The Sun. — London, England, 1820-03-02 00:00:00

IRELAND The following Letter. has been circnkted in It Liduci " FAIR PLAY," ADDRESSED To THE Right Hon. CHARLES GRANT, &c. " If ignorance is Bliss, "fis folly to be Wise."—GRAY. SIR-4n the, detail of Parliament 3ry proceed ings as reported in The Courier of Thursday 1)e -cember, 234, a drclaratinn tu the purport follow ing, is attributtd to yon, " That the present tranquillity of Irel.nd is owing to the axtrtidns of the Catholic Clergy,'" and this at a moment %%hen there does not appear to havt.t been all qu,stion before the House, caling in the most frinote. way for any sorb testimony, or the slight est animadversion thrown out respecting thal class of the Community, to place them in need of " tole ANs , !niing therefore, that the `sentiments thus given 'as yours were actually and bona flue de liveicti by you, 1 feel it nrcessary to offer a few brief •remarks upon the subject; and I 0.01 do act r , specifully and dispassionatcly, respe'cttllll3 '. because your private virtues, you; excellence of heart., aud nrhanity pf manners, have _cast a halo of respectability arnoild you, which no consit' lion of your pc,litical errors can dissipate; and . dispassionately, front my knowledge, that the small stilt voice of reason may witt its way to a calm and refh•c•ing mind like yaws—which would be found proof against the lightning of reproach, accompanied by all the thundet of i le c l a n h ilinn. That Ireland has beets in the enjoyment of a state of unwonted tranquillity for some tiorr , past (and which ..tises still higher from a conwarison with the situation of" Great Btitain during the s”me period)-is a fact I atn by no means inclined to dispute, is. is much too gratilyingto - my- mind, not to bebailed with the feeble cheer of my full ac quiescence, but as to the means by which she has attained this enviable eminence, our opinions are rather at variance. You Sir, ate ;wide to attri• bute it—gravely—emt:hatically—oilicially—to the exertir,ns of the Catholic (I presume you Inman the Roman .Catholic) Clergy, and from your leaving tin,mew toned every other class and de scriptiou of his Majesty's subjects, there is lair ground . for supposing that to them solely and exclusively belongs this mighty work of peace and met ey ;, this grand, consummation — of national felicity. Let us - for a moment bar the door upon com mon sense and exuetience, and indulge in the hypothesis of such being. thefact—let its admit that 'he Popish Clergy of Ireland, have played this God-like 'p.,tt, to the fullest extent you have been prevailed upon to believe, and have blessed then 'native land with unwonted peace and trail qttilliiy low have thty effected thisgtondobject, and what has been the nature _ot the operation which has, been crowned will such pre-eminent success ? They are not Magistrates, so that it could tint be by airy zeal or activity -in enforcing the Id tl'S of the land. They, are men of peace : it could not be by lending the aid •of the arm of flesh.. to thO,e of their fellow.subjects,civil or mi litary, employed under .the civil power. It could (191 be by impiriitig such tirr , :ly information to that civil power as would enable it to baffle the designs of the disaffected, &c. for there is scarcely any point on which they ate more tena cious than they are of their character fur the most profound secrecy in . any matters confided to them, either in confession, or otherwise. We read in the Roman Histm y, of the army of Constantine being once in _Et situation .ot great distress and imminent danger of perishing for lack of water, until miraculously ,relieved by the prayers 'of a Christian legion 'belonging to it. Have the objects of your eulogy bent in suppli 'cation Witte the Giver of all good, and have their prayers been efficacious ? Has a refreshing dew of Loyalty .beets graciously pOured upon hearts ere while obdurate in disaffection, and dovelike peace descended into the abodes of rapine and assassi nation ?