The Sun. — London, England, 1829-01-23 00:00:00

MEETING OF THE-FRIENDS OF CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY, ON TUESDAY, AT THE ROTUNDA, DUBLIN. On Tuesday last the great meeting of the Friends of Civil and Religiceis Liberty wan held at the Rotunda, in Dublin. Nothing could exceed the in terest which attached to this assemblage of persons of all ranks and of every religious persuasion. The meeting comprised a representation of the chief part of the landed .property of the- country, and the speakers were principally Protestant gentlemen, who have not hitherto taken a part in the political struggles which have been permitted so long and so unhappily to impair and distract the interests of this afflicted country. It was impossible to behold this meeting, when the chair was taken by the Duke of Leinster at half-past twelve o'clock. without being struck with the deep and intense interest which attaches to poli tical questions in this country. The . Rotunda is a circular building, capacious enough to afihrd accom modation to 4,000 or 5,000 persons. It was filled in every part. The platform was occupied by the chief speakers and a considerable body of country gentlemen. The area in front was filled with one dense mass of people, apparently of the middling classes. There were elevated seats for the ladies in convenient positions, and many of the first fami lies in Dublin took their stations upon them. Among the nobility present we observed Lords Cloncurry; Bective, Dunally, Milltown, Glengall, Rossmore, Clanmorris, Killeen, Gormanstown, Forbes, Riversdale, Clernents Howth, Mr. Cha loner, of York, who represented Earl here, Count Magatney. Of the Baronets there were—Sir John Newport, Thomas Esmonde, Charles Styles, Marcus Somerville, C. Morgan, F. • Macdonnell, &c. Mr. Brownlow, M.P., Mr. Teite, "M.P., Mr. Van Homrigh, M.P., Hon. Robert King, N. LP. Denham Jephson, - . M.P., Thomas Lloyd, - 3L1 ) ., Dominick Browne, M.P., Colonel Fitz gerald, of Geraldine, county Kildare ; Colonel Drought, Mr. Berwick, William Crawford, of - Fermoy ; Robert • Roe, of sans Scowl ; Hon. David Plunkett, John Power, of Kil feacle ; Richard .. Trench, Henry Napier, Richard Sinclair, Daniel O'Connell, William Shannon Craw furd, Captain Francis Evans, Hon. E. Preston, Louis Perrin (King's Counsel), Gerald Deere, O'Farrell of Ballisea, &c. Among the country gentlemen were the Ponsonbys, the Powers of Ka keußy aad Waterford, the Prestons, the Bovsce's.of Wexford, the :Sappers of Meath, the Tiglues, the W yges of Waterford, the sons of O'Connor Don, and the heads of the principal families in the different counties of Irehmd. The gentleman of the bar were aletrin pretty full attendance—Nlr. O'Connell, Mr. Shiel, Mr. Leader, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. C u thbert. The mercantile interests were also engaged in these - proceedings, and commercial property to an im mense amount was likewise represented in the room. Upon the Duke of LEINSTER taking the chair (nn the motion of Alderman l'l'Kenny, seconded by Colonel Fitzgerald), the applause was loud and universal, His Grace briefly , addressed the Meet ing, hoping that the gentlemen who should address them would be at brief as possible, and confine themselves solely to the regular business of the day, which met necessarily be of long duration. If was very desirable they should try and finish without an adjournment, and he hoped the Meeting would contribute to promote that object.—(Hear.) Seeretariee were then eppointed;eand the Rev. E. GROVES (one of them) read the different letters of the noblemen and gentlemen who were unavoid ebly absent in England. The Hon. ROBERT KING, M.P. for Cork, having come forward, amid loud cheering, My Lord Duke—A, resolution has beeneommitted to me to propose for the consideration of this meet ing, which I shall beg to preface by observing, how highly gratifying it is to behold rank and influence in this present assembly united for the attainment of one common object, and that object its regards Ire land the most vitally' importimt, namely emancipa tion. tinder present circumstances it is demanded by the highest considerations that van influence man, iustiee, sound policy, and humanity towards an un fortunate, distracted, and hitherto misgoverned coun try. With respect to emancipation, I am indeed a sincere and ardent friend, but then it must - be with; out any compromise of principles; with regard to securities, I know none more binding than the affec tions of a grateful people. I am happy meal among the Protestants of the county Cork the cause I will not - say of the Catholics, but that of justice and of it - eland, advances daily. To the Noble Marquis, to him who has been the proximate cause of this bleesisig, the gratitude of this ,country is for ever due; hut for nothing more than that inestimable legacy, his parting admonition, comprieed in that never-tc-be-forgetteo letter to Dr. Curtis, A pro.. c s haracterizeel by the soundest and most states manlike views. Mr. D. LATOUCHE seconded the resolution. Mr. Jolts ill`Caeh, a Methodist preacher, thought to interrupt .he harmony' of the meeting at this stage of the proceedings, but was called to order by the Noble Chaieman, who said, that as the gentle man was not a sapporter of the objects contem plated by the requisitionists, he could not be heard at this hour; if, however, the gentleman remained till the business of the day was gone through, he should then be heard with patience. The motion was then put, and carried unani mously. Lord DUNALLY—My Lord Duke and Gentle men, I have the honour to move the adoption of the second resolution. I shall at present only say, it is my decided opinion, and I speak from an intimate knowledge of the state of Ireland, that neither peace, harmony, nor prosperity can exist here, until order is restored, and the union of ell classes ce mented, by a Bill, granting to the Catholics full, free, and unrestricted emancipation. (Loud and 'continued appie;:se-) Mr. Bovsee, of the cr , unty of Wexford—My Lord Duke, I trust I can apprec;ate, as it is meet I should do, the too flattering distinction irrinlied in the per"- mission now given me to second the resolution which we bare just beard read. lam of opinion, and ever have been, that all laws which go to con stitute religious belief a test or qualifleatlon CM' eligi bility to civil franchises, are in themselves unjust, tyrannical, absurd ; and that slavery, be civil, political, or religious, cannot co-exist, and, in point of fact, never has co-existed, with the fair developee ment of the national resources of any people. If I am right in this, I think it a corollary