The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-29 00:00:00

THE QUEEN V. DANIEL O'CONNELL AND OTHERS.

The Court sat this morning at ten o'clock, and we are
happy to say that Mr. Justice Burton is so far recovered
from his recent attack of illness as to be enabled to take his
seat on the bench with the other members of the Court.
Before the business of the day commenced, Mr. M'Do-
nough said he had (with the permission of the Attorney-Ge-
neral), a short application to make to the Court on behalf of
Colelough v. John T. Jessop and Edward O'Brien.
The Learned Counsel said he appeared then on behalf of
Mr. Colelough, who was an officer of police in the town
of Athlone, and who sought for a criminal information
against the defendants for having written a letter to hip
with the view of provoking him to fight a duel, and for having
posted him in the town of Athlone as a liar, a coward, &c.
The facts are shortly these :—The plaintiff and Mr. Jessop
were acquainted for some time, and, on Dec. 29 the latter
called on plaintiff; when a conversation took place rela-
tive to Doctor Gardiner, when plaintiff said, " Oh, he is a
five-shilling doctor ;" this was said in jocularity, and nothing
more was heard about it until six days after, when Dr. Gar-
diner's brother called on Mr. Colclough, who explained, and
apologised for the expression. Subsequently, on the 11th
of January, the defendants walked the streets, in order to
horsewhip plaintiff; but, failing to meet him, a hostile letter
was written to him, and, on the 13th of January, the de-
fendants posted a placard on the walls of Athlone, calling
plaintiff a coward and a liar. He was proceeding to read
the placard, when
The Chief Justice said—That is quite sufficient—take a
conditional order.

Mr. Smyley handed in the Freeman's Journal of the 4th
of April, which was proved by Mr. Vernon.
Turn to the first column, third page, at the top.
Mr. Bourne then read the proceedings at the weekly meet-
ing of the Association, at which John Kelch, Esq., Ook the
chair.

. Mr. Smyley—Go to the seoond column and read what lir.
Steele said.
Clerk of the Crown—" Mr. Steele, immediately after
Mr. O'Connell sat down, came forward, and as a repeal
warden of London, presented him with an address from
the repeal wardens of London on the occasion of the
triumphant result of the debate in the Corporation on the
repeal question, and concluded amid loud applause by
moving that the address be inserted on the minutes. Town
Councillor White seconded the motion, which was carried
amidst acclamation. Mr. O'Connell then moved that his son
Maurice, having declared himself ready to accept the office of
Inspector of Repeal Wardens for Munster, be appointed to that
office, which motion was put and carried. Mr. Duffy handed
in 21. from Newtownlimavady, and 'Moved the admission of
Messrs. Coghlan and men as members.'
Mr. Smyley—Now go to the fifth column, and you'll seo a
letter; read it.
The Clerk of the Crown--" Mr. 'Ray read the follow •
ing letter from General Clooney. The letter contained a
remittance 61., 51. of which was the subscription of oat
hundred associates, and 11. the personal subscription of
General Clooney. Mr. O'Connell moved the General's
letter be inserted on the minutes, and that the thanks of.
the Association be given to this esteemed veteran and patriotic
friend of his country, which motion, was put and carried.
Mr. Barrett handed in 30s. from his own neighbourhood,
Drimna, and moved the admission of the subscribers as asso•
ciates, which was put and carried. lie also handed in 61.105.
:om Newtownbarry, a place which he said was famous in
Irish story."

'reembreyaandsirf.roin it the report of
Mr. O'llagan—Refer to columntheurth
commencing wt with ftl'the
Counsellorsam
"Counsellor Duffy handed
Repeall Asieciation on the
in 31. 25., and moved the admission of Peter C. Roche. Esq."
JournalVernon,n o
wasthe 3
givenl t of
priauCgtre;Yer.kanodf trleleadCrothwen p(reassaadgireig)—
May,
theMrp. proceedto the
ings
ghsanodfe handed inhe t e
nhfastihneg
Cbereollivnp,rol:.-hedn
pre-
vious day, at which Patrick Hayes, Esq., was called to
the chair. Several members were admitted. Mr. O'Connell
handed in 311. 10s. from Youghal, and moved the admission
of the Rev. Richard Smithy and Mr. John O'Lomasney, and
having passed a high encomium on the patriotism of both
gentlemen, moved their admission, which was seconded
by Mr. ohn O'Connell, and Passed unanimously. Mr.
O'Connell next said that he had to correct a typo-
graphical error in the admirable report of the pro-
ceedings at Longford, which appeared in the Freeman's
Journal. He was reported to have called the soldiery of
Britain " a ruffian soldiery," but he did no such thing; they
were an exceeding well behaved set of men. He seldom or
ever saw a soldier in the dock. He also spoke of the ser-
geants as an exceeding well-informed and well-behaved
body of men, and said if justice was done them one should be
promoted to the rank of an officer in each company. What
he said was in the words of the beautiful ballad—
" And now a sad maniac, she roams the wild common,
Against minions of Britain she warns each woman,
And sings of her father in strains more than human,
While the tear drops do fall from poor Elleen O'More."
Mr. Close requested of the Clerk of the Crown to read Mr.
O'Connell's speech at the Loyal National Repeal Association,
on the 30th of May, 1843.
The Clerk of the Crown complied, and r3ad the speech la
question.
Mr. Close—Go to the report of the Longford meeting.
The Clerk of the Crown then read the speech of Mr.
O'Connell, proposing the health of the Bishop of Ardagh,
and the speech of the Bishop in returning thanks. The next
health proposed was that of the Bishop of Meath, and the
Right Rev. Prelate, in returning thanks, said he cordially
concurred in every expression used by the Bishop of Ardagh
Some other documents having been read, among them
some referring to the arbitrators, their duties, character,
and appointment, together with a form of submission to an
arbitration award,
Charles Hovenden, a police-constable, was then called and
examined by Mr. Brewster.—The witness proved that Mr.
John O'Connell acted several times as arbitrator in the
Blackrock Arbitration Court, and that Dr. Gray acted once
in the same capacity.
This was the last witness called on the part of the Crown ;
'and the Attorney-General then rose, and said that the case
for the Crown was closed. It was now exactly a quarter
past three o'clock.
After a short pause, Mr. Moore rose and said that Mr.
Mr. Sheil, who was to open the case for the traversers, as
counsel for Mr. John O'Connell, was unwell for two or three
days. Ho had been sent for, and stated that he was con-
fined to his bed, but he would be able to attend to-
morrow. He hoped under the circumstances that the Court
would adjourn the case till to-morrow.
The Chief Justice said the application was only reasonable.
The Court accordingly adjourned till to-morrow.
Mr. Justice Perrin said he would remain in Court if any
gentleman had motions to make, but there was a general
rush from the Court, when it was known the Crown had
closed, and that the State trials wore adjourned.

TWELFTH DAY.--BY EXPRESS,
DUBLIN SATURDAY, JAN. 27.
The full Court sat this morning precisely at 10 o'clock
It being publicly known that the case for the Crown had
terminated, and that Mr. Sheil, Q.C. and M.P, was to
open the case for the defence, the greatest anxiety pre-
vailed. The hall of the courts and the adjoining avenues
were-thranged to excess at an early hour, The interior
of the court presented a very novel scene, and every
part of it was crowded almost to suffocation. We have
never on any occasion observed so many elegantly at-
tired females in a court of justice. Almost all the nobi-
lity wits their families, at present in town, whc. could

