The Sun.
London, England, 1838-08-17 00:00:00

IRELAND

(FROM OUR PRIVATE CORRESPONDENT.)
DUBLIN, Ava. 15.
MR. O'CONNELL ON THE THREE. IRISH
QUESTIONS.
This day a Meeting of the citizens of Dublin was held at
the Corn Exchange to receive Mr. O'Connell, who arrived in
town yesterday. The Meeting was convened by the following
requisition :
TO MY CONSTITUENTS.

Merrion- square.
I respectfully solicit a Meeting of my constituents at the
I Corn Exchange this day, the 16th inst. at half-past one
o'clock, to receive from me a statem -it of the manner in which
I have endeavoured to perform my duty to them during the
closing Session, and to consider of the ulterior measures to
procure from the British Legislature " full justice for Ire-
land," or to provide for the contingency of a perseverance on
the refusal of that Legislature to right the people of Ireland.
Your faithful servant,
DANIEL O'CONNELL.
The meeting took place at the above hour, and Mr. O'Con-
nell was received with the greatest enthusiasm.
The Chair was taken by JOHN GUTHERIE, Esq.

MR. O'CONNELL-MEETING AT THE CORN

EXCHANGE.

This day, pursuant to a requisition addressed by Mr.
O'Connell to his constituents, a numerous and highly respect.
able meeting assembled at the Corn Exchange, for the pur-
pose of receiving from the Honourable and Learned Gentle-
man a statement of the manner in which he had endeavoured
to discharge his duty during the Session of Parliament now
about to close, and also to consider upon ulterior measures to
procure from the British Legislature " full justice for Ireland,
or to provide for the contingency of a perseverance in the re-
fusal of that Legislature to right the people of Ireland."
At half-past one o'clock the shouts of the crowd below
announced the arrival of the Learned Gentlemen, who, upon
entering the room, was met by the most enthusiastic demon-
strations of popular favour. Having taken his usual place,
and Mr. GUTUERIE being called to the Chair, and the requi-
sition having been read,
Mr. OTONICELL rose, and after the cheering with which he
was again greeted ceased, he thus addressed the meeting ;
The requisition which you, Sir, have read was mine, and the
subject of it I will proceed to offer at once to the considera-
tion of my constituents. lam delighted once again to stand
amongst you.—( Cheers.) I love to breath my native air.—
(Renewed cheers.) There are, and there ought to be, links
I of affection binding me to my native land, which grow stronger
and more tender from every temporary absence. I stand
amid the scenes of many professional triumphs, and some
political success. If I have been able in any degree to
serve my country, it has but made her more dear to me.—
(Cheers.) All the affections that make life precious sur-
round me here ; and if one bitter pang must arise, it is
neutralized by the joy of renewing my vows and fidelity and
attachment to the country of my birth.—( Cheers.) To be sure,
views meet my sight, which are anything but cheering ; and
melancholy sights obtrude themselves upon me. When
yesterday I was walking through the stately streets of this
city, admiring her domestic architecture, and looking with
pride upon her wide and splendid squares, her vast ware-
houses, and all that delights the citizen, I could not but be
struck with grief when, instead of increasing commerce and
rewarded industry, that should have marked her at every
step—a desolation met my eye, only interrupted by the me-
mentoes of squalid poverty that crossed my path—and I re-
membered the melancholy picture of the Latin poet, " Rams
et antiguus habebatur in urbibus erat." " Rare and few are the
inhabitants that walk through our cities."—( Hear.) This de-
solation, however, followed civil war and social strife; but the
desolation of this my native city is not to be traced to fraternal
feuds or civil war. No, Sir, we were sold and betrayed.—
(Cheers.) I will confess it. I stand amongst you for the re-
peal of the Union..—(Tremendous applause.) Mistake me
not. I will make one experiment more, and only one. There
is in England a party liberal and intelligent, and in itself a
numerous minority, who are for us. But, Sir, the hatred of
this country is increased by malignant bigotry mixing with
the national antipathy which there exists against us.—( Hear.)
Day after day, it is on the increase.—(Hear, hear.) I think
Wellington is growing more determined than ever in his con-
temptuous hostility to the rights of Ireland. lam sure Peel
hates us more heartily, if possible, than before. I see grow-
ing stronger a spirit and a determination, not only to deny
what we seek, but to take away all that we have of good.—
( Hear, hear.) It is under a consciousness of this that I stand
before you now. Sir, the first topic I have to address you upon
is connected with our entrance upon Parliament; and a cir-
cumstance I will have to relate will elucidate and demon-
strate my position. I will begin with the beginning, there
can be nothing wrong in that.—(Cheers and laughter.)
When we put our feet into the House we were seventy-three
to thirty-two. That was our relative strength—or seventy-
three to thirty, I should rather say ; for the additional two
were from the University of Dublin, and sent not from Ire-
land but against Ireland.—( Hear, hear.) There was nothing
that intimidation or bribery, or the tyranny of landlords
could achieve, that was left undone, to diminish that phalanx
and increase our enemies. It failed, the Irish people made it
fail. When lam told that the repeal of the Union is not at-
tainable, I point to what the voters of Ireland have done, and
ask—Will the sons, and the brothers, and the fathers of such
men consent to be willing slaves ?—( Cheers.) We, the
Members for Ireland, were met by thirteen petitions. Of these
but two were successful ; and how did they succeed ? By what
I called elsewhere—what did I call it ?—( Laughter, amidst
which a voice exclaimed, " Perjury.") Yes, I was repri-
manded for saying that—and I said it again. Aye, it was
