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

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

There are circumstances connected with the
recent action against the Norwich Mercury for
a libel which demand more consideration than at
first we had an opportunity of giving to them>
This action, it will be recollected, was brought
by an attorney, who, after figuring away in the
columns of the same journal in a paper war, sud-
denly stopped short as a controversialist to eNin-
rnenee proceedings as a lawyer, and endeavoured
to induce a Jury to give him damages and costs,
because, it may be he had the worst of the at-
nuust be,
ginn e
actionnt,
and
he it ac-
count, he had the most of the
punishment.—
This accordingdid not ute :
against to t hishe per=
son with whom he had been contending, hut
against those who allowed to both parties "
fair field and no favour," viz., the proprietors of
that very newspaper which he himself had used
with the expectation of defeating; or silencing
his adversary. The Jury gave him " 071 i:
farthing," but did not state in their verdict
whether they considered that amount to be suf-
ficient to cover the injury complained of, or
whether they considered it to he about the value
of that character which the plaintiff" said he had
lost ; they gave it after the Learned Judge who
tried the cause had told them and the Gen-
tlemen of the Bar, that the proprietors of news-
papers in London had frequently to pay- heavy
damages for the insertion of libels with which
they had nothing to do, and about which, or the
writers of which,- they knew nothing whatever.
This statement was for the purpose of showing
that the proprietors of the Norwich Mercury
might be liable to the attorney who was suing
them, though they were no parties to the contro-
versy, and though the actionable words might be
elicited by his own warmth or over-eagerness. Sup-
posingthe other disputant to have been an attorney
likewise, why he, two, might not have liked some of
,the expressions or insinuations of his antagonist,
.and he too might have brought his action, and
thus the unfortunate proprietors of the Norwich
Mercury would have been compelled to pay
costs, or possibly damages, in two actions, for
their civility in allowing the " Learned" Gentle-
men the privilege of using their columns to write
against each other ! The Jury, however, did
not seem disposed to view the law exactly as it
had been laid down to them, and, before deliver-
ing their verdict, asked the very pertinent ques-
tion, " What damages would not carry costs
With this, they were informed by the Court they
had nothing to do, and SQ, fearing they should
get wrong, and having some notion, after all.
that these same " cost..." were the main object of
pursuit, they gave " one farthing," which, on
the certificate of the Judge, certainly saved the
defendants from the plaintiff's casts, but unfor-
tunately saddled them with their own. Had the
Jury been acquainted with a circumstance on
which we can throw some light, we are per.
suaded their verdict in this case would. have been
different. Their intention evidently was, that
plaintiff and defendant should suffer alike, by
giving such damages as would throw the costs
each upon his own shoulders ; but this is a great
tnistake into which .Juries very frequently fall.
Country attorneys, in all actions at law, are
obliged to do the principal part of the business
through an agent in town, who is also a lawyer,
and it is a rule among these agents that, when-
ever their " country friend" shall be himself a
party to such actions, to charge no more than
" costs out of pocket," which, in.a bill of from
200/. to 300/., if successful, may amount to
some 10/. or W. If the expenses of witnesses
and the fees to Counsel be added, the whole may
be between 30/. and 40/. ; while the defendants,
not being lawyers, have to pay their. own solicitor
perhaps two, or perhaps three hundred pounds !
These facts should be known to Jurors, and well
considered in all cases where attorneys are pr;:-
secutors ; such consideration would prevent the
" one farthing," "sixpence," or " da-
mages, and produce more frequently verdicts
"for the defendant," which would teach the
" Gentlemen of the Law" that trumpery actions
for libel are not always so sgfe a grime as they
have been in the habit of supposing.—Morning
Herald.