' procure admission were present. We observed Mr. t esnstructive crime, find its way amongst us ; bit, thank
William S. O'Brien, M.P., and several other influential God, it is not to England that I am driven excluiivery
and popular gentlemen in the gallery. When the judges ' to refer for a solitary example of the aversion of twelve
had taken their seats the most death-like silence pre- honest men to prosecutions for conspiracy. You remem-
veiled, and every eye was turned in the direction of the ber the prosecution of Forbes, and of Handwich, and
great orator, and when he rose to address the jury we other Orangemen of an inferior class, under Lord Wel-
have never witnessed a more impressive or solemn scene. lesley's adesinstration; they were guilty of a riot in the
The Right Hon. Gentleman then proceeded as follows: theatre, but they were charged with having entered into
—May it please your Lordships and Gentlemen of the a great political confederacy to upset Lord Wellesley's
Jury, lam Counsel for Mr. John O'Connell. The im- Government, and to associate him with the " exports of
portance of this case is not susceptible of exaggeration, Ireland." The Protestant feeling of Ireland rose—ad-
and Ido not speak in the language of hyperbole when I dresses were poured in from almost every district in
say that the attention of the empire is directed to the the country, remonstrating against a proceeding which
spot in which we are assembled. How great is the trust was represented as hostile to the liberties of the country,
reposed in you—how great is the task I have undertaken. and a great stretch of the prerogative of the Crown.
to perform ? Conscious of its magnitude, I have risen to The jury did their duty, and refused to convict the tra-
address you, not unmoved, but undismayed indeed • for versers. I recollect that the Irish Catholics at that
at this moment how many incidents of my own political time, heated by feelings of partisanship, were rash
life come back upon me, when I look upon my great enough to wish for a conviction. Fatal mistake ! A
political benefactor, my deliverer, and my friend ; but precedent would have been created, which would soon
of the emotion by which I acknowledge myself to be have been converted into practice against themselves.
profoundly stirred, although 1 will not permit myself Gentlemen, we are living in the midst of strong political
to -be subdued by it, solicitude forms no part. .1 vicissitude. God forbid that I should even live to see
heist great reliance upon you—upon the ascendancy the time--(for I hate to see ascendancy of every kind)
of principle over prejudice in your minds ; and I am —God forbid that I should ever live to, see the time, or
not without reliance upon myself. Ido not speak in the that our children should ever live to see the time, when
language of vain-glorious self-complacency when I say there shall be found Catholic Judges at a trial at bar
this. I know that lam surrounded by men infinitely upon that bench, and the entire of the: 'government bar
,my superiors in every forensic, and in almost every in- who shall be engaged in a public prosecution, shall be
teffectual, qualification. My confidence is derived not Roman Catholics ; and when a Catholic crown solidi-
from any overweening estimate of my own faculties, but tor shall strike eleven Protestants from the special
from a thorough conviction of the innocence of my jury list, and leave twelve Roman Catholics in that box. I
client. I know, and I appear in some part not only as re-assert it, and exclaim again, in all the sincerity
an advocate but a witness before you, I know him to be of my heart, that I pray that such a spectacle never
innocent of the misdeeds laid to his charge. The same shall be exhibited in this the first criminal court in
blood flows through their veins—the same feelings cir- the land. I know full well the tendency of power
culate through their hearts. The son and the father are to abuse. We have witnessed strange things, and strange
'in all political regards the same, and with the father I thingS we may yet behold. It is the duty, the
i have toiled in no dishonourable companionship for more solemn duty—it is the interest, the paramount interest—
-than half my life in that great - work, which it is his of every one of us, before and above everything else, to
chief praise that it was conceived in the spirit of secure the great principles of liberty—in which we all
peace—in the spirit of peace it was carried out—and have an equal concern—from invasion, and to guard
; that in the spirit of peace it was brought by him against the creation of a precedent which may enable
,to its glorious consummation. I am acquainted seine future Attorney-General to convert the Queen's
with every feature of • his character, with his Bench into a Star Chamber, and commit a further inroad
thoughts, hopes, fears, aspirations. I have—if I may upon- the principles of the Constitution. Gentlemen of
, venture so to say—a full cognizance of every pulsation the Jury, it is my intention to show you that my client
of his heart. I know—l am sure as that lam a living is not guilty of any of the conspiracies charged in the
man—that from the sanguinary misdeeds imputed to indictment ; and in doing so I shall have occasion to
him, he shrinks with abhorrence. It is this persuasion advert to the several proceedings that have been adopted
—profound, impassioned—and I trust that it will prove by the Government, and the evidence that has been laid
contagious—which will sustain me in the midst of the before you. But before I proceed to that head of the
exhaustion incidental to this lengthened trial ; will en- division which I have traced out for myself, I shall show
able me to overcome the illness under which I am this the jury what the object of my client really was. I shall
moment labouring ; will raise me to the height of this show you that that object was a legal one, and that it
great argument, and lift me to a level with the lofty was by legal means that he endeavoured to attain it.
topics which I shall have occasion to treat in resisting a The Attorney-General, in a speech ofconsiderable length,
prosecution, to which, in the annals of criminal but not longer than the greatness of the occasion amply
jurisprudence in this country no parallel can be justified, adverted to a great number of diversified topics,
found. Gentlemen, the Attorney-General, in a state- quoted the speeches of Sir Robert Peel and of
ment of eleven or twelve hours' duration, read a long Lord John Russell. He adverted to the report of the
series of extracts from speeches and publications, ex- secret committee of the House of Lords in 1797, and he
tending over a period of nearly nine months. At the referred to the great era of Irish parliamentary inde-
, termination of every passage which was cited by him, he pendence, 1782. That he should have been so multifa-
gave utterance to expressions of strong resentment rious and discursive, I do nst complain. In a case of
against the men by whom sentiments so noxious were this incalculable importance, we should look for light
circulated, in language so envenomed. If, gentlemen wherever it can be found. I shall go, somewhat farther
of . the jury, his anger was not simulated ; if his than the year 1782; but do not imagine that I mean to
indignation was not merely official ; if he spoke -enter into any lengthened narration or elaborate expa-
as he felt, how does it come to pass that no tiation. Long tracts of time may be swiftly traversed.
single step was ever taken by him for the pur- Ido not think that any writer has given a more emu-
pose of arresting the progress of an evil represented by rate, or more interesting account of the first struggle of
him to be so calamitous? He toldyou that the country was Ireland for the assertion of equal rights than Sir Walter
traversed by incendiaries who set fire to the passions of Scott. He was a Tory. He was bred and born, per-
' the people ; the whole fabric of society, according to the haps, in some disrelish for Ireland; but when he came
Attorney-General, has been a blaze for the last nine amongst us, his opinions underwent a material alters-
months ; wherefore then did he stand with folded arms to tion. The man who could speak of Scotland in those
' gale at the conflagration ? W here were the Castle fire-en- noble lines, which were cited in the course of this
giries—where was the indictment—and of the ex-officio trial, with so much passionate attachment, made a just
information, what had become ? Is there not too much allowance for those who felt for the land of
reason to think that a project was formed, or rather that their birth the same • just emotion. In his life
a plot was concocted, to decoy and ensnare the traversers, of Swift, he says, Molyneux, the friend of Locke, and
and that a connivance, amounting almost to sanction, was of liberty published in 1698, " The case of
deliberately adopted as a part of the policy of the:Govern- Ireland being bound by acts of Parliament in England
went, in order to betray the traversers into indiscretions stated," in which he showed with great force, that the
of which advantage was, in due time, to be taken ? I right of legislation, of which England made so oppres-
have heard it said that it was criminal to tell the people to sive a use, was neither justifiable by the plea of con-
"bide their time;" but is the Government to "bide its time" quest, purchase, or precedent, and was only submitted
in order to turn popular excitement to a useful official to from incapaoity of
effectual resistance. The temper
account"? The public prosecutor who gives an indirect of the English House of Commons did not brook these
encouragement to agitation, in order that he may after- remonstrances. 'lt was unanimously voted that these
wards more effectually fall upon it, bears some moral affi- bold and pernicious assertions were calculated to shake
nity to the informer, who provokes the crime from whose the subordination and dependence of Ireland, as united
denuuciation his ignominious livelihood is derived. Has and annexed for ever to the Crown of England, and the
the Attorney-General adopted a course worthy of his vote of the House was followed by an address to the
great office—worthy of the ostensible head of the Irish Queen, complaining that although the woollen trade
bar, and the representative of its interests in the House was the staple'manufacture of England, over which' her
of Commons? Is it befitting that the successor of Sarnia, legislation was accustomed to watch with the utmost
and of Plunkett who should keep " watch and ward" care, yet Ireland, which was dependent upon and pro-,
from his high station over the public safety, should des tected by England, not contented with the linen manufac-
scend to the performance of functions worthy only of a ture, the liberty whereof was indulged to her, presumed
commissary of the French police ; and in place of being also to apply her credit and capital to the weaving of her
the sentinel, should become the st Artful Dodger" of the own wool and woollen cloths, to the great detriment
State ? But what, you may ask, could be the motive of of England. Not a voice was raised in the British
the. Right Hon. Gentleman for pursuing the course he .House of Commons to contradict maxims equally impo-
has adopted, and for which no explanation has been at- 'litic and tyrannical. In acting upon these commercial
tempted by him ? He will have obtained no advantage restrictions, wrong was heaped upon 'wrong, and insult
signally serviceable to his party by prosecuting Mr. Bar- was added to injury—with this advantage on the side to
rett, or Mr. Duffy, or Dr. Gray, for strong articles in the aggressors, that they could intimidate the people of
their newspapers ; or by prosecuting Mr. Steele, or Mr. , Ireland into silence by raising, to drown every com-
Tierney, for attending unlawful assemblies. lie did plaivant, the cry of "rebel, and Jacobite." When Swift
not fish with lines—if I may avail myself of an illustra- came to Ireland in 1714 he at first devoted himself to
tion derived from the habits of my constituents at literary occupation ; but at length his indignation was
Dungarvon—but cast a wide and firmly constructed aroused by the monstrous wrongs which were inflicted
trammel-net, in order that by a kind of miraculous , upoa his country. He was so excited by the injustice
