The Sun.
London, England, 1836-07-11 00:00:00

MONDAY, JULY 11, 1836.

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NA-
TIONAL ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND.

(From the Third Edition of the Dublin Weekly Register of
Saturday.)
London, 6th July, 1836.
Hereditary bondsmen, know ye not,
Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow ?"

,
Fellow Countrymen—l find, by the Dublin papers re-
ceived this day, that you have already constituted the Asso-
ciation for Ireland under the name of the " National."
I should have preferred, for the present, the name of
",General ;" but, of course, I submit ay own opinion upon
matters of detail to yours. I may be permitted to say
that I should have desired to reserve the name of " Na-
tional" for the occasion in which, by the judgment of all
reasonable men, Tory injustice and lordly insolence may
render it necessary for Ireland to assume once again a
national attitude.

But there is one point which involves a practical prin-
ciple
of great value, and a legal point of some nicety. I
mean the keeping the Association precisely as the Catholic
Association was ; perfectly free from any connection or
community with any other Society or Union. I deem this
matter of the most vital importance, and only beg of you
to recollect that the Catholic Association steered its course
untouched and unassailed amidst the quicksands and
shoals of the law, under my legal guidance. lam not,
I trust, presumptuous in expressing a hope that this
new Association will pay some attention to my advice ;
and that advice most distinctly and emphatically is, not
to have any specks of connection with any other body.
This, in my mind, is the more necessary, because there
a're now other bodies, of great value in themselves, and o f
great importance, which may be pressed upon you. I mean
in particular the Trades' Union, the Central Committee,
and the Parochial Committees, as well as the Registry So-
ciety. Amongst these the Trades' Union is pre-eminent in
16ngth and number, and magnitude of services, and will, I
trust, long continue to prove its undoubted patriotism and
utility. But it should continue to move within its own
sphere, and in its own orbit, as should all the other bodies
I have mentioned. There should not be, and in fact there
cannot be, any jealousy or rivalship ; but my most unequivocal
opinion is, that the National Association should be totally
unconnected with any other body, in order to display na-
tional utility, which cannot be without perfect freedom of
soli-election.
I would not dwell upon this topic, but that I look up to
the new Association as the best, perhaps the only means
of preserving for England, and securing. to Ireland, the
peaceful benefits of the Reform Bill. I entertain the
strongest expectations of the great and permanent bene-
fits to be derived from our Association. We must act
with firmness, and therefore should act with the greatest
prudence—we must act with perseverance, and therefore
should neglect no precaution to secure to ourselves perfect
free will upon the one hand, and perfect freedom from legal
difficulties on the other.
In plain truth, we have occasion for all the qualities that
make men useful as patriots and good subjects—undisturbed
patience, untired exertions, unremitting perseverance, per-
fect respect for the laws,, but the most energetic and con-
tinuous determination to use all and every Constitutional
means to procure for Ireland, JUSTICE, COMPLETE JUSTICE,

EQUAL JUSTICE.
This is an arduous struggle, it will be a lengthened strug-
gle, unless we grapple with the difficulties of our political
situation like men who deserve to be free, because they will
not indure for one acquiescing moment the brand of slavery
or unjust superiority.
Let us, then, look our difficulties in the face with a firm
and unshrinking eye—we have formidable enemies to en-
counter—we have formidable enemies to overcome. Let
us net disguise from ourselves the number and the strength
of our enemies. If the people of Ireland, Protestant, Ca-
tholic, Presbyterian, and Dissenters, are once deeply con-
vinced of the foul degradation now cast upon them, and of
the. worse mischiefs and horrors contemplated by their ene-
mies, the result of that conviction will certainly be a peace-
ful, Constitutional, but truly national uprising of all that is
'virtuous and good in the land—an uprising that' will drive
the enemies of Irish liberties into despair, and render our
success certain and speedy.
Our enemies, however, are many and formidable. There
are first the electors of the English counties, who are gene-
rally a very uninformed and easily misled race—they arc
wretchedly dependant, in too many instances, on their Tory
landlords. They are also liable to be operated on by the
un-Christian cry of "No Popery." The parsons of the
Established Church in England Marne the bad passions of

