THOUGHTS OX A VICEROYALTY BY AN IRISHMAN ‘•Felices ter et amptiùs Quos irrapta tenet copula.” H o r a c e . Carm. Lik 1, O d e 1 3 . DUBLIN : HODGES, SMITH & CO., 104, GRAFTON-STREET, BOQKSELLEBft TO TTTK ÜÎÎ1VEBSITT. LONDON: PARKER. SON AND BOURN. THOUGHTS ON A VICEROYALTY. A WISE and kind parent, who might not have approved of a certain marriage for one of his chil­ dren, yet would not afterwards seek to sow dissen­ sion between the couple, or to keep them as much as possible apart ; and even so, any one who might have thought the union of Ireland with England a bad measure, yet would not afterwards, if he were truly patriotic, seek to impair it. Yet almost every step that has been since taken, has had this ten­ dency. For many years there was even a different currency in the two countries, and the products of the one were not allowed to be imported free of duty into the other ; and even now, most of the Acts that are passed in Parliament, are confined to England or to Ireland alone. The same unwise course is pursued in ecclesiastical measures also ; and an attempt has very recently been made to legislate for the English portion of the United 4 Church, without any reference to the Irish. The Act of Union, in short, taken in conjunction with the attending circumstances, is very much of the character of that mischievous thing,a half-measure. In some of the collections of the sayings and doings of Sydney Smith, he is represented as censuring those who object tohalf-measures, by which he seems to understandkeeping the medium between two extremes ; for example, when a man who has been outrunning his income, retrenches moderately, instead of living either extravagantly or penu- riously. But surely he had better have said,u This is not what sensible people call a half-measure, though the unwise, who are apt to run into one extreme or the other, often do speak so. It is no half-measure to wear a coat that exactly fits you, instead of one that is either too big or else too little.” Properly speaking, a half-measure is one which is so farincomplete , as tofail of the very object pro­ posed. To build a moderate-sized house, which is neither a palace nor a cabin, is not a half-measure, but it would be, to build a house of several stories without a staircase, or with an unfinished roof that lets in the rain. In affairs of Government, again, all moderate persecution is a half measure, such as the Penal Laws against Roman Catholics, because the effect is to irritate, and not to suppress. The extermi­ nation of the Moors and Jews from Spain, and of the Huguenots from France, were, indeed, detesta­ bly bad measures, but as they thoroughly accom­ plished the object proposed, they were not half- measures. Another remarkable instance of a half-measure, in our own country, was the retention of the Lord Lieutenancy at the time of the Union ; and if we inquire why this legislative deficiency has not been rectified before now, we shall find that the main cause—during the last ten years at least—has been this. There is in England a very prevalent belief, that though this office is quite useless, or even mis­ chievous, yet the Irish people are so attached to it, that it is worth spending a large amount annually to gratify them, and serve as a kind of political hush-money. Now, as regards the great majority of reflecting people in Ireland—indeed, all who are not influenced by some motives of self-interest or else by disaffection—this opinion will prove, on inquiry, to be quite unfounded. It will be, there­ fore, the object of the following pages to show that the people of Ireland neither are, nor ought to be, so attached to this-Institution, as some representa­ tions might lead strangers to the country to sup­ pose. It is not, indeed, to be expected, that the statements of an anonymous writer on this subject will be at once believed, but I shall be quite satis­ fied if I succeed in exciting inquiry into the matter, so that the truth of these statements may be 6 thoroughly tested. For it will then, I am con­ vinced, be evident, that the assertions made by some parties about the attachment of the Irish people to the Viceroyalty, and the benefits result­ ing from it to the country, are, (like Sir Boyle Roche’su reciprocity ”), all on one side ; and that that side no more represents the views of sensible people in this country, who have no personal inter­ ests at stake, than “ the chirping grasshoppers do the tenants of a field that contains a herd of reposing cattle.” It is a well-known fact, that the best families in Ireland, so far from being attached to this Institu­ tion, and from being attracted to Dublin by it, are oftener kept away, from not liking to mix with such people as the Lord Lieutenant is forced to invite. And the mercantile and middle classes either do not think about the office at all, or else when their attention has been directed