The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-13 00:00:00

light, smoke, pigs, and children, all must pass in and out of
the same aperture !
" A French author, Beaumont, who had seen the Irish
peasant in his cabin; and the NoAh American Indian in his
wigwam, has assured us that the savage is better provided
for than the poor man in Ireland. Indeed, the question may
be raised, whether in the whole world a nation is
to be found that is subjected to such physical privations
as the peasantry in some parts of Ireland. This fact cannot
be placed in too strong a light ; for if it can once be shown
that the wretchedness of the Irish population is without a
parallel example on the globe, surelyeveryfriend of humanity
will feel himself called on to reflect whether means may not
be found for remedying an evil of so astounding a magnitude !"
And, in Ennis, the following statement was made
at a meeting, at which Sir Lucius O'Brien presided :
" At a meeting of the Guardians of the :Ennis Poor-law
Union on Wednesday, Sir Lucius O'Brien in the Chair, Mr.
Butler brought forward the resolutions of which he had given
notice, relative to the exorbitant amount of Grand Jury Cess
now leviable, and which he stated was entirely borne by
the occupiers of land. His object in bringing forward the
resolutions was, to call attention to the matter, in the hope
that the grievance would be redressed by the introduction of
a grand
a moiety andjury laws, which would render
oftwhs,
the tax in the same man-
ner in which they are subject to poor-rates.
the landlords i into
ee for
"The Chairman and Mr. Carrick supported the landlords,
attributing all their misfortunes to bad seasons, failures in
the crops, &c. ' • while Mr. James Mahon, B. Butler, Mr.
Finucane, Mr. Knox, and nearly the entire Board, were of
opinion, that the major part of the population were in a state
of dreadful destitution—that pauperism was frightfully on the
increase, and that nothing short of sound remedies should be
considered."
Why do I harrow you with these pictures ? Why,
for the purpose of calling upon you to exert your-
selves in the cause of my unhappy country, and to do all
in your power to render her happy once again. Does
this misery that I have pictured to you arise
from the laziness of the people of Ireland ?
No. Do they not travel far and near to obtain
work ? Do they not crowd your streets and your
villages in hopes of obtaining work ?—(Loud
cheers.) But then it may be said that Ireland
is unproductive. Oh, no, 'tis one of the greenest
and the fairest isles of the globe.—(Loud cheers.)
Its crops are abundant, and its produce magnificent.
(Cheers.) It has the best harbours and the finest
estuaries in the world. It has all those ad-
vantages ; and, added to this, it has a cheer-
ful, lively, and affectionate people.—(Cheers.)
Then why is it that this misery exists ? From bad
government. It is impossible to give any other
reason for it.—(Great cheering.) Since the union
matters have become worse and worse in Ireland.
They have given us a poor-law, and that poor-law, I
will venture to say, will bring rebellion in Ireland if
it exists for two years longer.— (Hear, hear.) The
poor-law would be the ruin of Ireland, and Minis-
ters were blind for not seeing it. They may send
me to prison if they please, but they may depend
upon it that the consequences of the poor-law will be
awful.—(Hear, hear.) I have, trespassed on you long,
but how could I avoid expressing my gratitude
and showing you that I desire at least your good
attention, your kindness, and support.—(Cheers.) I
have never shrunk from standing by you in
any centest—l have always been at your side—
(Cheers)---I have never given a vote that was
calculated to increase the burdens of the English peo-
ple.—(Cheers.) But I have invariably supported every
measure that was calculated to increase the extension
of civil and religious liberty.—(Cheers.) I have ad-
vocated the cause of the slave in America, as well as
the peasant in Ireland. I care not what their creed,
or by what sun their face may have been burned.
—I care not what is a man's caste or what his lan-
guage, if I can but provide for him liberty
from all tyranny.—(Cheers.) I stood by you
in the Reform Bill I formed one of your majority.
It promised much. It was spoiled in its manage-
ment. Its nursing mother looked unkindly upon
her future child. In another struggle for
freedom I also joined you. I shall always be with
you in giving the protection of the Vote by Ballot,
and for the shortening cf the duration of Parliaments.
recollecting that short accounts make long friends.—
(Cheers.) I owe this statement to you ; and now I
solemnly assure you, that if I was not thoroughly con-
vinced that the establishment of a domestic legisla-
ture was essential to the comfort of Ireland, and
that it was necessary to keep up the connection
between this country and Ireland, I would advocate
it no longer. I never wish to see Ireland separated
from this country ;—(Cheers)—but to accomplish
so excellent a measure, it is necessary that
something should be done to give to Ireland
what England had—a local Legislature. He
wanted for Ireland that the laws passed there should
be passed upon the same principle as in Eng-
land. (Cheers.) Such was the opinion of the
wise and gooel, and such he hoped it ever would be.
Let them do justice to Ireland.—(Cheers.) But do
they show any disposition to do so ? They came
down with the insulting denomination of convicted
conspirators.—(Cheers) The renegades !—(Cheers.)
There is Peel, who has sacrificed every principle.
—the renegade Stanley, who was the principal con-
triver for destroying the Reform Bill—(Groans)—
the reluctant Sir J. Graham—(Groans)—who sat first
on one side of the House and then on the other.—
(Cheers.) I call them conspirators for they have
conspired against the public.—(Cheers.) 'But let
those who have desired to adhere to the law, who
desire to have it cheap and intelligible—let those do
all in their power to do justice to Ireland.—(Cheers.)
By adopting that course a union would be rendered
valuable by a domestic Legislature, and by a com-
plete combination of a firm and a loyal people.
The Honourable Member sat down amidst applause,
which lasted for several minutes.
The following glee and chorus was then sung in
excellent style :
Tho' dark are our sorrows, to-day we'll forget them,
And smile thro' our tears like a sunbeam in show'rs,
There never were hearts, if our rulers would let them,
More formed to be tranquil and blessed than ours I
But just when the chain
Has ceas'd to pain,
And hope has enwreath'd it round with flow'rs,
There comes a new link,
Our spirits to sink !
Oh ! the joy of such hearts, like the light of the poles,
Is a flash amid darkness too brilliant to stay :
But though 'twere the last little spark in our souls,
We must light it up now for O'Connell to• day.
Contempt on the minions who call him disloyal !
Though fierce to his foe, to his friends he is true ;
And the tribute most high to a head that is Royal,
Is love from a heart that loves liberty too.
While cowards who blight
Their Sovereign's right,
Would shrink from the blaze of the battle array;
The standard of green,
In front would be seen--
Oh ! my life on his faith ! were he summon'd this minute,
He'd cast ey'ry bitter remembrance away,
And show what the arm of old Erin has in it,
When rous'd to defend her Sovereign's sway.
She loves the green Isle, and her love is recorded
In hearts which have suffer d too much to forget,
And hope shall be crown'd, and attachment rewarded,
And Erin's gay Jubilee shine out yet!
The gem may be broke
By many a stroke,
But nothing can cloud its native ray;
Each fragment will cast
A light to the last !
And then Erin, his country ! though broken thou art,
There's a lustre within thee, that ne'er will decay:
A spirit that beams through each suffering part,
And now smiles through its pain on this happy day.
The Earl of SHREWSBURY was then announced by.
she Chairman to propose the next toast, and was re-
ceived with loud cheers. His Lordship said he could not
tell them how extremely he felt the disadvantage he
laboured under, in having, so immediately to follow
after the eloquent and instructive speech which
had been delivered to them by their illustrious guest,
but on this, as on other grounds, he felt he should re
ceive what he so much needed, their kindest conside

