The Sun.
London, England, 1831-01-04 00:00:00

THE DINNER.

At half-past six o'clock in the evening the friends
to a repeal of the Union, and radical Reform in
Parliament, assembled in the Free School-rooms of
Drogheda to dinner. These rooms were not capable
of accommodating, with comfort, more than 250
persons. Although above one hundred others ap-
plied for tickets, that number of tickets only was
given our, and were immediately ptsichased. Over
the head of the Chairman was the motto, " Radical
Reform and Vote by Ballot ;" and at the opposite
end of the room, " Repeal of the Union." A gal-
lery was erected for the accommodation of the ladies,
which was fully occupied by them.
Tuomas STEELE, Esq. acted as Chairman.
Upon the cloth being removed, the fallowing
toasts were given :
In rising to propose the first toast," The People,"
the Chairman congratulated the assembly on the tri-
umph of popular rights and liberty, now in rapid
progression throuch the world.—(Loud cheers.)
" The People."-11ynheer Van Dunk.
The King and Queen."—God save the King.
The CHAIRMAN, in rising to propose this toast,
said, that he felt great pleasure in proposing the
health of King William IV. and his illustrious con-
sort. his present Majesty was a man fitted by na-
ture to be a Kiug in the present age of the world;
for he was a man who appeared to be a good deal
inspired by the spirit of the times, and was not un-
conscious of the state of intelligence of the age.
The proposing, therefore, of leis Majesty's health,
was a natural emanation from die last toast, " The
People," who were the source of legitimate
power; for lie appeared to be happiest when
associating and in the society of his people, in-
stead of secluding himself, like au oriental Serdana-
[malt's, in an oriental palace upon the waters of his
fish-pool*. The lives anti characters of Kings are the
property of history, and, therefore, said the Chair-
man, I treat with derision that sickly affection which
withholds public men from speaking as they de-
serve of departed Sovereigns, however recently they
may have died; or to use the technicality of time ex-
pression of the English law, however lastly their
crowns may have been " demised" in their succese
sors.—(Hear.) I cannot be supposed to hold his
Majesty in any higher veneration than just that to
which he is entitled for his natural good intentions
and good nature. With respect to his illustrious
consort, of her there is, and there can be but one
Opinion : that in all the relations of I.fe she is a
model of perfection.—(Enthusiastic cheering.) It
was well for England that the late King died when
he did ; it was, 1 believe, in the same year in which
his courtiers had to deplore the departure of the
spirit of the caraelopardel.—(Continued cheering.)
" The Duke of Sussex and the rest of time vir-
tuous part of the Royal fatnily."
The next toast on the list, said Mr. STEELE, is
" The Repeal of the Union." 'this toast was
drank with enthusiastic joy ; and when O'Con-
nell rose to speak to it, the tremendous cheering
which greeted his rising was unequalled by any
thing of the kind we ever heard.
Mr. O'CONNELL said, I deny that any nation
upon earth is our superior. I know of no people
who are more virtuous, I know of no nation pos-
sessed of superior talent, and I deny that any
country has a right to be master of Ireland.—(Hear,
hear.) I know of nothing in our composition which
should make us grovel to the earth before others,
and I, for one, can never consent to be a slave.—
(Chieers.) We are too good, too stout, too strong,
to wear fetters, and we are too unanimous to endure
them„—(theers.) Are Irishmen such fools as to
believe that 513 English gentlemen will pay more
attention to the concerns of Ireland than 300 Irish
gentlemen would do ?—(Hear, hear, hear.) No
man of sense could believe it—it is of little conse-

