nistry. He had always regarded him- | nify his acquiescence in the opinion that self up to this evening as the one person the tenant right had been reduced to in Parliament who did not and never zero. If that were really so, all the could believe in the existence of a crisis tenants were absolutely placed at the at all. From the beginning he had en- mercy of the landlords if they happened deavoured to convince people that the to owe arrears of rent. The right hon. whole matter was a storm in a teacup, Gentleman the Chief Secretary for Ireand the picture of the Prime Minister land was intrusted with the duty of goputting his foot down on the one side, verning Ireland. He (Mr. O'Connor) and the noble Lord (Lord Carlingford) did not know for how long or how short in "another place" doing the same, was a time he meant to retain that duty. the creation of an excited imagination. [Cries of "Question!"] If he was not What was the meaning of this transac-able to make his remarks clear to the intion? He did not know whether the telligence of hon. Members opposite, it Government wished to excite some waning was not his fault. The right hon. Genenthusiasm, or to make the country for- tleman the Chief Secretary for Ireland get their errors; but anyone who read had the duty of governing Ireland; and the newspapers would be firmly con- a large number of the tenants were in vinced that the Prime Minister had peril of forfeiture of their holdings if made up his mind to make some radical some clause like that proposed by his changes in the Constitution of the country. hon. Friend the Member for the City of He was amused to see his hon. Friend Cork were not inserted in the Bill. For on the Radical Benches, with a load of his own part, he did not feel much agtelegrams from public meetings and as- grieved by the course the Government sociations, all eager for the Prime Mi- proposed to take. He would certainly nister to make the sound radical de- feel aggrieved if he thought the tenants claration he made in introducing his of Ireland were dependent on the Goremarks upon this clause against an-vernment, or upon this Bill, or upon any other place." These very things which proceedings which the Government might were declared by all the Ministerial organs to be of the first importance had now been brought down by the Ministry to matters of the most trifling detail. What was the Prime Minister going to put his foot down upon? Upon having MR. O'DONNELL said, he had lisregard to the interests of the landlord and tened with very great interest indeed to the tenant. That had been a great point the declaration of the Government that of controversy and collision between the harmony sought to be established in those in "another place." The right "another place" was not the result of hon. Gentleman the Chief Secretary for a compromise, and he was accordingly Ireland almost fell upon the neck of the led to conclude that the warm and inhon. Member for the City of Cork (Mr. teresting discussion which was supposed Parnell), and shed tears of joy at the in- to have taken place upon the Land Bill fallible nostrum the hon. Member pro- between the right hon. and learned Genvided for a reconciliation. But now what tleman the Member for the University of had become of the clause? The right Dublin (Mr. Gibson) and the hon. and hon. Gentleman the Prime Minister learned Solicitor General (Sir Farrer whittled the period down to three months, Herschell) had been a matter for their and now, taking advantage of his own own private gratification. It was a wrong, he sought to get rid of the clause gratifying thing, in these days of Party altogether. He remembered the Prime warfare, and spoke much for the innate Minister nodding his head significantly nobleness of political controversy, to when the noble Lord the Member for find that even common rumour could Calne (Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice) was accurately guess the action of Her Maobjecting to one of the clauses of the jesty's Government, and predict with Bill, and said that the interest of the certainty that they intended to meet the tenant in the tenant right had been re- wishes of the House of Lords, and surduced to zero. The Jove of the Olympian render the protection which, on the inTreasury Bench nodded his head to sig-itiative of the hon. Member for the City take; but he knew they had something far more stable to found their hopes upon than the friendship of a Liberal Ministry, or any pledges they might make. of Cork (Mr. Parnell), they had consented to throw around the Irish tenants. By the surrender of the protection proposed to be given to the Irish tenants, which Her Majesty's Government had now accomplished, thousands and tens of thousands of tenants in Ireland were liable to be deprived of all the advantages which it was presumed they would derive from this Bill. It was left entirely dependent upon the mercy of the Irish landlords whether tens of thousands of tenants were not sold out within the next few months; but very