John Newport's, it was rejected by a majority of 72 to 65.

The same subject was often touched upon in the many discussions on the state of Ireland, which occurred during the session, and especially on a motion made by lord Lansdown on the 14th of June, for the institution of a parliamentary inquiry, with a view to improve the condition and ensure the tranquillity of the Irish people. His lordship insisted upon the tithe-system as one of the principal curses under which that part of the empire laboured: but he fell into the common mistake of supposing, that the evil lay, not in the essence of the system, but in contingencies connected with it. He blamed the mode in which the amount of the tithe was estimated. It was the custom, he said, in the beginning of the year, to send out two tithe-valuers. Sometimes the value was stated to the farmer then, and sometimes not till the crop was ripe; and then the clergy had it in their power either to demand the price at which the grain was first brought to market, if that price was sufficiently high, or to wait till the price rose, if it improved at a subsequent part of the year, provided the farmer did not take the precaution of calling the clergyman to take his tithe upon the ground. In this latter case, he was met by the peculiarly dangerous and oppressive law, that if three farmers in the same parish appointed the same day for the clergyman to levy his tithe on the ground, they might be indicted for a conspiracy. As a specimen of the quantity of dissension and litigation occasioned by the collection of the revenues of the church, he mentioned, that in the course of the last six years, there had been,

in the ecclesiastical courts, 2,178 tithe suits. The list was incomplete for the civil courts, because a distinction was not drawn in all the counties between tithe cases and other cases; but, during the same period, there had taken place in only six counties of the south, 7,149 trials concerning tithes. In the county of Kilkenny alone, 2,195 tithe causes had been tried. To these were to be added cases where the sum in question did not exceed 5l., and which were decided by the magistrates. One magistrate mentioned that 100 cases came before him in a week, in which the sums were from 4d. to 5s., and the expense incurred on each process was, at an average, 3s.

In such a state of things, a commutation of tithes, his lordship conceived, was absolutely necessary. But he guarded his approbation of such a measure by three restrictions. First, he would not recommend a commutation of tithes for the church, which, as a lay impropriator, he would not himself accept. Secondly, he would not do any thing which would not leave the church in the same state with regard to wealth as before. Thirdly, he would adopt no plan by which the church would be rendered more dependant on the state. Having thus guarded himself from any suspicion of intending injury to the interests of the church, he would suggest whether means might not be devised similar to those employed in Scotland, for fixing, by a jury, the price of grain, not for one year, but for five or six years; and thus levying the tithe upon the landlord, and not upon the tenant. He also thought it would be an improvement, if the money, which was the price of the tithe, and not the

corn, was given to the clergy by the proprietor instead of the occupier of land. The clergy would then come in contact, not with the Catholic population, but with the Protestant landlords, who might be enabled, by raising money equivalent to the value of the tithe, to buy land and settle it on the church, thereby relieving themselves from all future burthens.

- These notions were much more moderate and practicable, than the doctrines which Mr. Hume had broached in the House of Commons. They met, however, with the decided opposition of lord Liverpool and the lord chancellor; who contended that parliament had no more right to interfere with tithes than with the rents of landlords, and that the utmost which could be done was, to give the parties interested all facilities for making amicable arrangements among themselves. The proprietor, said the prime minister, who had acquired or inherited an estate, had acquired or inherited nine parts of it only, and the tenth part was the property of the church, or of the lay impropriator, as firmly as the nine other parts were the property of the purchaser, the heir, or the devisee. It stood on the same principle as every other species of property, and no man had any right to touch it. The clergy of Ireland were a most valuable set of men to Ireland, not merely as clergymen, but as resident proprietors. The greater proportion of them were resident in their parishes, and spent their incomes amongst their flocks. They did not, on the whole, receive half their dues; and it was notorious, that, where the proprietor of the land paid the tithes, the peasant or farmer to whom the land was

let, paid more in addition to his rent than would have been demanded, if he himself paid the tithe. Those who recommended a commutation professed to have the interest of Ireland at heart. And what did they mean to do? They wished to adopt a system that would still farther impoverish and oppress that country, which would make the people pay double what they paid at present; and, instead of having a body of resident clergy, would give them a body of nonresident landlords.

