asked , why not admit to the house those who bore the burdens of the country ? why should not those who bore those burdens have a portion of the honours ? Perhaps there was no parallel in Parliamentary history , or in constitutional usage , to the ease submitted to Parliament—to
ask acquiescence in the greatest violation of the British Constitution . The ri g ht hon . the Secretary of State ( Sir G . Grey ) , as he had before observed , opened the case of the Crown in a lame , a vague , and inconclusive speech ; and how had it been sustained by those hon . gentlemen , who , upon any pretext whatever , were prepared to coerce the Irish people ? First came the noble lord , the member for Bandon , and his reason was that he had been foreman of the grand jury of the county of Cork . ( A laugh . ) Next came the noble lord , the member for Tyrone , who indulged the House with a trite and well-directed fire against the Whig government , for their treacherous and truculent conduct , when their object was to oust the right hon . baronet , the member for Taniworth , and to return to office . Next came the hon . member for
Montrose ( Sir . Hume ) , who , with his characteristic consistency , was plausible , fooling , and sympathetic for the Irish people . He said , " I will give you this measure now , but it is the List , and you must propose remedial measures for Ireland . " But while we had coercion after coercion 'Bills , which were to be the means to the end , we had not as yet had the first of those remedial measures . Next came the rig ht hon . member the Secretary for Ireland , who knowing the temper and tbe feeling of the GREAT GEXTLEMEX OF ENGLAND , whep . Ireland was the question—threw out a feeler for confidence in the government , and assured the House that the letter of Lord Clarendon had no reference to the Repeal
Agitation . And then an amicus curia flew to the rescue , and the hon . member for Tavistock—every other charge against Ireland having failed—based poverty , famine , misery , disloyalty , and insurrection upon the plea of procreation and progenitireness . ( Laughter . ) And this worth y disciple of Malthus told us , that to the potato Ireland owed this national maliidy ; but he forgot that in the speech from the throne , the tranquillity of this country was ascribed to the intervention of Divine Providence ; and he forgot that it was a divine injunction to multiply and be fruitful . ( Laughter . ) There was an old proverb that " What was one man ' s meat , was another man ' s poison ; " and perhaps it would eoually apply to tho fair sex , and
with the permission of the House , he would make a short digression to illustrate the fact . Once upon a time there was a noble lady , childless , but who would have looked upon an heir as a blessing , driving through a wild part of the country in an open carriage ; she was overtaken by a thunder-storm , and was obliged to take shelter in one of those Irish brcedinsr ~ cnges , where she saw a brood of younglings—" gravis , " as we call them in Ireland—covering the floor . She would have looked upon them as a blesssing had they been her own ; the mother would not have considered them a curse if she had been able to support them . " My good woman , " said the lady , " how do you contrive to have so
many children ? " " Wisha , my lady , we have nothing to blame for it but the praties . " The shower cleared off ; and , before starting , the childless lady said to the peasant : "My good woman , could you let me have a few of your potatoes ?" "Oghlthen , and welcome , my lady . " The potatoes were put in a bag , and the bag was put in the boot of the carriage , and the lady drove off ; hut had not gone far when she heard the woman screaming after to stop . " Well , my good woman , " said the lady , " what ' s the matter V " Why , my lady , " she replied , out of breath , " I foller ' d you , to tell you , that the devil of good in them praties , barring we send our Pat with them , for it ' s him that does all the mischief . "
( Laughter . ) Now , then , if it is the potato that has been the real source of Irish grievances , and if Paddy will not breed upon turnip-tops , sea-weed , and Indian corn , the same legal maxim that Blackstone applies to the duration or cessation of the Habeas Corpus Act . will equall y app ly to the hon . member ' s charge of procreation . —Cessante causa , cessat ft effect ™ . ( Laughter . ) But , sir , if the effect should not vanish with the potato , and if this Irish propensity must be checked by some other means , you must have a new minister added to the cabinet , * and none better qualified than the hon . member for Tavistock . I cannot name the duties , of his office , but I can describe its badge and symbol his neck
—he must wear a cow ' s horn slung ^ round , and blow it whenever he comes within sight of those Irish breeding cages . ( Laughter . ) Next , sir , we come to the reasons of the hon . member for Buckinghamshire , ( Mr . Disraeli ) for supporting this measure , and what are they ? He says that the pressure from without has no ri g ht to use any influence noon this Assembly , launched into a dissertation ujon Free Trade , and told us that he wouldI not only put down agitation for a Repeal of the Union , hut that he would consent to put down all other a « ntation . But see what a different construction 13 put upon agitation when it is to serve party or 111-Sivi & urposes . Hasthehon . gentleman read the speech oL Soble lord ( Lord Brougham ] 1 m another place in which that noble lord , adverting to Free SS notation says"I joinedI it , I tolled tf
, and encohraged it to an extent t at * « g tutionaland all but unlawful ? ( Hear , hear ) Now , there ' s the authority , of a Lord ChaBcdJw of England , furnishing us with the most extreme hcence for agitation , by a man who has been aU things to ailment-Whig , Tory , Radical , , and B ^ pubhcan . But would the hon . member for . Bucking hamshire resist an agitation that had for its object t he re-Uttposing a duty upon corn , if the effect was to place him and his friends upon those opposite benches . Xext came the right ion . baronet ( Sir B . . led ) , while actinor unnn his nld maxim of returning gOOtt
for evil ; he said you- opposed me when I proposed to shut the disorderly up by night , I wul support you when you propose to shut them up by day and by night . " His speech was a rejoinder upon the defence oithe noble lord and his administration , with reference to the Appropriation Clause and the Arms BUI ; it was powerful , it was telling and . convincing ; but althoug h his ( Mr . O'Connor ) former speech was termed discursive , neither the noble lord , nor the hon baronet touched the question at issue . It was a inhiisterial jostle , and the ri g ht hon . baronet concluded by reminding Insh members , that they had not proposed any remedial measures , But ¦ he
S ™£. Ch 0f M - O'Connor Upon The Minist...
