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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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_RFVELATJOXS OF ROME . 1 XO . 1 H . From the Westminster Review . iyi from the " Xorthem Star" of Marcii " t / i . ] l 0 ilt '" J _^ _GiSlSlD _ASAtCUT OF THE POPEDOM . _^ _J _^ hemis ' tbe result , _™ inevitable consequence , r _^ KSof _govcrninent asa _^ ole ? ef _\ nrchv _saZ _** ** Cbie & * * _am _^ *«> a- * 1 _« st _« n : all unity of system js impossible where Se Tr Vis set up _1-v a cowrie , theantagonist in general _^ _tt which _proaoccd his predecessor . Every Pontiff - r-es his _accessio _* by a Motu-Proprio , wliich annuls _fiS modifies these of the preceding . Pius tl . e Seventh , ° MIe _ri-i-Hv exacting the taxes of the Kingdom of Italy , _^„ J almost all the Liberal institutions of _Sapo-* uirr' " ye re-established the Iuquisition , the bishops ' i _ribniials , the delegates of provinces , with the ri ght of _^ _L _ftiodgmcn t in criminal cases ; jhe restored its old i _^ eniinence to the Kota , but he preserved the Colleges _ofjn -ticc . he
_j _^ t Twelfth utterly subverted , as far as there was aB vgo _?««' _' nan tne ordinances of Tins the Seventh _, _nvhis . Vi « ii- _/* rqprtoofthe 5 th October , 1 S 24 , he abolished _^ Colleges of Justice , substituting for them a single _indje ; without reference to distance , he made the _metroes the place of appeal for the great part of the _projinces ; he lowered the salaries of all the communal officers ; in order to prevent people from kuowiughow a trial was _proceeding , he made Latin the language ofthe courts ; he lowered the land-tax , and increased the _ftanro-duties ; he drove the wealthy Jews to emigrate , by persecution . A few years afterwards , Pius the Eighth improved on ihe system of Leo the Twelfth ; he almost doubled the srale ci" duties . So we may goon ; and it will be seen trith what rapidity these changes occur , when we recollect that in the short space of eight years , from 1 S 23 to 1 SSL , four Popes succeeded to that dignity .
Anarchy between the different sections of the system ; for , as we have before indicated , the limits of their powers are not defined . "Whilst the Popes , whenever they are consulted by their ministers , authorise rescripts which receive no publicity , and which nevertheless derogate from all anterior laws , the high functionaries of the state are every instant encroaching on each other ' s department . This is carried sofarthatin 1 S 2 T or 1 S 28—we cannot refer to the precise date—the treasurer and the Camerlengo both published at tbe same time a set of contradictory regulations for the post , each pretending to flow from the living oracle of the voice of our Lord .
The same collision of powers regularly occurs in the provinces wherever there is a _ifoniignore for delegate and a cardinal ior bishop . The legates and delegates , the bishops wherever the interests of an ecclesiastic are implicated in a cause , the tribunal # f the Holy Inquisiton , that of the consulta as a final court in capital cases , that of the congregation of Home , that of tbe Fabbrica di San Pietro for the discovery of pious legacies in testamentary papers , ancient or modern , against which there is no appeal but to Kome , the Rota , the Segnatura , and we know not how many more tribunals or individuals are invested with judicial attributes .
The police is at tke leek of dH At Borne , it is an appendage to the governorship , but without injury to the powers of tbe bishops and inquisitors ; or in the _provinces , to those of the legates and delegates , bishops , inquisitors , mayors , or agents ; and parties who have been acquitted by one of these authorises , may be prosecuted and condemned by another . As a result of this confu . si _« n , which it is impossible for us folly to present to our readers , it came to pass under Leo the Twelfth , that a nan who had stolen a considerable sum from an innkeeper of Borne , was convicted by the ordinary tribunals , _argmtted bv that of the capitol , and finally seat to the galleys by the Pope . Under Pius the Eighth , the privileges of the port of Anemia were _abxiushed , with a
respite of three days only , by the treasurer , Monsignore Cristaldi , and immediately re-established by the Secretary of State , Consalvi . Under the same Pope , the Cardinal Camerlengo announced a premium for the encouragement of the native cloth manufacture , and the cardinal-treasurer overlaid it with so many restrictions , tbat not a single manufacture could lay chum to it . In 1932 , the communal councils of several towns in Romagna were chosen according to law by the pro-legates , approved at Borne , dissolved by Cardinal Albaai , the Secretary of State , and shortly after re-elected man for man . But what has not come to pass , what will not come to pass , ia this chaos of confusion and doubt , as it was designated by a famous jurisconsult , Cardinal DeLuca !
2 . Insubordination among the subalterns . In ths government of the Pope , says a Roman proverb , La suet * eomanda , la facta non uVAdisce , eppure tattosi faone half orders , the other half doesn't obey , and yet everything goes on . How can it be otherwise ? Inferiors hold their superiors in no respect ; neither do they held them in fear , for they know tbat in _general their offices are but tbe produce of a patronage that must soon lose its power . Prdatithe greater number , they look on those above them as upstarts whom the next turn of the wheel may abase . Some rely npon their privileges .
ThePro-Tincial Prefects , for example , cannot be recalled under three years . In a pamphlet on the States of the Church , ILEtiem . e Croix mentions a fact of a cardinal being placed , in 13 SS , over the _Legation of Forli , who was well known to be almost in a state of mental derangement . When recaUed at the end of his term , be refused obedience , and replied to the Secretary of State , that he , member of a princely family , had no orders to receive from a partenn . They succeeded in dispossessing bim , by finding a pretext to _' send him on a tour through lie neighbouring legations , and installing another prefect in
his absence . Moreover , the example of insubordination is set them in high quarters . Leo ths Twelfth ordered that the Secretary-General of a province should always be a stranger to the district ; and shortly after he gires that appointment at Bologna to Signore Zecchini , a native , and one who had always resided there . Why should officials respect tbe laws of their sovereign , when they themselves hare the power of changing them ! Pius the Eighth publicly declared , on his election , that he was sensible of the enormity of the revenue duties , and that he would amend the tariff and diminish the imposts . A commission was issued to this effect : their report was communicated to certain high functionaries and to the Chambers of Commerce of Bologna and Ferrara ; so that iU
recommendations became pretty generally known . The lower duties alarmed the contrabandists , who had established an assurance company , tbat guaranteed them against loss from government seizures . They intrigued with the subordinates of the Finance Minister , and got up so strong an opposition that , spite of the intention of the Pope and the wishes of the magistrates and merchants , the project was abandoned , and a new tariff promulgated , that raised duties instead of abating them . Again : —the Cardinal Datario asserts that his powers extend to the nullifying ordinances signed by the Pope , without even the necessity of announcing to his sovereign that he has exercised the assumed right ; why , theu , should box the tribunals essay the same feat % Pius the Seventh had empowered the Court of Appeal at Bologna to receive _causes that had been heard in th « Bishops '
-Court . The advocates and jndges at Rome , annoyed at the decreased litigation brought to the _mi-tropolis , induced the defeated party in a suit between the Marchese Albereati and the Great Hospital at Bologaa , to have recourse to the Tribunal of the Segnatura at Rome ; and this court quashed the decision of the Court of Appeal , ou the ground of want of jurisdiction Tins was a flagrant violation of the Pope ' s edict ; and yet , notwithstanding remonstrances , notwithstanding the representations of the Archbishop of Bologna himself , the reversal took effect , and served as a precedent for re . Storing matters entirely to the old routine .
