The Sun.
London, England, 1832-01-05 00:00:00

the roads at Keynsham. James Williams, the prisoner,
has worked under him about six years. His character
had been that of a very good workman, and a steady
civil young man. He was at his work the week before the
fires, up to the Saturday.
Robert Reeves examined.—He was a debtor in the pri-
son at the time that it was burned. It was between two
and three o'clock that the prisoners were released by the
mob : amongst those that were active in releasing them he
did not see the prisoner Kearney. He knew him before.
Witness left the prison about five o'clock. Up to that
time witness did not see him. He first saw him at the
corner of the Grove in Bristol. Witness was then on his
way home. The prisoner was standing then at the corner
of the Grove. Witness spoke to him. This was between
four and five o'clock. The prisoner had on that day the
same light-coloured coat that he has on to-day. The pri-
soner was behaving peaceably when witness saw him that
day.

Cross-examined—Witness might have remained in the
prison two hours after the gates were broken iu.
Hugh Crawford examined—Knows the prisoner Kear-
ney. Saw him in Prince's-street, near the Grove, on
the day of the fires, between four and five o'clock, with
another person with him. That was about 200 perches
from the prison.

John Frankham examined—He know■ the witness
Salter, who has been examined this day. He heard Salter
speaking of the prisoner (Kearney) having sold him a piece
of shirting. He said he owed him a grudge for that. It
was about eight or nine months ago. Salter promised to
pay for the cloth, partly in money and partly in bread.
Had known the prisoner at the bar four years, and knew
him to have been a very honest man in that time.
Cross-examined—Witness is a publican, and the pri-
soner used his house occasionally.
Henry M'Farlane examined—Lives in Charlotte-street.
Has known the prisoner Kearney from his infancy. He
never knew any dishonesty of him in his life.
Cross-examined—Witness is a dealer in cloth, and mas-
ter of the business which Kearney carried on.
On the part of Daniel lliggs the following witnesses
were called :

Mary Phillips examined—The prisoner Higgs wss at
home at the time the gaol was set on fire. She lives next
door to his residence. She saw him on the Sunday from
twelve o'clock to two, and from four o'clock to eight
o'clock on that day ; he was then in his room with his
sister, and the witness saw him there.

Cross-examined—She did not know where he was be-
tween two o'clock to four. She saw him the second time
about a quarter after four.
Anne Green examined—Witness has known the pri-
soner Higgs from his childhood, and she never knew any
thing further of him than that he was a quiet, civil, in-
offensive young man. The neighbours gave him the same
character.

The evidence for the defence having closed,
The CHIEF JUSTICE stated, that at that late hour of the
night (half-past eleven o'clock) he did not think that it
would be possible for him to go through all the evidence
that had been adduced in a case which affected six pri-

soners, and in which separate defences had been made,
without detaining the Jury until an advanced period in
the morning. Under such circumstances, it appeared to
him that it would be more advisable to adjourn the fur-
ther consideration of this case until to-morrow, and as it
was necessary that the Jury in the mean time should be
kept together, he would assure them that every accom-
modation had been provided for them i❑ the rooms con-
nected with the Court-house.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, that he wished to call
one or two witnesses in reply to the evidence produced
on the part of the prisoners, and he thought this was the
beet time to do so.

The following witnesses were accordingly examined :

Gibbons examined—ls clerk to the Magistrates
of Bristol. Was present when James Courtney was had
up before Alderman Frapp, on the 11 th of November.
A wiiness of the name of Backer was examined in his pre-
sence. His examination was read over to him, and signed
by:him in the presence of Courtney. After the examina-
tion of Ricker, Courtney said something in reply, of which
the present (the copy produced) is a correct copy. It is
signed by the prisoner Courtney.
James Backer examined—ls a tidewaiter at the Custom-
house. Remembers the Sunday of the fires. In the
evening of that day,:about nine o'clock, he saw the prisoner
Courtney coming from the gaol with six or seven others.
He came as far as the toll-gate. He went from that to
the Mansion-house in Queen-square. He saw him go
into a❑ under-ground cellar at the back of the Mansion-
house. Iu about a dozen minutes witness saw him again
in front of the Mansion-house, with a stick in his right
hand and a piece of old iron in his left. He saw him
beating in several windows in the square. When the
prisoner was breaking the windows, he was cursing. Wit-
ness had a full opportunity of seeing the prisoner on that
occasion.