ration.—(Hear, hear.) The toast which had
been assigned to him to propose was that of the
people, and in proposing it he was sure that the first
idea which presented itself to their minds was
the cause of the people of Ireland. That
was a great and generous cause, for it was
the cause of humanity—(Cheers)---the cause of right
as opposed to that of wrong.—(Cheers.) They had
arrived at a new era in the history of that cause, for
they had at length embodied in it the sympaties and
the feelings of the people of England. (Hear,
hear.) The time was when the people of Eng-
land were foolish enough to imagine that their
political rights and their commercial prosperity were
distinct from those of Ireland. This delusion had
been done away with, and they were now beginning
to see that the way to make her own empire secure
WAS to make Ireland her happy, her trusted, and
therefore her prosperous allv.—(Hear, hear.) They
now were beginning to find out that the prosperity of
England would never be stable and deep-seated--
that there never would be security for herself-Tunless
she shared all her privileges and franchises fairly and
equally with Ireland. Ireland was now universallyi ac-
knowledged to be one of the finest countries n the
world, but she had been governed by persons blinded
by prejudice, and thus her great natural advan-
tages had never been fairly developed.—(Cheers.)
Yes, with every natural advantage that the heart of
man could desire, her resources had remained unpro-
ductive, and the great masses of her popu-
lation had been suffering a state of misery
and destitution more deplorable than any people in
Europe—such indeed as they were shocked to con-
template and ashamed to be obliged to acknowledge.
—(Loud cheers.) That that fault was with their
rulers, there could be no question ; for were they not
also the rulers in England, but the difference was this,
they in England were governed by another law and in
another spirit than that which had prevailed in Ireland.
—(Cheers.) They in England were comparatively
prosperous and happy, while the people of Ireland
were doomed to poverty, misery, and distress. And
so they would continue to be till they had equal
laws, equal rights, and equal justice with ourselves.
—(Loud cheers.) But Ireland must no longer
be allowed to fight her battle for justice single-
handed. ; the people of England must rally to her
help as generous,
hear, (Hear, but he must also add, as
interested auxiliaries.—
deserved every assistance that it, and cheers.) She
was
possible for
them as Englishmen to afford to her. Her liberties bad