So also , the Secretary of State and the treasurer are continuauy violating that law of Benedict the Four- ] tenth , confirmed by Pius the Seventh , and Leo Uie Twelfth , which orders that every letting or contract for revenue tolls shall be made by publie auction , and that some time shall elapse even after that , to see if any party is inclined to advance on the last offer . In defiance of this regulation , they bestow the profit on whomsoever thev please , often on men ruined by virions extravagance , or on suck as have rendered thempe « onat sercuxs . Why should not subalterns do the same , each in bis sphere ?
In the Papal states then , particularly in the provinces , webave what is worse than tyranny , that is , anarchy—a mob of tyrants . There , nothing is certain . The law is no protector . Yon go to the Custom-house , to the _ltegistrj-office , to the Excise , for salt and tobacco , and jou find duties fer ever increasing , new regulations , unheardof restrictions . Tou inquire , whence they spring ? The reply is , from Rome . You insist on seeing the authority . You have not , yon are told , the right of demanding it ; you may appeal to Rome for redress , bat in the meantime you must obey .
YENALTTV . ASD COBBrPTlON OF THE POPEDOM . Office , pension , petitions , the forming of duties or the contracting of loans—all are matter of venality at Rome . Every high functionary has some one about himnephew , cousin , man of business , or servant—who traffics on the favour and power of hi * master . Thus , trith the name of Cardinal Albaniwill be always associated those of Costantiui andXicolai ; those of Ruggi and _Tommassini with Cardinal Galcfii ; Diomilla with Cardinal Dandini ; Paolo Massani with Cardinal Bernetti ; Marchese _THari"i witli Cardinal Gucrreri , and so on . One may be astonished at seeing a notorious plunderer ennobled and titled ; as Marini , for example , who was convicted of having appropriated 400 , 000 _iciuii as Director of the Territorial Registry ; but the answer was ready at Rome—he is Cardinal Gucrreri ' s man . You hear that
Bernetti and Mattel have let for 900 . scudi , the duties on salt and tobacco , which were annually worth to tlie State 1 , 200 , 000 _scucS . Dow is this * Why were they not put up to public competition , as required by the apostolic constitutions S How was it that no attention was paid to the proposals of the Tuscan and Genoese speculators who offered 200 , 000 more ? The answer is ready at Rome . Paolo JIassani wasa shareholder in the company to whom the duties have been let . After the thing was settled he sold his share for £ 0 , 400 * he kept more than £ 1 , 000 for himself , and the balance is probably handed over to his master , it grieves us to wade tlirough tins filth , and to have to drag our readers with us ; it grieves us to have
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to mention names ; but having _determinsd to lay an _unmtstakeablefinger on tke tainted sore , we must be precise That venality , of which we have forbearingly cited a few _sxamples , runs through aU ranks of the state . It descends to the basement of the social structure—to the lacqueys of tbe most inconsiderable prelate , who havcan established table of fees , to which _« very one must submit who would be sure of access to their master ; ay , to the hn > queys of the jud ges of the Segnatura and the Rota , who demand vails from an advocate who has gained a cause It is shamelessl y barefaced in the pensions so liberally granted to " widows in danger" _{ vedove pcriclitanii ) the
, price of dishonourable favours which we can onl y hint at . It is systcmatiscd under tlie treasurer , whose bead clerks receive an annual compliment on the profits of tradesmen and contractors . It arises almost as a matter of necessity from the organisation of the Tribunals della Fabbrica , whose servants receive no salaries , but share among them the profits of the condemnations pronounced by the judge . * It interferes with private compacts ; it is known tbat the Pope ordered the Conservators of Mortgages to erase all that burdened a palace sold by Prince Spada to Priuce Buoncompagni , in _erdsr tbat the vendor mi ght receive immediate payment .
Sometimes it assumes the bearing of right : it is on record that Monsignore Polidori , Secretary of State before Bernetti , claimed in a court of law a sum from certain contractors , relying on an agreement which everywhere else wouid have been scouted . It was a paper by which thc competitors covenanted to present him with a certain amount if the contract ( for salt aud tobacco ) was concluded in their favour . The consequences are—for the money thus sacrificed to individual cupidity is diverted from the real necessities of thc state—tlie progressive impoTerishment of the government , and thence , as a remedy , ruinous loans ever being contracted , principally with Jews ; enormous imposts , specially inflicted on the provinces ; financial coups a" etat , such as that by which the grand treasurer leased to certain imprudent
capitalists the administration of Siveral branches of the finances , obtained from them considerable advances , then rescinded all the contracts as unfair , without repayment of the advances , and with threats ofa prosecution against those who were bold enough to ask for them ;\ the rapid growth of the public debt ( £ 24 , 000 , 000 before 1 S 31 , and increased since ] , for the redemption of which Pius the Seventh founded a treasury , in which nothing bas been deposited . Thence also results—the central focus of corruption being at Rome—the babit of seizing every opportunity of favouring the metropolis at thc expense of the provinces ; the tax imposed by Consalvi throughout the coantry on each venture in the lottery , to go to tbe poor of Rome ; the order , emanating from the same soui ce , to every notary to ask testators whether they designed nothing for the poor , not of their own locality , hut of the metropolis ; the tenth of the _profit accruing from
each lottery devoted to the relief of tbe Roman mendicants ; the prohibition of tbe sale or printing oi all scholastic books , the issuing of which is a monopoly belonging to the Apostolic Hospital of San Michaelea Ripa at Rome ; the immense number of matters in which the right of appeal is reserved to Rome alone , & c . Thence , also , the singular spectacle of places and pensions conferred on men guilty of crimes that elsewhere would be severely punished . The Marchese Nunez , prefect of police at Bologna , imprisoned the Advocate Rovere and others on a charge of conspiracy ; he gained over a criminal from one of the prisons , to assert that he was an accomplice in the plot , and to reveal the details ; he produced false witnesses and forged a document . The iniquity was discovered ; the accused proved an alibi , and were liberated ; but Rovere went mad , aud his young wife died of grief ; Nunez was recalled to Rome , where he reeeived a pension of £ 260 .
The famous Prelaw Pacca , Governor of Rome , to gratify his brutal passions , imprisoned intractable husbands , or confined _uncomplaisant wives . When public indignation could no longer be resisted , it was thought sufficient to forbid the governor to visit the prison of San Michaele , or to summon to him females detained there . Pacca left Rome afterwards for having forged bonds en the Treasury , but he notwithstanding got a pension . The Advocate Greppi of Bolegna , prefect of police in 1 S 15 , was wounded with a sword one evening as he was entering his bouse ; he denounced as the assassin one Monti , and as the suborner of the crime one Zecchi , whose wife he was enamoured of : be produced false witnesses ; the accused iemained in irons till the real assassin avowed the act on Ins death-bed ; Monti and Zeccbi were discharged , and the false witnesses punished ; Greppi was appointed member of the College of the University of Bologna , and afterwards , under Gregory tbe Sixteenth , had a seat at the Tribunal of Appeal in that city .