would remind the right hon . gentleman of an Irish saying , that "It was not fair when you keen a dog to be asked to bark yourself ; " and he would ask if it was fair when the Irish people contributed their portion of the governmental expenses and the salaries of the ministers , to be asked to propound measures for Ireland ? Was it not the duty of the government to"do so ? The noble lord stood £ 0 the English and Irish people in loco parentis , -nis administration had been described by the gah lant member for Middlesex , as the " Happy Family , " and the noble lord was pater familias , but let the House observe with what rapidity and upon what poor and slender evidence coercive measures could be passed , while no administration could devise a single remedy for the numerous evils of
the country . ( Hear , hear . ) But , as the right hon . baronet had partly based his support upon this charge , he ( Mr . O'Connor ) would remind him that inl 833 when he found that the Repeal was a juggle , he ( Mr . O'Connor ) did propose a better system of Poor Laws , one based upon labour premiums , agricultural premiums , and tax upon absentees ; that he did propose leases in perpetuity at a corn rent , as the means of employing the industry of the country in productive and profitable labour ; that he did propose local registration courts to effect the cheaptransfer of landed property ; that he did propose th * establishment of « neap Courts of Equity , where thq tenant and the poor man could receive cheap justice . Those were his suggestions ; but as an independent member of Parliament , unconnected with party , it
would have been madness to press them , while ministers , had they adopted them , might have carried them . And now he would turn to the , indictment upon which Ireland was to be convicted , and he would appeal to the Saxon blood of English gentlemen—gentlemen whose ancestors fought and Wed for the English constitution , and whose boast it was that that constitution was based upon the blood of their ancestors—he would appeal to them , whether they would base their votes upon the quibbles of the legal official , ( the Attorney-General ) , who attempted , in a previous debate , to show them how this quirk and that quibble , and the other interpretation of the ordinary law , would protect the poor man s liberty , against any unconstitutional use which the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland micht attempt
to make of this unconstitutional measure . Will those gentlemen be slavishly led by that ministry which they complain has made such invasions upon their feudal ri ghts ? There was a time , when the Tory blood of this House would have resisted such a Whig proposition . Oh for the days of Chatham , Fox , Burke , Sheridan , Canning , Burdett , Erskine , the Hobhouse of old , and a Itomill y ! but those days of English patriotism have fled ; tho steam-engine is now the heart , machinery the brain , and the Stock Exchange tho pulse of England . But let not those gentlemen suppose that the follies and prejudices imbibed at Eton , Harrow , Rugby , and Westr . inster , and confirmed at Oxford and Cambridge , can much longer resist the active genius manifesting itself , not only in this but in all other countries .
That feudal system gave them an ascendancy which the flood of thought has broken down ; and if they hope to sustain their altered position by a violation of the constitution , and the resistance to opinion , they will find themselves lamentably mistaken . He would now proceed to the consideration of the indictment against Ireland—which was the letter of Lord Clarendon : and if that House constituted a fair jury he would entertain no doubt as to the ver diet . Lord Clarendon says , that the use made by him of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act , and the use of it made by him for the suppression of disturbances , gave UNIVERSAL SATISFACTION . Now he begged to ask the House , what construction they were to put upon the term " universal ? " But , in the same count of the indictment he proceeds to
say , that the non-delivery of arms—while , in fact , they had no proof of their possession—leads him to the conclusion that the spirit of rebellion still lurks in the hearts of the people . What does this lurking spirit mean ? Is there any evidence beyond the mere fancy of the Lord-Lieutenant ? And how does it accord with that "universal satisfaction" that appears in the same count ? In another count the Lord-Lieutenant says , that his reasons for asking for those unconstitutional powers is , to suppress and put down that dangerous agitation which for thirty years has paralysed industry , and scared away capital . Now to what agitation can this sentence possibly have refereuce , except to the agitation for the Repeal of the Union ? although the right hon . the Secretary for Ireland has assured us that it has
not reference to that agitation . But as the letter of Lord Clarendon is the indictment against Ireland , and as the repeal agitation has been tho only agitation , he would remind the House that Lord Althorp , when ministerial leader , declared that if ever the day arrived when a majority of the Lush people demanded a Repeal of the Union , that then it would become the duty of the government to grant it ; but now who would dare to agitate for that measure ? who would dare to complain of an act of tyranny , or of a grievance , when the evidence of the perpetrator would be received as the conviction of the complainant . ( Hear . ) You ask for knowledge , —and you lack knowledge upon Irish affairs—while you stop the only channel through which you could receive thatdnformation . The grievances of
Ireland arc communicated by oral tradition ; they must be discussed by those who endure them before they can be laid in a tangible shape before this House ; and by this prohibition of discussion and complaint you preserve that stolid ignorance which for years you have manifested as to Irish affairs . When agitation was necessary to secure Whig power through patronage , then you tolerated agitation of the most dangerous character . When tho Whigs sat in opposition Repeal was then the test , of Irish loyalty ; but when the Whigs were in office undefined justice to Ireland , and whoever divides the liberal party is an enemy to his country , was the maxim , and because we could not be juggled we were called Tory Chartists . ( Hear . ) Where was the man in that House or in the country who ' endured so much
