656 Notes of the Month on [JUNE, 



age of Great Britain, are Baron Tewkesbury, Viscount Fitzclarence 

 and Earl of Munster, it proceeds : " This just distinction in the person 

 of our beloved Monarch's son, is a source of two-fold gratification, inas- 

 much, as a mark of honour has been conferred on a meritorious officer, 

 without adding to the expenditure of the nation, as the Earl of Egre- 

 mont, the father of the Countess of Munster, has in the most munificent 

 manner settled 8000. per annum on her ladyship.'* The settlement 

 would be an agreeable thing enough ; but, unhappily, it wants con- 

 firmation. 



The John Bull adopts the subject con amore, and upon saying, in its 

 peculiar style, " On this creation there can be but one opinion," takes 

 the " Leading Journal" fiercely to task for the crime of thinking one 

 thing in May 1831, and another in December 1830. How innocent in 

 the history of newspapers must John Bull be ! The December ideas 

 were 



" The irregular scions of a certain illustrious House are becoming trouble- 

 some. We do not wish to be particular : we trust that the young men and 

 women to whom we allude are not so blinded by infatuated conceit as not to 

 take a hint. Is this a time to make claims without SERVICE ? Is the mere 

 accident of left-handed birth to be a ground for honours or wealth ? One 

 thing we can confidently predict. If, as it is said, the clamorous progeny have 

 put forth pretensions which ought not to be listened to, the parent who has 

 magnanimously and patriotically REFUSED the appeal, will have acquired a fresh 

 title to public admiration and affection. It is a maxim of the law that the 

 King can do no wrong. What a noble moral, as well as political comment, on 

 this maxim would it be, ' that the King will do no wrong.' " 



The ideas in May were 



" A peerage, with the rank of an earl, is to be conferred on Colonel Fitz- 

 clarence. The relationship of this gentleman to the fountain of honour, united 

 to his high attainments, moral worth, and professional reputation, entitle him to 

 such a mark of paternal regard ; and the public cannot but rejoice that it will 

 be conferred." 



John forgets the difference of the seasons ; the sour side of politics 

 presented under the gloomy skies of an English winter, and the pro- 

 pensity to look on every thing eouleur de rose, in the rosy month of 

 May. He may rely on our solution of the problem ; the political cholera 

 so far differs from the personal one, that its chief propagation is in the 

 winter. 



We regret to say that the two great champions of political rights and 

 unfettered religion in Ireland, are spreading very unfavourable opinions 

 of each other. Criticisms on general conduct, in the shape of scoundrel, 

 vagabond, and similarly expressive phrases, are passing under the canopy 

 of day, and in the presence of the " finest pisantry under the sun," to 

 the great amusement and edification of all. An election assuredly brings 

 out the bitterness lurking in patriot minds, as French polish the veins in 

 mahogany ; or a game of whist the propensities of a partie quarree of 

 ancient spinsters. Let their bosom friends vouch for the likeness ; we take 

 it for granted on the respective authorities. But where shall we find the 

 tears that are due to broken friendship ? Or how shall Protestants re- 

 member, without agony, that those individuals were, for many years of 

 their lives, compatriots, colleagues, bosom friends, sworn brothers in the 

 cause of "Old Ireland," and yet never suspected each other's good quali- 