—HaVe they from the Pulpit, and eke where amid their flocks, witi voice "mighty in operation," preached obedience tothe laws for the laws sake ; and has their energetic eloquencetar ried the light of conviction home to the hearts and the livcs of th e ir fig di tor s? _ _ On this last head of enquiry I shall be exult ingly replied to in the affirmative. I have real pleasure in admitting that in two or three instances which have conic within-the range of my own knowledge and observation, such has been their conduct and such its copse- Tiences, acid I am willing to believe that the pre sent day may not be without the recurrence of similar instances. Bat unfortunately for the sta bility of this position upon the present 'occasion, we have been lei fully into the secret. The enig ma is solved to oar hands, and our high blown conjectures break under us. The public prints of the , pest Of Ireland have given the matter to the world, by detailing ail the terrors of anathemas, fulminated front the altar, end describing all the maucenvres of excommunication, with the same disgaisiing attention to minuteness witti which the account at an execution or .41 boxing match is served up for the palate of John Bull : a full description is given us of the instantaneous effi cacy of this terrible and potent engine, and there is no reason to doubt the fact. Now, then, let us cone to a reckoning : you, Sir, are pleased to assert that Ireland owes her trariquillity to the Itoraish priesthood ; the means resorted to by that body are, as we see, anathema arid excommunication, and is it indeed come to this ? Is Ireland at this time of day really 'indebt ed for her tranquillity to superstitious terrors, to the debasement of her children; to the mental thraldom of human intellect ; to the niggling mystery of bell, book, and candle, which the verdicts of two Juries have pronounced to be ille gal? Tell it not in' (lath ! where now are all those erudite oties, who have so often and so' boldly asserted that the Son of prtestcratt was set, and the reign of priest , influence at an end. there not one of them to step forward con sistently as well as patriotically to take away this foul reproach from their calumniated countrymen And does Mr. Grant mean in sober seriousness in euiogise this state of things, and the contrivers of it what a paradox does this involve us; in what a chain of sot/Tall are our senses bonndl ! ! Let me , present two portraits to view and call the world ',title exhibition—" Look upon this picture and ato m) this"—here we behold Mr. Grant lead iog the- V toot Christian liberality. In the Bible Society , he Paints iretgloging colours the neces sity of diffused kftoavledge ,and gospel posi!y. truths divine come mended from his tongue." He ,calls Upon his delighted anditots to unite in the great and enlightening work, to assist in hurstiog thsnse fetters of igootance and delusion in. which so many of their christiao countrymen -have too long groaned. " Let us break their hoods in smiler, and cast away. their cords from us," Esr the spear of Ithuriel,,and : the fiends of darkness start withered from his touch. Now let us nun our eyes to the tYher.picture. We be hold the game Mr. Grant, alter et idem, gravely and officially, in his place in the Senate, honour._ ing, his uncalled for approbation, the forgers of those very ,shackles which he so zeakittsl-y in culcates the necessity of .bursting, and the eon ' trieits of that night which he is so ar-:tent to en li4h'eu, and voading thett on (if indeed any /Indus were waning) to a clo. , ev, tivetting of the chain Hutt a deeper-thiekcning 'of the darkness, hay transferring to those very chains and datlstse. , s, to holy frttul, to bigotry and to ignoraoce, the Chaplet which should In the meet! of willing obe dience and conscientioxis loyralty. Conitnent oil this a otild he a waste of time as well as an insult to reason. Werel a Roman Ca,holie layman, I 'confess I should deprecate 'lie • tulogittm you. are pleased to bestow ur,on toy Clergy, inasmuch as it unat he at my elipence, ,for if the peace of the country is to be attriboted thus exclusively to the ROmiah Clergy, the Coo= clusi4;tl eppears to me to be self-eviiitlo, that to floeki, to the Rotnish laity, are as solely and exclusively to be attributed all the infractions of that tranquillity that have disgraced our laud, an tecedent to this halcyon petiod„ I will not ask the invidious question, why those persons, to whom (whatever