The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-24 00:00:00

IRELAND.

dearer than in other quarters. Mr. Eevans informS us that
little more than one shilling a week supplies the paupers at
present in the English workhouse. Suppose we take a mean
between these two sums, it is not an amount wlich would raise
a provision for twenty weeks for 1,600,000 persons, or a fifth
cf the whole population, above 1,200,0001. My expectation
is ihat Poor Laws will diminish pauperism rapidly, and that
we trill soon be reckoning the paupers as a ninth or tenth in-
stead of a filth.—( Hear, and cheers. ) Three or four years
ago a gentleman in the House of Commons (Dar. Slaney,
think) stated it as his opinion that the population of Ireland
was not increasing. I believe it is running fast towards a stand
still—so that if something be not done we may soon hide our
citninished heads in estimating the comparative pretensions of
the two islands, as far at least as regards population, much as
we have heard of our " millions" in this room.—( Hear. )
In 1821 our population was returned under the census as
amounting to 6,800,000. In 1831 it was returned at
7,767.000. A very accurate return was made in 1834, under
the commission of instruction, according to which it was
7,943,000. It thus appears that between 1821 and 1831 the
increase was 96,000 each year; but that between 1831 and
1834 it was only 44,000 a year. —( Hear, hear.) This is an
awful fact. God sent his creatures in the usual abundance
into the land, but they were murdered to the extent of
132,000 in three years by the want of poor-laws.—(Hear.)
I arraign the report of the Irish Commi4sion on another ground.
It does not give a fair view of the resources of Ireland to
meet the burden of a poor-law. If we were to judge by the
passages quoted. we have only a rental of 6,000,0001. to meet
a charge of 5,000,0001. As to the rental, we would have no-
thing more set down than merely the gross amount—namely,
10,000,000/. To exhibit the net amount (or the amount, de-
ducting the charges of creditors) could only lead to delusion,
as it is plain that the mortgagees should, in all reason and
equity, be held liable to any new burden imposed upon the
land, and this the Commissioners in another part of their report
admit. Mr. Staunton, after a very lengthened statement, in
which he referred to. several authorities and parliamentary do-
cuments, in vindication of the right of the poor to relief, con-
cluded amid great applause.
After a short argument, it was resolved that- the meeting
should be adjourned to two o'clack this day, to go on with the
discussion on the Poor-law question.
Counsellor DICKSON was then called to the chair, and the
usual vote of thanks having been given, the meeting separated.

