The Sun. — London, England, 1840-05-28 00:00:00

,VENING EDITION. CAT LIOLIC INSTITUTE OF GREAT RRITAIN. ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Ca4iolic In,titute of Great Britain took place on Tuesday, at the Freemasons' Tavern. The hour appointed for the meeting was twelve o'clock, but, long previous to that period, the doors of the tavern were beset by hip..-lily respectable persons, anxious to gain admission. The doors were opened shortly before twelve o'clock, and many minutes had not elapsed before the room was crowded to suffo cation. The Hon. Charles Langdale took the chair shortly after one o'clock ; at. which period we noticed on the platform Lord Camoys, Lord Stourton, Lord Clifford, the Hon. Charles Clifford, Mr. P. Howard, M.P., J. Husband, Esq. of Dunfermline, the Rev. Mr. Sisk, the Rev. Mr. Robson, Dr. Hughes (the Bishop Coadjutor of New lurk), ClFles Wills, Esq., Charles Townley, Esq., and severlT other Catholics of dis• tinction. . . Mr. LANGDALE, upon taking the chair, was most enthusiastically cheered. He said—Gentlemen, I be lieve it may be generally known that the present meet ing is an adjournment of the annual meeting of the Catholic Institute, appohited to be held about a fort night ago. Whatever doubts there may have been in the minds of the gentlemen then present, as to the pro priety of adjourning that meeting, I am quite sure, from the appearance of the present, and from the num ber and respectability of those I now see around me, there can be no longer any doubt on the minds of any gentleman then present. Gentlemen, 1 for one am not very fond of seeing subjects connected with religion frequently brought under discussion in large public meetings, but I must say, considering the Catholic In stitute has enacted, and I think wisely so, to hold but one meeting in the course of the year, I think it highly desirable on such an occasion, that as much pub licity as possible should be given to the day on which that meeting is to be held—(Cheers) —not only to the Catholics in the seetropolis and its vicinity, but to the utmost extent of Great Britain, to which the branches of the Catholic Institate extends.--(Cheers.) I think it highly desirable, upon an interesting occasion such as the present, that every Catholic should have an oppor tunity of reviewing the proceedings of the Society for the past year, of approving or disapproving of those proceedings, and also that they should be called upon, if they desire it, to give their sanction to the proceed ings that it may be proposed to adopt for the ensuing year. I lament that another object which we had in view, in adjourning this meeting, has not been suc cessful. W e had hoped that the Earl of Shrewsbury —(Cheers)_the President of the Society, whom we understood was already at Paris, on his return to this country, would have taken the chair.—(Cheers.) Gentlemen, personally I deeply lament that the Noble Earl is not present, because I feel how much more ably and appropriately he would have filled the chair than I can possibly do ; however, I feel I shall best fulfil the duty You have imposed on me, if I proceed at once to the business of the day. It is not my intention, in that respect, to trespass long upon your attention, and I shall leave it to those gentlemen who have resolutions to propose, to comment upon the matter and substance of those resolutions. (Here Mr. O'Connell entered the meeting, which was the signal for the mos t enthusiastic cheering, which lasted for several minutes. When quiet had in some measure been restored, the worthy Chairman proceeded.) lam happy to say that one of the observations I had to make to the meeting has been forestalled by the ap pearance of my Hon. and Learned Friend who has just arrived.—(Cheers.) Before, Gentlemen, as I was stating, I call upon any one to move these resolutions I cannot resist the opportunity of congratulating the meeting and expressing my great gratification at the in crease, the rapid increase, which the Catholic Institute bas succeeded in obtaining during the short period of two years. Whatever doubts there might have been entertained, and I believe there were some very con scientioue doubts, as to the propriety of the course then adopted, I believe that the meeting can well testify to the high approbation of the course then pursued. I believe, Gentlemen, that the progress the Institute has made, spreading its branches to every part of the country through the breadth and length of the land, is the best testimony of the stability of the ground on which it is formed. There is one other circumstance I cannot help alluding to, though it forms th e su bj ec t of a resolution. I a llude to the high and gra tifying sanction which the Catholic Institute has received from the venerable head of the Church of Rome and I cannot but congratulate the gentlemen who form the members of the Catholic Institute on sharing in the apostolic benediction which has been sent by the Divine Founder of our holy religion.—(Cheers.) I wish to call to the recollection of those gentleman who may have resolutions to propose the grounds upon which the Institute was originally founded —namely, that it was for the defence of our religion against the calumnies uttered against it—for the instruction of the poorer members of our religious creed—and finally, it was for the defence .1 the poorer members of our faith from those remnants of intolerance which I am afraid still remain in too many of the institutions of the country. I may also add that a day appears to be approaching when we may be called upon to act with g r eater energy, to restrict those bigotted attempts which have been made to put the Catholic religion under restrainh—(Cheers.) These being the circumstances under which the Institution was formed, I hope the resolutions will be strictly limited to those objects. I believe the success this Institu• tion has had is the best testimony of the propriety of the course we have adopted, and I do believe we shall be acting wisely and judiciously if we pursue that course which has hitherto been adopted with such complete success. I would, t therefore, earnestly press upon those gentlemen who have resolutions to pro pose that in the wording of those resolutions these objects should be kept in view. Perhaps also, as Chairman, I may be allowed to impress on the minds of those who address the meeting the high im portance of restricting their observations as much as possible within the limits of the resolution they propose ; I know, gentlemen, well the temptation in addressing such a meeting as the present to be carried further in the warmth of argument than you intended, but as our Institution is formed upon the principle of self defence, so even on this occasion I should be glad to see that that is the object of those who address the meet ing, and not retaliation upon others, which I fear there is too much ground to justify. Having said thus much, I shall best consult the feelings of the meeting by calling upon the Secretary to proceed with the business of the day. The first proceeding will be to read the Report of the past year. 'rho SECRETARY then proceeded to read the Repor of the last year, from which it appeared that the So ciety was advancing rapidly ; that several additional Auxiliary Societies had been formed ; that several per sons of rank and station had joined the Institute ; that the pecuniary contributions had increased ; that the dis tribution of tracts had kept pace with the increased funds ; that many most gratifying communications had been received from the Continent in favour of the society ; that in British Guiana under Dr. Clanceyi a Catholic Institute had been formed, and that legal proceedings had been taken to set at rest several dis puted points with respect to the Marriage Act, and le gacies left for Catholic purposes. The Report, which was of great length, was cheered throughout. The SECRETARY then read an address from the Li: verpool Branch Institute, stating the exertions made in that town in the cause, and exortiog the parent society to proceed in its great work. Lord CAMOYS then proposed the following resolu tion :—" That the Report now read be adopted, and that the same, with the addition of such documents, as the Committee to be afterwards named may think pro per to annex thereto, be printed and circulated under the direction of the Committee." The approbation with which the meeting had honoured the reading and conclusion of the Report, assured him that the task he had undertaken would turn out to be a most agree able one.--(Cheers.) If t h e R eport had cont ained matter that required explanation, or justification and defence, if its retrospect had been unsatisfactory and gloomy, h e s h ou ld t h en have felt inclined to have ass:ened the task he had int., the hands of t h ose who now performed ve A r Tre more a ble to grapple with it ; b ut t h e the fact, from the beginning t o the y end re e verse yt e very th ing was satisfactory, and from th e exper i ence of the ing past he thought they were justified in lookin g forwar d to success for the future.—(Cheers.) In order to show to the meeting more clearly the satisfactory nature of the present report, he would attempt to compare it with that of the last year ; that report was most satisfactory, but the present was far more so.—(Cheers.) In the first report nineteen auxiliary institutes bad been stated to have been formed, while in the present there were no less than 44.—(Cheers.) In the first report the subscriptions had been stated to amount to 6001., while in the present one they amounted to nearly 1,000/., &c.; making that statement, he spoke of money that had actually been received, and not of that which was yet to be paid.