qwJice to the English gentleman what we suffer
here; but it is of importance to him that the com-
forts of his own people should be increased, that the
income from Ireland should be increased, no matter
how little the English people return to us.—(hear.)
What, on the contrary, would be the interest of 300
honest men in Ireland, legislating for this country ?
Surely it would be to manage their own property
and thatof the people, in such a manner as that
the wealth and prosperity of both should he increased,
no matter how the rest of the world gorged.—
(Hear, and cheers.) Why is it, that Ireland should
not be as dear to Irishmen as England is to English-
men ?—(Hear.) If it were proposed to John Bull
to form a Union with France—to say to him, you
do not know what you are at—you should have an
Union with France—your Parliament should be
transferred to Paris, and you should leave to the
French Deputies to manage your affairs—(Hear,
hear)—if you offered such an advice to John Bull,
it is probable he would send you into a mad-house,
and if he took your advice he would deserve to have
astraight-waistcoat put upon him.—( Laughter.) We
were in a state of madness; in the time of our insa-
nity, Catholic was turned against Protestant, and
Protestant against Catholic. The time of Ireland's
• madness is, however, gone by—the people are re-
turning to reason, and as they begin more distinctly
to understand the delusion into which they had been
seduced, they become more determined to regain
the rights of which they have been deprived.—
(Hear, hear.) Why should not the Irish people
regain those rights ? The British Government has
recognised it in its several dependencies. Jamaica
has its domestic legislature; almost all the islands of
the West Indies have their domestic legislatures;

the Cape of Good Hope has its domestic legislature;
and, so help me heaven I I am told that Botany
Bay is about to have a domestic legislature.—
(Hear.) Can I endure to think that Irishmen are
to be in an inferior condition to the convicts of Bo-
tany Bay ?—(Cheers.) No, no, Irishmen, I
trust I shall live to see the day when your freedom
shall be established and your independence acknow-
ledged.—(Cheers.) Am I to be told that we are
not strong enough to be independent—the inac-
curacy of the census of the county Mayo, so mi-
serably proved by the famine of 1822, when it ap-
peared that 40,000 more received charitable relief
than the census gave to the entire county, shows
this fact—that the population of Ireland has been
tinder-rated. When the census returned the num-
ber of Irishmen but as seven millions, we wera at
least very nearly eight millions. Ten years have
since elapsed—we should have the credit of the
growth of those ten years in addition, and I am cer-
tain I under-rate the inhabitants of Ireland, when I
calculate them but as eight millions.—(llear.) Is
there not in Ireland then a sufficient number to con-
stitute us an independent nation ? It was a maxim
of Grattan—and it was one which has long since
sunk deep into my heart—" let no country submit
to be a provinc?, when she is strong enough to be a
nation."—(Cheers.) Portugal has only two mil-
lions of inhabitants, and she is an independent na-
tion. Spain, wide as she is, has not above six or
seven millions of inhabitants, and site is an indepen-
dent nation. Naples is art independent nation, and
she has not above three millions of inhabitants, Sicily
included. Switzerland, which is now turning into
one republic, has not above a million and a half
of inhabitants. Prussia, one of the most power-
ful States of the Continent, and which has
not above six millions of inhabitants, is
dreaded by all the nation,, of Europe.. Sweden has
not more than three millions of inhabitants—site,
too, is an independent nation. Poland, blessed be
God for it, for it, with her four millions, is an in-

dependent nation again. Do I forget Belgium ? I
believe not ; it is a mistake 1 am not likely to corn-
mit. She has something under three millions of in-
habitants, and she has dissolved her legislative
union, and despite of the despots of Europe, she has
been proclaimed independent.—(Loud cheers.) How
superior is the situation of all those countries to Ire-
land ? They are, most of them, divided from each
other by mere ideal lines—they are open to the in-
cursions of every enemy, and cavalry, artillery, and
hussars can, without impediment, cross their wide
and extensive plains. Need I say that Ireland is
differently situated ? If the infantry of France or
Spain were to land here, the cavalry could not do
scewithout the horses being sea-sick.—( Laughter.)
But if any enemy to us, or to England, should land
upon our shores, it would be soon found that every
field and enelty.ure would form a redoubt, and that
Ireland had the strongest military positions of any
nation in the world.—(Hear and cheers.) With a
people so good, and a nation so situated, I trust
SOON to see Ireland as prosperous as she will be in-
dependent in her legislature.— (Hear.) I cannot be
mistaken—l do not wish to sever the connection be-
tween England and Ireland.—(Hear.) I wish to
preserve that connection ; but I also wish that the
countries should have distinct legislatures, and be
united with the golden links of the Crown.—(Hear.)
It cannot be said that distinct legislatures could
tend to the separation of England arid Ireland.
New York has a distinct legislature—she makes
laws for her own States in all matters of life, death,
and property—so do the other States of North
America, and yet never were a mass of men so un-
dissoluhly amalgamated and connected as the people
of the United States.—(Hear.) We have a cheaper
expedient than they have in their executive—ours
would be the golden link of the Crown—at once
more simple, and having much more fixity.—(Hear.)
I am anxious to preserve the connection, and there-
fore am I determined, if life be given me, to Re-
peal the Legislative Union.—(t leer and cheers.)—
How is this to he done ? By conciliating all
classes of Irishmen !—(Hear.) I, at least, am doing
my utmost to conciliate my Protestant brethren, and
I have great pleasure in telling you, that the green
ribbon, which now encircles my neck, was yesterday
kissed by members of orange lodges.—(Loud
cheers.) Nearly sixty Orangemen shook hands
with me, and said, " heretofore we thought you were
our enemy—we are now certain that you are seek-
ing only to do good to Ireland— may God bless you!"
Mr. O'Connell sat down amid load, long con-
tinued, and enthusiastic cheering for many minutes.
Ihe CHATIMAN proposed—
" A Thidical Reform in the Commons' House of
Parliament."

