with garbling and suppressing testimony. In
reference to the dismissal of Lord Roden, Lord Clarendon
expressed himself as follows:—"My lords, when Mr.
Berwick's report came into my hands, I am bound
to say that I perused its contents with very great
regret: the opinion which I formed from it with reference
to the noble earl, I communicated to my noble
friend at the head of the government; from whom and
his colleagues, including the noble lord on the woolsack,
it received the most anxious and careful consideration.
The result was, that they appealed to me on the necessity
of superseding the noble earl in the commission of
the peace; and, my lords, I must say that to me it was
a most painful act to execute. I had long been honoured
with the friendship of the noble earl. From the moment
that I had gone to Ireland until then I had received
from him acts of the most useful character. I felt the
most sincere respect for him. I knew how much his
dismissal would be resented by his numerous friends,
and the unpopularity I should earn for myself, even
among those who were not his friends throughout the
North of Ireland. I felt and I foresaw all that: but
still there was one feeling superior even to that—a feeling
of duty; a feeling from which I did not venture to
shrink, and by which I need not assure your lordships
I was alone actuated in the course that I adopted. Ever
since the government of Ireland was confided to my
care, my great object was to render the law a reality—
to inspire all classes of the community with confidence
in the impartial administration of justice—to convince
them that before the law all men were equal; and that,
whether high or low, rich or poor, the same justice
should be meted out to all. And I should have felt
ashamed of myself, and unworthy the confidence of
my sovereign, if I had decided in a manner different
with respect to the noble earl, to that in which I should
have decided in the case of any other man; or if I had
allowed for one moment any personal consideration to
interfere with what I believed the justice of the case
required." Lord Clarendon entered into explanations
with regard to the allegation that he had furnished, or been
privy to furnishing the Orangemen with arms in the year
1848. He read passages from a private letter by Captain
Kennedy, now serving in India, which showed that he,
the captain himself, really furnished the money [£600]
from his own pocket. Lord Clarendon wound up these
explanations with this assurance—"I hope it is
sufficient for me to give my solemn assurance, that during
the whole time I have held office, I never, directly or
indirectly, have given a weapon, or a shilling to purchase
one, to any person in Ireland." In conclusion, he
declared his opinion, that had it not been for this
unfortunate rencontre and its consequences, their lordships
would have had the satisfaction to know that Ireland is
now more free, on the whole, from religious as well as
political agitation and agrarian outrage than at any
period within recollection. Twenty years of political
agitation destructive of industrial prosperity, and a
calamity unparalleled for magnitude in ancient or
modern history, had left much distress to be relieved.
Let us hope (he said) that the worst is over, and that the
earnest exertions of all classes for the common good may
commence that social regeneration with which the best
interests of England as well as Ireland are inseparably
connected.—The Earl of RODEN repeated his complaint
that he had been harshly treated by the government,
and particularly by his noble friend the Lord Lieutenant
of Ireland; whom nevertheless he had always esteemed,
and from whom he had received many acts of kindness.
—The Earl of WINCHELSEA and Lord ABINGER
addressed the house briefly in condemnation of the
Government.—Lord BROUGHAM amusingly satirised
the volatility of the Irish, and their way of going to
these processions with their Bibles and their blunderbusses,
just as if they were going to a picnic; and he
gave his opinion, that substantial justice has been done
and a right course pursued by the government and
Lord Clarendon in this case.—The Marquis of
CLANRICARDE stated, that in every step which his noble
friend the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland had taken on this
subject, he had the entire co-operation, and the fullest
approbation of Her Majesty's government.—Lord
STANLEY professed himself well satisfied with the result
of the debate; and the motion for papers, unopposed by
Ministers, was agreed to by the house.

The Earl of DESART, on Thursday, the 21st, in
bringing forward his motion on the Irish Poor Law,
enlarged on the ruin to which the extension of out-door
relief was reducing that country. One hundred and five
unions were insolvent in 1849. Proprietors were
encumbered and tenants impoverished by the rapidly-
increasing demands for the poor-rate, which had been to
a great degree levied from the capital instead of the
income of the soil, and inflicted immeasurable injury to
a multitude of industrious occupiers. Of the three
classes of districts in Ireland, the solvent, the struggling,
and the insolvent, the ministry should, as far as possible,
relieve the weight which might sink the two former into
the abyss of pauperism. For the third, and largest class,
the only remedies were to direct labour into profitable
channels, and stimulate emigration. His lordship then
moved the resolution which embodied the principle that
in-door relief should alone be sanctioned throughout the
Irish unions. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE argued that
out-door relief was justified by its absolute necessity, but
by that alone. To remedy Irish evils, two measures
had recently been passed—the advances for improvements
and the encumbered estates acts. Both of these
had worked exceedingly well. Other tokens, especially
the diminution in the charges for pauper relief, proved
that prospects had begun to brighten in that country.
After some observations from Lord Monteagle, the
Earl of Wicklow, Lord Stanley, and Earl Grey, the
Earl of Desart withdrew his proposition.

The Ecclesiastical Commission Bill was considered in
committee, on Monday, the 25th. The twelfth clause,
consolidating the episcopal and common fund, was
opposed by Earl POWIS, who proposed an amendment,
re-asserting the promise contained in the preamble, to
erect the bishopric of Manchester. On a division, this
amendment was carried by 31 to 26. The Bishop of
SALISBURY opposed clause 15, reducing the future
incomes of certain deaneries, and proposed an amendment,
which without cutting down the existing incomes
of deaneries, rendered the holding of distant parochial
benefices incompatible with cathedral preferment. The
amendment was opposed by the Marquis of LANSDOWNE,
but was carried by 21 to 19. Some clauses were then
proposed by the Bishop of Oxford, and agreed to.

In the HOUSE OF COMMONS, on the 31st of January,
the Address was moved by Mr. Charles VILLIERS. He
argued at considerable length, that every prediction
made by the advocates of free trade, in commerce and
navigation, had been fulfilled, and that every prediction
made by the advocates of protection had been nullified.
He read copious shipping statistics, showing that in
Liverpool the vessels building had increased from 2,229
tons at the beginning of 1849, to 2,850 now; with similar
increase in other ports. He also cited statistics to show
that pauperism and crime were decreasing, that employment
was increasing, and food abundant: more food had
been imported during the last sixteen months, than was
imported in the sixteen years before,—namely, at the
rate of 1,000,000 quarters of corn a month. He calculated
the amount of saving to the country in 1849 from
the diminution in prices of food, as compared with those
of 1847. The average price of wheat had fallen from
69s. 5d. to 39s. 4d.; barley, from 37s. to 25s.; oats, from
28s. to 15s.; beans, from 40s. to 26s.; peas, from 39s. to
29s. 6d.: he took the consumption of wheat at 20,000,000
quarters; barley, 20,000,000 quarters; oats, peas, and
beans, at 20,000,000 quarters: at the different prices,
the gross saving on all those kinds is £61,000,000. At a
low estimate, the corresponding diminution on butter,
cheese, potatoes, and other vegetables, amounted to
£30,000,000; making an entire saving of not less than
£91,000,000 sterling. He regretted the existence of
agricultural distress; but as a proof that the farmers
did not despond, he observed that land fetched as high
a price in the market as ever it did. He denied that
the land has peculiar burdens; it had, on the contrary,
peculiar exemptions; and in facilities—as to the manner
of farming, the neighbourhood of markets, and ready
communication—the land of Great Britain had advantages
superior to that of other countries.—Sir James