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

and, his much injured country, he would care not
how they had treated him ; he would forget it all in the
prosperity of his country, and co-operate strenuously
with them for the benefit of his native land.—(Cheer-
ing.) What return had these Ministers made to this
man ?—(Cheers.) What was their reply to the pro-
position ? Why, the reply was this—that con-
cession had seen it utmost limits, and that
condign punishment must be his reward.—(Cheers.)
It was quite clear that the last act of that contempti-
ble drama, which had been played in Ireland, had yet
-to be enacted ; and that the Government, halloed on
by the blood-hounds of the Tory press—(Great
cheering)—meant to send their law officers
of the Crown again into the Court o
Queen's Bench in Dublin, there to demand the
vengeance of the Court upon their victim.—(Cries
of " Never, never," " No, no," and cheers.) Nay,
at this moment you could not go into any
society, but if you met any person who be-
longed to what was called the Orange faction,
with that peculiar delicacy which invariably attached
to all their proceedings, they were heard commenting
as to the number of years for which Mr. O'Connell
was to be incarcerated.—(Laughter.) More than
this, they might be heard speculating on the relative
strength of the gaols of Kilmainham and Carrickfergus.
—(Hisses and derisive laughter.) Deluded and
short-sighted men ! Did they think that by his
incarceration in a prison they could conceal Mr.
O'Connell from the eyes of his countrymen ?—did
they think that by imprisoning such a man
that his virtues, and that his patriotism, would be lost
to their memories ?—(Loud cheers.) No ! He told
them in their name, and he told them in the
name of the people of England—(Great cheering)
—yes, and in the name of the toiling millions of
England, that how dark soever might be " his
cell—how strong soever might be his dungeon—
how gross soever the indignities they might heap
upon his head ; he told Mr. O'Connell in that vast
and gorgeous assembly that he might lay his head
in peace upon his pillow, for that the petitions, aye, and
• the remonstrances too, of millions of the virtuous, the
patriotic, and the good, would not only attest to his
innocence, but would proclaim his liberation from
within the very walls of Parliament itself.—(Great
cheering.) He had told them before that he had
already gone beyond the limits he had assigned to
himself, and he was satisfied that nothing he could
urge would strengthen the feelings they had towards
their patriotic and illustrious guest, and he should,
therefore, conclude his observations by saying,
that they in honouring Mr. O'Connell did honour
to themselves ; and, farther, that they testified their
sympathy and regard for a people whose rights
and liberties, whose prosperity and happiness ought to
be, and he was sure were, as sacred to them as their
own.—(Cheers.) He had now, therefore, only to
propose—" Health and king life to Daniel O'Connell."
Perhaps a more magnificent sight was never pre-
sented than that which offered itself to the eye of the
observer at this moment. The whole company rose,
:and from the point where the Chairman sat, to the
opposite side of the house, and the very top of the
gallery, there was one moving and hurraing mass of
human beings. The ladies in the whole tiers of boxes
rose, and the wavin of their handkerchiefs betokened
their heartfelt sym by in the proceedings of the even-
ing,ti whilst the lou and earnest hurraing of the mass of
men seemed as though its reverberations were never
to cease. At length something like silence was ob-
tained, and
Mr. O'CoststELL rose, and said—l protest that in my
long and varied life I never was so embarrassed as I am at
this moment—in truth I. am not ashamed to say, I
am almost unmanned—my feelings are overpowered.
The dungeon has no terrors to my mind—
( Loud cheers)—and if to it were added the
scaffold and the rack, they could not appal me
after the awful magnitude of the compliment you
have paid to me.—(Loud cheers.) Oh ! how ardent
must be your love of justice - how steady and severe
your hatred of tyranny ; how you must glory in
seeing justice honestly and uprightly administered,
when, with the intensity which you have exhibited
to-night, you proclaim the hate in which you hold
any partiality in its practice !—(Cheers.) What is
my claim to your kindness and your support ? It is
this—that you consider me the victim of injustice
—(Loud cheering)—it is because you consider
that the law has been violated in my
person—because those in power. have used that power
in a spirit of iniquity, and in your integrity you know
how to despise and hate them for it.—(Loud cheers.)
Yes, you are able to turn defeat into victory, and to
make conviction not a source of punishment but of
triumph.—(Loud cheers.) Glad am I at what has
taken place, because it has given me the opportunity
(and I say it in all sincerity of heart), to be satisfied
of the extent of sympathy that England has for Ire-
land —because it has convinced me, not reluctantly, but
with some difficulty I admit, that there is ahigher mind
animating the middle classes and the better part of
the upper classes towards us, and that we were born
to be united as a people, and to stand together
against the world.—(Loud cheering.) Yes, Ido
delight in the events that have taken place, be-
cause in them there will result a mighty good
to both branches oil' the empire.—(Loud cheers.)