Cross-examined—lisa never seen him before that night

It was his dress that attracted the attention of witness.
He will swear positively that the prisoner Courtney was
the roan that he then saw.

The examination of the prisoner Courtney before the
magistrates was then read. It was in the following
words :—I have my landlord where I live, who will prove
I was ❑ot out of the house on Sunday, and I am as inns-

cent as a child.
William Cross examined—ls a stationer. He was in
Queen-square, near the Marsion•house, on the evening of
the fire. He saw the prisoner Courtney there from half-
past eight to nine o'clock. He saw him exactly opposite
the front door of the Mansion-house, near the rails. The
Mansion-house was not then on fire. He heard him say
to another man, " my eyes, have we not set fire to it
after all ?" Has no doubt whatever as to his being the man.
The CHIEF JUSTICE inquired whether Courtney had
any questions to ask of this witness?
Courtney said that he had not, that the witness lied,
and that he (Courtney) was as innocent of the crime laid
to his charge as the child unborn.
The Court was then adjourned until ten o'clock to-
morrow (Wednesday) morning.

RRISTOL, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FIVE O'CLOCK.
This morning, at ten o'clock, the Learned Judges took
their seats. The prisoners were immediately afterwards
placed at the bar. After the names of the Jury had been
coiled over,
The Lord Chief Justice TINDAL commenced his sum-
ming up. The indictment against the prisoners stated,
that several persons, as well as themselves, were riotously
and tumultuously assembled together, and that the persons
so riotously assembled together with force, pulled down
and destroyed a certain house, being the New Gaol of this
city. In the indictment the property was described in
various ways ; first, as a certain house belonging to his
Majesty ; then as the property of the Mayor, Burgesses,
and Commonalty of the city of Bristol ; it was also de-
scribed as the house of William Humphries, the Governor
of the gaol; either of these descriptions would be suffi-
cient. The words of the Act of Parliament (ti Geo. IV.)
were, " That if any persons riotously and tumultuously
assembled together, to the disturbance of the public peace,
should unlawfully demolish, pull down, or destroy, or begin
to demolish, pull down, or destroy any house, &e., every
such offender should be guilty of felony, and, upon con-
viction, should suffer death ;" therefore it required their se-
rious attention to determine on the guilt or innocence of
any of the prisoners, notwithstanding charged with having
committed this offence. Under the Act of Parliament,
there were two different states of facts to be considered ;
first, whether the present six prisoners, or any of them,
were persons riotously assembled together to the dis-
turbance of the public peace ; and then, whether that
riotous body of persons. of which the prisoners formed a
part, did or not demolish, or destroy, or begin to demolish
or destroy, the building named in the indictment. The
first part of the case, therefore, that you will consider is,
whether these persons, or any of them, formed a part of
a riotous and tumultuous assemblage of :people met to-
gether to the disturbance of the public peace. The mere
circumstance of being on the spot was an equivocal act,
because they might be necessarily or innocently on the spot,
and a riotous assemblage of persons might overtake persons
so situated. No one would say that the mere circum-
stance of being in the assembly would constitute their
guilt ; but it would require some evidence of a co-opera-
tion. They must inquire whether or not there was any
evidence to bring to their minds that the persons so pre-
sent had a guilty knowledge of the intention of that tu-
multuous assembly. They must have formed part of that
body with a guilty intention ; that they were there for
the purpose of disturbing the public peace. If they should
determine that the prisoners, or any of them, formed, with
a guilty knowledge, a component part of a riotous assem-
bly, then they would bring their minds to a consideration
of the evidence as to the act of demolition or destruction,
in which it was not necessary that it should be shown
that all the persons joined together in this act, nor that
by the hand of the prisoners the demolition was effected ;
if theyformeedquaapllayrt,grilttly. the
HmiissciLdoefrdwshaispdotnheenbysoaitdherlise,
they were
thought the more convenient way would be to call the
attention to each of the prisoners in order. There was no
doubt that there was a very large and riotous assemblage
of persons collected togeth• r, and that the gaol was de-
stroyed in some way by the persons so collected together;
they had the fact that it was destroyed, and ceased to be
of use for the purpose for which it was ,intended, His