DUPI.IN, THURSDAY EVENING
POOR LAWS—ADJOURNED DEBATE AT THE
GENERAL ASSOCIATION.
(Abridged from the Morning Advertiser.)
The Association met this evening at half-past three o'clock,
in order to resume the adjourned debate on Poor Laws , Le-
land Crosthwaite, Esq., in the Chair.
Mr. Benne-re addressed the meeting at great length. He
stated that ha was an advocate for Poor Laws to a certain ex-
tent, but denied that the poor had a right to be relieved ; this
was a principle which he could not assent to.
Lord MILTOWN supported the right of the poor to a legal
provision.—( Hear.)
Mr. SIIEIL then addressed the meeting in a powerful and
eloquent speech, in which he deprecated the discussion of
poor laws now, when it tended to obstruct the progress of
other more vital questions.
At the adjourned debate yesterday, after a number of let-
ters were read, subscriptions paid, and members admitted,
Mr. O'CONNELL then said—l told you on the last day that
there was an illegal society existing in Kildare, on which I
would found a motion, and I postponed my motion in order to
give time to a gentleman to perform a promise which he had
given me. I think that this Society is doing a great deal of
mischief; and there are some other very painful circumstances
connected with the county of Kildare, which I would wish
to speak to you about.—(hear, hear, hear.) I received a
letter which induces me again to postpone it still more. I
will also propose that this meeting—or I hope sonic one
else will do it for me, as I am going down to the
country—on its rising to-morrow, will adjourn till to-morrow
fortnight. It was always the custom in the Catholic Associa-
tion to adjourn for a week after Christmas. I have now a few
other matters to refer to. There is a gentlemen whose accu-
racy I must admit, and that is my friend Rebellion Smith. I
said he left the Court of Exchequer in a pet—that was true;
I said he went to Chancery to try what hand he could make of
Lord Plunket—that was true ; but I was wrong in stating that
his bill in a particular case was declared prolix and impertinent.
But Mr. Rebellion Smith shows his valour. He says that he
would shoot me, only I am under a vow. I have remarked
ever since I came to that resolution—and oh 1 would that I
had come to it sooner : it would have made my death-bed
less dreadful to me—l have remarked that every poltroon is
ready to shoot me. Here is this Rebellion Smith, who is the
biggest poltroon in the world—( Hear, hear)—but I don't care
for him, nor do I care whether he was concerned in the case
or not : all I care for is the fact, that they have been as emi-
nently successful in Chancery as they were in the Exchequer,
and in several cases 20 out of 30 skins have been declared
prolix" and impertinent, and the parsons have been ordered to
pay the costs.—(Loud cries of " Hear.") I have next to
complain of the report of my speech on the poor laws that ap-
peared in some of the Dublin papers. I have often seen bad
reports, but I never saw one so wretchedly bad as that. It
was not at all correct. The London Morning Advertiser had
"expressed" the proceedings of last Wednesday and Thurs-
day's meetings, and the report of my poor law speech, up to
the time the reporter left, was given with miraculous accu-
racy. There was one slight mistake—it was an admirable re-
port. I never saw a better. I did not say that Sir Robert
Peel's father was in Parliament when he opposed the resolu-
tions in favour of our trade. I said that he was most active in
opposing them—that he headed his party, but not in Parlia-
ment. There was no stronger or clearer-minded man than old
Peel, nor one better acquainted with the English manufactures,
and every thing that could benefit or injure them. He did
not get into Parliament till just before the Union, and then
he used all his influence in favour of that measure. I offer
the gentleman who reported for the Morning Advertiser, the
tribute of my thanks for the excellent manner in which he re-
ported me.—( Hear.) I have to say a few words with regard
to this debate—there will be no discussion—there has been
no opposition. I merely moved that the resolutions be referred
to the Committee, and then all I intend to do is, to move the
insertion of a resolution, to the effect that we will support the
Government in any measure for the relief of the poor which
they may introduce, as far as principle will allow us. I do not
want to hurry on the debate ; if it cannot be finished to-night,
it may be finished to-morrow. On Thursday three' weeks
the report of the Committee will be brought up, and I trust
that it will be adopted unanimously. I leave town this day,
and I think my excuse for going is a good one—l have
heard that my son is much better. I go myself—l would not
trust it to another—to see if it be necessary for him to go to
another country. I will return to you soon, and then we wil
go to business with fresh vigour. Parliament will meet one
the 31st of January. There arc no petitions yet prepared.
We must get up some strong ones. We must have a petition
on Corporate Reform, which is a question that will come on
immediately. The petition on this subject must be strong—
it cannot be too strong.—( Hear.) There must be another
prepared on the subject of tithes; and I hope that attention
and care will be taken in their preparation. I will now take
the liberty of addressing, from this place, the members of
the Central Independent Club and of the Trades' Union, and
calling upon them to throw aside all jealousy. I perceive by
the papers that some speeches have been made, or reported
as made, by some gentlemen, attacking the Trades' Union.
Now, whoever did this is an enemy to the people, and one
that is only trying to raise dissension between the two bodies.
The Central Club is a most excellent body, and has done a
great deal of good. Their plan of arranging the list by streets