has declared himself a convert to the necessity of
Mr. Dawson, meenmttrbhoeeur
trouble,
er, theas ccoouinilt.yi
convincing
Derry,zl
emancipation. This is the intelligence brought
• by the last mails from Ireland, and it has thrown,
as well it may, the whole Orange faction of that
faction-ridden country into pitiable consterna-
tion arid confusion. A grand Orange festival
was to take place at Derry, to commemorate ono
or more of the worthies who flourished at their
siege. All was " Glorious Memory" and
" Prentice-boy" exhilaration, when, Mr. Daw-
sen's health being drank, that gentleman got up
to return thanks, and—as is usual with men in
office, whether chiefs or subalterns—to deliver
his political sentiments on topics connected with
the
lai:v.iNhdales,ulicibl
ealeidettiiioliel
tirttihihemee
rloteaarof:,dgeleiarro.tra
least
Before
ssesitfnotdi
rife,
agntf :3.
eve
• tion of his audience, greatly, no doubt, t.i, th,,i,,
mortificationni,uiifesto
of andilis lo:rr.to r, I
futurel:. Dh
hostility
tom adteh
a:
norths causep e e c
h ;f
of" '''
recommend that speech to our readers' atten-
tion, we beg to say a word or two with regard to
Mr. Dawson who. delivered it. This gentleman
si se,nbt
sy
in
the eo
fpfeaNnr‘l.iiailenehlelinnstei,rtahcraß,t,eeroerssgofeoredla.iliell(l,l,leorreaprirgee-
Beresford (by marriage),
county,
principal town. Hisackil
was that of an Irish ascendancy partisan, until
he married the sister of the English Orange_
man Mr. Peel. ' He then, as a tag to the
warfare against the
Member' for Oxf6rd, became an Orangeman
in triple right—of birth, of alliance,
and of office,--inasmuch as the official twin,
im)relitlictiphleas
of the present Secretary for the Home Depaft-
ywilsepdo'gnl political abfleorre xilatibsisr'tooit,nillt;e:
Mr. Daw-,
Catholic
question was an riagi,iii:sa.irlifairbefiThenetilnagst
speech
of
ascendancy speech. inve-
terate
How, then, comes
his revolution of opinion ! Why, very obviously.
To judge
_by the marmot in which he alludcz to,
Mr. Thtzg,erald's expulsion from the county a
Clare, he tlroa(4 the same fate for Mr. Dawson
in the wunty of Derry ; and we really wish that
argument could be in all cases found, to shed a
ray of light and liberality athwart a sombre and
if sonitiNi,reir
ePabrulittutirsitmo,
sordid apprehension. It is true that
the picture,
drawn by this proselyte, of the country which he
has so frequently in former instances beheld, or
seemed to behold, under colours so very oppo-
site, is a just and forcible representation of the
real state of Ireland. It is that of a kingdom
where no constituted authority possesses an atom
of solid power, but where a self-created autho-
rity governs with resistless sway the hearts and
hands, the impulses and actions, of the great
bulk of a mighty nation. Rank and property,
consanguinity, friendship, character, prescrip-
tion—whatever used in ordinary times to furnish

men with motives, or to guide their opinions, or '
to separate or group their interests—has dis-
appeared. There exists for the people of Ire-
land but a single object—the relief of their
country from an injustice and a disgrace. It is
asked why, until within these few years, they
never co-operated with such perfect harmony and
union as at present. We answer, because a full
understanding of mens' political condition is the
growth of time, because with time has accrued to
the Irish nation a prodigious increase of wealth
and intelligence,—of those acquisitions which
at once aggravate the sense of grievance, and
supply the means of redressing it. The greater
the number of wealthy and intelligent Ca-
tholics in Ireland, the greater is the amount of
wrong, and
the more diffused is the percep-
tion of it—the more energetic and uninterrupted
the efforts to escape from it ; and thence the
more consummate the organization of the Catho-
lic body. From the moment at which the 40s.
freeholders were prevailed upon to vote inde-
pendently of their landlords—from the moment
at which Mr. Dawson's cousin was unseated from
the county of Waterford—the whole policy of
the Catholics was clear, and the rapid progress
of their cause irresistible. From that hour, so
tar as any thing like common sense could be
reckoned on as appertaining to the Catholic
body, men of the least sagacity began to lay
aside their fears for the peace of Ireland. The
Catholics had already such a stake in the Con-
stitution as would infallibly secure to them all
they looked for : they could obtain speedily,
through the law itself, and without one drop of
bloodshed, as much as they could hope for
tardily, through rivers of blood, and by the
overthrow of the Constitution. This is the view
which for years past we have laboured to impress
upon the Catholics. The argument so often
addressed to the fears of the Protestants, and
founded on the recognition of Catholic power,
went mare upon the apprehension that the Ca-
tholics might mistake the real sources of their
own legitimate strength, than that sound policy
would, tinder the actual circumstances of the
realm, suggest to them a recourse to violence.
