Lord Anglesey, the Viceroy in Ireland, who had been
recalled by Wellington in 1828, was again appointed by Grey; he
understood Ireland better than his associates in the Government, and
often complained that his views were set aside and his policy
counteracted by the Chief Secretary, Stanley, who had a seat in the
Cabinet. In 1832 ministers were too much occupied with the struggle for
Reform to give proper attention to the question of social order in
Ireland, where the question of tithes had become a fruitful source of
misery and crime.
On the 22nd of May, Stanley introduced the Reform
Bill for Ireland. On the motion for the second reading, on the 26th, he
said that out of 7,700,000 of the population the county constituency
comprised 7,000,000, for whom there were only 64 representatives. He
proposed to rectify this error by disfranchizing several small
nomination boroughs and giving the representation to the counties and
large towns. It was intended, he said, to make the representation as far
as possible accordant with that of England and Scotland; and by raising
the franchise (so that all tenant-holders of £50 a year, and all
leaseholders of £10 for 99 years, should have a vote) suppress the evil
influence by which the elections in Ireland had been frequently marred.
The county constituency would, Stanley calculated,
amount to something more than 52,000, of whom 22,000 would be
freeholders, possessing more than £50 a year arising from freehold
property. The Bill would give five members more to Ireland than she
already possessed, one of whom was to represent the University of
Dublin, so that it should have two members instead of one. By the Bill
the constituency of Dublin would be raised from 5000 to 16,000. Seven of
the largest counties would possess a constituency of from 15,000 to
16,000, and Belfast, "one of the most important towns in Ireland", would
have a constituency of 2300 instead of 13. It was proposed to raise the
ordinary rate of franchise from £5 to £10, and in
order to meet the objections of Protestants Stanley declared that the
change would not give to the Roman Catholic interest more than seven
additional members.
The Bill was opposed by both O'Connell and Sheil, the
former of whom made a great effort to extend the franchise from £10 to
£5 rentals, stating that even if they were to adopt that rate
they could not obtain more than 25,000 electors in all the counties in
Ireland. If they adopted the higher qualification there were six
counties in which they would not find above 300 persons to enjoy the
franchise, in seven others there were not more than 400, and in five
others not more than 500; in three districts of the country, if they
took the qualification of £100 of yearly income, he did not think that
they would find more than from 500 to 700 voters. There were only eleven
counties which would have 700 voters, and eight of these would sit in
Protestant Ulster.
Stanley replied that the arrangements of the
Government had been based upon the calculations of Sir Henry Parnell,
whose accuracy and impartiality no one could doubt, and he contended
that the £50 clause would add very considerably to the Catholic
constituency of many counties, especially those of Down and Armagh. The
Reform Bill of Ireland received the royal assent on the 7th of August,
1832.
In the beginning of 1833 the social condition of
Ireland was deplorable. Earl Grey, in introducing his Coercion Bill in
the House of Lords, enumerated no fewer than 9000 crimes of violence,
almost exclusively agrarian, which had occurred in the preceding twelve
months. Juries would not convict, murders were rife, and intimidation
was almost universal. The authority of the law had practically ceased to
exist throughout the greater part of the country. Lord Althorpe, the
leader of the House of Commons, was in favour of less coercion and more
concession. Stanley, however, "explained with admirable clearness the
insecure and alarming state of Ireland", with the result that, according
to Lord John Russell, "the House became appalled and agitated at the
dreadful picture which he placed before their eyes. They felt for the
sorrows of the innocent, they were shocked at the dominion of assassins
and robbers."
The Bill was so generally felt to be one of great
necessity that at the conclusion of the debate there was a universal
feeling in its favour, and on the 29th of March it was read a third
time, and passed by a majority of 345 against 86. The Bill, having
received the royal assent, was published, and on the 10th of April the
Lord-Lieutenant issued several stern declarations, stating that he would
not permit any political gatherings, and also that in the whole of
Ireland there was no need for Volunteers (a body O'Connell had in a
tentative manner re-established), and he proceeded to put his words into
action, with the result that the newly enrolled association of Irish
Volunteers forthwith disbanded and ceased to be. This Coercion Act was
most beneficial to the country, the number of offences throughout
Ireland being diminished from 472 in the month of March to 162 in the
month of May.