—(Great cheering.) Ano ther subject of satisfactory comparison was the issue o publications, while there were 38,000 last year, the num ber during the present amounted to '218,000. They had no such cause as Breeks and Wroolfrey to re port, nor an attack of Gathercole upon the nuns. —(Hear, hear, and cheers.) These circumstances he looked upon as satisfactory. When the present was first est a bli s h e d , or rathe r before i t was ov iety established, attacks had b een ma d e with imp unity h Society no such upon the defence less, but sl nce t h e i nst i tutiono oc currences took place.—(Cheerst e ) He thought the ne ceesity of this Institute must bee t. pparerlt to all—there was scarcely any denomination o so me society or other to regulate th e i r o er nons Christians but had p Ca tholics, therefore , in establishing this society ; the a y d h ad nutadopted only fol lowed the example of others, though th e y h their model—this Society had been instit u t e d, not the principle of retaliation, but defence.—.._(Ch eer . That was a principle so just and so satisfactory that i t was impossible impossible for any Catholic to hesitate a moment to join it. This principle it was that had made the present so ciety so flourishing, but it was to be remembered that the institute, as it was at present constituted, was insufficien for its purposes —they wanted more members and more subscriptions...they could not ha'u too much at the latter, because there was always suffici ent of good to be performed and evil prevented. He bailed with sincere satisfaction the letter from his Holiness the Pope, as it would cause the Catholic clergy to exert themselves in upholding an Institution which was so highly sanctioned, and was calculated to do so much good. It would be presumptuous in him to oc cupy more of the time of the meeting—there was vet much business to be done, and many speakers to address them, and among them that liberal-minded man who was to be found connected with every society that had truth and justice for its object, and the weak for its protection. —(Great cheering. )—The Noble Lord concluded by moving the resolution. The Hon. CHARLES CLIFFORD seconded the resolution. The very able manner in which the Report had been laid 1 before the meeting by the Noble Lord left him but very little to do. On the present occasion he had received his instructions to address the meeting since he had entered that room, and seeing himself surrounded by so many Noble Peers and those more calculated than himself to do justice to the cause, he felt it was almost presump tion on his part to address the meeting. Ho felt that pre sumption increased in consequence of the presence of one who, through evil and good report, had ever shown him self one of the greatest and proudest champions of the religion he professed—( Cheers)—and who in the hour of trial stood forth as her champion, amid the scorn of all. --(Cheers.) He (Mr. Clifford) had the most earnest wish for the prosperity of the Institute, and he stood there to deny the assertion that had been made by a Noble Peer in Exeter Hall with respect to that religion.— ( Cheers.) He stood there to meet that Noble Lord with the only argument which his religion afforded, namely, the argument of feeling and of c harity.—( Cheers.) He stood there, a member of the present Institute, prepared to meet vituperation by sound religion and charity, and he was prepared to show that the religion he professed, and to which he was devoted, was not that abomination which it had been represented.—( Cheers.) But to come to the good which the present Institute had done in his own country; since he had known that country his own chap lain had had 32 miles to ride to a brother priest; but what was the case now ? Why, he could collect round him dosens of his reverend brethren.—(Cheers.) He would intreat the Society to go on in the good work they had begun, for be would tell them in the face of Exeter Hall, and in the presence of the champions of his faith, that the more they poured the oil of Catholic charity into the gob let.—the more easily they could circulate Catholic tracts, for they would then be the more certain to baffie every attempt made against them by those who were anxious to uproot their religion.—(Cheers.) They had lately seen an awful visitation inflicted upon one who per haps was misguided. He alluded to what had taken place at Exeter Hall, where an individual was called to the presence of his God while he was assailing the creed which they professed. Such a circumstance created a feeling of awe. He was glad that the Society distri buted tracts, for he was sure their distribution would do great good. He had seen in the country in which he resided a honest yeoman, who knew as much about tho Catholics as a dancing master did of a sack of wheat, calling out against his creed, and then afterwards telling him that having read such and such a pamphlet, he was undeceived.—( Cheers.) The faith of the Catholic might be compared to the adamantine rock—amid a ll ti mes it remained unchanged and unchangeable.—( Cheers.) They had among them that day a Right Reverend Prelate from Nen York, and he trusted that in such a presence he had not allowed a single word to escape him unworthy a Christian, or which would militate against the spirit which united the Catholics,—( Cheers.) He should be unworthy of the property he held, were he not the ad vocate of the religion of his ancestors, all of whom had lived, and died, and suffered in that faith.—(Cheers.) He was in perfect unison with the ebject of the present Insti tute, and though in the present day great good had boon, and would continue to be done, still they would leave those behind them who would see more effectually than they would the great works that would result from the Ca tholic Institute. The Hon. Gentleman concluded by seconding the resolution. The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution to the meeting, and declared it to be carried unanimously. The Rev. Mr. Sem moved the next resolution. He bad had placed in his hands a resolution, which, judging from what he had heard that day in favour of the successors of St. Peter, would be responded to with most heartfelt gratitude. The resolution he had to propose was— " That with feelings of the deepest interest and most lively gratitude and attachment to the Holy See, the In stitute humbly beg to offer to our Holy Father, Pope Gregory the Sixteenth, their most dutiful and respectful acknowledgments for the letter which his Holiness has been pleased to address to the Right Hon. the Earl of Shrewsbury, the President of the Institute, approving of the same, and imparting his Apostolical benediction to its members, and that an Address to the Holy Father, in accordance with this resolution, be prepared by the Com mittee, and presented to his Holiness by the President." He felt it to be a high honour in an assembly like the pre sent, and upon an occasion like the one they were now met to celebrate, to have placed in his hands such a reso lution. The name of Gregory was auspicious to them ; it was derived from a Greek word signifying vigilance ; and certainly Pope Gregory had shown himself most vigi lant and thoughtful of his distant children.—(Cheers.) He had said that the name of Gregory was auspicious ; it was so 1100 years ago. The Rev. Gentleman then pro ceeded to take a review of the state of the Catholic Church from the olden times, and quoted from the works of Bale, Matthew of Westminster, and others, to show that the Roman Catholic religion, instead of being what had been represented, was a religion of love and charity, and one that was universally adopted both by high and low until later times. The Rev. Gentleman then proceeded to remark upon the great works accomplished by succeed , ing P o pes, especially Gregory XIII., who bad not only , established English Colleges for instruction, but also Scotch and Irish, and who had also been remarkable for altering the Calendar. It was a disgrace to this country to have allowed 150 years to have passed before it adopted that alteration, simply because the suggestion came from a Pope. As he bad risen for the purpose of moving a reply to the Pope, he thought it was but right that he should put the meeting in possession of the admirable letter which his Holiness had written. It was written to the Esrl of Shrewsbury, the President of the Institute, and was to the folloiing effect : " To our beloved son, John, Earl of Shrewsbury, Piesi. dent of the Catholic Institute of Great Britain. " Beloved Son, Health and Apostolical Benediction,— Whilst filled with sorrow on account of the ever-increas ing calamities of the Church of Christ, we have received such abundant cause of gladness, as has not only relieved us in the bitterness wherewith we were afflicted, but has excited in us more than ordinary joy. For we have been informed that by the care of yourself, and other noble and pious men, the Catholic Institute was, two years ago, established in Great Britain, with the design especially of protecting the followers of our Divine Faith in freedom and security, and, by the publication of works, of vindicating the Spouse of the Immaculate Lamb from the calumnies of the heterodox. Since, therefore, these purposes tend in the highest degree to the advantage of the English nation, You can easily understand, Beloved Son, the reason why such joy should have been felt by us, who have been, by Divine appointment, constituted the heirs of the name and chair of that Gregory the Great, who, by the torch of the Catholic Faith, first enlightened Britain, involved in the darkness of idolatry. We are en couraged to entertain the cheering hope that the light of Divine Faith will again shine with the same britness as of old, upon the minds of the British people. We desire nothing with greater earnestness than to embrace once more with paternal exultation the Eneli,h Nation, adorned with so many and such excellent qualities. and to receive back the long-lost sheep into the fold of Christ. Where fore, Beloved Son, we cannot refrain from strenuously exhorting you, and ail the members of the pious Associa tion over which you preside, to offer up fervent prayers with us to the Father of Mercies, that He would pro pitiously remove the lamentable darkness which still covers the mind of so many dwelling unhappily in error, and in His clemency bring the Children of the Church, who have wandered from her, back to the bosom of the mother whom they have left. " Meanwhile, to you and to all your countrymen who belong in any way to the Catholic Institute, We most strxtionately impart our Apostolical benediction. " Given at Rome at St. Peter's, on the nineteenth day of February, moccen., the tenth of our pontificate. " GREGORY P.P. XVI." There was not a word in that letter of hate or uncharita bleness towards the Protestunts.