Other toasts were then given, after which the
meeting di Tersed.

SPECIAL COMMISSION.

BERKSHIRE, READING, MONDAY, JAN. 3.

James Cook was put to the bar, being indicted
for having feloniously assaulted and robbed Thomas
Mathews of one sovereign. Henry Day, John .Bur-
gess, Edward Everett, William Taylor, Thomas
Taylor, John Stockzvell, John Church, James Wilkins,
George Dobson, and Barlow Page, were put to the
bar, being respectively indicted for similar offences.
Cox, Anthony Edwards, and James Bennett,
were at the same time arraigned for having destroyed
two threshing-machines.
All the above-mentioned prisoners having been
placed in the dock together,
Mr. UURNEY, addressing the Jury, said, they had
now arrived at that stage of these proceedings at
which he found that he could, consistently with his
duty to the country, and to the Government, ab-
stain from any more prosecutions for felony in this
place. Against the prisoners at the bar he should
offer no evidence whatever. He trusted that there
had been made a sufficient number of examples to
' ensure the peace of this part of the country, and he
felt much pleasure in being able to allow these men
to return to the bosom of their families. The Jury
would of course acquit the prisoners.
Mr. Justice PARK then made a very feeling ad-
dress to the prisoners, who were acquitted and dis-
charged upon entering into their recognizances to
keep the peace.
The prisoners expressed their gratitude for the
course that had been pursued towards them, and
promised to lead peaceable lives for the future.
Thomas Hicks, Edward Harris, George
ifll-
liams, Daniel Hancock, Luke Brown, Charles Vince,
Stephen Williams, Thomas Brown, John Naylor,
James Burges, James Hutchins, John Cook, and
Joseph Quartcrman, were put to the bar, being in-
dicted for having conspired, with many other evil-
disposed persons, on the 19th of November, at
Brisipton, in this county, to raise and create a tu-
mult, and terrify his Majesty's peaceable subjects,
&c. Other counts charged them with having com-
mitted assaults upon persons named Arundell, Tull,
aad Stroud.