the slander , the insolence , and the vituperation of that party , as he ( Mr . O'Connor ) had done , and merely because he could not be made a party to that dangerous and truckling policy which debased the Irish mind for the mere purpose of securing Whig patronage ? ( Hear ^ hear . ) Such then had been the training of the Irish mind when tho Whigs required subservient Irish support . Were they not for years forewarned of what must be tho inevitable result of such a policy ? Have they forgotten the words of the . late Mr . Charles Buller , a gentleman who charmed that House with his eloquence , and enlivened it with his wit ? He told them that Ireland would remain in a state of incipient revolution during the life of Mr . O'Connell , and that at his death it would burst into open revolution and
rebellion . Well , then , did they expect that while the Irish people were of the same religion as republican France , that while the Irish Catholic people , oppressed at home and driven from tho land of their birth , were obliged to take refuge , in Americadid they imagine that the seeds of Irish discontent would not be sown in that land of liberty , or did they hope to check the spirit of insubordination by the pitiful dole of £ 50 , 000 ? No ; the disease was too deep rooted . Ireland had been called your Poland , but it is worse than Poland ; it is your Siberia . ( "No , no . " ) Who says "No ? " When did you ever hear of a million Poles ' dying of starvation in a single year ? When did you hear of the gaol , the transport , or the bastile , being the only refuge for the destitute in Poland ? Ireland is a seabound dungeon ,, where
naught is heart but weeping and wailing , and gnashing-of teeth . You tell them that their country is over-populated , and in order to ensure emigration , or rather transportation—you level their hovels to the ground , and "The blackness of ashes , now marks where they stood , While the wild mother screams o er her famishing brood . " . ( Hear , hear . ) But if I required a stronger proof of the tranquillity of Ireland than that contained in the letter of Lord Clarendon , I find it in the declaration of the noble lord { Lord J . Russell ) made many months since ; that noble lord pompously turned round to his backers , and in laudation of the use made by Lord Clarendon of those unconstitutional powers , he said : "The treason accounts from Ireland are positively vapid : they are flat stale and
UNPROFITABLE ; " "VVhig-Hke . establishing the fact that Irish treason constituted Whig profit . While from the hour that that declaration was made to the present moment , there has not been a single attempt at insurrection or a renewal of agitation of any kind . And yet , the noble lord would now entrench himself in the fastness of futurity , and substitute vice-regal perception—nay , divination—for the Eng lish constitution . But let him rest assured , that if he continues , to . persecute opinion , it will establish its foundation upon a rock , which all the blasts of the universe cannot shake . It was so with the Christian religion , it will be so with . every sentiment . Even , if doubtful or wrong , it will become strong if persecuted ; -could he give a stronger instance than the fate of the ancestor of the noblo ldrd who expiated what was termed his orimeypon the scaffold , while his death implanted , strengthened and cherished those principles , for which had-he not
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suffered , he would not bo a ble to inculcate with so much success . ( Hear , hear . ) But why make such a violation of the English constitution , just at the time when all other nations were extending their constitutions , and making them move in harmony with existing opinion ? Or , why ask for these enarged powers when your legal officials in Ireland have found the ordinary law sufficiently powerful to effect your object ? Does not the case of Mr . Duffy , on which the Irish officials have been tinkering , PU"hng , and complicating for more than six months , attord you ample means of detention , ay , of persecution ? ( Hear , hear . ) In the case of Mr . 0 ConneU , Lord Denman called the law " a mockery , a delusion , and a snare , " hut you would now make the constitution « a puzzlea
lab-, y rinth , and a maze . " How different was the policy of Lord Normanb y , when administering the executive power under a Whig administration ! Then , When the Whigs required Irish support , the representative of her Majesty flew like Don Quixote , through the country , accompanied , not by an aidede-camp , but by his staff , proclaiming an amnesty , and delivering the gaols of thieves and pickpockets to constitute the Whig auxiliary corps , ( Hear , hear . ) ^ Well , but , -sir , if agitation is bad , and shouMwe put down , let us see if we cannot furnish its justification from the highest authority in the House—the Prime Minister of England . Wheu that noble lord visited Bristol upon a tour of agitation , he presented his countrymen with the last shoot from the Bedford stock . He
held his babe up to the admiring multitude , and said : " Behold the guarantee 0 ? my loyalty , the pledge of my patriotism , and devotion to niy country . I am opposed to the ballot , ( said the noble lord , ) because it would deprive the non-electors of that popular vigilant control which they have an undoubted right to exercise over the trustees of their liberty . Now how would that square with the principle of the hon . member for Buckinghamshire , who would assi g n all power to the centralised opinion in that House . Was not this a confession of the right to agitate , and is not tho noble lord now pre . pared to extend the franchise in Ireland as a tub to the whale , while , in reality , it is to substitute living for dead voters ? When Lord Stanley came to the Hsuse to ask for a Coercion Bill for Ireland , he
made out the semblance of a case ; he had one , two , or three red boxes filled with information which no one could contradict . It all came from stipendiary magistrates , yeomanry captains , police constables , and country gentlemen of the highest character , whose loyalty none could dispute , and whose assertions none could refute . He gave us tho shadow of a case , and although the measure he asked for was not so gross a violation of the constitution , it met with determined and resolute opposition ; while again , I say , the ri ght hon . Secretary for the Home Department has not made even the shadow of a case beyond the apprehensions of the Lord Lieutenant , and reliance upon the subserviency of all parties in the House . True , the right hon . gentleman , when questioned as to the ease of the State