•
Lordship then proceegti to go through the whole of the
evidence, as it affected William Clarke, and then as it re-
lated to cacti of the other prisoners; and concluding by
directing them, if the balance was even, to give the
prisoners the benefit of any doubt they might entertain,
thus doing justice between the prisoners and the public.
The Jury then retired.
At five o'clock the Jury returned into Court and de-
livered the following verdicts ;

William Clarke—Guilty D. Higgs—Guilty
P. Kearney—Guilty I Courtney—Guilty
Williams—Not Guilty J. Mackay—Guilty
. _ . _ _

The prisoner Clarke is a strong athletic-looking man,
rather above the common size, with nothing in his coun-
tenance indicative of the determined outrages laid to his
charge. He was attired in a blue frock coat, blue trow-
Hers, and white waistcoat, and his appearance altogether
very respectable, far beyond that of the other prisoners
with whom he was associated. The prisoners Williams,
Kearney, Higgs, and Mackay, were young men of about
20 years of age, and Courtney about the middle age; they
all appeared to be of an inferior station in life, and pre-
sented nothing remarkable in their appearance.
During the time the Jury were absent, Clarke appeared
in great mental agony. Indeed the fatigue the prisoners
have gone through must have been very great, as they had
to stand during sixteen and a half hours yesterday.
Thomas Evans Bendall, aged 19, and James Sims,
aged IS, were then placed at the bar, charged with hav-
ing riotously assembled, together with other persons, to
the disturbance of the public peace, and with having de-
molished and destroyed, or begun to demolish and destroy,
a certain dwelling-house, the property of the Lord Bishop
of Bristol.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in stating the case, said
that though in the Act of Parliament the mere beginning
to pull down and demolish any building was sufficient to
constitute the offence with which the prisoners were
charged, yet in this case he should be enabled to prove
that the prisoners had been most active on this particular
occasion.

The trial was proceeding when the express left.

AGGREGATE MEETING of the CITIZENS

OF DUBLIN.

(Abridged from the Dublin Freeman's Journal..)

On Saturday last a very numerous and highly respect-
able and influential meeting of the citizens of Dublin took
place at Home's• mart, Usher's-quay, for the purpose of
considering the gloomy prospects for Ireland, both as re-
gard the proposed unjust and unequal measure of Reform,
and the delusive projects suggested as for the amelioratio❑
of the tithe system ; as also to consider the propriety of
calling, by a public expression of opinion, upon the Irish
Members to as-emble in Dublin, or elsewhere, during the
recess, to hold "National Council," in order to determine
upon and adopt the course-most fitting to obtain such an
increase in the number of the proposed Irish representa-
tion, and such change in the manner of election, as may be
calculated to satisfy the just claims of the Irish people. At
the time of taking the chair the meeting became densely
crowded, and Mr. O'Connell entered amid laud cheers.
Shortly after Mr. Henry Grattan arrived, and was enthu-
siastically welcomed. At a quarter-past one the chair
was taken by HENRI. GRATTAN, Esq., M.P.
JAMES DWYER, Esq. was appointed Secretary.
Mr. GRATTAN, on taking the Chair, spoke to this
effect :—As to our prospects being gloomy, I do not think
they are ; they are difficult, but not gloomy—so long as
the nstion is determined to right itself.—(Cheers.) For if
a body of men are determined to proceed legally, consti-
tutionally, and firmly, to redress their grievances, and if
the people are inclined to back them in this object, the
prospects of such men cannot be said to be gloomy, al-
though they may be partially shaded by some few diffi-
culties.—(Cheering.) The manufacturing towns of Eng-
land have obtained an increase of Members, and yet Ire-
land, whose population is so very great, obtains no in-
crease in her representation.—(Hear, hear.) I disapprove
of most of the Irish Bill. For instance, the power which
is vested in barristers is not to be tolerated. The next
subject to which I will allude is that of tithes. In re-
ferring back to an early period I find that the property of
the Church was to be applied to the erecting of places of
worship, the decent maintenance of the clergy, and to the
support) of the poor.—(Hear and cheers.) On that
ground I take it, and thus settle the question. I would
diminish the Bishops and Parsons one-half.
Mr. O'CONNELL—Say two-thirds.
_ . .

