selecting one or more of the topics mentioned in the speech, as the theme for his dissertation or decla

mation.

On a division, the amendment was rejected by a majority of 186

to 58.

Sir Francis Burdett's proposition having been thus rejected, Mr. Hume moved the following

amendment in the address:

"That, while we return his majesty our most grateful acknowledgments for the various reductions which have been made in the civil and military establishments during the last year, by which some diminution of expense may be effected, yet we should ill discharge the duty we owe to his majesty, if we did not direct his most serious attention to the present condition of his faithful people.

"To represent to his majesty that the distresses, proved to exist before a committee of this House, instituted for the especial purpose, in the last session of parliament, have considerably increased; and that the owners and occupiers of land throughout great part of the kingdom, and with them the tradesmen and artisans usually dependent on them for employment, are labouring under unexampled difficulties.

"To express most respectfully to his majesty our opinion, that an excessive taxation is a principal cause of those distresses, and humbly to intreat that he will be graciously pleased immediately to direct such reductions in every branch of our expenditure, from the highest to the lowest department, as shall enable us, forthwith, to relieve his majesty's faithful people from a large portion of

that burthen of taxation which in their present impoverished condition, presses so heavily upon all

classes."

The amendment of Mr. Hume as originally proposed, characterized our system of finance as ruinous, and asserted that our distresses did not arise from temporary causes; but these passages were omittted at the suggestion of sir John Newport.

In support of his amendment, Mr. Hume made an infinite variety of assertions, on an infinite variety of subjects, entrenching himself up to the teeth behind formidable masses of figures and calculations. All our establishments, foreign as well as domestic, came under his survey; and the old crambe recocta was again served up to the House. What he said might be good, or it might be bad; it might be true, or it might be false; but all his statements were matters of fact, not of principle, and depended on evidence, not on reasoning. The introduction of them on such an occasion, was therefore worse than ridiculous: it was absolutely pernicious; because it tended to disgust the House and the public with matters, well worthy, at seasonable times, of their most grave attention.

Lord Londonderry, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Robinson, and Mr. Huskisson, besides flatly contradicting some of Mr. Hume's statements, and exposing the fallacy of several of the opinions which he had promulgated, rested their opposition to the amendment on the ground, that neither parliamentary practice, nor common sense would permit them to determine thus abruptly, so large a question as that which had

been suddenly opened, and in the absence of all information, to decide on a case purporting to rest on calculations, which no man, on either side of the House, could on the spur of the moment comprehend. Mr. Ricardo opposed the amendment, because he could not agree with its doctrines, as to the causes of the existing agricultural distresses. Mr. Hume said, that they arose from excessive taxation; whereas it was evident that they arose from the low price of agricultural produce; and low prices could never be caused by taxation. It was supported by Mr. Tierney and Mr. Brougham.

The House having divided; there appeared,

For the amendment
Against it

89

. 171

Majority for ministers -82 In the debate, Mr. S. Wortley, and sir Edward Knatchbull, had spoken against the amendment, and on the division most of the country gentlemen voted against it. They professed themselves determined to enforce retrenchment; but they thought that ministers ought to be allowed time to bring forward their schemes, and that till then it was premature to condemn them. On this occasion, the opposition made their attack too early and too precipitately.

The state of Ireland was the first subject which the ministers brought before parliament. Their purpose at the present moment, was not to devise schemes for the general improvement of its condition, but to propound measures for immediately arresting the career of outrage and rebellion. With

this view they recommended the re-enactment of the Insurrection act, and the suspension in Ireland