will save a great deal of trouble about the registry, and the
gratitude of the people is due to them and to the Trades'
Union, of which I am proud to be the President. I would
say more about this body but that I am connected with it. I
hope that the secretary, of the Trades' Union will take care
that the four resolutions on the Ballot, Extension of the Suf-
frage, Corporation Reform, shortening the duration of Parlia-
ment, in the Trades' Union, be formed into petitions on the
subject. Let them be in particular in petitioning for the bal-
lot; that is the main question. If we get the ballot, we will
be sure of being well represented in the next Parliament.
Mr. L. Ceosrowarre would read them a resolution that he
intended to propose :—" That it be referred to the Sub-Com-
mittee to consider the provisions of any Bill which may be in-
troduced in the next Session of Parliament for the relief of
the poor of Ireland, and to report timely to this Association
whether any and what amendments in addition can be proposed,
which would, in their opinion, render the measure more effi-
cient, and of greater advantage to this country."
Mr. LAWLESS vehemently declared his opposition to the re-
solution brought forward by Mr. Crosthwaite.
Mr. O'CoNNELL—Mr. Lawless is quite out of order. Mr.
I Crosthwaite has merely given notice of his motion—a very
proper and sensible one, in my opinion, and one which I hope
he will follow up.
There wore loud calls for Mr. Staunton, and Mr. Lawless
having given way—
Mr. STAUNTON said, in rising to discharge the duty I have
assigned to myself in reference to this momentous subject, I
will merely say that as to Europe the Commissioners them.
selves have given us a summary which triumphantly negatives
the proposition of my Learned Friend. " Show me," he
sap. " the country in the world in which poor laws have not
done mischief?" lie is thus answered by the Commissioners,
who, it should be observed, approached the investigation of
the subject with well-known prejudices against .poor laws.
" We have now given a very brief outline of the institutions
of those portions of the Continent which appear from the
returns to have adopted the English principle of acknow-
ledging in every person a right to be supported by the
public. It will be observed that in no country, except,
perhaps, the Canton of Berne, has compulsory relief pro.
duced evils resembling either in intensity or extent those
which we have eeperienced, and that in the majority of
the nations which have adopted it, the existing system
works well."—( Hear, hear.) My Learned Friend laid
great stress upon the case of Holland, which the Commis-
sioners themselves regard as an exception to the general rule,
and where the increase of pauperism is attributed, properly, I
think, by a writer in the Quarterly Review, to some quackery
regarding the voluntary principle. At the same time he ap-
peared to throw ridicule on what was alleged about Wirtem-
berg, confessing that he had not looked into the details. Why
did be not make himself acquainted with the details as well in
th is case as in the other? America, is the quarter of the
world where poor laws could, with the greatest safety to the
lives of the people, be dispensed with ; yet it is curious that in
tide eery state they have existed since 1765, and that there are
only two States of the entire Union, Georgia and Louisiana,
in which a legal provision for the poor does not exist. Having
said so much on these points, I shall now proceed to apply my-
seif to the general question before us, and I will take it under
these leesels :-1. What is the real state of Ireland at present as
to pauperism 2, Have the poor a right to relief? 3. Can we
dispense with a legal provision for our poor ? Does such a pro,
visioe produce the supposed mischiefs on the poor them.
selves, Gf on the community at large ? On the first head,—
namely, the aeteal condition of the country at present as to
pauperism, we have theee allegations in the Report of the
Irish Poor-law Commissioners iss-" We cannot estimate the
number of /weans in Ireland out of work and in distress dur-
ing thirty weeks of the year, at less than eets,ooo, nor the
number of persons dependent upon them, at less OM
1,130,900, making in the whole 2,385,000. This, therefore,
is about doe number for which it would ise necessary to provide
accommodation le workhouses, if all who require relief were
there to be relieved ; ecel, we considered morally, indeed pity-
sically, impossible so to provide far such a multitude, or even
to attempt it with safety. The expense of erecting and fitting
up the necessary iseiidings would come to about 4,D00,9001.,
4..4 allowing for the nisesseenance of each person 21d. only
a day, thea -being the expense at the mendicity establishment
of Dublin, en sl at other similar estals4sil'eptets in Ireland,
the cost of supportiex the whole 2,335,000 for Oirty yet-4:p
annually would be something sew than 5,000,00%. 'a year;
win #M the gross rental of Ireland ,(eepliestee of towns) is
estimated at lee; than 10,000,0001. a year ; the ripe ineeree
of the landlords at lees genie 6,000,0001. ; and the public re-
venue is only about 4,000,0040 l rne convinced there is
great pAtaggeration in this statement. *I 'do p,4 't,,q;pyr, that
nearlY 4 t4w4 9i 9IW whole population are paupers .or tOrty
weeks of the year. I do k.gt IT3lipy v it would require five 'pil-
lions, or anything near the amount, to ei•teeilial;r
I do not believe that 21d. a day would be required for the sub's
sistPlloo of each individual. An Irish agricultural family con-
sists gesserpy pf
.0,“777.2n!, The average wages are from
6d, to Bd. a di4y: 44PrI Etro Ailittoisff iit4:i4lrqt!' arc
for, and the allowaPP r 4 TgVil
proms-. PP)? lllStee,, 0 st es.
a day, would ore ne about half thin NM. 11101Cli-P4Y
Establishment of Dublin and other towns Is IW alto-filen for
the kingdom at large, for there provisions are necessarily

