§ Mr. Wyse—I rise to present five Petitions from various parts of the county of Tipperary, praying for a Repeal of the Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland. The first from the inhabitants of the united parishes of Kilsheelan and Kilcash; the second from the inhabitants of the parishes of Fethard, and Killusty; the third from the inhabitants of the parish of Temple Michael; the fourth from the parishioners of Ballingarry; and the fifth from the inhabitants of the barony of Eliogarty. The parishioners all ground their several prayers on nearly the same persuasion, of the injuries which have been inflicted by this international treaty: but as I stated on a former night I should abstain from all discussion of the merits or demerits of the question, until it should be brought before the House in a practical and distinct form, I will adhere to this resolution, and not trespass on the time or attention of the House by any ex-parte discussion at the present moment. Public opinion should be given its fair operation, and I am quite certain, when the time comes, public opinion will decide as it ought. But I cannot forbear entreating the attention of the House to this marked circumstance—that there is not one of these petitions which does not set out, after professions of attachment to the Sovereign of this country, and an anxiety to preserve unbroken the connexion, by alleging as the principal ground of their complaint, the state of extreme destitution in which the country remains at present. One fourth of the population is out of employment, according to the reports and evidence before this House. Is it to be supposed that so large a mass of the population of any country so fluctuating between the boundaries of life and death, will quietly sit down and starve, with blessings in their mouths on your paternal Legislature, without some effort to do themselves justice, and to wrest from circumstances 1307 a chance of better fortunes for themselves and their families. The people of Ireland naturally allege, that there must be mistake, or incapacity, or neglect, somewhere. In one of the petitions, that of the barony of Eliogarty, they do not attribute these results to any indisposition in an English House to attend to Irish interests, but, in a rational spirit, suppose, that distance of place, inadequate knowledge, and shortness of time, prevent, as in their minds they must always prevent, any Legislature, embracing so very many vast objects as this, from attending minutely to their domestic grievances. In a more wholesome state of society this might not be felt, or, if felt, might more easily be endured; but in Ireland, so far behind hand in the race of civilization, a more than ordinary share of attention, a more than usual spirit of kindness, is necessary. It depends upon you to refute, not by loose attacks, or partial denial, or vague promises, these allegations, but by substantial and active justice and energetic measures of remedy; and until the people be employed—until the surplus population be put into activity by capital—until the resources of the country are drawn forth by some positive application of the power of Government—not these complaints only will you hear, but thousands like them, from every part of the country. So impressed am I with this conviction, that I had anxiously waited during the whole of this short Session, to see whether either Government, or some of the Representatives of Ireland, would take up this question, and had intended, as no other hon. Member had taken up the matter, to give a notice of motion, having for its view the employment of the working classes in Ireland; but I shall defer my notice to a later period of the evening, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be in his place; and I do this because I should prefer having the question taken up by his Majesty's Government, which can most effectually meet the wishes and the wants of the Irish people.
§ Five Petitions, from places in Kildare and Tipperary, read and laid on the Table.