presumebly, if not technically deducible from the proposition, that the least fallible tests, the best securities, and the soundest guarantees of a nation's greatness, are to be sought atone in a fuil, free, and unrestricted enjoyment of the rights of conscience,and the rights of citizenship. It', then, I be asked to adduce a verification of my dictum, I will refer toa country whose wretchedness is such as to defy every attempt an description. Yes, to that transceedantly wretched country, which has called together here to day, to plead her cause, to break a lance in her constitu tional battle—to minister to her_ urgent wants—to senotrate her drooping hopes, and, eventually, as I do mist, (notwithstanding whatever 'of indecent levity or diplomatic dissimulation her, - rernonstrances may have to encounter in high places) to elaborate her prosperity and repose, has called tegethei, I say, here to-day, her noblest, _" virtuest, discreetest sons." Look around vou, my Lord Duke, and tell me whether her appeal has been made in vain. My proposition then and its inference will admit of no more fitting illustration, than that which wotild result from contrasting the actnal moral and civil phrases, which fi our own, sad in the sister island, at this moment present themselves to the mintl's.eye of a diecerning and candid observer. In the one, rnan walks erect and fearless, in the sublime conecions oess--in the eomentuding attitude of his noble and exalted nature - Lard of dieliou beatt end eagle-eye." But what,is the"state of Ireland l oh ! curse on the contrtist.i fifer!, we have the withering and irras tional subjection of tjte di.sfranchised millions, to the acrogat andit.aesrtit)ible supremacy of the priyileed few—here, consequently, we have the acrimonious and rancorous inveteracy, the servile insincerity, the phrenzied fanaticism, the unchristian separableness; with all the full and uncontrolled plavof those malignant anti-social and fiendish passions, which are naturally and necessarily engendered by a system of monopoly and as naturally nurtured by unequal laws—blast►ng the very elements of manufacturing, agricultural, co►n me►'eial opulence ; obstructing, the profitable appli cation of capital to the vast and unrivalled phys►cal capabilities of our country ; depriving toilsome in dustry of its best, and most legit►mate incentive, the 1 1 antic►pation of a fair and adequate remuneration ; I consequently the soul ces of national revenue; adding fresh power to those repulsive forces, which are already rending asunder the foundations of our social edifice ; and lighting up the baleful fires of discord through a fainting, a devoted land ! Is this p►cture overcharged ! Let those who are in the habit of traversing our provinces furnish the reply. Merciful God ! is it not heart-rending to reflect that the issues of the destinies and interests of Eng- land's empire, should at this day remain depending upon minds of such pigmy stature, as those which have doomed our country, not merely to national nothingness, but even to provincial insignificance. But I would fain whisper in the ear of England, and would to God that an admonitory voice, so feeble as mine, might for one moment make itself heard in its counsels ! I would fain say to her— Oh ! read once again, previously to the reassembling of your senate—before Leland a prostrate, it is true, but still a gigantic supplicant, again knocks and kneeli at its doors—before she again send up in the face of heaven the expostulatory cry of her millions, as it were the try of one man, while the nations agltast and awe-struk *Wait in listening breathless ness the result of the tremendous unison. Read, I would say, once again, the disastrous, the tragic an nals of your own novercal mal-administration of the affairs of a powerful people. Turn over once again the revolting pages of the statute hook of Ireland-- that devilish digest of moral torture and persecution ; that spawn, may I not with all propriety call it, of a profligate and privileged sectarism —that book which stands out in bold and conspicuous relief among the • mostap palling records of national pros: i t uti on, unparal leled, unimitated, an/ in the present advancing state of mental culture, thank God, uninimitable—that _ _ book, in a word, of which the whole world fnr , -nishes us with no second volume. Rend it, I say, once again, while yet it is time, and before you in• cur the formidable, the ruinous liabilities which ano ther refusal to effect its purgation must necessarily expose you ; but read also, and above all, the in structive—the practical commentary on the text of that iniquitous book, which the existing condition of this land of beauty affords. Read these things, England—self-styled cradle of liberty ! paragon! archetype, Quixote of public virtue and political chivalry ! champion of justice I envy of the nations I refuge of the slave ! classic land of free institutions! read these things (for alas! they are written) —oh'! read and expiate, blush and emancipate. The resolution way then put and adopted num. con. The Earl of BECTIVE rose amid great applause and said,' my Lord Duke and Gentlemen, I feel I am called upon to express my conviction that the Catholic question should be speedily decided, and I owe it to my constituency to declare my firm opinion that they ought to pursue that course which must soon lead to that desirable event. (Loud 'cheers.) That ohjert cannot he obtained unless by steaUY persevering in search of it. It is a just, a wor thy, a generous, and a constitutional object. The present moment is one of great and peculiar anxiety. The recall of Lord Angl,sea is in my mind a most unfortunate and uncalled for measure. (Item., and cheers.) The Noble Marquis has, in the midst of all the heat and turmoil of party feeling in this country, succeeded in becoming a general fa vourite, and he has carried away withhini from this country the warm affections of seven millions of grateful people. (Cheers.) It is possible that their prayers may one day or other place him in that situa tion where he shall hate the power of putting into execution the feelings of his heart. How melancholy it is, that the moment a Lord Lieutenant becomes acquainted %vith the country, or becomes popular, or ventures to express a political opinion, he is dis placed, and replaced by some 'person who knows nothing of the country. (Hear, hear.) This is a settled and indisputable fact. No Chief Governor of Ireland can express a political opinion, although from his knowledge of the country, and the state of party in it, he can give to Governmegt the hest and most candid advice. (Hear, hear.) Every hour I