been invaded.—(Loud cheers.) The weapon with
which the Constitution had armed her for the protec-
tion of her rights, and which, under the guidance of
him whose courage and prowess they had that day
met to do honour to, might have effected so much,
had been just wrested from her grasp.—(Hear.)
Did Mr. O'Connel attempt to seek the freedom of his
country by this display of physical force without
a just and paramount necessity?—(Loud cries of
"No, no," and cheers.) He spoke of course of that
sort of display which came within the limits of the
law, or rather the spirit of the Con-
stitution, because it had now become neces-
sary to distinguish between legal and constitu-
tional obligations and duties.—(Loud cheering.)
These displays of physical force, compared with
moral power, and subject to moral guidance
were their constitutional and legitimate right
_Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights were their
title deeds.—(Loud cheers.) Let Ireland then never
cease to demand and to struggle far, justice and equality.
of rights. And might he (turning to Mr. O'Con-
nell), who had been truly called the Liberator of his
country, who first snapped her bonds asunder—
might he live to see his dear native land rise
from her present depression and misery—might
he, as the reward of his own untiring energies, live to
see her enjoying her proper share of freedom
and equal rights with the people of England!
—(Great cheering.) The toast of "The People," was
then drank with great cheering.
GLEE AND CHORUS.
Goddess of Freedom, from on high behold us,
While thus we dedicate to thee our lays;
Long in thy cause has principle enroll'd us,
Here to thy name a monument we raise.
Thus then combining,
Hands and hearts joining,
Sing we in harmony to Freedom's praise.
Goddess of Freedom, in thy might E waking,
Spread thy dominion over earth and sea;
Britons thy blessings giving and partaking,
Own undivided homage still to thee,
Thy spirit guiding,
Thy power presiding,
Britain shall flourish, united, brave, and free.

