The Sun.
London, England, 1836-10-03 00:00:00

Stock.

Sept. 30, 1835
279,420
Same time, 1836

MINING INTELLIGENCE. Tons. Cwt. Qrs
Quantity of Copper Ore sold 3 99; 21 0
Quantity of fine Copper 227 1 0
Average Produce 6 A
Amount of Sale, 10,7441. 14s. fid —Average Standard, 1261. 17s. Od.

FRIGATE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

The Aurora flew before the gale, under her fore sail and
top sails close reefed. The weather was now so thick that
nothing could be observed twenty yards from the vessel :
the thunder pealed, and the lightning darted in every di-
rection over the dark expanse. The watch was called as
soon as the sails were trimmed, and all-who could went
below, wet, uncomfortable, and disappointed. " What an
old Jonah you are, Martin," said Gascoigne. « Yes I
am," replied he ; " but we have the worst to come yet, in
my opinion. I recollect, not 200 miles from where we are
now, we had just such a gale in the Favourite; and we as
nearly went down, when -" At this moment a tremen-
dous noise was heard above ; a shock Was felt throughout
the whole ship, which trembled fore and aft as if it was about
to fall into pieces ;loud shrieks were followed by plaintive cries,

the lower aeck wasfilled with smoke, and the frigate was clown
on her beam ends. Without exchanging a word, the whole
of the occupants of the berth flew out, and were up the
hatchway, not knowing what to think, but convinced that
some dreadful accident had taken place. On their gaining
the deerit was at once explained ; the foremast of the fri-
g:►te had been struck by lightning, had been riven into seve-
pieces, and had fallen over the larboard bow, carrying with
it the main topmast and jib-boom. The jagged stump of
the foremast was in flames, and burnt brightly, notwith-
sta►nding the rain fell in torrents. The ship, as soon as the
foremast and main topmast had gone overboard, broached-
to furiously, throwing the men over the wheel, and dashing
them senseless against the carronades ; the forecastle,
the forepart of the main deck, and even the lower deck,
were spread with men either killed or seriously wounded,
or insensible from the electric shock. The frigate
was on her beam ends, and the sea broke furiously over
her ; all was dark as pitch, except the light from the
blazing stump of the foremast, appearing like a torch, held
up by the wild demons of the storm, or when .occasionally
the gleaming lightning cast a momentary glare, threatening
every moment to repeat its attack upon the vessel, while the
deafening thunder burst almost on their devoted heads. All
was dismay and confusion fora minute or two. At last Capt.
Wilson, who had himself lost his sight for a short time,
called for the carpenter and axes. They climbed up—that is,
two or three of them, and he pointed to the mizen-mast ; the
master was there, and he cut loose the axes for the seamen to
use. In a few minutes the rnizen-mast fell over the quarter,
and the helm being put hard up, the frigate played off, and
slowly righted. But the horror of the scene was not yet
over. The boatswain, who had been on the forecastle, had
been led below, for his vision was gone for ever. The men
who lay scattered about had been examined, and they were
assisting them down to the care of the surgeon, when the
cry of " Fire !" issued from the lower leek. The ship had
taken fire at the coal-hole and carpenter's store-room, and
the smoke that now ascended was intense.— dlr. .111idship-
man Easy.

Colonel Evelyn, Colonel Morel, and Captain Mit-
chell left town on Saturday for the fens of Lincolnshire.