catch he might take the great agitator-leviathan, him- which he abhorred that he could not forbear from ex-
self a Member of Parliament, Tom Steele, the three edi- claiming to his friend Delany, "Do not the villanies of
tors of newspapers, and a pair of priests in one stupen- men eat into your flesh ?" In 1720 he published a pro-
dous bawl together. But, gentlemen, there was another posal for the use of Irish manufactures, and was charged
object still more important to be gained. Had the At- with having endeavoured to create hostility between dif-
torney-General prosecuted individuals for the use of ferent classes of his Majesty's subjects, one of the
violent language, or for the attending unlawful meetings, charges preferred in this very indictment. At that time
each individual would be held responsible for his own the judges were dependent upon the Crown. They did not
acts ; but in a prosecution for a. conspiracy, which is possess that "fixity of tenure"
,which is a security
open to every one of the objections applicable to con- for their public virtue. They are now no longer
structive treason, the acts and the speeches of one man thank God, "tenants at will." They may be mistaken—
, are given in evidence against another, although the latter they may be blinded by strong emotions—but cortupt
may have been at the distance of a hundred miles when they cannot be. The circumstances 'detailed in the fol-
the, circumstances used aeainst him as evidence, and of lowing passage in the life of Swift could not by possibi-
' which he had no sort of cognizance, took place. By lity occur in Modern times. " The storm which Swift
' prosecuting Mr. O'Connell for a conspiracy, the Attor- had driven was not long in bursting. It was intimated to
ney-General treats him exactly as if he were the editor Lord Chief Justice Whitshed by a person in great of-
of the Freeman, the editor of the Nation, and five" (this, if I remember right, was the expression used
the editor of the Pik newspapers. Indeed. if by Mr. Ross in reference to a great unknown, who sent
' five or six other editors of newspapers in the him here)" ;hat Swift's pamphlet was published for the
country had been joined as traversers, for every line in' purpose of setting the two kingdoms et variance ; and it
their newspapers Mr. O'Connell would be held re- was recommended that the printer shbuld be pitesecuted
sponsible. There is one English gentleman, I believe with the uttermost rigour. Whitshed was not a person'
upon that jury. If a conspiracy were instituted, to neglect such a hint, and the arguments of Govern-
`against the AntkeCorn-law Leaguee in England, would ment were so successful that the grand juries of the
he-not think it very hard indeed that Mr. Cobden and county and city presented the Dean's pamphlet as a
Mr. Bright should be held answerable for every article- seditious, factious, and virulent libel. Waters, the
in the Chronicle, in the Globe, and in The Sun ? How printer, was seized and forced to give great bail ;
large a portion of the ease of the Crown depends upon but, upon his trial, the jury, though some pains had
this implication of Mr. O'Connell with three Dublin been bestowed in selecting them, brought him in not
neWspapers ?—He is accused of conspiring with men guilty ; and it was not until they were worn out by the
who certainly never conspired with each other. For Lord Chief Justice, who detained them eleven hours,
those who know anyi;hing of newspapers are aware that and sent them nine times to reconsider their verdict, that
that they are melcan.ile speculations—the property in they, at length, reluctantly left the matter in his hands,
them is held by s'..tare_7—and that the very circumstance - by a special verdict ; but the measures of Whitshed
of their being engaged in the same politics alienates the were too vitilent to be of service' to the Government ;
proprietors from each other. They pay their addresses men's minds revolted against his iniquitous conduct."
lto the same mistress, and cordially detest each other. I Sir Walter Scott then proceeded to give an account of
, remember to have heard Mr. Barnes, the celebrated the famous Draper's letters. After speaking of the first
editor of the Times newspaper, once ask Mr. Rogers three, Sir Walter Scott says, "It was now obvious, from
what manner of man was a Mr. Tomkins •, to which the temper of Ireland, that the true point of difference
Mr. Rogers replied, "he was a dull dog, who read the between the two countries, might safely be brought
Morning Heron." Let us turn for a moment from the before the public." In the Draper'a fourth letter, ac-
Repeal to the anti-Repeal party. You would smile I think cordingly, Swift boldly treated of the Royal prerogative
at the suggestion that Mr. Murray Mansfield and Mr. by the almost exclusive employment of natives of Eng-
Kemmy Sheehan should enter into a conspiracy toga- land, in places of trust and emolument in Ireland ;of the
they 1 Those gentlemen would be themselves astonished- dependence of that kingdom upon England, and the
at the imputation. Suppose them to be both members power assumed, contrary to truth, reason, and justice, of
of the ConservatiVe Association ; Would that circum- binding her by the laws of a Parliament in which she had
stance be sufficient to sustain, in the judgment of men no representation." And, gentlemen, is it a question
of plain sense, the charge of conspiracy upon them ? too bold of me to ask, whether if Ireland have no
Gentlemen, the relation in which Mr. Duffy, Mr. Barrett, effective representation—if the wishes and feelings of
and Dr. Gray stood to the Repeal Association, is exactly the representatives of Ireland upon Irish questions are
the same as that in which Mr. Staunton, the proprietor held of no account—if the Irish representation is utterly
of the Weekly Register, stood towards the Catholic A sso- merged in the English, and the Minister does not, by a
elation. He was paid for his advertisements, and his judicious policy, endeavour to counteract it—as he
newspaper contained emancipation news, and Was sent to might, in the opinion of many men, at least effectually
those who desired to receive it. Mr. Staunton is now a do—is not the practical result exactly the same as if
member of the Repeal Association ;he will tell you that Ireland had not a single representative in Parliament ?
his connection with that body is preciiely of the same Gentlemen, Swift addressed the people of Ireland upon
character as that which existed with the cele- this great topic, in language as strong as any that
breed body to which I have referred ; he will Daniel O'Connell' has employed. "The remedy," he
prove to you, that over his paper Mr. O'Connell says. "is wholly in your own hands. . . . By the
exercises no sort of control, and that all that is laws of God, of nations, and of your country, you are,
done by him in reference to his paper, is the result and ought to be, as free a people as your brethren in
of his own free and unbiassed will. The speeches made England." "This tract," says Sir Walter Scott, " pressed
at the Association and public meetings were reported at once upon the real merits of the question at issue.
by him in the same manner as in the other public. jour- and the alarm was instantly taken by the English Go-
ngs ; he is not a conspirator ; the Government have vernment, the necessity of supporting whose iloulination
not treated him as such. Why ? Because there were devolved upon Carteret, who was just landed, and ac-
ne poems in his paper like "The Memory of the Dead," cordingly a proclamation was issued offering 3004 re-
which, although in direct opposition to the feelings of ward for the discovery of the author of the Draper's
Mr. O'Connell, and which he had frequently expressed, fourth letter, described as a wicked and malicious
is now used in evidence against him. Gentlemen, I pamphlet, containing several seditious and scandalous
have said enough to you to show how formidable is this passages, highly reflecting upon his Majesty and his
doctrine of conspiracy—of legal conspiracy—which is Ministers, and tending to alienate the affections of his
so far removed from all notions of actual conspiracy, to good subjects in England and Ireland from each other."
show you further how cautious you ought to be in find- Sir Walter, after mentioning one or two interesting
ing eight of your fellow-citizens guilty of that charge. anecdotes, says—" When the bill against the printer of
The defendants are indicted for conspiracy, and for no- the Draper's letters was about to be presented to the
thing else. No counts are inserted for attending un. grand jury, Swift addressed to that body a paper en-
lawful assemblies. The Attorney-General wants a tiled ' Seasonable Advice,' exhorting them to remember
conviction for conspiracy, and nothing else. He has the story of the Leyone mode by which the
deviated in these particulars from English usage wolves were placed with the sheep on con-
-in indictments for a conspiracy, counts for at- dition of parting with their shepherds and
tending unlawful assemblies are in England uniformly mastiffs, after which they ravished the flock at pleasure.
introduced. English juries have almost uniformly mans • A few spirited verses, at dressed to the citizens at large.
fested an aversion to find men guilty of a conspiracy. and enforcing, similar topics, are subscribed by the
Take Henry Hunt's case as an example. When that Draper's initials, and are, doubtless, Swift's own com-
case was tried England was in a perilous condition. It I position, alluding to the charge that he had gone too far
had been proved before a secret committee of the House : in leaving the discussion of Wood's projects to treat of
of' Commons, of which the present Earl of Derby, the the alleged dependence of Ireland. He concludes in
father of Lord Stanley. was the Chairman, that large these lines—
bodies of men were disciplined at night in the neigh. "If, then, oppression has not quite subdued
bourhood of Manchester, and made familiar with the use At once your prudence and your gratitude—.
of arms. An extensive organisation existed. Vast pub- If you yourselves conspire not your undoing—
lie assemblies were held, accompanied with every revo- And don't deserve, and won't bring down your ruin--
lutionary incident in furtherance of a revolutionary, ob-
If yet to virtue you have some pretence—
ject—yet, an English jury would not find Henry Hunt If yet you are not lost to common sense,
guilty of conspiracy, but found him guilty, on the fourth Assist your patriots in your own defence;
count of the indictment, for attending an unlawful assem- t That stupid cant, 'he went too far,'-despise,And know that to be brave is to be wise t
bly. Some of the Chartists were not found guilty of a Think how he struggled for your liberty,
conspiracy, but were found guilty upon counts from which And give him freedom while yourselves are free."
the word ' conspiracy" is
the left ouion was t. Gentlem, the pro- At the same time was circulated the memorable and apt
mises of Mr. Pitt, when Un carried,en have not
;quotation from Scripture, by a Quaker (I don't know,
been fulfilled. The prospects presented by him in his gentlemen, st hetlier hm is naive was Robinson, but it ought
magnificent declaration have not been realised ; but, if in , to have been)—" And the people said unto Saul, shall
so many other regards we have sustained a most griev- Jonathan die who bath wrought thygreat salvation in
ous disappointment—if English capital has not adven-
Israel. God forbid ! As the
tured here--if Englishmen have preferred sinking their ligveth there shall
not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he hath
fortunes in the rocks of Mexico rather than embark them
wrou
in speculations connected with this fine but unfortunate . ht with God this day ; so the people rescued
Jonathan and he died not." Thus admonished by
country—yet, from the Union, let one advantage at all : verse, law,
events be derived. Let English love of i ti 1 and Scripture
elt was in vain that the Lord'the grand jury assembled.
usce--et Chief Justice Whitshed,
English principles—let English horror of oppression—let i
English detestation of foul play—let English loathing of ' who had denounced the Dean's former tract as seditious,
and procured a verdict against the prisoner, exerted bim-
i