The Hon. CHARLES LANGDALE proposed the next
toast. Had he been called on at an earlier period of
the evening, he might have been tempted to have oc-
cupied some
_portion of their time in apologising for
so humble an individual as himself appearing
before them on so great an occasion. But at that
late hour he felt he should be wasting their time by
offering any idle compliment on such a subject. But
he had been called on by the Committee to propose a
toast, and he hoped that neither on this, nor on any other
occasion should he be found wanting in affording his
support to the great cause to which they were met
that evening to do honour.—(Great cheering.)
He appreciated the motives of those who had ad-
dressed them, but he would candidly own, that he
had an interest of a more selfish nature in appearing
before them. Ile felt that Ireland and her Liberator,
Mr. O'Connell, had claims on his gratitude of a
peculiar nature. If he was now capable of raising
his voice in the midst of an assembly of free-
men, of being equally entitled to political privileges
with those he had the honour of addressing, he must
attribute it to the exertions of Daniel O'Connell.—

:Cheers.) A few years ago he was bound in the same
political fetters that oppressed the people of Ireland,
and if the penal enactments had ceased to affect him,
it was owing to the voice of the millions of Ireland,
aided, directed, guided, and instigated by the great
Liberator, to whom they were doing honour to-night.
It was the meetings then held, and the petitions then
presented, that secured the rights they enjoyed ; and
he believed it was the fear felt by the same gentle-
men who were forced to yield their rights, that led them
to attempt to put down those meetings, which had
before accomplished the objects they had in view.—
(Cheers.) It appeared to him that while they had
not the courage or the honesty to redress the evils of
Ireland, they could not bear the reproaches it cost
them, at seeing the united hundreds and thou-
sands of the people who met together on those
occasions. The toast he had to propose was, " The
Seventy-eight Peers who supported the Marquis
of Normanby's motion, and the Two Hundred and
Twenty-seven Members of the House of Com-
mons, who supported the motion of Lord J. Russell."
—(Cheers.) He believed if ever there was an in-
' stance when vengeance took the place of justice, it
was on the occasion of the State Trials. The
first portion of the toast which he had to propose
referred to the seventy-eight Members of the House
of Peers who had voted for inquiry. It gave him great
gratification to know that there were in that louse
seventy-eight who could be found voting for inquiry ;
for he would not be doing his duty if he did not ac-
knowledge the responsibility which that House
owed to the people for its almost universal
opposition to the welfare of Ireland.—(Hear.)
He rejoiced that some of most noble and ancient
blood in the land was to be found in the minority.
He rejoiced that his Noble Friend who had pre-
ceded him had appeared there that evening.—
(Cheers.) He knew intimately his habits of life, and
the effort which was required to bring him from his
home; and he rejoiced that the blood of the house
of Talbot was found as the defender of the honour
and reputation of Mr. O'Connell.—(Cheers.) With
reference to the minority in the House of Commons,
he must say, that there was a time
when he would willingly have added to their
number—when he would gladly have added one vote
to the too small minority in favour of redressing the
wrongs of Ireland, though even at the risk of
lengthening a protracted debate of nine days' dura-
tion, in favour of his fellow-citizens.—(Cheers.)
The toast was then drank with loud cheers.
GLEE AND CHORUS.
And doth not a meeting like this make amends
For all the long years I've been wand'ring away ;
To see thus around me my youth's early Frien6,
As smiling and kind as in that happy day !
Though haply o'er some of your brows, as o'er mine,
The snow. fall of time may be stealing—what then ?
Like Alps in the sunset, thus lighted by wine,
We'll wear the gay tinge of youth's roses again.
But come—the more rare such delights to the heart
The more we should welcome and bless them the more—
They're ours when we meet, they are lost when we part,
Like birds that bring sunset, and fly when 'tis o'er.
Thus circling the cup, hand in hand, ere we drink,
Let sympathy pledge us, through pleasure, through pain
That fast as a feeling but touches.one link,
Her magic shall send it direct through the chain.
The CHAIRMAN then read the following letter from
Lord Radnor :

Grosvenor-street, March, 1, 1844.
" Dear Mr. Duncombe,—l have now for many years de-
clined attending at public dinners. It is for this reason alone
that I have not sent for a ticket for the dinner at which you
are to preside on the 12th instant, to be given to Mr.
O'Connell.