The Rev.Edward.Cove, examined by Mr. SHEP-
HERD—I am vicar of Brimpton, and a Magistrate of
the county. In consequence of what was going
forward, I, on the 19th of November, finding the far-
mers most desirous of putting a stop to the alarm-
ing riot, went round to them, and we assembled to-
gether. About four o'clock on that day we were at
Brimpton, prepared to arrest the progress of the
mob. Mr. Arundel), Mr. Tull, Mr. Edward God-
dard, Rivers the constable, and his son, were with
us. Mr. Aldridge, Mr. Adnams, and many other
persons, were also with us. I observed a mob
coming before us. They were in front, about three
abreast. Some had half-sledge-hammers, some full
sledge-hammers, also such weapons as that now
produced (it was part of the spindle of a thresh-
ing-machine) were in the hands of some. I
did not see any of the mob that were not
armed. The prisoner Hicks appeared to me to lead
the party. In the front rank with him was, I rather
think, " Staffordshire Jack" (George Williams).
The two Browns and Stephen Williams were
among them. These are all I can identify. The
others whom I could have identified have escaped.
I endeavoured to persuade them to desist, but they
would not, and I read the Riot Act. Then they
commenced an attack, but they did not attempt to
strike me. t never saw a more furious attack than
that made upon Mr. Arundel} by Hicks: Hicks
made the attack with a sledge-hammer. The men
were in such a state of excitement by liquor that I
apprehended the most fatal consequences. I de-
sired that the leaders might, if possible, be taken ;
and directed the attention of those about me parti-
cularly to flicks. I was then so engaged in taking
care of the secured prisoners that I saw little more
of the fight.
Luke Middleton examined by Mr. GURNEY—I
was with the mob when Mr. Cove and others met
them at Brimpton. I had been with the mob since
the afternoon of the (lay before. We had kept
together all night and that morning. They had horns.
They had gone to a great many houses. They had
broken a great many threshing-machines. Thomas
Hicks was at the head of us. Edward Morris,
George Williams, D. Hancock, Luke Brown, John
Naylor, Charles Vince, Stephen Williams, Thomas
Brown, James Burgess, James Hutchins, John
Cook, and Joseph Quarterman, were with the mob.
Some of them had weapons. Hicks had a sledge-
hammer and an iron pin out of a threshing-machine.
Harris had a sledge-hammer. Hancock had a stick
and an iron ball at the end of it. Stephen Wilifams
had that ball on the table.—(Witness stated that all
the prisoners at the bar were armed in one way or
other with sticks or hammers, &c.)—l saw Daniel
Handcock strike Mr. Aldridge with a hammer. All
the prisoners at the bar engaged in the fight. Most
of the mob, which consisted of about 150, ran

away. Ido not think that more than 20 fought.
By Mr. RIGBY—I did not engage in the fight.
I was standing 5y with a " leetle bit of a walking

stick." I went to the " Blade-bone" public-house
with the mob. I had half a pint of beer there. We
broke about 14 machines, and collected money.
Nobody gave us money, except on compulsion.
By Mr. SALMON—There was more than Staf-

fordshire Jack who kept the mob together. He
told me that he had been all over Kent, and that he
was employed by Government to break machines.
He said that Government was to give him ss. for
every machine be broke. Edward Harris was fight-
ing, and afterwards ran away. 1 saw him with the
biggest hammer of the lot. This hammer was al.
lowed to be the biggest, and he was always called
for to break the machines. He was called " the
Great Lunnoner."

By the COURT—We broke 14 machines. All
the prisoners at the bar were not with us when we
broke all the machines.

George Arundel!, examined by Mr. BLACKBURN
-I am a farmer at Brimptoa. I was there with
Mr. Cove when the mob came up. I saw Hicks
among the mob. As soon as he came in sight of
us he pulled off his hat and huizaed. He had a
hammer, or something else, in his hand, which he
flourished about. He was in the fore part of the
mob. I never saw a man come on more brutal ;
and if a set of tigers had been turned upon us they
could not have come on more furiously. Mr. Cove
wished them to stop, but they would not. The
flourishing of the weapon by Hicks was while Mr.
Cove was reading the Riot Act. I received a blow
on the head. The blow beat the crown of my hat
in, and drove the rim of my hat over my eyes, so
that I could not see who struck me. I received
other blows on the head and body, one of which
was on my arm, and drew a pint of blood in the
sleeve of my coat.