may be their mode, of tvotkine) you have officially atttihnted 'the peace of Ireland, have taken the field 'at' so late a pctiod of her History and at such a watteiug tricot of their. own post er, at we tnay (-redid. the Sages of Emancipation above alluded to) the el,venth hour of their influence ? Why they !rave reserved far their Country's het;efit the lees aad diets of their authority ? My object is unt by any Tenn,- to decry . any merit which -your microscopic eve may have discovrted in their - condtiet,. doting Ilt . few months you 113‘e been the Official \Vat ch ,man of the State, it _is to for, _others, at least equally as deserving of notice, their portion of the laurel of yotir approbation. H a s this delightful vision of priestly exertions knit noon your optics with such dazzling splendour as to pl . 4ce . all other objects in shade ? Ilaee Von, Jhe Secretary of State, yet to learn that of lite Millions of Itish men, (till two • are beyond the - pale of that CI ludo, and conseqriently beyithd•the dicta of her Clergy ? That in the great Protestant .Province of Ulster, it has not been found necessary to resort to these eenciments, for the security of the Good sod fir defeating the machinations of the Bad, which 'have endeared your, predecessor to the heart of every real him' of Ireland—it has not I say been found oecesstoy to calf forthe operation of those Laws in that great Province, with the exception of one remote corner where it was of late deemed "expedient to give their aid to the Revenue—Are our Magistrates wholly undeserving of any men tion ? Ate 'our yeomanry that " loyal—effieirot— cheap and Constitattimial'For cc—are they as dust in the hal.ittee ? Be as Ithetal of your praise as yon like, hot 1-t justice keep pace With your liberality; " Get mon(y, said the tbrif:y citizen to hieson, honestly if pig can, but get monay."—" Let •Ire land be trauquil---by the Belton of the law; if possible, but let her be tranquil," call we behold without regret the respected name of Mr. Grant subsc . rihed to this piece Of political thtift 1 Yet' what other conclusion can we draw from the evi dence before us ? I find it extremely difficult to persuade myself that you would purchase the mo mentaty`traoquillitY of Ireland at the expence of her mental darkness; that for one day of peace you would compound with years of ignorance.— would hip in the bud the germ of improvetnent, and wrecks almost within sight of harbour, the bask of intelleettal knowlea!ge. Nor can I 'agree with many thinking men here, in consideritig your motive for the declaratiou which forms the Subject of this letter, - to have been a - kind of attempted smoothing the way, for the Catholic question : it iS a trick too paltry A'S ' well as palpable, a matie ta . ere too contemptible for a mind like yours cal culated for' a lead‘r you will never stoop to be- Come a pioneer. , • lit brief, Sir, you have been, Pike many an ho nest man , beside, deceived anti misinformed : " Quicquid voltiMui facile credimus," Goodness of heart ►has disposed you to credu lity, and yon have been imposed upon accordingly. Let me brief!! , inform you to wbat, Ireland is [tal ly indebted for What tranquillity she et joys. She owes it to the slow and ',Hen( but proves ;ive march of intellectual improvement which the objects of your praise are working heaven and earth to check, but in vain. She owes much of it to the tlianner in which her staple manufacture is carried on, not in close end crowded factories, but in that individual manner by which every Ma nufacturer has the resource of his bit of laud in the hour of commercial rvverses. She owes it to the exertions and example of such of her gentry as have sense, virtue, and patriotism enough still to cling to their native land. She owes it to iter Clergy, her Magistrates, her Yeomanry ; and through the medium of those salutary and wise enactments which be has bequeathed to her, she owes it to Robert Peel. I have the honour to be, Sir, with the sincerest respect for your virtues, Your most obedient Servant, Ballybay, Jan. 3. LM. MARTIN BLUEBELL. [From The Hibernian Journal, of the 28th ult.) ;:THE RIBBONMEN. " Naturam expellas (urea licet usque recurrit." The nocturnal campaigns of