—(Cheers.) He trusted, therefore, it would be an encouragement to them to perse vere.—( Cheers.) He would not advert to those who had called the Pope Anti Christ, or the Man of Sin ; but this he would say, that he thought the application of that term was quite as suitable to the Archbishop of Canterbury as the Pope.--( Cheers.) He regretted extremely that it should have been thought necessary to send emissaries round the country to declare that the Catholics inculcated perjury. Those who had done so would have to answer for it to their God.—( Cheers.) He should regret ex• ceedingly it this society should ever become the engine to assail their adversaries in the manner they had assailed m h e a m g n ; eb they y he w h n a n d l d t o n o v er high d o an s n(i Loud i e t s b e n e i r e s m .) e r T s b t o n i ßev. Gentleman concluded an excellent speech, by moving the Resolution : The Rev. Mr. RoesoN seconded the motion. It was to him a source of the greatest satisfaction to find that the proceedings of that Society met not only with the appro bation, but with the encouragement of the Holy Head of their Church. The approval of such a man was valuable indeed. It showed that his vigilance had never slumbered, that his anxi ety for England had never relaxed, that his desire was for the promotion of the great cause of truth—(Cheers) —and as a proof of that he had increased the vicars in this country from four to eight. It had been said, and most truly, that Gregory was an auspicious name ; it was so, and the pre sent day was equally aus pi c i ous f or E ng l an d, f or it wa s the feast of the apostle of this country, St. Austin.-- ( Cheers.) The opposition to Catholicity did not proceed from the love of truth or the hatred of error—truth and error could not be blended together—but it proceeded from selfish motives.—(Cheers.) He was aware that the intercourse of the Catholics here with Rome was decried in this country as a foreign connection, but he must be allowed to say, that there existed those who co veted it. An organ of the Establishment lamented in direct terms, that the establishment of England stood alone in the world, and that it was ent h r alled. Now, the object of the o e d d do away be le t twith of thatbihis their r orporation of union with c p r bp e e s oc e pr i e i s t . )a I s n s H t t i he t e u t n e luctu w hssha a i dro s telev t rre do f .— th ( e while they boasted of th at , l et e h on a c v l e ud u ed nio by n t w h u ra ii l i d ie o s m s tßhnemire_So(cciehteye.—rs)(_Cbhuectrs; among then themselves. remember ha t The Rev.it was_ G ll necessary Gentleman an t o aseincf:dndminugebtchbeereersinoglu.tion, which was carried unanim ous l y , Lord CLIFFORD, bleb lasted f in ri,;ing to propose b the next resolu tion, was greeted with loud cheers, w qr Chairman wh se character was we ll known o all, an d , o several minutes. He had been called upon byt the Hon. : nll .. uct of this I w nstitute, t u w t a e s . a t n g p u r a u r p a u n s t e e e t b o e f f the n lln w o i n b j g e c r t e s gratificatioa, the continued extension of the auxiliary ; " That this m eet i ng rega rds with feelings o f the hi g hest soalnudtiocno TriE SUN, LONDON, TFICTIMDAY, MAY 28, 1840. branches of the Institute, and the effects so beneficial to religion which have resulted therefrom." If any one in the meeting, en his presenting himself before them, had had a thought eons© across his mind, and had said to himself, " What can Lord Clifford say to us about the Institute, this being the first meeting at which we have ever seen him ?" he should have considered that the remark was not uncourteous ; or if ever they had said, " Does be mean to speak in Italian or English ?" that re mark would not have surprised him.—( Laughter.) Now he was nut only going to speak English, but he was going to speak it after the manner of a member of the Royal Fa mily, who was an ornament to this country—he alluded to his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex.—(Great cheer ing.) The following were, he believed, the words, as far as recollected them, of that Royal Duke, and used too at a time when Catholics could not have assembled as they did that day in that room—(Cheers)—to take advantage of the impression produced in their favour by a tardy ac knowledgment on the part of the Legislature.—( Cheers. ) The words were used by his Royal Highness when he stood almost alone as the advocate for the restoration to their birthright of seven millions of human beings.— ( Cheers.) As far as he recollected them his Royal Iligh ness's words were :—" The religious principles of a coun try will always centre in their political principles, and to them they will always be more or less accommodated. Great Britain, isolated in her position, has alway s cultivated a pecu liar species of civil and religious liberty unknown to other na tions of Europe." New, the object of the present Institute was to make more known those principles of civil and re ligious liberty, in repugnance to which no profession of Christianity could ever have permanent hold on the feel ings, and could only subsist in public estimation either by silencing the voice of truth or the loud cry of m:srepre sentation.—(Choers.) The position in which the Roman Catholic was placed by the Act of 1829. made it impossible to silence the voice of seven millions of loyal subjects, and therefore the question now came to be—What profes sion of Christianity was that which was conformable to the national spirit of civil liberty—and sooner or later that Christianity would be the acknowledged Christianity of Great Britain.—(Cheers.) Now, there was but one way in which the course of the progress of events would be stopped, and that would be if the Roman Catholics of her Majesty were so to mistake their position as to descend to the low arts of calumny and misrepresentation which had been so successfully employed against them in the reigns of her Majesty's predecessors.—(Cheers.) It was, therefore, the main object of the present Institute to avoid all calumnies, to speak to those who reviled them the voice of truth, but carefully to avoid the language which had only been employed in the propagation of falsehood.--( Cheers. ) The more they could impress the great truth among their Catholic fellow-subjects, the more easy would be the solu tion of the problem. What species of Christianity was most fit for the people of England ?—(Cheers)—and the dis semination of the branches of this Institution which the meet ing regarded as most effectual.—(Cheers.) He would now say a few words with respect to his own country. A fort night before he left it a proposition was made for esta blishing an auxiliary branch of that Institute, and within fourteen days after the first proposition he was directed to hand into the Secretary a subscription of ten pounds. —(Loud cheers.) It might not be unimportant or unin structive to advert to the history of the country in which this happened. He could remember in 1819 having had the honour of being gibetted there—(Laughter)—with the Noble Lord now the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who was called the Pretender—( Increased laughter)— and also a Rev. Gentleman, who now resided on the estate of the President of the Institute, who was called his Satanic Majesty.—(lncreased laughter.) As for him self, he had had the honour of being elevated to the Pope dom.—(Roars of laughter.) And he believed three more ugly personages could not have had the honour of being gibbetted.—(Laughter.) Ho would venture to say no one would have asked them to dinner, and the ladies would have placed them in their book of " rejected addresses." --(Great laughter.) Well, the Pretender, as he was called, of Devonshire, had become Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, which, it was said, he was not fit for, because he had invited Mr. O'Connell to dinner—( Great laughter)— and Lord John Russell had been turned out of tke country, because ho was friendly to Mr. O'Connell.—(Cheers.) So much for party prejudices.—(lncreased cheering.) Then, as to his friend—his Reverend friend, his Satanic Majesty—he was content, notwithstanding she taunts against his thriving upon the estates of his friend, the President of the Institute ; and if he played the devil with any thing, or any body, it was with the English language, for at Alton Towers he still retained the Devonshire dialect.