DARRYNANE ABBEY, SEPT. 28, 1886.
ESTEEMED FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN,.—When you so gene-
rously conferred on me the high and distinguished honour
of being your representative, it was my fixed resolution to
wait upon you at the close of each session—and to give
you an account of my stewardship—then to tender for your
acceptance my resignation, if you should disapprove of my
conduct ; for I will not remain your representative one hour
beyond the time that I. enjoy your full confidence, con-
scious that if you condemn me I must be in the wrong ;
but as long as that confidence is bestowed on me, I never
will abandon the station to which you have elevated me.
That I have not at the close of the late session presented
myself in person before you, will not be attributed to the
as a fault by those who know that it is to me an afflicting
aggravation of calamity, in itself too intense to find any
other consolation than in the active though joyless perform-
ance of public duty.
In discharge of that duty I now thus address you. I call
you to judgment upon my tonduct. My resignation is in
your hands--you have but to require it and I instantly
obey. Hear, and decide.
I sought your suffrages as a Reformer—a Radical Re-
former—as a friend to British freedom, warm and sincere--
but as a lover, an enthusiastic lover of the green and lovely
land of our birth.
As such, I felt it my duty—my most sacred duty—to
give a zealous support to his Majesty's Ministers—a sup-
port unstained by any compromise or compact upon either
part. I gave them that support from a conviction that they
were greatly preferable to their adversaries, the Tories, for
Great Britain, but in the highest degree preferable for
Ireland.
I did, therefore, give my zealous support to the Admi-
nistration of Lord Melbourne—to the Government of Ire-
land by Lord Mulgrave. On this point I respectfully but
confidently call for your entire approbation.
But my support was not, indiscriminate—nor did it in
any respect trench on those principles of steady Radicalism
to which you, my constituents, are all attached.
I voted on the abolition of military flogging against the
Ministry, although I felt that they had done something to
diminish its horrors, as they had reduced the maximum of
punishment to 200 lashes. In Tory times the number of
stripes was unlimited, and 1,000 lashes were not unfre-
quently administered. But flogging is not a human punish-
ment—it is torture—it is degradation—it is a " CANINE
PUNISHMENT"--and I never shall feel satisfied until it is
abolished for ever.
I voted upon the revision of the pension list against the
Ministry, not being satisfied that any compact subsisted be-
tween the country and the crown which could interfere with
inquiry. There certainly is no express compact, save for
that part of the pension list which is attached to the civil
list, and no person thought or could think of diminishing
during the present reign that portion. But as it is only an
annual amount of pension, and not the allocation to parti-
cular persons, which is included in the bargain, it follows
that without violating any compact, not only the pensions
payable out of the consolidated fund, but those chargeable
on the civil list, ought to be inquired into. It really is
but justice to the people, to inquire into the reasons why
these pensions were granted. I, therefore, upon principle,
voted against the Ministry on this question. I did it with
regret, but I could make no compromise on such a subject.
Upon Mr. Grote's motion for the ballot I also voted
against the Ministry, and I never gave a vote in my life
with a more thorough conviction that I was right. Indeed,
I never heard a single argument against the ballot which did
not resolve itself into a means of preserving a control over
the voter's own opinion. Whether it be the control of the
landlord, or of the master manufacturer, or of the em-
ployer, or of the customer, or of popular intimidation, it is
always something to influence the voter other than his own
unbiassed judgment. Again, the guard against corruption
by bribery is complete if you have the ballot. In short,
the only honest mode of voting is by the ballot. Ido not
mean to say that individuals may not, because I know they
do, vote honestly by open vote ; but how many of them do
it at the risk—aye, and at the sacrifice of their best inte-
rests. Now, every man could vote honestly and without
risk, if the ballot existed. It really is discreditable to any
popular constituency not to insist on its representatives
voting in favour of the ballot.

On the subject of the unpaid part of the Danish claims
I voted against the Ministry. These claims were composed
of three different classes. The first class consisted of per-
sons whose book debts had been sequestered by the Danes ;
the second class consisted of persons whose goods were un-
sold in Danish warehouses at the time our Government
assailed Denmark, and whose ships were then in Danish
ports ; the third class consisted of persons whose vessels
were taken at sea by the Danes before any declaration of
war on our part. •

The Whig Ministry, to their immortal honour, have
done justice—tardy justice it was, because the Tories were
so long in power—to the two first classes. I see no solid
distinction between these two and the third, and therefore
I voted for including the third class, and will do so as often
as the subject is brought before the House.
Really this Danish affair is such an epitome of the history
of Toryism, that I cannot avoid stating it shortly. By an
act rather of piracy than of war, the British Government
seized on Copenhagen, burned the churches and hospitals,
brought away the Danish fleet, and extorted in every way
1,200,0001.—0ne million two hundred thousand pounds
from the Danish nation. The British people, however, suf-
fered also, and losses to the amount, as I believe, of about
600,0001. were sustained by British merchants. Now, the
reasonable plan would have been to compensate our people
out of the Danish spoils. But the Tories were never guilty
of anything so obviously just and reasonable—no, they
thought the money little enough for themselves. Not one
shilling of it was ever brought to the credit of the public.
It was all absorbed by favourites. The greater part was
distributed amongst members of the Royal Family, or laid
out at Brighton, &c.

In the meantime the British subjects memorialised, and
petitioned, and prayed, and brought the matter before the
boroughmonbrering Parliament—all in vain. For upwards
of twenty long years they sought redress, and got nothing
but the " sickess of the heart which arises from hope de-
ferred." At length came a Whig Ministry and a Reformed
Parliament—justice has been done to two classes of the
' sufferers, and 1 could not agree that it ought to be refused
to the third and only remaining class. .
• I have been thus minute in my justification of the votes I
gave in opposition to the present Ministry. The stability
of that Ministry is so essential to the peace and happiness
of Ireland, that I feel it my bounden duty to convince you,
ray constituents, that in the votes I gave adverse to that
Administration I was propelled, and I may indeed say com-
pelled, so to vote by what appears to me to be the impera-
tive dictates of public principle.
There are some other subjects upon which I desire to lay
before you a full detail of my conduct—not by way of jus-
tification or vindication, but simply to bring the entire of
my parliamentary conduct before you at one view, and as a
matter for our mutual reference.
You are well aware that the governing rule of my poli-
tical conduct has been to obtain for Ireland as much as I
possibly could—to get entire justice for her if I can ; but,
if not, to realise as much as possible. In other words,
there is a national debt of justice due to Ireland—l look
for the payment of the whole, and will never be satisfied
until that whole is discharged in full ; but, in the mean
time, I will take any instalment, however small, at any time,
when to get more is out-of my power, and then go on for
the balance.