these gentry still go on with increasing au dacity, A circumstance, however, ha 4 just come to our knowledge, which throLss a new and additional light upon the designs o f the banditti. During last week, the houfe. of Air. reisse, of Ruxborough, a tew miles from Luughtea; was • beset by a number of them, Who were gallantly repulsed by the inmates. At no great distance tram the mansion is a small village called Kiicreest, where there happ; n to reside se veral Prot( slaty families ; •thither the Ribhoomen bent their course, and-proceeded. to 'their usual work of swearing in the defenceless inhabit an s. But what was the oath they administered to these poor Protestants Not to join the Ribbon Asso ciation, but to go, on the ensuing Sunday to Mass' with their families on pain of being sacrificed to the .fury of these bigolted ruffians. This is no hearsay detail. Mr. Persse, a.Gcntleman of "large estate and great respectability, is lamself the bearer of the news, and is at this moment in Dubr n, and has made Chia communication to the Government, a nd also to many of his acquaintances: We will not trust ourselves with - comment upon this fact at present, hut we will treasure it up for the mo ment when demands are reiterated, and claims en forced, upon the strong ground that the acerbities - of POpery are at an end—that she has lost her sting and , brown off her bigotry. We will leave it, in 'the mean `tinge, to the serious consideration - of every Atiolting Protetan:', nod in a more especial. tri.nitt•r, at this time, to ti:e - freeholders of that per•sta,,ioo ; above all we recomoieod its notice to t tie prople . of England We look forward _,to, the Indeoendent P.esv of theft COMillyt'rhAillk the, fact, atfti Phrittg it before their readers in its' proper shine awl true ‘Ve are sorty to, observe 'kind -of millstone weight, as it • were, hung round the neck any of our most respected co .teroporaries•wttb respect to subjects of this,nature. If touched unon tit all, they seem to itead as • ItOoly•on approachir,e thein,•.and with as much cawion, as ass ,ltpectant tiepre..v . ;iiiprtnichts the f u ti an n e lleo. toes of a goo , y - We are not so squeanii-,ti ti,e vital interests of out coun try are tit stake. • With TRUTH for our beacon, we boldly pyisk•vere in the course of loyal.y, and firm Hitachuitnt to the C011561 , 16°1 - 1 , sve have , cl.,,lked out for outsell:vs, and list very • - ffort to counttyonen', 'and liten then] on their gust d. - against ' the increasing clangers which 'l threaten them. • (From the Dublin Correspondent, Feb: 2 - 8.) RII3I3ONMEN, OUTRAGES, &c. - • Just as we were going 'to press, information rcached us; that the Ribbomnen made their ap pearance in our county. Last night 'Cher visited Tutionglimme, and robbed three houses of arms. (Ennis Chronicle ) • • Flidity night, four farm-houses in the neigh boot hood of Roxborongh, in the Liberties of Limerick, were.. broken into, and the owner of one of them inhumanly flogged, and threatened with destruction it he uid not* leave. the _place. A pursuit being set. up ,by the country people, three of the perpetrators were apprehended, and. lodged in gaol. . Some villas. on Sunday se'nnight, set fire to the house of Edmond Wade, at Elmville, county of Tipperary, with an intent to destroy his fatuity. The armed party of ruffians who burned Mr. Ryan's dwelling CourthrOwn, in the county of Limerick,•hroke into J Rennettes house on the same night, and tonic a fowling- piece, "powder horn, and shot-bag. They afterwards' proceeded to the house of J. Nt,ster, of Courtbrown, fired two shots through,his windowi, entered the house, and searched for a towling-piece of his son's, which was tent the day before to repair ; swore the son as tb the trnth of his gun being.out, anti then made him give them what powder and shot he had. - The house of Philip Brett, of Laffan's-folly, in the Barony of Kilnamauagh, in the county of Tipperary, was•entered by an armed banditti, two of whoth were disguised, one with a hare skin -on .his face, with holes cut in it to admit him to see through, the other blackened. They presented pitqols at Brett, who was at supper with his fatuity, and desired him to deliver his gun to them ; the poor man was