prisoners still in custody , was obliged to make some admissions of rigorous treatment , but , however , as tho Lord Lieutenant had expressed his approval of the ri gour , the right honourable gentleman presumed it was justifiable . Are not the words of Blackstone , with reference to the application of this law , strictly true when applied to the case of those gentlemen . Now what was their case : —they were arrested and sent to Newgate , and placed in cells with criminals ; from Newgate they were sent to Belfast , where they were confined for two months without being permitted to be in the open air for a single minute ; from Belfast they were sent to the debtors' side of Kihnainham . On the 9 th of December Mr . Meany writes a most respectful letter to Mr . Redington , complaining of tho treatment they
received ; ho receives no answer , and on the 25 th of January he publishes a most temperate , and moderate , and not at all an exciting letter , complaining of the abridgement of several of the privileges of himself and his brother prisoners . Upon the same day that this letter appeared in the Freeman s Journal ,- Mr . Shaw , the High Sheriff of Dublin , visited the prison , summoned the jflelin ^ uent to his presence , and told him that if he repeated the offence of publishing his grievances , he should be deprived of the few privileges he enjoyed . He said , he had aright to publish them , and would publish them , and , without any repetition of tho offence beyond this mero _ manly declaration , the High Sheriff ordered in six sturdy policemen , who , aided by a posse of turnkeys , the governor , and
under-governor , took , not only the offender , but his five brother prisoners , who had committed no offence by force through various passages , and up several staircases , to the criminal side of the prison ; and crime in Ireland—as is usual under Whi g rulebeing so prevalent , the criminal side was inconveniently full , but five criminals were removed from the criminal side to the debtor side , to make room for the State prisoners . All correspondence was stopped ; their friends insulted by the officials when they called upon them ; obliged to perform the most menial offices ; and were not the words of Blackstone true , when he says , " That men , confined under the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act , are SILENT , FORGOTTEN , DEAD ? " The Lord-Lieutenant , in his indictment , says , " That no man
was committed under these powers except upon sworn and positive informations . " And would the House believe , that notwithstanding these legal grounds for apprehension , with this presumptive charge of treason against them , that there had been five sessions of Oyer and Terminer since their apprehen ' sibh—arid , notwithstanding the sworn and positive informations , the facility of procuring witnesses , and a certainty of securing juries , no single charge has yetbeen preferred against one of those gentlemen ? And now the House of Commons is asked to-continue those powers where . they have beon ' so abused ,. But , of course if Lord Clarendon assents , the Constitution sanctions , and they have ho cause of coniplahit . But , sir , let me illustrate the truth of Blackstone ' s assertion , that the man
imprisoned under the suspension of this act , or , indeed , under any act during a Whig administration , is SILENT , FORGOTTEN , DEAD . When I was in York Castle , the noble lord ( Lord J . Russell ) made some assertions in this House , which had not a shadow of truth in them , but which the * noble lord guaranteed upon the evidence of a most trustworthy witness . I wrote to the noble lord , showing the utter fallacy of the assertion , but I had neither answer nor retraction , because I was silent , forgotten , dead . Well , sir , when I was at large , the noble lord . used insulting expressions against me in this House . I wrote to him for an explanation , and his answer was that , as a Minister of the Crown , he was not called upon to give any explanation of words used in Parliament . ' That ' did not satisfy me , sir . I wrote another letter , and sent it , by a friend , and , as I was neither silent , forgotten , nor
dead , the noble lord-retracted his words—thus showing you tbe different manner in which a man in custody and a man at large is treated . But does the nbblo lord for a moment imagine that this is going to be a mere Irish question ? Did he not hear the petition that was presented from the men of St , Pancras by the hon . and gallant member for Middlesex to-night , denouncing the proposed measure , and praying fbr a Repeal of the Union ? And , although a deadly feud nad been created between Celt and Saxon , for the base purpose of securing patronage and creating a division between the people of the two countries ; yet those feelings of animosity had now ceased , and the Saxon would make common cause with the Celt to redeem , his country from provincial degradation , and . establish her national
independence . ( Hear , hear . ) ' Why did hot the noble lord come down to the House upon the 10 th of April , when the dread of a Chartist outbreak compelled the enlistment of 200 , 000 specials , the calling out of the military and pensioners , and placing them under the command of the great Duke ? Why did not he come down then and ask for a suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in this country ? Simply because he knew that the great gentlemen of England would have resisted such ah assault upon their constitution to the death . Arid did the noble lord hope to bait " his .. Irish . trap by bribing ' the' Irish priesthood ? Didherely upon the presumed tranquillity produced by this measure to carry the endowment of the Catholic Church ? If so , he . would find himself mistaken , as the Irish people would rebel to ft . man against iSuch an attempt to prostitute
tlioir priesthood to . hunisterial oapneo . .. ( Hear , hear . ) Why this was . the very principle suggested by Kobbspierre ; when he proposed to insure the loyaltj ^ -bf the priesthood by precisely the sswno means '•'* l > . ut when that question came to be discussed , theh-the gentlemen sitting upon those benches behind him would muster in full force '; but now that Ireland was to be . coerced , the majority of that House wouldnbt condescend to hear the arguments , for or against , but ' would be rallied by the lash of the whipper-in to vote for the destruction of their constitution . Upon the passing of the Reform Bill the : Whi g government experimentalised upon Ireland /• " atidvhe now told the landlords of Englaiid that this was another experiment , ' merely to test the prinoipleof frco tradem that country . He , ( Mr « O'Connor ) . had made-many , propnecies with respect to the effect of-tbat measure , ancLono and all had
S ™£. Ch 0f M - O'Connor Upon The Minist...