I am not one of those who, like the dog in the fable,
seek the shadow and lose the reality. I realise for Ireland
all I can get, and, having got part, I am thus better able to
seek the rest.
This is precisely the principle I have acted upon with
respect to the tithe system in Ireland. My opinion is,
that tithes ought to be totally abolished, and that ulti-
mately nothing less than the abolition of the entire will or
ought to satisfy the Irish people. I may be mistaken, but
these are my deliberate and fixed opinions. 1 qualify them
only by adding, that I would substitute a small tax on the
landlords, not payable by the landlord, lest he should ab-
sorb all the advantage of the abolition. But even if he
did, I should still be for the total abolition of tithes in
Ireland.

Both parties in the House, Whigs and Tories, refuse to,
abolish Tithes altogether, so that 1 defy any man to state
any proposition more impossible to be successful for the
present than the total sweeping away of tithes. There are
not above fifty in the House of Commons to vote for such
a measure—there are five hundred to oppose it energeti-
cally. This is in the House of Commons--and then there
is the House of Lords, in which the proposition would not
be listened to for one moment.
I am, therefore, perfectly safe in asserting, that in the
last session nothing could be more impossible than obtain-
inc, the total abolition of tithes.
'This being so, a question arises, and it is this :—ls it
reasonable to reject a proposition for abolishing part of the
tithes, simply because we cannot at present get rid of the
entire ?

singly twenty-five per cent. It was all they offered or won.
give.
The Whigs outbid their adversaries—they offered thirty
per cent.; but !hey did more—they offered a revision of all
the compositions on which it could be shown that an unrea-
sonably high rate of income had been obtained. They did
still more—they offered the appropriation clause—that is,
an appropriation for the education of persons of all per-
suasions of so much of the ecclesiastical revenus of Ireland
as should not be necessary for the spiritual wants of the
Irish Protestants.
I do not see how it was possible for any Member who
comprehended the nature of these offers to refuse to vote for
such a Bill. He who could so refuse may be very honest,
that I do not dispute, but he could not be very wise.
For my part I could not hesitate one moment ; and, ac-
cordingly, I heartily supported the Ministry of Lord Mel-
bourne in their measure of tithe relief, not as giving all I
wanted for the people of Ireland, but as giving us a part,
and establishing an appropriation principle which would ne-
cessarily produce much more.
I respectfully claim your approbation of my in conduct
in supporting that Bill. It is, indeed, said, that the Bill
was in its nature final ; that if it passed, the tithes could
not be further reduced ; and the 54th section has, I think,
been referred to for the purpose of showing that it was to
be a final measure.
Nothing, however, can be so absurd as the allegation of
its finality. It is a well-known rule of legislation, that al-
most every law is in its enactments final, which only means
" until the Legislature shall otherwise enact." Stanley's
Tithe Bill is in its enactments final. There are near fifty
final Tithe Bills in our statute-book ; yet every one of them
was to be altered by Lord Morpeth's Bill ; and that Bill;
had it passed into law, was equally capable of being al-
tered, not only next year, but, by an express clause in the
Bill, it could be altered or repealed last session—that is
in the session in which it should have passed.
And yet there have been found persons to assert that they
could not support Lord Morpeth's Bill because the 54th
section made it a final measure, although another section
declared that it might be altered that very session !
I, therefore, who am for the total abolition of tithes,
voted for the abolition, in the first instance, of part only.
To act otherwise would be on a par with the folly of a man
in Dublin who should declare that as his object was to go
to Shrewsbury, he would not go into the steam-packet, b-
cause the final destination of that packet was Holyhead,
and it would not take him farther.
The appropriation clause contained in Lord Morpeth's
Bill was in its nature of the utmost value. It was the first
declaration by Parliament of a just sentiment on the sub-
ject of tithes since the Reformation. To make it prac-
tically valuable it must be made productive ; and its pre-
sent productiveness being disputed, there have been found
some silly supporters of the present Administration to
assert that it was a mero point of ministerial honour !! ! If
it were so, I, for one, would not risk the existence of the
present Ministry for one moment on a mere imaginary point
of etiquette. But to a substantial appropriation of the
superfluous portion of the Irish Church temporalities to
the purposes of the religious and moral education of all
classes in Ireland, no man could cling with more deter-
mined tenacity than I should.
It has, indeed, been said that the tithe plan propounded
in the last session necessarily excluded the operation of the
appropriation clause. But that is a mistake. My plan for
the last session was to extinguish not 30 per cent., as Lord
Morpeth proposed, of the tithe composition, but 40 per
cent., as I succeeded in getting inserted in Littleton's Tithe
Bill. Besides the 40 per cent., I also proposed to allow any
person voluntarily paying the balance 21. 10s. in lieu of the
expenses of collection.
Thus, by my plan, the tithes would be reduced at one
blow from each 1001. to the sum of 571. 10s. ; and attend
to me, men of Kilkenny ! I intend—unless you disapprove
—to propose this plan in the next session, subject to these
conditions—First, your approval ; and, second, that I do
not see a reasonable prospect of getting off more. In
short, I intend to follow up my political maxim—that as
much as possible should be got for Ireland, although that
instalment should be a very small part of what is really
due to her.