Chiefs of bands of brigands , as Majocco , who Lad plundered on the highway for seventeen years in the province of Frosinone , aud Barbone , on whose head a reward of £ 214 had been set by the _Comune of Velletri , were employed , the former as captain of Chasseurs in the very province which abounded with the victims of his depredations , and the relatives of those he had murdered ; the latter as commissary of police at Rome . Facts like these , the catalogue of which we could swell to any length , happen only under the Papal government , and f « nn , in our opinion , a characteristic pregnant with meaning .
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* This tribunal is composed of a judge , entitled the commissary , a registrar , nnd a procurator-fiscal , who takes the part of prosecutor . If the judge acquits , tkej pocket nothing ; they receive only wkenhe condemns . 1 Bologna long deplored the loss of Jacopo Longhi , to whom the tobaeeo monopol y had been leased . He lost in this way £ 24 , 900 ; his agent at Rome was silenced by a threat ot the Castle of St . Angela . Longhi died of despair and poverty , in a bed not his own , having surrendered his furniture for the bmefit of his creditors
Tiik State Of Germaki. Letter Iii. To Th...
TIIK STATE OF GERMAKI . LETTER III . TO THE EDITOR OF THE _XOaTHERX STAR . Deab Sib , —I really must beg of you and your readers to excuse my apparent negligence in not continuing sooner the series of letters on the above subject winch 1 commenced writing for this paper . Tou may , however , rest assured that nothing but the necessity of devoting some weeks to the German movement exclusively could detain me from the pleasant task I have undertaken , of informing the English democracy of the state of things in my native country .
Tour readers will , perhaps , have some recollection of the statements made in my first and second letters—{ Northern Star , of 1 st and Sth of _November , 1 S 45 . ] _T there related how the old , rotten state of Germany was rooted up by the French armies from 1792 to 181-3 ; how Napoleon was overthrown by the union of the feudalists , or aristocrat * , and the bourgeois , or trading middle classes of Europe ; how , in the subsequent peace arrangements the German princes were cheated by their allies , and oven by vanquished France ; how the German Federative Act , and the present political state of Germany was brought 3 bout ; and how Prussia and Austria , by inducing the lesser states to give constitutions , made themselves the exclusive masters of Germany . Leaving Austria , as a half-barbarian country , out of the question , we come to the result that Prussia is the battle-field on which the future fate of Germany is to be decided .
We said in our last , that Frederick William III ., king of Prussia , after being delivered from the fear of Napoleon , and spending a few happy , because fearless , years , acquired another bugbear to frighten him— "the revolution . " The way in which •« the revolution" was introduced into Germany we shall now see . After the downfall of Napoleon , which I must repeat again , by the kings and aristocrats of the time , was totally identified with tbe putting down of the French revolution , or , as they called it , the revolution , after 1815 , in all countries , the anti-revolutionary party held the reins of government . The feudalist aristocrats ruled in all cabinets from London to >* aples , from Lisbon to St . Petersburgh . However , the middle classes , who had paid for the job and assisted in doing it , wanted to have their share ef the power . It was by no means their interest which was placed in the ascendant by the restored
governments . On the contrary , middle-class interests were neglected everywhere , and even openly set at nought . The passing ofthe English Corn Law of 181 * is the most striking example of a fact which was common to all Europe ; and yet the middle classes w « re more powerful then than ever they had been . Commerce and manufactures had been extending everywhere , aud had swelled the fortunes of the fat _ooar _^ _eois ; their increased wellbeing was manifested in their increased spirit of speculation , their growing demand for comforts and luxuries . It was impossible , then , that they should quietly submit to be governed hy a class whose decay had been going on for centuries—whose interests were opposed to those of the middle classes—whose momentary return to power j was the very work of _thebturgeios . The struggle between the _middle classes and the aristocracy was inevitable -, it 1 commenced almost immediately after the peace ,
The middle classes being powerful by money only , cannot acquire political power but by making money the only qualification for the legislative capacity of an individual . They must merge all _feudalists privileges , all political monopolies of past ages , in the one great privilege and monopoly of money . The political dominion of the middle classes is , therefore , of an essentially liberal appearance . They destroy all the old differences of several estates co-existing in a country , all arbitrary privileges aud oxemptions ; they are obliged to make the elective principle ] the foundation of government—to recognise equality in principle , to free the press from the shackles of monarchical censorship , to introduce the jury , in order to get rid of a separate class of judges , forming a state in the state . Sofarthey _appaar thorough
democrats . Uut they introduce all the improvements so far only , as thereby all former individual and hereditary privileges are replaced by the privilege of money . Thus the principle of election is , by property qualifications for the right of electing and being elected , retained for their own class . Equality is set aside again by restraining it to a mere " equality before the law , " which _taeausequality in spite of the inequality of rich and poor—equality within the limits of the . cbitf inequality existing—which means , in short , nothing else but giving inequality the name of equality . Thus the liberty of tbe press is , of itself , a middle-class privilege , because printing requires money , and buyers for the printed productions , which buyers must have money again . Thus the jury is a middle-class privilege , as proper care is taken to bring none but " respectables" into the jury-box .
I have thought it necessary to make these few remarks upon the subject of middle-class government in order to explain two facts . The first is , that all eouutries , during the time from 1815 to 1830 , the essentially democratic movement of the working classes , was more or less made
Tiik State Of Germaki. Letter Iii. To Th...
subserrlent to the liberal movement of the bourgeois . Thu working people , though . more advanced than the middle classes , could not yet see the total difference between liberalism and democracy—emancipation of the middle classes and emancipation of the working classes they could not see the difference between liberty of money and liberty of man , until money had been made politically free , until the middle class had bet'n made the exclusively ruling class . Therefore the democrats of _Pcterloo were going to petition , not only for Unive rsal Suffrage , but for Corn Law repeal at the same time ; - . therefore , the proletarians fought in 1830 iu Paris , and threatened fo fight in 1831 in England , for the political interest of the bourgeoisie . In all countries the middle classes were , from 1815 to 1 S 30 , the most powerful _component , and , therefore , the leaders of the revolutionary party . The
working classes _sre necessarily the instruments in the hands of the middle classes , as long as the middle classes are themselves revolutionary or progressive . The distinct movement of thc working classes is , therefore , iu this case always of a secondary importance . But from tbat very day when the middle classes obtain full political power—from tbe day ou which all feudal and aristocratic interests are annihilated by the power of money from the day on which the middle classes cease to be prcressive and revolutionary , aud become stationary themselves , from that very day the working class movement takes the lead and becomes tlie national _liioueiiicnt . f . et thc Corn Laics be repealed to-day , and to-morroio the Charter is the leading question in England—to-morrow the Chartist movement will exhibit that strength , that energy , that enthusiasm and perseverance which ensures success .
