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London, England, 1844-02-07 00:00:00

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also a matter of history. I mean the letter from Primate Boulfet:
dated January 19, 1750, in which, amongst other passages, -.N.
he says, " I made it toy duty to talk with the leading.-
..:
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men, in Parliament, and I find that the people off ---7.-----_-1.:- ..-
religion aint party are set against the union, which wit ti.
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very bail effect of bringing them together on terms of i ' r.s.d.isl-.?.r\;•" ••• 41
and friendship." Dere, Gentlemen, we have an honou / taio.'l'';':..-'
saying that it is a most unhappy thing t hat')
should conic together on terms of intimacy thets clo)anic'iisltiasti .i."- 111--,:%57,5dC":2"-.-, F '7'';'''.4j
ss.,s >
is the spit it of English (lamination which I complained Oted Issl. k..'' viii.- *,":.'
a'k you, have I toot proved what I promised from Bushe, Pi and---'-'",..., c ~ 'l:*.
!twitter ?—and I conjure you, above all things, to remember the IV a.,,"*. ''''''
declaration of the first of these inen, who said the union was Pro-
posed from " the intolerance of Irish prosperity." I will next
bring you to 1750, and detain you but a short time upon the sub.
ject, which, lam sure, is one familiar to every Irish mind, as the
only bright spot in our history—the only green easis in this desert,
in the rule of misconduct which surrounds us. The transaction of
'B2 was of the most consummate advantage to England ; she
assailed America—America was disaffected and resisted, and
from her rebellion formed a revolution which made Ireland's
assistance necessary for her safety, for she had not troops to
garrison the country. Did the Irish nobility or gentry then
talk of separating from England ? No ; the idea was foreign
from every Irish mind, but they required the assertion of
their rights—free trade and legislative independence. It was not
prudent to refuse them, for they were loyal bit determined.
England conceded at the very time when the letter was written
to Ireland calling Grattan a madman, who effected that glorious
revolution. This is but part of the history of the British mo-
narchy, which declared that adjustment of 1782 final, in order
to leave no question open for future discussion. The King,
Lords, and Commons of England asserted, and the Lord Limit e.
nant in Ireland declared the same in the Irish Parliament ;
but how is it attempted to be got rid of ?—for Mr. Fox said of the
Bth of April, '52, " that no country had a right to hold the so-
vereignty of another country without the will of that other."
such were the principles upon which the settlement was brought
about ; and did one of the gentlemen he addressed know a vo-
lunteer of 'S2 that did not glory in the victory ? Nis ! for it
gave them a firmer hold on England—redoubled their allegi-
ance to the Cro .sti, and the connexion which existed by
reason of that salutary action. I may be asked if the pros-
perity of Ireland was gained by her Legislative independence ?
and my reply is—that it was 1 and I will give you my evidence for
saying so. The first is from Mr. Pitt, who, In page 99 of his work,
openly stated it to have been the cause of Ireland's prosperity.—
(The Learned Gentleman then read some passages from the work
he alluded to in conformity with that opinion.) It would have
been part of Mr. Pitt's cue to show that a separate Legislature had
worked badly, but the facts were too powerful to be altogether
overlooked, and he, with a virtuous ingenuity, availed himself of
the increasing prosperity of Ireland as an argument to prove that
it would be still more prosperous if her Parliament was united
with that of England. How pressed he must have been when he
was left no other resource to sustain his argument but the glowing
absurdity which he thus used!—(Mr. O'Connell then read passages
from Mr. Foster's speeches in 1785, detailing, at great length,
the amount of Irish exportations and importations, and showing
that in the interval between that period and 1782, Ireland's pros.
perity had vastly increased; that within those three years she export-
ed to Great Britain more than 3,000,000/. worth of manufactures
in linen, and 3,000,0001. worth of provisions and cattle, besides
other products, while she imported little more than (,000,000/.
worth of English manufactures.) How is it now ? At present
we import English manufactures very largely, and the greatest part
of the price of those manufactures consist its wages paid, of course
to the population of England. Why should we not recollect that
fact, amid, above all, recollect that the people of Ireland were earn-
ing wages upon those 3,000,000/. worth of manufactures exported
to England. while they consumed only 1,000,000/. of English pro-
ducts ? Nearly all our manufactures are now imported from
England, and we export nothing but our cattle. The time for
talking of the remedy for that has not as yet arrived. I have
quoted Pitt and Foster, and I shall now give you the authority of
Lord Clare, who, though not very friendly to his country, said in
1735, " There is no country in the world which has advanced so
much in her manufactures and her agriculture as Ireland has
within the same period." And in 1799 Lord Plunket described
Ireland as " a little Island, with a population of 4,000,000 or
5,000,000, advancing in prosperity beyond any other country on
the earth, and in that condition she was called ripens to surrender
her Parliament to people of another little island, placed beside
her, and scarcely double her size."
