The Sun.
London, England, 1836-01-30 00:00:00

BIRMINGHAM DINNER.

[UR. O'CONNELL'S SPEECH CONCLUDED FROM YESTERDAY'S
PAPER.]
There is Belfast, with a population of 53,217, has only 13
i 2,665 corporators ;
whilst
corporators ; Dundalk, with a population of- 10,750, and
40 corporators ; Armagh, 9,470, and only 16 coporators ;
100,716 inhabitants,
Dublin
there
are 3a6n4d,0 onl3.
and only
Crk
:3,600 corporators. But these details are necessarily wea-
risome—(Cries of " No, no !")—and I shall only trouble
you with the general views—that the population of corpo-
rate towns is 910,393, including the freemen, who are
13,005 ;
,the governing bodies amount to 1,161, while only
251 participate in the Municipal Government.—(Hear,
hear, hear.) As for the Corporation of Dublin, with respect
to their expenditure, I find that they have been spending at
the rate of 30,000/. per annum ; their income amounting
to only 28,000/. ; thus spending 2,000/. per annum more
than their income, without conferring one pennyworth of
advantage upon the citizens. Well, then, I ask you, was
there so strong a case made out for England ?—(Hear.)
There was for Scotland—but certainly not one half so good
for England. Of what use are the freemen in Ireland ?
They have two privileges—they are free from tolls and have
an opportunity of selling their votes at elections. At the
last election for the city of Dublin, neither I, nor my friends,
would give one of these fellows anything ; when one of
themselves was found to jump upon the Commission table
and swear that my Counsel gave him 51.—he was cross-
examined a little, and the poor fellow broke down so com-
pletely that he admitted; it was all a lie.---( Hear, hear.)
He was tried for perjury, and is now under sentence for it.
The certificate of every freeman used to be marked with
three pin holes, awl he would then take it to William street