The second fact , for the explanation of which I ventured to make some few remarks on middle-class government , refers to Germany exclusively . The Germaus being a nation of theorists , and little experienced in practice , took the common fallacies brought forward by the French and English middle classes to be sacred truths . The middle classes of Germany were glad to b _* left alone to their little private buiiuess , which was all in the " small way " where , er they had obtained a constitution , they boasted of their liberty , but interfered little iu tho political business of the state ; wherever they bad none , they were glad to be saved the trouble of electing deputies and reading their speeches . The working people wanted that great lever which in France and England aroused them—extensive manufactures—and the consequence of it , middle-class rule . They , therefore , remained quiet . The peasantry in those pans of Germany where the modern French institutions had been again replaced by the eld feudal regime , felt oppressed , buttbii discontent wanted another stimulus to breakout
in open rebellion . Thus , the revolutionary party in Germany , from 1815 to 1830 , consisted of theorists only . Its recruits were drawn from the universities ; it was made up of none but students . It bad been found impossible in Germany to re-introduce tbe old system of 1739 . The altered circumstances of the time forced the governments to invent a new system , which has been peculiar to Germany . The aristocracy was willing to govern , but too weak ; the middle classes were neither williug to govern nor strong enough —both , however , were strong enough to induce the government to some concessions . The form of
government , therefore , was a sort of mongrel monarchy . A constitution , in some states , gave an appearance of guarantee to tbe aristocracy and middle classes ; for the remainder there was _everivhere a bureaucratic government—that is , a monarchy which pretends to take care of the interests of the middle class by a good administration , which administration i 6 , however , directed by aristocrats , aud whose proceedings are shut out as much as possible from tke eyes of tbe public . The consequence is , the formation of a separate class of administrative government officers , in whose hands the chief power is concentrated , and which stands iu opposition against all other classes . It is the barbarian form of middle-class rule .
But this form of government satisfied neither tbe " Aristocrats , " " Christian Germanics , " " Romantics , " "Reactionaries , " nor the "liberals . " They , therefore , united against the governments , and formed the secret societies of the students . From the union of those two sects—for parties tbey cannot be called—arose that sect of mongrel Liberals , who in their secret societies dreamt of a German Emperor wearing crown , purple , sceptre , and aU the _reuiaindw of that sort of apparatus , not to forget a long grey or red beard , surrounded by an assembly of estates in which clergy , nobility , burgesses , aud
peasants should be duly separated . It was the most ridiculous mixing up of feudal brutality with modern middle class fallacies that could be imagined . But that was just tbe thing for tbe students , who wanted enthusiasm , no matter for what , nor at what price . Yet these ridiculous idiosyncrasies , together with the revolutions in Spain , Portugal , and Italy , the movements of the Carbonari in France , and the reformation iu England , frightened the monarchs almost out of their wits , Frederic William HI . got his bugbear , "the revolution "under which name all these different and partly discordant movements were comprised .
A number of incarcerations and wholesale prosecutions quashed this " revolution"in Germany , tlie French bayonets in Spain , and the Austrian , in Italy , secured for awhile the ascendancy of legitimate kings and rights divine . Even the right divine ofthe Grand Turk to hang and quarter his Grecian subjects was for a while maintained by the Holy Alliance : but this case was too flagrant , aud tho Greeks were allowed to slip from uuder the Turkish yoke . At last , the three days of Paris gave tbe signal for a general outbreak of middle-class , aristocratic , and popular discontent throughout Europe . The aristocratic Polish revolution was put down ; the middle classes of France and Belgium succeeded in securing to themselves political power ; the English middle classes likewise obtained this end by the Reform Bill ; the partly popular , partly middle-class , partly nationalinsurrcctious of Italy , were suppressed ; and in Germany numerous insurrections and movements betokened a new era of popular and middlec-lass agitation .
The new and violent character of liberal agitation in Germany , from 1830 to 1831 , showed that the middle classes had now taken up the question for themselves . But Germany being divided into many states , almost each of which had a separate line of customs and separate rates of duty , there was no community of interest in these movements . The middle classes of Germany wanted to become politically free , not for the purpose of arranging public matters in accordance with their interest , but because they were ashamed of their servile position in comparison to Frenchmen and Englishmen . Their movement wanted the substantial basis which had ensured the success of Liberalism in France and England ; their interest in the question was far more theoretical than practical ; they were , upon an average , what is called disinterested . The French bourgeois of 1830 were not , Lafitte said , the day after the revolution : " Now
we , the banktrs , will govern ; " and they do up to this hour . The English middle classes , too , knew very well what tbey were about when they fixed the ten-pound qualification ; but the German middle classes being , as aforesaid , men in a small way of business , were mere _enthusiasts—admirers of "liberty of the press , " "trial by jury , " " constitutional guarantees for the people , " " rights of the people , " " popular representation , " and such like , which they thought not means , but ends ; they took the shadow for the substance , and therefore got nothing . However , this middle-class movement was sufficient to bring about several dozens of revolutions , of which two or three contrived somehow to succeed ; a great number of popular meetings , a deal of talk and newspaper-boasting , and a very slight beginning of a democratic movement among students , working men , and peasants .
I shall not enter into the rather tedious details of this blustering and unsuccessful movement . Wherever somewhat important had been won , as liberty of the press in Baden , tlie German Diet stepped in and put a stop to it . The whole farce was concluded by a repetition of the wholesale imprisonments of 1819 and 1 S 23 , and , by a secret league of all German princes , concluded in 1831 , at a Conference of delegates at Vienna , to resist all further progress of Liberalism . The resolutions of this Conference were published some years ago . From 1834 to 1840 , every public movement in Germany
died out . The agitators of 1830 and 1 S 34 were either imprisoned or scattered in foreign countries , where they had fled . Those who had kept much of th « ir middleclass timidity during the times of agitation , continued to struggle against the growing rigour of thu censor , and thc growing neglect and indifference of the middle classes . The leaders of Parliamentary opposition went on speechifying in the Chambers , butthegovcrnmentsfonndmeans to secure the votes of the majorities . There appeared no further chance of bringing about any public movement whatsoever in Germany ; the governments had it all their own way .
In all these movements the middle classes of Prussia took almost no part . The working people uttered their discontent throughout that country in numerous riots , baring , however , no defined purpose , and therefore no result . The apathy of the Prussians was tlie principal strength of the German confederacy . It showed that the time for a general middle-class movement in G crniany was not yet come . In my next , I shall pass to the movement of the last six years , unless I can bring together the necessary materials for characterising the spirit of the German governments by some of their own doings , in comparison to which those of your precious Home Secretary are pure and innocent .
I am , in thc meantime , dear sir , respectfully , Youa Geumak _CohbesfoNDEnt March 20 th , 1840 .
Coroxbr' S Ikquest. — Fatal Affiuv. — Ma...