But the power is now granted by Mr. Daw-
son, and then assumed by him as a defence
of his own political conversion. Did he
never see this great truth before ? Then
he was miserably wanting in discernment.
Was it never thundered in his ears, in Parlia-
ment or out of Parliament ? Did he never hear
and laugh at the very reasonings which he now
repeats as unanswerable to the hissing Orange,
men of Derry Did lie not read long ago the
very language of this Journal which he now bor-
rows (we refer to his speech) almost verbatim,
to describe the awful power of the Catholics?
What, then, has roused or improved the torpid
faculties of Mr. Dawson ? Why it is, that de-
legates from the Catholic Association are on
their zcag to organize the 40s..freeliolders of
the county of Derr!, against him. He is heart-
stricken at the fate of his noble cousin in the
-south, and of that of the Cabinet Minister (a
jealous, but unfortunately an official, friend of
Catholic liberty) in the west. This is the secret
of the Hon. Gentleman's new-born wisdom ; but
we think it will avail him nothing. One threat,
indeed, of Mr. Dawson we implore the Catholics
to ponder on, and to frustrate : it is that of sud-
den " conflicts" arising between Protestants and
Catholics in the north, where the population is
o nearly balanced. We are sure that a hint
upon this important subject will suffice. But
there is a consideration of grave, and we may
add of auspicious, magnitude, which remains to
be noticed. Would Mr. Dawson have ventur-
ed,—no matter how uneasy as tohis own county
prospects,--could he, we say, have dared to re-
&ant for himself, if he had not known that there
svas on the part of his superiors in the -Govern-
ment a decided inclinatien to retrace their own
policy also ? This occurrence undoubtedly places
the Catholic question on a novel footing—not
so much because the Member for Derry is the
actor, as because he is at the same time official
Secretary to the Duke of Wellington.— Times.
The resignation of the Lord High Admiral
still continues to be the subject of general re-
mark ; and, indeed, no circumstance of a do-
mestic nature has occurred since the last change
of Ministry which has given rise to so muchre-
gret. Of the causes which have been assigned
for it, we know enough to be able to state that
they are not those which in reality produced it ;1
anti that those who contrived to force it upon
his Royal Highness were sufficiently gunning to
take rare that it should be made on a ground
which would not be disgraceful to them.—The
resignation, however, is virtually a part of that
system which drove Mr. Huskissen, INIr. Charles
Grant, and others, from the Cabinet. The well-
known liberal sentiments of his Royal Highness
were not agreeable in more quarters than Pupa...a
his popularity was still less so ; and, therefore,
as the safest mode of getting rid of the annoy.
mice, it was determined to pick a quarrel with
his Royal Highness about a gewgaw " palace,"
or any thing else that might occur, lint which
could Rot. be strictly termed a political graa:ind of
difference. This we know to be the fact;
more we do not ehpose to mention.—Morning
Advertiser.

A great sensation has been produced
land by the speech of Mr. Dawson, at the An-
niversary Dinner at Derry. From his connec-
tion with Mr. Peel, and his situation as Under
Secretary of State, though he declared a that
his remarks were made without reference to the
opinions of any other individual, that they sprung
from his own observation of the events of the
day, and that they were totally uninfluenced by
party connections or official station ;" his decla-
ration, that the time was at length come when
we could no longer persevere in our present sys-
tem of governing Ireland, was calculated to
produce an impression that the reports as to a
determination of the Cabinet to settle Ireland
are founded in truth. " 1 must know, said
Mr. Dawson, " mixing as I do in the world,
and holding the high situation I do, how the
interests of Great Britain are wrapped in the
safety of Ireland.h This, in so many words, is
saying that Ministers have at length become
sensible that they can no longer answer for the
safety of Ireland without a change of system.
Mr. Dawson, the most
strenuous of the oppo-
nents of Emancipation, the only efficient Irish
Member remaining on that side, has at length
yielded to the force of circumstances, against
which it is hopeless to contend. The case made
out by Mr. Dawson is surely sufficiently power-
ful to warrant the conclusion at which lie has

arrived.
