For Private Circulation. 1^ 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 OF THB 
 
 EARL OF DONOUGHMORE 
 
 IN THE 
 
 HOUSE OF LORDS 
 
 During the Debate upon the Address in reply to Her Majesty n 
 gracious Speech, Jan. 6, 1881. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 WILLIAM RIDGWAY, 169, PICCADILLY, W. 
 
 1881. 
 

 BOSTON COLLEGE 
 
SPEECH OF THE EARL OF DONOUGHMORE. 
 
 My Lords, 
 
 It will be in your Lordships' recollection, that, 
 in the month of October last, a deputation waited 
 upon the Lord- Lieutenant and the Chief Secretary, 
 with the view of laying before those authorities 
 the state of things in Ireland. As the individual 
 who had the honour of introducing that deputation, 
 I venture to interpose between your Lordships and 
 the other important items in Her Majesty's gracious 
 speech, with a few words upon the subject which, 
 as the noble Earl (Beaconsfield) has said, engrosses 
 all our minds at the present moment. I cannot 
 speak with the authority of the noble Duke (Marl- 
 borough), who filled with such dignity and ability 
 the high position he occupied under Her Majesty's 
 late Government ; but I can at all events address 
 your Lordships as one who has not been an inactive 
 observer during the last few months, and who, in 
 common with all peace-loving and law-abiding 
 citizens, with every right-minded subject of the 
 Crown who knew the true facts, has watched in 
 shame and consternation the progress of events, 
 
 1 
 
2 
 
 and tlie apparent helplessness of Her Majesty's 
 Government to control them. It appears incon- 
 ceivable, to anyone who pretends to any knowledge 
 of Englishmen, that the great mass of the people of 
 this country can have weighed and appreciated the 
 state of thino's in Ireland — I mean the conditions 
 under which we are now living, and have been 
 living more or less since September. They are 
 only now, and now I believe only partially, awaken- 
 ing; to the truth that a revolution is seethinoj at 
 their doors. Had it been otherwise, things would 
 have been different. I do not believe, had the 
 state of Ireland been really understood by them, 
 had they appreciated the true extent of the revolu- 
 tionary reign of terror by which we have been 
 swayed, that the enlightened people of this civilized 
 country would have permitted the Cabinet to stand 
 by with folded hands, while every function of 
 government was slipping from its grasp into that 
 of a revolutionary faction. 
 
 No, my Lords, it has not been known in this 
 country. The secret has been carefully locked in 
 the Ministerial bosom, and Ministers at least 
 cannot deny that they had a full knowledge of the 
 gravity of the crisis. I don't want to go back to 
 the promises made in this and the other House of 
 Parliament at the beginning of last session, to 
 maintain the authority of the law, and to protect 
 all the Queen's subjects in the peaceable enjoyment 
 of their property and the exercise of their legal 
 
rights. But I take my stand on the deputation 
 that waited upon the Lord- Lieutenant on the 6th 
 of October last. That deputation was received in 
 private, and I will tell your Lordships the reason 
 why. We numbered amongst us men of all creeds, 
 and of all shades of political opinion, and we were 
 desirous, in laying our views before the authorities, 
 that the speakers should state their opinions freely 
 and fully. But there were those amongst us who 
 had statements to make, whose lives, had what 
 they said been made public, would have been in 
 imminent and constantly recurring danger. That 
 was the reason the deputation was private. We 
 were bound to respect what some members of the 
 Cabinet call the " panic " of men who carried their 
 lives in their hands. Well, the Lord-Lieutenant 
 complimented us upon the moderation with which 
 we had stated our case ; and Mr. Forster, who 
 followed him, fully concurred in our estimate of 
 the situation. This is our view of it, as I took it 
 down at the time, and as expressed at the meeting 
 previous to the deputation. 
 
 " That a system of lawless terrorism prevails 
 " over many parts of Ireland, more especially in 
 " the Western portion — a system which is daily 
 "increasing and spreading wherever the meetings 
 " of the Land League take place. 
 
 " That under this system not only are the lives 
 " of landowners, agents, and bailiffs, as well as 
 " those of persons engaged in carrying out the 
 
 1* 
 
" ordinary process of the law, rendered insecure ; 
 "but men of position and stake in the country 
 " are intimidated in their magisterial and county 
 " duties, while respectable and hitherto law- 
 " abiding farmers and tradesmen are forced 
 " against their will to join in combinations against 
 " the rights of property and the maintenance of 
 " order, or are otherwise subjected to a persecu- 
 " tion which places their lives in peril, and is at the 
 " very least aimed at bringing about their ruin. 
 