Coroxbr ' s Ikquest . — Fatal Affiuv . — Manslaughter . —An inquest was held by Air . C . Bedford , at the lied Lion , Priuce ' s-street , Westminster , on the body ef John Stack , aged thirty-seven , a labourer , who died from the effects of a blow from a poker , inflicted by a man named Silvester lloulagan . It appeared from the evidence that the deceased , with his wife , on Sunday , the 22 nd ultimo , paid lloulagan a visit at liis residence in Jolmson ' s-court , Peter-street ; and from eight o ' clock until twelve at night the time was consumed in drinkimr . The
female portion ( at least some of them ) being ¦' overcome" by thc liquor , retired , and a quarrel took place between the deceased and lloulagan . lloulagan struck thc deceased with a poker , and felled liim to the ground . The deceased was taken to the Westminster Hospital , where his skull waslb'iw" to be fractured and caused his death on Friday last . lloulagan immediately absconded , and lias not since been heard of . Thc police never heard of the fray until after the man ' s death . Tlie jury returned a verdict of Manslaughter against Silvester lloulagan ,
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HOUSE OF LOE"DS-Mom > _at , March 30 . Hl n „ _u ! r _w nt WM S iven to several bills ; anil _Ihnnh _, n „ T . " * 0 » W S _™ _BOtiOB Of a YOiO Oi -Sh . « Way- t 0 the Gcneral and troops engagdintlie _kttleofAIiival . ' , A "" Marquis of Clanricardb presented a report from the Select Committee on the building of the New Houses of P arliament .
IRISH EJECTMENTS . flic Marquis of Londonderry moved for a return of tho number of ejectments carried into effect in Ireland on the tenants and occupiers of land from ISii to 1 S 43 , and took the opportunity of again bringing under tbe notice of the house the case of the evicted tenants on the property of Air . anil Mrs . Gerrard , to the number of seventy-six , comprising upwards of three hundred individuals , whose habitations had not only been pulled down , but who had actually been driven from the ditches in wliich they had taken shelter ; and this after they had been
encouraged at a former period to settle > n the property , and had over and over again tendered rent to the Gerrard family for their holdings . Much had lately been said of certain religious severities practised by llussia , but what would Russia say of such a state of things existing in Ireland as had lately been doveloped in the counties of Roscommon and Galway ? Tne noble marquis then took occasion to observe that in the counties of Deny , Down , and Antrim there was no want of that employment which existed in other parts of Ireland ; and though potatoes might be a little dearer , there were none wanting , and therefore thero was no necessity for relief where no
distress existed . . The Earl of St . Germans , not being in possession of any information from the Secretary for Ireland , was not in a position to confirm or contradict the statements which had gone forth to the public as to evictions alluded to . There was no objection to the production ofthe returns . After some discussion , in thc course of which the Duke of WiiLLixoTON confessed that he had been entirely wrong in supposing , last November , that the famine in Ireland was exaggerated , the motion was agreed to . _„ _ _„ _, _„_„
RAILWAY LEGISLATION . Lord KisxAiitD , in moving that a select committee be appointed— " To take into consideration the best means of enforcing one uniform system of management on railroads in operation or to be constructed , and to secure the due fulfilment of the provisions of the Acts of Parliament under which the companies have obtained their powers , whereby greater accommodation and safety may be insured io the public : what means may best be adopted for diminishing the extravagant expenses attendant on obtaining Acts ol Parliament for legitimate and necessary undertakings , and at the same time by discouraging the formation of schemes got up for the mere purpose of speculation : and to consider what legislative
measures eould be framed to protect individuals lrom injury they may sustain by the laying down lines of railway through their property , without subjecting them to the ruinous expense of opposing bills in Parliament , "—said , in bringing the question under their lordships' notice , he was actuated by a wish to show the unsatisfactory state of railway legislation throughout the country . It tended to embarrass the expenditure of real capital , militative against labour , in subjecting promoters of bona fide plans to ruinous costs , and subjected private individuals to an expense sufficient to deter them from maintaining their own rights , by opposing any railway bill introduced to Parliament . His lordship suggested that a Board should be appointed , having cognisance ofall matters pertaining to railways .
Lord Daliiousie , though not agreeing in the views of Lord Kiunaird , had no objection to the appointment of a committee to inquire into the matter ; and , after a protracted conversation , in the course of which the Duke of Wellington said that which he would like to see would be not only proper arrangements previous to the construction of railways , but some mode of regulating their action after they were constructed , the motion was iigr _« . ed to . The house adjourned at seven o ' clock . HOUSE OF COMMONS—Mosdat , March 30 . Public business was commenced by Sir J . Graham , who moved that the orders of the day be postponed , in order that he might bring on hia notice of motion for the first reading of the Protection of Liie ( Ireland ) Bill . Sir W . Somkrville moved a direct negative to thc motion of Sir J . Graham . Great inconvenience
would arise , not only from the postponement oi the great measure , on which tke hopes of England , Ireland , and the empire at large wero set , but also from bringing on an exciting and exasperating debate on another measure , which the government intended to postpone toafutureday , evenif itsucceeded in carrying it at present . As her Majesty had called the attention of Parliament to thc state of Ireland on the 22 nd of January , and as this bill bad not been introduced into the House of Lords until the 13 th of February , nor . _parsed until the loth of March , he
could not help asking why the house was to be compelled to interpose it now between the early accomplishment ofthe wishes of the people of Great Britain and Ireland on the subject of the Corn Importation Bill ?; He called on the government , before it proceeded with this bill , to lay on the table ofthe house those other Irish measures—for instance , the Irish Landlord and Tenant Bill , the Irish Franchise Bill , and the Bill for the amendment ofthe Municipal Corporations-which had been already stated to be in preparation .
Air . Smith O'Briex seconded tbe appeal of Sir > V . Somemlle to thc government , and reminded Sir J . Graham that he was then entering upon a contest which must of necessity last for months ; for the Irish members were determined to use every form whicli the constitution allowed to oppose the progress of this measure . Sir J . Graham , in reply , explained the reasons of the delay which had occurred in the other house , and pressed the necessity of observing the usual courtesy shewn to any bill sent down from the Lords . He was aware that in the present state of parties it would be easy to defend the Ministry , but nothing more fatal for Ireland could be attempted . Upon the point he said—if this house , by any combination of
parties , should by a large majority decide not to entertain it , the moral effect ol such a course of proceeding will be most mischievous to Ireland . Any step more fatal to the peace , mere injurious to the safety , aud more fatal to the maintenance of order and the predominance of tho law , cannot well be taken . ( Hear , hear . ) 1 am certainly aware of the fact which the lion , gentleman the member for thc county _ol'Liinerick has advanced , that in the present state of parties in this house the declared adherants ofthe government are a small minority ; but while we are tho servants of her Majesty , charged with tlie conduct of public affairs , the accumulation of difficulties to whieh he has adverted , and the situation in which we are placed , prescribe to _ua on . y one course which we ought to pursue—steadily and perseveringly , and to the best ofourjudgmeutto _pursuo that course which we believe to be conducive to the public safety and to thc
public good . ( Cheers . ) It it should be the opinion of the house that the course we are taking is inconsistent with that duty , and inconsistent with public safety , there is a plain course which the majority can take to give expression to its opinion , ( llear , hear . ) But whilst we remain her Majesty's servants , I again repeat that , to the best of our judgment , we will take that course which we believe the public safety and the public necessity demand . The Ministers were still of opinion that the Corn Bill should not be delayed by this measure , and , therefore , would not press its ulterior Btages ; all they asked was a formal rending , under protest from members on the opposite side ol the house , that tliey did not therefore commit themselves to its future support . As to the threats of obstruction , the government would uot be deterred from doing its duty by them , and if any mischief followed , on those who took that course would rest the responsibility .