The Court here adjourned for half an hour. On resuming,
Mr. °Tosser!. continued to quote authorities in supporting the
opinion that Ireland had prospered under her own Parliament, the
principal of which were the resolutions of a meeting of bankers in
1799, at which the head of the house of Latouche was its the chair,
and the declaration of Mr. Hatton, a coach manufacturer, of this
city, in 1810. A Parliamentary document showed that from 1785
to the period of the union the increase in the consumption of teas
in Ireland was 84 per cent., while it was only 45 per cent. its Eng-
land. The increase in tobacco Its Ireland was lOU per cent., iss
England 64 ; in wine is Ireland 74 per cent , in England 52 ; in
sugar 57 per cent. in Ireland, and in England 53 ; in coffee in
Ireland 600 per cent., in England 75. No country ever so rapidly
improved as Ireland did in that period. There was a cant word
used agi.inst Repeaters. They were charged with seeking a dis-
memberment of the empire. The absurdity of that charge it was
scarcely necessary to demonstrate. If, when Ireland prospered under
her own Parliament, in connexion with England, she showed no
disposition to separate, why should she entertain a disposition to
break the connexion, if placed in similarly prosperous
circumstances ? What would she do it for ? I could
understand dismemberment as •an object attributed to
a state of poverty and destitution, but it is absurd
to suppose such a disposition to exist with the prosperity
which Ireland enjoyed under her own Parliament, and which, I
trust, she will experience under her own Parliament again. I
regret that opening should have closed on Ireland, and that those
fiends and monsters who closed ft should have beets able to throw
Parliament under the feet of a party who, in the words of Mr.
Bushe, were intolerant of the prosperity of Ireland. Yet it was so.
It was that intolerance of our prosperity that induced the destruc.
tion of the Irish Parliament, and the means taken to effect that
destruction were suited to the nature of so deleterous an object.
You have the authority of Mr. Fox, in 1806, that the union was as
atrocious in principle as it was abominable for the means by which
it was carried. The Attorney-General had referred to the Report of
the Secret Committee its 1797-1 refer you to the Report in 1798,
in which the Government were charged by Plunket and by Bushe
with having form nted the rebellion until it was deemed safe that it
should explode. The Doti. and Leartied Gentleman then read pas.
sages from Lord Plunket's speech on the union, in which his Lordship
said, " I accuse the Government of fomenting a languishing rebellion
a rebellion of Catholics against Protestants and Protestants against
Catholics.'' Ile next read passages from Grey's speech, stating
that " it had been said that all were Jacobins who opposed the
carrying of the union, but the fact was, that those who signed the
petition for it were in the power of the Lord-Lieutenant." Ile
next read passages from Mr. Bushe's speech, stating that " the
basest corruption and artifice were resorted to to promote the
union." Such, Gentlemew (continued Mr. O'Connell), is the
description given of the means by which the union was carried;
but they are only a part of them. You know that there were
17,275,000/. actually spent in the purchase of rotten boroughs.
You know that there was near 3,000,000/. beside expended in
actual payment of the persons who voted for the union. You know
that there was no office in the State, from the highest its the
Church to the lowest in the constabulary, that was not used as a
bribe. In short, there was nothing sacred or profane that was not
made use of. Having shown you briefly the means by which the
union was carried, I come now to detain you for as short a time as I
can,by showing to you the evidences of the evil results of that measure.
Gentlemen, in the year '94 the Irish debt was only 7,000,0001. ; in
the year '9B it was 14,000,000/. ; and after that period the debt
increased to 350,000,000/. At the time of the union, the debt
of Ireland amounted to 21,000,000/. It is stated since that it
was 23,000,000/. in 1811, as Ireland should be chargeable with all
the expenses of carrying the union. But her debt was really only
21,000,000/., and that of England 446,000,0001. NOW, what were
the terms of the union ? That England was to bear the burden of
those 446,000,000/., and a separate taxation of 17,000,000/., and
that Ireland was not to be chargeable with those 446,000,0004
You will ask, were those conditions complied with? No, of
course they were not, and Ireland is chargeable now with every penny
of the entire amount; and notwithstanding the distinct promise of
Lord Castlereagh, the lands, and property, and industry of Ireland
are all mortgaged for the entire debt. To show yott how totally
mismanaged, to the detriment of Ireland, the finances had beets,
and to the relief of England, I refer you to the Financial Report of
Public Expentittire of 1815. Mr. O'Connell then read the Report
to show the increase put in the debt on the side of Ireland. And
continued—The Irish Parliament had often beets assailed, but there
never had been a more protective Parliament to the commerce and
general prosperity of Ireland than it was. It kept the country out of
debt. The English Parliament were running into debt with lavish
hands, while the Irish Parliament, thrifty and economical, were
keeping down the public debt. I will now lay before you statements
as to the financial robbery perpetrated on this country since the
union. It was arranged that Ireland should be accountable for two
parts of the debt, and England for fifteen parts, and that proportion
as regarded Ireland was admitted to be too large, yet soon after the
union the Irish debt had increased *230 per cent., while that of Eng.