— (Great laughter.) Then as to himself—there he was, at tending that meeting, and it certainly was such a meeting as he never expected to see assembled for the purpose of enlightening the minds of their fellow subjects, and re plying to calumnies, in the way of charity--( Cheers.) It 'sad been said that, while be was in Rome last year, he had been compassing the downfal of Christianity. Now, what was the fact ? Why, that he had not been at Rome at all last year, but in Germany.—( Cheers.) So much for truth in that respect. Then it might be expected that he should say something relative to what he had heard of the character given by the Catholics of the Protestants abroad. With respect to that, all he bad to say was, that the general feeling he had met with on the Continent was a well-founded respect for the English character, but a deep regret that so little care had been taken by the people to inform themselves of what the real merits of the Catholic religion were. The Noble Lord concluded amid much cheering by moving the resolution. Mr. ADDIS seconded the resolution. The object of the present Society was to dispel the ignorance that existed in every part of the kingdom as to what the real principles of the Catholic religion were, and thereby administer an antidote to the poison that had been put forth by the M'Ghees and the O'Sullivans.—(Cheers.) The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution, and declared it to be carried unanimously. Mr. O'CONNELL now came forward to propose the next resolution. It is impossible to describe the scene that took place at this moment ; the ladies, vast numbers of whom occupied the meeting, rose to cheer the Liberator of Ireland, and from every part of the room, not excluding the galleries, the most enthusiastic plaudits proceeded. Mr. O'Connell, having repeatedly bowed his thanks for the honour done, and silence being in some measure re stored, proceeded to address the meeting.—Yes, he ex claimed, this is indeed a great day for England—( Im mense cheering)—a great day for truth, for religion, and for charity (Great cheering)— and he hoped it was not profane for him to say that it was a day dedicated to the glory of God, and one likely to promote a holy cause.—( Great cheering.) Catholicy stood forward that day as she ought to do, with the most ancient and most honourable nobility of the land around her.—(Cheers.) She was persecuted no longer, she was no longer enchained, and the people crowded round her. —( Cheers.) Oh, it was indeed a great day for England. —(Cheers.) There was something remarkable that it should be the festival of the glorious Saint, who was sent by the Pope of Rome as the first to communicate the light of true religion to the ancestors of the English people.—(Cheers.) It was the festival of St. Austin.— (Great cheering.) He (Mr. O'Connell) remembered that he had occasion once to write an epistle as to St. Austin being the first to introduce Christianity in Eng land, whereupon he was called by a Methodist an egre gious liar. Such was the politeness with which he was used.—( Laughter.) After some altercation, however, it was admitted that he (Mr. O'Connell) was right. This re minded him of an Irish Counsel, who having nothing to say to a witness, said, " Now, by virtue of your oath, are you not a Dane ? to which he replied, No, and was about leaving the box. 0, says the Counsel, come back, Sir. Are you not a Swede ? and receiving a reply in the affir mative, he called him an equivocating rascal.—( Laughter.) But to be serious ; this was a great day for Catholicy in another point of view, namely, the contrast between the manner in which they discussed religious subjects, and that in which other parties brought them forward. They had heard no imputations that day from any one upon other Chi istian creeds.—(Cheers.) Whereas other meetings had taken place where the foulest calumnies had been uttered. They had been told that they did not know what they believed. Now the fact was, that those who said so were like Torn 7 humb—they made giants for them, and then they killed them..—( Cheers.) It was a great comfort to him to see some of tho discussions that had taken place elsewhere against the Catholics, because he could not find in them a single argument that touched upon the doc trines they professed, and where it did it was based upon error and was nothing like what they believed.—(Cheers.) The society to which be had referred had liars of all descrip tions, from Jesuitical M'Neil to forgery M‘Ghee.— ( Laughter. 1 It certainly was an honour to Ireland to think that all these calumniators were Irishmen.—( Laugh_ ter. ) It was found, he supposed, that of all calumniators the Irish were the boys to blacken.—( Laughter.) Now he had had the curiosity to read an account of some of the meetings that bad taken place at Exeter-hall, to see if there was something to compete with in them ; but he found the lies stated there so flat, stale, and unprofitable, that they were not worth picking up out of the gutter.— ( Laughter.) But then they had issued pamphlets, and he thought he might get them there ' • but what were they ? Why, charges aga i nst t h e C at h o li c Bishops of being per jurers, and they named four of them. Now he, Mr. O'Connell, stood there as their counsel, and he was pre pared to make good their defence. First, it was said that one of them ( Dr. Healy) in 1834, sanctioned the third Canon of the fourth Lateran. Now, what was the fact? Why, just this ; that Dr. Healey was not a Bishop till 1839.—(Great cheering.) Now a friend of his (Mr. O'Connell) had written to Dr. Murray on the subject, and he would read his answer to the meeting. " Dublin, May 22, 1840. " DEARSIR,— I have been Just now fav oure d w i t h your letter of the 20 th inst., in which you inform me that the bigots of Exeter Hall have extensively disseminated a handbill headed " Awful Perjury of the Popish Bizhopa of Ireland ;" that the Irish Prelates are therein accused of establishing in Ireland the Bulb. Ca3nee Do m i n i,: after publicly declaring to the empire that the said Bull was never set up nor authorised in Ireland, nor would it be ever published there ; and you beg of me to put you in possessio • n of the true facts of the case. Now the answer to all this is very short. As far as regards the accusation, there are no true facts whatever in the case. The whole is an impudent and unprincipled fabrication. No such Bull has beon published or authorised by the Bishops of Ireland, nor by any one of them. 't'o give an appearance of plausibility to this atrocious libel, and impose on the credulity of those who had not the means of ascertainin g its falsehood, the eighth volume of the Theology' of Dens is pointed out as containing t hi n obnoxious Bull, and the third Canon of the fourth Council of Lateran. In both cases the assertion is utterly false. As a further proof of the unscrupulous disregard of truth with which the story was concocted, one of the four Leinster Bishops (Dr. Healy) who is accused by name of having traitorouslT employed this vehicle, in 1832, to set up these document 4 as the Canon Law of Irelan4, was not a Bishop until six years later than that period. Is it not a pity that any por tion of the thinking people of England would allow them selves_ t o b e ma d e t h e d upes o f suc h conv i cte d i mpos t or s ? t is surely time that th o se who set th emse lves down to l fabricate " ingenious devices," which are calculated to tear asunder the bonds of Christian charity, should be scouted out of the society of every lover of peace, of order, and of truth. " I have the honour to remain, Dear Sir, very faithfully yours, " D. MURRAY." Such statements vvere hardly worth contradiction, but yet those men got persons to believe them. Could any thing be more inconsistent e,ith the Christian character than being the authors of such falsehoods ? Ought they not, he would ask, to raise a suspicion in the minds of conscien tious Protestants, that the cause could not be good which they endeavoured to support ? Did, he would ask, the ancient Christianity of the land require to be supported from the murky regions of the unhappy?_( Cheers.) Were such things to lead to the path of truth ? No ; there :l as a sprit of the darkest desperation in these falsehoods.— ( Cheers.) Truth stood alone, eternal as the rock of ages, on which Christ had founded his true and everlasting Church.—( Cheers.) Now, with respect to Mr. Ker, of Norwich, of whom something had been said ? That per sonage had got settled at Norwich, and being so, he came to town to show his mode of working. He attended what was called the Reformation Society.—( Laughter.) What a ludicrous thing it was to give it such a name ; they wanted to be reformed to be sure, and therefore he would say, any money for a Reformer of the Reformation So ciety.—(Great laughter.) Well, this gentleman, Mr. Ker, stated that Norwich contained two Popish priests, two Popish chapels, and 2,000 Roman Catholics, and that every species of bribery and corruption was resorted to among them, for their own purposes ; that in one instance a Roman Catholic priest had offered a Protestant 51. to let his child go to the Roman Catholic school.—(Cheers.) Now he (Mr. O'Connell) would lay Mr. Ker 500/. that that was a lie.—( Laughter)—and he would prove it so—it was improbable, it was impossible.