self upon a similar occmion. The hour for intimidation
was passed. Sir Wetter Scott, after .• detailing in'
stances of the violence of Wintshed, "and desmibing
the rest of the Dean's letters, says—" Thus victoriously
terminated the first grand struggle thr the independence
of Ireland. The eyes of the kingdom were now moved
with one consent, upon the man by whose unbending for-
titude and pre-eminent talent this triumph was accom-
plished. The Draper's held became the sign ; his por•
trait was engraved, worn, upon handkerchies, struck
upon medals; and displayed in every possible manner as
the Liberator. of Ireland. Well might that epithet
" grand," be applied to the first grand struggle of the
people of Ireland by that immortal Scotchman, who was
himself so "grand of soul," and whof of mental loftiness,
as well as of the magnificence of external nature, had
perception so fine; and well might otir own Grattan, wit°
was so great and so good, if! referring to his own achieve'
meet, in 1782, addresses to the spitit of Swift, and to
the spirit of Molyneux, his enausiastic invocation. And
may not I, in such a cause as this, offer up my pinYer'
that of the spirit by which the soul of Henry Grattan was
itself influenced, every remnant in the bosoms of MY
countrymen may not be extinguished. A prosecution
was not instituted against the great conspirators of 1782'
The English Minister had been taught in the struggles
between England and her colonies a lesson from ad"
versity, that schoolmistress, the only one from who!?
Ministers ever learn anything—who charges so much
blood, so much gold, and such torrents of tears, for he;
instructions. In reading the history of that time, and
in tracing the gradual descent of England from the tone
of despotic dictation to the reluctant acknowledge
meat of disaster, and to the ignominious confession
of defeat, how many painful considerations Itre,
presented to us ! If in time—if the English
nister in time had listened to the eloquent warnings °f
' Chatham or to the still more oracular admonitions of
Edmund Burke, what a world of woe would have been
avoided! By some fatality, England was first demente°9
and then was lost. Her repentance followed he* peg
dition. The colonies were lost ; but Ireland was sar,,
by the timely recognition of the great princip n" le on which
her independence was founded. No Attorney-Gene 5
was found bold enough to prosecute:Flood and Grattan
for a conspiracy. With what scorn would twelve Irish'
men have repudiated the presumptuous functionary by
whom such an enterprise should have been attempted,
Irishmen then felt that they had a country ; they exte
under the influence of that instinct of nationality'
which, for His providential purposes, the author of nature
has implanted in us. We were then a nation—V.
were not broken into fragments by those dissensions 9,
which we are at once enfeebled and degraded. If we
were eight millions of Protestants (and, Heaven forgive
me, there are moments when, looking at the .virongl
done to my country, I have been betrayed into the
guilty desire that we all were) ; but if we were eight
miltioas ~f Protestants, should we be used as'we ar!'
Should we see every office of dignity and emolumentl
this country filled by the . natives of the sister islaod7
Should we see the just expenditure requisite for thp
provement of our country denied ? Should we ste twir.
quit and crown rents of Ireland applied.to the ilnrld
meat of Charing-cross or of Windsor Castle ? 611411„,d
we submit to the odious distinctions between Ens 44.
men and Irishmen introdueed into almost eTerY
of legislation 7 Should we bear with an Arms! -flit
by which the Bill of Rights is set at nought{
Should we brook the misapplication of a poor. 1101
Should we allow the Parliament to proceed as if we 1' r
not a voice in the legislature? Should we submit to oe.
present inadequate representation? Should we allo/bire
new tariff to be introduced, without jaing us tip
slightest equivalent for the manifest loss we have tss
tamed ? And should we, not peremptorily require W..
the Imperial Parliament should hold a periodical sect
sions fin. the transaction of, Irish business in the inetl,
polls of a powerful, and, as it then would be, env tuLit
valid country? But we are prevented by our wretent,
religious distinctions from co-operating for it single °..1#1,
ject, by which the honour and substantial interests ,of °44
country can be promoted.- Fatal, disastrous, deteetal.,
distinctions ! Detestable, because they are not Ob.!.
repugnant to the genuine spirit of CRtristianity, and 01,4
statute for the charities of religion ti:e rancorous an
'i4
pathies of sect ; but because they practically reduce 0,
to a colonial dependency, make the union a name, 101
vent a nation into an appurtenance, make us the
of the Minister, the scorn of England, and the coeanm'in
ration of the world. Ireland is the only country.
Europe in which abominable distinctions between: fur
testant and Catholic are permitted to continue. In
many, where Luther translated the Scriptures ; the
France, where Calvin wrote the Institutes ; aye, in is
land of the Dragonades and the St. Bartholomew° ;di,
the land from whence the.forefathers of one of the jar
cial functionaries of this Court, afathe first Minister;
officer of the Court, were barbarously driven----the Tr.
tual wrongs done by Catholic and Protestant are `;‘,,
giien and forgotten, while we, madmen that we
~.I_,ool
arrayed- by that fell fanaticism 'Which, driven 'Lee
every other, country in Europe, has found a 're,1,790
here, precipitate ourselves upon each other in the
encounters of sectarian. ferocity in which
country, bleeding and lacerated, is trodden. under
w 01
' d:
and our island, which might be the noblest in the °!„,,,
is miserably degraded, and her national resources 01,
developed by those who counteract the designs of nstnq
and who become conspirators against the Providence
God.—(Loud cheers and clapping of- heads, which e°"
tinued for some seconds.) highly
Chief Justice—Such interruptioni as that are hig
indecorous, and if that conduct be repeated, I shall cut'
tainly order the Court to be cleared. lam sure that Y°u
yourself, Mr. Shell, are sensible of the impropriety °
such interruptions.
Mr. Shei!...Noone, myLord, can deprecate more tbail
Ido such modes of expressing opinion in the COurt. ft
•
is not by such means that the jury can be persnade._
I am much obliged to your Lordship for the o'isersatkr
as it has afforded me a moment's rest.
Chief JusVc3—Whenever you feel exhausted;
Sheil, you may sit down. Bi•
Mr. Sheil—l thank your Lord-hip. (The flio
Hon. and Learned Gentleman then proceeded.) has
the prosperity of our country, arehitecture
left us its magnificent attestation. This temple pi
dicated to justice, stands among the witnesses, silent sal;
solemn, of the glory of Ireland, to which I may aPP:kg,
It is seen from afar off. It rises high above the so'
and din of this populous city; it is the type of that
elevation, over every contaminating influence, to wab),es
every man who is engaged in the sacred administr u
of justiee can ascend. The penal laws were-enaeted Tie
and relaxed by freemen. The Protestants of
the
land had been contented to kneel to England upon de,
Catholic's neck. They rose to a nobler attituo,
and we were permitted to get up. In
„,17•Ted
the Protestants of Ireland, who had nett— to
political rights, communicated civil privilers lee,
their fellow-subjects. 1n.1793 they granted us tnen,ehere
tive franchise--a word of illustrious etymoingP tho-
can be no doubt that the final adjustment of the CA ties
lie question upon terms satisfactory to both Taro.
would have been effected, and without puttin. the Oh •
try to that process of fearful agitation through whienatd
has passed, if the rebellion of 1798, so repeatedlY,,,-„nop
with a Sincerity so unaffected, denounced by Mr. 0 lion,
nell, had not marred the hopes, of the country, and esd his
tially contribUted to the Union. Mr. Pitt borrowed e
plan of the Union from that great soldier to whaeltial.
gentry of this country are under obligations so esse:uP
It must be acknowledged, however,, that they. i e
of
the zeal of their loyalty for the • republican olf. the
their estates. Oliver Cromwell first advise
Union. He returned 400 members for Digital(' re,
for Scotland, and as many for this country ; a„re.
port of the debates in that singular assembly
,wass is
served by Thomas Burton, who kept a diary, alto°
stated in that book which I hold in my hand tO „a
been a member in the Parliaments of Olivervh„,l
Richard Cromwell, from 1656 to 1659. It was pill"'e to.
a few years ago from a MS. in the British billswhe
The members from Ireland were English soldiers, 0
had acquired estates in Ireland. You would stifirt,s•
that they were cordially welcomed by their Engll9 and
sociates, for they were Englishmen, bred and' b°rll;tition
they had very materially contributed to the tranir..o. _fee•
of Ireland. I hope I use the most delicate and least oh
sive term. I acknowledge that I had anticipated as ben I
before I read the book. What was my surprise vir ed
found that these deputies from Ireland were consider bad
be in some sort contaminated by the air-which t!l• ua•
breathed in this country, and that they were 01 oen•
courteously treated by the English Member,. ,Sese
tleman whose name ought to be Copley, says, e,
men are foreigners." The following is the sPee fog-
" Mr. Gewen said, it is not for the.honour Pf th„„rer
lish nation for foreigners to come and have riveter
this nation. They arc but provinces at best." ,:'oef
Clarges says, on behalf of Ireland, page 114, 0 had
(the Irish) were united with you, and have alWaYouetle
an equal right with you. He that was King of -L'il'figb°
was King of Ireland or Lord. If you have -not ipurrf•
to sit here, you must in justice let them have a Those
meat at home. How safe that will be, I question. Pet'
better
sons." sit for them are not Irish teagues; but faith
crarer
sons." Mr. Gewen again observes—" It were rarlis-
both for England and for Ireland that they
ulloardb4roilliitt:
meats of their own. It is neither safe, just,
able to admit them. Let them rather have a "1-1 soetdt
merit of their own." Mr. Antic observes—" rth ;ore
as to the convenience in relation to. England, much sit
is to be said v•hy those who serve for Scotland sshdier de'
here. It is one continent, and elections are ea ~:er for
termined ; but Ireland differs. It is much nfsis the
them to have Parliaments of their own. That nt. Boa
old constitution. It will be difficult to change_hijof
dangerous for Ireland. They are under an imP0.5.1 nefef
of redress. . . . . . Their grievances c_aiL,i:ced.,
be redressed. Elections can never be rota °.
Though they were but a province, there were °.`"
justice and parliaments as free as here. . • •-•eyatiees
pray that they may have soon to hear their theni
in their own nation, seeing that they cannot •us_•• I sei
heard here." Sir Thomas Stanley observe, in Ire:
naturally
nII,IIY-sc.tific)leilgr°°::
not to speak for Ireland, but for the English arid
use to
land' The members for Ir bon
htlaieveelvecc)tteosrsinarme
aakllinEgngialiwslsnbeyn,wwhilicho
verned ; they have fought your battles, obtained at
,f/
sorted
lament,y sought t war
solemnly." _ You may ask of me, wherefore is %bug
ooubrtainitenedresbtsy, designed by the famous
ilruboyaft:
these references ? I answer, because' the in 'Tits for,
country may change the Government---rneaYr_rsis, of the
undergo. essential modifications-; but th
nationalth ry characterday th, itslei;keep vl aa
inig us age; t
jler
ave ventu _ Bras
elsewhere towards this country what I h w
elsewhere the instinct of doMination. ,
e Pars` &cif
the Protestants of Ireland, when th „. veva e
ground to powder, the very same feepo4
thisiprouOtesta.ttoi
of which we see manifestations to
question is not one between Catholic
can,., and
but the question is between the greater.eauoeui;r
feeme inngss the
o: e=asvilniF
keep
smaller, which the greater country end f the raen•.l'7,B
under an• ignominious control.
voted for the Union lived to repent it ; a grc ,
himself, when designated as a p!ebela2 'e T
he
Whig patrician, lamented the mistake 114*4
Man.*.
nd Let cf "'Jae

