The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-01-06 00:00:00

whom she hail oppressed had themselves encircled her brow
—wino want, the inevitable attendant on hing.protracted
warfare, had ranted the clamour of sedititne—of rebAltnit,
theu, amid the din of intestine commotion, was beard a
voice whirls hail ofteu before wafted its complainiug ac-
cent.' to tier shorn,* voice become now more sad, more so-
lemn. It was the voice of a pea tithing people--of starving
Ireland! Yes, Sir, it seemed as if our sufferings from our
fellow men were iiisefficient...llll if the Wilt of the HeiTY
Mere wattling to finish what mail had It ft undone. As if
himetlf, beat on our destruction, were about to cons-
ole the work of our annihilation, by the tremendous
a;:eticy of famine and pestilence. At this mumetit, when
one neromulated sufferings might have sought Ittlit in the
laugreige of bitterness and des/sow, have guru a fatal coot-
",;e to our hearts, a fatal 'net gy to oar ei lit—theu were
we I,4l"lnar nay, g lit eiritrillk, accent of me prowls escaped
oar attitude of menace distorted uor forms! This,
Sir, was an impressive, an awful lesson. It could nut be
forgotten—it kw not hero forgotten to us.
" It is line I may br told that the questioo of Catholic
Claims wits shortly after discussed in the Doltish Portia.
mein, and three Climate rejected. But then followed the
removal of the Army and Navy Restrictions, ■n Act passed
in a manner that seemed to avoid mu the expressiou of role
thauks. It may be recollected, that the great Cliainpion
of
Intolerance wos chosen, nod elitnien because be mar the
Champion of Intolerance, as the organ to the House of
Commons, of one of the must learned and venerable Bodies
ill the empire, the University of Oxford. But let it nut be
forgotten, ttrit un the re •al of that individual from this
coil Irv, the way was opened for the introduction of the
man, of all others, the best calculated to raise our droopaig
heads—to cheer our dejected hearts. I repeal it, that if we
suppose the attention of the British Government tor have
EE
been steadily arid conscientiously directed to the nielioi at ion
of the state of Ireland, the selection must have fallen on
Mr. Grant, as the person must deeply pledged, and therefore
the most proper to achieve that object. While I insist on
this, do nut imagine I have forgotten the sealous and onto
reit, rated exertions of many of our friends in the British
SWIM... No, Sir—we have many and able advocates, but
even of those, the most part will be found to consider our
itoestitin un rather narrowed grounds. One asks securities,
a Mat of MUI !KW ISO mar conscience', as if all identity of
interests with our fellow•subjects would out become the
time St cistity fur us as for them. Another says, we ate gu-
nned to the confidence of Government conditionally, as
lung as we continue loyal; as if disloyalty were not to be
visited um the individual who i■ guilty, not ou the Creed
which he professes. Such support is nut v. ry Paneling—
yet even for this support we should he thankful. But there
is another class, or more properly speaking, one mum of
another class, who argues for us, without tithe► the consi-
deration of securities or eireurnstaiters—who declares that
a full participation of the Isenelits of tie• Coustitutiuts is
our just claim—our unalienable rtglii—and that those who
resist this claim, act contrary to the .!ietates of justice and
moral right. Tlti. mall is Mr. Griot, to whose zeal in our
cruse, we are about to autteraJd the stimulus of conciliated
affection.
" hat us now stop for a moment—it shall lie hut for a mo-
ment, for I have already trespissed tot) much on your atten-
tion. Let us consider whether we owe to unrsclres any just
debt, and if we are nut now shout taking the best means of
dischargitex it. I ant well satisfied that there is not one of my
auditors, a Iri will recognise us his own, say thing of virdeuer
ur intemperance which has bin WO often been an' ibuteil to
men, who, though acting for themselves, and from them-
selves, hare had Their errors doss ged upon the whole Catho-
lic people! We hove abstained from protesting against %vi-
lifier's., which we dirt tout adopt, because we contrived, and
surely with justice, that we were out answerable for the er-
✓ors of iudividuals. It +as the policy of the country parts
of Ireland, of oui selves among she 110.ither, not to give ut.
terancv to our feelings of disapprobation, however strongly
eve disapprove the conduct of particular men. Perhaps this
was wise; nor ought we tuts readily to disclaim the pro-
-1 Cr4lllltts of those who might have erred unititrotionally.
We shall not disclaim them to-day, further than men of good
►ease rod good feeling disclaim, by the very nisnifestation
of these tin thirties, all pal lieipatient in measures, which, ill-
tnusidered and .:I executer', derived their origin from nei-
ther.—Sir, I shall now trouble you no further, than by pro-
posing an Address, whir b, whet, it shall Ire read, I will utuve
you he adopted as the Address of this Meeting,"
Mr. llaslll. then presented and read the Address, as fol-
lows :