IRISH MUNICIPAL REFORM.—DINNER AT
CASHEL ; SPEECHES OF THE SOLICITOR-
GENERAL FOR IRELAND.
(Abridged from the Morning Advertiser.)
CASHEL, ....lIURSDAY MORNING,
Half-past One o'Clock.

This entertainment, given to Mr. Woulfe, the Solicitor-
General for Ireland, by his constituents, has just now concluded.
The speeches of Mr. Woulfe will be read with intense interest,
as it will fall to his tot in the next Session of Parliament, not
only to draw up the Irish Municipal Bill, but also to propose
it to the House of Commons. The dinner took place in the
large room at Ryall's Hotel, and almost every constituent of
the borough, many magistrates, and a large number of the li-
beral gentry of the neighbourhood, were present. At seven
o'clock the chair was taken by John Scully, Esq., of Dualla,
the brother-in-law of the Irish bard, Tom Moore.
After the usual loyal toasts,
The CHAIRMAN proposed " The health of Lord Mulgrave,
and Prosperity to Ireland."--(Loud and continued cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the next toast, said that they
lived then under the only Government which had held the
reins of power in Ireland for a long period having for its object
the good of the people of this country.—(Hear,' hear.) He
would propose to them " Lord Melbourne and his Majesty's
Ministers."

The toast was drunk by the company standing, and with
loud cheers.

The CHAIRMAN then said that there never was a toast that
less required a preface than that which he was now about to
propose. It was the health of the late representative of
Cashel.—(Loud cheers.) It was impossible for him to do
justice to the high merits of Mr. Woulfe ; nor was it neces.
sary for him to do so.—( Hear, hear.) They all knew and
estimated him ; and if they wanted any proof of his character
it was to be found in the history of his votes, his sreeches,
and his acts in the House of Commons.—(Cheers.) He would
at once propose to them " the health of the Solicitor-Gene-
ral."—( Loud and continued applause.) '