possibly the Irish landlords might prove to be much more merciful than Her Majesty's Government. The right hon. Gentleman the Chief Secretary for Ireland had thanked, in the most effusive manner, the Leader of the Irish Party for supplying this indispensable protection to the Irish tenantry. There could be no doubt that all the sincerity and honesty of the right hon. Gentleman's character went forth in that solemn declaration of thankfulness, and that, having made it, he had satisfied his conscience, and would stick to his official position. The proceeding was in perfect keeping with the whole official bearing of the right hon. Gentleman. The conduct of the Government had already been characterized by an epithet which was not altogether undeserved, and it was unnecessary to add to that epithet, as it precisely described the conduct of the Government. He was satisfied, however, that the Irish tenantry had learnt a lesson, teaching them to organize so thoroughly that much of the mischief which might come upon them from this wretched abandonment of the pledges of the Government would not be brought about. But even the abject surrender of Her Majesty's Government to the House of Lords might not give them the satisfaction and peace and uninterrupted enjoyment of their official positions which they doubtless looked forward to. There was "many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip." He concurred with his hon. Friend the Member for Galway (Mr. T. P. O'Connor) in never having believed in the occurrence of a serious Ministerial crisis. There was much more danger, and it might still exist, of a crisis on the side of the Conservative Party. No one who had witnessed what had been going on in the last few days, Mr. O'Donnell and had seen the quaking Liberal, green with terror at the thought of a Dissolution, could have believed in the reality of a crisis. No one who had watched their heart-born countenances could have supposed there was much of a critical nature about the resistance of the Liberal Party. They had cheerfully surrendered before friend and foe, and they were now being allowed to perform their triumphant retreat as the worthy followers of an unprincipled Government. MR. HEALY said, the right hon. Gentleman the Prime Minister stated early in the evening that there had been no compromise. He (Mr. Healy) quite believed the right hon. Gentleman that there was no necessity for making a compromise. The Government was one of surrender and not of compromise. They surrendered Candahar; they surrendered Afghanistan; they surrendered the Transvaal; and what objection could they have to the surrender of a clause in the Land Bill? He was reminded by an hon. Friend that they had even surrendered Mr. Bradlaugh. The Tory Party knew too well the character of Her Majesty's Government to require a compromise; and he did not believe that they had found any necessity for entering into any arrangement or any negotiation with the Goverment, because they were satisfied that, as a matter of course, they would capitulate, and that a surrender would follow. He could, therefore, quite credit the statement of the right hon. Gentleman the Prime Minister that the proceedings of that night were in no sense the result of a compromise. The House had been told by the hon. and learned Member for Dundalk (Mr. Charles Russell) that the Bill had been in no way impaired by the concessions which had been made. It was exactly what they had heard in regard to Candahar; the British Empire was in no way impaired by that surrender. We had surrendered the Transvaal; but after all it must be confessed that justice was on our side. [Cries of "Question!”] He could readily believe that the analogy was much too perfect for hon. Gentlemen opposite. He could easily understand how it was that an Irish Ministerialist could get up and say that the present surrender of the Government was of no account at all. When "Where is that party now?" And what had become of the Reasons which the House of Commons felt it necessary to send up to the House of Lords? They were gone; and gone with them were the hopes of thousands of the Irish tenants. MR. LEAMY said, the result of the rejection of this clause would be that directly the Bill became law every Irish landlord would commence proceedings to obtain a judgment in execution against any tenant who happened to be in arrear. The landlord would have the full right of selling out all tenants in arrear, putting every penny of the proceeds of the sale into his own pocket and shutting out the ordinary creditor from all re Question put. the House summed up the frightful total | brated party. "The Commons disagree to the Amendment at page 39, lines 22 to 30, for the following reason: because" -he could almost trace the accents of the Chief Secretary "because it is expedient to provide that where a tenant is seeking to obtain a reduction of rent and statutory term through the intervention of the Court, the sale of his tenancy at the suit of a creditor may, under special circumstances, be stayed for a short time so that the true value of his tenancy may be realised." [Mr. W. E. FORSTER: Hear, hear!] The right hon. Gentleman the Chief Secretary for Ireland cheered; but the words, like the right hon. Gentleman's Resolutions, had faded-like Hans Breitman's cele The House divided :-Ayes 196; Noes 70: Majority 126.