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

and to state to you the reasons why I have held
these meetings. They say there is a union between
the two countries. I utterly deny it.—(Loud
cheers.) There is a parchment compact—(Cheers)
—a parchment enactment—(Cheers)--but there is
no real union.—(Hear, hear, and loud cheers.)
What is the meaning of a real union ? A perfect
identification between the two countries—(Cheers)
—that there should be no difference between Eng-
lishmen and Irishmen, except the accent.— (A laugh.)
that Englishmen and Irishmen should possess the
same rights, the same privileges, and the same fran-
chises—(Cheers) —that there should be no difference
in respect of rights and franchises between the men
of Kent and the men of Cork—(Cheers)—between
the men of Mayo and the men of Lancashire.--(Re-
newed cheers.) That England and Ireland should
be one nation, possessed of precisely the same rights, the
same franchises, and the same privileges.—(Cheers.)
I appealed to the Parliament to make that parchment
union a real one. The Tories, of course, refused, and
the Whigs were equally complimentary.—(Cheers
and laughter.) Ido not wish to weary this assembly
by entering into the dry details of statistics.
I will, however, draw your attention to one or two
statements. The county of Cork, which I have the
honour to represent, has 713,000 inhabitants in its
agricultural districts, and upwards of 200,000
inhabitants in its cities and towns, so
that the total population of Cork is equal to
850,000 inhabitants. Now, the inhabitants of
Wales are 800,000, being 50,000 less than the inha-
bitants of the county of Cork. The county of Cork,
with its 850,000 inhabitants, returns just eight Mem-
bers to Parliament ; and how many Members do you
think Wales returns with its 800,000 ? Why,
just eight-and-twenty.--(Hear, hear.) Well, now,
surely one Welshman is not able to beat five Irish
men.— (Cheers and laughter.) They are a brave
and perhaps a somewhat intemperate race are those
Welshmen—(Cheers and laughter)—but at the same
time, I respectfully submit that one Welshman is not
worth five Irishmen. Man for man, lam willing to
admit their worth, but I cannot admit that as com-
pared with my own countrymen they are worth five
to one.—(Loud cheers and laughter.) I can-
not admit they are entitled to return twenty-
eight Members for the 800,000 inhabitants,
while the county of Cork, with its 850,000
inhabitants is only to return eight Members to Par-
liament.—(Cheers.) Now ought that to last ?
(Cries of " No! No l") Is that a thing that
ought to be changed ?—(Cries of " Yes, yes.")
Then again let us look at the question in another
point of view. The Parliamentary returns made
seven years ago on the subject of the registration of
voters, showed that there are 4,000 registered
voters for the county of Cork, with a population of
710,000 inhabitants, while in Wales there are
36,000 registered voters. I was looking over
the Parliamentary returns this morning, and I
find the number of registered voters for Cork
is now I,soo—but 1,500 !—(Hear, hear.) The
votes for the largest county in Ireland are
nearly extinguished by the operation of the Reform
Act, while in Wales the number of voters
has ;increased by 2,000. There are 38,000 registered
voters in Wales, and 1,800 for the county of Cork.
—(Hear, hear.) Now is that common sense ?
(" No, no.") Is that justice ?—(" No, no,")
Is that fairness, or is it honesty. —(" No,
no.") I have endeavoured to obtain redress
for the afflictions of my country.—(Hear, hear.)
I have felt how great is the delight of being borne
along, as it were, on the breath of the people.
—(Loud cheers.) Oh, if you had seen the
stalwarth men leaving their work and flocking
to the road-side to see me pass by; if you had seen
their eyes beaming with affection as they looked on
me, and their hands lifted up, which wanted
but a word from me to strike the blow
—(Hear, hear)—if you had seen the aged
women with children in their arms greeting me as I
passed by, and praying for my health and prosperity
—(Loud cheers)—if you had seen the merry children,
and heard the chirping cry as I went along—(Cheers)
asking for blessings on the head of him whom
they called the father of their country.—(Loud
cheers.) Oh, if you had seen and felt as I
have seen and felt, then your hearts would have
expanded as mine did. You would like me here
vow never to relax in your exertions to obtain
equal rights and privileges for the land of your birth.
Those men have been taught the lesson of which I
have declared myself the Apostle, that no political ad-
vantage can be of so much importance as to justify the
shedding of one single drop of human blood.—(Cheers.)
This is the lesson they have been taught.—(Cheers.)
This is the lesson they practise—(Loud cheers)—
and this is the lesson they will continue to
practise until the triumphant success of the efforts
shall imprint the maxim upon the minds and the
hearts of the wise and good of all nations.—(Cheers.)
The Irish nation is entitled to more than 160 Mem-
bers in your Parliament. It ought to have them:
For the sake of peace we will take less than our
right—we will be content with 160, but that
will not give us one additional. Then with
regard to the municipal franchise, Ire-
land is treated with the greatest injustice.
In England whoever is rated to that poor-rate is a
burgess, and is entitled to vote at municipal elections,
hut in Dublin, in order to be upon the Burgess Lists,
it is necessary that a man should be rated at
101., that is, he should occupy a 201. house, and
that he should have paid no less than nine dif-
ferent rates. The consequence is, that not above
one-third of those who ought to be on the burgess
lists in Dublin are upon it.—(Hear, hear.)
I now come to a subject which I have often alluded
to elsewhere, and which, therefore, I will not shrink
from mentioning even in this assembly—l mean, to
the existence of the English Church in Ireland.
(Loud cheers, and cries of " Down with it.")
Gentlemen, I appeal to you whether the Church in
England, that has the state emoluments, is not the
Church of the great majority of the people ?—(Cries
of " No.") So much the worse. It ought to be.—
(Cries of " No, it is not.") Well, that is a disputed
question which I will not argue. The Church of Scot
land—that is, the Church that has the emoluments-