An exciting attack by Mr . Shaw followed this speech of Sir James ' s , in which thc member for thc University of Dublin replied to the insinuation of Sir James , that his bitterness against the government arose from his having beeii disappointed in his attempts to secure a better place for himself . He utterly and indignantly denied that such was the the case . On one | oint he gave the following explanation-. —First , as regards even the colour of truth which belongs to one part of the charge , namely , that which relates to the recordcrship . In 1842 , when the present government came into office , I being at tbe time in constant communication with the right hon . baronet ( Sir 11 . Peel ) , mentioned to him , amongst other things , that the oflice of recorder
did require to be regulated ; and at his request 1 put on paper , having first conferred with the law officers of the crown in Ireland , what I conceived would be a desirable plan for the better regulation of the office . 1 suggested the consolidation of a great many judicial and small local offices in Dublin , which would effect asaving of £ 3 , 000 or £ -1 , 000 , 10 tho public . And which would likewise , I admit fairly , render the office of recorder more independent and comfortable , and give thc recorder , what is usual with respect to all other judicial officers , a retiring pension under proper regulations _, ( llear . ) I did not do this as a humble suppliant , nor did I ask it as a favour . I felt the difference _between the Prime
Minister and so humble an individual as myself ; but I conferred on that and other measures with him , upon terms of independent equality . ( Hear , hear . ) I did on taat _occasion confer with the right hon . baronet ( Sir It . Yvc \) , I conferred , also , with ihe right lion , baronet the Secretary cf State for the Home Department , as i believed confidentially . ( Hear , hear . ) But I do not care if he publishes on all the market crosf . es in England everything I ever uttered on the sub ) ect . As to thc other part of the accusation , lie * si >'( d But now I come to the real charge-that 1 hail begged lor thc office ot Ghicl Secretary or so \ ne other oifiec . Now , if this had been trvw , I beVieve the house will feel that itwas contrary to - all olKcia _* . etiquette , unworthy of a Minister ot the Crown , and uubecoming the ordinary dealings
House Of Loe"Ds-Mom>At, March 30. Hl P N...
between gentlemen , that any confidential communi cation ot this kind should be revealed for the purpose of creating a temporary cry against apolitical opponent . ( Hear , hear . ) Ido notthinktliatahigii or generous mind , incapable of being influenced bj the motives attributed to me , would be likely to attribute them to another . ( "Hear , hear , " a *''' cheers . ) But what will the house think of the minister and of the man , when I declare on my word ol honour that there is not one word of truth iu the charge from beginning to end . ( llear , hear . ) After a marked appeal to Sir R . Peel , as a man incapable of the slightest untruth , to state the facts as he knew them , Mr . Shaw proceeded to make a spirited attack upon Sir J . Graham . I solemnly aver that _.
from tlie period ofthe conversation with the right hon . baronet in 1834 , to which I have referred , up to this present moment , I never spoke to him of office . ( Hear , hear . ) I never , directly or indirectly , _ap' _-lico to any human being for office ; I never suggested , I never hinted at , I never contemplated the ollice of Irish Secretary , or any other office under the sun than that which 1 now hold , which is enough for me , my bread and my independency . ( Cheers . ) Well , then , sir , docs the right hon . baronet , the Secretary of State for the Home Department , think that , under these circumstances , it is not degrading to him , or at all events to the high ollice which be holds , that he—not in the heat of debate , not in the moment of irritation , immediately after 1 had spoken ,
but after three days—preiiieditatedlyeoming down in this house to open the adjourned debate —( loud cries of " Hear , hear , " from the Protectionist benches)—at the calmest hour of the night , could make a charge against mc which is without the slightest shadow oi foundation in truth—a low vulgarism which has not e \ en the benefit of originality , for he took it from a gossiping local party newspaper—and of which 1 utterly and indignantly defy him to produce a scintilla , the Miiallest atom , tlie remotest tittle of evidence before the world . ( Loud cheers from the Protectionist benches . ) Then tho right hon . hart says that I , sitting behind the government , know thai they are a falling government , and therefore kick them , ( " Hear , hear , " and laughter . ) Sir , it is not
my fault —( hear , hear)—l cannot well help sitting in a certain degree behind them . 1 do nut sit very nearly behind them ; I am as close to the gangway as I can go . ( Laughter . ) If , sir , the right hon * baronet means this as a hint to lion , gentlemen who are behind him , that because they have changed their opinions they must change their seats ; or that if they sit behind him they must support the government , and mince their opinions in order to gratify the _tiiste of the right hon . baronet—( cheers and laughter)—why , then , I believe that these bench ' e _* which are generally not very well attended tiiroinjhout the night , will be much more deserted still . ( Renewed laughter . ) II e says I think them " a falling government . " I lament very much to say , thai
1 do believe them to be falling both in power and in character . ( "Hear , hear , " and Protectionist cheers . ) Yes , sir , and I believe , moreover , that till right lion , biirouet , the Secretary of State for tin-Home Department , is the evil genius of the administration . ( Loud cheers . ) Those with whom he acteo three years ago commonly predicted—and I believi every gentleman in this house , whether among the former or the present supporters of her Majesty's government , will agree in _testifying to the fulfilment of the prophecy—that no cabinet could last long iii England of which the right hon . bart . wasa member . Let the right hon . gentleman recollect that it is not I who have changed opinions ; it is not I who have deserted principles . ( Hear , hear . ) I am in thc
babit , sir , perhaps it is an unfortune habit , of feeling strongly , and speaking as 1 think ; and even though it may sometimes be an inconvenient habit , I certainly am not willing to unlearn it by making myself a disciple of the right hon . baronet . ( Cheers from the Protectionist benches . ) The right hon . baronet says also , that he " prefers my open hostility to my smouldering resentment . " lie may depend upon this , that whenever 1 feel hostility either to parties or to individuals , I will express it as openly and as fearlessly as 1 did on the occasion to which he referred . ( Cheers . ) Sir , I feel no resentment towards her Majesty ' s government . ( Hear , hear . ) Above
all do 1 foel none towards the right hon . baronet at the head of that government . ( Hear hear . ) On the contrary , sir , I entertain for him great respect , and the sincerest sorrow do I feel that he lias fallen into the hands of the right hon . baronet the Secretary of State for the Home Department . ( Great laughter . ) Finally , sir , 1 can assure the right hon . gentleman the Secretary of State for the Home Department , that I regard him neither with hostility nor with resentment . The feeling I have for him is one not so dignified , but , in deference to the house , 1 will forbear to express it . ( Cries ot "Order . " )
Sir James Graham , in reply , said that his allusion to the office of Irish Secretary was prospective , not retrospective , and that ns Mr . Shaw was acting with toe Protectionists , he might , in the case of their succeeding to power , have an eye to that office , but this was met by a general burst of incredulous " ohs" from the house . As to the proceedings connected with tlie recordcrship , there was no _confidense between him and Mr . Shaw , who had on every occasion ostentatiously proclaimed that their connection was _inereli political , not personal . Mr . Shaw had his refusal on public grounds , and might publish his letter if hithought fit . Sir B . Hall , Mr . O'Connell , and Mr . C . Poweli spoke against the introduction of the bill on thai eveni _ne .
