The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-04 00:00:00

IRELAND:
REPEAL ASSOCIATI93:-:
0145AILWD
T1)0
h'e usual weekly meeting of _the 'A,ssoct,atitk Ark
place to-day in the Conciliation Hall,,whiCh ivo.erpWded
every part. Mr. O'Connell
,entered therbuitdmg et
One o'clock, and was received with_prOlonw,CeheLtiP•
On the Motion of the Hon. Gentleman,. gr.',
10 V 7 O'Brien, 10„ was called to the chair,
'O'CoNsET,L rose t9dsa4l, there, was nothing lii
beginning well.-(Loud cheirS.) wished_thex.nronld
reserve those cheers for what he vas, aout: to 4114 in to
the Association. He had PleaS'Ure,Othencling
stun of '6OO/., transmitted to t.hein 141 the'refeatO of
Newtork,—(Cheers.) He In oieik.tht ty_zank)oor-f

*thioi-dtdss4nhclastintionwbee.sugibVscerni toti'I'be motion .
kayink been carried, _
A 4 J.. 0:CONI,;),ILL sag that he- bad' iitperi "ricitielit;e4 to
rl'* ePtine a very, iOportant .a.ha AtteFeSting
OorTaspt) them
ct::(le. ne Which had taketi p)ate-...be(lYeeixt4e. ar
Of 'Charleniont 'and Lord Trengh. an
then,read the following letter; • . • •.:: - •
chariemont -house,. p,At,lin
"My Lord,-.—We have at this moment a lull inagigon,
which in my mind affcinds a favourable an
effort iii cause of peace; under *hich)mpreikon'ritnis
take the liberty of addressing yonlip*kthe
" I have every reason to • believe'_ thitt'it the tinware:the
anion Mr. Pitt was of opinion that an arraagententiiasoeven
then, possible for having periodical hessions.er4ittiogiinfthe
Imperial .Parliament held; in firsland, !for,lol Wisietta. as
might be most conveniently disPatehed.there, #.t.b.epople of
Ireland desired it. , . , „
" What was deerned.prite'tical at that; tune 'n!)".f ise. atilt
more so at this, considering the facility,, ind,r4itlityof the
present communication between London: and Dublih. ' it is
as important also to conciliate popular SuppOrt
now (if viewed with reference to the lastingintereitslof'the
public) as it was then, and there appears to be A. rety gMieras
persuasion that occasional meetings of the Imperial Parlia-
ment in Dublin would powerfully tend to. do so.
It is also .considered that if the attention of. the Legisla-
ture was uninterruptedly given _from time to . time ,to the
affairs of Ireland on the spot, they would be better under-
stood than they.can ever otherwise be by those to
legislate 'concerning them; and 'a cenrse of Measures might
thus be looked for which 'must -fetid secure,' hOt to-endan-
ger, the general fabric of the empire. '; - •
"Some friends with whom -I have'consulted on ibis mo-
mentous subject think it desirable that these views should be
laid'before the Throne, and a &aught of Na address, to her
Majesty having been prepared for that purpose, I beg leave to
enclose a copy of it to you. •
" Allow me to request your consideration of it, 'and that
you Will be so good as to return it to me with as little' delay
.as may Suit your convenience, with any observations, that
may occur to. you upon its subject, and, if you approve, I
should of course claim the advantage of your signature to
the contents. , •
"Believe me to be, my Lord, with respect and.regand.
"'Your obedient servant, , " CUARLFMO.),;T.

To the Right Hon. Lord FrenCh." '
The Hon. Gentleman having read the draught of the
address alluded to in the foregoing letter, praying_ for
the holding of periodical sessions of the Imperial, P.er-
littnient in Ireland, and representing that the betteut
wonld be enhanced by tier Majesty's presence frOm time
to time amongst her Irish subjects' proceeded to lax,be-
fore the meeting the reply of Lord French, who, a
very long letter, of which the following is an extract,
stated his reasons for dissenting from the proposition of
Lord Charlemont:—
" If I have not entirely mistaken the feelings 'and designs
of my countrymen, with whom I am associated in seelilififor
a repeal of the legislative union, they require not an itine-
rant, but a domestic Legislature—not merely a resident; but
a native Parliament. They wish to, have their legislation
committed to men whom the history of. their country does
not describe as inveterately inimical to their race—as high in
hereditary hatred to their creed. They, long for liberation
irons the control of a Parliament which, In .the short interval
of 44 years, has, like a sponge, ahsorbed all the milk and
honey with which the land was flowing before the union.