By

of the Habeas Corpus act. the Insurrection act, any two justices might cause an extraordinary session of the peace to be holden for their county; and when the justices were assembled on such session, to the number of at least seven, in a county at large, or of three in a county of a city or town, the majority might signify to the lord lieutenant, that they considered the county or any part thereof, to be in a state of disturbance, or in danger of becoming so, together with the reason of such their opinion, and might pray him to declare, by proclamation, the county, or any part thereof, to be in a state of disturbance, or in immediate danger of becoming so. Thereupon, the lord lieutenant was empowered to issue such proclamation, in which the inhabitants of the proclaimed district were to be warned, from and after a day therein named, to remain within their houses, between sunset and sun-rise. After that day, any justice of the peace, or person authorised by his warrant, might, between one hour after sun-set and sun-rise, enter into any house in the proclaimed district; and such of the inhabitants or inmates, as should be then absent, were to be deemed idle and disorderly persons, unless they should prove that they were absent on proper and lawful business. In like manner, all persons who between the same hours, should be found out of their usual places of abode, were to be apprehended, and were to be committed as idle and disorderly, unless they could show that they were abroad on their lawful occasions. Under the description of idle and disorderly persons, were also comprehended all persons

tendering, administering, taking, or entering into any illegal oath or engagement; all persons printing, writing, circulating, or delivering any notice or message, tending to excite any riot, or produce any unlawful meeting, or threatening violence to any person, or making any demandof money,arms,ammunition, or other matters; all persons having in their power or possession any offensive weapons, after they had been called upon to deliver up the same; all persons found assembled after nine at night, and before six in the morning, in any house where malt or spirituous liquors were sold, not being inmates thereof, or travellers; all persons unlawfully assembling in the day-time; and all persons, who should bawk or disperse in the proclaimed district, any seditious paper or pamphlet, unless they discovered from whom they received the same, or by whom they were employed.

For the trial of these descriptions of idle and disorderly persons, a court of special sessions of the peace was to be held within seven days from the date of the proclamation, and was to be prolonged by adjournments from time to time, so long as the district should continue proclaimed. The assist ant barrister of the county was to be always present at such sessions; and the lord lieutenant might name one of the king's serjeants, or king's counsel, to preside. This court, so constituted, was empowered, without any grand jury, or bill found, to try any persons accused of being idle and disorderly, in the sense above explained, and to acquit, or convict, and pass judgment upon them. Hawking or dispersing seditious papers was to be punished with imprisonment,

for not more than twelve months : all the other offences specified in the act incurred the penalty of transportation for seven years.

There were only two limitations upon the power of the courts of special sessions, and both depended on the will of some of their own members. The first was, that they were empowered, when they thought fit, to try any person or fact by a petty jury. The second was, that if the presiding counsel did not agree with the majority of the justices, the execution of the sentence was to be suspended, till the pleasure of the lord lieutenant was known.

The other legislative measure, that for suspending the Habeas Corpus act, provided, that any person, who should be in prison in Ireland for high treason, suspicion of high treason, or treasonable practices, by warrant of the lord lieutenant, or of his chief secretary, or of six of the Irish privy council, might be detained in custody, without bail or mainprize, until the first of August following. That was the date to which the operation of the Insurrection act was likewise to be confined.

Lord Londonderry, in moving for leave to bring in these bills, stated, as his reasons, the alarming height to which the disturbances had risen; the opinion of the Irish government, and of him who was at the head of it, that the safety of the country required that they should be armed with extraordinary powers; and the inefficiency of the application of a larger military force alone to preserve the peace. The ministers had been willing to try what could be done by a strenuous enforcement of the laws, aided by a numerous body of

troops. These means had, some months, before succeeded in restor ing to tranquillity the county of Galway, which had exhibited dan gerous symptoms of insubordination. In like manner, troops had been marched into the county of Limerick, and a special commis sion had been sent thither, but these remedies had there proved unavailing; and some other means of prevention, than the existing laws, backed by military force, could afford, were clearly necessary.

Mr. C. Grant, Mr. Dawson, and sir H. Parnell, concurred in lord Londonderry's views. Captain O'Grady, who was locally acquainted with the disturbed districts, and, till the meeting of par liament, had been resident there, and actively employed in preserving the peace, stated some circumstances which showed strongly the inadequacy of the existing laws to meet the threatening evils. The disturbances, he said, though they had no reference to politics or religion generally, but were chiefly connected with local circumstances, were spreading so rapidly, that if not met with vigour, incalculable mischief would ensue. It was a mistake to suppose, that the peasantry of Ireland were not acquainted with the power of the laws, and of the magistracy; they knew that power well, but, under existing circumstances, they had the means of eluding it. When magistrates took out the military to enforce obedience to the laws, it was seldom that they could meet with the violators of them.

