THE NEW IRISH PEACE BILL.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 213, 14 June 1848, Page 4

THE NEW IRISH PEACE BILL.

You refused a Coercion Kill, says an Irish Member to Ministers when (hue were fifty murders a montli and now you a-.lv for one when there aie only nineteen murder a month. Nut Sir Gcoipe Giey hud aheady ihown, that if the crimes in all Ireland mc fewer than they hud been at other peiioda, there is an alarming incrcaite in pertain distiicti. The statistics fail to rouke out the who'o case. If the '' homicides " (the ofiirial euphemism for muni et ) wei eto rtneh four pluci'B in figiues the fret would foil to ciente any vciy powerful sensnton : the sight of n c iiigle blonrt-M ined bullet o( llie hundieds (hut havo been rd-lened tin's season would do more than the most multitudinous fibres, Arithmetic ia too abstract for eloquence awl feeling. On the other hand, the eases whiih Sir (icoi|»e reo,irrB aiotoo few and 100 meagie in the coimtiy m wlheh they occur. The di»t.mt reader, for whom these ticscaptions are piepaied, must (ill up thcpirtuio by the cxcjniho of the. fancy. Imagination must vivity the, dry statistics. A(' srleton 01 a Levi i c>tn teach inoio, j in quantify, in vivulntbß, and u> liutb, than these dry "M.n'ts"; the tiling wuiUii being a full idea of the J mh>i«l 'liile vvhuh pervades the cuminal districts. It v, not licence Mr. Woe or !^ay>r Mahon bus been wnmlcrcd that vc i.H a^ioo to n Coercion Act, but because the bonds of society »re loosened ; nm\ such lettns as those leciived bi Mr. and Mis. M'Cuubland spcuk moic than the actual "homicidt s." The leader llien, must use these raw nut c rials ol " fads and liguies" to periouu foi himselt lb.o ofueo of a Curli.loii or a Lever. When Khotr,, not till of ihcm aimleßS arc heard cveiy lialf-lioui in the da\— when bonhich M night are the illmnmiition (01 ioim di-.ith actually i. dieted —it is not difficult to paint tin ft c lings in wlmli ll.ose of the victim class mui.t jt.isi the bourn. One can see tho family of tiic landlo:<! gathered round (he dinneitable, start at tbr sound ol the gnnoutsiuV, not merely as sensitive youun; ladies in Kngland will jump, but hb lliose do who fanuliary n-Hociate lie idea of human dcntli with the hound of the iowling-peioo. Just^ as the butler removes the first cover— hark! there's a gun I AH eyes- are turned towards tho father of the house, and aie rcassmed by his piescncc. No shriek or outcry. The dinner goes on : it ia half over —Another! They listen again; but all are together, the fanvliarity makes danger not ho fearful. It is otherwise in the house on the next property. The family are waiting for dinner: the quick dull blow of a «unHhot in tho car strikes dismay in the ab-, scmbled drawing room—Papa has not yet come in 1 But he dors come in presently ; though gloomy and disordered, because as he walked among his own people, servilely bowing to his "honour," he recognized in the savage restlessness of their glitteiing eyes that fierce levity which might make them his assassins the next instant : it was indeed a toss-up whether he ihould reach the hall-door alive : and he w.v.ks along nodding to bis futuic assassins, bin body coated with the stiff uneasy consciousness that it is viewed by the eyes of deadly spoilsmen. For in Ireland, the landloid is the game on his own preset vc. Asain, in the housr on the next gt omuls, the dinner-bell has lung when the fust shot is hcaid— but no one goes to thu diningroom, for papa is out : there is a running about the lands— a bustle in the hull— the lady oi the bouse leave the room, followed by her daughters— somebody lms bc-cd hurt : "it ts po,»a -," Yes, there lie lies, a ghastly sight even for alien eyes, but one that those gentle eyes never forget. In the agent's house not far off, the shot is heard, the people look to the doors and windowo ; for this house is not bo Rtiongly dofen<led. 15ut the agent had escaped this time The two other great families hastened ofl, while yet alive, to 3)ubl in : thcii agents cannot bo easily abm don the place on which a livelihood depends ; although the postman has distributed a cncular all lound threaten ing death, bo the women remain pnoontrs i" the house, for muidcr is abroad in tho stieets and fields. j Mike Doherty there, who is lunning with one shoe on, is known to have been a murderer bcfoie, and looks as if be had just been so attain. The servants about the house— are they terror stricken that they cannot see the obvious JDoherty, or aie they in league j with bun ? are they too murdereis ? how many of j them ? Alas !no one can tell ; and the family must sleep at nights content 10 run the chance of having n murderer more or less on the premises, 'ihe spectacle of men practising the art of murder, by shooting at an old hut, is too common to be a wondtrroeut. So life goe3 on, till the pound of shots by day and the bla'/c of fires by night giow a familiar gosmp like tho eruption of the mountain to the inhabitants near a vulCdhO. The effectual application of Sir George Grey's Bill to such a neighbourhood would totally alter the daily sispt t-t of the place. The half hour guns would cease ; the moßt familiar object abroad, in place oi ragamuffin idlers practising at a mark or loitering assaisins on the watch for the coming of " their murdered man," -would be a number of gieen-coated I'ohcemen, with guns on their shoulders— weapon* seldom sounding, sind always giving a sense of piotcction instead of danger ; the ragged felons mnning about in all the mud excitement or blood would have retreated, either skulking at home in harmless moodincss, or at laet retiicing to iudustrious work. But now the terror would be 1 ramfcrred lo diP.'erent abodcß. Once more the women at the great house would breath at casr. If a nim wero heard a cheek mighl be pale, but hope would remain ; for papa would be well protected. It is in the cabin now that the sound would bin'ko teiror. The wife would ch'sp her hind and look out s " Oh ! is it Mike that has braved the law and bi ought it down upon himself? 18 it Mike that has to ro to prison, and be banged, or sent out of the lam) ? is it Mike that is helping to keep that teniblc Police watching the neighbourhood, levying a black mail on the poor people to pay for that gLf.en-coated army of occupation ? is it Mike that ib that wicked fool ?" Mike rus lies in tcnor-sti ilten. "Oh ! is it you, Mike ?" no, no ; he i 3 not the guilty fool. Some one bnnga at llie door. ] « It is I, Mike, (says a hou'e xoice;) open the door : j they are after me !" But Mike lis'enH without surxing ; un oath, a rubh ot feet, w silenc. — Put Biaghnan lias gone. Two Policemen run up : Mike opens the dooi; he proves that Braghnnn is not theje; the Policemen, however, tuin out the protesting Mike; the whole country is nstir ; Braghnan is hunted from cabin to cabin, through bm,h and biakc* be is found bkulking in a ditch ; and Mike is set free, rejoicing, peibaps for the fust lime in his life, in the practical immunity of innocence. It is those in the cabin that now listen with feur to the sound of the gun— they have ceased to be the privileged class : they long for the time when those hated but (cared Police shall be taken away, they groan at tne sound of every gun that renews the lease ol those deleted lodgers, they begin to hate and despise the fools that help to keep them there by their semeless playing with deadly weapom, and tet <' ,-, mho o lions policextax— not to be evaded by c<ij.>li',ij— life ftdel.t dguiufil such luwlecs neighbours, ' now abide. The strong )ron band of the law mon the whole people ; the cwn.i v.l community has btraggled i» vt,in ; it, knows Uh maijtvr, nu<JL cqucliqs down, trerubbngi subdued and ipnet.

