themselves of the first favourable opportunity of rising in open rebellion. That such a bill is not necessary I am far from asserting, or even supposing; but, if such a bill be necessary, what are we to think of those writers of daily papers, and others, who have been continually assuring us, that Ireland "never "was more tranquil?" These impudent falsehoods are, however, trifling when compared with another subject of reflection, namely, that nothing is proposed to alter the state of Ireland, which unhappy country seems doomed to remain in a state of continual agitation, and of apprehension, that, from day to day, worse and worse may happen to it" Hush!" "Mum!" These have been the answers given to all those, who have expressed such apprehensions. And, from the people of England, the thing has certainly been kept secret enough. There are, in the kingdom, a hundred and fifty newspapers; perhaps many more; most of them, and especially the fashionable ones, eager to get at news, particularly relating to blood and murder; and, yet, how completely the history of the fight between the Irish Militia and the Hanoverians was smothered in its birth! We just heard, that there had been a fight; but, as it were by the pull of a wire, all the mouths of the news-venders were closed up as tight as a bottle. No inquiry about it, Parliament has met twice, and no one asks how many of our countrymen were killed in the fight. The cause, which must be of importance in any state of things, and especially at this time, remains uninquired into. It did not use to be thus. Time was when some member of parliament would have inquired into this. But, upon this subject especially, **hush" seems to be the unanimous cry. -To insert these bills is not compatible with my space; but they are great curiosities, and such as cannot possibly be done justice to by any abstract. I will, therefore, content myself with inserting the description given of them by Sir Arthur Wellesley (so famous for his military and other deeds in Oude and other parts of Hindostan), who brought them forward. I take the report of the Morning Post." Sir Arthur Wel"lesley, in pursuance of his notice, rose to "move for leave to bring in a bill, for the "suppression of insurrection in Ireland, "and-to prevent the disturbance of the 66 peace in that country. The house would "remember, that the circumstances, which "preceded and attended the suppression of "the late rebellion in Ireland, had render"ed stronger measures than the established

jaws afforded, necessary in that country.

lings between the hours of sun setting "and sun rising, and gave to the magis"trates the power of sending persons who "should be found to offend against it on "board his majesty's navy. The act had "proved effectual for the suppression of the

"

insurrection, as appeared from the ac"knowledgment of the leaders of that in"surrection before a committee of the Irish "parliament. But, though such a law may "be necessary, it was the duty of that house "to guard against the abuse of the powers which it gave. The bill he proposed to bring in contained the same provisions as "the Insurrection Act, with respect to the power of the lord lieutenant to proclaim "disturbed counties, and the authority of "the magistrates to arrest persons who "should be found out of their dwellings be"tween sun setting and sun rising; but, in "order to prevent hardships to the subjects, "the bill required that persons so arrested "should be tried at the Quarter Sessions, "by the magistrates and assistant barrister, "assisted by a king's counsel, a serjeant

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specially sent down for that purpose. "Besides this bill, he meant to move for "leave to bring in another to prevent im

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proper persons from keeping arms, by "obliging all persons to register their arms. "and authorising the magistrates to search for arms. These bills had been prepared by his predecessor, and the only differ"ence was, that the bill of his predecessor "6 gave a negative to the king's counsel or serjeant, which he proposed to take from "him, as it appeared to him that such a negative would render the measure nuga"tory. He meant, however, to substitute a clause, which should, in case of any "difference between the serjeant and the "bench, suspend the execution of the deci "sion of the magistrates, till the serjeant "should have reported the matter to the "lord lieutenant."- -Sir A. Wellesley said he proposed seven years, as the time of duration of these bills, but his mind was not quite made up as to that point!--After some observations, from different members, respecting the duration of the bill, Mr Sheridan rose and said, "that he viewed this "question in a different light from his "friends on the bench near him, and the "hon. gentleman opposite, (Col. Vereker),

had only anticipated an opposition which "this measure was to encounter. His right "hon. friend had said, that the measure "could only be justified by one imperious "necessity; now it was that necessity which "he wished to have clearly made out to "exist before the measure was resorted to. "It was no answer to him that the measure "had been prepared by his friends. If it had, the Threshers were then engaged in "their disturbances and administering un"lawful oaths. Ireland was now on the contrary as loyally tranquil as any part of <<<the empire. Would they state in the