been realised . Ireland , as yet , had suffered most ; but England , hereafter , would suffer her share . And why had the result been so calamitous ? Was it because the principle itself was bad ? No , —but because they preferred the adjustment of the no & io lord ( Lord John Russell ) to that of the right hon . baronet ( Sir R . Peel ) . Protection was the keystone of the ,-irch ; upon it stood your social fabric ; upon it every social engagement wa & based . The right hon . baronet was the architect of a new social fabric ; but you allowed the noble lord to strike the centre , and knock the key-stone from the arch before the work was completed . A portion of his adherents wore deluded by his Edinburgh missive ; while some from spleen , —some from jealousy , — some from ambition , deserted the risht hon . hnrn .
net , and left the ship amongst the breakers witiiout pilot or rudder . And another prophocv that ho would make was , that they would ere long invite that right lion , gentleman to take the command of their scattered forces , and save their shattered fortunes from Whi g imbecility and recklessness and he told tho noble lord that the people of this country and of Ireland , looked to the right lion , baronet , and not to the noble lord , to save them from that ruin which Whig misrule is sure to accomplish . ( Hear , hear . ) The noble lord and his adherents , and indeed the great majority of that House , professed to bo staunch supporters of the English Constitution—a Constitution which was said mainly to depend upon those several powers so wisel y distributed between the three estates of tho realm—tho
King , Lords , and Commons ; but notwithstanding that the professed object of the Reform Bill was to popularise the House of Commons , the power of the three several estates still remaining the same , and each being a material part of that machinery which was to work the Constitution , and see to the just and equitable adminstration of the laws , let him now call the attention of the House to the manner in which the House of Lords , said , to hold tho balance of power between the Crown and tho Commons , had been swamped by the Whigs ; and that , he trusted , would be an answer to the assertion of the hon , member for Buckinghamshire , who denied the right to exercise popular control over the House of Commons . From loSS to 1788 , a whole century , commencing with that period
when tho ancestors of those gentlemen established that glorious revolution , based upon their own blood , a period during which we had sixty years of unbroken domestic conflicts , waged between Pretenders , and Usurpers , continental wars , and the American war ; during that period there was a creation of eighty-six peers . From 1788 to 1818 , a period of thirty years , and during which you had two French revolutions , an Irish rebellion , the union with Ireland , and fifteen years of universal war , all circumstances likely to confer distinction and titles , and during those thirty years there was a creation of only 10 G peers . While from 1830 to 1839 , during which period the Whigs , with but slig ht intervals held office—nine years of uninterrupted peace , seven years oflloform times ; and yet will the
House believe , that during that short period tho Whigs in power , for the purpose of swamping the lords , had created no fewer than eighty-two peevs . ( Hear , hear . ) Sir George Gnsr . —Time . I beg to remind the hon . gentleman he has exceeded his hour . Mr . O'Co . vA'on . —Sir , I am not astonished at the impatience of the riglit hon gentleman . He has his ventilator full of Jewesses—his galleries full of Jews—and his whippers-in ready to whip up the House for a discussion upon the admission ot the colleague of the noble lord , ( Lord John Russell ) in tho hope of putting another crutch under the City ofLondon . But he ( Mr . O'Connor ) did notthinkthe House appeared wearied—he had g iven them a blood run , it did not appear more than twenty minutes
and if any one was chargeable with a waste of time , it was the right hon . baronet himself—who failing to state the case of the ministers to the House , had imposed a more laborious duty upon those who were obliged to grapple with rice-regal conundrums and ministerial predictions . But although his speech would be designated by the press as discursive , and although all other members who had taken part in the debate , had launched into extraneous matter , embracing Free Trade , employment , foreign policy , poor laws , money grants , political economy , and Irish progenitiveness , yet he ( Mr . O' Connor ) contended that he had not used a single sentence which did not critically bear upon the subject . His conduct might be called factious ; but he believed that no amount of opposition could be properly
