The Sun.
London, England, 1828-08-19 00:00:00

t z
here for a trifling object, such as t 4 drink the " Glo.
rious Memory," or cheer the'', Prentice Boys. It i-;
my duty, as I am here, i&state to the meeting my
opinions with respect to that great question ; and I
beg the attention of this company to the description
of the condition to which, in my opinion, this sub-
ject has reduced the country. In place of an exclin,
sive devotion to the business of life, and an indus-
trious pursuit of professional occupations, the only
certain road to wealth and eminence, this question
has made every man, from the peer to the peasant,
a politician—it is the absorbing topic of every man's
discourse, and it is in consequence the fruitful pa-
rent of exaggerated fears of unmeasured pretensions,
of personal hatred, of religious fury, of political
strife, of calumny, of abuse and persecution, such as
is not to be found in any other part of the civi-
lizedtable,,om en of ; ur:e se utpspr you table-itatth Castle
it
world. No matter what your pursuits—no
matter what your disposition may be, the subject
pursues you in every part of the country. It is the
prevailing topic of your breakfast table, of your
dinner
isthe
of debate among men ; it is the cause of alarm
among
ofsuD
bju
eb
ct-
lin ; it meets you at the house of the country gen-
tleman; it creeps into our Courts of Justice; it in
to be found at the Grand Jury ; it is to be found at
the Petty Sessions; it is to be seen in the Vests
room; it is to be seen at the markets and stairs; it
is to be found even at our places of amusement ; it
meets you wherever you go. Would that the Wholr
evil ended here ; but we may see what the mischief
of such a state of things must be in the convulsed
state of society, and the annihilation of all those tie-,
upon which the well-being of society depends. The
state of Ireland isain anomaly in the history of ci-
vilised nations; it has no parallel in ancient or mo-
dern history, and being contrary to the character of
all civil` institutions,- it must terminate in general
anarchy and confusion. It is true that we have a
Government to which as outward obedience is
shewn, which is responsible to Parliament, and
answerable to God for the manner of administering
its functions, but it is equally true, that an immense
majority of the people look up, not to the legiti-
mate Government, but to an irresponsible and to a
self-constituted Association, for the admistration of
the affairs of the country. The peace of Ireland
depends not upon the Government of the King, but
upon the dictation of the Catholic Association.
(Cries of more's the shame; shame; why not put.
it down ?)—lt has defied the Government, and
trampled upon the law of the land ; and it is be-
yond contradiction, that the same power which
banished a Cabinet Minister from the representa-
tion of his county, because he was a Minister of the
King, can maintain or disturb the peace of the country
just as it suitstheir caprice or ambition. The same deli-
ger impends over every institution established by law.
The Church enjoys its dignity, and the Clergy enjoy
their revenues by the law of the land ; but we
know not how soon it may please the Catholic As-
sociation to issue its anathemas against the payment
of tithes, and what man is hardy enough to say
that the Catholic people will disobey its mandates
It depends upon the Catholic Association, no man
can deny it, whether the Clergy are to receive their
incomes, or not.—(Uproar.)—The condition of the
landlords is not more consoling : already they have
been robbed of their influence over their tenantry;
already they are become but mere ciphers upon their
estates, nay, in many places they are worse than
ciphers, they have been forced to become the tool,
of their domineering masters, the Catholic Priest-
hood, and it depends upon a single breath, a single
resolution of the Catholic Association, whether the
landlords are to be robbed of their rents or not. So
perfect a system of organization was never yet
achieved by any body not possessing the legitimate
powers of Government; ,it is powerful, it is arro-
gant, it derides, and it has triumphed over the en-
actments of the legislature, and in filling its coffer,
from the voluntary contributions of the people.—
(Uproar, cries of "No, no, they are not voluntary.")
The Cim,uaMAN here interfered and said—Yon
are bound to hear every observation that falls from
a speaker. When the next gentleman rises to speak
to the succeeding toast, he will, on his legs, have an
opportunity of controverting the statements of say
Hon. Friend. But, surely, in an assemblage like the:
present, common courtesy demands that every ger ,
tleman should be heard to the end.