 " That a state of things is hereby created and 
 " mamtained which ought to be impossible in any 
 " civilized country, enjoying the j)rotection of a 
 " responsible Government ; that the attempts to 
 " enforce the law have become a mockery, and 
 " that the only passport to safety in many parts 
 " of the country is obedience to the orders of 
 " persons whose avowed objects are the carrying 
 " out of a conspiracy against the rights of pro- 
 " perty and the welfare of the Empire. 
 
 " The meeting was therefore desirous to impress 
 " upon Her Majesty's Government the urgency 
 " of losing no further time in taking such measures 
 " as are clearly necessary for the protection of 
 " life and property and the maintenance of law 
 " and order, as it has been proved beyond doubt 
 " that the law as it stands is insufficient to check 
 "crime and outrage in the present crisis." 
 
 This is our estimate, the accuracy of which was 
 admitted, and which involved a further admission 
 
as to the inefficacy of the existing law. So much 
 for the Irish Executive ; but what does your 
 latest addition to the Government say? Mr. 
 Courtney, in his speech to his constituents at 
 Liskeard, when he was fresh from a tour in Mayo 
 and Gal way, and had had an opportunity of judg- 
 ing for himself, makes the following remarks : — 
 
 "What kind of dislocation is it? It has come 
 "to this, that in many parts of the West of 
 " Ireland no man is free to do what he likes. 
 " Everywhere you find men unable to do what 
 " they have done, and would go on doing, in con- 
 " sequence of the terror which is exercised by 
 "the society which has sprung up among them." 
 And again further on he adds ; — 
 " It appears to me that one of the most elemen- 
 "tary aims of society is this, that the man who 
 '•■ gets up in the morning to go forth to his daily 
 " labour shall do so without fear of molestation. 
 " It is equally simple that the man coming home at 
 " night and going to his bed shall have no fear of 
 " midnight attack. And if it comes to this, that 
 " a man against whom no charge can be made is 
 " exposed in his daily life and toil to threats and 
 " to injuries — is exposed to murderous attack by 
 " night or to outrage by day — then I confess that 
 " it becomes with me a serious reflection that, 
 " whatever may be the work to be done in the 
 " future, there is some work to be done in the 
 " present." 
 
6 
 
 Well, in October the terrorism was only partial, 
 but it had spread from its original centre, and 
 both the deputation at the Castle, and later on 
 Mr. Courtney at Liskeard, spoke words of warning. 
 I myself pointed out that it showed itself wherever 
 the Land League placed its cloven foot. Mr. 
 Courtney says : — 
 
 " You have to deal with a sort of brief mad- 
 "ness. The people willingly live in peace and 
 " quietness, but the madness has run among them 
 " and will run further." 
 
 And those warnings have been fully realized. 
 There is hardly a district in Ireland which is not 
 inoculated with the disease. The arguments of 
 the Land League are no doubt too strong for the 
 ordinary passions of human nature, appealing as 
 they do to the moral principles of the peasantry 
 by the substantial prizes they hold out, while the 
 roughs and the ratteners, armed with the revolver, 
 the firebrand, the billhook, and the other insignia 
 of terrorism, do the rest. But in spite of seductive 
 arguments, there are hundreds and thousands of 
 honest men in Ireland, who, were it not for the 
 terrorism, from which they have no protection, 
 would still act up to their principles. And this is 
 one of the gravest charges the Government have to 
 meet. They have undermined the morality of the 
 people. They have driv^en honest men into dishonest 
 courses. They have handed them over to the con- 
 tamination of the desperado classes. Dr. Webb 
 
puts it clearly in his very valuable pamphlet, 
 "Confiscation or Contract," when he writes : — 
 
 " This population, like every other population, 
 " contains its disaffected and its desperado classes, 
 " and it is these that keep Ireland disturbed by a 
 " smouldering civil war. It is these who at the 
 " present moment are mutilating cattle, and assas- 
 " sinatinof men, and wreakino; their vengfeance 
 " upon women and young children. Any English- 
 " man would smile contemptuously if anyone were 
 " to describe the ratteners of Sheffield and the 
 " roughs of London as the English people. But 
 " that is the very mistake which he himself makes 
 " whenever he begins to talk of Ireland. No, the 
 " outrages which excite the horror and arouse the 
 " indignation of the world are not j)ei'P^^^'^^^^ ^7 
 " ' the high-souled Irish people ;' they are per- 
 " petrated by the ratteners and roughs of Ireland." 
 