termed factious in a case of such a liberty-destroying measure as this . It was his pride and his glory to say , that he had fought the battle of Irish liberty often single-handed andalone , not only in the House , but upon the public stage ; it was his prido to be able to say in presence ot those Irish members who livcdupoii Whig patronage , that he had conducted professionally more contested elections than any man in that House ; and although by the Irish Reform Act he was entitled to large fees , he had never accepted a . farthing for his services , or travelled a mile , or eaten a meal at the expense of the candidate he supported . Talk not to him about loyalty ; there was often loyalty upon the lip while there was treachery , deception , " and treason lurking in the heart ; and there was less danger to bo apprehended
from the open foe than from the candid friend . ( Hear , hoar . ) He was not afraid or ashamed openly to avow his standard of loyalty ; it was this , that if ever the day should arrive when the struggle for liberty should be fought between the oppressed Celt and his Saxon oppressor , he would rather be found amongst the ranks of the slain , who fought and fell for their country ' s freedom , than in the ranks- of the invading oppressor though title and honour was to bo nis reward . ( Shouts of "Oh , oh . " ) They may shout " Oh , oh , " but during his-life lie had struggled for the liberty of his country , and he would continue during life to do so . He did not mean liberty in that sense in which it suited the sycophant to construe it ; he meant liberty tempered with reason and discretion ,
and not that liberty which would be likely to degenerate into licentiousness . And to establish that blessing , your laws must be yielding to mercy and stern against oppression , with an executive exacting an implicit obedience to their mild authority , instead of a juggler moulding them to party convenience . Then the people will be loyal when the altar is the footstool of God , instead of the couch of Mammon ; when the throne is based upon the affections of the people , instead of upon the caprice of a faction and when the cottage is the castle of the freeman , instead of the den of the slave . He would now proceed to show the difference between Lord John
Russell in office and Lord John Russell in his study ( out of office ) , writing upon the English Constitution : and although Russell in office may not refute or contradict Russell in his study or in his writings , he would show how the writings of the noble lord were a direct answer to the indictment of Lord Clarendon , and again be would remind him of the fate of his ancestor , and the hopelessness to prevent by tyranny now what tyranny of old accomplished . His ancestor died upon the scaffold , but his martyrdom riveted those principles for which he suffered in the mind of future generations . How true were the words of the great English poet , when he said : —
— " They never fail who die In a great cause . The block may soak their gore , Their heads-may sodden in the sun : their limbs Be strting to city gates and castle walls , But still their spirit walks abroad . Though years Elapse , and others share as dark a doom , It but augments the deep and sweeping thought Which overpowers all others and conducts The world at last to freedom . " He would now proceed to read a few extracts from the greatest writers on tho English Constitution . ( " No , no . " ) An hon . member cries " No , no . " Is lie so anxious to admit the Jews-within the pale of the Constitution , and to drive tho Irish out of it without tho Shadow of a ease being made out agamst them ? If the hon . gentleman is . tired of hearing my voice , they shall bo read by the , clcrk , or he shall read , them himself . They are .- written in a bo ! d , legible hand , arid he will have no difficulty in rcadimYthom . ILaushter . ) Mr . O'Connor then
proceeded to read the several extracts from Blackstone , Hallam , Boswell ' s " Life of Johnson , " Lord John Russell ' s " Essay upon- the English Constitution , " andLbrd Boling broke ; and when he had concluded the reading of the extracts , he said— Now , sir on which horn of the dilemma will the noble lord han » , for I take either of the assertions of Lord Clarendon—that in which ho admits that there is UNIVERSAL satisfaction and tranquillity , or that'in which he says there is still a lurking sedition , which , of course , he has discovered with a skiascope or a br ain-guage . The noble lord has admitted that the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act is the most dangerous experiment that can be tried . He says , that it is only when treason works in the mind of a few leaders , that it should be enforced against them , to preventits spread—but he says ,, when it is theadopted . principle of a large and numerous clras / thnt then it is useless to put it into operation . To . use his own-words ^ . ; •' ¦ a ' Curio avulsojnondeficit alter . "'• "" Well , then , how does this agree with the assurance
S ™£. Ch 0f M - O'Connor Upon The Minist...
