The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-18 00:00:00

greater portion of that extraordinary case, he would
now proceed to open the facts of it. It might first,
however, be convenient to advert to the position of
the repeal question at the time of the constitution of
the Repeal Association. The Right Hon. Gentleman
here gave a short history of the various societies,
their names, objects, &c., which had been formed by
Mr. O'Connell, from the period of Catholic Emanci-
pation in 1829 down to the formation of the present
Repeal Association early in the year 1840. That
Association had changed its name twice, and in July,
1840, it received the name of the Loyal National
Repeal Association of Ireland, which name it still
retained. The general nature of the constitution was
that it consisted of associates, members, and volun-
teers. The bond of union between those various

parties was with the view that some such as the asso-
ciaties should be liable to a very small subscription,
in order that the organisation might be effected
among the poorer classes. Accordingly the associates
paid ls. on obtaining his card of admission. Those
cards, one of which he now held in his hand, an-
swered all the purposes, without coming within the
express words of the Act against passports or signs.
Parties holding them would by exhibiting them show
who were connected with the Association, and to
what extent the organisation was effected. At the
top of this card was a shamrock, with the words—
" Roman Catholic, Protestant, Dissenter." Near the
bottom was the date 1782, also a view of the present
Bank of Ireland, with the words, " It was, it shall be."
The next class consisted of " members" who sub-
scribed 20s. An " associate" also, who collected ant
paid in 205., was entitled to a member's card. On
one corner of this card was the word " Clontarf,"
with the date 23d of April, 1014 ; on the opposite
side the words " Benburb, sth of June, 1645 ;" at
the bottom an Irish word, which, being translated,
signified " The mouth of the Yellow Ford," 12th
of April, 1598 ; also the word " Limerick," August,
1692. These names and dates were those of places
and times at which the Irish were successful in
battle either over the Danes or the English, or, as
they were now called, the " Saxon foreigner." Such
were the cards of an association which, in peace and
tranquillity, never, forsooth, meditated exciting dis-
content and difference between different classes of
her Majesty's subjects. Those cards were formed
and engraved thus with the view of endeavouring to
rake up transactions of centuries past, and thereby
exciting hatred against the " Saxon foreigner." The
battle of Clontarf was fought against the Danes by
the Irish under Brian Boru.—(Laughter.) He could
not see what it was that excited laughter. Before
those trials were concluded it would be seen that
there was anything but cause for laughter. The
Learned Gentleman here went at great length into
the history of the battles referred to, and then went
on to show that one of the chief means of spreading
the doctrines of the Association was the transmission
of repeal newspapers to districts according to the
amount of rent collected in each, and contended that
the press was the most powerful means of dissemi-
nating the seditious doctrines which he attributed to
the Association throughout the country, and referred
to the effects produced in France during the Revolu-
tion by the newspaper L' Ami du People,
and in Ireland, about the year 1798, by the
well-known newspaper called the Press. He would
next call attention to an address to the repeal-war-
dens, which had been published in the Nation news-
paper. The Right Hon. Gentleman having read the
address, proceeded to show that the perfect organisa-
tion of the repeal-wardens had-its origin in that docu-
ment. They had all heard of the Jacobin Club of
France and its affiliated societies. No one ever con-
templated the consequences that flowed from that
Society. Yet it overthrew the Government of the
time, and was succeeded by a despotism that swayed
the country for many years. Having further pointed
out the evils of this organisation, he said he should
now come to the first meeting of the Repeal Associa-
tion, which was held on the 4th of Feb., 1843. Three
of the traversers were present, Mr. Ray, Mr. O'Con-
nell, and Mr. Duffy. A statement of accounts, &c.,
was read by Mr. Ray, many of them consisting of
the distribution of these very newspapers he had
alluded to. At that meeting was also produced what
was now judiciously called a diploma. It was a hand-
somely engraved document, and by it it would appear
that it was considered possible that the repeal-•wardens
might have other duties than their ostensible ones. They
would hear one of the traversers inquiring why the
people could not follow a repeal-warden as well as if he
was called by the name of a sergeant. The Right Hon.
Gentleman also quoted a very long extract from the
speech of Mr. O'Connell at the same meeting, in which
he spoke of the relation of England with foreign Powers,
of the internal distress of England, of her apparent
strength and real weakness, and asking if that was not
the time for Ireland. He also alluded to the mistake
made by Napoleon in not sending an army to Ireland
instead of to Egypt, to the martial character of the Irish
people, to the military advantages of the country, and
concluding with expressing his conviction that if Russia
were to pour out her vast strength upon the soil of Ire-
land, the people might, if they were true to themselves,
drive the invaders into the sea. He (the Attorney-
