"He would," he further observed, "tell them frankly--and it
was a feeling participated in by the majority of Irishmen--that he was
not disposed to appeal to their generosity. There was no generosity in
the matter. They had taken, and they had tied the purse-strings of the
Irish purse." "They should compel the landlords," he again urged, "to do
their duty to the people, and if they did, there would be neither
disturbance nor starvation." In making these observations he must have
spoken with unwonted energy, and with a boldness unusual in Parliament,
as he apologised for his tone and manner, which, he said, he knew could
not be acceptable to the House. When he sat down, Lord Claud Hamilton
rose and replied to him, by one of those fierce invectives which, after
the lapse of a quarter of a century he still, on occasion, can summon up
vigour enough to deliver. He taunted the hon. member for Limerick with
having then, for the first time during the Session, made his appearance
in the House. He told him that, having neglected his own duties both as
a representative and a landlord, an attack upon the landlords of Ireland
came from him with a bad grace. He further accused him with lending
himself to a baneful system of agitation, by which Ireland was
convulsed, and prosperity rendered unattainable in that country.
Pages:
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204