the farmers by every species of calumny ; they do not per-
ceive that they are thus daily undermining their own reli-
gion, and depriving it of the respect of all considerate men,
by making its influence an instrument to increase dissen-
tion between the various parts of the empire, and of per-
petuating injustice towards so large a class of his Majesty's
subjects. They are, indeed, " unwise men in their own
generation"--and instead of making proselytes from the Ca-
tholics to ,Protestantism, they have directly the contrary
effect. The farmers, moreover, feel the competition in
their own markets of the produce of the Irish agriculturists
—and a foolish jealousy induces them' to hate and oppose
the Irish. They thus, by countenancing the oppression of
Ireland, keep our country in poverty and distress—the
foolish men do not perceive, that the greater the poverty
of the Irish, the less will they consume of their own agri-
cultural produce, and the greater will be the quantity of
that produce thrown into the English markets, to compete
with the English farmers at their own doors.
Silly men !—They do not see that the class in England
which has the highest and most pressing interest in the
prosperity of Ireland are the English farmers—simply be-
cause if the Irish were prosperous they would easily con-
sume all, or nearly all their own provisions, and leave the
home market of England to the English farmers whose
produce must at once in that case rise enormously in price.
Next to the farmers our worst enemies arc the English
Parsons, and some of the Wesleyan Methodists, not all,
by any means—but these two as classes are opposed to the
interests of the people of Ireland, upon grounds of bigotry
and intolerance, which are impervious to reason and arcru-'
ment, and must be left to time and to ridicule, to thin 'the
ranks of those opponents, and create amongst them sensa-
tions of shame, and a sense of Christian charity.
The next class of our opponents are the majority of the
Peers, instigated by the very worst and most contemptible
of our miserable Peerage—the pitiful Vesey Fitzgerald—
Lord Glengall, who has earned for himself the soubriquet
of " the Shebeen Earl," the Marquis of Westmeath, bless
the mark ! ! and others of that species of indescribables.
But the Peers have stronger and better reasons to hate
Ireland and the Irish ; they know that the Reform Bill
could never have been carried but for the zealous, active,
and disinterested patriotism of the representatives of the
people of Ireland. We turned the scale in favour of Eng-
lish Reform, and hence arises the bitter and unrelenting
hatred of the boroughmongering peerage of England.
Besides they actually aim at either repealing or destroy-
ing the effect of the Reform Bill ; encouraged by so many
of the farmers who are slavishly inclined, they would risk
the peace of the empire and the safety of the throne rather
than allow the current of popular liberty to flow on in its
present channel, to sweep away abuses, and cleanse the
corruptions by which so many of the British Institutions
have beeen too long tainted.
The next great obstacle we have to encounter is the
Tory faction, headed by Stanley, Peel, and Wellington.
We know them well ; we know their conduct when the two
latter were in office ; we know that they selected Lord Had-
dingion as Lord Lieutenant, because his paucity of intel-
lect and want of fixed principles made him an advisable tool
for the oppression of Ireland. We saw the flag inscribed
" No Popery," insulting seven-eighths of the people of Ire-
land, and waving over his head. We saw all the bigots in
proportion to their virulence and hatred to the Irish people,
Shaw, Lefroy, Jackson, promoted and rewarded.
Every measure useful to Ireland has been opposed, stre-
nously opposed by that party.
Were they again to regain power, Ireland would be de-
luged in blood !—every bitter and exasperating passion
would be set loose—faction would be encouraged in the
magistracy—the shrievalty, the jury-box, in th Corpora.
tions all over the country.
Take the bench—almost all, or at least the far greater
part of the judges, are entitled to retire on the superannua-
tion pensions provided by law. Why do not the aged, and
almost doating—why does not he who has earned for him-
self the appellation of " TARLETY RA" retire ? Alas !
ask yourselves this question, and then ask yourselves how
many resignations would you have if the Tories were once
more in power. _ _

Again look around you, and see who will fill that bench,
and what hope there could possibly be of peace or tranquil-
lity for Ireland, if the Lefroys, the Shaws, the Jacksons,
were to be judges of the land ! But this is too frightful a
picture to be looked at without something like insanity.
Do I exaggerate the intentions of the Tory party ? No
--I diminish their intensity and their atrocity.
There is the great organ of their party ; that in which they
publish their manifestos ; there is their avowed, authorised
publication, the Quarterly Review. What plan do they
dewelope ? what project do they dissolve ?
This, simply this, to pacify Ireland by appointing an
officer with the talent and power of Cromwell, to rule Ire-
land for ten years ! !
There it is ; Cromwell reduced the population by Ibis
wars, and the desolation that ensued, near three-fourths.
Yes ; the Tory faction devote to destruction full three-
fourths of the people of Ireland. The monsters cry for
blood—more blood—years of blood and massacre. The
desolating sword of Cromwell ! Such is the party that me-
naces Ireland.

But it is not menace alone—nor injustice ; it is insult—
bitter insult. We have borne, and may still bear, injustice.
But INSULT, Irishmen, INSULT ! ! !