preamble to the bill, "Whereas a very "small part of Ireland was some time ago ""disturbed by the Threshers, and where""as that disturbance has been completely put down by the ordinary course of law, "" and Ireland is now completely tranquil, "6 "be it therefore enacted, That most ""extraordinary powers, &c." This was "the case however, and until it should be shewn to him that the necessity for the measure existed, he should oppose it every stage."Upon the bill, or bills, I shall not make much observation, at present, but I may ask the English reader to reflect, for a moment, upon a life led in a country, where, upon the application of the magistrates, a county is to be proclaimed as being in a state of disturbance, and where, upon that proclamation being made, every inhabitant is compelled to remain within his doors, from sun-set until sun-rise; the magistrates having power to search the houses to see if the law be obeyed! What endless informations must this give rise to! What spite and malice and revenge amongst neighbours! What continual inconvenience, dread, aları; and what unquenchable hatred !---Yet, I do not know, that the bill may not be neces sary; but I agree with Mr. Sheridan in wishing to see the necessity clearly made out before the bill be passed.But, can nothing be thought of to obviate this hard necessity? Is there no way of conciliating the good will of the people of Ireland? Are.

they such brutes as not to be made sensible of having a good government? Are they to be ruled by nothing but stripes? We must either maintain this, or we must allow, that, some when and some where, there must have been a fault in the government.The causes of the discontents in Ireland were ably developed by an admired correspondent of mine in a letter which will be found in Volume XI. at page 241; and, when one considers the heart-burnings which exist amongst the catholics, and which are kept constantly alive, by the collection of tythes

alone, one is not astonished at the necessity of an insurrection bill. The evils of nonresidence are felt quite sufficiently in England; the flagrant injustice of making the holders of land yield one tenth part of its produce to persons who perform no duty for it, and who expend it at a distance from the spot; so glaring a violation of the wellknown principles upon which tythes were established, and upon which alone the justice of collecting them can be maintained; this has made a deep impression in England. What, then, must be expected in Ireland, where four fifths of the people yield tythes to an establishment to which they do not belong; and where the residence of an incumbent is locked upon as a wonder ?——Mr. DILLON, during a debate, in the House of Commons, of the 15th instant, upon a grant proposed to be made for the education of Irish papist priests, said it was no wonder "that the protestant church was disrelished by the Irish peasant, when the only way through which he knew it was the exac"tions of the tythe-proctor. He concluded "with an earnest exhortation to the House, "to adopt some modification of tithes in "Ireland, as the best possible way of restoring the people of that country to con"tent." -MR. PERCEVAL"assured the "hon. gentleman that the attention of government should be early and anxiously. "directed to the abuse complained of with "respect to the want of glebe houses and "sinecure livings. He did think with that "hon. gentleman that it, was extremely

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hard that any man should pass away an "indolent life upon an opulent living, while a poor curate was discharging the duties of that office for the year round upon a "pittance scarcely sufficient to maintain him. "He (Mr. Perceval) had before failed in "two or three instances in carrying through "that House a measure for the regula"tion of rectories and cures; he however

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now gave notice that it was the inten"tion of his Majesty's present government "to submit to the consideration of the "house, a measure for reducing the opulent

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livings, and out of their abundance mak"ing an allowance for the poorer curates."

-It is true, that Mr. Perceval did make an attempt or two of this sort, in which he had to oppose, in one of the instances, the late ministry. But, while I do not think, that he went far enough with regard to this country, I know of no attempt at all that he made in behalf of Ireland. The state in which Ireland is, as to the established church will appear from the following facts. There are in Ireland-Parish.s

2,436

Such is the state of the protestant church in Ireland. I appeal to the heart of any good man, whether it be possible, that the people should contentedly pay tithes in such a state of the church? Tithes are collected, or paid, every where, and they are exacted most rigidly, whether there be church or no church. Does this state of things warrant the notion of Hypocrisy Personified, who pretended to hope, in his usual canting stile, and with his Lazarus-like look, that, in time, the papists of Ireland would be converted to the true faith? The dirty Dean may bawl as long as he pleases" no popery!" but, will any man, but such a man, say, that something ought not to be done to put a stop to this enormous abuse? Yes, the clergy (I speak with exceptions),' and the universities may address the king, and talk about supporting the church; but will not every reasonable man call upon them to do their part in supporting it? The moment any measure is proposed for abolishing the abuses in the church; for compelling those who receive its revenues to do the duty for which those revenues were granted, they set up a hue and cry as if you were going to murder them. Their rights are indisputable; but, so are their duties; and, however law may support the former without the performance of the latter, the mind of man is too truly formed to acquiesce without grumbling.- -I must do Mr. Perceval the justice to say, that he is the only member of parliament that I know of, who has spoken upon the subject of non-residence, in. suitable terms. This is one of the great grievances of the nation here; and, what, then, is it in Ireland? Not an inch do the clergy or the prelates give way as to their demands. Where the latter are lords of manors, they are as active as ever in enforcing all their feudal claims, though the corresponding duties have long fallen out of use. courts leet and courts baron, all the utility of which, to the vicinage, have long been unknown, serve the lords as well as ever for the purpose of demanding fines and heriots.

