Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/202

 1 88 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1822- The Parliament which could not deal with the great reli- gious subject which agitated Ireland, found time during its last session to pass an Act relating to the not less fruitful cause of anxiety, the tenure of the land in that country. The statute 7th George IV. c. 29 was " An Act to amend the law of Ire- land respecting the assignments and sub-letting of lands and tenements," and its object was to prevent the sub-letting of property by a lessee, whether the original lease did or did not contain a covenant against sub-letting. The point to be noticed with respect to this Act is, that it formed one of the continued series of attempts to assimilate the Irish land laws to those of England, although the customs and the facts underlying them were essentially different. The Irish tenant had a right of property in his holding quite unlike that of an English farmer, and legislation of this sort was an attempt to interfere with the exercise of the right, which, however it might seem to English economists to be wise and prudent, was essentially unjust. Such a method of treating the land question was merely a preparation for trouble in the future. It was carried easily, of course, for there was no representative of the Irish tenantry in the House of Commons, and no land- lord thought it wrong to support the interests of his class, or had an idea that any system of land tenure which differed from that of England could be worthy of respect. This deep- rooted cause of dissatisfaction in Ireland did not make itself felt in the Radical party at the time ; but after emancipation, and when even a portion of the tenant farmers obtained the franchise, it became a political element of great importance. The session was closed on the 3ist of May, and on the 2nd of June Parliament was formally dissolved, the writs for the election to be returnable on the 25th of July. The general election which followed was not marked by any striking events likely to affect the balance of parties. Any direct addition to the ranks of avowed Radicalism was not to be expected ; the conditions of the suffrage and the character of the constituencies rendered that impossible. Cobbett and Hunt both offered themselves, the one for Preston and the