could he have heard her Majesty, in her own singularly clear, pleasing, and silver-toned enunciation, express her gracious acknowledgment of the respectful congratulations of the "mere Irish" -and worse than that, the Papist Irish!

A dinner at the London Tavern, conducted on the Reformed-corporation principles, viz. charges as moderate at least as the London Tavern would undertake for, and charges paid out of PRIVATE pockets instead of out of corporation property, closed merrily the proceedings of the day.

Having about this period commenced a kind of very irregular journal of passing occurrences of interest in the political world, I transcribe, without alteration or emendation, from it a few notices, jotted down from time to time according to impressions of the moment, of some of the events of the parliamentary session of 1842.

"Thursday, Feb. 10, 1842.-Last night Peel at length prescribed (to use his own medical simile) for the distress of these countries. There was of course great anxiety to hear his plans, and consequently a very full house. The Anti-Corn-law delegates marched down full six hundred strong, it

is said, but could not get admission. At a little after five Peel rose, and there was instantly, and throughout his speech, the deepest attention.

"For two hours and a half did he speak, and in all that time no one enlarged view, no one statesman-like sentiment! To be sure, his cause was bad, and he was restrained and fettered by his party; but so much the more disgrace to him. He confessed the existence of distress, which he had denied last August; but he said that Cornlaws had nothing to do with it; that is, that restrictions on the importation of food, and consequent high prices of food, to the poor man, are no real evil to him; and that the loss and ruin now falling heavily upon the manufacturers, are in no way caused by the retaliation of foreigners in shutting their markets against British manufactures in return for the exclusion of their agricultural produce from British ports! He attributed the distress to, first, the war with China, which interferes with our trade thither! second, to over speculation; third, to improvements in machinery; fourth, to the derangement of intercourse with America, from her monetary confusion (omitting the exceeding likelihood that if America could

have sent her corn, she would have paid much of her debts); fifth, to the dispensation of Providence! &c. &c.

"He then combated, or addressed himself to combat, the total repealers and the fixed-duty men. To the first he brought up the old bugbear of dependence upon foreigners, and to the second he said, that their fixed duty would be useless when corn was low, and cruel when corn was highasserting, and merely asserting, that it would not prevent fluctuations as great as at present! He also argued generally against the idea that cheap bread makes the comfort of a people; contrasting Prussia, &c., with England; bread being cheaper in the former than the latter, and yet a greater average consumption of bread, meat, sugar, &c., per head among the people of the latter country than those of the former,-as if that were any reason for not giving bread as cheap to the English! "He then came to his plan. First, &c. &c.

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"This is an insult, as Cobden truly called it last night. It leaves all the restriction and the grinding pressure of the Corn-laws, while it is put forward as a measure of relief; and the insult is

aggravated by the shallow trick of the Duke of Buckingham's resignation of office.

"Of course the other measures of this Government, where they pretend relief, will be equally delusive; but there is little doubt their measures towards poor Ireland will be of an efficient character-efficient in evil and tyranny.

"As yet, indeed, notwithstanding the powerful and reckless majority against Ireland, there is none of the bitterness of hostility breaking out openly that used to be manifested while the party were in opposition. But this present forbearance is all to spread a thin veil of moderation over their intentions, until their preparations for action are made; and then va victis! Ireland shall pay for her long opposition to the Tory party.

"She has now for more than ten years returned a strong Liberal majority. Had she a Parliament of her own, what measures of benefit would she not have passed in that interval! She returned at this last election, despite of the most reckless intimidation and foul play, a Liberal majority. Had she a Parliament of her own, the Government would be Liberal in Ireland.

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"4 P.M.-A meeting of the liberal M.P.s and late

M.P.s at the Reform Club, good feeling prevailing: rather a disposition on the part of the Whig section to conciliate the more popular portion of the party; but though I think this will improve, through the pressure of sheer necessity, I fear they would need more experience of adversity to make them act steadily in the true interest of the people.

"On Monday, we have consented that an amendment should be moved to the Speaker's leaving the chair for the Corn-laws Committee, to this effect: That no modification of the Cornlaws can be satisfactory that preserves the sliding scale.' This motion enables us to vote all together; -when beaten on that, Villiers moves for total Repeal.

"A symptom that the Whigs are verging towards popularizing themselves a little more, is the getting up of mixed dinners at the Reform Club once a-week, where we shall gradually get some knowledge of each other, and perhaps some little mutual asperities may be softened down.

"The establishment of the Tories in power is of course a blow to the Whigs, and a heavy discouragement to the English Radicals; but what