General) contended that though Russia was named, it
was England that was intended, she being frequently
spoken of as the oppressor of Ireland. He would now
bring under their notice a publication, of which Mr.
Barrett, one of the traversers, was the editor, called
the Pilot, ono of the papers which the Re-
peal Association so industriously circulated through-
out the country. Mr. Barrett had taken a part
in all these proceedings, and had endeavoured, as
far as he could, by means of his newspaper, to excite
dissatisfaction. The publication he should quote was
dated the 10th of March, 1843, and contained a report
of a repeal meeting held at Washington, United States.
At that meeting Mr. Tyler, the son of the President of
the United States, was present, and he should read them
an extract from his speech on that occasion. The Hon.
And Learned Gentleman then read the passage, which is
the well-known one concluding with these words—" The
libation of freedom must sometimes be quaffed in blood."
He further read the remarks contained in a leading
article on the subject of the same meeting. The speech
of Mr. Tyler was called " a bold and statesman-like
speech." These were the publications which the persons
connected with this Association thought they were jus-
tified in circulating, so that they might be read by as
many persons as possible ; this was the poison which
was infused into the minds of the Irish people, naturally
obedient to the laws if they were permitted to be so by
these mischievous agitators, who, for the sake of work-
ing out their own purposes, deluded an unthinking
people. This was one of the means by which, what one
of the late Ministers of the Crown called a revolution in
the empire was to be established, which would lead to the
forming of a republic in Ireland, of which Mr. O'Connell
would be the chief. He used the language of one of the
late Ministers of the Crown. The next step in the conspi-
racy to which he should call their attention, was the meet-
ing of large bodies of persons from great distances, upon
orders issued to them, that they might become accus-
tomed to assemble in these great bodies, not with arms
in their hands, because everything was to be kept quiet
and tranquil till the organisation was complete ; but
when that time arrived—when that organisation was
complete—when the hour of England's infirmity might
have arrived, then would the people have acquired the
habit of meeting and marching at the word of command
in military array. There was nothing new in this; it
would be found, that for every stage of this conspiracy
there was precedent. The same course was adopted in
1797, before the Rebellion. This was a matter of his-
tory. lie then quoted a passage from the Report of the
Committee of Secresy, appointed by the House of Com-
mons to inquire into the causes of the Rebellion, in
which the assembling of the people in this manner, under
various pretences, was described. The first monster
meeting was held at Trim, on the 16th of March, 1843.
Three of the traversers, Mr. O'Connell, Mr. Barrett,
and Mr. Steele, were present. A dinner was given
the same day, at which Mr. Barrett returned thanks
for the toast of " the people." He urged the people to be
tranquil, to be well organised, and when they were so,
Ireland had oHly to stamp its foot to be free. At the
same dinner Mr. O'Connell spoke. He quoted a long
extract from the speech then made, which contained the
declaration that nothing could be hoped for Ireland from
an English Parliament. It was a remarkable fact, that
during the whole of last session not a single petition was
presented from Ireland in favour of the much loved
repeal. This was not to be wondered at, when at these
meetings the people were told that nothing but injustice
was to be expected from it. But now they were told
that, since these prosecutions, there had sprung up a
great demand for parchments. These meetings could
not well be held without some pretext, and it was to be
pretended that they were held for the consti-
tutional purpose of petitioning. He then al-
luded to the establishment of the paper which they
were aware was called the Nation, the proprietor of
which was Mr. Duffy. This was also one of the
papers circulated by the Association. Now he believed
the saying had passed into a proverb, " I will give you
the making of the laws of the country if you will give
me the making of its ballads." It was singular that the
writing of seditious poetry, as a principle, was not car-
ried out for the first time in this country. The same
circumstance was mentioned in the Report of the Com-
mittee of Secresy, already alluded to, and it was now
again thought advisable to poison the minds of the people
by such seditious songs. This poetry had been pub-
lished in a small volume, entitled the " Spirit of the
Nation," and from this work he should read one extract,
it being the song called the " Memory of the Dead."
The Hon. and Learned Gentleman then read it as fol-
lows :

Who fears to speak of Ninety-Eight ?
Who blushes at the name ?
When cowards mock the patriots' fate,
Who hangs his head for shame ?
He's all a knave, or half a slave,
Who slights his country thus;
But a true man, like you, man,
Will fill your glass with us.
We drink the memory of the brave,
The faithful and the few—,
Some lie far off beyond the wave,
Some sleep in Ireland, too;
All—all are gone—but still lives on
The fame of those who died;
All true men, like you, men,
Remember them with pride.

Some on the shores of distant lands
Their weary hearts have laid,
And by the stranger's heedless hands
Their IQueJy gravel were wade;