Mr. GRATTAN-Well, two-thirds, and after collecting
the entire amount of the Church property and tithes, I
would place it in a fund to be applied to its original pur-
poses, and thus get th• property of the Church back to the
state in which it was at the commencement. The poor
would be thus protected, and we would behold them, in-
stead of wandering beggars in the streets, comfortable and
well-fed.—(Cheers.) We would have the ministers of the
Church in that humility of demeanour that becomes their
situation, and not with their six horses and stately car-
riages, more adapted to the dignity of kings than the hu-
mility of bishops. You will thus make it a profession,
bearing the stamp of a divine obligation. As it is at pre-
rent, it beats all other professions, the bar, the navy, and
the array, in aggrandizement and lucrative certainty.—
(Hear.) I speak not thus in enmity to the establishment,
but I do firmly assert that before thirty years it will fall
of its own weight, for it is impossible it can go on as it
is.—(Cheers.) It is too pampered and bloated to effect
any good or continue in any lengthened careeer; like a
spaniel, so long as it is thin, it will not refuse to hunt,
but if fat it becomes lazy and lies under the manger.—
(Laughter and cheers.) The Hun. Gentleman sat dow❑
amidst gr at cheering.
Mr. JAMES DWYER read the following letter from Mr.
Wyse, the Member for Tipperary :
___

••• Waterford, Dec. 30, 1831.
"‘ SlR,—Unavoidable business prevents me from attending the
meeting on Saturday. I regret it.
" The present measure, Ministers intend should be final. It
cannot, nor ought to be, unless satisfactory. We had much
fault to find with the last Irish Bill—but what are we to think
of the present ? We are discontented with it, and have great
and good reason to be discontented with it. Ministers ought to be
told so, in a manner the most immediate, decisive, and universal.
" We are told that we are part of an united empire, when
taxes are to be imposed or soldiers levied. 'When benefits are to
be conferred, or rights restored, why should we be carefully se-
parated from the rest of the nation ?
" Ministers are opposed to a repeal of the Union. Why do
they thus, not by words, but by deeds, preach its necessity ?
What are all the speeches of every discontented orator in Ireland,
compared to an Act of Parliament?
" We ask not for superiority but equality perfect equality in
all civil and religious rights. It is our due, and that due we
must have. I know not the precise number of representatives
which a fair estimate of our population, extent, and revenue
may give us—but whatever that result may be, for that ought we
to contend, and not rest satisfied with any other. It is the prin-
ciple of all Parliamentary Reform, recognised again and again in
the House. Any departure from that principle is a departure
from Reform itself.
" Ministers dissolved Parliament already upon this ground.—
General Gascoigne's motion went to preserve to England the
present number of her representatives, consequently defrauding
Ireland of her right to an increase. It was an injury and an
insult, and Ministers did right. But what do they now ? Adopt
this very measure—this very measure for which Parliament was
dissolved. By their new Bill they sacrifice Ireland to Toryism—
they would, in a word, propria manu, Gascoigne the Irish people.
" But they mistake much if they think the Irish people—at
least the Irish people of to-day—will timely submit to this. They
mistake much if they think the Irish representatives will sepa-
rate themselves from the Irish people. Differences may have
existed—jealousies-may have impeded—but let them not rely on
either ; both will disappear in the urgency of a common cause.
That cause is here—a cause not of faction or party, but of every
man in Ireland. Whatever weare in the House of Commons, the
t'4is'teicseh,alcionhsaovleidfaatier
government—if
country onuotts,id,e,e.
shall
Ifla iornl fay
yr eiporueis,edn tiendj
abuse, and bring about a state of things, to be got rid of only by
open force or revolution.
" This, then, is no ordinary case. It is the very question of
the • canons ,ccderis• between the two countries. It is to decide
whether we are to be treated as a portion of this united empire,
or a dependency. We await our answer. Whatever it may be,
,t
that
ars, ctha,all:
el
notaoren received,cfnoeor,gv eatbioruelta to found
knowsuhna,lilour
co
nh
sotwi
bowed,sp ea ka g,
una.on
of grievance and discontent, more perilous than any which have
n
ttlouh‘t?oiocpitnie.e.lintleNwn‘m-iahlbln:bytrh:ceutasrhneei7shall be a source of freedom and blessing, or
rs osninllsi
bow,t iste Ministers,
a,
sotrhmeyohreavtreul
y nimous, calm, but firmly resolved people.
•• I have the honour to be your obedient servant,
thoseye occurred,tow h om
THOMAS WYSE."
. _
dlNelPi en
li'sdt