Lord G . _Bkniixck on the pan of the Protectionists , and in reply to ihcjappual of Sir W . Somerville , said , that that party , however friendly it was to the principle of protection , would not allow protection to be extended to thc broad-day murderer and to tlie midnight assassin . He condemned as much as any man could do thc dilatory proceedings of her Majesty ' s government in bringing in this measure after all tliat they had said in her Majesty ' s speech of the very frequent instances in which the crime of deliberate assassination had been of late committed in Ireland . No corn or Customs'Act could ever compete in urgency with the necessity of pressing forward this measure for the preservation of life and property in Ireland . Having stated several cases in wliich women had been murdered in open daylight in Ireland ,
he added that the Protection party would give itshearty support to the government so long as it showed itself in earnest in putting down murder and preventing assassination in Ireland . The blood of every man who should be murdered hereafter iu Ireland would be on the head of Ministers and of that house , if they joined in retarding unnecessarily the progress ofa measure like this . The party with whieh he had the honour to act yielded to none in love of liberty ; but it would not allow the name of liberty to be prostituted to the protection of broad-day murder and midnight assassination . Sir G . Grey , Mr . II . Grattan , and Lord J . Russell resisted thc suspension of the orders , and thought that precedence should be given to the Corn Bill . Mr . Sydney Herbert defended thc government from the charge of _dilatoriness .
Sir It . Peel did not expect to have heard a doubt expressed that evening as to tlie sincerity of her Majesty ' s government in bringing forward this bii ) for the preservation of life and property in Ireland . When the fitting time came the house would see whether he was sincere in his declarations respecting his intention to proceed forthwith with the Corn Bill . Lord G . Bentinck had said that government would be responsible for every murder which should hereafter be committed in Ireland , if this Irish bill were not passed , while the gentlemen on flie Opposition benches contended that government , would be
responsible for every man who died of starvation in Ireland , in case the Com Bill were not passed . Between these two measures he admitted that the government was placed in a position ef some difficulty , but he thought that it had reconciled its duty to those difficulties by proposing to read this bill a first time . Ministers had been told that tbey should be met with every kind of delay upon this bill . It was thc duty of government to disregard menaces of tbat kind , and to take that course which was most conducive to the public interest . It would not be seemly in the present state of Ireland not to take this measure into immediate consideration .
After some further discussion , in which Sir Robert _Inglis , Lord Worsley , Colonel liawdou , and Mr . John O'Connell joined , Mr . Cobden said he must , before the house went to a division , express his deep regret at the course now adopted by her Majesty ' s government . It was a great misfortune both for England aud Ireland . The bouse then went to a division , when there appeared for the motion of Sir J ,
Graham—Ayes m . „ .. . _1-1 T Noes .... .... 10 S Majority in favour of it ... 3 _l > Sir James Graham then moved tho first reading of the bill . The tone of his speech , aud the leading facts it contained , were a reflex of the speech of Lord St . Germans on _nioviiag thc bill in tlie other houso , and need not bo ropeatei here . He commenced by referring to tk- measures which had recently been introduced by government to Parliament for the amelioration of tho condition of Ireland , such as the Maynooth Bill , the Bequests Act , their various measures relating to _pspular education , the Bequests Bill , and the free trade measures bei ' oro Parliament . He then proceeded to . read a lavge mass of evidence confirmatory of his statement relating to thc disorganised social state of Ireland , particularly in the counties of 'lipperary _, Clare , Roscommon , Limerick , and Meath .
Mr . D . Bowxixg having moved thc adjournment ol thc debate , a conversation of rather an animated charactcr ensued . Lord C . 11 _Awa-roN said that there wns no reason assigned for adjourning the debate . There was no indisposition evinced not to listen to any statements made with regard to the bill . They proposed an adjournment now to consult their own indolence and ease . Tlie lion , gentleman who moved tlw adjournment must go early to bed , forsooth to take care ot his senatorial health . ( _Laughter . ) Thc hon . member did not look as if he were much worn away , ( Lai ' . ghter . ) He looked rather neat and comfortable . ( _Ijj- . ugkter . ) lie must go to bed at half-past eleven
House Of Loe"Ds-Mom>At, March 30. Hl P N...
( Laughter . ) He never knew an irishman who cared for his country to go to bed at half-past eleven o ' clock . ( Roars of laughter . ) Mr . n _]' i ,. _vvx _thousht it would have been better if the noble lord went to bed an hour _imrlicr . ( Hear , hear , and laughter . ) To judge from thc noble lord ' s rostume , he must have been diningoufc . ( Laughter . ) _tiut thc noble lord wns accustomed to indulge in un angry tone , to use violent gesticulations , and an indecorous manner , when he addressed the house . ( Hear , hear . ) But he would not imitate the maimer of the noble lord . He moved the adjournment of the _deb-ite , because he knew that the Un . member for Cork was not prepared to » o on with his stall ment . lie _wish'id that the noble lord had imitated thu tono nnd temper nf the right hon . _geiitlt-maii who introdnnod the bill .
The motion for adjournment was suppmted by Mr . S . O'Brien , Mr . O'Connell , Colonel Rum don , and Lord J . Russell , and opposed by Sir il . Peel . Lfltimatelv a division took place upon it , when there were for the adj- u _.-nment , 32 , anda « nii » i it 'JS . The motion wa :- - , tliirefore , lost by a majority ol ( JO . The opponents of the _ndjnumimnt _, however , subsequently gave way , und tho debate was- then adjourned " to this day ( Tuesday ) . The other orders of the day were then disposed of , and the house adjourned at a quarter past twelve . HOUSE OF _LORDS—Ti-KsiiAv , March 31 . Tin ; Marquis of _Lansdowxi * presented a petition from the grand jury of the county of Kerry , praying their lordshi ps to give favourable consideration to the projects for railways in Ireland generally , * but particularly those intended to traverse that countv .
Uie Marquis of _Clanricardk then brought forward his motion for an address to ihe Crown , founded upon the report ofthe committee of their lordships ' house on the new Houses of Parliament , but which , after some discussion , led to no other result than iti postponement until after Easter , in consequence of an intimati-m from the Duke of Wellington that it would embarrass the government if two _su-i-irate addresses were presented to her Maje » tv from both Houses of Parliament , each being ignorant of what was passing in the committee of either . Thc routine business being then disposed of , their _lordslii- > s adjourncd . HOUSE OF COMMONS-Tcksiiay , March 31 . ( 'lhere not being forty members present at four o ' clock , the Speaker declared the house adjourned . HOUSE OF COMMONS-Wkumsdat , April I . The house met at twelve o ' clock .