111

[nidation
ing in-
'scribing
oriOusly
lencience
rit-moved
ling for-
: accom-
his por•
, struck
inner as.

epithet
Or the
who was
loftiness,
re, had
An, who
achieve-
and Soi
And
prayer,
ttan was
s of mY
secutjon
of 1782.
waggles
rora ad'
a whom
io much
for her
one, and
the tone
Lowledr
infession

ins are
lish 311'
f rings o
itions of
Lye bell
raenten,
her pe_Ar'
as say''-
•fl which
General
Grattan
re Irish,,
Inary
a'
;eroPteA
.ytete'
)f nature
ion—we
sions

10 or-
hat You'f
wiety 0

)re 06/1
urt.
.susde(4.
rrationt

.a, gr.

The Union was carried by corruption and by fear.
The shrieks of the rebellion still echoes in the nation's
ear. The Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, and martial
law had been proclaimed. The country was in a state
of dege—the Minister had a rod of steel for the people,
and a purse of countless gold for the senator. Ile ap-
peared with a crop of Cadmus to the one, and like the
shower of Danm to the other ; but in the midst of that
parliamentary profligacy, at which even Sir Robert
Walpole would haie been astonished, the genius of the
country remained incorruptible—Grattan, Curran, and
the rest of those famous men, whose names cast so
bright a light upon this, the brighest part of our history,
never for a Moment yielded to a sordid or ignoble impulse.
All the distinguished men of the bar were faithful to their
SOUntry. Sir Jonah Barrington, in his history of the Rise
°M Fall of'the Irish Nation, has quoted the speeches of
tae most eminent men of our profession ; amongst which
Those of Mr. Goold, who argued the question of right
with equal eloquence and subtlety, Mr. Joy, Mr. Plun-
ket, Mr. Bushe, and Saurin are conspicuous. Lord Plun-
denied the right of Parliament to destroy itself. Mr.
'3aftrin appealed to ahe authority of Mr. Locke. The'same
eo...urhe was taken by Mr. Bushe, whom we have lost so
~kY—Bushe, whom it was impossible for those by whom
"le noblest eloquence was justly prized, not to admire—
'Phoni if was impossible for those by whom the purest
Worth was justly estimated not to reverence; and whom it
1'43 impossible for those by whom a most generous and
eXalted nature conic' be' appreciated not to love. The
43t°riley-General has stated that the opinions of these emi-
tent persons, delivered at the time of the Union, ought
t° be held in no account. lam not surprised that that
observation should be applied by him to Lord Plunket,
wheal recollect he so recently quoted one of his Lordship's
Phorienas, ;when he was endeavouring to induce the
"Mt to break through all its res, in order to assist
•
the eagerness of his pursuit. ul
All the finesse of
f in
•°rin was to be thrown down in order to accelerate the
career of her Majesty's Attorney-General. But what
reason will he give for not attaching any value to
e authority 0 f Mr. Saurin. He said Mr. Saurin
expressed his opinions in mere debate. So that the
important priniciples solemnly laid down in par-
aMentary debate are to -be regarded as little better
than mere forensic asseveration. I can now account for
some
speeches which I heard in the House of Commons
regarding the education question. I think, however,
that if such doctrines be propounded in the House of
Commons
e itself, they, would be listened to with surprise.
'on have heard, gentlemen. in the course of this trial,
zoinething of the morality of war, and also something of
tltile morality of rebellion, which the Right Hon. Gen-
man was pleases :, to. substitute as a synonyme for
; but of the morality of Parliament, I trust you will
°t farm an estimate from the specimen presented to
)'°l.l by,lier Majesty's Attorney-GeneraL But these
ePblions.ev.ere expressed before the ACt of Parliament
wits passed. Surely the truth of great principles does
aot depend upon an Act of Parliament. They are not for
age, but for all time. They are immutable and im-
perishable. They are immortal as the mind of man,
apable of decomposition or decay. The- question
Mfore you is not _whether these principles are well or
r:founded, but you must take the fact of their having
deco expressed into your consideration, where you have
ti 2 determine the intent of the men upon whose motives
•7111°11 have to adjudicate. The great authority to which
tof traversers appeal gives them a right to a political
Bration upon your part, and should induce you to think
"s even if they. were led astray, they were led astray
e the authority cif men with whom surely it is no dis-
.edit to coincide.. But whatever we may think of the
irlietvalidity of the union, you must bear in mind that
be' O'COnnell hal, again and again stated that the Union
tetog law must, as long as it remains law, be submitted
tirl and ill his positions regardinhelicon validity of the
ei,_'°o have no other ebject than titutional in-
thTnent of the people to adopt the most effectual means
6jugh which the law itself may be repealed or modi-
'a. The union was a bargain and sale. As a sale it
tt 'Profligate, and the bargain was a bad one ; for better
.
hit might have been obtained, and may be still ob-
Att,!d, if you do . not become the auxiliaries of the
t "toeY-General...
nt Three-fourths of the Irish Pro-
s were suppressed. Not a single English member
14 abstracted, and there can be no doubt we stood
that a relation towards the English members,
of"-, we were completely nullified in the House
be '3lnoions. But, gentlemen, one could perhaps
`-reconciled to the terms of the union, bad as they
er.
t .f the results of the union had been beneficial
fati3 118 COUntry. We are told by some that our menu-
te,„'urea and our agriculturalproduce have greatly aug-
theta ; but what is the condition of the great bulk of
diar, °Pie of the country, which is, after all, the con-
''ttion which, with Christian statesmen, ought to
irligh_b the most. The greater happiness of the greater
tle,i'vr la a Benthamite antithesis ; but there is a great
4.oin-1-Christianity condensed in it. When travellers
France, from Germany, from America, arrive in
tlii, "
tee, "Untry, and contemplate the frightful spectacle
aieue,nted by the misery of the people, although pre-
thes'Y Prepared by descriptions of the national misery.
flof" ',stand aghast at what they see, but what they could
stet 'aye imagined. Why is this ? How does this
efbi:itof things arise in a country which Bacon, and
over Spenser, notwithstanding their masterdom
lee the English language, seem to be at a loss for
°nine age. sufficiently glowing to describe ? If we look at
dit• r countries, and find the people in a miserable con-
ton .
vvextribute- the fault to the Government. Are
to ,o to attribute it to the soil, to the climate, or
0,..un1e evil genius who exercises a sinister influence
pllirenstrrerl
•
destinies ? The fault, as it appears to me,
Y in that system of policy which has been
tieeou'ted... by the 'imperial Parliament, for which, on this
gents of the union is to be condemned. Let me see,
0 thrill"; whether I can make out my case. I shall
Suei°°gb ag facts with great celerity ; but
totatima efase ass this I should not apprehend the im-
mosit) being wantonly prolix. Your time is, in-
tittle., valuable, but the interests at stake are ines-
mi uiy preclous ; and time will be scarce noted nerdou
minion bear in mind that the effects of your ict
e felt when generations have pissed away—when
hitvrY heart that now throbs in this great as•embly shall
aye e ceased to palpitate—when ihe eontenti. ns by which
of were once agitated shall touch u•• le; further; and all
Catholic and Protestant, Whig and Tory, Radical
aale"Pettler, and Conservative, shall have been gathered
Ahje all at last shall go down in peace together. The
etietiTeasures adOpted in the Imperial Parliament were a
the nation of martial law, an extended sus!r n&on of
foe;.4.:l3eas Corpus Act. Mr. Pitt was honestly anxious
tit,te`_7 Catholic emancipation, and to make at the same
..„0111Provieion for the Roman Catholic clergy. You may
fati,„_? of you may—perhaps, think that Catholic
vieripation ought never to have been car-
Ai,,' bat if it was to be carried, how much
h f,,rt would it have been to have settled
throtiVour years ago, and without putting the country
periocti that ordeal of excitement through which the Ira-
n rarliament, by the procrastinate a ofjusti(•e, forced
tioa pis ? Mr Pitt, by transferring the Catholic ques-
ta, o;vrom the Irish to the Imperial Parliament, destroyed
Platof
-'clog able
and furnished a proof that,. in
his 0 eing able to place Ireland under the protection
tt.rcing. 4g.enitis, be placed it under the control of the
itt ret Puss prejudices of the English people. Mr.
outs firned to the first place in the Ministry, with-
fl°wever, bv • able
.. e mg to make any stipulations for
!ton 0/"T nt of his own engagements, or the realise-
`°r th the policy which he felt to be indispensable
Pesti,: Peace of Ireland. The Roman Catholic
tape • - was brought forward in 1805, and was lost in an
bottlerial Hou
of se of Commons. Mr. Pitt died after the
preytuastrlitz, and was succeeded by the Whigs.
then
„,,, ect a measure, which the Tories, who drove
le!, • -•"' on the eNo Popery " cry, carried in 1816, and
1)A-lielne.t"uced the new doctrine, that the usefulness of
tie, on'uwellsures is to be tried far best upon the princi-
tyl' TO they were founded, than by the parties
11:),, Whig, fre! were accomplished. The expulsion of
for.,e been a
fora office in 1806,. may, in your judgment,
.nnate, it ratnate proceeding ; but fortunate or un-
eta of jr, furnishes another proof that the Govern-
thebDart "Land bad been made over, not so much to
iarnent as to the great mass of the people
Mahe irZstllitt
_Parliament is held under control.
whlthlires____ 'find. in the portfolio of the Whigs two
tho draft-bill for Catholic Emancipation,
th,‘-Duke of Wellington, then Sir Arthur Welles-
% 4 ecretary for Ireland, flung into the fire ; and
nal, to which clauses have been recently added,
kr() eie
ven m
tatty may e r. Shaw declared were "w wantonly severe."
e, oneeive that an Arms Bill, ith all its moles-
the „mar
be required; but it is beyond question that,
1819, when England was on the verge of a
'12,14'1 kinistao such Bill was ever propounded by the Bri-
twargetne Y; and granting, for a moment, for the sake
h'::oesty that some such Bill is requisite, how scan-
tlf a ee,i't nst country have been governed for almost
required , °LY, if this outrage upon the Bill of Rights be
.•°eee naving passed the Arms Bill and the Insur-
ale`i ,let it
it, a appropriate adjunct, the Imperial Parlia-
glee ded to reduce the allowance to Maynooth.
"bouie 18 but 0 •
opinion regarding Maynooth—that it
oin Catholic !7catot
it (yed, and suppressed, or largely and munificently
an ( duration should be given to the
titir ic clergy such as a body exercising such
tik th;." ought to receive. _There are some who
set ins were better that the Catholic clergy were
q,;.11 Church-eran Francs,. Ido not wish to see a gallo-Hiber-
Ireland. PariAan manners may be re-
,,tre. kid it,Ltb,l test of Irish moral;ty, and I own that I
t7eYtten "'oufeil attached to my sovereign, and to the here o•
eoo,..ray country with England, to -desire that
-ment, f7tors of French ambition, that these instru-
L4Nhilti French intrigue, should be located in every
t).% ponsear_onaiyision of the country. State to an Eng-
ePtiltrong ttve--point out to him the imp-vane,. of
priz.,_career for intellectual exertion, by holding
t‘itif tree." ;1 getnies at Maynooth, and he will say, it is
j 43, the Ineu_t_nne Enulish Government are
.unable to
otherl oft' th'es re. Niihy ? Because the religious ob
An-
decade the resultsPeonle of England are in the way. _ si„_e of the Legislative Union: In 1810, a
Is.nirtseraki:ec the Union had elapsed, the country was in
te.:an condition •
universal, —its destitution, its degradation.
iii nee of V.felt, and by none more than the Pro-
w Sheri ublin. A requisition was addressed to the
fi °f the eit • •
'vti3 and „Oils. , signed by men of the greatest
ineetes°ll.ed, se_ - Rieration amogst us. A meeting
fadeie4 Art:rO'Connellwas[ attended. He had in 1800
_4;4 rretdo thbouys
fhoirws fierfsat .1)' ee.b against the Union, and in 1810 he
tho,
n.ndenounce that measure. The speech
on that occasion was precisely
ibvilieh s'"h e ntlmerous and most powerful harangues
been read
you. He is represented in 1844
Olt -aJest to
neral as influenced by the
1,1 teeitT3 ttorne....Ge
the are to baud.ra-tilyeer
toosgtezwrorinthy order that
The pe0e41,3:
e41,3: rise
)e, ablish n-1 ofd that a sanguinaryor e r
republic
a signalhid
tiotomewhat inconsistent with the magni-
(e'ad which Daniel O'Connell is to should
Dkjpt corona
ei.,totfta
,Ivhich, however, degenerated into the
s51(10 to 1841t1181.elsoe
?arenthee
k4atatweiruelitahgehUlbalsjletetsiifn
the jveheine"nutteV.he !time topics of declamation, the
. ltry, / Jurations, are employed. Gentle of
rea4 that speech to, you Men