'' TO ?Ilk RIGHT TIOR. CHARLES GRANT, IF CC V?? RY TO
HIS VICCELLT.NCY TUC LORD LII.GT6'AIIT.
" The h4laress of the Catholic Inhabitants of the County
of the Town of Drogheda, unaninioualy voted at a Meet.
ins, convened by public notice, :Ind holden in the
Lines' Hell of said touts, on Monday, the 7th day of
liacetuber, MS;
JAMES EKNON, Eeq.in Ihr. Chair.

" SIR—WC approach you with sentiments of the most un.
feigned rt spert, and rejoice at the ocessiou, which, by bring-
ing wu to our native tountry, 11111 placed you within the
reach of the personal express' of our gratitude.
* We have long admitted rod revered those talents and
that wisdom, which, in 1813, so eloqueutly and so power-
fully exposed, in the Imperial Pat [Moho, that ' perinciuuts
and fatal system,' which reminded from the common lot of
the Empire' as large a poi' of its sobj, cis as the Calker.
lies of Great Britain and Ireland—which sheered that redo-
Con to he nut an ' integral part of the Cutest itutio.i, but au
exception to it, to be deplored as a calamity'—a system
which proceeds upon ideas irreconcilcabk with troy no-
tions of well-regulated freedom—which destroys the liar.
moray of fellow feelings that is CHWIIIi3I, out only to the hap-
lint to the very existence of au empire—which nut
only creates a DISTINCTION hut produces a DEGRADATION
of one ervist,astrl au extravag silt exaltation of THE MI FE—
a system which it was the merit to keep alive the rte ligotits
animosities, and to slump afresh on every genes-slim, the
crimes stud follies of the preceding—which has succeeded iu
correcting the influence of lime in rescuing extinguished
crimes and deemed resentment from thus
transmitting, not only unimpaired, bat smug:hutted, from
age to age, all the anguish and indignation of the first de-
feat—all the Gush and wantonness of the first conquest n
* We had, Sir, as a blesses:le to our country, that wise ex-
ercise of the Socereigst power which placed such talents and
such wisdom to the high station to which you are •ppuinterl ;
and in this sentiment, though we may be among the most
early to express it, we know that we only participate with
oar countrymen at large, and that in offering to you the
nell.earind reward of our cordial snit heartfelt thanks, we
rare surly doing what JCSTICE as well is GRATITUDE demands
from every Catholic in leetaad.
* filer, in rendering to you this shhe of grateful thanks, we
Cannot but feel some sorrow from the reflection, that,
%Lough six years have nearly elapsed since that signal Ili,-
play of eloquence and wisdom in our revisor, yet such has
been our visirfurtuue, and such the force of prejudice arrainst
os, that those labours have nut yet produced their fruit. We
tiofist tactilely are still straugera to many orate must precious
privileges of a Constitution which we revere, and to be ail.
mutes; 0 the rOLI. enjoyment of which is the fit et wish of our
hearts n this side the grave ! Nay, Sir, not only are we de-
prived Ly law, as it now stands, of the higher and usury dis-
tinguished pri•ilret s it that Citiactutittion,hut by the malig.
Dant Influence which those incapacitating laws shed over the
privileged order of our fellow.suhjerts (au influence, Inset'.
*holy to themselves, operating against on in the minds of
the most estimable and honourable men), we arc tit effect and
substance excluded from the benefit of those suture humble
11.141 ureauer rights to which the mild and enlightened spirit
et modern legislation has thought expedient to re.adinit us.
Though we live in • corporate town, of whose iultabitante we
cunentute a very large majority—though by ou E r COMMRCE,
our Staayeacxonta, aril our INDUSTRY, 50Plivrt • Inv"
partionably greater number of its numerous population,assd
in the sense proportion contribute to all the exigencies of the
State, yet are we, with the exception of iWcr individuals, ex-
cluded from its Corporation—deer iced, of course, of all its
Corporate advantages, and subjected to all its Corpo-
rate impositions. Nor does the coil stop lwre—une
dear and invaluable privilev, amidst our incapaci-
t tee and privations, die wisdom an justice or the legislature
had restored to us—a quALtrits ELECTIVE ESANCHISII--
(instilled, by rests teeing our cMner to a Protestant Candidate,
a restriction which, as you have truly observed, r the OM.
dilution in tio other instance recognises.' Even this re.
et:retie' and curtailed privilege, bowtver, we sere grateful