Sir KoiJKKi Pukl gave notice , that on Thursday he would move a voce of ihnnlis lor the two victories recently gained by our Indian army . A conversation of some interest then took plac ; - as to the day on which the adjourned debate on the Protection of Liie ( Ireland ) Bill-mould he adjourned . In the course of it Sir J . Graham cunected some inaccuracies of which he had been unintentionally guilty in his speech on Monday _ni-Mit . The principal speakers in it were Mr . Smith O'Brien , Sir 11 . l ' ld , Sir J . Graham , Mr . Grattan , Mr . D . Browne , and Mr . O'Connell .
_i \ o explanation was given of the reason why " no house" was made on Tuesday night ; but Sir R * . Pkex , asserted _ the sincerity of his sympathy with the distresses iu Ireland , and his anxious desire to relieve them . lie had given ample proof of this , and he enirented the house to permit him , at an eailv period , to go on with the other measures intended for tho benefit of thai country . Mr . 0 'Co . _nxki . l gratefully acknowledged the steps Sir Robert had taken to avert lamine from Ireland ; but was pledged to oppose his Coercion Bill at every stage . It was subsequently agreed that the order-of the day for the fiist reading of this bill should be postponed till Thursday , with the undmtanding that it would prob-ibly not come on till Fridav .
Lord _hoESTRE , after a brief recapitulation of the facts , which he had stated on a former evening , relative to the hardshi p suffered b y the editor of the Wolverhampton Chronicle , in having to pay damages for republishing a libel on the master of the free grammar school at Lichfield , which had originally appeared in the report of Dr . Allk . n , a commissioner appointed by the Educational Committee of the Privy Council to inquire into the condition of that school , moved for a Copy of the memorial presented to the Treasury on that subject b y the proprietor Ot that paper , and of the answer given by the Treasury to that document .
# Mr . Cam-well had no objection to lay thc memorial in que tion before the house . As the noble lord did not claim any pecuniary remuneration out of the public purse for the proprietor ofthe Wolverhampton paper , it was unnecessary to enter into any delence of tlie decision to wliich the _Treasury had come upon that document . Mr . Wood , in the exercise of his ordinary avocations , had incurred a certain liability , and government was not bound to protect him against the consequences . The AiioitNEV-General admitted that Mr . Wood had taken the report from a printed book ; but contended that Mr . Wood had given a d il ' ereiit character to it by the remarks which he hail made upt > n it .
After some further conversation , in which ihe hardship of punishing the editor m ' a newsi-aper for republishing what had been previously published under the authority of government wus ' _sti-oni-ly _insistes . upon by several speakers , Lord hu-csirc " consented to _withdraw his motion . The Railway Deposits Bill , intended to remove some of the inconveniences of the . _existing s . > stem , was then read a second time . Mr . P . _ScHori * moved the second reading of the Destitute Poor ( Ireland ) Bill , ami urged upon the house the necessity ot making provision for the poor ill Ireland on the model ol that which had been in operation for two _cenluvks aud a half with the _bess results in England . The time was come when relief
ought no longer to be confined to the miserable and scanty system at present in force in Ireland . In that country , under tlie exi .-tiiig Poor Law , there were not means to relieve one hundredth part of the population . lie proposed to give the p or there a right to a maintenance upon the land ot their birth , and , by so doing , he thought that he should take from them the plea of necessity for combining together against the law . The law at present did not protect the Irish peasant from starvation , nor from being thrust out of his home into absolute destitution . He quoted the evidence of Mr . llevans , to prove that ! J-10 tlis of tlie outrages of property and persons in Irelaud were produced by tiie want of a law for the proper relief of the poor . Could it be expected that the Irish peasant would lie down in a ditch aud starve , when tlie law gave him no protection either for his life or for his property ? Tl . e people of Ireland would continue in their present miserable and
lawless condition , unless the legislature broke up the vicious system now existing , and rendered the rights ofthe poor as secure as tliose of tlte rich . His bill would authorise the board of guardians in Ireland . o give out-door relief to the destitute poor . At present they could not afford the poor relief , when the workhouses were full , although they might bu upon the point of starvation . It would also enable the guardians to give relief to the able-bodied poor , iu the shape of work , according to the principle of the law of Eliubetli . Instead of such a a > sum leading to thc confiscation of the lauded property of Ireland , it would lead to the proper development of the mini use resources of Hint country . Iii-, bill would also provide for the prevention of vagrancy and mendicancy , and would alter to a considerable extent the la \ v of rating . If the government would apply such measures as this to Ireland , coercion bilks * _'ouhl scarcely be wanted .
Sir J . Ukaiiam was sorry that a bill of such vast importance should be discussed in so thin a house . Giving Mr . P . Scrope credit for the punst intentions , he must still say tluit the topics tu wliich that gentleman had adverted , and the manner in which he had dwelt upon them , must greatly tend to aggravate thu circumstances of the present crisis , and to add to the difficulty of administering the affairs of _la-laiiil .. Agrarian uriiiiu was not general , ns Mr . P . _Scro-iC had stated it to be , _throughout Irelandon the contrary , it wf . s mainly limited to live counties _, lie denied the truth of Mr . Scropc ' s position , that under the law of Ireland there was no provision to prevent a man from dying in the streets for want , aud challenged hiiu to produce a single case
in which a man had died ol starvation in that country , even under the distress aud scaieity which now prevailed there . Alluding to the re-marks which ; Mr . Scrope had made upon the tenure of hind in . Ireland , he deeply regretted that they had been made ,. as unguarded and imprudent expresi ions on that sub- _, ject might operate like letters of blood ou the _othei" , side of the channel , and might lead to a sacrifice , of . " life wliich every man would deplore . The _doi-trines which Mr . P . Scrope had propounded appeared . to him to be must dangerous . Referring more particularly to be bill then belore the house , he _obsai-ved that the present was a most inopportune tiiuo tor its
introduction- Besides , it was founded on a yvvi _\ _u--- ) le = directly the reverse of that on which the aovijniiiicr . t measures for _vcmovlu- * thc difficulties now pressing ; on Ireland were based . If a claim of _relief from _, the land were given to the 2 , 0011 , 000 _uauyars iu Irelaud , the whole land ot Ireland would not _Sc sufficient " , to meet a jeiinanetit claim of so _overwhelming a description . So far was Mr . Scrape ' s _pi-f nosition from being for the good of the publie , thai it tended in his opinion directly to the public iliii « 4 ge . _Bviicvnigi then , that the effect of his bill w « _ould be _b'vd , and that the public impression produ ' jtd by it would bo still worse , he should move that it be road a sqeouii time that dav six months .
Mr . S . O'BniEN contended thai this , bill _wiuW not be a remedy for the present anunialous state of things ill Ireland . Still he _was prepared to » ive it his support , because it _cuxU'iicvu thc pviuviyles of out-door relief . The right of relief , with a pour-rato to meet it , would make absentee _lat . dlords think of tlw propriety of _employing the poor in the impiovement of their estates _. Lord J . _ltussi-LA _, defended the legislation had _iHtivduml » ipon the reeouimeudatious in the report ol' tho Poor Law Coniiiiksion laud . He had , however , refused to act whole ot those recommendations ; for / , kiiowk'dco whieh he had , that out-door _cwatwl _gn-at abuse in England , and was
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 4, 1846, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_04041846/page/7/
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