" It is true (lie says) we
.have a Government to
which an outward obedience is shown, which is
sponsible to Parliament, and answerable to God for
the manner of administering its functions; but it is
equally true that an immense majority of the people
look up, not to the legitimate Government, but to
an irresponsible and to a self-constituted Association,
for the administration of the affair; of the country.
The peace of Ireland depends not upon the Govern-

ment of the King, but upon the dictation of the
Catholic Association. (Cries of more's the shame
—shame! why not put it down ?) It has defied
the Government, and trampled upon the law of the
land—and It is beyond contradiction, that the same
power which banished a. Cabinet Minister from the
representation of his county, because he was a Mi-
nister of the King, can maintain or disturb the peace
of the country just as it suits their caprice or am-
bition. The same danger impends over every insti-
tution established by law. The Church enjoys its
dignity, and the Clergy enjoy their revenues by the
law_d the land; yet we know not how soon it may
please the Catholic Association to issue its ana-
themas against die payment of tithes; and what
man is hardy enough to say that the Catholic people
will disobey its mandates ? It depends upon the
Catholic AssOciation—no man can deny it—whether
the Clergy are to receive their incomes or not.
(Great uproar.) The condition of the landlords is
not more consoling : already they have been robbed
of their influence overthe tenantry ; already they are
become but mere ciphers on their estates; nay, in
many places they are worse than ciphers—they have
been forced to become the tools of their domineer-
ing masters, the Catholic Priesthood--and it de-
pends upon a single breath, a single Resolution of
the Catholic Association, whether the landlords are
to be robbed of their rents or not."

If it depends on the Catholic Association,
whether the Clergy are to continue to receive
their tithes, and the landlords their rents, it is
surely high time for the titheholders and land-
holders to look about them. What is to be
done ? From the moment the Catholic Ques-
tion appeared before the Protestant Landholders
and Clergy in this shape, we were in no uneasi-
ness about it. You may preach long enough to
men about public duty, the evils of dissension,
the burdens entailed on the country by the main-
tenance of a disproportioned armed force, and
your words will be to them like the idle wind ' •
L
but at the magical sownds of rents and titnes in
danger, they are all attention, and comprehend,
as if by intuition, every argument you can ad-
duce. What is to be done ? " Some Gentle-
men will say Rebellion ; and the sooner it comes,
the sooner we shall be able to crush. (Loud
cheers, which lasted for several minutes)." These
cheers, at the delightful sound of Rebellion, are
very well from the 'Prentice Boys of Derry ;
but, Gentlemen who have families to maintain
out of rents and tithes will be apt to have a very
different feeling, with respect to the advantage of
creating a rebellion for the sake of trying how
easily it may be quelled. The country is thriv-
ing just now. "It has made a wonderful pro-
gress," said Mr. Dawson, " notwithstanding all
these drawbacks; it has confessedly the elements
of wealth and prosperity within itself."—" I
heard the Judges declare their perfect astonish-
ment at the tranquillity of the country ; and we
heard their congratulations in this city that they
found no crime's on the Circuit but such as must
exist in every mixed state of society. Is trade
extinet ? Has commerce fled, and is starvation
staring us in the face ? Look at the quays of
Belfast and Derry--look at the numerous
steam-vessels departing every day for Glasgow,
Liverpool, and London, and can any man say
that trade is extinct ? Look at our fairs and
markets, and let us ask ourselves if industry has
fled ? More animated scenes of business and
activity cannot be found ; and no complaint is
heard, save the never-failing one of the lowness
of prices. Where are to be found the proofs of
general poverty and starvation ? Food is so
cheap, that it is within the reach of every indivi-
dual of even the least industry ; potatoes vary
from fourpence to sixpence a bushel—a price
which will enable a man to maintain himself for
little more than a halfpenny a (lay ; and provi-
sions of all kinds are so abundant, that the mar-
kets of Glasgow, Liverpool, and Bristol, are ac-
tually overloaded with Irish provisions." There is
something to lose here in the case of a rebellion ;
and though, no doubt, the peasantry would suffer
greatly, yet it is impossible for the peasantry to
suffer without Landlords and Clergy suffering
also. What is to be done ? Let us hear Mr.