Mr. DawsoN resumed, and said—As far as I knew
this county, I did not think I should have required
the interference of my friend, Sir George Hill to
procure me a hearing of what my views were of the
present state of the country. What I say is, that the
Catholic Association, by securing the voluntary con-
tributions of the people, consolidates to itself a power
from which it may supply the sinews of war, or under-
mine by endless litigation and persecution the establish-
ed institutions of the country. Such is the power of this
new phenomenon, and I will ask any man has it been
slow to exercise its influence ? In every place where
the Catholic population predominates, it is all
powerful and irresistible—it has subdued two-thirds
of Ireland by its denunciations more completely than
Oliver Cromwell or King William ever subdued the
country by the sword. The Aristocracy, the Clergy,
the Gentry are all prostrate before it. In those de-
voted regions a perfect abandonment of all the dig-
nity and influence belonging to station and rank
seems to have taken place, or if a struggle be made,
as in Clare, it is only to ensure the triumph-of this
daring Autocrat. In those parts of Ireland where
the Protestant and Catholic population is pretty
equally divided, the same influence is felt, if not in
so aggravated a degree, at least so mischievously,
that comfort and security are alike uncertain,
Amongst the two classes we see distrust and sus-
picion, a perfect alienation from each other in senti-
ment and habit, and an ill-suppressed desire to mea-
sure each other's strength by open warfare. Tll.l,
institutions of society arc reviled, the predomiv:anc,
of authority is lost, the confidence of the people in
the impartiality of the Court of Justice is impaired,
the magistracy is condemned or supported according
as it is supposed to lean to the Orangeman or the
Roman Catholic, and even trade and barter are re-
gulated by the same unhappy distinctions of reli-
gious feeling. Such, gentlemen, is the picture of
this country, a country possessing every material
by the bounty of God and the intelligence of its
natives,' to. become great, powerful, arid wealthy,
but in which every hope is blasted, and every ea
ertion frustrated by the unhappy dissentions of
people to rebellion.—
its inhabitants. And now, Gentlemen, it is
time to ask ourselves the question, what must
ehHetl.ie best security for the
be the result of such a disordered state of
things, and such a complete overthrow of all
—(Loud cheers, which
rebellion—andts lhtae l
shall
e blaei relations
go of
ttsiolocc
ciseroti
sooner
crush
?te
ri
tSi
.to
comes,
G e n
thetl soonere n
Now, I entertain a very
lasted several minutes.)
different opinion—it is net lie f interest, and !,
• firmly believe it is not the wis i o the Roman (!::„,
Loud cries from several
is-es) in that respect, 4,
the stake which they hold in the
country, and in
the moral conviction that they would be the first:
iklLuioroliiiicsidLoifieiatshsdeeesiri.s)intoteNnNdrtreiiovteasvt( .
tlainmatory
voices, “ No, no, we would be the first.") If a re-
bellion should take place, it will not be from the
orders or example of the Roman Catholic Leaders--
(uisses)—but fru). the readiness of the two con-
tending parties to come into conflict with
each other,
and from the total
impossibility of checking the
ebullition of popular 1 p irenzy, if the twa parties be
victims of a rebellion.—(
goaded and exasperated against each other by -in-
speeches or exaggerated misrepresenta-
tions. But the result will be a state of society far
worse than rebellion—it will be a revolution, a re •
volution not effected by the sword, but by under-
mining the institutions of the country, and involving
every establishment, civil, political, and rcligionE.----
There never was a time when the whole CatholiCatholicbodyt-(slid
trillionsa!gnilie or sixsyey little whether their
millions)—there never
was a time when the whole body was so completely
roused and engrossed by political passions as at pr,-
sent: They have found out the value of union;
they have put in practice the secret of combinceoe.,
i they feel a .confidence in the force of numbers, the,