lived in Ireland, and for the last six years I have been a constant resident, confirms me in the opinion that until justice .is done to Ireland--until all penal restrictions are obliterated from the statute book, until Catholics and Protestants are placed upon an equality ; until those penal laws, originally founded in prejudice, and now devoid of justice and com mon sense, are repealed, there cannot exist peace, union, or consequent prosperity in this country. Sir Jon iNglyPoßT—lt is now forty-six years since I commenced my public career as-an Irish vo lunteer. (Loud cheers.) lam come now, even in the eleventh hour, to offer to you that advice which is the result of much experience during a long poli tical I now say, and I ant fortified in the opi nion, that on no basis can the happiness of a nation be lastingly founded, unless upon the broad and firm basis of civil and religious liberty. If, in 1783, the Irish volunteers had formed their plans pn this prin ciple-=if, instead of making their cause a sectarian one, they had comprised in it the manumission of the Catholics, we would not have witnessed the many sinister occurrences have since that pe riod taken place. (Hear, hear.) Unfortunately this principle was not universal ; it was not grounded on the general good; it was based upon exclusive principles, and it crumbled into ruin. (Loud cheers.) In that great body (the volunteers) very few claimed even the form of representation for the great mass of the population. The march of intel lect had not then taught mep to consider that no po.. !icy is permanent unless it be founded upon the ge neral welfare. (Cheers.) It is the opinion of many enlightened Statesmen that the penal laws were originally unnecessary ; but since the period of 1783 every illustrious senator, . every great statesman, every liberst essiostiad 111101 has been convinced of the inutility and iejustine of continuing those baneful statutes. (Hear, hem, hear.) The consequence of the dissensions that pervade this unfortunate country is that Gt eat Britain is unable to maintain her sta tion axons foreign nations, and it is to remove this ob stacle to our eonetry'e glory, that ve claim, upon' the broad principle• of fissaajOm, and justice, and sound policy, the restoration of their long and unjustly withheld rights to the Catholics of treleed. (Cheers.) My reason for coming forward this day is ec show that I am still as alive to the interests of my country, still as warm in my affection for her, still as anxious to promote her prosperity and happiness, as I was in 1782. (Loud and long continued cheering.) The resolution was unanimously adopted. The FAO of 1111 rows.—My Lord Duke, that the most extracrtlitsary political discord reigns throughout this counti'i, noire will for a moment deny, but can we discover that state pf society na turally to arise from thceireumstanee of our !.-oir, ff , 4 .(3fliv,tered country ? certainly not; herense, if it were so, we should in her advancement in the arts, find a proportionate decrease of anti-social feelings, but unfortunately we ereinnt see it. We must look tiers)! in the state of the law avlii.elegave to a whole community ;he power of being dangirous, but deny ing to them the power of being useful. (hear.) In the law we find the dizeage, and to the revision of the law we must look for a reroedy. (Cheers.) Mr. TrTre., ILP.—It has fallen to my Lot to pro pose the next resnititint (Cheers.) I stall only say that I fully concur its the sen t iments it coetaies. Mr. NAPPER.-- I heg leave to eesotal the reso lution of my noble friend, the language of which eppears too fairly to potletray the situation of this nnhapu island. Count I.Viaows.sl proposed•the next resolution. Mr. E. Bertwtex.---My Lord Duke and Gentle men.—ln an answer of Mr. Grattan to an address of the volunteer, of . Ireland, I find the following ,en, timent, which appears to me applicable to the sub ject that has collected us together I lake it," said he, "to be a sacred truth, and written, as it were, on the tablets of fate, that the Irish Protest ant can never be free, until the Irish Catholic ceases to be a slave. (Cheers.) My Lord Duke, it must strike upon the mind of every man that looks about him, that things cannot go on as they are; it must convince him of another fact, that the day of quiet and repose is gone by, and the time of activity is arrived (loud cheers); and I have no other apo logy for presuming to intrude on the attention of this meeting, than my firm and grounded con. viction, that the real enemy to Ireland is not so much the Brunswick agitator, or the Popish agi tator, however sanguinary the one or intemperate the other, but the traitor to the country, is the liberal Protestant who remains quiescent, while the ele ments of destruction are fermenting about him (loud cheers). My Lord Duke, we have two objects. in view in assembling together—the first is to ad vance the liberty of the Catholic- e the-second,and the greatest, is to oppose the tyranny of the Protestant, to set Protestant toleration against Protestant into lerance. The power of the Orange faction must be broken, no terms can be kept with them now, the last cord between vou and them is broken, they are calling out fotrbloo'cl. They call upon the nation to prolong their monopoly, to remain submissive to their sway. I meet them on this ground and I ask, Orange ascendancy what have you done for Ireland (cheers) ? For 130 years you have held her govern ment in your hands—you have seized upon all the good things—you have taken to yourself every honour—every emolument—you call upon the nation to prolong yretr charter—come forward. and Prove your right to its'renewal—(cheers)--sestablish claims to a continuation of your monopoly. What have you done for Ireland? Look to the penal code, the bloody record of your power. You framed and passed, and executed a code of laws, in the atrocious ferocity and unerring cruelty of which the ingenuity of fiends might have equalled, but could not have surpassed you. You held out a premium to re ligious apostacy, you set a bounty on filial disobe dience, you rent asunder the strongest ties of na ture, you set the father against the sou, blood against blood (cheers) yoit dishonoured the parent, you bastardised the child, you followed the Catholic with the most scrupulous malignity, from his cradle to his coffin. Nor was this sufficient ; the natural lifetime of man was too contracted for the full de velopment of your system. You proscribed his priest, you banished his schoolmaster, that is, you stipped him of the religion of his fathers, and by de basing his mind, you incapacitated him from acquir ing another, so that you not only delivered him up to persecution in this life, but as far as in - you lay, you consigned him to destruction in that which was to come. (Cheers.) Well, but you will say, this was only one part of your policy, these laws were necessary for the growth and spread of the Protes tant religion.