The Sun.
London, England, 1836-05-28 00:00:00

GREAT REFORM DINNER AT

IPSWICH.

IPSWICH, FRIDAY.—EarIy in the morning the town
began to assume an animated appearence. Groups of per-
eons paraded the streets, and every preparation was made
to give the Members for the borough, and Mr. O'Connell,
the distinguished individual who accompanied them, a
hearty and sincere welcome. Exactly at two o'clock, the
procession, consisting of an immense concourse of persons
on foot, a band, and flags bearing suitable inscriptions,
arrived on the Corn-hill, and the carriage, in which were
Daniel O'Connell, Esq., M.P., and R. Wason, Esq., M.P.,
drew up at the foot of the hustings, but the crowd lijas so
dense, and the Blues so turbulent, that the leaders were
obliged to be detached, and the Hon. Gentlemen to de-
scend in the midst of the populace. After much hustling
and exertion, they at length found their way to the Hall
door, but not before the gold-banded cap, which decorated
the Liberator's brow, was wrested from it by some ruffianly
hand. It was, however, quickly replaced. On his appear-
ance on the hustings, between the Representatives of the
borough (Mr. Morrison having arrived two days before,
• and had now taken his station), they were received with
. loud cheers, commingled with groans and wells from the
Anti Reformers.
Mr. MORRISON then presented himself, and was received
with loud cheers mingled with groanings. At this moment
some men who had been parading the streets with a large
flag, representing. a lamb in an inverted position, with the
following inscription beneath—" The world turned upside
down!" now stationed themselves in front of the hustings,
apparently in order to shut out the speakers from the view
• of tie greater part of the assembly. No sooner, however,
bad this circumstance caught the notice of the meeting than
. down went the banner, and it was quickly demolished. A
general fight ensued, and the policemen captured one or
two of the ringleaders of the affray. Mr. Morrison then,
amidst great uproar, proceeded to introduce Mr. O'Connell
to the meeting. It was with the greatest difficulty he
could obtain an audience, and the conduct of the Tories
was most outrageous and disgraceful. As soon as the
lion. Gentleman had finished, Mr. O'Connell came forward,
and was received with deafening cheers, which continued
for several minutes.
Mr. O'CoNNELL—Thai hearty English cheer delights
me. lam accustomed to hear tit brogue, and the cheers
that it sands to my heart are certainly arrarsgst the greatest
pleasures of my life : but this is a triumph I had not
expected, and would not deserve, if' your enemies din ;:ot
hate me heartily.—(Loud cheers.) I am exceeding obliged
to the Tories—(laughter)—and you 1611 think it an Irish
reason—l am obliged to them for telling lies of me—
(laughter)—and for this reason : it appeared that they had
nothing true to lay to my charge, otherwise they would not
be at the trouble of telling lies.
A TORY (in the crowd)—Get back to Ireland !
Mr. O'CoNNELL—I wish I had you there: as you are
a stranger to my country, I would treat you well and civilly.
.--(Loud cheers.) They placarded the streets of Notting-
bam.—(Groans from the Tories.) I like to bear a groan
of that kind. When the Tories groan, honest men are suc-
cessful. I only wish them more opportunities to groan.—
(Cheers from the Reformers.) At NOttingham, I read
the paragraph in which they charged me with having tra-
duced the women of England—(Shame, shame)—and I
gave it the answer which I give it now—that it is a lie—
(Loud cheers.) I said then it was a Tory lie, In Ipswich
it is a Blue lie.—(Shouts of laughter.) I defied them to
name time or place, when or where they could justly lay the
accusation to my charge.—(Uproar among the Blues.) Now,
men of Ipswich, see what base wretches they are—as Blue
as Indigo—l gave them the challenge—has any man dared
to put his name to the lie ?—(Loud cheers and groans from
the Blues.) They are ashamed of their case, and they will
not listen to have it properly described. I see Bond there.
'We were looking out for him at one time, and we could not
get him. As they say in Ireland, he is as "black as a ram
to-day ;" but no church mouse ever hid itself more com-
pletely than he did, when wanted for the purpose of justice.
A bad Bond he is, and no security.—(Loud cheers and
laughter, and uproar amongst the Blues.) Did you ever
hear of an Irishman calumniating a woman ?—( Loud cheers.)
I am ashamed that an Englishman should be found base
enough to invent such a calumny ; but the fellows who call
themselves worse than negro slaves in the West Indies are
tie very fellows to invent calumnies of that description.—
Agssin I tell you it is a lie, and I defy any man to put
his name to the assertion, that he ever heard me say that
which ha: been imputed. Gentlemen, for the first time the
press of Es.-‘eland has become abandoned and despicable.
They suppress what is said by our party, and they exaggerate
what is said by, another.—(Did you hear that, Jackson ?)
••. If the person alluded to be a reporter, I wish, in his own be-
half, that he will repoi'.t fairly, because I never yet detected
but once in my life a false report ; though I have often
detected the editors of newspapers changing_ the reports
of their reporters ; and I aril quite sure that the gentleman
who is reporting below, will. derain -back my proclamation
that this is a lie, and that I chaiLinge any man to put his