But to return to the appropriation clause—lt has been
said that my plan excluded the effect of the appropriation
clause, because, after deducting 421. 10s. out of every
1001. tithe composition, there would remain no surplus to
be appropriated. But that is not so, for my plan included
a payment to the clergy of 10 per cent. out of the Irish re-
venues of Woods and Forests. Thus, therefore my plan
would leave the surplus for appropriation to education pre-
cisely where Lord Morpeth's plan left it.
There remains one more subject of importance to Ire-
land, upon which I scarcely can trust myself to write—it is
the Municipal Reform Bill—that Bill respecting which we
are an insulted and degraded nation. Men of Kilkenny, if
there be one single individual amongst you whose blood
does not boil with indignation at the atrocious insult
offered the Irish people by the accursed Lyndhurst and
the Tory faction in the Peers, let him be excommunicated
from his country and his kind. No ;it is impossible that
so unmanly a being should be found in your fair city.
I supported the Government plan of Irish Municipal Re-
form throughout, not that I approved of it in all its details,
but as an instalment. I cannot, however, again support
such a Bill as we sent to the Lords last session, because
that Bill took from the reformed Corporations the power to
nominate to the Crown the persons fit to be sheriffs. The
Bill, as brought into the House of Commons, was not so,
it contained that power—and I, for one, will not support
any Bill in future which does not contain that clause, be-
cause we are now driven to assert our political fitness, and
I will not consent to admit any inferiority of the Irish to
the British people.

My principle of accepting instalments does not require
me to go so far. It is quite true that if Lord Lyndhurst
had contented himself with leaving .the people of Ireland
uninsulted, and had shortened the Corporate Reform Bill
to the mere extinction of the present corporations, I would
have voted for the Bill in that shape, and looked for new
corporations immediately after. But he, artful as he is, in-
troduced a worse system than the former—and so long ago
as the 16th of May I announced, in a letter published in
the Pilot to the people of Ireland, the utter impossibility
of accepting the Bill as altered by the Lords.
One other subject, applicable solely to England, requires
from me a statement of my conduct. It has, of course, as
all my actions have, been the subject of calumny. I know
that you have made me your representative—that I should
struggle to do justice to England and to Englishmen quite
as fully and as anxiously as to Ireland and Irishmen ; I
therefore feel myself as much bound to give you all the facts
of my conduct respecting this English m I measure as should
did it relate solely to Ireland.
The facts are theie—a Bill, called The English Church
Bill," had been brought into Parliament by the Minister,
Lord John Russell. It was founded on a report of the
s
Ecclesiastical Commissioners, so that its contents were fa-
il ng. It
reading,
miller to the English Members even at the first re • •
was opposed at that reading only by Sir Robert Inglis
as being too liberal.- It was printed and distributed, and
read a second time without any opposition from any of the
or a single note of dissent. Indeed,'
English Liberals,
there was a liberal speech in .its favour; It . was in due
time
committed, and it regularly went through the com-
mittee, after good deal 21 discussion by the Inglis squad,
but without any opposition from any English Liberal
Member. It was set down for a • third and last reading
before a murmur was excited arvainst it in the House. For
my parts I did not meddle witliit under such circumstances
at all. But after the third reading was fixed, a good deal
of discontent and irritation was exhibited by 'some of the
English popular
Members, and much hostility was threa-
tened.
Lord JOhn Russell deemed it prudent to call a meeting
in Downing-street of all those who generally support the
Administration.
The attendance was numerous. Lord John distinctly
stated the situation in which the Ministry were placed. He
said they were now pledged to the Bill, and could not, and
be thought ought not—to retract, and lie submitted to the
gentlemen present, whether, under such circumstances
they would oppose the Bill, as, if such opposition were
successful, the Ministers could not continue in oTi2e.
Such was the substance of his speech. It did not sa-
tisfy the Radical Members. There was a Itlqg debate,
and the parties, as is usual on such APPR§,lons, from a good-
humoured beginning were getting warm, and at length there
was little appearance of any amicable arrangement. The