of Lord Clarendon , that the . feeling- still lurks ia the minds of all ? Wilkjinoi noble lord join issuft with Lord Clarendon , and say it only lurks in th « minds of the few ? K so the indictment of Lord Clarendon goes for nothing . Sir , no man in this House or 111 the world lias better ri ght to speak upon this subject than I have . In more troublesome times , and when Ireland had passed through a , bloody revolution , with the feeling of vengeance still lurking in the Irish heart , and during the « overn « mentof Lord Camden in Ireland , my father and my uncle suffered a Jong imprisonment under this Act , but with more forbearance and clemency than lias been exhibited by Lord Clarendon . They " wrote and
J published more bold and daring letters to the Lordf jiieutenantlhanthatfor which Mr . Meany and his as-< soctotes were deprived of tho paltry privileges they enrWed ; and Lord Camden issued a pioclamath xt a & nubtiog the leaders to baU" oh their own recognisaneev Sir , would to God that every Irish mem her Sadi my feelings toward ; hia country , and then , instead of seeing tho right hon . gentleman , the Master of the Mint ( Mr . Shell ) , sitting in comp any , and l rea « h to co-operiito with the destroyers of his country ' s-- liberty , he would be coining a speech stamped with , sterling vahv ,. to aid in the annihilation of those enemies . &" »' , . I- have contended for Irish liberty sihee I entered public life , and I will only abandon that contest when . Hose that life . We may be checked , worsted , audi defeated for a time , bat still we wflffi strmrfflc in r & c-cause-. BECAUSE
IT IS THE CAUSE OP JUSTICE ; . AND THE CAUSE OF JUSTICE IS TIIBCJfctTSROF GOD . The following am & the extracts read by the Hon . Member : — Blockitone ' s Commentaries—Vol , h , p . 138 , "That great bulwiwft of our constitutfeir , the Habeas Corpus Act—theso tw » statutes ( Habeas Corpus Act , and Act for abolishing iUlSfcary Tenures ) with regard to our property and persons ferai » second Magntu CIiart ; i , as benefieiat and effectual as that of Hunnymcde . Magna Charta only in general tsrms declared , that no man shall be imprisoned contrary t & law ; the Habeas Corpus Act points liiro out effectual remedies as well , to release himself ^ though even committed by the King in Council as t » punisU alt those who sliaB thus unconstitutiunaUv misuse him . " Sosressiox . —BtetlaHme . —Vol . Ill , p , 13 T , " It frecpienUyJaappensin foreign countries , and li »» happened in England during teneporary suspensions of tbe Statute , that persons apprehended upon suspicion have iHuferctl a long imprisonment , merely because they were forgotten . "
Blnehtione , —Book I . Chap , I . "To bereave a man of life , or by violence to confiscate his estate , without accusation or trial , would be so gross and notorious an act of despotism , as must at once convey the alarm of tyranny throughout the whole kingdom ; but confinement of the person by secrcUviiurryingliini togaul , wiieru his sufferings are unknown , or forgotten , is a less public , a less striking and , therefore , a more dangerous engine of arbitrary government And yet sometimes ichen the Utate is in real danger , even this may be a necessary measure ; but the happiness ofour Constitution is , that it is not li-ft tOtllO Executive to determine when the ( Linger of the State is so great as to render this measure expedient ; tor the Parliament only , or legislative power , can authorise the Crown by suspending the Habeas Corpus Act , for a short and limited period , to imprison suspected persons without giving any reason for so doing . " Again , in Introduction on Nature 0 / Laws . —Sec . 2 .
• ' The most universal and effectual way of discovering the true meaning of a law is by considering the spirit of it , and the cause which moved the Legislature to enact it , for when the reason ceases the law itself ought likewise to cexse with it . IMlam ' a ComtUuiioml History—Vol . III . It is a very common mistake—and that not only among foreigners , but many from whom some knowledge of our constitutional law * might be expected—to suppose that this statute of Charles II ., enlarged , in a great degree , our liberties , and forms a sort of epoch in their history ; but , though a very beneficial enactment , and eminently remedial in many cases of illegal imprisonment , it introduced no new principle , nor conferred any right upon the subject . From the earliest records of the English law , no freeman could be detained in prison except upon a criminal
cnarpe or coimteiton , or for a chll JM . Jn the former case it was always in his poiocr to demand 0 / the Court of King ' s Bench a virit of habeas cwpas ad subjiciendum , directed to the person detaining him in custody , by which he was enjoined to bring up the body of the prisoner , with the warrant tf commituitut , that the court might judge ot * its sufficiency , and remand the party , admit him to bail , or discharge him , according to the nature of the charge . This writ issued of right , and could not be refused by the court . It was not to bestow an immunity from arbitrary imprisonment , which is abundantly provided in Magna Charta ( if , indeed , it were not much more ancient ) that the statute of Charles II . was enacted , but to cut off the abuses by which the government ' s lust of power , and the servile subtlety of Crown lawyers , had impaired so fundamental a privilege . "
Lord John Jtusiells Essay on the English Governmental . 104 and 449 . " The reign of Charles II ., as has been observed , was an era of bad government , but of good laws . The Act of Habeas Corpus was the greatest of these laws . It is tho best security for liberty ever devised , but it must not bo supposed that it was invented during this reign . " "Thus the House of Commons more than once has met perfectly disposed to bear its part in passing any measures of severe coercion which the ministers ut * the duv thought lit to propose . It n ; is _ thus , that in 17 l )"> and ' ffl ' J , laws were passed to prohibit public meetings without a sullicient authority , and to prevent printing , unless under certain
regulations . In 1817 , these measures were renewed , and in 1 S 1 S their severity has been much increased . The measures resorted to on those occasions may be classed under two heads , both of them sanctioning methods , in my mind injudicious andoiieextremolydaiigcrous . Thefirstisthe Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act . Now , this is a very proper precaution , when a conspiracy is carried on by a , few principal leaders whose imprisonment puts an end-to the plot . But it is no remedy at all , when tho evil consists in the discontent of some thousands of unemployed manufacturer ? , lino avulso non deficit alter ; the subalterns ' in conducting these popular humours arc fully as able and audacious as the chiefs ,
Johnson ' s Life by SoswcU . —Vol . III ., p . 7 a , ( Edition , 1835 ; . "The Habeas Corpus is tho single advantage which our government has over thai of other countries . " Bolingbroke ( Lord . ) Dissertation upon parlies . —Page 105 . " The slavish principles of passive obedience mid nonresistance which had skulked , perhaps , in some old homily before King James I ., but were talked , written , and practised into vogue in that inglorious reign , and in those of Ills three successors , were renounced at the revolution by the last of the several parties who declared for them . " " Kngland would never be ruined except by her Parliament . " " It is as much the duty of a people to rebel against a corrupt House of Commons as against a tyrannical l'rince . "
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Mr. O'Coxxon's Hour's Speech From The Ti...