land was but 60 per cent. more than at the union. You find Eng.
land-increasing the taxation of Ireland by 4,000,000 per annum of
new taxation, and what prospect could the country have when with
those new taxes it was paying off not its owe debts, but those of
England ? In England there has beets since then a decrease in tax-
ation of 41,085,2021., while in Ireland the reduction amounts only
to 584,000/. ; its other words, a proportion of one.half to 41. I will
now read to you a document of much importance, as showing the
opinions of those most competent to judge, respecting the means re.
sorted to to carry the union. It is the protest of nineteen Irish
Peers against the union. A number of resolutions and reasons are
included in this protest; but I shall give you only two or three of
them. (The Hon. and Learned Gentleman read the 9th, 10th, and 11th
clauses ef the protest, in which the dissentients stated that they con.
sidered the swims a breach of trust, the settlement of 'B2 having
established the exclusive legislative authority of the Irish Parlia-
ment, without being liable to the interference of any other, and the
basest means, including the exercise of force and corm; tion,
having beets employed to carry it.) Among other injuries resulting
from the union is the total inadequacy of the representation of Ire.
land as contrasted with that of England, and in particular the in.
finitely less voice the people of this country have, by reason of the
deficiency in the Parliamentary registry of voters. This is apparent
from the Parliamentary returns. The population of Wales is
800,000, and that of Cork, as I said before, is 703,716, and yet
Wales sends 28 Members to Parliament, and Cork only two. With
regard to revenue also, the deficiency in the amount of which, its
Ireland, was an argument used against giving her a greater nuns.
her of representatives, I find its Parliamentary papers, published
in 1331, that the revenue of Ireland amounts to 4,392,0001.;
whereas the revenue of Wales only amounts to 348,000/. I
have looked into the statements of the amount of revenue col.
lected its the single port of Cork, and I find that, in one year, it
amounted to 263,0001., and its another to 272,000/. ; and yet the
great disproportion I have stated in the manlier of representatives
between that county and %Vales is permitted to exist. Another
complaint has been made, and justly made, of the inadequacy of the
representation of Ireland. Ireland, as you arc aware, has only
105 Members in the House of Commons, and I ant prepared to
show that upon Lord Castlereagh's oleo calculations we ought to
have 150 Members at least. Thus it is demonstrated that Ireland
has been defrauded in her franchise, defrauded Its her represent*.
tion, defrauded even in the details of her finances, and defrauded
in every one of the details of the union. Are you nut aware that
a considerable mitigation of the expenditure of the country has re.
suited iron the different revenue boards existing in Ireland ? Arc
they here now ? What has become of the Treasury Board P It
has been transplanted to England. The Customs, and Board of
Excise ? Transplanted to England. The Stamp-office and other
offices, whist' have been greatly diminished its numbers, and are
near extinction. The entire expenditure wine's mitigated the
taxation of Ireland has been all centered in England ; evens the
Old Mass's Hospital is expiring. I ask you, is it fair or reasonable
to the country to have centralization operating against us, and in
favour of England ? (The Learned Gentleman then read dons.
resents to show that au unfair proportion of Englishmen aunt
Scotchtnen had beets appointed to situations in Ireland over the
heads of Irishmen, and that the exports and imports from and to
Ireland had diminished since the union, and also one respecting
the number of looms working, and men employed in the liberty,
%%inch had decreased to a great extent, and proceeded to say, there
is no trade of which I could not read you similar lists, showing
the decrease of employment, and of master manufacturers who
I were reduced to poverty, together with their fatuities, by the
union.) House property had fallen to a most melanoholy pitch,
for in the best and most iashionable streets in Dublin the finest
house could be purchased for a very inconsiderable sum. It
into
not the want of materials that prevents me going further n , .
this detail, but there is no necessity
yourselves, Gentlemen,
formerly resided, and ;sots concentrated,
endeavour to prevent
these mansions whfc"rre wito.;ratliftinhjr.a,n: ilasnptliendnoessir.
leeted ; and the question
i''
wilimy:i'kue a change to effect
those IV' are., gone through to
the documents, to show you
it ? "a" now '''''-' -(1""g • Ireland before the union—
that existed in
;la:en:Lit°, ;nili,
it, i thei,i t.vt
ii(o.e
ttic prosperity
Itch, ei
~,e1.1::;!Itlit,,1 f;:i.,i,,..iu1: : ti . byt I,e, ;!iceri.l:
irtdwfarmo Itt:01::,r)
fi:i.,1,1)!
and inequality; and 1 tiow ask you—I appeal to you—whether I

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