 Now, my Lords, I don't wish to waste your 
 time with details — there are plenty of them, and 
 he who runs may read — but I could bring your 
 Lordships case upon case upon my own property, 
 where there has not been for five-and-twenty years, 
 I may say ever since the great famine, the slightest 
 trouble or disagreement. There has always been the 
 most cordial feeling. And I Avish to say now, my 
 Lords, that in my opinion, and in spite of what is 
 passing, that friendly feeling subsists still. Mr. 
 Campbell-Bannerman told his constituents at 
 Stirling the other day, that there is not, and never 
 
8 
 
 has been, any real sympathy between the Irish 
 landlord and Irish tenant. This is incorrect. In 
 the great majority of cases, the tenant looks to the 
 landlord for advice and assistance, not only in his 
 agricultural career, but in the incidents of his 
 social life. Anyone who has read the letters in 
 the Times from a Special Correspondent, which have 
 been appearing lately, will recognize how largely 
 this feeling exists. And what I have said of my 
 own property, I may say of neighbouring estates. 
 The district has enjoyed for many years a peaceful 
 and quiet reputation. But look at it now. On 
 the 5th of November last, the Land League came 
 down with its satellites, and held a meeting in 
 Clonmel ; and now the organization is perfect and 
 complete. It cannot be better described than it is 
 by a friend and neighbour of mine — an assiduous 
 magistrate, the Chairman of the local Board of 
 Guardians, and one who has personal knowledge 
 and acquaintance with almost every farmer in the 
 district. This is what he says : — 
 
 " A law enforced by outrage and terrorism is 
 " established in the country, and the law of 
 " England is powerless or in abeyance. What good 
 " then appealing to its forms for redress, or to 
 " assert your rights ? You can gain nothing, for 
 " at this moment no bailiff can with safety to his 
 " life serve a writ for the sheriff or a superior 
 '' court. Nine-tenths of the farmers are holding 
 " back rents through fear and threats that they 
 
" will be burnt out and beaten. I know many 
 " such near here. Several have told me so, and 
 " have begged me not to ask for my rent till all is 
 " settled, which they confidently hope will be 
 " soon after Parliament meets." 
 
 That is a true description of the state of things 
 where I reside ; but I should like to tell your Lord- 
 ships, in order to show the power of this Land 
 League, a case that came to my notice, and 
 occurred in a different part of Ireland altogether. 
 A friend of mine in the West told me that his 
 tenants came to him a couple of months ago, say- 
 ing they were prepared to pay their rent in full, 
 and only awaited his order to do so. They 
 acknowledged his liberality to them during the 
 previous bad seasons, but stated that, notwithstand- 
 ing what he had done for them, all their little 
 savings had been swept away. They therefore 
 asked him, not as a right, to consider their case — 
 to give them, if he thought fit, some slight abate- 
 ment. My friend considered the case, and finally 
 made a reduction of 10 per cent., which was 
 joyfully accepted ; and the whole body of tenants 
 paid, and went away in a high state of gratification, 
 vowing that no power on earth would make them 
 join the Land League. My friend left home for 
 three weeks, and on his return found every one of 
 those men enrolled in the League; and from those 
 whom he had an opportunity of asking their 
 reasons for joining, he had the stereotyped reply : 
 
10 
 
 — " We have wives, children, houses, cattle, crops; 
 " we cannot run the risk "of being murdered or 
 " beaten ourselves, of having our wives and 
 " children ill-treated, our houses burned over our 
 " heads, our stock and haggards destroyed." And 
 I venture to affirm that, had the rent-day been but 
 three weeks later, not one pennj- of rent would 
 have been received. 
 