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL then rose amidst loud cheers.
He said—Gentlemen, My appointment to the office of his
Majesty's Solicitor-General has caused a vacancy in the re-
presentation of this city, and I have come to solicit your suf-
frages again.—( Hear.) Until the present Administration
was formed, no Irish Member who was returned to the popular
interest alone, would have accepted office from any Govern-
ment without incurring considerable hazard of weakening the
tic between him and his constituents, and probably of forfeit-
ing his seat.—( Hear.) The relation between the Govern-
ment and the people of this country is now more happy, and
the best recommendation a candidate on the popular interest
can carry round with him on his canvass is, that he possesses
the confidence of the Government. The people of this coun-
try feel that there is involved in the stability of the present
Government, and in its increased strength, everything that is
most valuable in public concerns.---( Hear, hear.) They feel,
in fact, that the question now is, whether the people of this
country, in the spirit and according to the terms of the Act
of Union, are to be accounted free citizens of this empire,
entitled to equal privileges and equal rights,--rights which
every man should take if he can—with all others, or whether
the Act of Union is to be trampled under foot, and the people
of this country, in direct contempt of the spirit and letter
of the Union, and the Act of emancipation, are to be
deemed aliens in blood, strangers in affection, enemies by re-
ligion and by race to the residue of the inhabitants of the em-
pire.—( Loud cheers.) Sir, I thank the Noble Lord who, in
the course of last session, in the House of Lords, supplied
us with a phrase which so pithily describes the views which
a Tory takes of the relation between the people of Ireland
and the British people—( Hear)—aliens in blood, strangers
in affection, enemies to the British people.—( Hear.) The
phrase is no doubt offensive and full of menace to this country
—all that it wants to render it formidable is, that the power to
act upon its spirit should accompany the will ; but, notwith-
standing, I must avow that I did not participate in the general
indignation which the explosion of this sentiment produced last
Session. I can see nothing in that sentiment which is not
common to every Tory with Lord Lyndhurst.—(Hear, hear.)
It is a confession of Tory faith, an epitome of what their po.
licy has always notoriously been, and ever will be to this
country.—(llear, hear.) Wuat, I ask, is the difference to us
between the Tory who treats the Irish people as aliens and as
enemies, and the Tory who asserts that we are so ?—( Hear,
hear.) Lord Lyndhurst has a clearer head than most Tories,
and seemingly much more candour. Herein consists all the
difference between them that I can discover. Sir, in taking a
review of the Irish questions at issue between us and the Tories,
I protest that I cannot sec that there is anything exorbitant
in our demands.—(Hear.) In respect to civil privileges, we
ask but for the common justice of equality.—( Bear, hear.)
We ask it not merely as an abstract right, but upon the
faith of compacts and Acts of Parliament.—( Hear, hear.)
There cannot be a more gross violation of the Act of Union
than the distinction sought to be made between Ireland and
Great Britain, in respect to the corporate question. I pass
the invidiousness of the distinction ; but I cannot pass the
palpable attempt to defraud the people of this country of
their share of that influence in the imperial councils which
the municipal corporatious on their present basis confer on the
people of England and of Scotland.—(Hear and cheers.)