Mr. SWEETMAN, in moving the first resolution, said
thathi e he e
ebreeloavlel,d
Auinoannairmeho,us iwnillieaxmprievsslg
would recommend, that if an equal mea-
sure of Reform be not extended to Ireland, that they peti-
tion, not the Ministers, but the King; for he thought his
Majesty would listen to their complaints with the same
t( hce rrs. w) attachmentas,
He
thati t ot htehye ir w
facility as he did to those of his English subjects.—(Hear.)
The resolution was seconded by Mr. Dwyer.
Mr. E.. RUTH vxN, jun., next presented himself, and was
received with loud cheering. He spoke to this effect—Sir,
the resolution put into my hand convey. an expression of
regret that the measure of Reform is both unjust in prin-
ciple, inconsistent with the act of Union, and bearing no
fair proportion to the quota of representation for England
and Scotland.—(Hear, hear.) On this question there can
be no second opinion.—.(Mr. Rutliven concluded amidst
loud cheers by proposing the resolution, which was se-
conded by Mr. Shea Lawlor.)
Counsellor KEOGH, in moving the next resolution, said
that when he saw Scotland with not half the population
of Ireland.--

Ml'. O'CONNELL—No, nor the one-fourth._
(llear.)
Mr. Kxocir—And Ireland possessing three acres for the
one that was to be cultivated in Scotland, he had a right to
complain of the number of representatives intended for
Ireland.—(Flear, hear.) Mr. Keogh then moved his re-
solution, which was seconded by Mr. M'Cormick.
Mr. CARROLL moved the next resolution, which was
seconded by Mr. Kavenagh.
Mr, BARRETT read the fifth resolution, and said—There

