THE STATE OF IRELAND.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 230, 12 August 1848, Page 3

T HE STATE OF IRELAND.

(From the Morning Chronicle, March Z n J. Tiiekr can Lt no dnubtthat inmtcis in licKind ore assuming a very 6eriou« at>|iect. Thutuhich a fortnight u_o, was a partial and comparatively i nig >fie nt mob demonstralion, has been gradually i.laiost il gnifi :«i into the giavity of a popular m«vument. WJW J use tl c woid popular, ai disimguiblied from nationul, bic u-»e that cinnotbe called a "national" movement to which the whole of the upper clashes, together with a dis~ tinctund powerful bection of the peasantry, me fijroly

opposed. We have repeatedly sl'own tint the popu'dtion of Irchiud is divided in Mich a nuinnci as to ictu'u uiifomfbctwei'n its parts f«r any anti-Kiif»lisli, iiidit-d, for->any specifically national, object, utttily impn-^ -ii>i< Whether tins fact be^for evil or for pood, tlitrc u stintls, and >t cannot be got rid of; people do not iclain and get rid of their generic and historical rharactcustics, according as tin y are bam on one side or the other of a ccitnin Kungruplucti Hue; and, therefore, when the Protestant gentry of Ireland, or the Preaby-tcii-in pcasnntry of Ulster, areuiv.ted to join a movement of which the essence consists in sympathy with the Roman Catholic Celts of Cork and Ki-ny, they <lv not require any atgument about the nutter , their in* i'tiiicl aud leelmg tell them tli.it. such a line of conduct would he unnaUiial and suicidal. The consequence of this nccessirily in, that a specifically Irish movement must be more than democratic — it must be Jacobinical and anti- Protestant— that is, it must be directed against the whole fabric of society now constituted in Ireland, and especially against the poss.'t-s >rs of propeity in land ; and it must aNo aim, «lmost as directly, at a transleience of all influence in the country to the Roman Catholic part or the population ; whether that tianslerence be to be effected by the exteiinination, the banishment, or the political scrvitu le ol the defeated parly. To suppose that an " lush" govern* incut, founded on the forcible cxpuhhn of British aulhniity, could afford to leave any kind of infl'ipnee in the hands of the Anglo Protestant pait of the population, is plainly absurd . a lebcllion in Ireland could not, therefore, possibly wcuru national eluwacier, iiiv*i comprehensive s iue , nor could u successful rebellion piodueu the establishment of a national on the I ) a b i n of the present national atguiiiznlion, at may be the case With almost any one of the new icvolulioui/ed states, where the propel ty and intelligence, the aristocracy and the student^, have lei the van of the revolutionary movements. But though the revolutionary movement cannot be " national" in Ii eland, it may be " popular ;" nnd .while it is, of course, less formidable, as regains power, in consequence of this peculiaiify, it i-> infi-. nitely more dangerous as regards chaiacter, means, objects, and tendencies. A similar movement ire Scotland would possess far more chance ol b ing successful, but luither to England nor Sco'lund would it matter, nearly 60 much, whether it wcie sucecsslul or not ; society in both countries uu^htgo on pretty uiucli as before, after a modification or climi ,c of the present political arrangements. But in Ireland a revolution would be the most fearful und calamitous event which it is possible to imagine ; no humnn being could calculate its complicated and portm'ous effects ; it might, indeed, be said of the British Empiic in such a case, with fur more truth than of France alter lur first revolution, that; it would be " blotted from the map of Europe," and its component parts would enter on an unprecedented career of convulsion, anarchy, and terror, We put this strongly, wishing not to excite or teriify by the desciiption of bugbears, but in sober earnestness we lay before the British people very clearly the real ilate of Irish affairs, to foice them, if podmble, to concentrate their attention and energies upon it. We do not intend to recur to the question of tho policy ol Government, in bunging the issue between them and the rebels into a court of law ; it is iufficient thut they have done so ; the die is east; and it becomes the duty of every loyal subject of the Queen to back, by every m uns in his power, the authority of the Queen in suppressing an audacious aud (itmaybf) formidable rebellion. There must be no hulling or half measures now ; as Mr. Mitchell himself says, cither he or his coadjutors, or the Bntibh Government, must be "put doWn;" andjaccordingly evt.ry man r eviry horse, every shilling 1 , in this count ly must bu plac*d at the service of ihe Crown, it necessity, to settle this matter at once and for ever. It is time to show that if our government be weak against chronic a iarchy, it is strong against opan war ; if it be longsuffering towards sedition, it is decisive against iebellion ; it it have proved itself to stand honourably distinguished among the monarchies of Europe by tiC calmness of Us attitude, and the absence of excitement and discontent among the great mass of its subjects, it will also be distinguished from the rest by ita s'eady rssulution, and its vigorous action when obliged to act. If constitutional law will not do, we inubt have something stionger ; at all hazards, at any price, t le thing must now be " put down," and that quick y, o Euqland is disgraced in the face of the civil zed world. Austria is losing Lombinly, and Piussie, Po'and, in the firbt place became they had a bad c. use in thobc counlres, but chiefly because their own sy.teins at home weie rotten and feeble, and win re die heart beuts faintly there is no vigour in tie o annuities. But when Swiizerland saw the standaiil of i lsuireclion raised within her borders, and an attempt made to curve u srparate nationality out of her dominiono, strong in the support of her people ohe rose in might and "put it down. ' And so must we do ; we know that we are in the right, for we represent in Ireland tho cause of constitutional liberty and of lationul lufoirsi ; we are the mediators between the hoHtiln sections of the Irish people ; we are protecting those who cling to their allegiance in that country, and who coii&tiiute the elite of its population, from the horrorb of a religious Jacquerie ; and we are maintaining the honour, aud » rea ness, and integrity of an empire to which the world is Ironing as the model of free institutions, the as*urterof liberty, aud the bulwaik of peace and order. Nothing is moie certuiu than that we can do our business with facility in Ireland, if we chose to do it with all our might ; but the slightest vacillation or neglect now would be, we will not say fatal, but pregnant with the most pernicious consequence!. There are numerous classes of " wavcrcrs," whom any symptoms which might appear to prouiibe success to our cuemieii, would induce to ueelare against us, and their adhasion to the rebellious cause would add tenfold to our trouble m suppressing it. It may be as well for all parties that mutleis are brought to a crisis ; if it he now shown decisively that the British Government and the loyal partof the Irish population at e able and determined to suppress completely und finally all attempts at insurrection, ihe minds of the people will, we trust, be diverted permanently from political agitation (which rests on the hopes of victory) to those measures of social reform which we are anxioug to introduce, and to which that agitation forms the chief lcmaiuiug obstacle.

[from our correspondent.] Duiilin, March 28 — The facts I mentioned yo»terday ie»p(.cim» the aiming of u large jx.ruoii ot tlie working cluhsi 1 -) in Dublin have sun c bt-en confirmed from various sources. Tlie exeruoiK uiitde to uuum fire-arms are quite extraoidinary. A ii(li3 arid uca eof pistols were advertised for sale at an auction lust week. Tne room was ciowded at tlie opening of tlie fcale by compcilon fur thu rifle, which in ought t.sicc the value bee upon it by the t>atcbintin. Coiibidciable quantities of guns have bi-cu rcc inly imj>oi te<i from Hinnin^ham, and were bought up with avidity. The rflle clubs are nightly nicieasing their numbers, and one of their utU.ctions is, thut they posses^ peculiar facilities tor enabling the members to obluiu unuß, a« wdl as to use them

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