 But it isn't only the farmers who suffer ; it is 
 every honest man, be he shopkeeper, farmer, or 
 what you will. Traders cannot any longer get 
 goods from wholesale houses on credit ; their 
 custom diminishes day by day ; they have no 
 security for their outstanding debts. The functions 
 of the Landed Estates Court have practically 
 ceased. Insurance Companies, and other lenders, 
 will no longer advance money upon Irish real 
 property. The officers of the law cannot perform 
 their duties. Some are resigning their offices in 
 despair. And we have, besides all this, the 
 cardings, the Boycottings, the houghings of cattle, 
 acquittals of guilty prisoners, undiscovered criminals 
 without number, sacrilege and murder unpunished. 
 All this the Government have watched growing, 
 and have never stirred a finger. They stand 
 convicted by the progress of events. This is the 
 lesson they have taught the people. 
 
 " The lesson which the English Government has 
 "conveyed to its Celtic subjects by its conduct 
 ^' since last May, in the matter of the Irish rising, 
 
11 
 
 " cannot be more pithily expressed than in the 
 " three short English words, ' Do it again.' " 
 
 This, with a slight alteration in words, is taken 
 from the opening paragraph of " Lessons iti 
 Massacre," an exposition of the conduct of the 
 Porte in and about Bulgaria, by the Right Hon. 
 W. E. Gladstone, m.p., with the following 
 motto : — 
 
 "Away, with me, all yon whose souls abhor 
 The uncleanly savours of a slaughter-house 
 For I am stifled with the smell of sin." 
 
 And how has this policy of the Government, as 
 regards Ireland, been defended ? There are two 
 modes of defence which have struck me parti- 
 cularly — one, by denouncing your Lordships' 
 House in the matter of the Disturbance Bill; the 
 other, by assigning a reason for the agitation which 
 in my opinion, is as misleading as it is ill-founded. 
 
 The Prime Minister has told the country, that 
 the rejection of the Compensation for Disturbance 
 Bill by your Lordships' House was the fons et origo 
 malorum. Well, I hardly think the proposition 
 will bear investigation on the face of it, and 
 your Lordships are not likely to forget that Mr. 
 Gladstone's card has been over-trumped by Mr. 
 Parnell. But I desire to remind your Lordships of 
 what was laid down not once, but several times, in 
 this House during the debate on the Bill, and, if 
 my memory serves me right, in the other House 
 
12 
 
 also. The mischief of the Disturbance Bill was 
 complete, not when it was rejected by Lordships, 
 but on theday that its principle was adopted by the 
 Government. You proposed that contract should be 
 violable, not only with impunity, but with advan- 
 tage to the violator. You denied the principle, but 
 you could not eradicate it, and it has ever since 
 been the first article of the agitator's creed. 
 
 And now, my Lords, for the reasons, the objects 
 of this agitation. The idea prevails among think- 
 ing men in England, that there must be some deep- 
 rooted disease in the Irish system to cause all this 
 tumult. Nothing of the sort. Anyone who has 
 studied the subject must see that this cry about 
 land is only raised as a means to an end. None of 
 the arch-agitators, with one exception, have, or 
 ever had, any concern with land ; their avowed 
 object is not to reform the Land Laws, but to ex- 
 propriate the present landowners, with the ultimate 
 view of the dismemberment of the Empire. That 
 is a part of the substance of the indictment brought 
 ajrainst Mr. Parnell and his associates for con- 
 spiracy, and against the Government as accessories 
 after the fact, at the Four Courts in Dublin by the 
 Attorney-General for Ireland. It is not the cry of 
 a majority that are discontented, but of a minority 
 who are disloyal. Study the policy of the Parnell- 
 ite party. Its first object was to render Parlia- 
 mentary Government in England impossible as 
 lonfr as the Irish element remained; its next, to 
 
13 
 
 drive out of Ireland, by making their existence 
 there unbearable, those who were loyal to the 
 English connection. It is on the surface in all 
 their speeches. I need not remind your Lordships 
 of the oft-quoted words of Mr. Parnell at Galway 
 — " I would not have taken off my coat and gone 
 " to this work, if I had not known that we were 
 " laying the foundation in this movement for the 
 " regeneration of our national independence." Or 
 again at Cincinnati — " Let us not forget that this 
 " is the ultimate goal at which all we Irishmen 
 " aim. None of us, whether in America or in 
 " Ireland, or wherever we may be, will be satisfied 
 " until v/e have destroyed the last link which keeps 
 '' Ireland bound to England." The settlement of 
 the Land Question is entirely distinct from this. 
 This is a revolution, the primary object of which 
 is robbery, the ultimate aim — separation. 
 
