The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-18 00:00:00

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, SEPT. 15.
MEETING OF THE REPEAL ASSOCIATION

This day the attendance at the Repeal Associatiot
was as crowded as upon the former occasion whet
Mr. O'Connell appeared for the first time after hi:
imprisonment. The enthusiasm was as great, ant
the same anxiety was exhibited to behold him. About
half-past twelve o'clock, the leading members of tip
Committee, Mr. John O'Connell, M.P. ; Mr. Smith
O'Brien, M.P. ; Mr. N. Maher, M.P. ; Mr. Barry.
barrister ; and Mr. M`Nevin, barrister, took their
places at the Association amid loud cheers. They
were followed by Mr. O'Connell, and the enthusiastic
greetings which burst forth on his appearance, which
were renewed again and again, could only be at
length suppressed by his intimating his intention to
address the Association. Upon his motion, the chair
was taken by the Hon. George llely Hutchinson.
Mr. lluTcuiNsoN observed that, though a young
member, he was still an old repealer, although not so
old as their Liberator.—(Cheers.) From the moment
he had been able to form an opinion on the subject, and
after having studied the history of his country, he had
decided in his own mind that the measure the most dis-
astrous that had ever been entailed upon this country
had been the legislative union between England and
Ireland.—(Cheers.) Some five-and-twenty years had
passed over his head since he had come to this opinion,
and everything that had since occurred had only tended
to strengthen that opinion, and increased his determina-
tion to do the utmost that lay in his power in doing
away with a measure that had entailed so much of
misfortune and disgrace upon his country.—(Hear,
hear.) How often had he, when stretched upon
the bed of sickness, wept over the wrongs per-
petrated on Ireland by the English Government, and
how often had he read with delight of the means pro-
posed by the Hon. and Learned Gentleman for the re-
peal of the union, as those calculated to be the salvation
of their country. The union had been imposed upon
them in a moment of weakness. It was perfectly well
known to every person who had studied the history of
if not got up, had
n'9tBo,f the day, and the
effor the purpose of Ibt h.eoeernspte fosteredr i o
meansd,t lay
by
yrt
eh
tehresorted
er nnt
onio
carry-
ing that measure. Bribery to the greatest extent had
been practised—intimidation was enforced, and all the
guarantees of the constitution were done away with, and
that for the purpose of carrying this most iniquitous
measure. Their country was• reduced from a country
into a province. The greatest promises were held out
to them. Commerce was to be extended, manufactures
to be encouraged, fisheries were to be made to flourish.
and it was promised that they should be placed on an
equality with England in all their commercial transac-
tions. So far from these promises having been realised,
the measure had entailed upon them political degrada-
tion, and upon the people the greatest social misery.—
(Clear, hear.) During the period of five-and-forty years,
which the union had now lasted, England had given
them Coercion Bills—it had given them Arms Bills, it
had suspended the Habeas Corpus Act, for the purpose
of putting down tho expression of public feeling.—
(Hear.) And what had been the result of all this ?
That they had in a great measure been deprived of their
political liberties, and the country reduced to the lowest
state of impoverishment. And why was all this ? Be-
cause from the moment that the union took place, as
a matter of course, the gentry of the country aban-
doned it ; their farming interests decayed, their
manufactures were ruined, and the tradesmen of that
great city were reduced to the lowest state of '
misery. But this was not all. There was not fair ,
competition on the part of England With respect to
their commercial transactions. A system of fraud
was resorted to for the purpose of spreading abroad the
notion that Ireland was a country in which it was ins-
possible for a man to live, and in which capital could not
be safely placed ; and thus capital was prevented from
being embarked in commercial enterprises in Ireland.
Such was the state to which the country was reduced,
that, he declared, on landing ten years ago at Kings-
town, for the purpose of presenting his wife—a foreigner,
to his family, that his cheek was suffused with shame
and indignation on seeing the miserable and degraded
state of the peasantry; for, instead of seeing a popula-
tion decently clothed and fed, he found none but miser-
able and starving wretches. It was not necessary fur
him to enter into an explanation on this subject, but
Dublin, as he looked at it, reminded him of Versailles,
a place built for 80,000 inhabitants, and occupied but by
30,000. For tuoh a state of things the remedy had been
found by the great Liberator, under whose guidance he
had the honour to place himself, and that was the repeal
of the legislative union between the two countries.—
(Cheers.) It was he who had formed, and given life to
the Repeal Association, and animated it with his own
vigour. During the imprisonment of the Learned Gen-
tleman it had been guided by another gentleman, who
was then there—(Cheers)—but then, when they were