- I take up the history of my country, and I find your influence, like a wind from the de sert, blasting the wholesome produce of the land. I turn over the annals of that Parliament which sou constituted, and I see you for years crouching be neath a foreign yoke. I find you, Session after Session, passim). Acts, confirming Statutes, that beg gard the manufacturer in your streets, silenced the voice of commerce in your ports, fettered the limbs of trade, and crushed the growing energies of the land. You speak, perhaps of 178.1. You point out the revolution then accomplished—the free trade— the rights and all the splendour of that glorious period. 1 turn to that bright spot in your political life, and history informs me, that though the perse cuting laws still polluted; that statute-hook, yet that the demon of persecution departed for a while— that roused by superhuman eloquence, you waived for a moment -your ascendancy, and. forgot in the feelings of the patriot, the spirit of the intolerant; and that to this temporary Geiation from your este ' blished course, to - this momentary oblivion of your selves find your principles, is mainly to be attributed whatever you achieved at that eventful crisis. But history, speaking of that period, records another fact, that the Catholics also forgot the animosity necessa- rily engendered by a century of persecution, that when a foreign enemy hung upon the shores they were faithful to the country in which they were pro scribed—that though the Government, by a pan tial relaxation of the penal code, bid for their assistance, at least for their indifference, in the great contest then subsisting between Irish liberty and British tyranny, yet that they entered into no paltry condi tions, that they rallied round the standard of inde pendence, and lifted up their shackled arms in every national effort. (Cheers.) That the Catholic and Protestant volunteer were found, side by side, not discussing the doctrines of controverted divinity, but learning the lessons of constitutional freedom. What could the Parliament of that day have achieved What could Grattan, all great and glorious as be was, have accomplished, unaided by the united efforts of Catholic and Protestant? From this moral and physical amalgamation of the people was derived that energy which inspired the orator to plead, and the parliament to declare the rights of the liberties of the country. Well, Orange ascendancy ! doubtless you seized the first moment of rewarding the Catholic for all that he had done ; to a certainty you requited him amply for all the services that so nobly and unconditionally he gave you. You showered down upon him the blessings of that Constitution, which, but for his exs ertions you could never have obtained. You de monstrated to the world that the gratitude of the Protestant could not be outdone by the fidelity of the Catholic. Alas ! on this part of your conduct history is silent; what you doled out in 1782 was the result of terror, not the return of gratitude ; the united fleets of Holland, France, and Spain were riding triumphant in the channel. Years rolled on without the slightest effort on your part to dis charge the heavy debt of gratitude. In 1791 so in tense was your intolerance, and so abject the condi tion of the Catholic, that not a single member could be found of sufficient hardihood to present his petition to the Legislature. In 1792 his petition was presented, and thrown out by an overwhelming majority. In 1793, but mark the giant form of revolution stalked abroad—it. trampled on thrones and sceptres,—it smote the ancient principalities of the earth—it lifted its against the British Constitution—England rushed_ forward to arrest its march—Catholic blood and' sinew were in demand—(cheers)--concessions were recommended from the throne ; Orange ascendancy, how did you act then ? The very rights that not twelve months before, you refused with scorn, you agreed to with alaciity now--the claims that in 1792, you rejected as destructive to the state, you carried with acclamation in 1793, when driven to it by your terror and the Minister's 'command. You gave w cowardice and corruption, what you refused to gra titude and justice. Orange intolerants, your mean ness has recoiled. upon yourselves--you passed the very measure that has already shaken your founda tion to its centre, and, ere long will shiver and pros. trate your iniquitous ascendancy. Lord Fitzwilliam arrived, he came with full power to give freedom to the Catholic, and prosperity to the country. Orange ascendancy, your baneful influence never slept, the intrigues you carried on—the falsehoods rout invented effected his recall, and gave a death- Wow to the Few of Ireland. Your influence in Parliament rejected the ; Bill of Reform--the Bill of Emancipation—every measare that had for its object time salvation of Ireland. When von did this-s-seLen you took from the people all reliance on Govern ment--all confidence in Parliament--all hope of Constitesinaal redress--and, above all, when you accomplished the reeaii of the man in whom the nation trusted, you sowed the seeds o f rebellion —the bloody harvest ripened in 1798. But why take up the rime of this meeting by pursuing the ascen dancy in their desolating track ? Their history since the Union is but a recapitolation of their fo r mer crimes—their influence still continued to palsy and paralyze Oa: land. I hurry to the pre sent time in which they have taken the new form of Brunswick Clubs. The sentiments of their orators —the motley character of their leaders I do not condescend to discuss, There was one class, how- ever, that took a prominent, indeed- the leading, 'part in these Assemblages, and would to God that, like their compeers in intolerance, their conduct and - their character called for nothing but unadulte rated ridicule and contempt ; bet when I compare their deportment with the high station allotted them by society—when I contrast their sentiments with the doctrines, the promulgation of which, as it is the sole ground, should he the sole end of their existence —when I remember whose servants they are—a deeper feeling arises, a feeling of shame, of horror, and disgust. (Cheers.) I allude to those men calling themselves ministers of Christ, to whose exertions the country is mainly indebted foc. the formation of the Brunswick Clubs. The nation should remember this trait with gratitude deep and everlasting. What if these men have renJered the institution to which they belong, in place of a bless ing, a heart-rending curse to Ireland ?