Sitting of 8 May 1882

MINUTES.
PUBLIC BILLS—Ordered—First Reading—Local Government Provisional Orders (No. 3) * [152].
First Reading—Consolidated Fund (No. 3) *.
Second Reading—Pier and Harbour Provisional Orders* [142].
Third Reading—Local Government (Highways) Provisional Order * [129], and passed.

MOTIONS.
  STATE OF IRELAND—THE ASSASSINATION OF LORD FREDERICK CAVENDISH AND MR. BURKE.

    MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT.
    MR. GLADSTONE: Sir, I rise for a purpose which I think the House will anticipate; it is to move the immediate adjournment of the House. It is a course, I believe, Sir, that will be found in conformity with what has been done on previous occasions when sad events have come home to the mind of Parliament and the public. I believe, Sir, that this event, made known on Saturday night and yesterday morning, is unparalleled in our history—and unparalleled for the blackness of the crime which has been committed—unparalleled, as I fully believe, for the horror it has excited in the entire people of the United Kingdom. Having said that, I shall make this Motion, I will say—and I promise the House to be as brief as I can, since I must, in a very few words, advert to

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    the character of the event—that in the death of Mr. Burke we are robbed of one of the ablest, the most upright, the most experienced, the most eminent members of that Civil Service to which, in the hands of its permanent officers, we owe so much in the government of the country. But, Sir, the hand of the assassin has come nearer home; and though I feel it difficult to say a word, yet I must say that one of the very noblest hearts in England has ceased to beat, and has ceased at the very moment when it was just devoted to the service of Ireland, full of love for that country, full of hope for her future, full of capacity to render her service. Sir, under these circumstances, on which I will not dwell, so far as the Government is concerned, all previous arrangements and intentions must be reconsidered, and, to a certain extent, recast. I do not think that this is the occasion to touch upon Business, for, in truth, the very aim of such an adjournment is to testify the feeling of the House that it is not in a state at the moment to grapple with the serious cares of Parliamentary Business. I will, therefore, limit myself, Sir, to giving Notice that we shall think it our duty to ask the attention of the House at once to what is felt to be most deeply pressing, and what I believe, in the present state of the sentiments of the House, will be found to be perfectly practicable. We intend to ask the House on Thursday next to permit us to introduce a measure relating to the repression of crime in Ireland, and we have the fullest confidence that if that measure really corresponds in its spirit to what it ought to be, we shall be duly supported and assisted in its various stages by the sentiments of all quarters of the House. That, Sir, will be on Thursday next. Next to that, and I hope upon an early day, we shall introduce a measure with respect to the question of arrears in Ireland; but it will be felt that I cannot name a day for that purpose, inasmuch as it must necessarily depend upon the progress we may make in the stages of the earlier measure. It will not be delayed one day beyond what necessity requires, and I earnestly hope that the postponement will be very short. I think I ought to add nothing to the words I have said. I thank the House for having assisted in the performance of the most painful task that ever devolved upon me when stand-
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    ing at this Table. I move that the House do now adjourn.
    SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTE: Sir, I rise to second the Motion which has been made by the Prime Minister, and I feel sure that I need say no words to recommend that Motion to the House. It is, indeed, in accordance with former precedents, when this House has suddenly been deprived of one of its Members, that adjournments are occasionally moved. On this occasion we have to deal with a case very different; indeed, far beyond any of those to which I have made allusion. It is impossible for any man in this country, and I would venture to say throughout the civilized world, to refrain from sharing in the feelings of horror with which we have been thrilled by the news of this event; and certainly for us who sit in this House, and have had for many years the privilege of knowing and valuing and esteeming the late noble Lord, it is a sad and melancholy duty to pay our respect to his memory. Sir, I do not know that I can add—it would be in bad taste if I were to attempt to add—anything to what has been said by the Prime Minister as to the value of the lives which have been lost. As to Mr. Burke, we who have known him intimately in official life are able to speak of his high conscientiousness and of his great ability and industry in the discharge of the duties of his office; and I am sure that everyone must feel that in him the Irish Administration, and the Administration of the country, have lost a servant of the highest value. With regard to the noble Lord who has been taken from us, none of us who have been brought into near relation with him but must have appreciated his high qualities, his great amiability, and the remarkable promise—the more than promise—which he gave of usefulness to his country. Sir, I trust that the House will assent to the Motion which has been made, not feeling or showing in the slightest degree that this blow which has been dealt has caused the least difficulty or embarrassment to the Government of the country, feeling sure that the Government have, even under this heavy blow, at once taken upon them, as they were bound to do, the preparation of the proper remedies, and assuring the Government, as I do now, of the hearty co-operation of those who sit on