Their

-To return to Ireland, if it be really intended to do something, in the way now spoken of, for the people of that country, why is it delayed? Never, in my opinion, was there a more fit time. There is a constant cry for sacrifices, on the part of the

people; but, it is not the time, it seems, to make a reformation in their favour. The exigency of the moment is pleaded for the introduction of the sun-set and sun-rise bill; and, perhaps, the exigency may exist; I do not say, that it does not; but, then, I ask, is there not an exigency, equally pressing, for some measure to convince the people, that you mean to alleviate their burdens? This is what they want, and not a fanciful sentimental bill, the only real effect of which would have been to gratify the vanity of a dozen of families. Oh! but you must be very careful how you trench upon the property of the church, which, in many cases, is private property. Well, but ought you not to be very careful, then, how you trench upon the personal freedom of the pecple; how you pass a law to shut the inhabitants of a whole county up within the walls of their houses from sun-set to sunrise? Only tell them, that you will, upon such a day, actually pass a law to redress the grievances they complain of, or any one of those grievances, and you may leave them to go where they please, by night or by day.

"But, what would you do, if you had "it in your power, in this case of tithes, "for instance?" This is a question which many a reader will put to me; and, my answer is this, that I would abolish tithes in Ireland; I would make each parish maintain its own priest, or pastor; I would remunerate the church by the purchase, at the public expense, and by valuation, of the impropriate tithes in England and Wales; I would compel every incumbent here to reside upon his living; and, if, from these alterations, the clergy should suffer inconvenience, or loss, they would only partake, in that respect, with the nation in general. To those, who start at this, I put these questions: Do you think that the catholics of Ireland will ever become protestants while the present system is persevered in? Do you think that they will ever be contented, that they will ever love the government, while they are compelled to pay tithes to a protestant church? Do you think, that, by force, we shall always be able to govern them? If all these questions are answered in the negative, as I think they must be, what remedy is there except the one that E would apply? Aud, as to the time, when will there be a time, if it be not now? "What!" (some one will say, perhaps, Hypocrisy Persanified may say it)" would

6.6

you establish and confirm a crafty de"luding priesthood ?" No. I would soon destroy the wretched priest-craft by making the people pay the priests, whona

they themselves should choose to have. It appears to me, that we have always been working at the wrong end. In order to fell the tree, we began niggling at the top, instead of taking out the earth from the roots; and so we have continued. People are never, in religious matters especially, either frightened or coaxed out of an opinion. They must be led into a train of thinking for themselves, and if you take care to give them self-interest for an assistant, you need not be in much apprehension for the result.

I should like to hear the opinions of others, upon this subject, freely expressed. As the ministry say, that they are thinking about something to be done with respect to the church in Ireland, this seems the proper time for men to say what they think thereon. I am by no means wedded to my scheme (except after the American fashion which leaves to the parties the right of separating whenever they please), and I should be glad to see the scheme of any other man; but, then, I must beg him to consider, that something substantial must be done, and that it must, to answer any good purpose, be done without delay.-IV.LORD COCHRANE'S

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were ready for him:- As to disproof, Mr. Perceval, though Mr. Windham completely agreed with you for once, and though he extolled (we are really told) Lord St. Vincent to the skies; as to disproof I saw none, unless you set it down as a maxim, that the joint assertion of three persons is better than the assertion of one. I There was assertion against assertion. know which I believe, and am pretty sure -Mr. that your belief is just the sameSheridan, with his usual patriotism, and with as much zeal for the good of his country as he displayed in asking to be made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for life, deprecated agitating questions of this sort in parliament; and, he had the face to do this after having, at the hustings of Covent Garden, told Lord Cochrane, that the House of Commons was the proper place! But, this is like him. Sheridan to the last! He made one very curious statement. referring to the mischiefs which Lord Cochrane's speeches at the hustings had done, he particularly dwelt upon the effects those speeches had produced upon Commodore Keates. "They were such that he had