by the for swearing of the Tories they succeeded. Was
ever anything like the Belfast case ?_( Hear, bear.) Gibson,
with five hundred a year for ever, it was determined had not
three hundred; and Emerson Tennent was found to have
three hundred a year out of one hundred and fifty paid by
tenants.—(Hear, hear.) This was the resolve of a Com-
mittee upon which no less than ten Tories found place. The
Whigs attended well in my case. The conspiracy concocted
under George Frederick Young's patronage was overturned
by a body of English gentlemen. George Byng, that excel-
lent specimen of an English gentleman, venerable in the anti-
quity of his years, honourable in his unbinding integrity, and
with the full flow of his intellect unimpeached and unim-
paired, assisted in giving a triumph to Dublin and to me.—
( Great cheering.) The Liberal party put in six petitions.
Four were not proceeded with ; and of the two that were pro-
secuted we succeeded in onc.—( Hear.) A Tory Committee
refused to proceed with the inquiry, which should have
resulted in seating Mr. Brady. But in the Tralee case we
had a victory. One of those absurd decisions which Tory
lawyers sometimes make, had excluded my son from the
representation of Tralee. The determination was too ab-
surd to be esteemed corrupt—no man would purchase in-
famy at such an expense of folly. Even a Tory Committee
reversed the judgment, and the Queen's Counsel, who made
the decision, must now be satisfied that be was wrong.
Why do I mention these facts ? I have two motives. The
first, to demonstrate the falsehood of the charges of intimi-
dation, corruption, and priestly influence brought against us.
Every one of their petitions charged the Catholic clergy with
almost every offence against the law of liberty of election. They
stated that the priests had made the solemn sacraments of God
political engines, and they elaborated their calumnies with a
minuteness of detail that would almost force a belief that they had
some grounds in reality. But they had tried ten, and were now
trying the eleventh of these petitions, and did they prove any-
thing against the priests ? Nothing. —( Cheers.) In Water-
ford, one man swore that he would give up the petition for forty
pounds, as the other side had only given him twenty.—( Cries
of " Hear.") This was the only case in which they attempted
to prove bribery against us ; and on the evidence of one of
their own witnesses a Tory Committee was forced to dismiss
the case. But my words will go forth to three hundred altars
during the week; and I tell you that there is not a crime that
could be attributed to men that the Tories, supported by two
English Universit:e base not attributed to the Catholic clergy.
Yes, clergymen of Ireland, the whole Tory confederacy, to
the very youths of the University, were canvassed for sub-
scriptions, even to the amount of five shillings, in order
to make a case against you. But their efforts demonstrated
the bigotry of your opponents, and your purity.—(Cheers.)
It bigotry were not at the bottom of it, could such a sum
as the Spottiswoode fund amounted to, have ever been
collected ? Hatred of your religion was the moving principle
in their conspiracy. But they have tried eleven times to
affix their foul charges upon you, and every time when the
period for proof arrived they shrunk from even an attempt
to sustain the falsehood, and their calumnies were aban-
doned. I have shown the groundlessness of the charges.
I want, too, to let the people see the malignity of their
enemies. When that writer, who so powerfully affects
the human feelings and so forcibly pourtrays human actions,
would picture the prison scene, he does not group together
the inmates, but describes one solitary prisoner notching
the board that marks the termination of another day,
and looking with a dim but angry eye upon one who stands
for a moment between him and his only comfort, the
light of heaven. It is thus that I select isolated and solitary
cases. The bigotry that could show itself as it has done in
reference to Ireland, must have risen by its own putrescence.
As the human body, after passing to a state of putrefaction,
only rises as it rots, so rose to the top the bigotry of England
from the stench and impurity of its own fcetid dregs. lam
beginning a new career, and I proclaim at the commencement
of it that my country shall not be put down.—(Cheers.) But
I come before you to state what has been my course in Par-
liament. I did expect that before I should have seen you
again I would have been sent to the Tower for the assertion
of a principle; and if the Tories had the courage they ought
to have sent me there.--( Hear, hear.) I did expect they
would, and had made my arrangements for such a contingency.
Let us recollect that the moral of my tale is, that the way to
meet them successfully is to meet them directly. I will state
to my constituents the progress of business through the House;
for I am done with election petitions, and all the wickedness
to which they gave rise. Three Committees were appointed
early in the session, to inquire into matters interesting to
us. The first was on the subject of fictitious votes—the
second, upon joint-stock banks—and the third, upon combine.
tion amongst workmen. The Fictitous Votes Committee I at-
tended every day, and every moment I could possibly do so ;
and I have two facts to tell you from it that will please you.
The Tories attempted to impeach the Longford voters; but
we have demonstrated that they are good.—(Cheers.) They
also attacked the King's County electors. Some had at-
tempted to question the decisions of Mr. Gibson, but even the
Tories were forced to bear witness to his honour and even in-
tegrity. It was shown that in a thirty pound rent there was
jest the difference of one pound between the beneficial in-
terest, and tile rent that would be paid over and above by a
solvent tenant. I did expect that Shaw would have brought
some cases to show against my expose of the gross swindling
of the people's rights in this city. But the fraud was indefen-