Oh, what a scene is this to-day ! When I see the
rank and station—when I contemplate the wealth,
the talent, the rank, and the virtue—when I think
of the manly determination here evinced, and mark
the kindly feeling that glistens from those fair eyes.
When I behold those lovely forms that turn this
scene into a fairy land—when I see those sylphs
those celestial beings, animating us to our duty, and
• smiling sweetly upon us—l do rejoice in the incon-
venience I have suffered, seeing that in consequence
of it I behold such a transcendent spectacle as this.
Yes, they have convicted me ; but you ask how, and
of what ? I am " here to tell you of what. They
have convicted me, not of a crime defined or definite;
not of anything that you can read in the law-books ;
hut of something which the judges have spelt out of
those law-books, and have put together to form a
monster indictment. There is no exaggeration in this.
—(A person in the centre of the theatre here exclaime
" If you will come forward, Mr. O'Connell, it will
gratify the audience." Considerable interruption was
caused by this circumstance, which was at length
terminated by Mr. O'Connell's leaving his position at
the right of the Chair, and proceeding to a central
part of the building amidst loud plaudits from
the boxes and the more distant portion of the
.assemblage. The Honourable Gentleman standing
on one of the tables, went on to say)—The task
which I was endeavouring to perform was that of
vindicating you to yourselves—(Laughter)—of en-
deavouring to prove to you that you were perfectly
justified in the ardour of your enthusiasm in supporting
my own cause and that of the Irish people.—(Cheers.)
The accusation which has been made against me, and
-Ton which I have been convicted, is of such an enor-
mous nature, that it is interesing to every human being,
-whether he be himself liable to a similar machination
or not, to understand distinctly its bearings, its form,
and its breadth.—(Hear, hear.) It is not a crime
defined by the law, or definite—it is not a crime
respecting the evidence of which there' is any
possible resort to law books, or to the conjurations of
men of my trade.—(Great laughter.) It is called, to
be sure, a conspiracy ; but there is nothing of private
agreement there is nothing of arrangement
there is nothing of plot or plan in it—
(Laughter)—it is something that the judges imagine
when they dream and make the public suffer when
they are awake.—(Roars of laughter.) One Of Our
female authors of celebrity, in the fulness of her
feminine imagination, has depicted to the world an
imaginary being, of extraordinary dimensions, and
of ferocious capacity, and has denominated that
being " Frankenstein." This conspiracy, which
has been tried in Ireland, is the Frankenstein of
.the law.—(Great laughter.) As the one is uncouth
. limb, unshaped in form, undefined and indefinite
'in nature, having nothing of humanity aboutit
-the other has nothing of law but its monstrosity.$)
_How was it endeavoured to be supported ? 13
-the history of nine months.—(Laughter.) What
plot did it disclose ? Why a plot which was
carefully committed to those keepers of secrets, the
public newspapers.—(lmmense laughter.) Not one
witness was produced to prove any fact except that
A and B were the proprietors of newspapers,. and
that they were members of the Association, and then
the newspapers were read in detail against us,
and the judges determined that that was evidence
of a conspiracy ; and here I stand before you a " con-
victed conspirator."—(Cheers and laughter.) The his-
tory of nine months was given in this satisfactory
manner. The chronology and dates of newspapers
'were all that varied from one week to another.—
.(Cheers.) The history of only one great meeting
-was detailed as it had appeared in the public prints.
"Was it alleged that any one of them was illegal; that
there was force, or violence, or turbulence, or tumult at
spy of;thena?,--,(Hear.) Not a particle of any such
allegaiipn elitila be made.—(Cheers.) Was it al-
legeaigat.,,the magistracy of the country or the
civil poWeCa the country, or the idle or the timid,
were intimidated or frightened at any one of these
itieetinp ?—(Hear, hear.) There was not a single
allegation of the kind.—(Cries of "Hear,, hear.")
The meetings were peaceable—they were legal—
overy one of them was admitted to be legal—(Hear,
hear)—but; by the dexterity of legal magic, though
the forty-one were perfectly legal, yet the whole,
taken .togeth'er, formed a conspiracy.—(Laughter.)
It is literally a mockery to say that forty-one legal
infetings made one illegal one.—(Laughter.) Forty-
fme cyphers would not make a sum, and yet the
Amy 'watf,4o decided in our case that forty nothings
made —'something.—(Loud laughter.) Was it
~not to be looked on with scorn and indignation, and
en who planned this conspiracy, with
: •.: ' 1..` ". of Old Bailey practitioners, them-
. and ought they not to be branded
. „ . _
. ict )- might be forced into a prece-
ir d if the question be allowed to
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