It is a mistake to regard these municipal bodies as mere
local Boards, whose influence is confined to the administra-
tion of local matters.--( Hear.) Sir, they are in my opi-
nion organs of a much higher order, exercising constitu-
tional functions which are all most vital to the State—
they distinctly affect the pcwer of the popular will upon
public affairs—they vary the relative authority in the state
of the different orders of the community—they constitute
one of the great elements of popular strength.—(Hear,
hear.) No, Sir; it is because the Tories know that these
bodies would render the public feeling and public opinion
of the people of Ireland more felt in the general govern.
ment of the empire, that they so strenuously oppose them ;
and it is for this very reason that I claim them.—(Loud
cheers.) The Tories, Sir, in the last Session, affected to
sneer at an observation of Mr. O'Connell, to the effect
that popular municipal councils would become the Normal
schools of peaceful agitation.--( Hear; hear.) If Mr.
O'Connell meant, as his phrase imports, that these po-
pular bodies would foster a sound and independent public
opinion, exempt it from irregular influences, endow it with
new force by giving it legal forms of expression and
constitutional organs ; then, Sir, I adopt every syllable
that he uttered.—(Hear.) And if the public mind of Eng-
land stand in need of this discipline in habits of constitutional
thinking, and if this auxiliary force be there wanting to en-
sure to the popular sentiment its jest weight in public affairs,
it is, it must be, indispensable to Ireland.--.( Loud cries of
" Hear" and cheers.) Sir, the policy of the Tories in respect
to our Corporations, violates the Act of Emancipation again
more flagrantly than the Act of Union. There is an express
clause in. the Emancipation Act that the -Homan Qatindies
should be admitted to the Corporations, any charter, c.r by
law, or former statute to the contrary notwithstanding, Sir,
the parties in the State are now so.placed as to require the
strenuous exertions of all the well-wishers of the country and
good government, and the energies of all the friends of civil
and religious liberty, in aid of the presint MtuAititstratien.
There Is Ile MP in 4isgni§ing 114 n t4ett that the 'grtes app
making extraordinary efforts tq regain the possession of the
power they have lost ; and it is essential that they should be
net with POrrespAndin (a4ertions on our part. If these exer.
tions he not used, depend upon it we must suffer defeat,
If we do net manfully exert every nerve and Innsele, we ono,
not obtain that victory which is now almost within our`
aeasilt=st( Heart llPar)-s-and repellent that such a result of the
struggle must be to this country infinitely more disastrous
than to England.—( Hear, hear.) In England, Sir, the
Tories are bad enough. Toryism exists there in many ob-
jectisstable ffsm-r.i—bot irelAnd it is finitely
(ifettr. liere tis”trnes Ta9y wpets, tint inserts itself' intq
many aces Acre it is unknown' on the other side of the
wases...,4;.;d :lepend upon it that if the dominion of Toryism be
re-established, We PlqPes Whctt3 it is hPrrihiP to
think of its e.kiistFncF pokes that osgbt tbe pnsomlieti
enmity tribunals frop syilioi it ovAgilt to
je ;1,0 s)Je4 Piff:7-7(t'Pil4 Cf' " Yee, Sir,
we s 4 qcog in this wiltattq in a way and in a shape
thut.:audaeioug as ills—it dare nut assume in England, and
therefore it is that if it behoves England to exert itself against
Tory power, it behoves you more.—( Hear, and loud cheers.)
Look to the acts arts itritoir.'ntS of fht! :
it is
c 1341 ebiii4it•icins.tittii übversiye or 0.9:4tp, an.l-..
atipn " The qrsttineni
fall
1,1.011
he powers of these corporations would fall tbr the greater part

