The Sun.
London, England, 1837-07-06 00:00:00

IRELAND]

O'CONNELL.—THE UNION.—Mr. 6=C45041--- I
dressed a leVer to his constituents, comraWiWthitiSlitt.:ili'l
tention to o Ter linvell again for their suffrages, an,l rc•-
flowing his pledge not to seek a scat elsewhere whilst
possesses t':e confidence of the electors of the city of.
Kilhelny.
The foLo ving extracts from the Liberator's letter v,112.
be read with interest :

These are times to try men's souls. We have arrived
suddenly at the wry crisis of that experiment which I
have been making for the last two years—to ascertain
whether the union between the two countries can operalo
for the welfare of both, or not. .

I am bound in candour to tell you that my own opinion
is that it cannot so operate. I ahnoit hope I may be mi,•
taken ; but full sure I am that the period has come whets
the trial will be complete, and the people of the entire em-
pire will be able to judge of the value or the evil to Irt•
land of the present arrangement of her connection with
Great Britain. • • • _ •

The Court hitherto has been hostile to Ireland. It would
be criminal to conceal it from ourselves ; and our enemies
have long known and enjoyed the fact, that during the thret•'
last reigns the Court wiAl inimical to the Irish people.
care not whether the prejvdice was national or religious—i
—that it existed is plain and undeniable.
It is quite true that our late Monarch had perhaps less,
of this prejudice than his immediate predecessors—but hel
was surrounded by persons the most unfriendly to popular!
rights, and, above all, by persons who are too ignorant of
the real state of Ireland, or too much attached to the pe
culating and oppressive spirit of faction, to allow the good!
intentions of the Sovereign to produce any substantial be-!
nefits to our country.
But we have no longer to apprehend the existence atl
Court of prejudice or hostility to any portion of the people]
of these realms. .

My heart beats high in the hope of better days for Ire-
land. The Queen is for "justice to Ireland." The Queen's.
Ministers are for "justice to Ireland." The administration,. .
of Lord Mulgrave has given an earnest of his anxiety and
that of his colleagues to place Ireland on a footing of equa-6,
lity with Great Britain.
I desire to remain in Parliament in order to give my,
humble but zealous aid to the Queen's Ministers to work!.
out the benevolent intentions of the Sovereign. In short,
to enable us all to ascertain whether there be a faction in
Great Britain sufficiently powerful to counteract the pa-
triotic wishes of the Sovereign aid the Jetermin, fon of her'''.
Ministers, and to render the one and the other abortive and)..l,
unproductive of benefit to the Irish people. 14
Every thing hostile to conciliation anti to the peace oi)1
Ireland will be attempted by the Tory faction in this coun-E: .
try. The Tories rake up the embers of ancient bigotry 4
and intolerance. They foment all the bad passions anki.i
prejudices and national antipathies against Ireland. But
ti
their great resource is corruption—bribery the most protli-1
gate and unmeasured—bribery the most demoralizing and
criminal—bribery accompanied by drunkenness and riot, 1--:
and obviously exposit, its victims to commit the additional I
crime of perjury. Such are the instruments which the
Tories are using throughout England. They affect a holy
and sanctimonious zeal for religion. They cant about the •
cause of piety ; but they practice the most diabolical ini-
quity to carry their interested objects of temporal powerf'
and peculation.
Such is the foul faction we have to oppose. In Engla1:(1
their efforts will, in most places, totally fail.
Ma. S. CRAWFORD.—The Hon. Member for Dundalk
has addressed a long letter to the Secretary of the Dundalk
Reform Registry Association, communicating the grounds
on which his determination was founded not again to solicit •
a renewal of the trust the electors of Dundalk had beforel
confided in him.

MURDER IN THE POTTERIES.

On Wednesday last an inquest was held at the Albion

.otel, Shelton, in the Potteries, before Mr. W. Harding

on view of the body of John Kirkham, aged 21, a young
ma❑ employed at the fictory of Mr. Keeling, of Hanley,
who was murdered by his father, under the following atro-
cious circumstances :
" On Wednesday night last Kirkham. the father, came
home intoxicated, began to abuse his wife, and eventual!) 23
turned her out of doors ; after which he went to bed. 1n rA

a little time afterwards, when he was asleep, one of his ''
children came down stairs to let the woman into the house,.:
and she. lay down on a screen below stairs, intending to lie
there till morning. About four o'clock Kirkham happened
to come down, intending to go to work, and finding WI.
wife below, he asked her for something to take wit II
him. She gave him the bottom of the loaf, being ever
particle of food that was in the house ; on which
he began to abuse her, and the son (John), hear-
ing
a noise, immediately went down stairs and took his .-..
mother's part. A struggle then took place between the,,,
father and the son ; and a neighbour (Joseph Chorlton),V.'
who came in at the request of the mother to make peace,
found them on the floor struggling, and the son uppermost. •
Chorlton begged them to desist, and live peaceably ; on.
which they got up, and the father said, " .Toe, I'll have in-.'4.,.
revenge." Immediately after he had said that he snatched
up a collier's pick and threw it at his son, who was standing'..
near the door. The pick struck the young man on the back, '
and bounded into the street. The father then repeated the
words before mentioned as to having his revenge, and took
up a dinner-knife that lay on the table, and, on his son en- .'t;.
tering at the door, he struck him on the left side under the
fifth rib. The young man reeled, went oat a little dis- 1
tance, and returned almost immediately ; when his inhuman
parent repeated the blow, and the knife went in on the same
side between the sixth and seventh ribs, and penetrated the
~-.1
heart. The young man called out, " Oh, Lord, lam -;,-)
stabbed !" and again went out about seven or eight yards,
holding his hand to his side. Chorlton followed him, and
caught him as he was in the act of falling to the ground, and - I
conveyed him, with the assistance of the father (who vo-
luntarily came out), and some of the neighbours, into the,
h-use. Mr. Harding, the surgeon, was sent fur, and arrived
immediately. Ha found the wounded man very much de-
bilitated from loss of blood, and perceived that he was in a
state of imminent danger from the second wound, it being
much more dangerous and extensive than the first. The
young man had himself a conviction that he could not long . 1
survive. After the surgeon had dressed his wounds, on
being asked by the constable " who had done it ?" he said
"My father—l freely forgive him," and shaking hands witlt
him added, " God bless you, I hope we shall meet again in '
heaven." The young man lingered till about half-past six, 4i
when death relieved him from his sufferings, having survivedr;
the injuries inflicted on him about two hours. The lathes"!
was conveyed to the lock-up some time before the death oft
his son, and when told he was dead, exclaimed, " Oh Lord%
I hope it is not true ;. I can't believe you !" and appeareA
much agitated.
The Jury returned a verdict of " NIT ilful Murder againstq
William Kirkham, the father." ti