going to obey them - , when they ordered him to sit down, and matte his wife go into the room with one of them, while the other kept the pistol presented at Brett's bead. The woman handed the gnu to the fellow, with which they instantly (leper' ed, firing a shot by way of triumph as they fat 'the house. There isrevery ,reason to hope that these 'Offenders will be brought to justice, as the, Police of that Barony are making strict search for them. COUNTY OF GALWAY MEETING. At a Meeting of the Magistrates of the County Galway, held at Atheury, on Thursday. the 17th of February, 1820, the High Sheriff in the Chair, Resolved unanimously, That we entirely concur in the un animous opinion expressed by forty-nine Magistrates assem:, bled at Loughrea, that the re-enactment of the Insurrection Hill, is alone able to check the present rapid progress of dis sati,faction in this County. Resolved unanimously, That we have heard with extreme surprise and regret that it is not in the contemplation of his. Majesty's Government to propose this measure at the ap proaching Meeting •of Parliament, and that our County is thereby suffered to remain subject to a system destructive alike to the lives, the property, the loyalty, and the morality of its inhabitants. Resolved unanimously, That the Government of this Coun try will, by a perseverance in this line of conduct, destroy all confidence in its inhabitants, to afford protection to those who oppose the progress of the present disturbances. Resolved unanimously, That deeply impressed with a sense of the very danierous and dislurbed state of this County, tie do again address the Lords Justices of this Kingdom respect fully, yet most earnestly, requesting them to give directions that the Insurrection Act be forthwith brought forward in Parliament. Resolved unanimously, That in order that we may not hereafter have reason to accuse ourselves of having omitted any step %N bleb might have tended to the attainment of an object of such vital importance, our Chairman be requested to tran,mit a copy of these Resolutions to the Earl of Liver pool, and very earnestly to req►tcst his Lordship's immediate attention thereto. J. IL BLAKENEY, Nigh Sheriffufthe County Galway. Resolved, That our Chairman he requested to lay these our EesQlutions before the Government of the Country, and that they be forthwith published—(with one disieutiegt voice,) J. H. BLAKENEY, ' liigb Sheriff of the CQII nty Galway. After some conversation with Major-Generat o . Loog,illin, it was then Resolved unanimously; That it is lfigbly necessary for tba restoration of the Peace and Tranquillity of this Connty,thoit parties of Military be immediately statioued in the follow - sal places :-- • Turlotklimore, }Barony of Clare. • Head ford, • Ballynakill, Barony of Leitritti. , Killinier, Barony of Longford. , A rd rah i n, Barony of Du nlsel I)ranniore, Kinvarra, Barony of Kiltartort. Kilcurren, Barony of Tyaqtsin. Barony of D.unmore. That an Officer's Party he immediately sent to the HO" and Mills of Newtown, to aid the Magistrates and well rßs• .posed Peasantry of that part of the Barony ©f Tyaguin, their laudable exertions to preserve the peace of their veigla' bonrhood. That the Garrisons of Laughren and Athenry be r4lB - • forced. That Major-General O'Loughlin be 'requested to take lb itece9sary steps, to carry the proposed arrangement into effect. Resolved unanimously, That this Meeting be adjourned t Thursday, the 2d day of March next, to beheld at Loaghtcust to take the state of tltis County into further corisideration. H. lILAKENEY, • High Sheriff of the County of Galway., LAW INTELLIGENCB. COURT OF KING's BENCH,,MARcat 1. Sittings after Hilary Term, before the_ Lord, Chief Jo,,,ltike ABBOTT awl a -Co - .anon Jatrv. FALSE IMPRISONMENT. LynNS V. B►i•NNFTT AND OTHERS. This was an octi''n for assault and false sonment brought by the plaintiff, - who is a 'unt idier, againit the delendan's,- Be , nett, Tip et' Cliuton, uoder the Following, eifcutusHuccF: The defendant Bennett is a Costorn,home 05. cer, and ke'eps a shop on Tower-hill lie lt,tt! its his set vice a young woman, named Jane - Smith. Who - had qui t ted that seryice, but whom lie 10. 