"Mr. O'Connell declared that he offered himself to the
meeting with unfeigned diffidence. He was unable to do
justice to his feelings, on the great national subject on which
they had met. He felt too much of personal anxiety to allow
him to arrange in anything like order, the many topics
which rushed upon his mind, now that after ten years of
silence and torpor, Irishmen again began to recollect their
enslaved country. It was a melancholy period, those ten
years, a period in which Ireland saw her artificers starved
—her tradesmen begging—her merchants become bankrupts
—her gentry banished—her nobility degraded. Within
that period domestic turbulence broke from day to day into
open violence and murder. Religious dissensions were ag-
gravated and embittered. Credit and commerce were anni-
hilated—taxation augmented in amount and in vexation.
Besides the " hangings off " of the ordinary assizes, we had
been disgraced by the necessity that existed for holding two
Special Commissions of death, and had been degraded by
one rebellion—and, to crown all, we were at length insulted
by being told of our growing prosperity. This was not the
painting of imagination—it borrowed nothing from fancy.
It was, alas! the plain representation of the facts that had
occurred—the picture in sober colours of the real state of
his ill-fated country. There was not a man present but
must know that more misery existed than he had described.
Such being the history of the first ten years of the Union, it
would not be difficult to convince any unprejtidiced man, that
all those calamities had sprung from that measure. Ireland
was favoured by Providence with a fertile soil, an excellent
situation for commerce, intersected by navigable rivers, in-
dented at every side with safe and commodious harbours,
blessed with a fruitful soil, and with a vigorous, hardy,
generous, and brave population; how did it happen, then,
that the noble qualities of the Irish people were perverted—
that the order of Providence was disturbed, and its bless-
ings worse than neglected? The fatal cause was obvious—
it was the Union. That those deplorable effects 'would fol-
low from that accursed measure was prophesied. Before
the Act of Union passed, it had been already proved that
the trade of the country and its credit must fail as capital
was drawn from it—that turbulence and violence would in-
crease when the gentry were removed to reside in another
country—that the taxes should increase in the same propor-
tion as the people became unable to pay them! But neither
the arguments nor the prophetic fears have ended with
our present evils. It has also been demonstrated, that as
long as the Union continues so long must our evils accumu-
late. The nature of that measure, and the experience of
facts which we have now had, leave no doubt of the truth
of what has been asserted respecting the future; but, if
there be any still incredulous, he can only be of those who
will not submit their reason to authority. To such persons
the authority of Mr. Foster, his Majesty's Chancellor of
the Exchequer for Ireland, would probably be conclusive,
and Mr. Foster has assured us that final ruin to our country
must be the consequence of the Union. I will not dwell,
Mr. Sheriff, on the miseries on my country; I am disgusted
with the wretchedness the Union has produced, and I do
not dare to trust myself with the contemplation of the
accumulation of . sorrow that must overwhelm the land
if the. Union be not repealed. I beg to. call the atten-.
tion of the meeting to another part of the subject. The
Union, Sir, was a violation of our national and inherent
rights ; a flagrant injustice. The representatives whom we
had elected for the short period of eight years had no
authority to dispose of their country for ever. It cannot be
pretended that any direct or express authority to that effect
was given to them, and the nature of their delegation ex-
cludes all idea of their having any such by implication. They
were the servants of the nation, empowered to consult for its
good; not its masters to traffic and dispose of it at their
fantasy, or for their profit. I deny that the nation itself had
a right to barter its independence, or to commit political
suicide; but when our servants destroyed our existence as
a nation, they added to the baseness of assassination all the
guilt of high treason. The reasoning upon which those
opinions are founded is sufficiently obvious. They require no
sanction from the authority of any name ; neither do I pre-
tend to give them any weight by declaring them to be con-
scientiously my own ; but if you want authority to induce
the conviction that the Union had injustice for its principle,
and a crime for its basis, I appeal to that of his Majesty's
present Attorney-General, Mr. Saurin, who in his place m
the Irish Parliament, pledged his character as a lawyer and
a statesman, that the Union must be a violation of every
moral principle, and that it was a mere question of prudence
whether it should not be resisted by force. I also appeal
to the opinions of the late Lord High Chancellor of Ireland,
Mr. George Ponsonby, of the present Solicitor-General, Mr.
Bushe, and of that splendid lawyer, Mr. Plunket. The
Union was therefore a manifest injustice; and it con-
tinues to be unjust at this day ; it was a crime, and
must be still criminal, unless it shall be ludicrously said that
crime, like wine, improves by old age, and that time mollifies
injustice into innocence. You may smile at the supposition,
but in sober sadness you must be convinced that we daily
suffer injustice; that every succeeding day adds only
another sin to the catalogue of British vice; and that if the
Union continues it will only make the crime hereditary,
and injustice perpetual. We have been robbed, my
countrymen, most foully robbed, of our birthright, of
our independence; may it not be permitted us mourn-
fully to ask how this consummation of evil was per-
fected? for it was not in any disastrous battle that our
liberties were struck down; no foreign invader had de-
spoiled the land; we have not forfeited our country by any
crimes ; neither did we lose it by any domestic insurrection ;
no, the rebellion was completely put down before the Union
was accomplished; the Irish militia and the Irish yeomanry
had put it down. How, then, have we become enslaved?
Alas! England, that ought' to have been to us a sister
and a friend--England, whom we had loved, and fought
and bled for—England, whom we have protected, and whom
we do protect—England, at a period when, out of 100,000
seamen in her service, 70,000 were Irish—England stole
upon us like a thief in the night, and robbed us of
the precious gem of our liberty, she stole from us that
which not enriched her, but made us poor indeed.' Re-
flect, then, my friends, on the means employed to effect this
disastrous measure. I do not speak of the meaner instru-
ments of bribery and corruption. We all know that every-
thing was put up to sale--nothing profane or sacred was
omitted in the Union mart. Offices in the revenue, com-
mands in the army and navy, the sacred ermine of justice,
and the holy altars of God, were all profaned and polluted
as the rewards of Union services. By a vote in favour of
the Union, ignorance, incapacity, and profligacy obtained
certain promotion ; and our ill-fated, but beloved country, was
degraded to her utmost limits before she was transfixed in sla-
very. But I do not intend to detain you in contemplation of
those vulgar means of Parliamentary success, they are within
the daily routine of official management ; neither will I direct
your attention to the frightful recollection of that avowed
fact, which is now part of history, that the rebellion itself
was fomented and encouraged in order to facilitate the Union.
Even the rebellion was an accidental and a secondary cause
—the real cause of the Union lay deeper, but is quite ob-
vious—it is to be found at once in the religious dissensions
which the enemies of Ireland have created, and continued,
and seek to perpetuate among themselves, by telling us off,
and separating us into wretched sections and miserable sub-
divisions; they separated the Protestant from the Catholic,
and the Presbyterians from both ; they revived every anti-
quated cause of domestic animosity, and invented new pre-
texts of rancour ; but, above all, my countrymen, they be-
lied and calumniated us to each other, and they continued
to repeat that assertion until we came to believe it ; they
succeeded in producing all the madness of party and reli-
gious distinctions, and whilst we were lost in the stupor of
insanity, they plundered us of our country, and left us to
recover at our leisure from the horrid delusion into which
we had been so artfully conducted. Such, then, were the
means by which the Union was effectuated. It has stripped
us of commerce and wealth—it has degraded us, and deprived
us, not only of our station as a nation, but even of
the name of our country. We are governed by foreigners—
foreigners make our laws, for were the hundred Members
who nominally represent Ireland in what is called the
Imperial Parliament, were they really our representatives,
what influence could they, although unbought and
unanimous, have over the 558 English and Scotch
Members? But what is the fact ? Why that out of
the hundred, such as they are, that sit for this country,
more than one-fifth know nothing of us, and are unknown
to us. What, for example, do we know of Andrew Strahan,
printer to the King? What can Henry Martin, barrister-
at-law, care for the rights and liberties of Irishmen ? Some
of us may, perhaps, for our misfortunes, have been com-
pelled ..to read a verbose pamphlet of James Stevens, but
who knows anything of one Crile, one Hughan, one Cackin,
or of a dozen more whose names I could mention, only be-
cause I have discovered them for the purpose of speaking to
you about _them; what sympathy can we in Our sufferings
expect from those men? What solicitude for our' interests?
What are they to Ireland or Ireland to them? No, Mr.
Sheriff, we are not repreiented ; we have no effectual share
in the legislation ; the thing is a mere mockery. Neither -is
the Imperial Parliament competent to legislate for us; it is
too unwieldy a machine to legislate with discernment for
England alone; but with respect to Ireland, it has all the
additional inconveniences that arise from want of interest
and total ignorance. Sir, when I talk of the utter ignorance
in Irish affairs of the Members of the Imperial Parliament, I
do not exaggerate or mis-state ; the Ministers themselves are
in absolute darkness with respect to this country. I under-
take to demonstrate it. Sir, they have presumed to speak of
the growing prosperity of Ireland; I know them to be vile
and profligate ; I cannot be suspected of flattering them ;
yet, vile as they are, I do not believe that they could have
had the audacity to insert in the speech, supposed to be
spoken by his Majesty, that expression, had they known
that, in fact, Ireland was in abject and increasing poverty.
Sir, they were content to take their information from a pen-
sioned Frenchman, a being styled Sir Francis D'lvernois,
who, in one of the pamphlets which it his trade to write,
has proved by excellent samples of vulgar arithmetic, that
manufactures are flourishing, our commerce extending, and
our felicity consummate. When you detect the Ministers
themselves in such gross ignorance as, upon such authority,
to place an insulting falsehood as it were in the mouth of
our revered Sovereign, what think you can be the fitness of
nine minor imps of legislation to make laws for Ireland? In-
deed, the recent plans of taxation sufficiently evince how in-
competent the present scheme of Parliament is to legislate for
Ireland. Had we an Irish Parliament, it is impossible to
conceive that they would have adopted taxes at once
Oppressive and unproductive, ruinous to the country, and
useless to the Crown. No, Sir, an Irish Parliament, ac-
quainted with the state of the country, and individually
interested to tax proper objects, would have, even in this
season of distress, no difficulty in raising the necessary sup-
plies. The loyalty and good sense of the Irish nation would
aid them ; and we should not now perceive taxation unpro-
ductive of money, but abundantly fertile in discontent. There
is another subject that peculiarly requires the attention of
the Legislature ; but it is one which can be managed only by
a resident and domestic Parliament—it includes everything
that relates to those strange and portentous disturbances
which, from time to time, affright and 'desolate the fairest
districts of the island. It is a delicate, difficult subject, and
one that would require the most minute knowledge of
the causes that produce those disturbances, and would
demand all the attention and care of men, whose
individual safety was connected with the discovery
of a proper remedy. I do not wish to calculate the
extent of evil that may be dreaded from the outrages I al-
lude to, if our country shall continue in the hands of foreign
empirics and pretenders ; but it is clear to demonstration,
that no man can be attached to his king and country who
does not avow the necessity of submitting the control of this
political question to the only competent tribunal—an Irish
.Parliament. The ills of this awful moment are confined to
our domestic complaints and calamities. The great enemy
of the liberty of the world extends his influence and his
power from the Frozen Ocean to the Straits of Gib-
raltar. He threatens us with invasion from the thousand
ports of his vast empire ; how is it possible to resist him
with an impoverished, divided, and dispirited empire. If
then you are loyal to your excellent Monarch—if you are
attached to the last relic of political freedom, can you he-
sitate to join in endeavouring to procure the remedy for
all your calamities—the sure protection against all the
threats of your enemy—C:e Repeal of the Union. yes,
restore to *lrishmen their country, and you may defy the
invader's farce ; give back to Ireland her hardy and brave
population, and you have nothing to dread from foreign power.
It is useless to detain the meeting longer in detailing the
miseries that the Union has produced, or in pointing out
the necessity that exists for its repeal. I have never met
any man who did deplore this fatal measure which has des-
poiled indnadip--
„id i, his
theal in co unt
stirayo;d nwohr
who could
dbe eove foundthere
ovei so
tao
probation of that measure.— I would be—glad to see the face
of the man, or rather of the beast, who could dare to say
he thought the Union wise or good--for the being who could