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    this side, and I believe I may say of the whole House, in such measures as may be necessary for the restoration and preservation of peace in this country. I beg, Sir, to second the Motion for the adjournment of the House.
    Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House do now adjourn."—(Mr. Gladstone.)
    MR. PARNELL: Sir, I wish to express on the part of my hon. Friends and on my own part, and, I believe, on the part of every Irishman in whatever part of the world he may live, my most unqualified detestation of the horrible crime which has been committed in Ireland. I cannot advert to the steps which the Government propose to take. I do not deny that it may be impossible for the Government to resist the situation, and that they feel themselves compelled to take some step or other in the direction indicated by the Prime Minister; but I wish to state my conviction that this crime has been committed by men who absolutely detest the cause with which I have been associated, and who have devised that crime and carried it out as the deadliest blow which they had in their power to deal against our hopes in connection with the new course on which the Government had just entered.
    MR. W. E. FORSTER: I am sure, Sir, the House will believe me when I say that it is with no intention of making any remarks upon the cause of this crime, or any description of the lessons which should be drawn from it, that I rise to say a word or two on this sad occasion. I rise simply because I think that some personal tribute is especially due from me. I knew and respected Lord Frederick Cavendish. I knew his worth, his spotless integrity, his remarkable industry, his great courage, and his unselfishness. I was more aware than many Members of the House of those qualities, because I have been brought more in contact with him; but I was also more aware of his possession, to an extraordinary extent, of a sound judgment; and when I heard of his appointment as Chief Secretary, I thought it was the best appointment that could be made, considering, not only his patriotism, his unswerving impartiality, his integrity, his administrative power, but especially this faculty of judgment. There are
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    other Members who knew him as well—there are, perhaps, some who knew him better. But there is no Member, I believe—certainly, no Member present at this moment—who knew Mr. Burke so well as I did, and I feel it to be my duty to say a word or two about him. I had the most intimate relations with him, under difficult circumstances, for two years. It was a very short time before I found out what manner of man he was, and I can truly say I believe the Queen and the country never had a more faithful, a more upright, a more truly honourable and unselfish servant. His industry—his devotion to his duty—was something more than we are accustomed to. During the last two years he never had a fortnight's holiday. Day after day, from morning to night, he plodded on with work which was most distasteful uncomplainingly, quietly, with a silent, dignified reticence that belonged to him, without much acknowledgment, without much praise—he never expected it. But we all thought he was safe from such a visitation. To give the House an idea of what that man was, his silent, dignified endurance and power of doing his duty without any looking for reward, I will mention one fact. Some months ago, I saw many men in the Civil Service decorated, and I thought Mr. Burke was one who should have an honour conferred upon him. I wrote and told him I thought I ought to press it. I wish I had here the words of his answer. He said he was satisfied with the respect of those who worked under him and with the confidence of those above him, and he entirely forbade my asking for it. I must say one other word. I think I never met with a man so completely without prejudice—so completely and absolutely fair, and so determined to do justice to all classes, and that in a country where it is sometimes difficult. I must say—and I should like them to know it—that the tenant farmer, and the poor tenant farmer, never lost a truer or more faithful friend than in that Galway landlord, who treated his own tenants well, and stood up for the Irish tenantry in the place where they sometimes thought their interests were forgotten. Over and over again he has pointed out to me the other side of the question—the question from the tenants' point of view—and if there was a case of hardship on the part of the landlord

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    towards the tenant, Mr. Burke, of all the men I met in Ireland, was the most ready to denounce it. I am sure the House will forgive my saying this, because I knew him so well. I think all will feel with me that it is a tribute, not only due to him, but due to his mourning family, who were united with him in the bonds of deepest affection—and, although I hardly venture to mention her name, due to his sorrowing sister, whose relaxation in her life of care for the good of others was to be cheered by making his hard lot more pleasant. I think it will he some satisfaction to her to know that the House of Commons feels, as I am sure it does, what a heavy loss has been sustained by her brother's death.
    MR. J. LOWTHER: Sir, the House will readily imagine that it is with great reluctance that I intrude upon them on such a sad occasion. It is not my intention to make any reference to the sad loss which this House has sustained. Members of older and higher standing than I can lay claim to have more properly discharged that painful duty. But, Sir, the right hon. Gentleman who has just sat down has referred to the heavy loss which has been sustained in the public service by the sudden death of Mr. Burke. It was my privilege to be associated for about the same period as the right hon. Gentleman officially with Mr. Burke. In politics and in religion, he held views differing widely from my own. I think it only due to his memory to state that I firmly believe that he never for one moment allowed his political convictions or his religious opinions to prevent him from rendering as conscientious assistance to one who, like myself, differed on those points with him, as he did to the right hon. Gentleman, or to others with whom he might politically feel in harmony. I have referred to those differences of politics and religion, for I did not wish it to be thought that those differences ever for one moment obtruded themselves into the personal relations of Mr. Burke with those with whom he was officially connected. A more genial friend, as well as a more loyal colleague, neither I nor any other Member of this House ever possessed; and I should not feel myself justified, on an occasion like the present, if I did not bear my humble testimony to the very great worth of that most conscientious public servant, and the irre-
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    parable loss which Her Majesty has sustained in his untimely death.
    Motion agreed to.

    LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROVISIONAL ORDERS (NO. 3) BILL.
    On Motion of Mr. HIBBERT, Bill to confirm certain Provisional Orders of the Local Government Board relating to the Borough of Birmingham (two), the Local Government Districts of Gainsborough, Smethwick, and South Blyth, the Borough of Stafford, the Staines Joint Hospital District, the Improvement Act District of Surbiton, the Uxbridge Joint Hospital District, the Local Government District of Watford, and the Borough of Wigan, ordered to be brought in by Mr. HIBBERT and Mr. DODSON.
    Bill presented, and read the first time. [Bill 152.]
    House adjourned at a quarter before Five o'clock till To-morrow.

STATE OF IRELAND—THE ASSASSINATION OF LORD FREDERICK CAVENDISH AND MR. BURKE.

  MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT.
  EARL GRANVILLE: My Lords, I rise to move the adjournment of this House until to-morrow. I have not a doubt that after the ghastly and appalling tragedy of Saturday I am in sympathy with all your Lordships' feelings, which I believe represent the feelings of the whole Empire. I have not any personal knowledge of the work of the Under Secretary; but I believe there are noble Lords on both sides of this House who are well aware of how distinguished a type he was of the permanent civil servant of this country placed in a position of great difficulty. My Lords, I have known intimately for many years Lord Frederick Cavendish, and I have never known a higher or a finer nature. He was absolutely without personal vanity, without any love of display; but his great ability, his knowledge, and his industry only required a difficult position in order to show the metal of which he was made. He was reluctant to leave the Office which he filled so well; but, like a soldier, he obeyed without one moment's hesitation the call of duty to a place of enor-
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  mous difficulty. He has suffered a miserable death, but one glorious to himself, dying, as he did, in the service of his country. That death has left a noble woman desolate, and may we all join in her most courageous prayer at this moment that God may influence the results of this fearful crime in a manner contrary to the hopes and expectations of its perpetrators, and that it may result in the eventual good of Ireland. I have nothing more to say, my Lords. It would be perfectly incongruous in me to touch on any political subject. You will, however, perhaps allow me to state one matter of fact. Your Lordships are well aware that some days ago I announced the intention of Her Majesty's Government to propose to Parliament three measures—one with regard to strengthening the administration of justice and the security of private rights in Ireland, one affecting arrears, and another affecting what are called the Bright Clauses. Her Majesty's Government adhere to that intention. After very careful consideration by a Committee of the Cabinet, and by the Cabinet itself, a Bill for the first of these objects was drafted before the end of last week. It still requires some little consideration as to some of its details; but it is hoped that the Government will be able to ask the House of Commons next Thursday to give a first reading to that Bill.
  Moved, "That this House do now adjourn."—(The Earl Granville.)
  THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY: My Lords, I have only to tender to the noble Earl, on the part of my noble Friends who sit behind me, our hearty concurrence in the course which he has proposed, and the expression of our deep grief and sympathy with those who have suffered, and our indignation at the horrible crime which has been perpetrated. I agree with the noble Earl that this is not the occasion for any political observations. I have no doubt that the course he has taken to-night is only the prelude to stern and vigorous action; but now, at this moment, what we have to do is to mark by this tribute of respect our reverence for the memory and our grief for the fate of one who, if ever any statesman did, deserved the expression of those sentiments at the hands of those who worked with him in Parliamentary life. He belonged to a family