Ministry were determined to carry the Bill, or resign. The
Radicals still -continued-liiiitile-. ." -Under -the-se circum-
ices the meeting Was getting tired, when I deemed it
my duty to interpose. The points I put to the meeting
were these : I showed that if the Ministers were wrong in
bringing in and going on with the Bill, the Liberals were.
equally so in not-opposing it at an earlier stage. It was,
I thought, they who were to .41arne, as they thus brought
Ministers into a position out of which they could not re-
treat—that 'their resignation would be fatal to Ireland. I
put, as strongly as I could, the horrible consequences to
Ireland which must ensue from a change of Ministry ; and
I concluded by saying that I, for one, would not bring
myself to desert the Ministry at'that stage of the Bill. I
spoke at some length, and brought over by my reasoning,
several of the very best men in the House—Scotch Radi-
cals. I thus contributed, in my humble station, to keep
the Ministry in office.
For this I expect your thanks—for this I did not ex-
pect to be malignantly and falsely attacked by a Liberal
who is, or affects to be, a supporter of this Administration.
But so it is--my comfort being, that I could not have acted
otherwise without betraying my sacred duty to the people
of Ireland, to assist the present Administration at every
sacrifice short of principle. •
I have thus stated to you, my respected constituents, the
course and tenor of my conduct during the last session of
Parliament. It has happened that the Ministers of the
King were the best friends of Ireland—they, therefore, had
my best services at their command. Every hour convinces
me more and more that the best prospects of prosperity
for Ireland are involved in the stability of this Administra-
tion ; it is upon that account that I feel bound, as your re-
presentative, to give to his Majesty's Ministers ail the sup-
port that my humble faculties enable me to give.
I continue to be the best abused man in the world. I
promise you, men of Kilkenny, to continue to deseisrve such
abuse from all the enemies of civil and religious liberty all
over the world.
Having thus laid before you an outline of my conduct
during the last session of Parliament, it becomes our duty
—yours as well as mine—attentively to examine the pre-
sent posture of affairs, and our future prospects—so as to
determine with prudence on the conduct to be adopted in
order to ameliorate the condition of Ireland.
For this purpose it is, in the first place, necessary that_
we should not, for one moment, lose sight of this important
fact, that we, Repealers, are at present engaged in an expe-
riment. We have not abandoned the Repeal—we have
only postponed all agitation on that subject, to give time,
space, and opportunity to work out our great experiment.
The experiment is simply to ascertain whether it be pos-
sible that Ireland can be as well governed by an united le-
gislature as by its own domestic Parliament. This is the
experiment we are now making, and have been making for
considerably more than twelve months.
Two questions on this subject naturally present them-
selves :

The FIRST is—How long the experiment is to last ?
The SECOND is—Whether it is likely to be successful ?
As to the first, my answer is, that not less than one, nor
probably more than two years from this period, should be
devoted to this object. The time may be lengthened if,
within the period I mention, any substantial proofs are given
of a permanent disposition to do justice to Ireland. But
they must be proofs, not assertions. We have at present
abundant assertion on this subject, communicated in terms
of such insolence as to denote hostility, not friendship.
To the second question my answer is distinct and em-
phatic : I am convinced of the utter impossibility of obtain-
ing
justice for Ireland from any other than an Irish Parlia-
ment. This conviction is daily strengthened by every event
that occurs. We have been treated with the basest•indig-
nity in the last session. Not only have we been refused
justice on the question of corporate reform, but we have
been refused it with the grossest indignity and the vilest
insult.
Mark this, my honest and brave constituents—mark this,
my honest and brave countrymen all over Ireland :—ln the
first session in which the experiment could be fairly deve-
loped, we stand thus :—We have been refused justice under
the most aggravating circumstances of refusal ; and, in ad-
dition, we have been vilified and spat upon—insulted and
degraded by the unparalleled insolence of some of the
meanest and basest of the human race.

