CHAPTER III
IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
The Irish Party in London—Sergeant Shee, William Keogh Frederick Lucas, George Henry Moore—Public dinner in London—Leaders in the House of Commons—Mr. Disraeli—Characteristic anecdotes—Lord John Russell, Mr. Gladstone, Lord Palmerston—Tête-à-tête with Sir Joshua Walmsley—Mr. Roebuck-Dinner at Richard Cobden's—Conversation with Bright and Sharman Crawford—Vigilance of the Irish Party—Their Bill read a second time—Petition against my qualification—The evidence of Mr. O'Hara—Decision in my favour—Vote of Want of Confidence formulated—Negotiations between the Government and the League Party—Lord Derby declares in Parliament that he will never accept the principles of Crawford's Bill—The Leaguers consequently vote against him, and the Government falls—The Aberdeen Government gives office to John Sadleir and William Keogh—Indignation in Ireland—Sadleir loses his seat—When Parliament reassembled seventeen members of the Irish Party deserted to the Government—Diary—A love poem—Select Committee on the Land Bills—Sharman Crawford deserts his own Bill.
Parliament met on the 4th of November,[1] 1852. The Queen's Speech announced that her advisers meditated a liberal and generous policy towards Ireland; and at an unusually early period four Bills, designed to regulate the Land Question in all its branches, were submitted to the
- ↑ A comical incident befell me on my first journey to Parliament. The carriage from Holyhead was occupied by tour or five intelligent young men, and the talk gradually fell on Ireland and the condition of the Irish tenantry. A vigorous, enthusiastic young squire expressed strong opinions against the tenantry as greedy and dishonest, and I ventured to suggest that the greed and dishonesty were to be found a good deal on the other side. "Sir," he said, "turning his angry brow full on me, "I ought to know the facts, I am an Irish member of Parliament and I have lived nearly sixteen years in that country." "Sir," I rejoined, smiling, "I ought to know even better, for I am an Irish member of Parliament, and I have lived six-and-thirty years in that country." A hearty laugh from our audience declared that my competitor had not won that trick.
46