—(Cheers.) Now he had a letter from those two priests, which he would read to the meeting, and then they would bo enabled to judge of the truth or falsehood of the assertions of Mr. Ker : " Catholic Chapel, Willow-lane, Norwich, May 24. " Dear Sir,—ln answer to your welcome letter of Sa turday, I send you with pleasure the following particulars. My ear has of late become so familiarized t o th e gross falsehoods of the Rev. Mr. her agaiast us hero at Nor wich, and our holy religion, that I am not in the least surprised he should tell falsehoods of us when at a distance, and before a Reformation Society. What credit is to be given to a Clergyman, himself an Irishman, who could deliberately tell the Protestants of Norwich from the pulpit, and afterwards confirm and glory in his assertion in the 16'orwich Chronicle, that the people of Ireland were so superstitious as to believe that their Priests—the cause of all the crimes and miseries of Ireland—could, if they pleased, " turn them into pigs or goats ?" And what is to be thought of the members of the Protestant Association who could listen and applaud ? Mr. Ker is a man of no originality, except perhaps in falsehood. His discourses I cannot better describe in short than as an ill-digested com pound from the notorious declamations of Gregg, O'Beerne, Stowell, and M'Ghee. " I beg you will confront the following statements with the statements which you heard him make in the Hanover square Rooms. Ist. Before the formation of the Protes tant Association here towards the close of the last year, my fellow-labourer, Mr. Abbott, had announced and en tered on a course of Controversial Lectures. This was the means, in addition to the formation of a Branch Catho lic Institute, to promote Catholicism. The charge of bribery and corruption is no more than the old threadbare tale of " Five pounds and a pair of blankets to every con vert." I can testify that no Priest now living in Norwich ever offered a Protestant 51. if he would send his child to a Catholic school. No Priest would be such a fool. 2d. The Parsons here kept a running account of our converts ; they declared the numbers from the pulpit, calculating them at 50, or 100, or 200, and some were so nice as to draw the average. There were converts, but the number the Parsons coined or caught up by hearsay, to show their fright and alarm to their deluded hearers. Thanks be to God, and to the help of the Protestant Association, since last autumn, when the Association began here its whole sale work of lies and blasphemies, I have taken into the church, and admitted to communion this Easter, 19 con verts adults, besides several children of Protestant parents baptized. Mr. Abbot admitted 13 at Easter," purposes to admit 14 more at Whitsuntide, and will then have 25 under instruction still. So much for Mr. Ker's falsehood that owing to the Protestant Association we have not been able to produce a single convert ! We prefer to go on quietly and steadily. The fact is, dear Sir, many Pro testants own that we have been greatly benefited, them. selves greatly injured, by the late violent, blasphemous, and party-spirit harangues of the representatives of the Protestant Association, who have been called in from even the distance of 20 miles to attack us two poor Catholic Priests. 3d. What ho said about the Chartists is false. Mr. Collingridge indeed gave them a lecture—they were pleased; and I never heard of their intending to join us in a body. What is true is, they joined in hating the Pro testant Establishments and its wholesale plunder of Catho lic property and the poor. In haste to secure this day's post, believe me yours truly, " JAMES ETHERIDGE." " Catholic Chapel, Maddermarket, May 24. " Dear beg to subscribe my name also in con firmation of the correctness of all that is stated in the foregoing pages of this sheet by my worthy fellow-labourer, the Rev. James Etheridge. Your's truly, "JOHN ABBOT." So much for the truth of the story of Mr. Carr, and so much for that Gentleman himself. Well, then, with re. apect to M'Ghee, he had sent him (Mr. O'Connell) a challenge to argue the question with him, but he would net contamikate himself by arguing with such vagabonds. Well, M'Ghec, not content with this, had taken up the 3d canon of the Council of Lateran, and had put it iu the shape of a resolution longer than his arm ; everybody was to sign that, and then the Catholics were to be extin guished for ever.—(Cheers.) Now it was clear, both from Collins's Ecclesiastical History, and from the evidence of Dr. Doyle before the House of Lords, that they that were called the Council of Lateran were no Council of Lateran at all; and all the arguments and statements that were built on that assertion, fell to the ground. It was a council held against the errors of the Manacheans, a sect that tolerated every bad principle, and asserted that it was damnable to marry. He had followed this point longer than he intended, but he now came back to the point at which he left off. He asked them to show him a Catholic that calumniated the Protestants.—(Cheers.) But then it was said that the Catholic was a persecuting re ligion ' . if it was , was not t h e P rotestant far more so ? For a few years of persecution in the reign of Mary by the Catholics, three hundred years of persecution had been inflicted by the Protestants on the Catholics (Cheers) —during which barbarities had been resorted to which the savages of New Zealand would be ashamed of.—( Cheers.) Talk to him of the Catholics being a persecuting seligion ; what, he would ask, was the first State that granted liberty of conscience ? Was it a Protestant one ? No, it was Catholic Poland.—( Cheers.) What had the Catholic settlers in Maryland done ? Why they bad passed a law, emancipating the Protestants there.—( Cheers.) In 1792 the Hungarian Diet eman cipated the Protestants; they gave them one-third of their churches—nay, they did more —they enacted a law that the Protestants should pay no tithes to the Catho lies.—( Cheers. ) Were such examples followed by the Protestants? No. Even the heavenly Cranmer himself persecuted both Catholics and Protestants, and prevailed upon the crying child, Edward the Sixth, to sign the death warrant of Parr and Joan of Arc.— ( Cheers.) He would now turn from this, and meet Lord Winchilsea upon his own challenge. That Noble Lord had told the meeting at Exeter Hall that liberty was founded on the Protestant principle. Indeed I Who, he would ask, instituted the British Monarchy? The Catho lics.—( Cheers. ) Who instituted the British Peerage ? The Catholics.—( Renewed cheers.) Who instituted the representation of the people in the House of Commons ? The Catholics —(Continued cheering.) Who instituted the Judges ? The Catholics.—( Cheers.) In fact, the whole original frame of the Constitution of the country was Catholic ; and he did not think it had much improved by becoming Protestant.—(Cheers.) In those times the poor could enjoy their limbs in the open fields, but now, in Protestant times, they were shut up in workhouses, away from their fellow men.—( Cheers.) But then it was said Protestantism was favourable to liberty. Favourable to liberty 1 Sweden was free when Catholic—she became enslaved when Protestant. —( Hear.) Look at Denmark also ; she was free when Catholic— (Cheers) —she became Protestant, and what was the re. sult ? Her King was declared absolute—her liberty was put an end to—and up almost to the present day no man could be a Catholic there.—(Cheers.) Then look at Holland. There to be sure, it might have been a dis puted question, but when the Dutch found that their liberties were safe, did they resort to Protestants? Where, he would ask, were those instances which had been boasted of in Protestant countries? He cculd not find them. Perhaps he might be told they existed in Ireland. I Perhaps he might be told they e xisted in the British Par liament.—(Cheers.) He might be told that in 1929 they emancipated them. They did so; but why ? Why, be cause, as they said, in Ireland, " It was convanient to do so."—(Great laughter.) Peel and Wellington, and the whole lot of them, admitted that they did so because they thought it was prudent.—(Chee rs.) Ho stood there the advocate of Catholicity, he stood there to maintain that it was based on the principles of civil and religious liberty. —( Cheers.) The Catholics, claiming the right of con science themselves, recognised it in others; in fact, the principles upon which they went were, that they might make a man a hypocrite by force, but they could not make him a convert.—( Cheers.) The Catholics wanted no worldly preference for their religion ; all they if it w h a a n d ted no w t a a s that it should be t r i e d by its awn merits, preference in reason, and in the eye of God, then let it perish. —( Cheers.) But the Catholics came forward, and acid, believe not the calumniators ; we are for every man having liberty of conscience ; we are for upholding every claim that is just, no matter what the colour or the creed.— ( Cheers.) The Catholics had aided in the great struggle for the emancipation of the negro, and they would ever be found assisting in all works of charity and love.—( Cheers. ) He stood there as the advocate of Catholicity. He stood there as the advocate of the faith of his fathers.—( Cheers.) With a thorough conviction of the truth of all and every part of the Catholic doctrine—(Cheers) —and lie would not for all the world could give abandon o ne p article of it. —( Great cheering.) Why, he would ask, should the Ca t t t h lsliaa w i o l u av ld e beenstud Ct subct to take the disgr aceful oath the y had been compelled to take ?—( Hea r, hear.) Oh, y they were safe in b e li ev i ng the Catholic , because if eye e d of to re d a is s b o e n . , they would find a lieve any of th e r i tua l s o f t h e i r Church. They must theat o l h Catholicici t, with w the forbidden either believe a ll or none.—( Cheers.) Whe n the y talke d to him of th e sanct i ty of an oath, h e w ould turn round and ask what m ore they required to assure them of the sincerit y of the Catholic? Had they not been p ersecuted and driven to dist ress —h a d they no t been excluded from the il4ercise of eve r y r i g h t and privilege—had not the y been robbed and plund ere d of their property, and spoliated o f their rank and station? And yet they had borne all this sooner than violate the sanctity of an oath.