Scotland has obtained Municipal Reform—England has
obtained a Municipal Reform—lreland has been refused
Corporate Reform, and that refusal has been grounded on
reasons which necessarily convey the most outrageous •in-
sult, and the most debasing injury.
Mark this, men of Kilkenny—let it sink into your in-
most hearts. This refusal, these insults, are the only re-
sult of the first year of our experiment -upon the good go-
vernment of Ireland by a British Parliament.
The experiment was made by us in the most perfect
good faith. • Behold the result—refusal barbed with foul
disgrace. The tyranny so detestable as not to be endured
was that which
" Barbed with disgrace the dart of death."
This is the tyranny we have endured as an answer to our
first year of trial. I dwell upon it with a kind of bitter
pleasure. I call upon you, my constituents, as the witnesses
to whom I shall have to appeal when the period comes, as I
doubt not come it will, for resuming the Repeal agitation.
I dwell upon it to impress on the minds of those excel-
lent men who ought to be the leaders of the next and the
successful effort for the restoration of our local Parliament
—both the fulness and
,fairness of our experiment, and the
insolence and the iniquity of the manner in which we have
been treated. To this I would call the attention of the
Lord Clements—of the Villiers Stuarts, and the Mus-
graves, of Waterford—of the Somervilles of Meath—the
Chapmans of Westmeath, and the other men of the first
rank amongst the Protestants of Ireland, who have the
prosperity and the honour of their native land at heart.
Let them remember the events of the past year, and when
they compare those of the next, and the next year again
with these now part of history, I doubt not but they will
agree with me that the time is at length come for the "he-
reditary bonsmen" to strike by themselves, and for them-
selves, the blow of liberty.
It is in the spirit of working out this great national
experiment, in the fullest as well as fairest manner,
that I give my support to the present Ministers.
If justice 'is to be done to Ireland they are the
men to do her that justice. Every body admits the
admirable tact and talent with which Lord Mulgravo
executes the duties of his high office—the perfect
impartiality, the dignified temper, the excellent good sense
that accompany all his actions. There remains, indeed, one
great blot on the Irish administration, which spreads its
dusky tinge over the entire land. It is to be found in the
unreformed state of the magistracy. There is, unhappily,
a political timidity about Lord Plunket which totally dis-
qualifies him from the task of cleansing the " Augean
stable" of the Irish magistracy. If he would at one blow
remove at least one hundred of the present magistrates, he
would leave behind more than enough to do any real
business--and not a few who merit removal. But the
confidence which Lord Mulgrave inspires, enables the
people to endure a little longer the partisan magistracy,
whilst that magistracy are, on the other hand, somewhat
checked by the known vigilance and impartiality of the pre-
sent Irish executive.
• Let us, then, my friends, understand our present position
and our future prospects, and we will see that our great,
almost our only reliance, is to be placed upon our own exer-
tions. It would be idle to expect much assistance from the sym-
pathy or the exertions of the English people. I have not the
least doubt that the great majority of the people of England are
either hostile or indifferrt to the just rights of the people of
Ireland—that is, that t ey either side with our
rnot. oppressors,
or are totally careless whether we be oppressed
or
repeat to you this my deliberate conviction. It is said that
lam indiscreet—ay, indiscreet in stating this melancholy
truth ; but in the course-of my own experience I have never
seen any safety .or advantage in living in a fcol's paradise,
and giving hopes and expectations the place of realities.
I
therefore announce to you, my constituents, and through
you to the, Irish people, the real state of the public senti-
ment in England. There arc, I know, and admit, a large,
and influential, and talented minority of the people of Eng-
land inclined to'do justice to the Irish nation. But are'ongst
even these there is some insincerity, and mud,. want of
warmth or cordiality. It is curious to see how these truths
were drawn forth, almost unconsciously, even by the writers
who assailed me with virulent malignity, for having avowed
the faet of English hostility or indifference to the having
common justice done to Ireland. The writers I allude to
admit an English dislike to the Irish people, and frenzied
hatred of our religion.
Let us, then, not delude ourselves with the hope that the
other portions of the empire will work out our liberties for
us.. No, we must do it for ourselves. Let us then be up and
stirring—let every man who hates oppression or desires to he
rid of the' foul stain of national degradation and insult—let
every man who desires the liberty and eonstitutior al inde-
pendence
of Ireland, contribute to the •
ol'gzity2ation of as
Let him alSo'collntribute
numerous a registry as possible..
to the funds of the General Association
,c andho
Catholic
ect the
" Justice Rent." Recollect it was the
Associa-
tion and the Catholic rentonteh_eaito obtained
lc
.hotbhtaliie emancipation.
Recollect also, that if only of the entire Irish
population, that is, one million, contribute so small a sum
as one shilling each in the year, we 6.1,0 have
of 50,000/. sterling annually to
quietly to organise such eib.:.,ole us peaceablys will
thus a fund
insure all we ask—a's juso! aristitutional agitation a
se for Ireland."
• The s : •
Ireland and tt., "7aon will be one of the deepest interest to
Chan e British empire.. The spirit of revolutionary
-le has again exhibited itself in the Peninsula, and has
seized on the military—the last hope of despotism. In
Prance they must be on the eve of another convulsion. The
crafty and faithless Louis Philippe cannot expect to reign
long Over a people whom he has insulted and betrayed. His
last hold is in the tidelity.to bins and his tyranny of the mili-
tary. He leans on a broaen reed, and that which he deems