Dawson—

" Can we go back to the penal laws .? God
forbid that such an experiment should be made ; it is
revolting to common sense—it is revolting to the
dignity of man. Can we persevere in our present
system ? The statement which I have made, and
the firm impression made upon my mind by an anxi-
ous attention to the passing events, is, that we
cannot remain in our present situation ; something
must be done, there is but one alternative, either to
crush the Catholic Association—(Cheers for several
minutes)—there is but one alternative, either to
crush th.e Catholic Association, or to look at the
question with en intention to settle it. Let us exercise
all our ingenuity—let us argue with all our subtlety
—there is no other alternative ; and with such a con-
viction upon my mind, I feel myself called upon to
exhort my countrymen—men whom I have the
honour of representing—to abstain from irritating
harangues, to pause, and to weigh well the
dangers of the country--to dismiss all personal bit-
terness from the contemplation of a whole nation's
welfare, and to devise some means with satisfaction
to 41 parties, for restoring the predominance of estab-
lished' authority, and giving security to the recog-
nised, the legal, the constitutional institutions of so-
ciety. I speak here as a Member of Parliament, as
a Member of the Government, and as a citizen of
the world. Is it passible that I can look with apathy
upon the degraded state of my Catholic country-
wen ?"—(Loud hisses)
What man possessed of his sober senses, who
has any thiN to lose from a convulsion, would
think of putting his all to hazard merely to have
tii; satisfaction of domineering over his Catho-
lic faow-citizens ? But the unnatural system
of Government in Ireland could not have been
carried on withg!it instruments. These men,
the Janissaries of Ireland, of course feel their
importance at stake, and they will make a des-
perate struggle to avoid falling to the level of the
'rest of the population. There was a Protestant
dinner, as it was. called, in Dublin, on Thursday
last, to Mr. Moore, .P. for Dublin, which
was very instructive as to the feelings of the
Orangemen. The speech of ''frf Dawson, at
Derry, fira Alderman 13eresford with Ali indig-
nation that burst through all bounds;—
" I feel it absolutely necessary to give some com,
fort to those I left behind me in Derry, and who
are now. labouring under the impression—the false
impression, I am most happy to see—that the cause
of the Constitution was lost. My Lord, the im-
pression left upon the minds of the inhabitants of
Derry by the speech of Mr. Dawson was, that the
Government had deserted the Protestants of Ire-
land, and that it was the intention of his Majesty's
-ministers to bring in a Bill early in the next Ses-
sion of Parliament, by which the Protestant Con,
stitution of this country was to be sacrificed. It is
that I sho. uld,
.as speedily as pos-
sible, convey to the loyal inhabitants of
comfort of which they stand so much in need.
They considered Mr. Dawson as a. person Possessedof great faults, and also. possessed, of great virtues.'
His greatest fault was his tenacity of office, and his
greatest virtue his support of the Protestant cause.
Mr. Dawson, my Lord, was a man who they knew
had used words in his advocacy of that
.cause of so
offensive a nature to the Roman Catholics, that his
most zealous supporters could have wished
the
they: had
been more mild. When, my Lord, I say y found
this gentleman all at once turning round; and telling
them that the Catholic Association was all-Power-
ful—that it had filled its coffers by the voluntary

contributions (that was the phrase), the voluntary
contributions of the people, and that the power of
the law could not put it down—why, my Lord, when
they heard such sentiments from the brother-in-law
of Mr. Peel, what conclusion could they come to but
that the cause was gone ? Proud am Ito say, that
there was not a man in the room, at the time Mr.
Dawson gave utterance to these sentiments, that
was not ready to lay down his life in the defence
of the Constitution.—(Cheers.)—Such was the
loyal enthusiasm which animated the breasts of all
his auditors, that not a man in the room could be
found to listen to him with patience. My Lord, on
that day upwards of ten thousand of the finest yeo-
manry I ever saw walked in procession. We were
told before dinner that it was fit, as a nsatter of
economy, that the yeomanry should be disarmed—
and we were told after dinner that we must be
crushed under the feet of the Catholic Association,
inasmuch as Government could not resist it.—
(Cheers.)—These, my Lord, were the sentiments
which damped the spirits of the Protestants of
Derry. But when, my Lord, I hear these distin-
guished individuals by whom you are now sur-
rounded—men possessing rank and influestee in the
country, and who must have the ear of the Govern-
ment—when, I say, I hear such men proposing the
health of Robert Peel, as the uncompromising sup-
porter of Protestant ascendancy, why, my Lord, I
am led to the conclusion, that they would not do so
unless they had good grounds for knowing him to be
such; and therefore I look upon the opinions ex-
pressed in Derry as the isolated opinions of Robert
Dawson, and I do not value them a farthing.