THE S-UN,-LONDON,-M-oNDA-Y

/say so must be devoid of.nll the feelings that distinguish
humanity. With the_ knowledge that such were the senti-
ments of the universal Irish nation, how does it happen that
the Union has lasted for ten years ? The solution of the
question is easy—the Union continued only because we
despaired of its repeal. 'Upon this despair alone has it
continued—yet what could be more absurd than such de-
spair? If the Irish sentiment be but once known—if
the voice of six millions be raised from Cape Clear
to the Giant's Causeway—if the men most remark-
able for their loyalty to their King and attachment to
constitutional liberty, will come forward as the
leaders of the public voice, the nation would, in an hour,
grow too great for the chains that now shackle you, and
the Union must be repealed without commotion and without
dlffieulty. Let the most timid amongst us compare the pre-
sent probability of repealing the Union with the prospect that
in the year 1795 existed of that measure being ever brought
about. Who in 1795 thought an linion possible? Pitt
dared to attempt it, and he succeeded. It only requires the re-
solution to attempt its repeal. In fact, it requires only to enter-
tain the hope of repealing it, to make it impossible that the
Union should continue ; but that pleasing hope could never
exist, whilst the infernal dissensions on the score of religion
were kept up. The Protestant alone could not efpect to
liberate his country—the Roman Catholic alone could not do
it—neither could the Presbyterians—but amalgamate the
three into the Irishman, and the Union is repealed. Learn
discretion from your enemies—they have crushed your
country by fomenting religious discord, serve her by aban-
doning it for ever. Let each man give up his share of the
mischief, let each man forsake every feeling of rancour.
Yet, I say not this to baiter with you, my countrymen, I
require no equivalent,from you; whatever course you shall
take, my mind is fixed ; I trample under foot the Catholic
claims, if they can interfere with the repeal ; I abandon
all wish for emancipation if it delays the repeal. Nay,
were Mr. Perceval to-morrow- to offer me the repeal of the
Union upon the terms of re-enacting the penal code, I de-
clare from my heart and in the presence of my God,
that I would most cheerfully embrace his offer. Let us,

then, my beloved countrymen, sacrifice our wicked and
groundless animosities on the altar of our country; let that
spirit which heretofore emanating from Dungannon spread
all over the island, and gave light and liberty to the land,
be again cherished amongst us—let us rally round to the
standard of old Ireland, And we shall easily procure the
greatest of political blessings, an Irish King, an Irish House
of Lords, and an Irish House of Commons."

Gentlemen of the Jury, I entreat you to take
this speech into your box—to compare it with the
speeches read on behalf of the Crown, and by that com-
parison to determine the-course which you ought to take
when the liberty of your fellow-subject is to depend
upon your judgment. At that aggregate meeting, in-
cluding so large a pfirtion of the Protestant inhabitants
of this town, with ;-the; High Sheriff of the Dublin
Corporation in the:chair, a series of resolutions was
passed against the union. It was determined that peti-
tions should be presented to Parliament, and that they
should be entrusted. to _ Sir Robert Shaw and to Mr.
Grattan. Sir Robert Shaw, in his answer, stated, that
he had supported the union in Parliament, and that his
opinions upon the subject were unaltered. The follow-
ing is the answer of Mr. Grattan, and that answer af-
fords a proof of tlik -falsehood of an allegation often
made, that a great change of opinion had taken place in
the mind of that illustrious man with respect to the Le-
gislative union

" Gentlemen—l have the honour to receive an address
presented by your COmmittee, and an expression of their
wishes that I should present certain petitions and support
the repeal of an Act .entitled the Act of Union ; and your
Committee adds, that'it speaks with the authority of my
constituents, the freemen and freeholders of the city of
Dublin. I beg to assure your Committee, and through them
my much-beloved and much-respected constituents, that I
shall accede to their proposition. I shall present their pe-
tition, and shall support the repeal of the Act of the Union,
with that decided attachment to our connection with Great
Britain, and to that harmony between the two countries,
without which the connection cannot last. I do not impair
either, as I apprehend, when I assure you I shall support
the repeal of the Act-of the Union. You will please to ob-
serve, that a proposition of that sort, in Parliament, to be
either prudent or possible,:must wait till it is called for and
backed by the nation. When proposed I shall then—as at
all times I hope I shall—prove myself an Irishman, and
that Irishman whose first and last passion was his native
country. • " HENRY GRATTAN."
" Backed by the nation!" Mark that phrase. It occurs
again and again in the speeches of Mr. O'Connell. Mr.
O'Connell again and again declares, that unless backed
by the nation nothing can be accomplished by him. And
if it be a crime to apply all the resources of his intel-
lect, with an indefatigable energy and an indomitable
perseverance, to the attainment of the just means de-
scribed by Mr. Grattan in the phrase, "backed by the
nation," then is the son of Daniel O'Connell guilty.
But it will be stronger, indeed, if, in the opinion of
twelve men of plain sense and of sound feeling, it should
be deemed a crime to seek the attainment of Repeal by
the only instrumentality by which Mr. Grattan said it
could be effected. What is the meaning of " backed
by the nation?" What is the nation? We say, the
Irish Catholics. The enormous majority of the peo-
ple are the nation.. We say the Irish Protestants,
who have the property of the country at large, being in
the exclusive enjoyment of great intellectual advantages,
and who are united, organised, and determined, are the
Irish nation. The Irish Catholics and the Irish Protest-
ants are both in the wrong. Neither constitute the Irish
nation. Both do. And it was the sustainment of both

that Mr. Grattan considered to be indispensable to make
the proposition in Parliament either prudent or pos-
sible. That just object—the combination of all
classes and of all parties in this country—Mr.
O'Connell has laboured to attain. You may think
that he has laboured, and with labour in vain,
to attain it ; but you cannot consider it criminal
to toil for its accomplishment • and if you conceive that
was his object, and the object Of his son—or if you have a
reasonable doubt upon the subject, you are bound to
acquit him. In 1812 Mr. I'erceval lost his life, and
efforts were made to.contruct a Cabinet favourable to
emancipation : the project failed, and a State prosecu-
tion against the Catholic board was resolved on. Mr.
Burrowes was the counsel for the defendants, and at the
outset of his speech, he boldly adverted to the fact that
not a single Roman t- Catholic was upon the jury. lie
said " that the exclusion of Roman Catholics from the
jury was calculated to bring the administration of the
law into disrepute ; and he expressed his solemn, and I
believe sincere, conviction, that the Protestant jury
which he addressed resented the office which had been
assi,,ned to them, and were indignant at a selection from
which so many inference might be derived. It might at
first appear likely thiti a Protestant jury would take an
address so bold in bad part; but they gave Mr. Burrowes
credit for his manly frankness, and they acquitted the
traversers. The Crown resorted to a second prosecu-
t!on; means more effectual were adopted, and a conviction
was obtained. Mr. aurin did not deny that the Ro-
man Catholics had been excluded. He was of opinion
that Protestant ascendency should everywhere prevail,
and not least in those public tribunals, which are armed
with so much authority, and exercise so much influ-
ence over the fortunes of the State. I did not blame
Mr. Saurin. He acted, in all likelihood, conscien-

tiously, and whatever were his faults, duplicity was
certainly not amongst the number. I saw him in the
height of his power and in his fall : he was meek in
his prosperity, and in his adverse fortune he was serene.
The lustre of adversity shone in his smile; for his faults,
such as they were, his home, an almost inevitable inherit-
ance of antipathy, furnishes an excuse. How much
more commendable was his conduct and the conduct of
the Government of the day, than if they had been pro-
fuse of professions they never meant to realise, and had
offered an insult to the understanding as well as a gross
wrong to the rights of the Irish people •, and yet I shall
not be surprised if, notwithstanding all that has hap-
pened, the same cant of impartiality shall be persevered
in, and that we shall hear the same protestations of
solicitude to make no distinction between Catholics
and Protestants in all departMents, but more es-
pi•cially in the administration of the law. The screen
falls—" the little French milliner" is disclosed—
" by all that is horrible, Lady Teazle ;" yet
Joseph preserves his self-possession, and deals in senti-
ment to the last. But if, after all that has befallen, my
Lard Eliot shall continue to deal in sentimentality in
the House of Commons, the exclamation of Sir Peter
Teazle, " Oh, damn your sentiment !" will break in
upon him on every side. The Government, as I told
you, in 1812 succeeded in their State prosecution. What
good for the country was effected by it ? Was the Ca-
tholic question put down, or did a verdict facilitate the
Government of Mr. Peel, who was soon after appointed
Secretary for Ireland ? lie was an Irish Member. You
are surprised at the intimation. He was returned for
the borough of Cashel, where a very small, but a very
discriminating constituency, under the influence of some
very weighty arguments, though they had never seen
him, and, I believe, he had never seen the chapel of
St. Cormack, were made sensible of his ,surpassing
merits. It has been remarked, that young statesmen
who are destined to operate upon England are first sent
to dissect upon this country. Mr. Peel had a fine hand
and admirable instruments, and he certainly gave proof
that he would give the least possible pain in any ampu-
tations which he might afterwards have to perform. He
was decorous—he avoided the language of wanton in-
sult ; endeavoured to give us the advantages of a united
despotism, and " dwelt in decencies for ever." Yet, was
his Irish government, and he must have felt it, an utter
failu-e—he must have seen,. even then, the irresistible
arguments in favour of Catholic Emancipation ; but he
had not the moral intrepidity to break from his party, and
to do at once what ho,,was compelled to do afterwards.
The Insurrection Act was renewed, the disturbances of
the country were not diminished, and Ireland continued
to reap the bitter fruits of Imperial legislation. A new
policy was tried after Mr. Peel had proceeded to Eng-
land, and the notable expedient was adopted of counte-
ract;ng the Secretary with the Lord Lieutenant, and the
Lord Lieutenant with the Secretary. We had Grant
against Talbot, and Wellesley against Goulburn. It is
almost unnecessary .to say, that a Government carried
on upon such a principle was incapable of good. The
Roman Catholics of Ireland had been led from time to
time to entertain the hope that something would be done
for their relief. Their eyes were opened at last by
the" disingenuous dealing of George IV., who only
smothered his laughter with the handkerchief with
which he affected to dry his eyes ; and Daniel O'Connell,
feeling that liberty could never be achieved by going
through the miserable routine of supplication, founded
the celebrated Society, by which results so great were
almost immediately produced—the Catholic Association
was created by him.. He constructed a gigantic engine
by which public opinion was to be worked—he formed
the smallest wheels of his complicated machinery, and
he put it into motion by that continuous current of elo-
quence which gushed with an abundance so astonish-
ing as if from a hot well from his soul. A vast or,
ganisation of the Catholic millions was accomplished :
the Catholic aristocracy the middle classes the
entire of the clergy were enrolled in this celebrated
confederacy. The Government became alarmed, and
in 1825 a Bill was brought in for the suppression of
this famous league. Mr. O'Connell proceeded to
London and tendered the most extensive concessions to
the Government. An offer was made to associate the
Catholic Church with 'the State. If the Catholic, ques-
tion-itad been "ad j uS red hi 1825,"and'ilpOn"thb-ierins pro
posed, it is obvious that the fearful agitation that dis-