The year 1834 was an eventful one for Ireland. The
Coercion Act was in full force. Crime and outrage were diminished, but
discontent was as rife as ever. The tithe question was still unsettled,
and Parliament was invited in the King's speech to take it once more
into consideration. "I recommend to you", said the text, "the early
consideration of such a final adjustment of the tithes in that part of
the United Kingdom as may extinguish all just causes of complaint,
without injury to the rights and property of any class of my subjects,
or to any institutions in Church or State. The public tranquillity has
been generally preserved, and the state of all the provinces of Ireland
presents, upon the whole, a much more favourable appearance than at any
period during the last year. But I have seen, with feelings of deep
regret and just indignation, the continuance of attempts to excite the
people of that country to demand a repeal of the Legislative Union. This
bond of our national strength and safety, I have already declared my
fixed and unalterable resolution, under the blessing of divine
Providence, to maintain inviolate by all the means in my power." The
session was almost exclusively devoted to the discussion of Irish
affairs, the proceedings being marked by O'Connell's attack on the
Government in connection with the extraordinary conduct of Baron Smith,
an aged judge, who at the summer assizes at Armagh sat, for several days
with brief intermission, for the trial of prisoners, from eleven o'clock
in the forenoon of one day until six o'clock the morning following!
Lord Althorpe introduced a measure for the cutting
down of the Irish Church establishment to something like the proportion
of the number of its adherents by reducing ten of the Protestant
bishoprics. The Sees selected to be dealt with included those of Dromore,
Clogher, and Raphoe. It was proposed to add Dromore to the Bishopric of
Down and Connor, Clogher to Armagh, and Raphoe to Derry. It was decided
in order to secure the interest of their successors that no Irish Bishop
should be able to grant leases for a longer term than twenty-one years.
Stanley lent his aid to the passing of the Bill by stating that on the
election of a new Bishop of Derry the Bishopric, which originally
amounted to £12,600 per annum, had with the consent of the incoming
Bishop been reduced to £8000 per annum; and it would be further reduced
by the operation of the tax to £7200; so that by the passing of the Bill
a double advantage would be obtained. The Bill was carried under a
strong protest from Conservative Peers, the Irish Protestant Church
losing thereby half her hierarchy.
The subject of tithes now received attention. During
the previous session a resolution had been carried for advancing
£1,000,000 from the Exchequer for the relief of the Protestant clergy,
the greater number of whom were reduced to a state of absolute
destitution caused by the difficulty experienced in collecting from the
sources of their incomes. The Government now introduced a Bill founded
upon a Clause of that resolution, the effect of which was the abolition
of those parishes in which public services had not been held for three
years, and a body of Commissioners was instituted to enquire and report
as to how many parishes had become subject to this provision. The
report, when issued, stated that of 144 such parishes 30 held full
services, 26 regular but inefficient services, 22 were but partially
served, leaving 66 subject to the effect of the Clause, to 10 of which
it could not fairly be applied.
The amount of tithes gathered from the country for
these several livings amounted to £136,600 per annum. The charge of the
Church cess had been arranged by the tax upon the bishoprics, to which
many benefices were attached, so that the whole burden of this reduction
of the Protestant Church must fall upon the small livings, the
population affected being about 46,000, inhabiting about 10,000
dwellings. Such a wholesale proceeding, following upon the steps for the
reduction of the bishoprics, filled the upholders of the Protestant
ascendancy with dismay, especially as it severely touched the Protestant
Province of Ulster. But although the Bill met with very strong
opposition, it was passed on the 30th of July by a majority of 135
against 81. The effects of this measure were to some extent modified by
an advance, to meet the requirements of the clergy, of £1,000,000 from
the Exchequer, the arrears of tithes, to be collected by the Government
at a reduction of from 15 to 20 per cent. This terminated the great
struggle between the Catholic and Protestant Churches in Ireland.
Irish Church questions attracted universal attention.
Ward, member for St. Albans, having brought forward a motion for a
general enquiry into the state of the Irish Church, found he was
supported by Grote and Althorpe, who brought before the House a
resolution praying the King to enquire into the state of the Church, and
of Church property, in Ireland, and to have an enquiry made to ascertain
the proportion in numbers and endowments between Roman Catholics,
Dissenters, and Protestants of the Established Church. On a majority of
396 against 120 votes a Commission was issued, with the result that the
Irish Protestant clergy, taking alarm, assembled and adopted an address
to the King which, on being signed by 1400 clergymen, was presented to
His Majesty by the Archbishop of Armagh. The King replied very
graciously that he was warmly attached to the Church and was fully
determined not to permit a single privilege of hers to be touched.