They tell us we are UNFIT and UNWORTHY to be trusted;

they tell us that the Scotch 'may be trusted, and in this
they, are right ; they tell us that the English may be trusted,
and in this they arc right ; they tell us that the Irish are
not fit to be trusted. Where is the language sufficiently
strong for our reply? Miscreants they are, and liars—that
is plain.
But why waste one moment in words ? We never could
find any words sufficiently virulent to express our just indig-
nation and contempt ; and even if we did, we may easily
scorn to use them. Let our actions speak for us—let one
universal cry resound throughout Ireland. The Protestant
of Dublin is equally entitled with t_he Catholic in Galway
and the Presbyterian in Belfast. One cry, then, for all
Ireland :—Associate, associate, associate ; Protestant, Ca-
tholic, Presbyterian, Dissenter—Associate, associate, asso-
ciate ! Peaceably, legally, constitutionally associate. Every
being that writes or calls itself man, let it now associate, or
renounce the name of man and the manly character.

I never despaired in the worst of times. I know my
countrymen too well now to doubt of success. We have
with us many and powerful allies, holy allies, not in name,
but nature.

Ist. We have the revered name of the King with us.
Read his opening speech to this Parliament.
2d. We have with us the King's Government, forbid-
ding us to despair.
3(1. We have with us the Government of Lord Mul-
grave in Ireland, dispensing all of justice that is within his
reach, and bidding us to confide and to hope.
4th. We have with. us the reformed corporations of
England, and the intelligent and patriotic inhabitants of the
great towns and cities.
sth. We have with us the wealth, intellectual power, pa-
triotism, and energy of this great metropolis. The Corpo-
ration of London and the inhabitants of Westminster,
Southwark, Lambeth, Finsbury, the Tower Hamlets, and
Marylebone, with all their representatives, save one, are
strenuously, actively, our friends.
Gth. The intelligent, patriotic, brave, and ever-uncon-
quered people of Scotland are with us.
7th. The House of Commons, with a daily-increasing
majority, are with us—a majority of about one-sixth of
the entire representatives of the people are with us.
Compare the state of affairs when the Catholic Associa-
tion was formed with your present prospects, and see how
glorious and unerring is the hope of success—if, Irishmen
-IF YOU ARE TRUE TO YOURSELVES.

" Hereditary bondsmen, know you not,
Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow ?"
When the Catholic Association was formed, the people
of England were nearly all adverse or careless of us.
The people of Scotland were then powerless, and, there-
fore, inattentive. They could not have served us if they
would, and at that time many of them (for they did not
know what true hearts Ireland contained) would not assist
us if they could.
'The House of Commons presented a nominal, but un-
certain and wavering, majority in our favour. The House
of Lords, almost to a man, rejected our approaches with
haughty disdain.
But in Ireland itself, what was our foundation of hope?
The Catholic people were apathetic or in despair. The
Catholic Nobility was unfriendly or indifferent. The Ca-
tholic clergy, especially of the higher orders, were sus-
picious, if not more. The second order of the clergy were
unroused, and but little interested. 'The best of the Pro-
testants showed symptoms of disgust or disapprobation,
and the formidable and organized force of Orangeism took
the field at once against us, not figuratively, but in down-
right earnest.
Yet with all these difficulties, with obstacles apparently
insurmountable, we succeeded. Irishmen ! we succeeded!!
we were true to ourselves, and we succeeded ! The Catholic
clergy soon did justice to our views ; the Catholic nobility
joined us : the Liberal Protestants thronged around us.
Fourteen humane Protestant names adorned .and dignified
the roll of the Catholic Association.

But why should I enter into details already familiar?
We were true to ourselves, and, therefore, we succeeded.

Mark, I pray you, how we succeeded, without a crime
or an offence—without a sin or a stain—without injustice
to any man to the extent of one shilling—without, blessed
be God! one single drop of blood.
Whatever was done once can be done again. Irishmen
—Protestants, Catholics, Presbyterians, Dissenters—rally
—rally for Ireland and liberty.
Always remember our three great objects-Ist, to pre-
serve and support the King's Government—Lord Mel-
bourne in England, Lord Mulgrave, honoured name, in
Ireland.

2nd—To preserve as far as we can, peace, good order,
freedom from agrarian disturbances, and from crime of
every description, inviolation of the law, no breach of mo-
rality.
To procure a satisfactory settlement of the tithe ques-
tion—a satisfactory, because a full participation with Scot-
land and England in municipal reform.
Let our Association be single and independent of any
other, respecting all unions and societies that struggle in
any way in the same sacred cause, but amalgamating with
none of them. Let our Association be felt and under-
stood all over Ireland.