—(cheers)— what if they have wrung the very blood from her children to pamper their own pride and bestiality ? what if, in the teeth of their solemn oaths, they opened no schools, and suffered ignorance to corrode the land ? what if their apathy and indifference to the cause they had sworn to advance, called down upon them a cry of shame loud and universal ? what if they have proved traitors to their God and scourges j to their country ? What if they are unknown as divines,. and laughed at in the worlds of literature and science ?—be their faults for ever buried in oblivion; their late exertions have redeemed them all. To them be the praise—to them be the glory of having evoked again the demon of intolerance— of having made the wounds of Ireland bleed afresh e- e (cheers)--of having thrown fresh ingredients into t)ie chaldron of national discontent, that was seireally bubbling and boiling over. Day after day, speeches of these Reverend Ministers were re corded—set, laboured speeches, evidently not the product of the excitation of the moment, but the offspring of patient meditation atria laborious study. With the vulgarity of taste, the poverty of diction, the blunt and brutal scurrility - displayed in these ela borate compositions, I do not quarrel. lam fully - aware that the black heart is generally attended by the weak intellect. Providence thus, in his mercy, neutralizing the suggestions of the one by the im potence of the other ; but, as a Christian and a man, I cannot let the sentiments conveyed pass by with out expressing my abhorrence. As a man, I lament over the degrading form that humanity has assumed in the persons of beings openly thirsting for carnage, their fellow creatures' blood; while, as a Protestant and a Christian, I blush and shudder at the avowal of sentiments from which an infidel would revolt with horror. (Loud cheers.) A line of policy has lately been recommended to the people of this country, which, considering the high quarter from whence it comes, is entitled to some degree of respectful attention. The same hand that wrcte out the recall of the Marquis of A.nglesea, has sketched out a course of conduct for the Catholics, which has, at least, the merit of being original. The Catholics have been desired to bury their quell- tion (hear, hear). Coming from an older sta . tes rrrm, such advice might possibly be looked on as a cruel mockery ; but, when I remember, that his Grace of Wellington is but a child in politics, I willingly attribute to inexperience, what otherwise might be referable to a more unworthy feeling. It i - s as impossible to bury that question, as ultimately to refuse it. —Duke of Wellington, you have achieved wonders ! At the terror of your name all Europe stands aghast. The same number counts your bat tles and your victories—you have conquered the conqueror of kings—you hare repaired the broken crutch of legitimacy—you have given a Bourbon to France—a Ferdinand to Spain--but there is one thing you cannot do in all the pride of victory, and in all the plenitude of your power, you cannot con- Aisne the servitude of a people, when once they are determined to:be free. (Cheers). You may re call the Governors in whom they trust, you may establish martial law, you may revive the bloody drama of ninety-eight, you may let slip the Homers :40u1 the Bloodhounds of the North, to worry and lunt down the people, but you cannot kill the im mortal spirit that has taken up its abode in their hearts, (loud and continued cheers,) you may ex terminate, but you cannot enslave. And there is another thing, however easy it may appear, which you cannot do, you cannot bury the great question of Irish liberty ; it is too large, too vital, too godlike fora temb. Try it my Lord Duke, bury it if you can, seal up the sqiulchre, sit guard upon it if you • will, an invisible hand will roll away the stone, and the redeeming principle will still walk the earth. The resolution which I have the honour of second- ins, calls upon the legislature, to apply an imme diate remedy to the evils of Ireland—it does more, it calls for the immediate exertions of every man who hears ►ue. Look to the progress of the Catholic question, and tell me whether the moderation of its friends' has not ever been a stumbling-block in its way. For more than twenty years succeeding the Union, the question made but little way; Petitions, I know, were drawn up and presented, and the annual farce of the presentation of these petitions, was per formed, and orations were matle,and the orator was ad vanced, but the cause stood still. The question of Ca tholic freedom was looked on in England in somewhat the same light as a turnpike bill, or attended to as a good occasion for judging of Irish oratory. All the time, the fell spirit of Orangeism brooded on the land—at length the Catholic discovered that if he would succeed he must put his own shoulders to the wheel. (Cheers.) The. first stone of the As sociation was laid. The nation shook. herself as if from sleep—the people hearkened with erected minds to the voice of an assembly calling them to liberty. See what the exertions of the Catholic have achieved iii a few years for his cause—he has made the priest a patriot, the indolent aristocrat an active labourer in the common cause, the grovelling serf an independent freeman—he has restored the purity of election—he has restored submission to the law—he ha 4 quenched the torch of sedition and lighted up the lamp of liberty. (Cheers.) He has interfered (I allow it, Mr. Geulburn,) with the ends of justice, that justice which gave one law to the Protestant and another to the Catholic—he has given his country a space in the thought of men...