Mr. Richard Tull, examined by Mr. TALFOURD—
On the 19th of November I attended at Brimpton
to arrest the progress of the mob. Some of my
labourers went with me. I saw the mob advancing.
flicks led them. We were arranged in a line across
the road. While Mr. Cove read the proclamation
the mob approached, and I ordered my party to
advance, thinking Mr. Cove was in danger. The
leaders of the mob had iron weapons. I desired my
men to act on the defensive. The mob made the
attack. I received four blows; two were very
severe. I was just recovering from the effects of
one when I saw Hicks rushing at me with an iron
weapon, raised in the act of striking me. I dropped
my head and closed with him. I fell from weak-
ness. Hicks stood over me. In rising I received
another blow which prevented my using my stick.
Cross-examined by Mr. RIGBY—The mob were
well marshalled. They came on three abreast, in
order to have full room for the use of their weapons.
The mob certainly attacked us. lam certain that
the mob were the aggressors.
Hannah Cripps, examined by Mr. TALFOURD—
am the wife of the parish clerk at Brimpton. I live
close to where the fight took place. I saw the tight.
.The mob began the fight. I saw old Mr. Adaams
knocked down; and when he was down, I hesrd
one of them say, " He is done," and gave him
another blow. I saw the blcol running from his
head, arid he appeared senseless.

The Jury returned a verdict of Guilty against all
the prisoners, recommending Burgess, Cook, and
Quarterman to mercy.
David Garlick, Thomas Dance, and Charles
Rosier, were charged with having riotously assem-
bled at Hungerford on the 22d November.
The Jury convicted all three prisoners.

Jacob Gater, Thomas Arnold, Peter Knight, Geo.
Gaby, Jonathan Sandford, William Randall, Ilenry
Cater, Thomas Edwards, Join Carter, and John
Cashorn, were indicted fora conspiracy to riot—also
for a riot on the 21st of November, at Kintbury.
The Jury acquitted all the prisoners, except Jacob
Gater, whom they recommended to mercy.
James Fuller was acquitted on a charge of riot,
no evidence being offered by the Counsel for the
prosecution.

Frederick Gater was acquitted on a charge of
robbery no evidence being offered to sustain it, and
he entering into recognizances to be of good be-

haviour.

The case; being all disposed of,

The Court wilt sit at ten o'clock to-morrow morn-
ing for the purpoie of passing sentence upon the
prisoners who have been convicted during the Com-
mission.

Thomas Hanson, Charles Milton, Edmund Viccus,
Joseph Edney, James West, Wm. Witherall, and
John Witherall were charged with having destroyed
a threshing-machine, belonging to Jason Austin,
on the 23d of November, at Baselton.
The Witheralls, who were out on bail, surren-
dered to take their trial. They are remarkably
decent-looking men. An individual of the name of
Crichfield, also included in the indictment, and out
on bail, was called, but did not appear.
The Jury acquitted West and the two Witheralls,
and found the rest of the prisoners Guilty.
. . . .

The same prisoners were then put on their trial,
being indicted with having, on the 23d of Novem-
ber, destroyed a threshing-machine, the property of
Thomas Walter. _ .

The Jury acquitted the two prisoners, and the
Court ordered that they should be immediately die-
charged.
The case waq then proceeded with against Han-
son, Allison), Viccus, Edney, and West.
The case was fully proved, and the Jury found
all the prisoners Guilty.

REPEAL OF THE UNION.

(From the Dublin Morning Register.)

The has an article on the Anti-Union agita-
tion, which is entitled to attention, not merited by
the general writings of the London Editors on the
question, in as far as it submits to the public some-
thing like reasoning, instead of a mere scolding of
individuals. It expresses regret that this agitation
should have acquired fresh vigour at the accession to
office of a Ministry whose first principles are those
of conciliation to the wishes of all classes of his Ma-
jesty's subjects. The Anti-Unionists are by no
meana disposed to embarrass the present Govern-
ment. They rejoice in the overthrow of the Wel-
lington administration as heartily as any portion of
the British community. It is not to perplex the
councils of the King, but to avail themselves of
what they regard as a golden opportunity of effect-
ing a vast national good, that they pursue their ob-
ject now with renovated energy. They feel as Mr.
Grattan did in 1782. Burke used to ask, in the
agony of his solicitude for that sort of repose which
is desired by the Unionists at present, whether
there was any person in Ireland who could stop
" that madman, Grattan." The kind, complying,
and good intentioned politicians of the time, used
their personal influence to induce him to postpone
the immortal effort to regenerate Ireland even for a
season. " Not an hour:' was the reply of Grattan
to every entreaty addressed to him ; and he at length
locked himself up in his house to avoid the annoy-
ance of fruitless and ill-judged importunity. The
result was that he took the tide at the flood, and it
led on to the fortune which he desired for his
country. If he waited for the ebb, the great
chance was that the world would never have heard
of the brightest writ in the history of Grattan and
of Ireland.