is the Church of the great majority ; but the Church
of Ireland, which has no State emoluments, never
has been the Church of the people.—(Hear, hear.)
I do not want the emoluments of that Churchfor my
Church—l would not accept them. There is not a
priest who would not do anything sooner than accept
them.—(Hear, hear.) There is no Bishop in the
Irish Catholic Church who would be the vassal
of the State. lam borne out in that by the course
that has been pursued by the Catholic Bishops
in Ireland ; my opinion is, that it would be detri-
mental to the state of the Church. The Catholic
prelates of Ireland have proclaimed, within the last
six weeks, that they will not take a farthing of the
money belonging to State endowments. I do not want
to impute selfish motives to any parties, but can
there be any doubt that the manner in which the
Irish Church has been used is both selfish and unjust ?
I do not think that there is a greater crime than that
one man should pay for the religion of another, that
religion being that which he did not believe. Upon
that principle the great oppression of Ireland'.
Established Church was founded. Until this system
is put an end to it will be in vain to expect
tranquillity in Ireland. My Friends, I wish you
had seen the Irish newspapers. A short time
since a very respectable gentleman, named
Archdeacon De Lacy died. He was the nephew of a
Bishop, and, according to the advertisement with
respect to the sale of his effects, he was such an ex-
cellent man—that he had eleven hunters—an excellent
pack of hounds—and, as the advertisement stated, a
splendid cellar of wine.— (Laughter.) But it may
he said that these grievances of Ireland are rather
speculative than otherwise. I don't think it will

be said that the last is so.—(Laughter.) It is said
that men might be just and rich without Corporate
Reform. But is Ireland rich ? Let me state what

the condition of the Irish people is. Forty years after
the establishment of the union, the Commissioners
on the Poor-law Inquiry reported that they found two
million three hundred and eighty-five thousand in a state
of destitution upon a population of 8,000,000, namely,
one fourth of the whole population ; and Captain Lar-
kom has reported that seventy per cent. of the
rural population were living in huts in one room

only----that thirty per cent. of the town popu-
lation families were living in one room, and in some

instances several families Were dwelling in one place.
—(Hear, hear.) No sign shows greater misery
than a decrease in the population. An increase

in the population shows a favourable sign, but the
retrogression of a population of 70,000 a year,
is a most convincing proof a misery, dis.
tress, and wretchedness. Now, just to show you
that what I am stating is correct, I will
read you the description of Mr. Kohl, a German who
has been travelling all over Europe. He has lately
published a book, in which is the following state-
ment :

" I remember, when I saw the poor Lettes in Livonia, I
used to pity them for having to live in huts built of the un-
hewn logs of trees, the crevices being stopped up with moss.
I pitied them on account of their low doors, and diminutive
fory g
i•
themodroa wn
es ,ei
n.a and dj knewga
more
gladly ly
suitable
nt
awobto
luet would
that
a atlnhlnaevr e
should arranged ae
ever
set he heaven their rppcaehrodi
people
pardon
me
on
whom Almighty God had imposed yet heavier privations.
Now that I have seen Ireland, it seems to me that the Lettes,
the Esthonians, and the Findlanders, lead a life of comparative
comfort, and poor Paddy would feel like a king with their
houses, their habiliments, and their daily fare.
"A wooden house, with moss to stop up its crevices, would
be a palace in the wild regions of Ireland. Paddy's cabin is
built of earth, one shovelful over the other, with a few stones
mingled here and there, till the wall is high enough. But
perhaps you will say, istherosoofs (f i t)lagrtcashsedcuotr
fcrooLeraednewigihth-
bark. Ay, indeed! A few sods
at least, if it
' lor a piece of talc, as may often be
bowing bog arebe onlyohoislya p
atbhea tocfh
glass
ellfix ,
obdu
ina
thewindow
,all
,00rr two
e
bladder of some an ,
seen in a Wallachian hut? What idle luxury were this!
There are thousands of cabins in which not a trace of a
fwroinntowwhiisehto
dobue bsl
ee
sent
h; e n
do
ttl
thyi nogf
door,btit ma
nl idt
ot lwe qa
nuda
chimney
nl hole n;