XXXI. 1833. strongly had the necessity of the case impressed itself on CHAP. their lordships' minds, yet in committee a subordinate motion made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, that in the case of a suspended benefice the revenue should be applied to the building or repairing of the glebe-house, was carried against Ministers by a majority of two. So disconcerted were Government by this defeat-the first they had sustained since the passing of the Reform Bill -that Earl Grey declared it would be a matter of consideration for Ministers whether they should not throw up the bill and retire from office. Upon consideration, July 30. however, the change was deemed not so vital as to justify the abandonment of the measure. Ministers retained Ann. Reg. 1833, 103, office; and the bill, as then amended, was read a third 139; Parl. time and passed on the 30th July by a majority of 761, 824. 135 to 81,1 1 Deb. xix. ing tithes. Such was the conclusion of this great debate; and the 52. discussion of Irish affairs was terminated for the time New ministerial proby a measure of more real and practical importance con- ject regardnected with the collection of tithes in the country. The bill of last year, which had authorised Government to make certain advances to the Irish clergy, and invested them with the right to levy the tithes for their reimbursement, had totally failed in producing the desired effect ; or rather it had made matters greatly worse, because, by bringing a more formidable power into collision with the peasantry, it had both augmented the severity and enhanced the heartburnings consequent on the collection. The sum collected, too, had been a mere trifle; only £12,000 out of £91,000 of arrears. In these circumstances, Ministers wisely determined to abandon the plan altogether, and in lieu of it they had recourse to the usual resource in cases of Irish insolvency—a contribution from Great Britain. The amount of tithes due and unpaid, for the last three years, exceeded a million sterling. To meet this great arrear, it was proposed to authorise the issue of exchequer bills to the extent of XXXI. 1833. CHAP. £1,000,000, to be repaid in ten years by the persons liable in the same, and with which the claims of those having right to tithes were to be paid under a deduction of 25 per cent for the tithes of 1831 and 1832, and 15 per cent for those of 1833. The justice of this deduction, 1 Parl. Deb. as of a salvage in cases of shipwreck, could not be disputed, and the necessity of the case was so obvious that the bill passed both Houses with very little opposition, and proved an unspeakable relief to the starving clergy of Ireland.1 * xx. 434, 452; Ann. Reg. 1833, 140, 142. 53. on these bills. This closes the long catalogue of discussion on Irish Reflections affairs, which occupied two-thirds of the first session of the reformed Parliament. The retrospect furnishes abundant subject for mournful reflection-not so much for what was done, as for what was left undone. The two great measures, the Coercion Bill and the grant to the destitute clergy, were obviously wise, and loudly called for by stern necessity, however objectionable they certainly would have been under other and less pressing circumstances. But they were temporary palliations only; they left untouched the root of the evil. The real causes. which blasted the prosperity of Ireland, and had brought its inhabitants into such a deplorable situation, were the redundant population, the low price of agricultural produce (the sole support of the people), the absence of any legal relief for the poor, the want of a resident gentry, and the absence of any public works or manufactories to absorb the overwhelming multitudes of the working classes. These were the real causes of the disease: the combination against tithes, the predial atrocities, the intimidation * AMOUNT OF TITHES DUE AND UNPAID, FOR YEARS 1831 To 1833. Arrears, 1831, £112,185 300,000 600,000 £1,012,185 222,578 £1,234,763 —LORD ALTHORPE's Statement; Ann. Reg. 1833, p. 140-141. XXXI. 1833. of jurors and witnesses, were merely inflammatory symp- CHAP. toms appearing on the surface. What did Government do to remove these deep-rooted seats of evil, without which all attempts to relieve the distresses of the country in a lasting way must prove nugatory? They resisted with their whole strength, supported by all Sir Robert Peel's followers, any inquiry into the currency with a view to its extension and the raising of prices: they did nothing to establish poor-rates in a country overwhelmed by two millions of paupers; when any movement in favour of emigration was made in the House of Commons, they got the House counted out; and they contented themselves with abolishing ten resident ecclesiastical landholders, spending £50,000 a-year, in a country pining under the evils of absentee landholders! All parties persisted in considering the evils of Ireland as political, when in fact they were social, and applying what they deemed remedies to the sufferings of the country, when in fact they were mere holocausts to disarm the hostility, or purchase the support, of a party in the House of Commons. And thus things went on from bad to worse, without one measure of real relief emanating from the legislature, until Providence, in pity of human infatuation, took the matter into its own hands, raised prices 50 per cent by opening two huge banks of issue in California and Australia, and doubled the wages of labour, and thereby pacified the country, by this great measure of relief, and sending, for a course of years, 200,000 emigrants annually from the shores of the Emerald Isle.