turbed the country during the four succeeding years would
have been avoided. Not only were the offers rejected, but
the Bill for the suppression of the Catholic Associa-
tion was carried. It was, however, laughed to scorn,
and proved utterly powerless and inoperative. The
energy of Mr. O'Connell now redoubled. The peasan-
try were taught to feel that the elective franchise was
not a trust vested in the tenant for the benefit of the
landlord. A great agrarian revolt took place, accom-
panied, beyond all doubt, with, great evils, for
which, however, those by whom justice was so long
delayed are to be held responsible ; the Beresfords were
overthrown in Waterford ; in Louth the Forsters re-
ceived a mortal gash, and at length the great Clare elec-
tion gave demonstration of a moral power, whose exist-
ence had scarcely been conjectured. I remember to have
seen the late Lord Fitzgerald—an accomplished, an en-
lightened man—looking with astonishment at the vast
and living mass which he beheld from a window of a
room in the Court-house, where that extraordinary
contest was carried, There were sixty thousand men
beneath him—sober; silent, fierce. He saw that some.
thing far mere important than his return to Parliament
was at stake. Catholic emancipation was accomplished.
And here I shall put two questions—the first is this :
Do you think that up to the 13th of April, 1829,
the day on which the Royal assent was given to the
Catholic Relief Bill, the system of Government, insti-
tuted and carried on, under the auspices of an Imperial
Parliament, was so wise, so just, so salutary, so- fraught
with advantages to this country—so conducive to its
tranquillisation and to the development of its vast
resources—that for nine and twenty years the union
ought to have been regarded as a great legislative
blessing to this country ? The second question I
shall put to you is this—Does it not occur to you
that if the present indictment for a conspiracy can be
sustained, an indictment for a conspiracy might
have been just as reasonably preferred against the
men who had associated themselves for the attainment
of Catholic emancipation ? There is not a count in
this indictment which, by the substitution of " Catholic
emancipation" for " Repeal," might not have been made
applicable to the great struggle of the Irish Catholics in
1828 and 1829. Money was collected- by the Catholic
Association. In America, and more especially in Ca-
nada, strong sympathy for Catholic Ireland was ex-
pressed. In the Chamber of Deputies, M. Chauteau-
briand adverted to the state of Ireland in the language
of minacious intimation. Enormous assemblages were
held in the south of Ireland; but more especially in the
county of Kilkenny. Speeches were delivered by
Mr. O'Connell, and by others, fully as inflammatory
4ts any which , have been read to you. Yes ;
what would have been thought of an indictment for
a conspiracy a.gainst Mr. O'Connell, against the Even-
ing Post, the Freeman's Journal, the Morning Register,
Dr. Doyle, and my friend Tom Steele, who was at that
time, as he is now, a knight-errant against oppression
in every form? Would it not have been deemed a
monstrous thing to have read a very exciting article in
three Roman Catholic newspapers, against the men by
whom perhaps they never had been perused ? Such
a thing was:never thought of. There were, indeed, pro-
secutions. The .individual who now addresses you was
prosecuted for a speech on the expedition of Wolfe
Tone. The - bills were found ; but Mr. Canning
declared in the Cabinet that there was not a single
line in the speech, which, if spoken in the House
of Commons would have justified a call for order,
and he denounced the prosecution as utterly
unjust. The prosecution was accordingly abandoned.
But, gentlemen,.if I had been prosecuted fur a conspi-
racy, and held responsible not for my own speeches, but
for those of others, in hew different and how helpless a
position. should .I have been placed? Have a care bow
you make a precedent in favour of such an indictment.
Dur:ng.the last nine months, the Attorney-General had
ample opportunities, if his own statement bewell founded,
of instituting prosecutions against individuals for
what they themselves had written or done. In this
proceeding, whose tardiness indicates its intent,
you will not, I feel confident, become his auxiliaries.
A Coercion Bill, if the repeal of the union is to be put
down, would be preferable, for it operates as a tempo-
rary suspension of liberty; but the effocts of a verdict
are permanently deleterious. The doctrine of conspi-
racy may be applied to every combination of every kind.
It is directed against the Repeal Association to-day ;it
may be levelled against the Anti-Corn-law League to-mor-
row. In one word, every political society, no matter
how diversified their objects, or how different their
constitution, is within its reach. The Catholic question
having been considered, the Tories were put out by a
conspiracy formed amongst themselves. The Whigs
came in, and the Reform Bill is carried.--how ? A

hundred and fifty thousand men assemble at Birming-
ham, and threaten to advance on London • a resolu-
tion not to pay taxes is passed and applauded. by Lord
Fitzwilliam. Lord John Russell and Lord Althorp
become the correspondents of the Birmingham union.
Cumber is reduced to ashes ; Bristol is set on fire ; the
Peers resist, and the Whig Cabinet with one voice ex-
claims " Swamp the House .of Lords !" And who are
the men—the bold, audacious men—conspirators, in-
deed, who embark in an enterprise so fearful and which
could be only accomplished by such fearful means ?
You will answer Lord Grey ?—Yes. Lord J. Russell ?
—To be sure. Lord Althorp ?—No doubt about it.
But is our list exhausted ? Do you - remember Mr.
Hatchell asking Mr. Ross, " Pray, Mr. Ross, have you
any acquaintance with Sir Tames Graham ?" It is not
wonderful that the Attorney-General should have
started up and thrown down his buckler over the Se-
cretary of the Home Department. Sir James Graham
has Ireland under his control. From the Home‘olfice
this prosecution directly emanates. Gamblers denounce
vice—drunkards denounce debauch—against immorali-
ties let wenchers revile. When Graham complains of agi-
tation his change of opinion may, for aught I know,
be serious ; , nor have I from motives of par-
tisanship the slightest desire, especially behind
his back, to assail him ; I will even go so
far, for the sake of argument, as to admit that
his conversion may have been disinterested ; but I do
say, that he is, of all men, the last, under whose auspices
a prosecution of this character ought to be carried on.
The Reform Bill becomes the law of the land—the Par-
liament is dissolved, and a new Parliament is summoned
and called together under. the Reform Bill—and the
very first measure adopted in that. reformed Parliament
is a Coercion Bill for Ireland. The Attorney-General
read a speech of Lord John Russell's in favour of co-
ercion. He omitted to read the numerous speeches sub-
sequently made by .that noble person, in which his
mistake with respect to Ireland is honourably con-
fessed. Gentlemen, I shall not go through the events
Of the last ten years in detail. It is sufficient to point
out to you the various questions by which this unfor-
tunate country has been successively convulsed. The
church question—the tithe question--,-the Municipal
Bill—the, Registration Bill—these questions, with
their diversified ramifications, have not left us one mo-
ment's rest. Cabinets have been destroyed by them.
The greatest parties in the State have fought for them. Ire-
land has supplied the fatal field for the encounter of con-
tending parties. No single measure for the substantial and
permanent amelioration of the country has been adopted;
and here we are, at the opening
of a new session of Parlia-
ment, with a poor-rate on our estates, a-depreciating tariff in
our markets, and a State prosecution in her Majesty's Court
of Queen's -Bench. Such, gentlemen, are the results of the
system of policy adopted in that Imperial Parliament, whose
wisdom and whose beneficence have been made the
theme for such lavish panegyric. Gentlemen, I -do not
know- your political opinions. Ido not know that
there is any one man among you favourable to
the repeal of the union ; but if every one of
you are fearful of that measure becoming ulti-
mately the occasion of a dismemberment of the empire,
still its discusssioii may not be useless. If the councils of
the State were governed by no other considerations than
those which were founded upon obvious justice; or if mea-
sures were to be carried by syllogisms, and Government was
a mere matter,of dialectics, then all great assemblages of the
people should, of course be deprecated, and every exciting
adjuration addressed to the passions of the
people should be
strenuously reproved. But it is not by ratiocination that a
redress of grievances can be obtained. The agitator imust
r
sometimes follow the example of the diplomatist, who asks for
_
what is impossible, in order that what is pOssible may be ob-
tained. It must strike the least observant, that when the Go-
vernment complained most vehemently of demagogue audacity
their resentment is the precursor of their concessions. Take, as
which
there example, the Landlord and Tenant Commission,
there are some Conservatives think will disturb the founda-
tions of property, and against which Lord Brougham ad-
dressed his admonitory deprecation to Sir Robert Peel. For
my own part, I think it may lead to results greater than
were contemplated; for it appears to me to have been
chiefly intended as a moans of diverting public attention
from the consideration of the other great grievances of
the country. The main source of all these grievances
I ani convinced, is to be found in the colonial policy
pursued to this country." The Union never has been
carried into effect. If it had, Ireland would not be
a miserable dependent in the great imperial family.
The Attorney-General expressed great indignation at the
motto at Mullaghmast—" Nine millions of people cannot
be dragged at the tail of any nation on earth." That sen-
timent is taken from a paragraph in the Morning Chronicle
newspaper, and I have no hesitation in saying that I at once,
adopt Te.mere numbers, without intelligence, organisa-
tion, or public spirit, I for one attach no value. But a great
development of the moral prowess of Ireland- has taken
place. Instruction is universally diffused. The elements of
literature; 'through which political sentiment is in-
directly circulated, are taught by the State. Ireland has,
if I may so speak, undergone a species of transformation.
By one who had seen her half a century ago, she would be
scarcely recognised. The simultaneous, the miraculous
abandonment of those habits to which Irishmen were once
fatally addicted, at the exhortation of an humble friar, is a
strong indication of what might be done by a good Govern-
ment with so fine a people. Without saying that the tem-
perance movement affords a proof of the facility with which
the national
-enthusiasm can be organised• and directed. I
think it is one among the many circumstances which should
induce us to think that we have come to such a pass in this
country, that some great measures for its security and for its
happiness are required. I perceive the great literary organ
of the Whig party has recently suggested many bold mea-
sures, which it represents as necessary for Ireland. There
are numerous difficulties connected with some of the propo-
sitions to which I refer; but there is one which I consider
to be as practicable as it is plain and just. It is recommended
that the Imperial Parliament should sit at certain intervals
in this great city. I cannot see any sound objection in the
Imperial Parliament assembling now, in the month of Oc-
tober, for the discharge of Irish business alone, and that all
imperial questions should be reserved . until the London
session commenced, as it now does, in the month of
February. The public departments, it -is tnie, are all
located in London ; ' but during the Irish session a refer-
enck to those departments would not be. required. Such a
session might be inconvenient to English-Members; but the
Repeal agitation and a state prosecution, like the present, are
attended -with inconveniences far greater than any which
English Members, in crossing the Irish Channel, would en-
counter. The advantages which would accrue from site
realisation of this project are of no ordinary kind. The
intercourse of the two countries would be augmented to such
an extent, their feelings would be identified. National pre-
judices 'mould be reciprocally laid aside. An English domes-
tication would take place. Instead of lending money upon
Irish mortgages, Englishmen would bring_ funds to Ireland
and live upon them. The absentee drain would be diminished.
The 'value-of property would be very nearly doubled. Great
public works would be undertaken, and the great natural en-
dowments of the country would be turned to account. This
city would appear in renovated splendour. Your streets