Mr . O'Coxxon ' s hour ' s speech from the Times : — Mr . O'Connor said , that in that case , whatever the hon . memberfor Limerick ( Mr . J . O'Connell ) might do , he , foi one , would not consent to allow the bill to be read a third time without opposition . The hon . member then proceeded to say , that when any remedial measure was proposed for Ireland , the government always found numerous difficulties in the way of its passing ; but , when any coercive measure was required to sustain tliem in office , all difficulties seemed to vanish . He maintained that every singlo count in the indictment of Ireland contained in Lord Clarendon ' s letter , upon which the present bill professed to bo founded , answered itself , and afforded no ground , therefore , for asking the House-to pass the bill . He regretted that the right hon . gentleman theiuembcr fur Tamwbrtll ( Shit . Peel ) had given his support to this measure , for undoubtedly he was the minister to whom the people of England and Ireland looked to relieve them of the mal-admiiiistration of the present government , who had failed to carry
out any one of the remedial measures they advocated when out of office . He implored the Irish members to stand up in their places and boldly resist the bill to the utmost of their power , and not allow the constitution to be made a . puzzle , n labyrinth , and a snare . The way in which the law had hitherto been executed was far from buine ; unexceptionable , lie had received the most positive assurances with respect to the harsh manner in which tbe prisoners in Kilmainbam were treated ou account of . Mr . ileaney having written a letter to the newspapers . Since then their letters had been opened , they had been removed to the criminal side of the prison , and their friends were not allowed to see them . He would proceed to read a few extracts from Lord John Itussell ' s admirable "Kssayon the British Constitution , " and from the pages of Italian ^ Uolingbroke , and Blackstone , with respect to the value of the Habeas Corpus Act . ( "Oh ! oh ! " ) If hon . gentlemen were impatient they might have them read by the clerk at the table .
Sir G . GuEr . —The hon . member has already spoken for an hour . Sir OrfionoB Gnsr a two minutes ' speech f rom tho Times ;—Sir G-. Gray observed , that he had perhaps been guilty of an impropriety of having reminded the lion , gentleman , some considerable time before he concluded his speech , that he had then spoken an hour—( hear)—but he coidd not help remarking that the hon . member had exceeded the period to which beseemed desirous of restricting speeches in that House ; for , ou looking to the lists of the minority who recommended that speeches should be limited to tiu hour ,, he found there the name of Feargus O'Connor . ( Hear , hear . ) [ Mr . O'Con ' . nob . — " But you voted agaiiist . it , and I was anxious to take your example . " ] llut , if anything could convince him ( Sir G . Grey ) of the expediency o £ such a bill as that to limit the speeches of hon , members ; to that space , it would be listening to the speech which the
hon . member for Nottingham had just delivered to the House—( a ' laugh)—and . he was sure the House would agree with him in thinking that if all extraneous matter had been rejected from it the hon . memlier would not hiiva spoken for an hour , and would have made a much better speech .. ( "Hear , " and . a laugh . ) With respect to tho question before the House , he . had understood that those hon . gentlemen who were opposed . to it were prepared . to take the third reading' without further opposition ,, and to reserve themselves for the-motion to follow it . ' There would be an opportunity on the motion of the noble lord the member for Aylesbury ' ( Lord Nugent ) for the government to state tho grounds on which they intended to oppose the motion . The hon . member might have spared all Ids reading with respect to the constitutional value- of the Habeas . Corpus Act , for , although there were few who would agree in the assertion of Dr . Johnson , that ft was the only benefit we had derived from the revolution , no dno doubted its immense value and utility . But the hon . member could not have read historv or the Parliamentary debates ,
without knowing that occasions had arisen and might again arise in which it was necessary to suspend the habeas corjb \ u in order to preserve tho constitution . ( Hear , hear . ) The hon . member bad quoted an extract from a worh of the noble lord near him ( Sir G . Grey ) , in which he said that the suspension of the act should be directed not against tho disaffected many , but against the leaders of insurrection who were plotting against the state . It was precisely for this object the suspension of the act was now proposed—( hear , hear)—aud the noble lortTs words were as applicable now as then . The powers given by the suspension ot the net had not been enforced against tlip hundreds and thousands of persons who might be disaffected , but against the leaders of insurrection and the instigators of rebellion , and that with signal success . ( Hear , hear . ) The Ifon . member mi ght think the reasons for proposing the measure inconclusive , but the House had . confirmed ; by its resolution , the proposition that it was not expedient to aUow ; tho act of last year to expire .- Ho believed - the speeel ^ of tlw hoh : member would not indue * them to : think otherwise , and that , they would consent to , til ?/ third reading of the Ml . ( Haar , hear . )
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Feb. 24, 1849, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_24021849/page/1/
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