 My Lords, I said the Government was con- 
 demned by the progress of events. They are 
 also condemned by the verdict of history. They 
 are condemned by the operation of their own West- 
 meath Act, and, not to multiply instances, they 
 are condemned by the experience of 1797 and '98. 
 The analogy is perfect. For the Duke of Portland, 
 read Mr. Gladstone ; for Lord Camden, Mr. Forster ; 
 for United Irishmen, the Land League ; for the 
 introduction of French principles, American sym- 
 pathizers. You have the Irish Executive asking 
 for further powers, the Cabinet urging remedial 
 
14 
 
 legislation. It is the old story over again. There 
 is an unreasonable agitation, and what does the 
 Government do? Instead of enforcing the law, it 
 begins to think of legislation. And now, my Lords, 
 you are to be asked to legislate. I don't wish to 
 prejudge the question. I must, however, take this 
 opportunity of correcting an error that fell from 
 my noble friend the mover of the address (Lord 
 Carington). He stated that, though there were 
 many landlords in Ireland Avho were what are 
 called "good landlords," they composed the 
 minority of the class. My Lords, in this my noble 
 friend has been misinformed. He will find on 
 investigation, and by statistics which I hope will 
 shortly be in his hands, that the contrary is the 
 case — and those of your Lordships who are 
 acquainted with the subject will recollect, that if 
 the charge is ever brought specifically against any, 
 it is chiefly levelled against that comparatively 
 small number who bought with a Parliamentary 
 title from the Encumbered Estates Court. I said 
 I did not wish to prejudge the question. I merely 
 ask your Lordships to consider. Is this the moment 
 for legislation? In the month of May, 1797, 
 Lord Camden Avrote as follows to the Duke of 
 Portland : — 
 
 '^ You ask whether His Majesty should be 
 " advised to accede to a concession which is made 
 " the excuse of rebellion. Rebellion must first he 
 '^ overcome y 
 
15 
 
 And further on — " I cannot conceal how melan- 
 " choly a presage I consider the system to which 
 " we appear to have been forced, of yielding to 
 " the demands of persons who have arms in their 
 " hands." 
 
 And the Government have asked us for sympa- 
 thy. My answer to that is, show a Uttle sympathy 
 yourselves first. I have been unable to detect any 
 sympathy with those gentlemen with small or mode- 
 rate properties, say up to £5000 a year, who may 
 be called the backbone of county society, and who 
 at this moment do not know where to turn for a 
 five-pound note. This is the Government sym- 
 pathy ; this is how it is shown. By the studious 
 silence of your Secretary for War, during his 
 progress through Ireland — where crime and out- 
 rage was being perpetrated before his eyes, and 
 the murdered Lord Mountmorres, hardly yet 
 cold, was lying in that deserted house, a reproach 
 to Mr. Childers and the Government of which he 
 was a member. Not a reproof, not a regret, not 
 a word passed his lips. By the cynical indifference 
 of the Prime Minister, when Captain Boycott 
 prayed redress for the wrongs he had endured 
 by your failure to perform your first duties. My 
 Lords, in the long catalogue of crime and horrors, 
 there is hardly any occurrence to my mind so 
 damaging to the reputation of the Government as 
 this case of Captain Boycott. He was the proto- 
 martyr of his class, which is now a large and 
 
16 
 
 widely extended one. He was a living testimony 
 of the lawlessness that existed; but not one 
 attempt did the Government undertake to restore 
 order, until they were forced to action by a hand- 
 ful of honest men, who refused to tolerate so 
 glaring an abuse ; and when he comes to you for 
 redress, your leader wilfully misunderstands his plea, 
 but condescends to tell him, now that he is done 
 with and has no further interest in the matter, that 
 " the law will be amended and enlarged." And, 
 lastly, your sympathy is evinced by the fierce 
 exultation of Mr. Bright, at the report that a 
 large and hitherto influential class of his fellow 
 subjects were running for their lives. My Lords, 
 the time will, I hope, come when we shall look 
 back upon 1880 in Ireland as a bad and horrible 
 dream ; but the memory of the Government that 
 tolerated its atrocities will remain, stamped with 
 the censure and the condemnation of a civilized 
 age. 
 
 O. NORMAN AND SON, PRINTERS, 29, MAIDEN LANE, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
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