The Sun.
London, England, 1828-07-01 00:00:00

IRELAND-CLARE ELECTION.

DUBLIN, SATURDAY NIGHT.
The preparations for the Clare Election have proceeded
briskly durin the week. I informed you in nty last that
the rent bad been doubled by the vote of the Lords: I
have now to state, that there has been an extraordinary
collection of rent within the last three days, averaging up-
wards of 5001. a day ; and the collectors say they have
only been able to devote one, two, or three hours each day
to the service; that they expect to be equally strecessful
with those whom they have not yet waited upon, and who
are expecting to be called on ; and that the work-people are
" impatient, and even discontented," becauae the collectors
have passed them by, and have sent in notices that they
will subscribe each a day's wages, if the gentlemen will be
at the trouble of receiving such small stuns. In short,
the Catholics and liberal Protestants of the metropolis are
proceeding with the strength of a multitude, and with the
unity of one man. The contributions frotn the province»,
and possibly a few from England, for which there have not
yet been time—these, with the collection in progress here,
will doubtless make up a very considerable stint.
pe
Connectedn.ad tiwithewtholise proceeding,
Countryanad strongthoig
though
it moralis agita-
tion
won-
derfully
and peaceable dispositions, I think the Govertithent and its
instruments should be cautioned against the use of provo-
catives, if it would preserve the public tranquillity. The
manner in which the Premier put off the question was
certainly a retrograde movement. It was going back to
the policy that once helped to " quiet" the Itish people,
but never can do so again. I must admit, however, that.
the Irish leaders did receive the Marquis of Anglesea in a
manner that wax calculated to deceive a new Viceroy, and
make him believe that the " generous people" could always
be quieted by gentle suggestions and auspicious kindnesses;
but then, did not the Noble Marquis pride himself on his
quick discernment of men and things. and on his casting
his eyes beyond what passed within the Castle, and on his
personal intercourse with the people, and his perambula-
tions of the city? If, therefore, his shrewdness has over-
shot the mark, and be has overlooked what lay on the
surface of our affairs, to discover what was not to be
found at the bottom, the Catholits ought not to be blamed
for that.

The Catholics did say that they wanted to be at peace,
that they liked the new Viceroy amazingly well, and that
they could go on very well together, provided the Govern-
ment would have the sense to emancipate them. This
was the only condition on which quietude was practicable;
for you are very much mistaken if you think the people
are governed in this respect by Mr. O'Connell ; it is more
certain that he and his cciadjuters are constrained by the
public voice. You may discover this in the ready support
which they receive from the Catholic body, when they are
firm and resolute, and the manner in which that support
falls off when they are less direct in their conduct. It was
the public voice that would have had expression in a less
desirable way, if it had not through theta been able to sue
for emancipation as the only condition of peace. I believe
they called it the only means of peace, for they sued hum •
lily, soliciting a benefit rather than a triumph. Then,
when the Minister cried " Peace!" and deferred the eon-
dition of peace, or the benefit which was to have been the
peacemaker, was it not natural for the Catholics to say—
" We have had this truce too often---you know the way
to ratify—' there's no mistake, there can be tame, and there
shall be none'—you are a man of sense,' and we will
agitate till the ratification takes place."
The Duke's provocative operated in this way; and it is
really bad enough for the Catholics to be taunted by the
Courier with being unworthy of the Minister's kind and
conciliatory language. It says, the Catholics ought 'not to
have their rights, because they demand them ; and if they
did not demand them, it would say, they did not want, as
they certainly would not deserve them.
It may be said, perhaps, that the Irish Catholics arc less
grateful than the Whigs of Westmorland to their County
Representatives ; and that when one of them joins a hos-
tile Administration that has rejected their claims, they will
not fail to reject him from any regard for his or their own
pocket, OR the proximity of a general election. They
have four or five distinct and perfect exonerations from the
charge of ingratitude towards Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald, any
one of them sufficient in itself, and all showing that they
ewe him nothing, but he owes them much. They are best
stated in some of the speeches at the Corn Exchange.—
Net to repeat what you will have probably printed before
this reaches you, I have now the pleasure of adding, what
is to he read in the faces, as well as in the speeches of all
men, that O'Connell'e election is believed to be se-
cured. The alarm of the Courier, the apprehensions
of the New Tinges, and the exceedingly silly re-
marks of another Morning oracle, .3vill not obstruct that
event. Orange authorities tell me, that an express ar-
rived in town this afternoon, bringing the intelligence
that Mr. Fitzgerald was on his way back to England,
either to resign his office, or to retire from the contest. Is
it conceivable that he can retire, Without a struggle ; or
that a Government, so deeply compromised in the result,
will not insist upon a most determined effort being made for
it in Clare?
You will have sees, that O'Connell conceives he can sit

in Parliament, without taking the oaths, and be subject to
'no penalty;—the best constitutional lawyers, and moi e
than one Judge, on this side of the water, are said to be of
the same opinion. Supposing, however, that by any con-
struction he should be ejected from the House of Commons,
will it be nothing to the Government that be will afterwards
sit in the Association a de facto Representative of the
People ? What, if he be returned again, and again—the fre-

quently pressed thorn in the side of the Minister? This
manner of obtruding the claims of the Irish people, may
not be agreeable to a school-going Administration, that has
every thing to learn, and requires time to qualify for action.
But the activity of this people will not allow much
longer time for speculation. Something must be done for
them, or they will inevitably become the arbiters of their
own destiny. The abstract principles of civil freedom have
been largely discussed here of late ; in speeches and printed
debates they have penetrated the hearts and minds of an
immense population ; and the consequence is, that it would
be wiser to open the Parliament, than to close the' Asso-
ciation.

The Catholics have told the Government all they want,
and lest the Premier should misinterpret their petitions,
they will send O'Connell to read and expound their
meaning, of which, indeed, his election should be no
obscure indication. Will the Government spurn the alle-
giance of good subjects ? Will it force their attention upon
a newer model of constitutional government than that of
England, by excluding them from the latter? These
questions have at length come to he freely agitated here;
for the British Government to say it will not consider
them, or to postpone them indefinitely, is to throw the
Irish upon the alternative.
I suppose you know that they have O'Connell's effigy
imprinted on a green handkerchief. Above he is styled
the Liberator, and underneath is given his fityourite motto :
" Hereditary bondsmen ! know ye not,
" Who would be free, themselves must strike theblow ?
And the whole is encircled with " lots of shamrocks."

But, as the execution ill favours this design of the patriotic

manufacturer, I beg to recommend to your attention
another article, which I have no doubt will soon render the
American Declaration of Independence as common as
pocket-handkerchiefs. The whole is printed on a yellow
cotton, with fac-similes of the signatures, encircled with
the armorial bearings of the parties, and clusters of oak-
leaves and. acorns, connecting on the top with medallion
busts of Washington, Jefferson, and Adams, with the
national trophies and ensigns. In fact, it is no bad copy
of the splendid engraving by Woodruff, which adorns the
wall, of the Dublin Library Society's News• room. Both
these handkerchiefs assist the mental associations of a
people, who say they have been prejudiced by the Union,
since they have not equally shared the Constitution.