- (Div. List, No. 393.) Motion made, and Question proposed, "That a Committee be appointed to draw up Reasons to be assigned to The Lords for disagreeing to the Amendments made by The Lords to the Bill, to which this House hath disagreed':-Mr. GLADSTONE, Mr. WILLIAM EDWARD FORSTER, Mr. ATTORNEY GENERAL for IRELAND, Mr. DODSON, Mr. SHAW LEFevre, Mr. SOLICITOR GENERAL, and Mr. SOLICITOR GENERAL for IRELAND:-Three to be the quorum." MR. T. P. O'CONNOR: Am I in Order, Sir, in moving an addition to the names proposed? MR. SPEAKER: The hon. Member will be in Order in moving. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR: I have pleasure in proposing that the name of the hon. Member for Wexford (Mr. Healy) be added. MR. O'DONNELL: I think it would be more apropos if the right hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Dublin University (Mr. Gibson) were upon the Committee. MR. GIBSON: There is no desire on my part to serve upon the Committee. MR. HEALY: I have no wish to be a Member of the Committee. I have only Reasons are printed they will be adhered to express a hope that the next time the to. Question put, and agreed to. Committee to withdraw immediately. ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND BILL. -[Lords.]-[BILL 247.] (Mr. William Edward Forster.) SECOND READING. Order for Second Reading read. Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Bill be now read a second time." (Mr. William Edward Forster.) MR. HEALY rose to Order. The right hon. Gentleman the Chief Secretary for Ireland had been appointed one of the Committee that had just been ordered to withdraw, and he still retained his seat on the Treasury Bench. allowed to stand in the way of the present stage being taken. There was no Notice of opposition to the Bill upon the Paper, and he did not suppose that any objection would be taken. He earnestly desired that all those who were conwould consent to the second reading cerned and interested in the question would consent to the second reading being taken; and he would do his best to take the next stage of the Bill at an earlier time. Under the circamstances, he trusted the hon. Member for Galway would not persevere with his Motion for the adjournment of the debate. MR. GIBSON said, he did not think it unreasonable, having regard to the time of the Session, that the Bill should be read a second time; and he had no doubt that the right hon. Gentleman the Chief Secretary for Ireland would, on the next occasion, do all he could to bring MR. SPEAKER: The right hon. Gen-it on earlier in the evening. He had tleman is quite in Order in moving the second reading of this Bill; and I have put that Question to the House. some remarks to make when the next stage was reached on the expense of the Examiners and the unlimited number and indefinite amount of the prizes, to which he would not now refer in detail. MR. HEALY asked whether he could raise the question of Privilege? This MR. DAWSON thought it would be a proceeding affected the Privilege of the House of Commons, inasmuch as the great calamity for the Irish people if the Order of the House had been disobeyed. Bill were read a second time at that MR. SPEAKER: I have already in-hour without a protest. The Bill proformed the House and the hon. Member vided no education for the Irish people. for Wexford (Mr. Healy) that the right hon. Gentleman is in Order. The question of Order has no foundation. MR. T. P. O'CONNOR said, that hon. Members on those Benches felt strongly on the subject-matter of this Bill. He objected to the second reading being taken at that hour, and therefore begged to move the adjournment of the debate. very It was a misnomer to describe the system as one of education. The examination paper had no other result than to bring about the same state of things in the higher branches of education as was disclosed the other day by the noble Lord on that side of the House (Lord George Hamilton) in the case of Mr. Goffin-namely, a system of cramming for the purpose of getting grants. He Chief Secretary for Ireland had thought regretted the right hon. Gentleman the it right to take the second reading without giving Irish Members an opporMAJOR NOLAN hoped the hon. Mem-tunity for making a plea that the Irish ber for Galway would withdraw his Motion, otherwise there was no chance of the measure being passed that Session. It would be a great pity if the Bill were not read a second time that night. Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Debate be now adjourned." -(Mr. T. P. O'Connor.) MR. W. E. FORSTER regretted that the second reading should have been moved at so late an hour; but he trusted that hon. Members interested in the question would consider that if the Bill was to become law that Session, it was very desirable that nothing should be people should be treated fairly in the matter of education. He thought they ought not, as it were, silently to sell their birthright in this matter for £20,000 a-year; and, although he was not at that moment prepared to discuss the Bill, he trusted that some further protest would be made that Irish Members had been driven, at an inopportune time of the morning, to give it a second reading. MR. CHARLES RUSSELL agreed, to a certain extent, with the objections made by hon. Members opposite. He could not regard the proposed scheme as by any means satisfactory, nor did he think it reasonable to take the second reading stage without some opportunity of discussing the principles of the Bill. Nevertheless, he put it to hon. Members, that if it was not taken then there was no chance of the Bill passing that Session. He thought it would be better to make the Bill, with all its disadvantages, into law than to postpone it until next year. a lengthy discussion; and therefore he would like to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland to explain upon what grounds the pledge given to the House was being violated? MR. GIVAN quite thought this Bill was not sufficiently comprehensive for the requirements of education in Ireland; but, at the same time, he knew that a great amount of interest was concentrated upon the Bill by both Catholic and Protestant clergy. Their arrangements were made in view of the Bill being carried, and he thought it would be a great calamity if the intention to pass the Bill was frustrated. He hoped the second reading would be given to the Bill. MR. LYULPH STANLEY thought the Bill which was now being attacked was a very small matter; and that if hon. Members had wished to prevent the Bill, they should have endeavoured to repeal the Act passed two or three years ago. The present Bill was only intended to give greater effect to the Bill already passed. MR. O'DONNELL said, he rose to support the Motion for the adjournment of the debate. He had worked hard and long in the cause of reform of Irish University Education; but, so far as he could make out the present Bill, it was for the abolition of University Education in Ireland. It did not even provide a good examination paper-the machinery was bad even for that purpose-and he could say that the men who had the interest of education in Ireland at heart despised the Bill. Irish Members should, at least, have an opportunity of expressing their opinions DR. LYONS hoped his hon. Friends upon it; but those exponents of the would agree to the second reading. The national feeling upon the subject of Bill had been a long time under conIrish University Education had been sideration, and it must be borne in mind kept entirely in the dark with regard to that some years ago the present Governthe Bill. There was a great public ment made an effort to settle this Uniinterest taken in this matter; and, hav-versity Question, and he always regretted ing formerly objected to the inferior character of the education in the Queen's University, he should be false to his principles if he allowed to pass without protest a measure which would make men look back with regret to the Stan-juncture of political circumstances in the dard at that University. He trusted, therefore, an opportunity of discussing the second reading would be given. It was quite impossible to allow that stage to be taken on the present occasion without a sincere protest on the part of Irish Members. that the Bill introduced by the present Prime Minister had not become law. After careful consideration of the subject, he thought no such measure, in all probability, would be possible at any near future. When a great opportunity, given in 1873, was lost, hopes were entertained that another and a greater measure would be introduced; but those hopes had been falsified, and the only possible measure that could be expected was that now introduced. A body of MR. LABOUCHERE reminded the gentlemen, representing the education, House that the Prime Minister had pro-and the religion, and the feelings of Iremised the House, when he asked for the whole of the time of the House, that no controversial matter should be brought forward during the remainder of the Session. Every English Bill had been set aside for the Irish Land Bill; and he would like to know upon what grounds the promise given was to be departed from? It was very clear, from what hon. Gentlemen opposite had said, that this Bill would, at some stage, provoke land, had sat together for a long time, discussing the framework of a measure to be submitted to Parliament; and this Bill was only carrying out the essence of the Act of two years ago. The responsibility of the framework of the present measure did not rest with the Members of the Government; and he was prepared to say that if there was the smallest chance of a larger measure being considered, he would not accept this as the |