-

111.11.
his clll
hief strength may turn out to be his greatest weakness.
These countries are at present safe from violence or turbulent
change, unless, indeed, the Tories come into power again,
and take away from the rational friends of freedom all hope
of peaceably obtaining the fruits of the Reform Bill. We
live in times in which no man can answer for the morrow,
unless the reins of power be left in hands who equally de-
sire the liberty of the people with the honour and safety of
the throne.
The next Session will be one of the utmost consequence
to Ireland. The present Administration are pledged to bring
forward three measures of the most vital importance to the
Irish people :-
Ist—The Tithe Bill.
2d—The Corporate Reform.
3d—A Poor Law.
Upon these subjects I will, as soon as I possibly can, emi-
tult with you in person. In the mean time you know my
opinions on the first. I am, you know, convinced that the
tithes in Ireland must be totally abolished—and for this pur-
pose I will accept of any reasonable instalment in the first
instance ; but, after all that has occurred, I insist on 49/.los.
per cent. in the next Session. Less than that cannot give any
satisfaction.
Let it be recollected that as existing interests are in-
tended by most persons to be respected, the 57/. 10s. per
cent. which will remain, would, in part, be necessary for
those existing interests. Recollect again, I pray you, that
the finding a substitute for the 57/. 10s. per cent, will be
much less difficult than the finding one for the entire 1001.
I need not add that if I saw, or shall see, in the next
session, the smallest rational hope of obtaining the total
abolition of tithes, I will abandon every other plan to adopt
that. I consent to take a part only, because I cannot get
the whole, and thus common sense tells me that a part is
better than none.
As to the Corporation reform, I have already told you
the course I intended to pursue ; that is, to obtain as
much of that reform for Ireland as possible—and then to
'Armed, without any delay, to look for the rest.
The poor law for Ireland is another, and, perhaps, the most
important question : and I do not hesitate to say that I will
give my support to the Government upon the general princi-
ples of that Bill. I should oppose any private individual
who (as so many have done) obtruded his own crude notions
on the subject. I deem it quite right that this experiment
should be made, as part of the great trial, whether we can
avoid recurring again to " the Repeal ; " for without " the
Repeal," you must have a poor law.
But although I now see the inevitable necessity of acce-
ding to a poor-law, let me not be misunderstood as being at
all sanguine as to any beneficial results. It is, in the first
place, quite clear that no poor-law Bill will pass the House
of Lords, unless the management of the relief is placed
in the hands of the great landlords. The present House
of Lords will certainly not (rive us a better poonlaw Bill in
this respect than the English law—and the aristocratic
tendency of that Bill is manifest.
There has been a cry raised on this subject in Ireland,
which renders it still more necessary that a Poor-law Bill
should pass. But I very much doubt of any practical re-
lief from such Bill. A poor-law takes away a great deal
f.om the pauper, and seldom gives him any adequate com-
pensation. How few of our Irish declaimers on poor-laws
are aware of what such a law deprives the pauper, or of
its fatal effects on wages. But Lord Morpeth is pledged
upon this subject, anti we must have a poor-law. I will
watch its details, with a view to render them as little one-
rous upon the poor-rate payers, and as extensively useful,
as I possibly can. But alas, the poor-law is an experi-
ment, which, in my humble and anxious judgment, will pro-
bably fail, and then those who have so long clamoured for a
poor-law, will find that they have got, instead of a fish, a
serpent—better suited to bite than to fatten or feed others.
Upon the whole, however, my excellent friends, I see no
one reason to despair or even to despond ; on the contrary,
my hopes arc high for Ireland. The Ministers of the
King are with us ; the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland is with
us ; a powerful minority in England are inclined in our fa-
vour ; a large majority in Scotland are anxiously with us ;
and we ourselves, Irishmen, are combining with more
energy and discretion united than we ever before beheld.
Nen of rank and of fortune are mingling honestly and zea-
lously with the most patriotic classes in the cause of Ire-
land. The honest Reformers of Ireland thick not of reli-
gious distinctions or prejudices. Men who never before
took a part in politics now feel it a duty toloin the patriotic
ranks. One spirit animates all, and that is the spirit of
peace, conciliation, harmony, and freedom.
I have the honour to be, men of Kilkenny,
Your faithful, devoted, and grateful servant,
DANIEL O'CONNELL.