(Cheers.) My Lord, it grieved me to see the man
I valued so highly turn recreant to the cause of the
Constitution ; but at the same time it was some
consolation to me to find, that he had not a single
constituent in the room who responded to the senti-
ments he uttered. lam glad to have an opportunity
of echoing back the sentiments which were uttered
here this night, and I trust the public press will give
what I say, as it will be cheering to the Protestants of
Derry to learn:that they are not wholly deserted. I
wish it, however, to be understood, that it is not
my sentiments that are to cheer them, but the senti-
ments of the Nobility and Gentry of the land. The
Protestants of the North will now see that their
brethren are not looking on in tame apathy. The
knowledge that they have kindred spirits here who
feel for their sufferings, and are ready to make com-
mon cause with theta in the struggle in which, I
fear, we shall all be soon engaged, will renovate
their exertions ; and that vigour which, in 1798, en-
abled them to conquer the enemies of the Constitu-
tion, will now, that they are surrounded by the same
rebels, cheer them once more to victory.—(Cheers.)
To be told, my Lord, that motives of economy have
induced the Government to decide upon the dis-
arming of the yeomanry is more than a man's pa-
tience can endure. Why, my Lord, in one Session
of Parliament three times the sum sufficient to de-
fray the expence of maintaining all tae yeomanry in
Ireland was lavished upon beautifying the City of
London; and Ireland is to be sacrificed for a paltry
economy such as this !" _ _ _

So we are to have a rebellion, forsooth, in
order to have the satisfaction of witnessing Al-
derman Beresford cheer on the Protestants of
the north to victory ! There is an amusing
naivete in the Alderman's speech. Our most
gracious Sovereign has a taste for fine palaces
and improvements, and the Alderman has a taste
for fine yeomanry ; and he very modestly thinks
our Sovereign should prefer the Irish yeomanry
to his palaces—economy ! Disband the yeo-
manry from motives of economy ! No, pull
down the palaces—lay an interdict on Mr. Nash,
but keep up the yeomanry by all means. How-
ever, this raving will not go far against the solid
interests of men. No person of sense, of course,
ever believed that religion had anything to do
with the matter. This will facilitate the settling
of the question ; for it is always much easier to deal
with worldly wisdom than with fanaticism. The
firebrands of Orangeism, though kept in coun-
tenance by a few noodle Lords, who can't rid
themselves at once of their old associations, will
soon find their level. If the Catholics have
wrought such wonders, in spite of the Govern-
ment, it is pretty obvious that when the Govern-
ment, the Catholics, and liberal Protestants, go
together, the Orangemen will soon find it for
their interest to remain quiet. The appeals to
England will be made in vain,—the people of
this country are not in the humour to get up a
rebellion in Ireland, to have the gratification of
seeing how easily it can be put down, at the
expence of British taxation, by the Protestants
of the North.—Morning Chronicle.
The speech of Mr. George Dawson, deli-
vered at the anniversary meeting of the Pro-
testants of the town of Londonderry, and which
we have given at length in another part of our
Paper, is one of those extraordinary effusions
which alike bewilder and astonish us. In the
remarks which we thought it our duty to make
a day or two ago, upon the wavering principles
of public men, we looked forward to, and in
some degree anticipated, this strange display of
folly and inconsistency. We pass by the non-
sensical portion of the speech, wherein the Hon.
