The Sun.
London, England, 1836-11-14 00:00:00

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, Nov. 12.
GENERAL 'ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND.
(From the Dublin Freeman's Journal of Saturday.)
(Concluded from The Sun of Saturday.)
The SECRETARY read the following letter by Lord Stour-
ton, in reply to one from the Chairman of a former tneting.
" Merton Park, Nov. 2d, 1836.
" Sir—ln acknowledging the receipt of your obliging let-
ter of the 29th Oct., I have to return you my thanks for
the handsome manner in which you have been so kind as
to enhance, by your own flattering expressions, the commu-
nication of the favourable sentiments towards me of the Na-
tional Association, of which you were the Chairman. In
desiring equal and impartial justice to Ireland, and in con-
tributing my humble efforts for its attainment, I am only
discharging a duty, and realizing, as far as I am able, a be-
nefit to the united empire, of which Ireland is so very im-
portant a member.

" I have the honour to remain, Sir,
" Your obliged and obedient servant,
" To Ebenezer Jacob, Esq. STO UR TON..
Mr. O'CONNELL—Permit me to hand in a sum of 101.,
the subscription of a most respected London friend of mine,
Mr. John Easthope.—(Cheers.) Mr. Easthope never gave
a single vote in the House that was 'not in favour of the
rights and interests of the people.—(Hear.)
Mr. EasthOpe was then admitted a member of the asso-
ciation.
Mr. O'Coeramr.l. said, that 131. l 4s. 10d. had been re-
ceived from the parishes of Kill and Kelmanahan in the
diocese of Meath. Mr. O'Connell proposed as members,
ten gentlemen from the parish of Moone, near Castleder-
mot, in the county Kildare. Amongst the number was
the name of Patrick 'William Byrne, an Englishman.
The CHAIRMAN observed, that in the parish in which
these gentlemen resided there was no church, and but one
Protestant.—( Hear.) Mr. Byrne when be came there from
Liverpool was horror-struck on witnessing, not long since,
the rebellion ruffians as they broke open the doors at night
and offered every species of violence in pursuit of tithe vic-
tims, some of whom, howerer, to show that they were not
to be deterred in their resistance to payment of tho unholy
impost, had that day sent in their subscriptions to the Ge-
neral Association.—(Cheers.) The Rev. Mr. Dunn, parish
priest of Castledermot, a gentleman who had hitherto ab-
stained from interfering in politics, was now coming forward
in another capacity. In fact, Mr. Dunn was then on his
way to Dublin to answer a tithe bill, in which a great num-
ber of his parishioners were acting with him. It was at the
suit of the Very Rev. Dean of St. Patrick's, who, if he
shew the same anxiety about his tithes as the Dean of Ar-
dagh has evinced, the consequence may be that the people
will be actuated by a feeling of hatred which they never en-
tertained before. Heretofore no enmity was harboured
against the parson himself—their hatred was not to the
clergy, but to the tithes.—(Hear, hear.) li, however, the
line of conduct at present pursued, were persevered in, it
would have the effect of bringing down on the heads of the
Protestant clergymen the most bitter hatred and detestation.
Mr. O'CONNELL--I rise now, Sir, to propose the ad,
mission of Messrs. Carpenter and Cleave.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. Carpenter I know well, and long. He is a man who
professes the principles of honest Radicalism ; and there is
not another man on whom I would place more reliance than
Mr. Carpenter.—( Hear.) I know Mr. Cleave too. Mr.
Cleave suffered much as the advocate of the unstamped
press, and in that situation has endured much persecution.
That he is a sound thinking honest man is indisputable.—
(Hear.) With respect to Mr. Carpenter's contradiction of
his assertion respecting the indifference of the people of
England as to the cause of Ireland, I never made any such
assertion as that ; I never said the people of England were
altogether indifferent to the cause of the Irish people—
what I said was this, that the majority of the English
people were either indifferent or hostile to our cause—but
then I did not include the entire people of England—l did
not include amongst them the sincerely honest Radicals of
England—l never meant to include such men as Carpenter
and Cleave—but I do say and maintain that my assertion
with respect to the majority of the people of England being
against the extension of justice to Ireland was and is per-
fectly correct. How do I prove that assertion ? I begin
with the Aristocracy of England ; will any man deny that
they do not insult us, and treat us with every description
of contumely.—(Hear, hear.) I ask you to look to the
Conservative meetings throughout England, where they
hire buffoons such as Wilks to expatiate on the unfitness of
Irishmen to enjoy equal rights and laws with Englishmen—.