They wish to' have their interests entrusted to a Parliament
consisting of men not born in Englanil,-Ru Sotland, or in Wiles
—not educated in habitual contempt'of Irishmen—not stian-
gers to the names, the sites, the advantages, the require-
ments, and the'history of the principal localities or Ireland—
not trained up in the belief that Englishmen are by nature
what they claim to be at present—the superiors, the masters,
the slave-owners, rather than the, co-equals and fellow-sub-
jects of Irishmen—not, in a word, men presuming that, be-
cause they walked a street or,.twO. of our, metropolis, or
whiled over some thirty miles on a railroad or a day coach,
they knew more about Ireland than the men who spent their
lives within her limits, and devoted their energies to' her
service. No, my Lord, believe me, an alien ambulatory as-
sembly, though Dublin be the terminus of its ambulacrum,
can never possess the confidence of Irishmen. The Parlia-
ment in which they will confide must be national and sym-
pathetic—it must be the product of the soil, and composed of
the men of Ireland—it must be Irish in blood, in accgnt, and
in feeling ;—no other will suffer the. Irish to be for Ireland,
and most assuredly no other will give. Ireland to the Irish."
Mr. O'Commet. moved the insertion of these docu-
ments on the minutes of the Association, and that the
most respectful thanks of the body be bestowed on Lord
French, for his admirable letter, and toLord charkenent
for the kindly feeling manifested by him on this **-
Mon. It was delightful to thew, looking back, as tey
did, with fond admiration to the Charlemont of 82
to find the Charlemont of '44 not Sunk in the
apathy displayed by the Irish nobility. It wetsl
dr i
ghrk
to find him thinking of old Ireland ; end, although he
fell short of the distance to which they wished him to
go, 'he was in the right road. It was a confession to
some extent, that they (the Repealers) were right, be.
cause he admitted that the present system was bad ' • and
they could not help regretting that his Lordship had pot
arrived at the only adequate remedy for the grievances
of the country, namely, the restoration of their native
Parliament.—(Cheers.) What cared he where a Parlia-
ment hostile and ungenial to Ireland might be situated?
—he cared not where such a body met, whether in the
Orkney or Scully Isles, in London or in Dublin.--(Hear.)
What they wanted was a Parliament genial to Ireland—
devoted to Irish interests, and which would maintain,
nay, eternise the connexion between the two countries.
--(Cheers.) He wished that the highest in rank were
foremost in ,work, and that the rest of the Irish no-
bility would join Lord Charlemont. He fell short, it was
true, or his father, for the Charlemont of 1;82 would
acknowledge no inferiority inherent in his country, nor
would he admit that Irishmen were unfit to manage their
Ownaffairs.—(Hear, heir.) Oh! what degradation there
was in such an admission ! Amick-the prevailing torpor
of the upper classes it was refre*Shing to see a move in
the right path by any portion of the nobility, and 'he
trusted that their next stride would be towards fede-
ralism. They should recollect that the Irish were -an
easily manageable race, and, that they had a remarkable
predilection for aristocracy 'when animated with.:. the
right spirit. He appealed to the noble house of Caul-
field to take the lead now, and he called on them to re-
collect that serving such a people was the noblest species
of servitude. By joining their countrymen at the pre-
sent moment, when it was of -importance to have all the
virtue and- good sense of the nation with them, they
would bring back all the glory which invested their
family in the year 'B2.—(Loud cheers.) Alter elabo-
rately panegyrising Lord French's letter, iu which he
said the genius of Ireland spoke its time languages the
Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving the inseetiOn., of
the correspondence on the minutes, and thanks to, the
writers.

. .