4 for some time suspected of theft in leis shop . , sank whom he found nut to have received 21. hots a customer of his under false pretences, awl embezzled the same to her. own account, 0 4 therefore sent for Clinton, who is a constable iii his•neighbourbood, for (lie purpose of apprehend! . tng her, and-appointed to meet him on-Towel' . bill tot that purpose, at six o'clock in the ing of the 27th of April, that being a .1-1 v dive for Jane Smith to be seer that tit hood. Clinton: accompanied Bennett th;iner rrt the time appointed ; they saw a young woman approaching them; and Bennett told Chilton that was the woman they wanted,: and desired him P 3) d 9 his 'Ol by taking her into cestody. person, however, was not Jane Smith, bat the plaintiff, Sarah Lyons, whO was then :pro' ceeding to the mornin ,, , hu.6iness of her -milk' walk, -in which she had been employed for six' teen years before. In vain did shr piotest-slie w 35 not Jane Smith, that her nam e was 8, T „), Lyons. end that she was iVell 1004 VII for many year:; to be neig hbonthood. A crowd . wasi rapidly. c ol. leered, and the defendant Clinton took.the O;4'P" riff to the shop of a Mr. Wood in the treighbo4 l " hood. t Several persons told the .constable i)er name was Lyons, bait Tippet, who was show/Pia to a Mr. Ford, in the neighbourhood, insisted tile lrlaintiff was. Jane. Smith, who had robbed her 'mos' ter. The plaintiff's brother and her mother cams/ and in vain warned the defendant Clinton, that bc was mistaken.. Hetook her to the New Conarde" where she was detained it. prisoner nearly 7 140 0.4 / amongst felons :and persons, of infamous OW racier. At one o'clock she was taken before 0 4 Lord Mayor under a charge of felony • Nit on a being Put to the Bar, Bennett, whci *mended (,(/ substantiate the charge; said she was nor J.o l° Smith, the persoff meant to be apprehended ; bu t ` extremely like her. The plaintiff was accordrogli 'discharged. The Lord Mayor remonsirtued ,truss Bennett upon the rashness of his bringing such charge against a yOlt9g woman of reputable chi' racier, and lola hi m it was not Only f k duty t 4 make all the reparation in, his power by putaireli declaring in the Newspapers his error, apologising for the disgrace to which he bad exposed her el% l P' raster and the injury dime to her feelings. 14 sending her to a common gaol, amongst thieve and prostitutes, under a charge of felony, ba t ' that he ought also to make her some pecuniitri reparation. But Mr. Bennett refused to mak e, , any public explanation or apology . He signifiel! his readiness, however, to pay 51. to any pall ° charity. The plaiatiff, therefore, was advised to appeal to the laws for redress; and accordingif brought the present action. The plaintiff's Counsel agreed to exclite: l " name of Clinton from the action, as he was-mei' ly a constable, anti acting under the direction oil" positive charge of the other two defendants. • , he Jury, after a most impartial charge ifo° lll the Learned Judge, found their verdict for plaintiff, as against Bennett and Tippet-D e upiges; 501 —Costa, 40s. No other trial of the least general interest-a ! cured. • Mr. YouNG and Miss 11ffuNT0N, of Covell!' varden The:aire, are at this'firne both phiving Norfolk, the former at Norwich and the f;itei mt Lynn. COAL MARK - 1:4.T, M RCN 1. Shipsfa Market. Ships sold.' Price. 4 Newcastle 1 Sunderland ..." DIED. • Mrs. Ogle, relict of Dean Ogle, and mother of the I° , t , e Mrs. R. B. Sheridan, died a few days ago at Bath, in t " e Seth year of her age. II of On the 25th of February, Mrs. Mary Russell Baroert er Southampton-row, Russell square,- in the 413th year 01. age. —....° LONDON: Printed by J. B. CARSFAIRS, of No. 49, Ormond-street. Queen-square; _and published bY S(;IUPPS, of No. 7, South Nlolton.street, Tile. ), Office, No. 112, Strand ; wliere Adrestisenic 'l7s, Or' lc. Letters, &c. (post-paid) roust be addressed. • ;; .i V' • 3z 11 URI :11 Te re - ,Toth ti i 1 1 !, • :~`f `lll C • of t hat ji a ' 4 14, yo 514livr( 41 ° ni i 1 , 1 u Euu Chc 1, Pla ce. n ~Y du qn~~~, c 11:1 v e 'rest hq he I ,, rt to 1 . 1 , ;,n, attid y . tidal 1 !'\11, 5 , . rUs 1,t~,e ti t _ 1 " 4 thi .1 1' 14 e. p h ce , l ihtta; th ree 4 PPea] '''uto nd te, lt b I ha ~. Ui l b -I;t;ii ,• ~~ ~l;;ii 4 '`ll , l