—( Great cheer ing.) And yet the ministers who had imposed those oaths on the Catholics would now again impose them. If those oaths were again imposed, he was sure the Catholics would be found to rise to a man to oppose them.—(Cheers. would conclude as he had begun, by exclaiming that this wls a great day for England.—( Cheers.) Catholic truth had put itself forward with the manliness that ought to belong to the truth of God.—(Great cheer ing.) She was no longer shrinking or timid. She was no longer terrified or abashed, but she stood forward in the plenitude of her strength, a:ld in her own peculiar loveliness.—(Cheers.) No class of religionists were more attached to the Sovereign of the realm than the Catholics were.—(Cheers)—and none he was sure would more cheerfully lose their blood and treasure in her de fence. " May her throne," exclaimed the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, " be surrounded with glory, and power, and strength, and dignity. May her family circle increase year after year. May the lisping of her children make the mother's heart happy. May she enjoy every blessing that the world can afford, and when it shall please Him who rules the destinies of all the nations of the world to take her to himself, may she receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."—(Greet cheering.) The Catholics were firm in their ahegiance to the Throne— they were ready to join every band that struggled for free dom—they were ready to assist in casting off the fetters of those who were in bondage; in short, their only wish was that Christianity should flow through all the world in one unbroken stream, and that, having began with the first coming of the Redeemer, it might be fated to last till he came upon earth again.—( Tremendous cheering.) The Learned Gentleman concluded by moving the following resolution:-- " That we solemnly protest against the unchristian tone of calumny and of atrocious falsehoods exhibited at public meetings, and by the circulation of mendacious; tracts by many Protestant Clergymen and Laymen ; and whilst we declare our readiness at all times to maintain the truth and purity of Catholic tenets, and to give a reason for the faith that is in us—we will on every occasion refute false hood and calumny with calm reasoning, and in the spirit of benevolence and Christian charity.—(Great cheering.) CHARLES WELLS, Esq. seconded the resolution which was carried unanimously. Lord STOURTON moved the following resolution : " That the thanks of this meeting are due, and are hereby given to the Office-bearers of the Parent Institute, and its different Branches, for their zealous attention to the duties entrusted to them." Mr. CHARLES TOWNLEY seconded the resolution which was carried unanimously. The following resolution was also unanimously agreed to, having been moved by Mr. P. HOWARD, and seconded by Lord LOVATT .4 That the following gentlemen be appointed the Com mittee for the ensuing year, with power to add to their number, according to the regulations of the Institute, viz. : —Messrs. Richard Abraham, Charles Addis, John Bo relli, Frederick Chambers, J. A. Cooke, P. G. Heatley, Charles Innis, jun., Charles Edward Jerningham, Andrew Loughnan, jun., Frederick Lucas, Francis Macdonnell, Anthony Molteno, William Mylins, C. J. Pagliano, John Reed, Francis Riddell, Henry Riddell, William Rogers, I'. M. Smith, Richard Swift, and Charles Well." On the motion of Mr. JONES, seconded by Mr. WEBBLX, Mr. James Smith, the Secretary, was re-appointed. On the motion of Mr. MACDONNELL, seconded by Mr. lIERSE Y, the address from the Liverpool Branch to the Parent Society was referred to the Committee. The Chairman having left the chair, and the same having been taken by Dr. Hughes, the Bishop Coadjutor of New York, A vote of thanks was then unanimously agreed to, for his able and impartial conduct in the Chair. The CHAIRMAN having returned thanks for the honour done him, and Dr. Hughes having expressed the great delight he felt in witnessing the proceedings of that day, and assured the meeting that no exertion should be want ing on his part to aid their holy cause, the vast assemblage separated shortly before six o'clock. NATIONAL BANK OF IRELAND. The fifth annual General Meeting of the Directors and Proprietors of the National Bank of Ireland took place yesterday at the Company's offices, Old Broad_ street. The Directors present were the Honourable Colonel Leicester Stanhope, T. Lamle Murray, E. F. Green, John Rawson, Rowand Ronald, Thomas Vine, Georg Moffatt, and J. R. Elmore, Esqrs. The Meeting was attended by a large number of Shareholders, many of whom were from different parts of Ireland, and amongst them we observed Sir Benjamin Morris,,C. F. Middleton, Esq., Colonel Nichol!, H. M. Jones, Esq., Captain Scallan, Robert Lowe, Esq., Charles Bianconi, Esq., Thomas Fox, Esq., Charles Rule, Esq., John Robins, Esq., William King, Esq., - Wheeler, Esq., Rev. Doctor Magee, Rev. Thomas Madge, John Reynolds, Esq., &c., &c. At one o'clock, the chair was taken by DANIEL O'CONNELL, Esq., M.P., Governor. The CHAIRMAN said the Directors met the Proprie tors on the present occasion with very great pleasure. He felt that the statement which he had to make, and the report which would be laid before them, were calculated to give considerable satisfaction.—(Hear, hear.) The first topic to which he should call their attention was the advantage which the Company had derived from the consolidation of Shares. The original plan upon which the Bank had been established was, the creation in each locality of a separate and indepen dent interest. The head office in London was partner with each and all of the Branches. Each was a separate concern as between themselves, and a particular partner ship as regarded this Society. The complication of such a system was certainly, upon the face of it, a disadvan tage. It was difficult to effect the proper working of a system, when they had very frequently to contend against contradictory interests, and a feeling of rivalry and jealousy between the different branches. The local branches, under that system, were all in some measure opposed to each other ; because it was the interest of each to collect and send in the notes of the others, thereby limiting their circulation and increasing their own profits. It might be asked why, with such strong objections to the plan upon the face of it, such a system was adopted. He would tell them in three words—it was because, from the failure of many banks in Ireland, an impression was created in the minds of Shareholders that it would be injurious and hazardous in them to become responsible for the issues of the entire body, and that although the local branches might be managed with the greatest prudence and care, they might become responsible for the losses which were occasioned by bad management. and misconduct on the part of other branches. That feeling prevailed to a great extent in Ireland, and it would have still con tinued, had it not been for that fortunate run, as he might term it, upon another establishment, which corn• municated itself to their bank, and produced a demand upon them. The other establishment was compelled to suspend its payments, but notwithstanding that, such was the efficacy of the Joint Stock principle upon which it had been established, that (what was unknown in Ire land before that period) it paid off every shilling of its liabilities to the public, and paid them off without making any demand upon the shareholder 3 further than what they had already subscribed.—(Hear, hear.) That gave a confidence to the public in the Joint Stock principle, and he believed that confidence had been induced to such an extent, that he did not imagine such a panic would take place in Ireland again. It also gave a security to the shareholders of such Banks, that even in the event of a suspension of pay. ments, they would not be called upon to sacrifice their property, but that the funds of Banks when established on the Joint-stock principle, would be sufficient to meet all demands without further individual loss. He had just been told that he had been premature in addressing them, and that it was usual in the first instance to have the advertisement convening the meeting read. The advertisement having been read by the Secretary, The CHAIRMAN said the next step w•as to have the Report read. The Secretary then read the Report as follows : REPORT Of the Directors of the National Bank of Ireland made to the Proprietors at the Fifth Annual General Meet ing held at the Office of the Company, No. 13, Old Broad-street, London, on Wednesday, the 27th of May, 1840. The pleasure with which the Directors meet the Pro prietors assembled at this, their Fifth Annual General Meeting, is much increased by their being enabled to state that the experience of another year has fully confirmed the favourable opinion so confidently expressed by them on former occasions respecting the progress and pros pects of the Company. When it is taken into consideration that the National Bank of Ireland has only been in existence five years, and that thirty-soven branches and four agencies are at present in active and healthy operation in some of the most important towns in Ireland, it must prove highly satisfactory to the Proprietors to find, by the statements to be produced to the meeting, that the affairs of the Society are not only most prosperous, but that a business of considerable value and magnitude has been acquired in so slier.. a period, notwithstanding the powerful com petition, the unsettled state of the monetary world, an d the numerous other difficulties that the Bank has had to contend against since its formation. At the commencement of every extensive Bank, and more particularly when numerous Branches have to be established, a considerable outlay is unavoidable, and some time m ust necessar ily elapse before a re t urn of profit can be ex p ec t e d fully proportionate to the means of the respective districts in which their operations arc conducted. The introduction of a liberal system of Banking i nto Ireland, has not only tended to develope the natural resources of the country, but the important and favour able effects it has produced, are most apparent in those towns which have derived the advantages arising from the judicious and legitimate facilities thereby afforded to all classes deserving of credit ; and whilst the pro gressive increase in the business and deposits of the Banks may be viewed as a certain indication of pro sperity, and the growing wealth of the people, it affords to the Directors a most gratifying proof of the great confidence reposed by the public in the National Bank of Ireland. The Directors have now to solicit the attention - of ;he Proprietors to the following statement Undivided profits at 31st Dec., 1838... ...... .