is:not a human being who could distinguish the signs of
the times, who could have anticipated the possibility of
such a resolution being necessary at this period. There is
not a mau, who observed the universal detestation in
which the amount of church revenues, as well as the
unjust character of tithes, could have anticipated a mem-
ber of this ministry daring to bring forward a measure
professing to alleviate this burthen in the country where it
was most burthensome, yet framing his measure, not really
to limit their amount, not to purify their appropriation,
but to perpetuate their full extent, and give added facilities
to their collection.—(Loud cheers.) The measure
of Mr. Stanley will not satisfy the people.—(Hear.)
Let those who accuse Ireland of barbarous and turbulent
propensities, which no amelioration can appease, compare
between her and England the relative crime with the re-
lative grievances, and judge on which side is the superiority.
Here the people suffer all the evils which convulse Eng-
land, with a multitude which England has not. Ireland
suffers under a Sub-letting Act, a Vestry Bill, a Jury job-
bing system, and tithes extorted by a clergy, more hateful
even for their arrogance than their rapacity—(Hear, hear)
—yet Ireland has not a twentieth portion of English crime,
although it suffers a triple portion of English grievance.—
(Cheers.) In fact, when we look back to the history of
this country, for forty years, we find most of the popular
outrages and their origin in tithes, and yet this excruci-
ating grievance, in the plenitude of its enormity, Mr.
Stanley meditates to perpetuate. Does be hope by the
covert ingenuity of his scheme to deceive and to silence
the voice of discontent, and to crush by force the spirit of
resistance ? No, he -nay be assured that legislative injus-
tice casts a halo round popular crime—that where the
horror of the punishment is greater than the horror of the
offence, crime is consecrated—the victims become heroes.
Bayonets may enable soldiers to rule where they tread—
bullets may govern as far as they can strike—but in such a
state of things the people, who are every where, will
render, in spite of all, the situation of the oppressors
irksome and insecure.—(l.lear, hear.) Had not Messrs.
Blanchfield and Byrne been imprisoned for humanity, some
humane person might have ventured to interpose between
the people and the police at Knocktopher.—(Cheers.)
Had punishment fallen upon the slaughterers in one place,
the subsequent unfortunate catastrophe at the other might
never have occurred.—(Hear, hear.) To show the con-
nection between the impunity which followed one event,
and the calamitous nature of the other, I can state, on
good authority, that the young man who first seized the
process-server, when instantly stabbed, * exclaimed, " I am
gone, boys, but remember Newtownbarry." These words
stung the people to madness. They felt that there was no
safety even in running away--excited with a sudden fury.
armed with rude weapons, snatched by despair—weapons
which never miss fire—(Cheers and loud laughter)---they
closed upon the police—set discipline at naught—and im-
molated the party. There is not a doubt but that the
impunity of Newtownbarry caused the murders at Knock-
topher.—(Cheers.) The project of Mr. Stanley will
not abate this spirit of resistance to Church exactions. God
forbid, however, it should ever again manifest itself in so
fatal a manner. But let our rulers be assured the people
will still struggle against an impost, the very basis of which
s unjust.—(Hear.) In a constitutional struggle, too, they
will be joined by the intelligence and virtue of the country.
(Cheers.) Resistance to oppression is associated with some
of the noblest sentiments of the human heart.—(Cheers.)
Mr. H. GRATTAN CURRAN said, it is time Sir, tha t
the horrors incident to this system should end ; it is time
that the ministers of the living God should cease to wring
the means of luxury from an unrequited people at the risk
or by the sacrifice of human life. It is time that those
who bear a high commission to denounce the penalty upon
blood guiltiness should cease, by their exactions, to incite
men to incur it.—(Hear, hear.) The time is at length
arrived for the ample, the unreserved discussion of this
important subject. The carnage that has recently occurred
and the demonstrations of public feeling, flowing in daily
from every aide, admonish us that the time is come. But
while I thus argue for justice, I am answered--.." Oh, Sir,"
cries one, " the thing is impossible." The clergy hold
their possessions by a right as secure as that upon which
any man bolds his estate. While another traces them to
the paramount sanction of a Divine decree. Of the latter
opinion seem to be many of the Reverends and Right Re-
verends themselves. And, indeed, how can we blame the
self complacency of a pluralist, who, contemplating his
redundant measure of the goods of the earth, and silently
wishing himself " many happy returns" of each bounteous
season, stretches himself in his easy chair and exclaims with
the Mantuan—

.. Deus nobis hsee otia fecit."—(Laughter.)