name to the assertion, that he ever heard me calumniate
the women of England. Gentlemen, I now come to the
important business that has brought me amongst you to-
day. I come here to plead for justice—to plead for justice
to .Ireland.—(Loud cheers.) I come here to ask English-
men broadly for justice for Ireland ; and if the Tories be
genuine Englishmen, they will hear my pleading at least,
although they may decide against me afterwards ; for no-
thing can be more un-English, than to prevent a man being
heard who pleads for justice.—(Loud cheers, and uproar
from the Blues.) It is the worst species of knavery, to op-
Pose the man who pleads for justice ; and, indeed, it is
quite what I expected from the bribing and the bribed To-
ries of Ipswich.—(Loud cheers and laughter, and cries of
" Shame," from the Blues.) There is somebody in the
crowd, who does not like to hear of bribery.—(" Get back
to Ireland, where you receive your 20,0001. a year rent.")
I'll tell you a sad truth. There is not a country under the
face of heaven, that has suffered so much from the govern-
ment of another country, as Ireland has suffered from
the Government of Great Britain. You have read with
disgust, and you have learned with shuddering, the
the cruelties that have for the last two or three years
been perpetrated, by the miscreant Emperor of Russia,
over the cruelly-oppressed and trampled-on people of Po-
land. Where is the British heart, unless it be cankered by
the foul taint of Toryism—where is the British heart that
does not throb with emotions of grief at the evils inflicted
• - upon unhappy Poland ?—(Loud cheers.) But these evils
:have been endured but three or four years—Toryism has
trampled upon Ireland for six centuries.—(Loud cheers, and
uproar from the Blues.) You perceive its minions in Ips-
wich are ready to countenance and to perpetuate that in-
ustice for six hundred years more, if they were to live so
long, which Heaven forbid—(Loud cheers, and cries of
"Turn out the Blues," and great confusion for several mi-
nutes.) Are there any more of the Blues there to inter-
rupt us ? If there be not, we will go on with the story.
(Order havines been restored, after a conflict between the
.Reformers and the Blues, Mr. O'Connell proceeded.)
Gentlemen, I waa stating to you how much of grief
and suffering—hoa- much of calamity and crime—
how much of oppression and indignity had been in-
flicted upon Ireland by the British Government for
six centuries. The orange faction of that country, you
May imagine from the conduct of your own Blues ; they
`were malevolent, but your Blues were angels of light corn-
Tiered to the Orange faction of Ireland.—(Laughter.) I
claim for Ireland the same rights, the same institutions, the
same franchises, the same privileges, that the people of
England now enjoy.—(Loud cheers.) And have we not a
tight to them ?—( Loud shouts of " Yes, yes.") There is a
legal union between the two countries—that union ought
to be perfect, or it ought to be abolished. For my own
art, for many years of my life I totally despaired of seeing
the power of 'Toryism so weakened as to give me a hope
of justice for Ireland ; and whilst I entertained that hope
thouieht that there was but one remedy for the woes and
the wants of my country, and that that remedy consisted
111 a domestic Legislature of her own. Such were my opi-
nions. I acted upon these opinions. I sought the repeal
of that Union, I tell you without hesitation—and I care
:lot who may take an advantage of the assertion—that Ire-
land is able to repeal the Union if she were willing to do it.
seven millions of men will never sleep from the moment
they know their rights, and knowing their rights, have the
"urage to maintain them. But Ido not seek for political
change by force or violence. I am not for interfer-
Alts ~ •
with the social system—and I say in the presence of
that God who shall judge me, I would not accept the best
political alteration or change that could be imagined, at the
'cheering.)
of one drop of human blood.—(Tremendous
‘:tleering.) To sooth and to soften the despair of Ireland,
4:drering under centuries of mismanagement, I was an ad-
56Ite for the repeal of the Union, but the moment that I
saw
4: reform produced in England, and seeing that they
te7,,re reealy to rally round the cause of Ireland, honest, in-
lgent, and independent men—such men as your repre-
„ll
Ilsontatives for this borough—(Great cheering)—men whom
wealt could buy—they enough of' eir own ; men
Whom
noh co
•
4 fearcould intimidahte ave
—men whoseth public conduct
kis guided by the
_conscientious convictions of their own
of cls, and by the judgment they have formed on the merits
s questiorss ; I say, when I found myself sur-
rounded dby men of that description, joining with me in the
eau - •
of justice for Ireland, I at once came befora the Irish
• ecte: and in three separate and distinct promises, i told
f, Give up agitation for repeal—think: no snore of it ;
see can get equal justice from England for you, authorise
g 0 there, and tell that intelligent and honest people
at an our tet . notions of repeal are abandoned, provided you
.Isediustice from the British Parliament,"—(Cheering.) I
ilatitense simultaneous shout of approbation. All we want is
7t be ;we want no more ;we won't take less—get that,
a un.ni°l/ wilt then be no longer a parchment Union, but
on in teality ; and here I am obeying their com-