Place it upon the basis of the " Justice Rent for Ire-
land." That I may practise as well as preach, I send my
6' Justice Rent for Ireland," for myself, my family, and
descendants for the year 1836.
Meet weekly ; digest in committees every point upon
which honest inen may differ. Let every man be disposed
to yield to others equally honest with himself every thing
but principle. Harmony, union, exertion, perpetual, unre-
mitting exertion.
I subjoin a list of those for whom I subscribe. I will
be in Dublin .so soon as the cause of the soreness of my
heart will permit ; perhaps there are those in Ireland who
will offer up a fervent prayer to God, to remove, in hi
mercy, the cause of that soreness and sorrow.
I have the honour to be,
Your devoted servant,
DANIEL O'CONNELL.
" JUSTICE RENT FOR IRELAND"-FOR 1836.
Daniel O'Connell, M. P. £s 0 0
Mrs. O'Connell
Maurice O'Connell, M. P. ......... 2 0 0
Mrs. M. O'Connell 1 0 0
Fanny O'Connell
_ _

Mar; O'Connell

Christopher Fitzsimon, M. I) 2 0 0
Mrs. Fitzsimon
Mary O'Connell Fitzsimon 1 0 0
Daniel O'Connell Fitzsimon

Christopher O'Connell Fitzsimon.. 1 0 0
Thomas O'Connell Fitzsimon 1 0 0
Henry O'Connell Fitzsimon
Charles O'Connell
Mrs. O'Connell
Mary O'Connell
Teresa O'Connell
Kate O'Connell
N. J. French ..
Mrs. French 1 0 0
Daniel O'Connell French
Harriet O'Connell French 1 0 0
Mary O'Connell French 1 0 0
Morgan O'Connell, M. P. ... 2 0 0
John O'Connell, M. P.
Daniel O'Connell, jun.
In all thirty-eight pounds.

TITHES.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)

TITHE CAMPAIGN IN THE COUIVTY MEATH.

The cattle of George Thunder, Esq., of Caucestown,
county Meath, were seized under an execution for tithe due
to the Rev. Henry Fitzgerald, Rector of Castle Town,
Delvin, on Monday last, and Wednesday being the day
appointed for the sale, the following gentlemen and neigh-
bouring farmers of the county attended in the town of
Athboy for that purpose. Joseph Browne, of Elm Grove,
Esq., Patrick Barnewall, of Greenanstown, Esq., Charles
and Richard Barnewall, of Meadstown, Esqs., Richard
Conolly, of Ballenlough, Esq., George Burfierd, of Drog-
heda, Esq., Doctors Burke and Wood, of Athboy, Michael
ThundCr, of Lagure, Esq., John Thunder, of Rutland-
square, Dublin, Esq., Mr. Michael Hope, of Balluwally,
Mr. John Brady, of Castletown, Mr. Denis Hagerty, of
Gravelstotvn, Mr. J. O'Rielly, of Clonmellon, Mr. Mo-
naghan, of Coxtown, Mr. W. Cooney, of Galties, and the
Messrs. Nugent, of Clonmorral, besides several others.
At the hour of one o'clock, four bullocks being the cattle
under seizure, were driven into the town, accompanied by
a considerable number of the neighbouring peasantry, and
on their way were branded by them with the odious word
tithe. The Sub-sheriff waited after the hour for an auc-
tioneer, having applied to several to act as such, but there
was no one found willing to undertake the " dirty work ;"
and, indeed, it is not to be wondered at, as we presume
the person so doing would, besides rendering himself ob-
noxious to the people, get very little other business. He
was accordingly obliged to set the cattle up himself, when
no bidders appearing, they were driven through the town
amidst the cheers of the people. The crowd immediately
dispersed, and not a drop of whiskey was drank on the
occasion. Upwards of '2OO police attended from the
neighbouring stations of Trim Rathmolion, Kells, and
Na-
van, and were stationed not only outside the torn, but in
the very wards used by their chief, Captain Despard.
They had nothing to do but, like the King of France,
" March up the hill and straight march down again.
A few days previous, a feeble old widow. aged 76 years,
was arrested in the town of Navan for 21. 10s., tithe! The
people of Ireland are alive, and Ireland expects tkat every
man will do his duty. Every tithe sale should be well
attended by the people, and no one should be allowed to go
to gaol without a good escort. Again we say, Ireland
expects that every man will do his duty.

Among some of the tribes of Southern Africa, when
the King sneezes, the bystanders ePittim, " May he grow
greater I"