The Sun.
London, England, 1812-01-03 00:00:00

IRISH PLEASANTRY.

SPEECH OF A FRIEND TO RELIGIOUS
TY, FROM ULSTER.
(Intended to be spoken at the ,Rotunda Dinner.)

. 11/y Lord FINGAL, I beg leave with great resPeet,
to propose a toast. (Some murmurs and whispers
of who is he %) My Lord I mean to name the
" best Friend to religious Liberty that Ireland ever
saw." (Hear ! hear !) But I hope I may be allowed
to preface my toast with a few observations.—(The
Chairman nodded assent.)
My Lord and Gentlemen.—Educated as I have
been, upon the broadest principles of liberty both
civil and religious, and thinking, as I have done
for_ some months past, that our • religious liberty
is in some danger, I was glad to see a_, meeting of.
its friends convened ; and I confess, particelarly
glad to see your Lordship's respectable name
pledged to the support of a cause so glorious.
(Applauses.)
Living in a remote part of Ireland, much occu-
pied by business, and not at all conversant with
politics, or with the politicians of the day, I have,-
however, some little acquaintance with • books, and
some little knowledge of the History of my native
country. From these sources, my Lord, I have
learned, that in former times we were an oppressed
and degraded people—thae.our rights and religions
were trampled upon and insulted by foreigners.—
(Hear, hear !)—I say foreigners, by a deprieed
vernment, introduced to insult and enslave us.—
( Hear, heat !) Were not our civil rights violated ?
Were. we not excluded from the Leei,laterrei—
(Hear, hear !) From the judicial bench ?—(hear,
hear!). Were not our own dwellings devoted to mi-
litary rapine and free quatters? In fine, were not
even our places of 'worship shut up, end. Was not
the sacred liberty of conscience itself denied to us—e
were we nut subject to persecution, to coefiscation,
to torture, to exile, and to death; (Hear, hear !) and
all for what ?• For our adherence to the principles
of religious liberty.—" It is all true," exclaimed
an hundred voices.
Why have I reminded you of persecutions and
disabilities which (I may be told) no longer exist.
None of those whom I address will tell me that the
non-existence of grievances is any reason for not
complaining of them. MIL remind you of them
in order to remind you also of the Great Man, the
first and, earliest friend to religious Liberty in Ire.-
land—to whose abilities and success (under Divine
Providence) we are indebted for our present stale
of comparative freedom. and security. I see with
Pleasure, that you are impatient to pay due respeCt
to his name, but before I name him, suffer Melo,
advert for a moment to the glorious Assemblythe
representatives of a great and generous people, de-
termined to be free, and to work their freedom by
constitutional means alone.. I mean the Conven-
t4t—:(Heree there was a bar;.t of applause • that
listed for several minutes :' as soon as it subsided,
Mr. Bluebell prcceeded).
Some narrow-minded and bigoted men, the tools
of a corrupt and infatuated Government, I know
cavilled at that assembly as unlawful-1 boldly deny
the position—l will go farther, and I will dare the
Attorney General himself to conttadid tee ; (loud
applause, particularly from Counsellor EY—) I
say it was a Pa7liameni (hear him, hear hint.) id
ienot consist-of the Lords spiritual and temporal;
and of the representarives of the people, freely
chosen for a great and specific purpose ? I say, my
Lord, for a great and substantial purpose, and not
for a pretence.—(Loud applauses and laughter.)—
It was for the purpose of Revolution. (Here the
Chairman and the gentry looked uneasy, but they
were overpowered by the cries of, go on, go on l
Bravo, bravo! very true !)—My Lord,' these are
times to speak out ; I say Revolution was the 'objeCt
of the Conveptino, and a glorious oleic& it was--
(Peal's of applause) ; and 1 say that by the
_session
of that immortal body, short as it was, more sub-
stantial good was efi-eUed for the kingdoms—more
advantage was gained to the great cause of Religious
Liberty, than in all the Parliaments that years past
have been gradually repealing the Penal Code—
(Hear, hear, he.tr.)
But let me not
.bpi led by my admiration of the
Convention, to' forget that great man who was its.
prime mover, and its ultimate object :--whose
lents and spirit led the way to its existence, . and.
gave efficacy to its decrees—(Here all eyes were
turned upon Courts. OS—, who loOked conscious
and modest,) That great man is now no more--•-
,(Here the Counsellor looked disappointed) but his
memory will ever live in the recollection of a grate-
'rut people. The enemy of tyranny and arbitrary
power—the determined foe to bigotry—the avenger
of persecution and fanaticism—the restorer of our
civil rights—the victorious asserter of our religious
liberty—l see your impatience—l will no longer
trespass upon you—lndeed you mast already have
anticipated that I allude to
The CONVENTION PARLIAMENT of -1683,
and that the toast I mean to offer is—
" The Glorious Memory of King WILLIAM the
e
Third."

An ingenious mechanic has invented a species of
machine, by which the alarm'of thieves being oc=
cupied in breaking into a home may be speedily
communicated to the most distant parts of it. The
plan, it is said, is shortly to be laid oefore the Loan
MAYOR for his inspection and approval ; -but, with-
out meaning any thing d.isrespraltill to the scientific
knowledge of his Lordship, we think it would be
more advisable to lay the plan before the Society
for the. Encouragement of the Arts and Sciences.
Au unfortunate accident occurred at Portsmout I,
Theatre on Tuesday evening.. A' young lad, t 4
years of age, of the name of JtIlDeS Harrison, the
son of
.4- widow, a slopseller in POrtsmouth,. went;
with some
.of .his companions to the gallery
the Theatre as soon as the doors were opened. On
their gaining the top of the stairs, whiell'open on
the back of the gallery, he rirshed.ditettly down to
the front, exclaiming, lie would either get a front
seat, or so into the. Pit. Unfortunately there was
no iron railing above the resting place for the arms
to prevent his falling over, and he was precipitated
headlong.dos.vn a height of thirty feet. Surgical as-.
siitince was immediately procured, and the Theatte
closed. The Manager, with marked attention,
41411 did honour to his feelings, ordered every care
`'toe taken of him in his-private dressing-room dur-
..
*nig the night, where he fingered in the greatest
agony till 8 the following morning, when be died.