The ministry regarded the attitude taken with regard
to the Irish Church question in the light of a vote of want of
confidence, and this led to the reconstruction of the Cabinet. Grey
retired and Melbourne became Premier. Signs of a Tory reaction now
became perceptible. These were welcomed by the King, who was alarmed by
the progress of the reforming spirit. When Althorpe, Chancellor of the
Exchequer, resigned this year (1834), owing to his transference to the
House of Lords, the King seized the opportunity to dismiss the Melbourne
Cabinet and to place Sir Robert Peel at the head of the Government. Peel
appealed to the country but failed to obtain a majority, and, having
held office only four months, was obliged to resign, Melbourne, in
April, 1835, again returning to power. The chief measure of the session
was the Municipal Reform Act, by which Town Councils were reformed. By
this ratepayers and freemen were given the right to appoint town
councillors, who elected the magistrates from among themselves.
In 1835 Henry Constantine Phipps, second Earl of
Mulgrave, was appointed Lord-Lieutenant, and Lord Morpeth became Chief
Secretary. The Attorney-General was Louis Perrin, who had the courage to
rescind the rule, till then observed by the Crown Prosecutors in
Ireland, which required that Catholics should be set aside when called
on the jury panel. "If we Protestants", said Perrin, "when accused
rightly or wrongly of crime, were not allowed to have one of our own
creed among the jurors, what sort of loyalists would we be?" This act of
Perrin's put an end to the worst evils of jury-packing in Ireland.
The three great Acts of the Melbourne administration
as regards Ireland were the final settlement of the tithe question, the
reform of the Irish Municipal Corporations, and the establishment of the
Irish Poor Law. The Tithe Bill, introduced on the 25th of April, 1836,
by Lord Morpeth, the Chief Secretary, contained a series of provisions
for the appropriation of the surplus revenues of the Irish Church,
estimated at £58,000, "to the promotion of religious and moral education
in Ireland". Stanley opposed the Bill on the ground that no portion of
ecclesiastical dues ought to be used save for upholding the interests of
the Protestant Church. The Tithe Bill was rejected, but in 1836 it was
again passed by the Commons and again rejected by the Lords.
O'Connell upon this immediately proceeded to organize
a National Association for the promotion of municipal and tithe reform
and the superintendence of elections in the popular interest. He was
joined in his crusade by Sheil, Cloncurry, and Sharman Crawford, a
Protestant and large land proprietor in Ulster. The action of the
last-named raised a spirit of resistance among the Presbyterians in the
province, especially in Belfast and Londonderry. In Belfast a
Presbyterian clergyman named Henry Cooke threw the whole force of his
powers of courage and eloquence into the contest, and succeeded in
making a powerful demonstration of Protestant principles. Dr. Cooke's
energy in the cause to which he was attached was recognized in Belfast
by the erection, after his death, of a bronze statue to his memory,
which, owing to the hue it has acquired with time, is now, alas!
popularly known as "the Black Man".
The English Radicals and Irish Catholics made, in
1836, a heavy onslaught in Parliament on the Orange lodges in the United
Kingdom. The Orange Association in 1835 had become very powerful in
Ireland. It had many lodges in the army. The Duke of Cumberland was
Grand Master, and Percival, a member of Parliament who held office in
1834 under Peel, was Grand Treasurer. A Colonel Fair-man, who had been
very energetic in establishing regimental lodges, and was accused,
before committees of the House of Commons, of treasonable practices, was
Deputy-Grand Secretary. The proceedings of the Orange body were
investigated by the Committee of the House, and the result was the
discovery of a widespread conspiracy to change the succession of the
crown in favour of the Duke of Cumberland. It was also ascertained that
though the Duke of York had withdrawn from the Grand Mastership on being
informed of its illegality, and had, as Commander-in-Chief, forbidden
the formation of Orange lodges in the army, his brother, the Duke of
Cumberland, who succeeded him in the Grand Mastership, had signed
warrants for the formation of such lodges.
A motion was made by Hume for an address to the Crown
praying for the removal of every judge, privy councillor,
lord-lieutenant, magistrate, militia officer, inspector, or constable
who attended the meeting of any Orange lodge, any Ribbon lodge, or any
political club whatever. This motion was successfully resisted by Lord
John Russell, who wisely invited the House to "leave it to the King to
take such measures as he might deem advisable for the effectual
discouragement of Orange lodges, and generally of all political
societies". This proved sufficient. The Orangemen undertook to comply
with the wishes of the Crown, and the Duke of Cumberland withdrew from
the Association.
In January, 1837, the conduct of the Irish Government
of Lord Mulgrave was bitterly attacked by Mr. Serjeant Jackson, one of
the members for Belfast. The Lord-Lieutenant defended himself ably, but
such was the spirit the subsequent debate produced that Morpeth was
shortly afterwards recalled.
On the 20th of June the King died. He was succeeded
by his niece, the Princess Alexandrina Victoria, only daughter of the
Duke of Kent.