where he received 3/. for his vote. I ask you, then, are
we not entitled to Municipal Reform as well as England
and Scotland ?—(Hear, hear.) Arc we not entitled to
the sympathy and support of every honest man ?—(Cheers.)
We stood by you in the struggle for reform—we stood by
you when you sought an extension of the franchise, and
we are ready to stand by you again, in every contest in
which you may be engaged for the acquirement or the sup-
port of liberty. No Englishman can be more anxious than
I am for the amelioration of the institutions of this coun-
try.--(Hear, hear.) I want a union, not of Parliament—
not a mere Act of Parliament—but I want a union of in-
terest and of feeling ; and am lito be told, that whilst you
are free in England, in Ireland, on the ground of religion,
that great national injustice of which I have spoken is to
be perpetrated with impunity ? No matter what may be
the religious feelings of any man, he cannot be induced by
Act of Parliament to give them up—whilst upon the other
hand, it ought not to be made a ground for his exclusion
from any civil office. But, indeed, upon reference to the re-
port of the Commissioners, I find that whilst Roman Ca-
tholics were for a considerable period eligible to be elected,
they were invariably rejected ; and this principle of exclu-
sion was not confined to them, but extended to Protestants
of liberal and enlightened principles. In Dublin there
is a population of 300,000, and two Sheriffs are chosen or
nominated by the Corporation, who empanel Juries for the
trial of cases involving the lives, properties, and liberties of
these 300,000 citizens. So strong is the conviction of the
partiality of these nominees of the Corporation, that many
a client of my own has frequently preferred refusing to go to
trial rather than trust his property or his liberty to the de-
cision of a Jury of their nomination.—(Hear, hear.) lam
trespassing, I fear, on your indulgence—(No, no)—and yet,
in appealing to the honesty and good sense of an assembly
of Englishmen, I should not have any apprehension of
wearying their patience. We stood by you in every con-
test—we are ready to do so again.—(Cheers.) When, I
ask you, was the meteor-flag of England borne into scenes
of battle, death, and slaughter—when has the shout of
victory ever risen from British decks—(it has done so
for a thousand years, and will do so for a thousand years
more)—that the commingling stream of blood that has
floated you to victory, has not flowed equally from Irish as
from English veins ?—(Cheers.) We want to be your
brothers, and not either your enemies or your slaves ; and
I ask is it fit that you should have all the spoils of victory—
we nothing but the blows ?—(Hear.) Oh, forbid it, Eng-
lish justice—forbid it, English interests ! There are many
things to be done for you yet. The English Corporation Re-
form Bill requires to be amended—the franchise to be ex-
tended ; and we are ready to assist you in the accomplish-
ment of both. The voters throughout the country require to
be protected by the Ballot, and here we are to aid you in
obtaining it.—(Cheers.) Let us then rally together—
England, Scotland, and Ireland—lreland, Scotland, and
England. lam an apostle of that new sect of political
religion who are impressed with the deep conviction that,
in effecting the amelioration of the institutions of the
country, there is nothing destructive of property—nothing
tending in the remotest degree to the shedding of one drop
of human blood.—(Cheers.) We want no revolution in
the social state, or in the affairs of private families, except
so far as improvement may effect such revolution in the
affairs of the public plunderer. We require improvement
—we require the movement forward. If asked when I
propose to stop, I ask, in return, when do you mean to stop
in improving your manufactures, arts and sciences, for
facilitating your commerce, and by which your nation has
been raised up to the station she now enjoys amongst the
Powers of the world ? The moment you cease to improve
the machinery of your manufactures, that moment would
I cease to improve the machinery of the State : that
moment would I cease to insist that there should be no
taxes for which services were not performed—that no
Lord Ellenborough should pocket 11,000/. a year of the
public money, merely because he is called Filacer of the
King's Bench, or some other equally ridiculous name. So
long as abuses of such a description exist, so long shall I
be disposed to look for improvement. We are willing
enough to wait for some time until it be granted, but we
shall have no stop-gaps—no Wellington and Peel coming
in to stop the progress of improvement.—(Loud cheers,)
Oh., Peel is the son of a manufacturer himself ; he
understands the principle of the "spinning jenny ;" and
shall lie come forward to say there shall be no more im-
provement in machinery ? There will be some gunpowder
plot, or equally disastrous calamity, if improvement be
countenanced in machinery—(Laughter, and hear and hear.)
Some reasonable person amongst you would be disposed to
say to him—" If your papa was of that opinion you would
not be to day the great man you are." No ; Peel is op-
posed to stop-gaps in machinery, and lam opposed to stop-
gaps in politics. I shall not now advert to the House of
Lords, or the question of Reform in that branch of the
Constitution. In truth, I have set that question aside for
five or six weeks. I use no argument on the subjeet at
present ; and why ? Why, simply because the Lords will
have met, and be at their work in about six weeks, and I
am sure they will exhibit a disposition to do mischief, which
will afford a much stronger argument than any I could use
in favour of the necessity of Reform.--(Cheers.) I once
heard of an Irish schoolmaster, who, when a carriage would
be coming up near his school, would say to his scholars,
" Come now, boys, this is the time to show what.advance
you have made in unmannerliness."—(Laughter.) So it
is with the Lords just now ; they will be presently
turned out to show what progress they have made in
unmannerliuess. But it is said by some that they may be
converted. Converted ! Lyndhurst converted to political
honesty indeed ! Yes ; when the Thames turns against its
current, and flows back to Windsor. Ellenborough con-
verted to an economist ! Yes ; when the Thames continues
its backward course as far as Oxford.—(Laughter.) Lon-
donderry converted to common sense ! Winchelsea to Chris-
tian charity ! Newcastle to a conviction that the property
of the people is not lawfully the property of his own family !
Converted, indeed !—( Hear, hear.) We Papists, you are
aware, have much faith in miracles ; but it certainly does
not extend so far as to put faith in a miracle of this extent,
—(Hear, and laughter.) I have often, in addressing meet,
ings of my follow-countrymen in Ireland, saiti-,=
" Hereditary bondsmen--know you uot,
Who would be free—himself must strike the blow ?"
—(Cheers.) Here there is a great blow to bo struck—not
a blow of bloodshed and violence, but a blow to the corrup-
tions and abuses of our institutions, struck by the honest
and intelligent men who are rallying for the rights of their
country. Let your Political Unions revive, and let that of
Birmingham rear its noble head again, to terrify the hydra-
monster of boroughmongeringeorruption.—(Cheers.) Rally
in 3our union of good sense, of firmness and unbending pa-
triotism ; and then, Harrah for old Ireland, Scotland, and
for England famed in story. And when thus combined, let
us recollect that there remains but one monster, who, after
desolating Poland, threatens the peace of Europe; and thou
nistration, i
let every one whose heart beats for the mothers of the ehil-
dren who perished in Poland rally with tho present Admi-
in the threeno o countries, ll
that theise very aspectrepro of 24 millions
rder t tranqui and to duce union
of combined freemen may strike terror into the heart of the
despot—that their frown may drive the miscreant back to
his northern deserts ; and the flame of liberty that burns in
your breasts may shed its influence even upon the serfs, that
are subjected to its sway,—(The Hon. and Learned Gen-
Oman sat down amid loud and enthusiastic cheers, which
continued for some minutes.)
Mr. O'Connell and the principal guests then retired,
after which several toasts were proposed ; amongst others,
Mr. PAGET (the Mayor) returned thane-'s, The Corporation of Leicester," for which
" The EArly Alkid •' 1 1,--
Icloa .corporation of the Borough qi
Birrningllam," coupled with the name of
Mr. Josir,
who also returned thanks.
The hilar't f h kept till a late hour%
• XP e evening was up and

,ccounts from Copelthagevi hitatc that the Danish
o
. yernment is about tel contract a loan to cover the deficit
i Ci n
its tiqa,ncest
The Hercuks, of iliQ fil-U4' "1 11
launched
At
the 11(1 Of Vehrnary at Toulon : orders are given to equip
her Immediately.