The Sun.
London, England, 1828-11-03 00:00:00

CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION.

(Abridged from the Dublin Morning Register of Fri.A a,v./
There was a eery crowded attendance at the Aseociatif ,
roams yesterday. At three o'clock, on the motion of 14fl
Lawless, N. WHITWORTH', Esq., of Drogheda, a lib
Protestant Gentleman, was called to the Chair.

MOTION OF THANKS TO MR. SHEIL.

lig -' Mr. LAWLESS would call on the Association, regards.
a motion which he was about to propose, to dispense w'
s°
all forms and technicalities; it was a motion of thallia,,
their talented, patriotic, and indefatigable countrYT°4cf
Richard Sheil,lbr his splendid and most effective adsniii
of the cause of civil and religious liberty, at the rnee'„ 1 „ .
on Penenden Heath.—(Vehement cheering.)—The cu'l.
duct of Mr. ' Sheil on that occasion would be long ren'e
bered, with pride and gratitude, by the people of Ireland ..
whilst the Cobbetts and Hunts would be eternally degran. fl
in their estimation, and in the opinions of all liberal 3",
~1
thinking men.—(Cheers.)—He (Mr. Lawless) had Ail -2
been an advocate of Cohbett, tin account of Ms: great es )
Vices to Ireland, but his conduct at the ' Kent. meet the :e4,
and the letter he hail published regarding it, evinced tta.,,
worst and most abject abandonment of public principles r
be fouial in the annals of British history.—(Hear, 1,6_1,:„,'
hear.)—Tl.l. could not too "strongly reprobate '`,;:d
public delinquency of Cobbett ; and his
_crime was tn,,
lgornega trarbobeucraeudset 0 heex tpvoases
and that the meeting en . Penenden Heath was against its''
all stlaeneovfilisnatteil,ilecetn.Ormiliteieswflhoowhi;
efrnodm.thoeurssvantot osLevintahnactipiatteio,inn,
he
ebseot c:omesusefarwwhaartdevear;.,:ii
that he and Runt were against it.—(Hear, hear, bear.)-"'
He (Mr. Lawless) had no hesitation in saying that the re-
sult of the meeting in Kent was a triumph to the friends
Of civil and religious liberty.—(hear, hear.)—And the
splendid and convincing defence of Catholic principles b.Y
,J
Mr. Sheil, in which he demonstrated that every great Lon" *"
mark of English liberty had been obtained' by Catholic!: • '
could not fail to produce a vast decrease of prejudice s'w
error in the minds of Englishmen. But Cobbett says that
•
Mr. Shea did not speak the speech. If the bull-dogs °r
Kent had the patience to listen, they would find that.he
could speak as well as write, and in a manner to astonish then''
After some further observations, in which he spoke in very
eloquent terms of the invaluable efforts of Mr. Sheil at the
Penenden meeting, Mr. Lawless concluded by moving the '
following resolution :—" That our Chairman be instruct
by this assembly. to communicate to Richard Sheil, E,Ci.
their ardent gratitude for his splendid, eloquent, and un-
answerable vindication of the principles, religious and Pce
litical, of the Catholics of Ireland at the late celebrated
meeting of the county of Kent, where argument and rea-
son were met by brutal violence—genius and eloquenc° ;
replied to by the screams and yells of barbarian ignorance, i
and truth and justice were opposed by audacious corrup• • ."
tion and desperate fanaticism." )
' I
Mr. BARRETT rose to second the resolution of thank!
to Mr. Sheil, which very properly preceded, as i/ 'e`
was entitled to do, all other motions. Mr. Law"
less has truly designated the character of that speech, ,
it was one of the most complete specimens of genuine i
eloquence and wisdom it had ever been my happies°- - •
to read, and completely ansveered and refuted every sem"
blance of argument which had been attempted by the or • •
ponents of the Catholic claims. It brought the questions° .".'
fact, to this point—that the man now who had read that, „
' :'
speech, and was not convinced by it, had proved hirnsels, -,'
totally impervious to truth and reason—a creature' so dui'
that he could not be convinced, or a wretch so obstinate,
that he would not.—(Cheers.)—A vote of thanks to Mc• .
Sheil could not, in this assembly, and after such an efforts
require any argument to have it adopted by acclamation.
—(Hear, hear.)—Bnt I congratulate the meeting that ..
Cobbett has, at last, made the inherent baseness of his
nature so evident, that all eyes are now opened, and W.
should at last get rid of the contamination of his ad'
vocacy.—(Cheers.)—Mr. Lawless now sees him in his
true colours, and has had the manliness to avow it.--.
(Hear.)—lt is my pride that I always discerned hie title .
character, and never shrunk from exhibiting his iniquity t°
the public. Why did Ido so? Because I saw in him in'
variably a literary tyrant, who never missed an opportu-
nity of trampling upon the fallen and the unhappy. What
he got for aiding the Brunswickers at Penenden Heath I
..,
know not, but I cannot forget that he lent himself to the
cruel West India planters, and described the unfortunate. -
blacks as scarcely human beings, in order to deprive theta
of public sympathy and perpetuate their thraldom. (War.) ' •
I cannot forget, that he stigmatized any interference, for
the freedom of the Greeks, as an act incompatible wit'
British feelings and object. (Hear.) I cannot forget, that
when Ireland was trampled upon, degraded, and fallen, the '
character of the people and of their religion were invari
ably the objects of his insolent vituperation. It was not
until this country was raised to a- high point of moral ele-
enredt hue:
with
iirtnh,
hisan dhedl
pi d,
annel .
,rvaatniotnilisbsyervaitetesr,
tat:lit!
hbeeetntecrutini,ben
manufactured a commodity calculated to sell in our naar'
ket. (Cheers.) But his simulated friendship here all tlic
features of hidden enmity, and such was the malignity of
his nature that, it was only enough; thet a man was trusted
and loved by you, to make him an object of Cobbetee
brutal ribaldry and unblushing fabrications. (cheers.)
Above all, I hive not forgotten his outrage upon the me-
mory of our lamented Brie. While the blood was yet
moist upon the spot where the patriot fell, before he was t
yet cold in his grave, the ribald jests, and horrid ,01
laughter, and sacrilegious mockery, of that heartleite rllf' '', ,1
flan, violated his silent and defenceless tend). Wear, hear.) r,,!
Oh! Sir—l wish he were arraigned in this room before the ,
ttibunal of public:oninien, and that I, from that chair, were 4 ::'
permitted to pass the sentence upon him which my hear; "::1.,
dictates, and my tongue avows; I would address him thus :. i'' .'
f' Sir, you pretend to public character, and you have not f.:.
private honesty—you ask us to 'tnietrnst others that we r, ;
might be betrayed by yon. If, blindly confiding in you, " ' we should adopt your opinions to day, what security will ',,i
you give us that they will he your opinions this day week?—
(Cheers.)—What security will you give us, that after hav-„:: 4,,
ing for you abandeued ffiendsLip, fur you violated gratis -•, .:
tude, neglected long tried friends, and forgotten boundless ':: ,:
services, you will not yourself, with habitual treachery, ,e
abuse and stigmatize us for the very crimes you purtfl/44 ~