Our cotemporary does not suppose that the con-
dition of Ireland could be ameliorated by a repeal
of the Union. That is his justification for depre-
cating a repeal. But we, in Ireland, who have given
to the question far more consideration than be can
afford to give it, and who have all the advantages
of local knowledge and personal observation, hold
the very opposite opinion, and why should we not
desire a repeal, and use our best efforts to
bring it about ? Our cotemporary apprehends
that if we had a Parliament " it would be-
come, as of yore, a bye-word for jobbing and
corruption." He does not appear to be aware that
it is for a reformed Irish Parliament that the Anti-
Unionists are seeking. He fears that the repeal
would " interrupt the operation of those commer-
cial laws which have established a perfect freedom
of intercourse between the two countries." If
those laws are wise and good, as they assuredly are,
why, we would ask him, should a congregation of
Irish senators be more insensible to their benefits
than a congregation of English senators ? The

commercial propositions of 1755 were founded upon
the most enlightened principles of commercial inter-
course. They originated in the Irish Parliament,
and were ultimately defeated through that same
spirit of English mercantile jealousy, which had for
so many ages, according to the acknowledgement of
Pitt, " deprived Ireland of the use of her own re-
sources, and rendered her subservient to tke interest
and opulence of Britain."
Our cotemporury generously and wisely declares
hat " to attempt to put down the Irish dema-
gogues by external force, is an expedient not for a
moment to be thought of." He suggests far more
ust and rational remedies to which, as we publish
his article elsewhere, we may refer the reader,
adding just this much as to one of them (a re-
duction of taxation), that it would require a
diminution of the demands of the Exchequer to the
extent at least of four millions, to restore us to the
condition. in which wo were placed before the
Union. Two millions have been added to the
absentee drain since the Union, and the taxation on
all the necessaries of life have been raised to the
standard of England. The tea tax is nearly four
titm s what it was before the Union. The wine
tat, sugar tax, coffee tax, spirit tax, tobacco tax,
and malt tax, have been encreased—the majority of
them receiving their augmentation since the war was
virtually at an end. In 1823, eight years after the
battle of Waterloo, an Act of Parliament raised all
the customs' duties of Ireland to the elevation of the
duties of a country which has at least eight or ten
times our capacity of paying taxes. While our
taxes were encreasing, and in some instances receiv-
ing an addition of entirely new items, the British
taxation was diminishing; and now, approaching
the seventeenth year of peace, we find ourselves
placed under a load of taxation fully equal to that
borne in the most arduous times of the war, though
it was a boast of the late Prime Minister of Eng-
land, that the burthens affecting the people of Great
Britain have been diminished to the extent of thirty

LONDON MARKETS.

PRICE OF BREAD.

'The highest price of Bread in the Metropolis is 10d. for the
41b. Loaf. There are others who sell from 4d. to lid. below
that price.

PRICE OF SEEDS.—Jan. 3.

!cew English Red Clover Seed (per Cwt.) —s. —s. fine —s. —s.
Old Ditto Ditto —s. —O. fine —O. —O.

New Foreign Ditl
Old Ditto -

New White Clover.

s'2s. 70s, fine 955.1053.
—s. fine

60s. 705. fine --s. —s.

--s. —6. fine —6. —6.

:).os. 50s. Ilne —5. —s.

—s. —s. fine -e -e.

IN. 30s. fine 255. 30.

—s. —6. 50s. fine 5.1 g.
—s. —s. 555. fine 57i.
275. fine 355.

—s. 425. fine 435. 468.
2.05. 335. new 358. 458.

COAL MAR
Adair':
Beaumont .2 •
l3ensham Main 31 0
kleblourn Main 34 6
33 6
Rillingivorth 34 3
Ord's Redhugh 32 0
['claw _ 34 3

Pontop Windsor—...— 30 0
Canfield ----. 30 0
Taniield Leo _ 30 0

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