The disorderly were in the habit of assembling and carrying on their depredations in small parties, and in various places at the same time: like banditti, they went out in

darkness, and selected for their exploits, the spots which they supposed least defended; so that it was almost impossible for the magistrates and the soldiery to catch them. Even if a magistrate had the good fortune to fall in with them, and take them in arms, he might confine them for a time, but he could do nothing more; he could not rid the country of them; they might come out again in six months, to seek vengeance upon those who had rendered themselves obnoxious by attempting to put them down. The first meeting of the magistrates of the county of Limerick relative to those di turbances was not public; it was held without public advertisement, but the reason was, that the country gentlemen were afraid, by public advertisement, to acquaint the disturbers of the peace, that they would, on a certain day and hour, abandon their houses to the mercy of the populace. The inadequacy of the ordinary laws had been rendered more apparent by the strenuousness of the efforts to enforce them. The special commission had produced no effect in striking terror into the perpetrators of outrage. On the very night, on which the judges arrived in Limerick, a soldier, who had straggled from his party, knocked down and deprived of his arms. A panic had seized the witnesses for the crown. Even those who were to act as jurymen were intimidated; and excuses were sent by them for their non-attendance, stating that they were afraid to leave their homes and families, lest all which they held most dear should be sacrificed in their absence. The consequence was, that if the gentlemen, who were usually sworn as grand ju

rors, and had never before acted as a petty jury, had not come forward and served in the latter capacity, it would have been impossible to have found petty juries to put the commission in force. It was then, that the magistrates, seeing the inefficacy of the existing laws, assembled in the jury-room, to petition for the revival of the Insurrection act in its full powers. This became the more imperative, because information to convict offenders was not to be procured. Every gentleman might get a certain degree of information, but it was impossible to obtain sworn informations. He had himself made great exertions to get informations on oath, but could not succeed; the deponent would state his belief, but would not swear or sign papers which would make him a witness. It was certain, that the peasantry had now established such a system of terror in the south of Ireland, that gentlemen could not go to bed, but with an expectation of being disturbed with the report of musketry before morning. Under the existing laws, even if a magistrate coming to the house of a peasant by night, found that he was from home, and if, waiting until his return, he saw on him evident marks of a night's fatigue, yet he had no power to take him into custody. If he asked the man what he had been about, he might answer as an English peasant would" what is that to you?" Where then, were there any means to prevent those men from going out by night, and from marauding, murdering, and pillaging as they pleased? The gentry of the disturbed part of Ireland were the best judges of the necessity of the proposed measures. They had, in the first instance, prayed for a mo

dified insurrection act; and it was only the increased urgency of events, that had caused them to pray for an insurrection act without modification.

The opposition to the proposed measures was very warm. Sir John Newport, sir C. Hutchinson, Mr. Spring Rice, sir F. Burdett, and Mr. Brougham, spoke vehemently against them. The line of argument, which they pursued, was, that a greater military force, well directed and applied, would be sufficient to restore tranquillity, without any alteration of the laws; and this they asserted and re-asserted in various forms, without attempting any reply to the facts which had been stated on the other side.

They further contended, that it would be better to intrust lord Wellesley with absolute authority for a time, than to pass the Insurrection act, and suspend the operation of the writ of Habeas Corpus. The whole effect, however, of these two measures was, to give, for a time, to the lord lieutenant, a certain quantity of extraordinary discretionary power, to be exercised in a prescribed mode and within definite limits; and how this limited portion of extraordinary powers should be more objectionable, than absolute power totally unfettered and uncircumscribed, is not easily understood. The authority conferred on the government by the Insurrection act, was indeed to be exercised through the local magistracy; and the magistrates of Ireland, it was said, formed a class, the composition of which, was exceedingly faulty. But what other instruments could the government employ? Whatever powers might be intrusted to lord Wellesley, he could not exert them personally;