The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-17 00:00:00

The Duke of LEINSTER, addressing Lord Morpeth,
said—My Lord, it gave me the greatest pleasure to have
the honour of being Chairman at the meeting at which
this address was voted to your Lordship. To this ad-
dress there are two hundred and fifty thousand names
(Applause)-54 of them are Peers, 29 are Honourables,
25 Baronets, 97 Deputy Lieutenants, 402 Magistrates,
12 Roman Catholic Bishops, together with a consider-
able number of Protestant Dissenting Clergymen of va-
rious denominations.—(Cheers.)q„Q., A great number of
signatums are still coming up from the country ; some
came this morning, which were not in time to be attached
to the address. I now, my Lord, beg to present you
with this address.— (Renewed cheers.)
The following is the address
My Lord—We, the Reformers of Ireland, convened
by public requisiti6n, for the purpose of considering the
most suitable means of manifesting our high respect for
your political character, and our cordial attachment to-
wards yourself personally, cannot permit your Lordship
(with our recollection of recent events) to return to your
official duties in England without tendering to your-
. Lordship formally the assurance of the profound re-
spect and affection which we, in common with the Irish
nation, entertain towards your Lordship.
" We hold in our grateful remembrance the devoted-
nes. with which, in early life—in those dark days of
bondage, when a vast majority of our • fellow country-
men were oppressed for conscience sake—your Lord-
ship ranged yourself with the friends of Ireland ; and we
have marked the earnestness' with which your Lordship
has ever since essayed to impart life and spirit to the
cold form of civil and religious enfranchisement which
you and others had created.

"During your official career in Ireland, it has been
your happy destiny to assist in those good measures of
policy, whose object has been to raise Ireland to a just
equality with other portions of the empire; and we ven-
ture to affirm, that whenever your official connection
with this country may cease, your mind will derive a
solace in your retirement from the fact, which we now
proclaim, that under the Government of which you have
been a part, the social state of Ireland has continuously
improved, and that a more unmixed loyalty and alle-
giance to our gracious and beloved Sovereign have been
established, than existed towards a Monarch at any
former period in history, since the commencement of
British connection.

"To recapitulate the various acts of public service
which your Lordship has accomplished in Ireland would
far exceed the limits prescribed to an occasion like the
present. To enumerate the benificent designs in which
your Lordship has been engaged, but which have been
rendered abortive by the hostility of the enemies of Ire-
land, would still more transcend the boundary which have
defined our immediate purpose. Let your Lordship be
assured, that the people of Ireland treasure in their
hearts the recollection of every benefit designed for the
amelioration of their country.
" To such of us as have enjoyed the opportunity of
personal communication with your Lordship, it may be
permitted to express our fond recollection of the kindli-
ness of disposition, and the frank and courteous demean-
our, which adorn your private intercourse. Eminent,
indeed, must be these qualities to which we, your friends,
advert, when their 'existence in your person receives,.
even from your adversaries, a full acknowledgment.
" We cannot. retire from your Lordship's presence
without adverting to the recent event which has removed
your Lordship from the House of Commons, and giving
expression to our hope that no temporary impediment
may turn your Lordship from those walks of honour and
public utility in which it has been hitherto your pride to
travel. It may be, my Lord, that in this hope there lurks
some element not entirely free from selfishnesS—these
are not times, my Lord, when Ireland can spare, *from
her friendly ranks, a defender so chivalrous and pure
as she has proved your Lordship in the encounter with
her enemies.

"In conclusion, we assure your Lordship, that the
warmest good wishes of our country will ever accom-
pany you in your future progress through life."
The address was made up on a handsome mahogany
roller, and must be of considerable weight.
Lord Mouporn then came forward, and was again
hailed with the most enthusiastic applause: -When it
subsided, he said ;—" My Lord Duke and Gentlemen—
It would be wholly unnecessary, even if it were at all
possible, for me to inform you with how deep and pene-
trating'a :feeling I have listened to the words of such an
Address as that which
,has just been pronounced, made
so remarkable and so precious by the circumstances of
the time at which it has been presented, and by the
number and character of the parties to its adoption. It
cannot be said to have been merely framed upon trust,
as it truly records that a connection of above six years
has subsisted between us ; it cannot be referred to any
interested motive, as it is addressed to a functionary de-
spoiled of power ; it can hardly be thought to pan-
der to any revolutionary tendency, when it was first
ushered into notice under auspices which combine the
most constitutional patriotism with the loftiest lineage
of the land ; it does not confine itself to aristocratic
sympathies, because I have• reason to believe that it has
been affirmed and echoed by the Irish people.
" I trust that the pleasure I could not fail to derive
from the favourable and candid appreciation of the acts
and intentions of the Administration just brought to a
close can only be enhanced and heightened to me when
I reflect how much of the credit assigned to it must be
absorbed by those under whom it has been my privilege
to serve, and by those with whom it has been my good
fortune to act.

Still, with whomsoever I have shared, I have at
least been surpassed by none in the desire to give both
permanency and efficacy to every developement of the pa-
ramount principle of civil and religious freedom,.and the
practical exercise of political and social equality between
man and man, between class and class, between creed
and creed, between country and country. These were
the sentiments which inspired the first accents which I
had publicly an opportunity of uttering in this city be-.
fore my official connection with the country had com-
menced. Now that it has closed, it is gratifying for me
to think that they have been familiar to my practice, and
to know that they are close to my heart.
" It is impossible for me to refrain from mentioning,
with humble thankfulness, that the sincere, though hn-
perfect, and not wholly unobstructed endeavours to carry
these principles into real operation, have been crowned
with more than corresponding effect in the disposition
and conduct of the nation on whose behalf they were
made ; and I believe that I may affirm, without the risk
of misrepresentation, that at the moment in which we
are called upon to transfer the Government of Ireland
to the charge of our successors, we have the satisfaction
of leaving the country, with respect to internal tran-
quillity and order, in a more undisturbed and promis-
ing condition than was hardly ever before experienced.
It is my moss earnest hope that the people, by their
perseverance in such courses, may invite and compel a
grateful and and adequate return from any rulers under
whom they may be placed.
" For all that refers more directly to myself in your
address; I thank you most feelingly. I have found
among you everythirr, that could most excite and rivet
attachment. Through the whole course of my life I
shall seize with alacrity any opportunity that passing
eventhonouredsmay
document
aysuplA
supply
for
as . re'inc
itsin begistt ; and I shall retain
this memorial and incen-
t.ive,
and as the richest heir-loom I could bequeath to
the name I bear."