" To all the resolutions voted at No. 3, Cleveland-row, on
Monday the 19th of February, I heartily subscribe ; and to no
part of them more than to the expression of admiration for
the constant advocacy by Mr. O'Connell of the rights and
privileges of Irishmen.'
" I am, dear Mr. Duncombe, your's faithfully,
" PeADNOR.
"Thomas Shngsby Duncombe, Esq."
He also read the following letter from Lord Kin-
naird

" March 2, 1844.
" regret extremely that my absence from town will
prevent my being present at the dinner to be given to Mr.
O'Connell, as I should have wished to have had an opportunity
of expressing my abhorrence of the unfairness which has
marked the whole of the proceedings of the Government
towards Mr. O'Connell—a sentiment which lam sure is par-
ticipated in by every liberal-minded man both in England
and Scotland.

" By having permitted these monster meetings to con-
tinue, apparently for the purpose of entrapping the speakers
into some unguarded expression, b 7 the employment of
spies, worthy of the old times of rory misrule; by the
quasi packing of the jury, owing to the dropped list, and the
exclusion of Catholics ; and, to crown all, by the speech of the
Lord Chief Justice, more like that of a prosecutor, than an
impartial judge—(which even in the late debates there was
no attempt to defend)—the Government must rouse the in-
dignation of the people of Great Britain, in whom the love
of justice is inherent, and who, I hope, will show that they
do not participate in the injustice done to Mr O'Connell, and,
through him, to the Irish people.
" Those so ingeniously termed ' convicted conspirators '
have been brought into the grasp of the law by an
undue straining of it. The same principle carried into effect
in this country would annihilate our liberties, by putting
an end to all meetings for. the expression of public opinion.
I do sincerely believe that the repeal of the union would
be detrimental to the interests of both countries. Yet,
considering the way Ireland has been and is still governed,
it is not surprising that Irishmen should look to the repeal
as a panacea for the ills of their unhappy country. I trust,
however that the sympathy which has been shown by the
Liberal party towards Mr. O'Connell since his trial, will in-
duce the Irish to postpone their demands for the
immediate repeal, till another election - has given the
Scotch and English constituencies an opportunity of proving
whether they will adopt the enlightened views expressed by
Lord John Russell and others, or support a Government,
content with empty professions of good-will to Ireland, be-
lied by their acts.—Your obedient servant, _ .

" KINNAIRD."
The CHAIRMAN said he had felt it due to the two
Noblemen, from whom these letters emanated, to
read them to the meeting. Having done this justice
to the minority, he hoped the meeting would allow
him to do a little justice to the majority which over-
whelmed them.—(Laughter.) Among the majority
of Peers who voted against the motion of Lord
/Vormanby were to be found—wise men they must be,
looking at the distance from which they voted—Lord
Ellenborough in In,iia—(Great laughter)—Lord
Saltoun in China—(Laughter)—Lord Tweeddale
in Bombay or Madras.—(Continued laughter)
—and Lord. Sidmouth, who after a long life
of political mischief, had voted against the rights
of Ireland, even from his coffin.—(Great cheering.)
And beyond all this, to the shame of public men, be it
said, among the revilers of Ireland was to be found the
name of Henry Brougham.—(Groans and hisses from
all parts of the theatre.) Yes, he who had been con-
sidered the vile oppressor's foe, he who had been the
esteemed of men, was now-sunk into the mere mounte-
bank of faction—(Cheering)—and was absolutely
bringing the very assembly to which he belonged
into well-merited contempt with the people of
this country.—(Laughter and cheers.) Having thus
done justice to the majority of the House of Lords,
he would leave it to his lion, Friend, Sir Richard

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