£5,702 9 6 Net profits for the year ending Dec. 1839... 27,336 7 8 £33,038 17 2 Deduct half year's divi.l end to the Pro prietors for Midsummer,lB3B...XB.7so 0 0 Ditto, ditto, for Christmas, 1838...8,750 0 0 17,500 0 0 Leaving amount of undivided profits at Dec. 1839 The net profits of the year 1838 only amounted to 22,796/. I Is. 6d., whereas by the foregoing statement, after defraying all the current expenses, paying the proportion of preliminary charges, and making an ample allowance for bad and doubtful debts, the net profits of 1839 amount to 27,3361. 7s. Bd., being 20 per cent more than those of the previous year, and after the pay-. merit of the dividend of 5 per cent. on the paid-up capital of the Company, there remains a surplus from the profits of the past year of 9,836/. 7s. 8d , which, added to the undivided profits at December, 1838, ekes a total amount of 15,5381. 17s. 2d. as the Share holders Reserve Fund, and from the very satisfactory progress of the business of the Bank, the Directors confidently anticipate that this fund will henceforward be found gradually and permanently to increase. In conformity to the provisions contained in the Deed of Settlement, the preliminary expenses incurred in the formation of the Society, were thrown over a period of five years, and a proportionate amount of the profits of each year have consequently been applied to their liquidation. It was intimated in the last Annual Re port that the residue would be cleared off at December, 1839, and the Directors have now much pleasure in stating that the entire of these expenses, as regards the Metropolitan Society, have been discharged, and that, in their opinion, the time has arrived when an addition may, with prudence and safety, be made to the Pro prietors in the rate of dividend. The Directors, therefore, beg to announce their intention of increasing the same to 6 per cent. per annum, and a Dividend will accordingly be paid after that rate at the usual period in July next, for the half-year ending Mid summer. There are now to be elected four Directors in the room of Colonel the lion. Leicester Stanhope, J. R. Elmore, John Rawson, and Christopher Fitz simon, Esqs., who retire by rotation, all of whom are candidates for the office, and eligible to be re-elected. The Report was received with loud cheers by the meeting. Sir BENJAMIN MORRIS had much pleasure in mov ing that the very satisfactory tied gratifying Report which had just been read by the Secretary, be adopted , printed, and circulated among the Proprietors. The motion was seconded by ROBERT LOWE, Esq., and carried unanimously. CHARLES BIANCONI, Esq. then moved that Colonel the Hon. Leicester Stanhope, J. R. Elmore, John Rawson, and Christopher Fitzsimon, Esquires, the four Directors who go out of office by rotation, be re-elected. Tho motion was seconded by WILLIAM WHEELER, Esq., and unanimously agreed to. Mr. O'CONNELL said he should now proceed with the observatioas in which he had been very properly in terrupted, and he presumed they would give him credit for the instalment of his speech which ho had already delivered.--(A laugh.) He would conclude his re marks upon the topic to which he had already adverted, by saying that as upon the one hand any timidity that existed among the public at large with respect to Joint Stock Banks, had vanished, so on the other hand, the 111 timidity that persons had formerly felt to becoming shareholders, and thereby liable to the responsibility of the operations of the entire concern, had totally ceased ; and with two exceptions, Carrick and Clon mel, their centralization was complete, and without any diminution of the number of their Shareholders, the number at present exceeding I,loo.—(Hear.) They had lost nothing in the number of persons in Ire land who were interested in the concern, and they had gained the advantage of a system of centralization by which, the head Office being placed in London, and free from all local prejudices and rival interests, would be enabled to exercise a salutary control over the entire, It had also been found to diminish the expenses consider ' ably, and he trusted that the success which had attended the arrangement would convince their friends at Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir that they should have combined with them in the improved system.—(Hear, hear.) However that might be, it had succeeded completely. The next point he would allude to was the diminution of the charge in future, under the head of Preliminary Expenses. These expenses had been spread over a period of five years, and so far as the metropolitan office was concerned, they had all been paid off; and the Shareholders would never hear of them again in the s hape of a charge against their profits. The prelimi nary charges at some of the local banks sere in course of liquidation, and would be cleared off in another year, thereby insuring a considerable raving on that head. There was another point to which he wished to allude— it had been industriously circulated in some quarters in Ireland that they were heavily indebted to their legal men, but he had the pleasure to inform the meeting that they did not owe them a shilling. All law costs were paid off half-yearly. It was also rumoured in Dublin that they were indebted to the amount of 2,0001. for law expenses. Now he was glad that such a report had spread abroad, because it enabled him to state to them the fact, that for three years their law expenses in Dublin did not amount to—and there was not a gentleman listening to him who could guess how little—they did not amount for the last three years to more than 201. or 21/.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. BIANCONI had never heard a report that they had lost 2,000/. in law expenses. Mr. O'CONNELL did not say that Mr. Bianconi would come over with such a report. He believed, however, that few instances would be found of such economical and prudent management as that ; where the law expenses of a Branch doing so large an amount of business as that of Dublin, had not amounted in the course of three years to more than 21/. (Hear.) There was another topic which he thought would be deemed consolatory, inasmuch as it tended to prove the increased and increasing confidence of all clasys in Ireland in the stability and mode of doing business in their establishment, and it was this there were forty-six Poor-law Unions in Ire land, which had received grants of Excite quer Bills to enable them to commence opera tions. He did not suppose that there could be more than fifty-six. Now any body who knew anything or Ireland must be aware that the Poor-law Guardians were composed, first, of the Magistracy, and, secondly, of the elected Guardians. The Magistracy wore among the most wealthy and influential in their several localities, although certainly not more wealthy than many of the elected Guardians, who represented the in terests of the middle classes of society. Among these parties he might safely say that the Magistrates gene rally were not inclined to attach any great merit to any body with which he (Mr. O'Connell) was connected ; and it was not, therefore, political feeling that would induce them to give the National Bank any advantage. He thought on these grounds they would be glad to hear that out of 46 Unions to whom loans had been given, 37 had elected the National Bank as Treasurers.— (Cheers.) It appeared to him certainly that no more satisfactory proof could he given of the degree of public confidence which their establishment had already se cured in Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) He now cane to another point which had been already so well stated in the Report, namely, the increase that had taken place in their net profits. The net profit of the year 1838 was 22,796/., while the net profits of the year 1839, after making ample allowance for every contingency of bad debts, &c., was 27,336/., being an increase of 20 per cent. upon the former year.