— he has compelled England to open her eyes to his condition t to discuss if not to redress his grievances -he Kts — fold the story of his suffering to Europe, to America, and called from either hemisphere, a cry of shame on his oppressors. And, greater than all this, he has wound up the feelings of the people to such a pitch of heroism—he bus ex cited them to such a straining, such a panting for freedom, that there can be no rest, no quiescence, until the question is secured. (Immense cheers.) Protestants, will you not labour in the glorious cause ! Hitherto—l speak with the utmost re spect--you have dune but little for the Catholic. I know that as individuals you feel strongly, and speak warmly, on the subject—that, as members of Parliament, you have furthered it by your eloquence and your vote; but I still assert, that as a body, considering the magnitude of the question, and the immense, the crowning assistance—your rank, your wealth, your talent, your virtue could give it, if properly brought to bear upon it, your exertions on its behalf have been trifling and insignificant; and I say that what you have done till now for the Catholic has been more in the light of the condescension of a patron than the energetic assistance of a friend. (Cheers.) Do you ask what you should do ? Look around you, and circumstances will answer Look to history, and history will answer ; The activity of your enemy ( for the Brunswicker eqoally an enemy to you and the Catholic) never sleeps—there is no sluggishness, no torpor about him—every nerve is strained, every engine brought into play; there is no division of strength in the camp of the Orange man ! What, then, shall the friend of intolerance be up and stirring, and you, the friend of liberty and Justice,- be torpid and inactive ? T e Protestant and the Catholic are struggling for ene common cause. The Protestant and the Catholic are fight ing against one common foe. What should they do? Speak out history ! What they did in 1782—(loud • cheering)—when they shivered the yoke of Eng land, gained a Constitution, and made Ireland e na- Lion. Yes, Protestants and Catholics, you must combine, unite, coalesce, amalgamate together ; you must present the appearance of one mighty growth, one gigantic body actuated, by one common soul. I do not say to the Protestant join an assembly deno minated the Catholic Association; perhaps the name may carry.with it some disagreeable reflections. A name is nothing; such obstacles as these can easily be removed; but I say that until this national sacrament takes place, until you are wedded and knit together, nothing great, nothing of moment, can be done. (Great cheering.) Do you object to the violence of the Catholic body and the intempe rance of its leaders ? Protestants, they are not more so than you would be in their situation. If the state shut her doors against you—if, not contest with this, she opened them only to those who swore to a flagrant insult on your creed, how would you feel ? If the grossest falsehoods, refuted a thousand times, were urged, day after day, against you, and made the grounds for continuing your degradation — if you were distanced in your prcifessions by men un worthy to loose the latchet Of your shoes, merely be cause they knelt at an altar different from yours—if promises were made to you only to be broken hopes were held out only to disappoint—would you be moderate ?—would you be temperate ? Protes tants ! I hope, I believe you would not. (Loud and continued cheering.) And when a Catholic, sickened by expectations that never are fulfilled, and frenzied by wrongs that cannot be endured, breaks forth into the language of intemperance, repays insult by insult, and hurls back on his calumniator the burning expressions of resentment, I say, it is only human nature asserting her own dignity, and I pre sume, not to blame that dispenSation of Provi dence, which has placed in every an's breast, Ca tholic as well as Protestant, a princTple that spurns at insult and revolts against oppression. The violence of the Association is the cant of the day. When an Orangeman speaks of it, I take up the speeches of his chosen leaders and his clergy, and I stop his mouth on the subject of intemperance, (loud cheers) and I tell him, that the deadly hatred, which he and every enemy to the country and the cause, bears to that body, and to its leaders, proves to me with more titan mathematical certainty, the utility of the one and the virtue of the other; and when a false friend to the Catholic (and they are many and influential) (Hear, hear,) speaks to me of this violence, 1 either turn from him with contempt, or I tell him that this is his excuse for his non-exertion in the cause he pretends to support. (Hear.) And let me observe, speaking on the subject of their false. friends, who stand by ready to join whatever side obtains the upper hand—ready to cheer on an exterminating, or applaud the wise policy of an emancipating Government—that one most im portant advantage, which I anticipate from the meeting of this day, and the consequences likely to flow from it, is this, that it will teach the Catholics who are really with them, and who are really against them (cheers) that while it inspirits the Protestant to greater exertion, it would separate the false friends of the Catholics from the true, that it will winnow the chaff from the wheat, that it will divide the light from the darkness. " (Loud cheers.) But when a Protestant, such as whom I now ad dress, honest, uptight men, who think what they profess, who are sincerely anxious for the cause and determined to use their best exertions in its behalf, when such a man speaks of and objects to the vio lence.of the Association, I apply to his objections the remarks of Chatham, when he spoke of the wars that hurled Charles Stuart from his throne, and rooted liberty in the soil of Britain " There was violence," said he, " there was in temperance, but let no man persuade you that it was not the cause of tyranny on one side, and of liberty en the other." So in the ca'e before us there may be viols rice, there may he intemperance, there may be want of moderation, there may be each and all of these; but let no man persuade you that it is not the cause of tyranny on: one side, and liberty on the other: (Cheers.) Protestants and Catholics ! you have a great task to perform, you have to beat down monopoly, intolerance, and wrong; you have to plant in this distempered laud the healing principle of religious freedom, that prin ciple which has marshalled tinder its banner, all the virtue, the talent, the wisdom of the laud, what \ Pitt, the stay of England, gave up place and pen sion to support—what Grattan, the strength of Ireland, lived and died in asserting--what Burke, I what Fox, what Canning, what all those mighty men, who from their watch-tower in the skies, held forth the naming lamp of their own bright ex ample, struggled to attain as the only hope of salva tion for Ireland. With such an object in view, with the same enemy to overcome, will you waste your strength by dividing your forces ; Protestant forget the intemperance and the violence of the Catholic, as he invariably forgets and forgives your intolerance, when you want him to fight your battles, and to gain your victories (cheers.) Remember the posi tion of the cause; the Catholic must be exterminated or must be set free, there is no middle course now, greatly emancipate or fundamentally destroy.' i