to it, are in favour of its abolition. The Roman Catholic populace, again, which, before the spread of education, was the chief materials for the agitators to work on, cares nothing whatever for a Lord Lieutenancy. Indeed, notwithstanding the use made of this class by demagogues, its political principles never trans­ cended the definition that has been given of them, viz. :—“ Anarchy plus the fear of a constable’s baton and where its views looked beyond the procuring of personal comforts, they invariably 7 turned to the aggrandizement of its priesthood, a subject with which the abolition or non-abolition of the A iceroyalty is in no way connected. But it may be asked, u Who, then, are ïhose who so strongly advocate the retention of this Office ?” They are, indeed, easily enumerated ; but they pos­ sess a very great advantage in this, that however various the motives which influence them may be, they are united in their object, and zealous and clamorous in their maintenance of it ; and just as a small body of well-disciplined soldiers are an overmatch for ten times their number of a scattered and undisciplined multitude ; thus it is that they have succeeded in keeping down any expression of an opposite opinion on the part of a far greater number, and of much wiser and better men. Nor is it hard to understand why these latter do not like to put themselves forward for a task which might seem ungracious, and must expose them to some ill-will, and which, after all, is no particular con­ cern of theirs. Among the most noisy supporters of a Vice­ royalty, we may reckon the remnant of the Repeal party — “ extremus si quis super halitus errat.” Though this party set out with professions some­ what similar to the yearning of Sir Boyle Roche, “ to see the two independent sisters, [England and Ireland], mutually embracing like one brother,” their real sentiments, in regard to any connexion with England, were plainly brought out in that long-continued agitation and bluster, which sub­ sided in the cabbage-garden of Ballingarry.* How­ ever, the “ veterans of Repeal who lag superfluous on the stage,” and the other disaffected parties, are among the most strenuous advocates of a Lord Lieutenancy—and naturally so, for it tends to keep up the idea of akingdom of Ireland ; and they are well aware, that so long as such an anomaly as a Viceroyalty exists, the Union cannot be regarded as complete ; and, consequently, they look on it as the narrow end of the wedge by which they hope to dissever the Union. Indeed, it is only in the land of Bulls, that such an Institution as a Viceroya]ty, in a united kingdom, could find a local habitation, as it is an office only suitable fordistinct a kingdom, or for a province with distincta legislature, but utterly unsuited for a part of one united kingdom. Energetic defenders of the Lord Lieutenancy are supplied also by that class which hovers devotedly round the outposts of the aristocracy ; and these, as a kind of recognised Guerilla force, skirmish vigorously against the presumptuous advances of grocerdom and grazierdom. To persons of this description, it is a matter of no small moment to be the privileged attendants of levees, and drawing-rooms, and balls, in Dublin Castle ; and “ ’tis pleasant, sure, to see their names in print,” as such, the more especially, as the list always commences with the names of a * See Appendix A. 9 few titled individuals. Along with this “ flunkey- class, ’ as it has been called, the intriguers and place-hunters who frequent Dublin Castle, loudly declaim against any measure that would affect the stability of their darling Office ; and they inveigh against the impolicy of disturbing established rela­ tions, vested interests, &c. Now, it is undeniable, that such disturbance must, more or less, attend the removal even of acknowledged abuses, if they are of long standing and national in their bearing. Indeed, it has been remarked, that great confusion must have resulted from turning the river into the Augean stable, to the established rights and to the prospects of the parasitical creatures that had con­ gregated there. Nevertheless, the purification must have proved most salutary to all the sur­ rounding country. An inquiry, I feel satisfied, would prove that the advocates for retaining a Lord Lieutenancy, are nearly limited to the parties already mentioned, to whom we must, indeed, add some of the Commer­ cial class and the tradesmen of Dublin, whose case I shall consider farther on ; and I now proceed to state, as briefly as possible, some of the reasons why this office should be regarded not only as useless, but as positively injurious to the country — an opinion avowed by some who have themselves been Lord Lieutenants, and held by the great majority of intelligent men in Ireland who have carefully B 10 considered the matter, and are biassed by no motives of personal interest.