--(Hear, and cheers.) Now that could be easily accounted for. In fact their Bank could not be said to be more than three years in operation, because the first two years before the consolidation had been years of experiment, and to a certain extent they had been obliged to grope their w a y i n t h e d ar k. T emptat i ons to do busi ness had been held out to them by men whose solvency was doubt e d by t h e b an k s w hi c h had been in existence prior to them. It was always the fate of the new banks to have persons of that description coming in upon them, after they had worn out their credit elsewhere. The EVENINGS D T had now got over that, they had gained practical know ledge and experience, they knew the parties who were fit to be trusted, the eye of their Managers was upon them ; and they could distinguish the man who was doing a fair, just, and natural business as easily as they could detect those who were speculating upon a ficti tious capital. They were always ready to promote the views of the real genuine man of business, who, when he s ent in paper to the Bank, sent what was the represen tative of real property ; they enabled such men to call the energies and industry of the people into activity ; the labourer was employed, and their notes were called into circulation. The consequence had been, that their profits had increased. They would bear in mind that these were net-profits, and he was quite certain that the Direc- tors had not been too low in their estimate of bad debts because they had had the experience of former years, and on these occasions they bad been estimated higher than they eventually proved to be. They had therefore just ground for supposing that they would err on the safe side in the present year as they had done in former ye/as. From the nature of the business they were now doing, he thought he might venture to assert, and such indeed was the unanimous opinion of the Directors, that their business and their profits were gradually, steadily, and healthfully increasing.—(Hear, hear.) No man could venture to prophecy what the future might bring forth, but taking the natural consequences, and the na tural deductions that might be drawn from their present position, the Directors felt themselves quite warranted in saying that there was every rational prospect of that increase continuing. The next point was the increase in the rate of the dividend which bad been alluded to in the Report. They did not think it necessary to make any allusion to that matter in their former meeting, al- though they were at the time thoroughly convinced that their profits would go on increasing. They had thought it unnecessary on that occasion to hold out the promise of an increased dividend, their object not being to create a speculation in Shares. They were, however, now bound to state their opinion that that rate would be permanent, and that below it they would not go.--* (Hear, hear.) There was also another very gratifying increase, and that was the increase in the rest. Now , the rest, or surplus, laid by in the year 1837 was, for reasons which he had touched upon in the preceding part of his observations, only 4031. In 1838, it vioi 5,7021.. and in 1839 it amounted to 15,538..—(Hear , hear.) Thus, while they bad consolidated their shares , and centralized their system of operations by bringing them more immediately and distinctly within the vier ( of the Management in L on d on , th e y had obtained to a great extent the confidence of the public, 09 was exemplified in what he had stated with respect to the Poor-law Unions : they had increased their profits, they had increased their dividend, they had increased their rest very considerably, and he thought be could not well address the Shareholders of any undertaking under more satisfactory or gratifying circumstances. There was nothing imaginative in this statement—it was all founded upon the irresistible evidence of vulgar arith metic, which no one could dispute ; for once the pre mises were correctly described in figures, the conclu• sions were inevitable. On these inevitable conclusions he had submitted to them the statement of their alai"' If any gentleman wished for any explanation of these or any other topics, the Directors and himself were pre pared to afford them every possible information. --• (Much cheering.) A PROPRI ETOR said the Chairman had spoken of the nett profits of the last year, and be wished to know whether they included the sum which had been applie d to pay off preliminary expenses? Mr. O'CONNELL said that sum had been deducted as a matter of course, and he was glad to say that the charge for preliminary expenses in connexion with the London office was entirely extinguished. In some 0f the localities in Ireland the preliminary expenses bad been also paid off, and the sum now remaining unliqui" dated was of small amount. . _ The PROPRIETOR inquired how that balaneo was t° be paid off? Mr. MURRAY said it would bo spread over the ne lt year and a-half. The PROPRIETOR-May I ask if the deposits have , increased during the past year ? Mr. O'CONNELL—They have increased very consi derably, and that increase has been steady and gradual. Mr. WHEELER believed there was no other busineS' before the meeting, and he should, therefore, move the cordial thanks of th e meet i ng to t h e i r very able a° distinguished G overnor f or hi s can did an d lucid expla nations of the affairs of the Bank, and for his courteous conduct in the Chair. The motion was seconded by Mr. ROBINS, and car ried with loud cheers. The CHAIRMAN returned thanks. He was WW I ingly indebted to them for their kindness, and he could assure them that he felt a deep interest in the success of the undertaking, because he could distinctly state, from his own knowledge, that it had done great good io Ire land. There was not a single locality in which theY had a branch, that was not manifestly improving in it s population, in the amount of its business, in the maw ber of houses that were building, and all the other une quivocal symptoms of prosperity.—(Hear.) He had much pleasure in stating that fact, and he begged to thank them for the mark of their confidence they ha d just honoured him with. Mr. BIANCONI said, in connexion with the subject which had just been alluded to by Mr. O'Connell, 13 ° could state that he knew a very large number of agri cultural families who were about to expatriate then'- selves, but who were now most respectable members 01 society, and many of them in comfortable circumstane eg i and who owed it all to the means prudently given t° them by the National Bank.—( Hear.) A PROPRIETOR said they would be very much svilot ing to themselves if, while paying proper respect t° their illustrious Governor, they had neglected their 1158 " ful and zealous Directors. He considered they w ere indebted to them in a great measure for their present prosperous position, and he had therefore much pleasure in moving a vote of thanks to them. The resolution was seconded by CHARLES F. Al ly ' DLETON, Esq., and carried unanimously. The meeting then separated, much gratified with the proceedings of the day. MANCHESTER BETTING. ta t We were scarcely prepared for so d u ll a mar ket ag." h o 6 of the forenoon of the present day. Touching the chester Cup, it may be observed that 4 to 1 was offerer the field ; the Shadow leadin g L or d E g li nton ' s Be l l ° ;0 0 by only half a poi n t ; b o th wou ld b e b ac k e d at a frit c, `: o , beyond 4 o r 41, or 20 t o 10 , ta k en one o f t h e t wo w i sir The Dean had to give way for the third position to , r , Thomas Stanley's co lt, 7 t o I was as k e d a b out t h e lat' e " but almost instantly 60 to 10 was snapped at, an d . - t; peated, understood t o b e a " comm i ss i on ;" the 1' y e' would have gone on a t 7. W e i mag i ne Btol is the %sr rage price v. the Dean, and 10 to 1 against any othe r 4 ,i a the horses we h ave name d ; o 4 was o ff ere d on : t ll v. against any t wo , or t h e fi e ld aga i nst four. AO"; A was backed at 100 t o 0, an d at t h e same f i gure Fair 1,°,.11:0 would have been to a sum . W e did not hear any 01 " - mentioned so as to require comment. Tot' The DERBY. —The appearance of the b e ttings a t th j i tersall's denotes a li m it e d fi e ld. Th ere was li tt l e done a o morning,_ to wit 100 to 40 o ff ere d on th e fi e ld ; 4 to 1 accepted on Launcelot; 50 to 40 would ha v e been "laudes one of the two win ; 6 :to 1 offered against Theon,, ace two points more v. Assassin ; 20 to 1 w ou ld probably g o o been laid against Pathfinder. Lord Exeter's lot ha," backed in a good quarter at 20 to 1, 12 to 1 was o " r "b e ert Muley Ishmael and Velvet; 70 to 20 would bal ‘g , was taken on Scott's lot, or 50 to 1 on Drayton, w ho backed for 100 against Mr. Osbaldeston's Tickle colt. OAKS.—There was no betting. STATE OF TRADE. (From the Manchester Guardian.) . b MANCHESTER.—The unfavourable accounts rec eived the Great Western, of the condition of mercantile stril rf in the United States, and the certainty of a very large 111 : 1 _ port of cotton, concu rred, with other causes prcvioutly operation, to produce a very dull market yesterday. 1 hero was very little demand either for goods or yarn , and the prices of both were a shade lower than on the preceding Tuesday. ROCHDALE FLANNEL MARKET, MONDAY, MA Y 25011 We have had a brisk demand for flannels again to -da y' ," the business done has been (lithe equal to that of the two preceding weeks. Prices have undergone little or no a tion. In the wool market there is no c hange to repo rt both prices and demand remai n a b ou t the same as th'Y were the last week. HUDDERSFIELD MAR KET , M ONDAY, M AT 25.—Therd was not quite so mu c h an i mat i on i n t hi s ma rket to-day 21 , for the last f ew wee k s , although many goods ch an g e° hands. The d eman d i s stea d y, and the prices firin• Stocks are low i n new an d sa l ea bl e goo d s , so that most 1.% done to order ; he nce th e c h ance o f b e tter prices. D uo ' nets in the wareho uses i s a l so ver y steady, and may be con sidered Ya rl: an average. Wools are in demand, some soris at a trifling advance. 1