In the substance of this address I cannot state that I as
cordially concur as I did in his address last year. ,I rather
feel with him, as was then eloquently ands clearly stated by
him, that whatever defects may exist in the state of corpo-
rations at the present day, I would deprecate subversion
in the shape of reformation. I would wish merely such
changes, as he then stated, should be adopted, as the
altered circumstances of the State might require. I would
wish that the substance and the essential usefulness of
that ancient institution should be preserved. And I think
any one who marks the progress of opinions in this day,
must see, that if an adaptation of the institutions to the
altered circumstances of the times were once admitted to
be desirable, it must rather be procured by the extension,
than by the extinction of popular privileges. It is a curious
fact, and, perhaps, at this moment, most interesting to re-
mark, that in all ages the peculiar tendency of public
civic institutions has been considered to amalgamate and
blend together the previously discordant elements of
civil society. The Right Honourable and Learned
Gentleman has alluded to the state of modern Europe
in the different ages which elapsed since the resusci-
tation of civilization in that part of the world, but I would
take this subject up from an earlier period, and we shall find
in the various ages of ancient history, that the original in-
stitution of civic corporations was placed by the great ci-
viliser of that infant community, which afterwards became
the " Mistress of the World," upon the special ground, that
it would be the means, in the mutual discharge of duty, and
the identification of mutual benefit, of doing away with
all those practical causes of reciprocal alienation. These
were not the days when, he must allow me to say, such
painful distinctions as between native Irish and English were
said to exist ; but when the infant community was at this
very moment engaged in its primitive attempt at amalga-
mating all classes together, the effects of the wisdom of
Numa Pompilius were found in centuries of combined patrio-
tism, upon the part of the Roman citizens, who had previ-
ously been composed of the most heterogeneous materials.
The Right Hon. and Learned Gentleman then went on to
state what was the effect of the institution of Corporations
in modern Europe, and in the view which he took of that
part of the subject, I must thoroughly concur. It is per-
fectly true that the barons and " great ones" of the land,
at that time, were either entrenched behind barriers of stone,
or cased in steel to desolate and destroy, but in the then
humble materials for corpdrate government of the middle
ages, the first germ of civilization was fostered and che-
rished. With the natural tendency to self-destruction of all
savage natures, empires were overthrown—titles became
extinct—estates were forfeited, but still under peaceable
and progressive civilization, these simple communities con•
tinued and prospered. And it is to be remarked by any
man who has attentively perused the chronicles of the time,
with what fidelity they endeavour to steer clear of any of
those points of quarrel, which led ultimately to the destruc•
tion of the feudal system. Amongst these communities
there was little inclination to involve themselves in the ge-
nealogical mazes of disputed succession—as little were they
distracted in one of the most eventful periods of English
history by the contrasted colours of the rival roses. There,
in those institutions, independence was first understood—
intelligence was first diffused—confidence between man and
man was first established. There arose the aristocracy of
industry ; civic honours won by merit were there con-
ferred by the people and confirmed by the crown, and popu-
lar power rested upon its best and most solid foundation—
commercial prosperity. Such being the state of municipal
institutions at that time, I beg to call your attention to this
circumstance, that in their origin all these institutions were
of a popular character. The qualification attached to en-
trance into them, was not meant as a capricious exclusion, but
is of most general and complete comprehension. It was
intended to include all who were even collaterally con-
nected with the interest which the body represented, and if
the precautions then taken have not Leen found peculiarly
adapted to the present times, it is not from any original in-
tention of exclusion, or of defect in the original construc-
tion of the institution, but it has arisen from the prosperous,
aid somewhat disproportionate increase of communities to
which those institutions were attached. This has induced
the united Parliament to attach qualifications of residence
and of real property to the attainment of municipal digni-
ties in the English corporations. The Right Hon. and
Learned Gentleman, in the course of his address, seems to
he afraid that the result of the application of a similar
principle here would be that we would go from one ex-
treme to the other. I can assure him that if such would be
the result, no one would more deprecate it than myself ;
but my idea is, that what is meant by placing institutions
under vigilant popular controul, is, that the popular im-
munities should extend to the inclusion of every body
directly interested in the management of its affairs, and that
its vigilance should extend to the free and independent ex-
ercise of its voices, in the election of the superior officers
of the body. The Right Hon. and Learned Gentleman has
made use of a figure from domestic life, lie will therefore
excuse me if I borrow one from the natural world. The
torrent which it has been in vain attempted to restrain and
exclude from its natural channel, may, in its first rush,
somewhat trouble the surface of the more slow and silent
stream, which alone has been allowed to glide within its
bounds—but the ferment of that meeting is but of a mo-
ment's duration. Soon the commingling waters will flow
on in a steady course, fertilizing the land with redoubled
power, and in undistinguishable union. You will have an-
ticipated, from the tone in which I have addressed you, that
it is my hope that when your (Alderman Hodges) year of
service shall have expired (and you shall leave, I doubt not,
as meritorious an example as your predecessor), that by
whatever means, or by whatever body elected, a successor
may be found to profit by it ; that whatever changes the
altered circumstances of the time may be thought to require
in the change of the elective body by whose suffrages you are
brought before me, that still it will be recollected that in all
periods, in Pagan days as in Christian times, the natural
tendency of corporate institutions has been found to obli-
terate invidious distinctions and speculative differences, and
to unite all men, as they ought to be, in the common in-
terest and practical concerns of everyday life. I trust, my
Lord, as I have stated, that whenever your day of service
shall have expired, that your successor, be he whom he may,
when presented before me, to discharge the important func-
tions of your office (which I cannot but think inseparable
from the management and control of such a civic com-
munity as that in which I now stand), shall enter upon
his office with the same testimonials of competency as
you now do—and I do think that after six hundred an-
niversaries of the ancient ceremony of inauguration have
passed, as the Right Hon. and Learned Gentleman has
stated, we may anticipate that it will not be the last ;
but, when a union between the two countries has been
established upon the solid basis of a community of in-
terests, I may hope that Ireland will never be found
(what alone I think would tend to make her, in the
words of the Right Hon. and Learned Gentleman, a
bye-word and a reproach to the nations of the earth) in
these enlightened days—the only country of the world which
was unfit for any species of self-government. No ; I trust,
as the representative of that Sovereign, who thus addressed
his assembled Parliament, that it will be in the power of
the legislative branches of the Constitution to apply
to the difficulties and evils which may have been
shown to exist in the corporate institutions of Ire-
land, remedies founded upon the same principles as
those extended to the muncipalities of England and Scot-
land. I trust, in the words which the Right Hon. and
Learned Gentleman expressed last year, that subversion
may not be found in place Of reformation ; I trust that in
the same spirit in which I addressed him previously, I shall
be understood now to address him, feeling as I do that the very
essence, vitality, and soul, of the connexion between the two
countries, is a free and full distribution of equal laws and
immunities ; and, upon behalf of the second civic community
of the united empire, and the capital of this fine island, I
will say that I trust whilst its loyalty is onimpeached, its
patriotism proverbial, its population increasing, and its com-
merce prosperous, that Dublin will never cease to be a city.
I now take leave of you, assuring you personally that upon
all occasions upon which you may think it necessary to con-
sult with me, you will always receive from me every per-
sonal attention and respect which I feel to be due to the
existing authority. (At the conclusion of his Excellency's
address, the crowd which filled the Audienc.e Chamber, for-
getting the place where they were, and actuated by the
impulse of the moment, burst into a simultaneous cheer.).
GENERAL Assoctanosr.—The Association met on
Thursday, in the Corn Exchange-rooms. Laurence Finn,
Esq., in the chair. The Secretary, Mr. French, submitted
a mass of correspondence co-operative with the important
Objects sought by the Justice Associations. Some animated
discussion succeeded, in which Mr. Dillon Browne, M.P.,
Mr. Lawless, and others took part. The Secretary then
announced that the Justice rent for the week amounted ,
to -W. 45., after which the meeting separated.