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thought it necessary to demand a court"martial upon his conduct. That had been refused; because there were no grounds "for it."! Good! Excellent! These effects, then, were not very distressing, it seems? But, who found out, that there were "no grounds?" Who was it?Verily the public will want no one to aid them in coming to a just conclusion upon this point. The cry is, that such mat"Hush! ters ought not to be touched upon. "hush! hush!" But, is this the language of reflection? If what Lord Cochrane asserted was false, the falsehood would have been proved by an inquiry; if true, ought not a remedy to be applied; and how can it be applied unless the evil be known? How are we; what a state are we in, when we fear that any thing, relative to the feelings of the army or navy, should be utWhat! tered, whether true or false?

do we fear that a fleet, so well off, so much indulged, so humanely treated when sick, so happy and so contented as Sir Samuel Hood and Admirals Harvey and Markham and Mr. Sheridan represented them to be; do we fear, that such a fleet can be rendered mutinous by any motions or speeches of Lord Cochrane, and, especi ally when, if these gentlemen's assertions be true, that fleet must know Lord Cochrane's speeches to be false? Why, then, express apprehensions of mischief from those speeches? What are you afraid of, good

men? What alarms you?—I must here notice the base conduct of the reporter of the COURIER news-paper towards Lord Cochrane. He begins his report thus: "Lord Cochrane rose to move for several papers, to prove that the manner in which "the naval service was now conducted was disgusting to the officers and seamen, and highly injurious and dangerous to the country. He did not desire to cast the "blame of this mal-administration on any * individual. His object was to call the "attention of his majesty's ministers to the

subject, that the mischief may be correct"ed. The noble lord in the course of a "detailed statement of grievances, thro' "-which we shall not follow him, otherwise " than very generally, denied as his asser“tions were by those WHO WERE MOST "COMPETÈNT to speak to the facts." -This, observe, at the very outset, in order to prejudice the reader against what followed. Now, it is right that the public should be apprized of the probable cause of this hostility against his lordship on the part of the London daily press. Just after he had announced his intention of being a candidate for Westminster, several of the editors of papers went to him, or wrote to him, asking for money as the price of the support which they offered him. He refused to give them a shilling; and they became, one and all, his bitter enemies; and such they will continue, unless he does give them money; but, I trust he will be honoured with their hatred as long as their venal souls shall inhabit their bodies - The conclusion of the debate was curious. I will insert it just as I find it in the Morning Post, though, in my DEBATES, it will be fully and fairly given." LORD COCHRANE

rose to reply. As to the hon admiral (MARKHAM), he was a member of that "board of which he complained, and as "to his experience or his services, they had "been much more conspicuous on shore "than ever they had been at sea (Cries of "Order, Order.) The hon. Admiral had "staid at home and sent his particular

friends, and those who had interest, to "sea.THE SPEAKER told the noble "lord, that the last expression was quite be

yond the bounds of order. LORD "COCHRANE continued his reply. He "said that he had demanded a Court Mar"tial for the accident that had happened to "bis ship, and it had been refused, for fear of implicating those who sent him out "in an unfit condition. He detailed several "other individual instances of handship, such "as officers and sailors not being allowed to

go on shore when in port. He had writ"ten to the Admiralty on other subjects, "and either received a mere formal answer, "or none at all."There was no division, the motion being negatived without, aud with only one or two dissenting voices.

-V. POOR LAWS. In a page below, the reader will find a letter to Mr. Whitbread upon this subject. The bills will, in all probability, not pass; and, it is of very little consequence, in my opinion, whether they do or not; for, I am morally certain, that they never can be carried into execution. The cause of the misery and immorality of the poor, is, the heavy taxes and their natural consequences. Remove the cause, and the effect will cease; but until the cause be removed, all remedies are vain. "Badges," indeed! what will a badge do? It may make its wearer an object of ridicule, and that's all. The labouring people are not eas sily to be coaxed into content. They have much more sense than Mr. WhiCoread seems to imagine; and, as they have, according to his opinion, grown worse and worse of late years, while education has been extending itself, what should make him suppose, that more education would make them better? No; it is a cancer in the body of the na tion; to cure the patient yourmust cut it out; none of your anointing or plaistering will do any good.VI. WESTMINSTER ElecTION. -What may be the object of Mr. Sheridan in doing what is described in the following extract from the votes of the House of Commons, I shall not pretend to say; but, I think it right to put the thing upon record here, that we may hereafter refer to it."A Petition of the right honourable Ri"chard Brinsley Sheridan was read; set

ting forth, that, at the late election of "members to serve in this present Parlia"ment for the city and liberty of Westmin

ster, lord Cochrane, sir Francis Burdett, "bart. John Elliot, esq. James Paull, esq. "and the petitioner, were candidates to "represent the said city and liberty in Par"liament; and that, at the said election, a