Gentleman is pleased to illustrate the prosperity
of Ireland, by informing us that potatoes are at
present so cheap, that an industrious man is able
to maintain himself " for little more than a
halfpenny a day." We know not at what hour
in the evening this communication was made by
Mr. Dawson, but assuredly it is either the most
satirical proof of prosperity, or the most arrant
nonsense that ever fell from the lips of a public
man. For, supposing that what he states were
true, and that a halfpenny could purchase
five, six, twelve, or even twenty, of the best
potatoes of Ulster, does the Member for
Derry mean to affirm that such a fact de-
monstrates either a happy or a desirable con-
dition of things ? It is the most refined
example of Irish proSperity that ever came from
the westward. But we would have overlooked
the nonsensical part of the oration, and perhaps
the orator also, but for other expressions of far
greater importance, of a graver character, and of
a character which cannot fail to excite both ap-
prehension and indignation on this side of the
Channel, which fell from Mr. Dawson in the
course of the evening. The words to which we
allude are those in which the Honourable Se-
cretary says he is present at the meeting " as the
set vant of the Crown." In this capacity he
eulogises, in no measured terms, the brave men,
who, in the cause of bigotry, cruelty, tyranny,
and oppression, sought, under the banner of
James 11., to exterminate the Protestant Reli-
gion in Ireland. He then proceeds to describe
the power and influence of the Catholic Associ-
ation. He asserts that this gang of traitors have
usurped the reins of Government, made the
laws subservient to their designs, and exercise
openly the prerogatives of the King and the
British Parliament, He declares that the
tithes of the Established Clergy, the rents of
the landowner, the representation of the coun-
try, are in their hands. He says they have
only to issue their decree, and the revenues
of the Church would cease to exist, and the
incomes of the landlords disappear like mists
before the sun ; and lie concludes by affirming
that to restrain this terrible power by force is im-
possible—that the British Government cannot
coerce this faction—that, in short, we must either
conciliate them, or lose Ireland. Good God

is it come to this ? Is a " servant of the
Crown" to be sent to Ireland, or be permitted to
go to Ireland, to point the finger of scorn at the
Protestants of England, and to dare•us to lift an
arm to correct our refractory subjects ? Is a
" servant of the Crown" to be allowed to tell
the Protestants of Great Britain that they are so
poor, so broken spirited, so weak, so worthless,
that they are utterly unable to crush a noisy fac-
tion, consisting of men alike destitute of honour,
principle, or integrity ? But it is in vain to deny
it. The object of this suicidal speech must be
plain to every man who will be at the trouble to
reflect for a single moment. It is now clear from
what quarter the fatal blow at the Constitution
is to proceed. The Duke of Wellington
will thus permit himself to be insulted, his coun-
sels derided, and the weakness of his Govern-
ment proclaimed to the world by a "servant of
the Crown," with impunity, we never will be-
lieve. Mr. Dawson has over-acted his part, and
the consequences will be visited upon himself
and his friends. We are not the enemies of the
Catholics of Ireland, when we say that their in-
judicious' friends will soon settle the question.
Let them give the Crown some controul over
their ecclesiastical appointments, equal to that
which the King exercises over the clergy of the
Church of Scotland, and their disabilities will
from that moment be removed. But a threat
of rebellion will at once put an end to all nego-
ciation on the subject. I'he Protestants of the
two kingdoms will tolerate no conciliation, which
must for ever not only cover them with disgrace,
but hold them up as a nation of remorseless
tyrants and bigots, who have yielded to
force what they denied to justice. Thank
God, it is not in the power of any cabal
or any Ministry so to humble us. There
are feelings in the country which will not
much longer remain inert upon this question.
No Ministry will stand a month which shall
attempt to carry Emancipation by the means
which Mr. Dawson recommends, and which he
was " sent" to Derry to inculcate. The Noble
Duke, in whom the country reposes almost un-
exampled confidence, will never render himself
an auxiliary to a measure which will compromise
his honour, and convey to foreign nations a de-
monstration of our inherent weakness. Row
this speech of Mr. Dawson will be received by
the Protestants of Ireland we can imagine, but
not describe. Sorrow, shame, and indignation,
will burn on every brow. The Catholics will
be stimulated to fresh insults, to greater out-
rages ; party animosities will rage mere fiercely
than ever, till they terminate in some general
convulsion. Indeed, it is time for the Protest-
ants to look to their rights and estates ; for both
are evidently assailed by a " servant of the
Crown," whose happy constituents can subsist
on a "haypenny a-day !"—New Times.