But this is a trifle: the most unkind and groundless assertion the
author of the letters of Runnymede makes, with regard to the man who
called him the lineal descendant of the impenitent thief, is, when he
says, that "this remarkable address was an abnegation of the whole
policy of Mr. O'Connell's career." This is strangely inexact: nay more,
if Mr. D'Israeli heard the speech, as is to be inferred, or if he read
it, it is disingenuous. The speech was a bold denunciation of the system
of evictions, carried out by Irish landlords, to which O'Connell
attributed the murders the Government relied on, to justify them in
bringing forward the Coercion Bill. Speaking of the murder of Mr.
Carrick, he said: "here again let me solemnly protest--I am sure I need
not--that I do not consider any of these acts as an excuse, or a reason,
or even as the slightest palliation of his murder (hear, hear); no, they
are not, it was a horrible murder; it was an atrocious murder; it was a
crime that was deserving of the severest punishment which man can
inflict, and which causes the red arm of God's vengeance to be suspended
over the murderer (hear, hear)." But he adds: "I want the House to
prevent the recurrence of such murders.
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