Should madness so beset the councils of the Cabi net, as to resolve upon the latter course, should the Orange yeomen be let loose, will you stand tatnely by and see the Catholic cut down, for asking for those rights that alone give interest to life, for demanding what you have declared to be his birthright and inheritance ? Should you do so, the very declaration you have signed, the very resolutions you are passing, will be the damning evidence of your false-hearted ness and pusillanimity (loud cheers). Protestants prevent the possibility of such a tremendous occur rence as this. Unite with the Catholics ; present the glorious front of a united people to the resistance of bigotry and oppression. No minister, however mad, will shut his ears to your claims when your voices blend together in demanding them. Protes tants and Catholics, if you would not plunge the country in civil war, and all the curses that follow in its train ; if you would not transmit the sword as an inheritance to your children, struggle, agitate, cry out for relief, kneel down before the legislature together—tell them that you are one people, one vast fraternity, bound together by the ties of one common wrong; tell them that what degrades one degrades all; that which injures .pne injures all; that wh'at enslaves one enslaves all ; tell them that the Irish Protestant can never be flee until the Irish Catholic ceases to be a slave (tremendous applause for several minutes). Mr. BROWNLOW, M.P., rose to move the next resolution, and was received with the most raptu rous applause. After thanking the meeting for the kindness evinced towards Wm, he remarked, in very complimentary terms, on the eloquent and valuable speech of the learned gentleman who had preceded him, and after which it might be expected that the meeting would be unwilling to listen to anything that he could offer. lam delighted, continued Mr. Brownlow, to find myself amongst such an assembly of Catholics and Protestants as are here congre gated. I believe I have violated the form of state precedency by naming the Catholics first; but the wrongs of that injured portion of the community press heavily upon my heart, and my tongue first gives utterance to their name. (Cries of hear, and cheers.) What measure for the benefit of Ireland can be carried into effect until this all-absorbing question is settled ? We have heard of certain plans of retrenchment ; but how can they be made available while Ireland is in her present state, while it is deemed necessary to keep here a larger military force than is required for the subjugation of one hun dred millions of Hindoos, and the army in India is paid out of the pockets of the Company. (Hear.) It is the most anxious desire of my heart that equal laws should be established in the land—and never can we— never should we relax, in our united efforts, while this formidable and national question is unset tled. (Cheers.) It never can be buried—and it is an inconsiderate folly to talk of the premature inter ment of a political cause, the living advocates of which are hourly increasing in numbers, in intelli gence, and determination. (Cheers.) Like blood it shall rise and call to Heaven for justice. Various interpretntions have been put on the recent letter of i • . the Prinie Minister relative to the condition of this country, and the claims of the majority of its people, I am sure I do not pretend to know what he means, - unless he wishes to punish us in the shape of a riddle, in the way that some ancient nation was punished by the riddle of the sphynx. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) To the Duke of Wellington I would say, in the words of Laertes—" Stand off the earth, my Lord "--this question cannot be buried. - (Cheers.) His Grace professes his anxiety for the establishment of religious peace in Ireland—and the interest he takes in the settlement of the great ques- - lion which agitates this country. Before we give • him credit for that anxiety, let him shew by his acts that he is sincere—let him use that influence which, ' from his station, he possesses in a greater degree than any other man, to disabuse many honest men of the unfounded prejudices which they now enter- • , tain, and which cause them to be hostile to the granting of justice to the Catholics of Ireland. (Cheers.) Mr. Brownlow concluded by moving the resolution. Sir CHARLES STYLES, Bait seconded the mo tion, which was put and carried. The Earl of Howmn moved the next resolution, relative to a petition to Parliament. Mr. LLOYD, M.P. seconded it. The motion was put and carried. The Earl of GLENGALL—It is my duty to pro pose an Address to the King, which I now hold in my hand. It implores his Majesty to take into his most gracious consideration the state of this unhappy land; and, by avoiding the abolition of civil distinc tions on account of religion, to remove the primary causes of our evils. If the wholesome remedy sug gested be adopted, the King and his Ministers iillj soon find that there will.be no. Associations in exist- .'•' ence in Ireland but those which may be formed for the purpose of advancing the prosperity of the coun try, and securing the throne and the safety of the . • , empire. (Cheers.) • your fa infejoi the n i noblest m ay a. b'aet ed • !nergji I, 8 ; g t i Vith Mr, 11 . 4 a C m 11 M I ?ire a In an) I gre than thrni int in !ftcy rear, Th hen Lord GLENGALL then handed the Address-to his lend (Mr. Wyse), who read it as follows : "TO THE KING'S'MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. ' 8 THE HUMBLE PETITION OF THIL DTOBLUME'N AXI) " TLEMBN UNDERSIGNED " MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY, " We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal *objects of the kingdom of Ireland, beg leave to approach .our throne, with assurances of, our unalterable fidelity and attachment to your:Majesty's Royal person and government. " Reigning by the free voice of a proud'and brave peo ple, your Majesty holds the crown. of these realms by the , highest of all titles—the clearest of all legitimacies ;we '- venerate you as the guardian of just laws, and the lass perfection of a noble Constitution. You rule in the inte rests of your people—your throne has the best security fur any throne, the enlightened confidence of your subjects. " No portion of your Majesty's loyal people are more truly devoted than we are to the principles which placed the illustrious House of Brunswick on'the throne. ‘. We conceive these principles to be founded on the basis of civil and religious freedom. " It is to the diffusion of these great gifts tre• attribute the gradual union, the industry, the wealth, the intel ligence, the consequent prosperity, and the only perma nent security of every state. In proportion as the eititeo derives advantage from the Constitution under which be lives, he will naturally give back to the preservation of that Constitution his zealous and persevering support. " Your Majesty was graciously pleased, on the memo rable !