The Honourable Gentleman next read a letter from
Mr. O'Neill, of Bunown Castle, in which it was sug-
gested that parties should be received into the ranks
of the Association without any inquiry into their
politics or religion. He (Mr. O'Connell) was 'ex-
tremely averse from any inquisition into either politics
or religion; but they could not suffer any body of men
to join:them who were advocates of physical force, and
who sought to effect their own objects by tyrannising
over and attempting to coerce the opinions of others.
The Chartists had been. guilty of these faults, and the
Association would not suffer any person to join them
whom • they knew to. be a Chartist.—(Hear, hear.)
Having enumerated several acts of violence of which
the Chartists have been guilty, the Hon. Gentleman con-
cluded by saying that when they abandoned such ,opi-
nions, and got fitter leaders than they at present, pos-
sessed, they - might be allowed to join the ranks of the
Repeaters. If the Repealers countenanced them now, they
would, without much difficulty, obtain adherents through-
out the colliery towns of Ireland, and would thus be-
come a truly formidable party; but he would take care
'to keep Ireland clear of them.—(Heir,.hear.) ~• .
_Several sums 'of money having been. handed in,
andn said that h
ewis
ofhed
to Mr.
t°l;eCa°tNtenNEtLioLnof againt rase,hemee gto some subjectsti
considerableimportance. The first topic to which lie
should advert was one which was generally interesting to
the people of this country-41e meant the Presbyterian
marriage question. That question had been raised as he
was informed; in a very extraordinary manner. It -had
been .asserted ' that - the expenses of the proceedings
Were defrayed by a dignitary of the- Established
Church, and, he could not help saying that he thought
that.- personage -might have laid out his money}nuch
better. , ,After detailing the - proceedings- , which
fsi:e
ceceet
eodi
of con
dvt
(ht
ome
ti.scLautirent courts
g thatof law in
e-
ni ng Iceland,length
tt the
u !sr( i .):
offp, ',Some
s-
hni:aa:eidlkele.ome tai a decision• on the matter, which waked have
the adverse judgment of - the
court below. There were four Lords present, whe.'were
diVided in' their' opinion, and the judgment of the court
below not being reversed, was now final, and these 'Mar-
riages were invalid. In 'accordance With those principles
of equality for, persons of all creeds which he. had eser
professed, he should move that it he referred ta the
Committee of the Association to consider in what..-man-
her they could best advance the interests and-give sup-
port to the claims of the Presbyterians when the4e:e
brought before the House of Commons. He next - '. d
to call attention to their own prospects in England and
in Ireland. 'lt Would be insufferable tediousness to ' o
. over all . the proceedings in England connectectwith t/ e
late prosecution and its results. He was ualiqUi g
himself to go to London. He was . led not to eipect
anything from the prejudices of the middle classes-r-tfie
lower classes he knew might be led by Chartism,leit
from the principles of that. political creed he entirely
dissented, and he knew that the upper classes were ar-
Tqed in hostility to Ireland, and to. her. wishes ; but
having been overruled by the act prof -opinns- of - those for
whom he had the highest respect, ne accordingly -went
to London; and he had never beeis so much gratified by
any other act of his life ; he was most agreeably disap-
piinted to find among the English people a &s ix*.
tion to support the cause of Ireland-779.n intense and wide-
spread abhorrence of what had occurred in this country
—a great anxiety for the purity of the administration pf
justice, and. a longing desire to have juries c4irly
selected. In fact, he had been as well. received whert-
ever he went in England as he could be in that-hall.
After briefly detailing the various occasions upon which
during his late Visit to England manifestations cif),rb-
sped had been shown to him, the Hon. Gentlernin iirb-
ceeded to say, that his heart was big with gratitti4c- to
the wise, the good, the just, the discriminating peeiplef
England. On former occasions . when Ireland wae,.;ap-
pressed Englishmen unhappily, facquieseed in the laps-
,
.
} lice ; but they had now taken a manly stand infatovr.
Lot their brethren' in.this country, and hadltroclainsed,fin
1 voiee too loud to be miaunderatoodi that .03ey 143441.