It is rather remarkable, that if there was any weight in this last argument, it was equally applicable to every plan, by which the clergyman was to receive his dues from the owner and not from the occupier of the soil, and consequently was applicable to the act authorising leases of tithes, which lord Liverpool in the sequel of his speech lauded to the skies. His lordship's course of reasoning was, that when the tithe was paid by the owner, the peasant had ultimately to pay in the shape of addition to his rent, more than would have been demanded of him by the clergyman; and this was urged as an argument against commutation: yet the course of policy, which ministers professed to follow, had avowedly for its object to make the tithes be paid by the proprietor rather than by the occupant, which, according to the doctrines of the prime minister, was a sure means of aggravating the burthen to the latter.

On lord Lansdown's motion, as well as on a previous motion for a similar purpose made by sir John Newport, in the House of Commons, the whole course of our policy towards Ireland was brought under discussion; all the common

place principles and facts, connected with that subject, were, as usual, marshalled in full array, and made to perform the ordinary rhetorical evolutions. Sir John Davis was quoted: the Irish character was eulogized-the English course of administration was execrated, the absentees received their usual share of abuse; but what was said contained nothing (excepting indeed some allusions to his majesty's visit to Dublin, and occasional compliments to lord Wellesley) which had not been often said before, and led to no result.

The uncommonly large share of time and attention, which Irish affairs occupied in this session of parliament, was probably beneficial to that part of the empire: because it tended to put all the persons on the alert, who were connected with its general or local administration. No other benefit of any importance was gained. Nothing was done, that was likely to operate directly to the general and permanent improvement of the country; for though the Insurrection act, and the Constabulary act were, on the whole, advisable measures, yet they were to be regarded as bitter remedies, not as invigorating and nutritious aliment. The infringement of the rights of individual freedom-stipendiary magistrates a numerous, highly-paid, armed police, are not blessings; they are evils, which it is sometimes necessary to endure, that we may avoid or escape from greater calamities.

In spite of these precautions, disturbances similar to those of the preceding winter began to appear with the declining year. Towards the end of December, notices were again posted, signed by general

Rock, forbidding the payment of tithes or taxes. The legal remedy of levying distress for rent, was rendered ineffectual by the practice of destroying or carrying off in the night, the farming stock which been seized on behalf of the landlord during the day. The crimes of arson, burglary, and assassination were of frequent occurrence, especially in the counties of Limerick and Cork;* and appre

The following resolutions, entered into by the magistrates assembled at the Mallow Special Sessions, show the state of that part of Ireland towards the end of September.

"We the undersigned magistrates assembled at the Special Sessions at Mallow, on the 28th of September instant, under the Insurrection Act, have observed with extreme regret and disappointment, that the spirit of disturbance, which we hoped had been extinguished, still continues to exist amongst the peasantry, and to manifest itself in acts of outrage and mischief in various parts of this county.

"That scarcely a night passes in which some malicious destruction of property by fire does not take place.

That the property so destroyed is, in general, corn or hay, set apart for tithe, or belonging to persons who have made an agreement with the tithe proctor.

"That the wickedness of these acts can be equalled only by their folly, because the law will give compensation to the individuals against whom the attack is directed, and the loss will fall upon the parish or barony to which the incendiaries, for their own sakes, can intend no injury.

"That we pledge ourselves to inquire minutely into the particulars of each occurrence of this kind which has happened, or which may happen, in our respective neighbourhood, and to give every assistance in our power to those persons who may have to seek compensation for such losses, provided their conduct upon the occasion shall appear to have been fair and manly; but those persons whose behaviour has been such as to give encourage

hensions began to be entertained, that the close of the year would witness the repetition of outrages not less numerous and atrocious than those which had disgraced its commencement. These apprehensions fortunately were not realized. Many instances of ferocity and violence occurred from time to time; but the exertions of the magistrates and the military kept the spirit of disturbance within narrow limits.

Some alarm was at one time excited by the apprehension of several persons at Armagh, on a charge of high treason; but they were subsequently liberated without the institution of any proceedings against them.

Upon the death of his late majesty, the lord chancellor of Ireland, in consequence of repeated conferences with the government, entered on a revision of the magistracy, with the view of taking advantage of the accession of Geo. IV. to quash the existing commission and issue a new one. Since that time, the chancellor had been diligently employed in procuring from all quarters the names of persons proper for the magistracy. The completion of the list was a matter of no small difficulty, and required much time and caution.

ment to this system of outrage, rather than to suppress it, and those in particular who have put their tithe out of their haggards after being once brought in, can expect no aid or sympathy from us.