` occasion on which you honoured these shores with your royal presence, to impress upon the mind of pit - faithful Irish subjects these important truths—and it is not without a deep recognition of their value we still hold in our recollection the conciliatory terms of your Majesty's parting advice " But with profound regret, we venture to represent to your Majesty, that little benefit has yet accrued to this dis tracted nation from your Majesty's paternal councils. In stead of the cordiality and union which your Majesty had so emphatically recommended, the whole land is divided into two adverse parties; measuring'each other's strength A iu silence, or menacing open and undisguised hostilities abroad—corrupting to evil all the sources of national good —disturbing in their course the beneficial influences of the Constitution-=lendi ng t o justice the character of fiction-- initiating, by a succession of dangeretts stimulants; "the en- ,* tire national temperament.—embittering every variety of social intercouse, anti shaking to the foundation tharnltts . tual confidence, without which all government is difficult; and the entire franie of civil society must be ultimately dissolved.' " Industry, deprived of its natural nourishment, lan• • guisbes; commerce, uninvited by Proportional security, t flies our shores'; , manufactures, unsupported by capital, have almost disappeared ; employment, exclusively agricul tural;- is not adequate to the wants of our population ; the surplus emigrates, in every shape of wretchedness, to the more prosperous parts of your Majesty's dominions, or • passing on through a rapid succession of disasters at home, from idleness to want, from want to ;milady, perish, at last, in almost animal visitations of pestilence or famine. " The consequences of these evils are'obvious and uni versal ; they are commensurate with our entire system.-- The Protestant is not mere exempt than the' Catholic; baton the contrary, in proportion to his superior wealth and station in the community, is, if possible, more ex posed to their injurious effects. They embrace every, indi vidual in their influence, and they affect all the relations of ' every individual whom they embrace. ' • " And your faithful and loyal subjects presume farther' ,1 to represent to your gracious Majesty, that the influence of these calamities is not restricted to Ireland alone ; that such , a state of things must require a large military establish meet for its support; that this establishment necessitates a corresponding taxation of the country; that the countqs • • by the repression of its natural energies and resources, is unequal to this supply, and that thus this kingdom, in stead of being a source of strength, becomes, by a singular anomaly in government, a source of weakness to the United Empire. " Your petitioners would willingly believe that theta' evils were of a temporary nature, removable by temporary expedients, but they have reason to apprehend that, instead of diminishing, they will gradually increase, unless prevent ed, ere it be too late, by a patient and impartial inquiry into their causes, and the generous application of a full and final • remedy. Their continuance will prepare for the first rap gression of foreign foes, a long accumulating spirit of dial satisfaction in the country—it will invite the insult and in• jury of surrounding nations—it will paralyze the national force of the state—it will detract from the moral strength and character which enabled her so long to hold the -first ••• rank in European civilization, - and Materially endanger, and perhaps ultimately compromise, the safety of the en tire British empire. " Your petitioners cannot ascribe these evils to any de- • fect in the moral or physical condition of the country it self; they are compelled to seek elsewhere for the fertile source of these calamities. They see in the partial distrie hutiOrt of the'burthens and reiVitidilt the state, the exeltt... sion of one part of the people from the franchises and riebli enjoyed by the other, a just and enduring principle of diss content, further exasperated by religious animosity, the pas rent of that national disunion, from which every other na tional evil must necessarily proceed. "It does not, however, escape the attention of your humble petitioners that this exclusion may originally have been intended for the better maintenance of the Cunstitu- tion and religion of the State; but they respectfully sub mit to the consideration of your Majesty, whether, on the extinction of the causes which required such guarantee, these restrictions on the liberty of the subject should not also be repealed. " And it is the further conviction of your Majesty's humble petitioners, that these causes have long since dis appeared, and this opinion is grounded on the policy of other states, in reference to this country ; the cessation of all external menace or attack ; the suppression of all pre tension to the throne of these realms, and the encreasing liberality and enlightened feeling of every class and persua sion in the present times. " Your petitioners are therefore satisfied, that the re moval of the disabilities under which their Catholic fellow subjects still labour, so far from being attended with any peril to the institutions of these realms, would, on the con trary, by a removal of all just ground of complaint, most eminently tend to coalesce all sects and orders in the coun try, in united exertions fur their common support , an d thus, by ' benejitting the state, would confer a benefit upon every individual belonging to it.' " And in this belief, your petitioners are more fully con firmed, by the gracious message of your Majesty's royal father to his Irish Parliament, in 1'793, in which he was pleased to recornmend such measures as might be most likely to strengthen the general union and sentiment amongst all descriptions of his Majesty's subjects, in support of the established Constitution ; and that his Majesty was further • pleased to point out the relief of his Catholic subjects of Ireland, from the disqualifications by which they were af- I fected, as the means best calculated to ensure this desirable result, " And your petitioners gratefully remember, that your Aiajesty has professed, op pa9rt than prie occasion, towArci# kith . . Plan th It to