opposed by Earl Fitzwilliam,
who said that he was opposed to the whole principle of poor-laws. As for
the present bill, he said, it could never be carried into effect; it
was not an Irish bill, nor was it a bill desired either by the landed
interests, the middling gentry, or the poorest classes of Ireland.
The Marquis of Londonderry also opposed the bill; while the Duke of
Wellington recommended their lordships to give it a second reading, with
a view of amending it in committee. Lord Lynd-hurst, having adverted to
the unpopularity of the bill in Ireland, and cautioned their lordships
against setting themselves up as better judges than the Irish people
themselves of what was best calculated to promote the interests of that
nation, said he should not object to a trial of the bill, provided
he thought that they would, in the event of failure, return to their
original situation. His lordship then stated his various objections to
the proposed bill; but, in conclusion, intimated his intention of voting
for the second reading, in the hope that it might be brought into a
better state in committee. The Marquis of Clanricarde, Lord Brougham,
and the Marquis of Westmeath opposed the bill; and Lord Radnor and the
Earl of Devon supported it. On a division the second reading was
carried by a majority of one hundred and forty-nine against twenty.
In committee, Earl Fitzwilliam moved an am end-mend to the forty-first
clause, by which he limited the relief under the bill to age, bodily
infirmity, &c.; and he was supported by Lord Fitzgerald and Vesci, who
contended that the operations of the bill would be mischievous; but
it was not carried. On the 31st the latter noble lord moved another
amendment, empowering the guardians to relieve in poor-houses "all
destitute persons who are either incurably lame, or blind, or sick, or
labouring under permanent bodily infirmity;" also all orphan children
left in a state of destitution. Ministers, however, succeeded in
carrying the original clause of the bill by a majority of one hundred
and seven to forty-one. Subsequently some amendments were made in the
minor details of the bill, and it was read a third time on the 9th of
July, and carried by a majority of ninety-three against thirty-one.
The momentous experiment, therefore, of introducing a poor-law into a
country where the people were everywhere opposed to it was to be tried.

PROJECTED FORMATION OF A COLONY IN NEW ZEALAND, ETC.

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