am I right then in saying that the English aristocracy are
not the enemies of the King's subjects in this part of the
empire ? Look to any period of history since time of Ed-
ward the Third, that Monarch who was called, and justly
so I must say, the English Justinian —he consulted his
English Peers on the necessity of abolishing the distinetiou
between those nobles of English birth and the inhabitants of
this country. He sent to his Barons, he consulted them
on this subject, but they contrived to baffle him for three
years. But then one could endure such things from
those iron Barons, with their good trusty broad swords, and
their host of retainers, by which they were enabled to carry
on a show of authority characteristic of high, haughty, and
brave men ; but from the silken Lords of the present clay—
who could bear such treatment from that miserable set of
gouty, ricketty creatures ?—(Loud laughter.) There is
a vulgar adage, which says that it would take nine
tailors to make a man ; why, I verily believe that it would
take nine and twenty of those puny Barons that exist now-a_
days to make a man.—(Laughter.) They have a selfish
object in persecuting us, because they thereby wish to keep
up the power of the oligarchy in England, for they know
that the friends of Ireland are the greatest enemies to des-
potism. I bring you next to the gentry of England, and I
tell you that the Conservatives amongst this class arc very
numerous. They are incorporating the operatives into their
Conservative clubs. Why, it is a disgrace to the operative
classes of England, that they should suffer themselves to be
made the tools, nay, I will say the slaves, of those whose
only object is to uphold the principles of despotism, oppres-
sion, and peculation.—(Hear.) The operatives of England
ought to recollect who it was that introduced the property
qualification clause into the Reform Bill. It was the
House of Lords—it was the Conservatives of Britain.
What was the object of that clause ? It was to give a pre-
ferenee to a man who happened to have a money qualifi-
cation, over the man whose qualification was to be found
in superior intelligence and real worth. The Honourable
and Learned Gentleman then proceeded to allule to the
exultation of the Tories at the fancied dissensions be-
tween the Whigs and Radicals ; but they were mistaken if
they supposed for a moment that the' existence of the pre-
sent administration would be hazarded by any division—the
Radicals would never forsake the present Government.
The Tories hated the Liberal party, and sooner than sub-
mit to Tory domination, the Radicals would unite for ever
with the Whigs. By such means they would succeed.
Mr. O'Connell next referred to the struggles of the Dis-
senters, and said of the conduct of Sir Robert Peel, that
his absence from the house on one memorable-occasion was
as undignified as it was significant of bigotry towards the
body whose interests were under consideration.—(Hear.)
Who carried emancipation ? We carried it ourselves.=
(Loud cheers.) To those who abuse the Whigs I put
these questions :—Tell me who liberated the slaves? The
Whigs. Who led eight hundred thousand slaves into the
temple of liberty ? The Whigs.—(Cheers.) Who abo-
lished the India monopoly ? The Whigs. Who by that
abolition reduced the price of the poor man's tea by one
half? The Whigs.—(Cheers.) Who first gave the In-
dians an interest in their nation ? The Whigs.—(Cheers.)
Above all, who gave us reform ?—(Cheers.) It was
the Whigs. Who, in one schedule, abolished fifty-six rotten
boroughs, which furnished one hundred and twelve Mem-
bers to Parliament, who were returned thereto by some
eigteen or twenty boroughmongers? I appeal to the honest
Radicals whether it is not to the Whigs that we are in-
debted for schedule A ?—(Loud cheers.) Those honest
radicals may, however, say, that the Reform Bill does not
go far enough. I agree with them, but are we to forget
the 15s. in the pound ?—(Hear, hear.) The other day I
was exceedingly gratified in reading the report of the pro-
ceeding at a Radical dinner at Worcester, to find a sound
speech of some-twenty-five sentences, declaring that liberty
can be achieved and must be achieved by the moral force
of public opinion. The way in which that declaration was
received showed the wisdom of the English people.—
(Hear.) Nothing is more certain than that by keeping
within the law and by avoiding all violence, the full mea-
sure of justice and liberty will be secured. That is the
principle of which I have ever been and am still the apostle.
—(Cheers.) It is a principle which I laid down within
these walls five hundred times before was yielded to. It
is now admitted, and proud I am to say that it is acted
upon in every quarter.—(Cheers.) Here then are the
parties who oppose us in England—there is the aristocracy,
and there are Conservative gentry who are connected with
the aristocracy, and who have been enriched by the plunder
of the people. There are also against us a part of the ope-
ratives, who have basely combined with the Tories against
themselves. The Tory Radicals are also against us, and
others are. indifferent towards us. I believe the majority
are not our enemies, but I put in the portion which is in-
different, and by that those who are hostile and indifferent
towards us constitute the majority. In referring to the
Newcastle election, upon a former occasion, I said it proved
not that the majority were hostile to Ireland, but that it
was eitber hostile or indifferent.—( Hear.) What has oc-
curred since ? That excellent man, my friend Mr. Dou-
bleday, who is now a member of the reformed municipal
Council, in the course of a speech the other day on the
considering of Sir William Molesworth as a proper candi-
date, said, at the last election in Newcastle, owing to some
pettishness and jealousy excited by the question who should
dictate the person to be supported as a candidate, that one
hundred radicals did not vote at all, whilst the majority in
favour of the friend of Ireland, over its enemy, was only