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  greatly esteemed and respected in this country; and he himself, by his blameless qualities, by his endearing personal characteristics, had won the love and honour of all who knew him. His loss will be deeply mourned. What else may come of it, what else we should do, another day and another opportunity will disclose. At the present moment we merely concur with the noble Earl in this step as a fitting tribute to the memory and qualities of those whom we have lost, and as a fitting expression of our deep sense of the terrible import and character of this event, and as a mode of offering our respectful sympathy with those who have been so deeply tried and afflicted.
  EARL COWPER: My Lords, I do not wish to delay the House, but I can hardly refrain from saying just one word on this painful subject. A worthy tribute has been paid to the loss which has been sustained in the death of Lord Frederick Cavendish. He was a man well known in both Houses of Parliament, and I concur in all that has been said respecting him. But I wish to say one word in regard to Mr. Burke, with whom I have been in constant daily intercourse for the last two years. I feel that in him the country has sustained an irreparable loss. This moment is not the time when we can afford in Ireland to lose such a man. He had that full integrity of character, that honourable uprightness of mind, which, I am happy to say, are not rare among our permanent officials. He had also other qualities which neither among permanent officials nor in any other class are so common. He had extraordinary quickness of decision and soundness of judgment, and also a depth of sympathy with all classes, joined to a fixed feeling in his own mind of the necessity of preserving authority. He had these and many other qualities which, as I have said, will cause his loss to be irreparable, and which made him a most valuable counsellor in times like the present.
  THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH: My Lords, I should not be doing justice to my own feeling on the present occasion if I were not to trouble your Lordships with a few words in corroboration of those sentiments which have been so ably and eloquently expressed by the noble Earl who has just left Ireland. My Lords, I allude to that most indus-
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  trious and valuable public servant, whose loss, I may say, is almost irreparable in that country—Mr. Thomas Burke. My Lords, during the three years when I was in Ireland I had the advantage of being in constant and daily intercourse with him. I had not only the advantage, but the privilege, of learning a great part of my official duties from the vast store of his experience. I can fully endorse what has fallen from the noble Earl (Earl Cowper). I know no public servant who more brightly and honourably reflected those great qualities which are so valuable in the permanent official servants of this country. My Lords, I know no one whose depth of knowledge, whose experience, were equal to Mr. Burke's; and if he had not been in the official capacity which he occupied, I have not a doubt that Mr. Burke would have risen to one of the highest posts of eminence from his administrative ability. Ireland has suffered a great loss by the death of that gentleman. I had the honour of, and shall have the pleasure of reflecting upon, his friendship. There was one peculiar characteristic connected with Mr. Burke, and that was this—that during the period of three years of my official connection with an Administration which was politically opposed to Mr. Burke's own principles, I can say that I never could have found anyone of a more faithful, devoted, and more self-forgetting loyalty to those who were his official superiors. In no one instance could I find the slightest movement away from those duties which properly belonged to him in his official capacity. My Lords, there was one very trying period during which I had the advantage of Mr. Burke's assistance, and that was during the semi-famine winter of 1879–80. It is due to Mr. Burke to say that he foresaw the calamities that were threatening Ireland, and that his experience and knowledge of the country, and of what had taken place on former occasions in that country, enabled him to foresee the probability that there would be a scarcity of provisions during the winter. He advised me, and through him I was enabled to take those necessary steps of forewarning the Government of what was likely to occur during the winter. Those vaticinations were amply verified, and the precautions which Mr. Burke induced me to take on that occasion, and

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  which were so ably seconded and carried out by the Government of Lord Beaconsfield, were the means of preventing a vast amount of want and distress in that country. My Lords, not only must I allude to this, but I feel a debt of gratitude is due which I should not fitly discharge if I did not at this moment refer to one other circumstance. There are those to whom Mr. Burke's loss will be irreparable; there are those who are now sorrowing and mourning over this dreadful event. There was a near relative of Mr. Burke's—his sister—who during that trying time rendered him the most efficient service in alleviating the distress which existed, and, by her able co-operation, assisted that fund which my wife was enabled to set going, and which, I believe, was the means of saving a vast amount of human life during that trying period. Mr. Burke has passed away, and I quite agree with the feeling and wish of your Lordships that these few utterances should be merely a tribute of respect for one who is so justly mourned. I will not digress from that now. I trust that Mr. Burke's memory will long remain in Ireland, beloved, as it will be, by all who knew him. Your Lordships must remember that not only his loss, but the death of many others, perhaps less notable, more humble, but still no less important to those around them, has cast upon the Government an enormous responsibility.
  LORD CARLINGFORD: My Lords, I hope you will forgive me if I add one or two words of tribute to the memory of that one of these two martyrs to public duty who is less known to the greater number of your Lordships—I mean the memory of Mr. Burke. It so happens that in former years he and I were closely connected by ties of both official and private friendship. At one time he was my Private Secretary, and it was largely through my means and recommendation that he was appointed to the Office which he has so long, so honourably, and so admirably filled. I need not say how entirely I agree with every word which has been said about him on both sides of the House. It is to me a matter of pleasure, in this moment of calamity, and even of pride, to have heard his character and services spoken of as they have been spoken of by two ex-Lord Lieutenants of Ireland on different sides of this House. I believe that the character
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  of Mr. Burke and his conduct have been subjected to attacks of late from certain quarters. But if any have represented him in the discharge of his duties as a man of arbitrary and tyrannical sentiments, as I believe has been the case, I can only say that the malignancy of such representations is only equalled by the absolute ignorance which they display of the character of that noble public servant.
  Motion agreed to.
  House adjourned at a quarter before Five o'clock, till To-morrow, a quarter past Ten o'clock.