* "Although, from the defective nature of the returns, it is impossible to ascertain the exact annual amount of Irish emigration, we are enabled, from facts furnished to the Emigration Commissioners, to approximate to the truth, and during the last four years the numbers who left Ireland are estimated to have been as follows: In consequence of this extraordinary movement, the population of Ireland CHAP. 1833. 54. Wise mea sures in general meet with legislature. This astonishing series of facts, the most momentous and instructive which the story of these times has presented, suggests one conclusion of general importance, of which many other illustrations will occur in the course of this History. Thus it is- paradoxical as it may apno support pear, it is nevertheless true that you may in general in a popular measure the justice, necessity, and expedience of any measure brought forward in a popular legislature by the obstinate and impassioned resistance which it meets with from its opponents, and the languid support which it receives from its friends; and on the other, that there is no surer test of the irrational nature or ultimate danger of any change proposed, than the amount of general support which it at first receives, and the feeble resistance which it has to encounter. The reason, though not apparent at first sight, is sufficiently obvious when stated, and a close observation of the progress of legislation in every free State will convince every impartial person of its truth. Measures of general utility may bless a nation, but they do not advance a party, and therefore no party supports them;"measures of party efficacy are generally nugatory to a nation, but then they promote the interests of a party, and therefore they meet with the most vigorous support from that party, and the most sturdy resistance from its opponents. Selfish views, has materially decreased. The census of 1841 shows that it then amounted to upwards of eight millions. It is at this moment, in all probability, less than six. From the figures which we have quoted, it is probable that the number of emigrants will continue to decline, but there is one circumstance that seems to render this somewhat doubtful. Although, during the last four years, the number of emigrants has materially fallen off, the amount of money transmitted by them to Ireland, so far as it can be ascertained, has largely increased. The sums so sent, during the interval in question, were as follows: -Morning Post, Sept. 15, 1855 (quoting the Report of the Emigration Commissioners). XXXI. 1833. in the long-run, govern both; and the general welfare is CHAP. too diluted an interest to act powerfully upon any section of the community. Their own immediate interests, or party elevation, alone can rouse them to vigorous or efficacious action. Goethe says, that whoever will peruse a file of newspapers only a month old, will see how misplaced has been the greater part of the ability exerted upon public affairs. How much more true is that of annals a quarter of a century old! Measures of real utility are not unknown in a free community; on the contrary, they are more frequently carried in them than under any other form of government. But they rarely originate either with the Administration or the Legislature, though measures of party interest often emanate from both. They are forced upon them, sometimes by the weight of arguments, urged by a few powerful minds at a distance from the arena of party conflicts: more frequently by general suffering, the severe but merciful monitress of nature.* * In a leading periodical at this time, there appeared, on January 1, 1833, six weeks before the Government measures were brought forward, an article on Ireland, containing the following observations: "The first measure which is indispensable to the revival of Irish prosperity is the adoption of the most vigorous measures to restore the administration of justice, and give to life and property somewhat of that protection which is now afforded to rapine and outrage. This is a matter of first-rate importance-so much so, indeed, that without it all attempts to tranquillise or improve the country will, as they have hitherto done, prove entirely nugatory. As long as the south of Ireland is illuminated by midnight conflagrations, or disgraced by assassinations at noonday; as long as families are roasted alive in their houses, and witnesses murdered for speaking the truth; as long as legal payments are resisted by organised multitudes, and the power of Government set at nought by Catholic authority, so long will Ireland remain in its present unhappy and distracted state, miserable itself, a source of misery to others, a dead weight about the neck of the empire. "2. The Government is now committed in a struggle with the Catholic priesthood as to the payment of tithes; the authority of the law must be vindicated, or the semblance of order which now exists in Ireland will be annihilated. Let what measures they choose follow for the commutation of tithes, the first thing to do is to vindicate the authority of the law against an insurgent people. For this purpose, authority should be obtained from the legislature to levy from those who can pay and won't pay, the full value of the tithe in kind with expenses, and to march the cattle distrained off to the nearest seaport, to be sold in Bristol or Liverpool. A few examples of the 2 B VOL. V. |