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1836

into the hands of Catholics, who would use them to the preju-
dice of their Protestant fellow-citizens. If, in point of
fact, such would be the distribution of these powers under the
Corporation Act, it could only he because, in point of princi-
ple, it ought.—( Hear, hear.) These powers would fall into
the hands of Roman Catholics, precisely in proportion as they
possessed the civil qualification to which they were attached,
and in that proportion they are undoubtedly entitled to possess
teem...._( Hear, hear.) Sir, the unequal circumstances and
numbers of the religious classes into which Ireland is divided
render it utterly impracticable to distribute any civil power or
privilege amongst them, so as to allot an equal share to every
class.—( Hear.) There is not at the present moment one of
the offices, franchises, or civil functions which the constitution
places in the hands of the subject, which is not enjoyed or pos-
sessed—and necessarily enjoyed or possessed—by one religious-
denomination to a greater extent than by the other.—(Hear.)
Sir, in the course of the next session, we must expect a repe-
tition of the struggles of the last, for the accomplishment- of
those questions in which Ireland has an interest. I cannot
persuade myself, however, that the Corporation Reform
Bill will not be carried—(hear, hear)—l can scarcely be-
lieve that even Tory infatuation is so great as to induce it to
resist again the manifest justice of that question.—(Hear,
hear.) In regard_ to the tithe question, there exist greater
difficulties no doubt, and on that account it is our part to be
more strenuous in our efforts—more fixed in our determina-
tion—more unremitting in • our exertions; and thus, by our
union, give to the Liberal party in the State stiength and force
to carry this question.—( Hear, and cheers. )
Mr. WOULFE shortly again rose and proposed the health of
the Chairman, John Scully, Esq.
Mr. SCULLY id returning thanks would, in conclusion, pro-
pose a toast which required no preface—it was " The health
of Mr. O'Connell."—(Loud and long continued cheers.)
JOHN GRAVE, Esq., returned thanks for Mr. O'Connell.
The CHAIRMAN then said the subject of the next toast he
had to propose to them was " Justice to Ireland, the only gua-
rantee for the continuance of the Union between England and
Ireland."—( Loud and continued cheering.)
Mr. DoliEßy being called an to speak to the toast, rose
and said—This, Sir, is the fourth time, within the last two
years, that we have met in this room to celebrate our triumphs
over our opponents in Cashel. Each time our victory was
more decisive and important than the preceding. With regard
to our prospects, they say they arc darlsening—that there is a
re-action. There is no re-action liere.—(Cheers.) There is
a re-action here ; but it is a re-action the other way.—( Cheers.)
You have around you, Sir, men distinguished for every virtue ;
you have magistrates, and many who ought to be magistrates.
You have moral intelligence, and moral worth, and the aristo-
cracy of virtue.—( Cheers.) You have Protestants who prefer
charity to party feeling, and forget their particular sentiments
in universal benevolence and mutual love.—(Cheers.) It has
been asserted of us, that because we are Catholics, we would
return to the places of trust no one but persons of our own
creeds Our conduct in Cashel has given that assertion the
fullest contradiction. The first Member we returned to Par-
liament was a Protestant—the second Member we returned
was a Protestant ; and we return oar present representative,
not because he is a Roman Catholic, but because he is
eminent for integrity, learning, and honour.—(Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN then proposed the health of Richard Lalor
Shiel, Esq., M. P.—(Loud cheers.)
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said, gentlemen, Richard Lalor
Shiel, I have the honour to say, is my personal friend, and
as such I take the liberty to present myself to you again for
the purpose of returning you thanks on his behalf.—(Cheers.)
The worth of Mr. Shiel is appreciated by every man who has
the honour to know him. As to his services, you have only
to review the events of the past Session, in order to bring
them to your recollection. In the course of the most inte-
resting debates, Mr. Shiel was not surpassed by any indivi-
dual in his efforts to sustain the cause of civil and religious
freedom, and was almost unequalled by any one in the happy
resistance he gave by his arguments to those of the Tories.
- Hear, hear.) He not only resisted them, Sir, but he
grappled and seized them—he wrestled with them until he
trampled them on the earth.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) I
assure you I do not exaggerate when I tell you that the
most influential persons of the opposition have been kept si-
lent through the fear of Mr. Shiel.—( Hear.) I have seen
many of them lying by till the close of a debate for an oppor-
tunity of speaking after him, in order to escape the cutting
sarcasm and the fiery invective of which he is so able a master.
—(Hear.) I have seen Lord Stanley writhe in agony under
the infliction of the stripes from his arm. I have seen Sir Ro-
bert Peel shrink away and refrain from taking part in impor-
tant debates through fear of Richard Lalor Sheil.—(Hear.)
Before I sit down allow me to revert to an observation which
was made by my valued friend, Mr. Dohery. He stated
kindly, and the sentiment was kindly received, that no pledge
as to my future Parliamentary conduct should be exacted from
me. Sir, I seek no exemption from pledges.—(Loud and
continued cheering.) My past life,. Sir, is my pledge for the
future. Upon certain professions I obtained the trust of my
fellow-countrymen, and I now pledge myself to every principle
I heretofore have uttered. I always laughed at the small, the
petty feelings by which some persons being actuated, have
shrunk with affect ation from pledges. I have trespassed on
you too long.—(No, no.) But there is one point of detail
with regard to Corporation Reform which is of much impor-
tance, and to which I wish to allude. In the House of
Commons last Session an experiment was made upon the
Lords and the Tories, but it failed. It was an experiment of
concession on our part to an extent to which I can never ac-
cede again.—( Hear and loud cheers.) We did so then in the
hope that we should thus obtain the assent of the Lords to
such a corporate arrangement as would prove the foundation
of a better system. Oa this account I did assent to certain
amendments made by the House of Lords upon the Irish Mu-
nicipal Bill—amendments to which, I must say, under no cir-
cumstances, I shall consent again.—( Loud cheers.) I never
shall again consent that a difference shall be made between the
greater and the smaller boroughs, which will exclude towns
like this, or even many much smaller than this, from the bene-
fit of a Corporation. I never shall again consent to such a
stele...4 Loud cheers.)