thus proceeding in a course of conciliation, it was said
by their opponents, the Whigs, " Why seek for repeal?
—we are ready to increase the number of representa-
tives—we are ready to increase the number of the con-
stituents in counties and towns of Ireland—we are will-
ing to give you a large grant for public education, and to
build for you Catholic universities." All these things
were excellent in their way ; but none of them went to
the root of the evil. One of the evils of increasing
the number of representatives would be, to add to the
number of absentees, and having some fifty or sixty
thousand pounds more spent in London, and withdrawn
from Ireland. It was evident that these measures, how-
ever excellent, would not affect that which was the pur-
pose of that Association. At least such was his opinion
of them, if he did not greatly mistake their views. It
was impossible for any one of all these measures to re-
store them to their manufactures. None of them afforded
the means of doing justice to the country, and of raising
it from the degradation in which it was now plunged.
The people of England, he remarked, were beginning
to discover how difficult it was to manage the affairs of
the three kingdoms. The English Parliament had quite
enough to do to attend to its Own affairs ; and the con-
sequence was, that at the end of the session many Bills
had to be laid aside, or were passed in the most slovenly
manner. There were only two courses open for the Eng-
lish Government—either to proceed with further steps of
coercion, or something which was still more dangerous,
in his opinion, and that was the arrival of the Whigs in
power, and the using on their part of bribery and
treachery. The Whigs had always professed great
things ; but he did hope that forewarned was forearmed,
and that now, if this attempt were made, it would not
succeed; but that determined they would stand together,
and never abandon the cause of repeal. There were two
reasons why they must succeed. One was that they
would net resort to violence, hut continue in the course
which their great leader had marked. The second was,
that the holy war in which they were engaged called
Almighty. In conclusion, he
e
11 with peace and perseverance,
t blessing
conciliating s of thea
they could not but succeed.—(Cheers.)
sdaoiwdnththa
The SECRETARY havingiread;the minutes of the last
day's proceedings,
Mr. O'CONNELL rose and handed in 4/. Os. 6d. from
Edinburgh, and in doing so said he would avail himself of
that opportunity of calling the attention of the repeal
wardens of Scotland to the existence of secret societies
amongst the Irish there. lie was very sorry to learn
that they had formed societies under the detested name
of " Ribbonmen," for he had known Ribbonism do more
mischief to the cause of Ireland than any other faction
whatever. They had also in Scotland other secret so-
cieties under the name of' " United Irishmen," and he
believed also of " Rechabites. It would be necessary
for the repeal wardens of Scotland to take care that the
names of any repealers who maytbelong to these asso-
ciations shall be at once erased from their books. It
was astonishing that people who were so shrewd as the
, Irish should persevere in maintaining secret societies,
which could only be productive of mischief: llis coun-
trymen were in general but too ready to boast of what
their good actions. They
they considered never put a
bushel over their good deeds, and secresy in any of their
societies or meetings, therefore, proved that their object
could not be good or beneficial. He felt it due to those
deluded men, to let them know that every one of them
who joined a secret society rendered himself liable to
the law of the land, and l
transportation by . _ aced himself
of spies and bloodsuckers.
at the mercy The Honour-
able and Learned Gentleman then moved the suspension
of the standing order, and a resolution that it be referred
to the general committee to prepare an address to the
Irish in Scotland, warning them against joining the secret
societies to which he had alluded.
The motions wore
carried unanimously.
Mr.' Jonst O'CONNELL read a letter from Mr. John
Augustus O' of Bunowen Castle, apologising for his
absence at this critical but auspicious moment. It was
with regret he had to state that it was a dangerous ill-
ness that deprived them of the very able assistance of
Mr. O'Neill.
Mr. O'CONNELL bore testimony to the worth and ser-
vices of Mr. O'Neill. He had been a Conservative and
an Orangemen, and had
joined them at a moment when
such an accession was of great moment. lie considered
Mr. O'Neill entitled to the gratitude of the people of
Ireland.
Mr. WILSON GRAY handed in 20/. from Detroit ; and
said that, being a member of the press, and not a member
of the Association, he regretted he could not move the
insertion of the names of the subscribers in the books of
the Association.

Mr. O'CONNELL said, that being a member of the Asso-
ciation—(Laughter)—and as he intended to continue so
for time, at least till they had a Parliament in College-
green—(Cheers)—he would discharge the agreeable
duty of moving the insertion of the names On their books,
and at the same time move the thanks of the Associa-
tion to the repealers of Detroit for their patriotism and
liberality.