"That we pledge ourselves to give liberal rewards for information which may lead to the detection of persons guilty of such outrages, and to observe the strictest secrecy, if required.

"If any persons entertain an expectation that they will be able to effect their relief from the payment of tithe by these or any other acts of

Before the end of the year, however, it was brought to a conclusion, and the new commissions were issued. The change, which thus took place in the magistracy, was great. In seven counties alone, no fewer than two hundred noblemen and gentlemen had writs of supersedeas directed to them. Lord Wellesley had the merit of this revision attributed to him; but in truth it had been nearly completed, before he entered into office.

His lordship prosecuted the career of what is called conciliation, with which his government had begun; and continued to discourage to the utmost of his power the anti-catholic party. This policy was by no means acceptable to the city of Dublin, which had always been a zealous partisan for Protestant ascendancy. There is in the College-green of the Irish metropolis, an equestrian statue of William III, which it had been the constant custom to deck out in silken trappings every 4th of November. This ceremony had always been displeasing to the Roman Catholics; and in the present year, lord Wellesley, to humour their feelings, forbade the decoration of the statue. The lord mayor co-operated with him

violence, they are grossly mistaken; on the contrary, the commission of such outrages may justly be urged as one of the strongest reasons for refusing to take the subject even into consideration at present; and we should hope it is only necessary to point out these circumstances to the respectable farmers of the county, to ensure their support and co-operation in putting an end to this abominable system." (Signed by lords Doneraile and

Ennismore, and eleven other highly respectable magistrates.)

zealously, and caused the statue to be guarded by the police, till the ominous day was over. The genius of Protestantism could not tamely crouch under such an insult; and a meeting of the corporation was immediately held, in which a vote of severe censure was passed upon the lord mayor, accompanied by very plain allusions to the lord lieutenant himself. In point of prudence, the corporation and the lord lieutenant seem to have been nearly on a level; with this difference, that the citizens may be excused for taking an interest in an old custom, and in a statue which decorates their metropolis; but that it is scarcely pardonable in a chief governor to intermeddle with such trifles. His interference could lead only to exasperation; and this was, in fact, the sole consequence which resulted from it. In the heat of their wrath, the guild of merchants met, and sagely voted a petition to parliament for the repeal of the Union.

His lordship had shortly after wards a very decisive proof of the animosity, which his line of conduct had excited. On the evening of the 14th of December, he attended the theatre; and his visit was hailed with every expression of dislike. There could be no doubt, that the tumult was preconcerted; for a number of offensive placards were dispersed through the house at the very commencement of the performance, and the entrance of the lord lieutenant was the signal for an immediate burst of hisses. As the play proceeded, the disturbance became more outrageous, until at length a bottle, and a fragment of a watchman's rattle, were flung from one of the galleries, in the direction of the vice-regal box. The peace

officers then interfered, and the most active rioters (including those who threw the missiles) were taken into custody. The whole number of persons engaged in the tumult did not exceed 40. The municipal police were accused of having shown on this occasion a most disgraceful apathy; and eight of them were subsequently dismissed from their offices.

Investigations into the transaction were immediately instituted by the attorney-general, and conducted in a manner which showed more zeal than prudence. Some of those who were apprehended, were very properly committed for making a riot; but others of them were (it seems to us, not a little ridiculously) committed on the charge of having conspired to murder the lord lieutenant. Had such an intention existed, surely other implements of destruction, than an empty bottle or a broken rattle, would have been employed.

Thus, the only effect of that system of conciliation, from which so much had been hoped, was to raise party spirit to a more than ordinary height. Lord Wellesley's policy, however excellent in its purposes, seems to have been false in its principles, and to have been at variance with the circumstances of his actual situation. He endeavoured to direct the influence of the executive against those who had the influence of the legislature on their side; and it was, therefore, not to be wondered at, if this conflict of wind and tide produced much civil commotion. It might have been well, if those, to whom the law gave all political power, had borne their pre-eminence meekly; but if they were inclined to exult over their opponents, they were not likely to be prevented