Several other toasts were proposed, and speeches made,
and the meeting separated.

STANZAS ON MR. CHARLES KEMBLE'S FINAL
RETIREMENT FROM TUE STAGE, DEC. 23, 1836.

BY JOHN AMBROSE WILLIAMS.

A vision on my spirit stole :
Methought I saw before me rise
Departed forms of other days ;
Whose names arc written on the scroll
Of fame that never dies :
But there effulgently they blaze.
Touch'd by the wand of memory,—
In lustre now for ever fled,
I view'd the stage once more appear,
Bright with a glorious galaxy
Of the thrice-honour'd dead--
Once foremost in the buskin'd sphere.
Too distant from my straining sight,
Immortal Garrick glided by,
A sister Muse on either side;
As Reynolds' pencil, dipt in light,
Hath trac'd so glowingly
The Drama's monarch and its pride I
With stately look and lofty mien,
Another figure pass'd along,
The rightful semblance of a King__
How awful in that dagger scene, (1)
Or Rome's high sons among,
How like an Eagle's towering 1
Anon anpear'd the polish'd Dane I
And Wolseg, like a noble pile,
Smote suddenly unto the dust
Penruddock, too, of morbid vein
And him (2) by woman's guile
Betray'd, yet still her tears could trust. (3)
Then next there came with scowling brow,
And features cast in sterner mould,
A rival to that name rettown'd ;
While Shakspeare's spirit seetn'd to bow
Down from his throne of gold.
And both with radiant honours crown's I
Again I gued—before me stood
Another form, whose dignity
Was blended with the noblest grace ;
Nor yet too tame, nor too subdo'd
He stamp'd exquisitely
Each beauty in its proper place. (4)
Then with an eye whose lightnin:4 glance
lietalmi'd fiery energy,
And soul onrapt iq St,akspere's page,
Up sprang, as 4:eon a midnight trance,
A Kean I (5) t' electrify
The world, and rAi:ie a drooping stage !
LA astlyt theca beanni upon my view
A master of more changing art I
A Miriam?! A _Romeo I
A Benedick !—But onward flew
Old Time I—" an age apart"
And can ye trace his progress?--No.
drOalilod AO, moors--my waking sense
liesioxed me to life's passing scene—
To mingle in one fond regret,
And sigh at parting excellence
Which from my youth had been . .
'Mongst things I fain would not forget.
Brother of Siddons l—'tis for thee
The temple of the Muse is filled, (6)
Far the applausive voices swell_
Here Briton's boast and beauty see,
Here friends, with bosoms thrtiled---
Kemble respond to thy—Farewell I
( I ) Macbeth,
(:) ktt.tv.fgek,
'This, and the preceding stanza, it can hardly be neces-
sary to state, refer to the late J. P. Kernble,
(4) G. F. Cooke.
(5) Mr. Young, having quitted the stage, may not impro-
perllt ho elcissed with its defunct ornaments.
Oil (Invent Garden Theatre, the last arena of Mr. Charles
komble's histrionic career, extending to a period of nearly, if
not quite, half a century.

THE GLASGOW DINN,A:t
7—For some i 4 kris, heet:l, ass.erted that
0? It?" (A. the:l44 ot, W•elliogton 4,44 LIM Lyndhurst
dinpq. to Sir RAert ileel at. Glasgow.
..ot e ;
liakc, 4 crou,), I,hcl hz.o teat such " e
tisat aeither of those Nobly
'us lutve recetvedcase invi-
tations to that effect.