We must content ourselves, however, with placing tithes j
upon an humbler, but what so good an authority as Sir j
Wm. Blackstone declares to be their best and surest founda-
tion—the common law, which gives the parson a claim to '
derive the necessaries, comforts, &c. of life from his pa-
rishioners. Upon what ground? His relinquishment of
every profitable occupation from which he might derive
these necessaries and comforts, for the purpose of devoting
his time to their spiritual advantage, and upon this ground
I charge many of the clergy of the establishment with
having worked a forfeiture of their claim.—(Hear, hear.)
Have we not, I would ask, some Right Rev. Gentlemen
most flourishing dairymen ?—(Hear, hear.) And if we
have such, how shall I describe the audacity of such a
trader demanding any emolument from the public on the
foot of a contract through which he has hroken.—(Cheers.)
Will he tell me that he has smoothed my way to Heaven
—that he has M'Adamized the high-way.—(Laughter.)
I would fain ask him how he has been instrumental to
such an end. But I had forgot, formerly those pious
gentlemen thought it sufficient to fix our attention upon
the durable riches of the other world as a requital for
those of which they despoiled us here ; but now their
zeal more abounds, and impatient of the remoteness of the
prospect, they would accelerate our fruition, and enlitt
the constable to precipitate us upon the scene of promised
wealth.—(Cheers.) But, Sir, I have yet another answer
to my plan which claims a passing notice. Some have
ventured to say that we are a conquered nation, and
must submit to the results of conquest. But I would
caution men against instituting this new relation between
us and Britain. Think they not that if they invest them-
selves with the traditional privilt gee of the conqueror, we
shall value and assert the heritage of the strong, though
once vanquished land.—(Cheers.) That if they meet
our claims for justice with taunt and contumely, we will
echo the words of Ireland's greatest man—
" Liberty with England, but at all events liberty."
Mr. O'CoNntee here rose, and was received with the
most enthusiastic cheers. He said—l entirely concur
with your Chairman in the first proposition laid down by
him—that we have now come to a crisis of vital impor-
tance to Ireland.—(Hear.) In truth and in fact we have
arrived at a great crisis, and the question now is, who will
stand up for Ireland?—(Hear, and cheers.) All the rest
of the world appears to have abandoned her.—(Hear.)
Our situation may excite some sympathy in different parts
of Europe, and we know that it does in America ; but
England and the Government of England have abandoned
us to our fate ; or if they have formed any determination,
it seems to be one to continue our dissentions, in order
that they may perpetuate our weakness.—(Hear.) This,
then, is the time for Irishmen to speak out.—(Hear, and
cheers.) If a marl does not choose that another era for
freedom should pass away, without one particle of benefit
of Ireland, this is the time for him to speak out.—(Cheers.)
If a man does net choose, when the rest of the Empire is
obtaining the blessing of liberty, that We should be handed
over to an oligarchical domination, the time has come for
him to speak out.—(Cheers.) If I go to England, which
I shall do the week after next, and I am sorry for it, I
shall find in the press there two circumstances attributed as
the causes of the misery of Ireland. The first of them is
" the ignorance" of the people. Never was there a more
brutal and ignorant assertion contained in any press, than
this charge of ignorance against the Irish people.—(Heer.)
The next charge that is brought against Irishmen—and it
is one in which lam proud to be a participator—is called
" agitation."—(Cheers.) They say Ireland would be well
off but for agitation. I want to know from them is it
agitation that has produced the tithe system ?—(Hear and
cheers.) Is it agitation that has created Grand Jury laws,
by which gravel walks are levelled to the doors of the ari-
stocracy, and the mountain is left pathless because the
wretched peasant dwells there—which take care that there
shall not be the slightest rustling in the private walli gr
the gentleman, such as would shake even his gouty toe,
or rouse him from his half sleep in his carriage ; but at
the same time leaves the miserable cottier to travel, as he
best can, over the rocky path, or the wild bog? Is it
agitation, I ask, that has produced Grand Jury laws, by
which taxes are based upon aristocratic nomination, in-
stead of being constitutionally imposed by representation
—the only principle upon which taxation ought to be
based ?—(Hear, hear.) Was it agitation chat passed the
Subletting Act, which has hurried iut hundreds of fami-
lies from their little farms to famish by the road side, and
find their graves in the ditches ? Is it agitation that de-
ssotruoythetlththe linen
e‘vork
ingmanufactureo fcoarse winootuhensn?ortl and
lis,
it
tagiitn t
agitation
that has thinned the streets of our city, or which has de-
prived you, Sir, of the property which you ought now to
have in the Liberty? I believe that upon that property
there were, prior to the Union, t leven or twelve manufac-
tories,
didnd that?—(Hear now ?
Was
morning
puttingon it agi-
tationl
was
I came by them—l did not purchase them ; but the circum-
_th(enreea is r not
and one.—(Hear.)cheers.)his and