No shots nit' heaid. Perfect pence ici»ns all around. The giccn-coatcd men arc collected ; they marched nw.iy, nnd seen no moie. The Riihdiird distiict isnnce moie fice. No one Übicmk in tan. l( the landlord and Ins childien no longrc shrink at lhe sight of the firmed ra^ iiuudm, tho labourer mid lii« wi/c no iongpi eour af (lie si^lit of (he armed policemen. Crime has been pnul for, l)i(ti'ily, in trilnilnliou, ii\ the hind coin of tli« polie.o <ax ; \n cnufisscd vnnquiiJiment—l lie hardest oi «11 poßsibio pfimllics Withont a present police ov Iho instant teiror of penally, the 6pnif ol law abides in the pl.icc. Such is Uie olimp;o which may be realized In th" lawless ilistrict, (iffp> Sir Genigp Ony's lidl ili/ill /kivp 'ivcn offecfnafi/ can ivduul.— Spectator.

Womi N. — Woinoi) havo more strength in thi'lr look than we Ji.ivr in our law.", and more j)i,wei by lliei r rearg than we liavo by out m^iimeuls. Tho prototyjin of a rcnl lady is to bo always natural nml liniinrctcii, nml to wear her talents )icr i.cc.ompliNlnniSntB nml her h timing, as wi-11 as t lit* newent find liiust diohSCfl, us il alio did not know she hud them about her.