The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-01 00:00:00

JUSTICE TO IRELANP,

GREAT MEETING IN COVEF„,.
GARDEN.—(THIS DAY)
A great meeting of the inhabitants of the City of Well'
minster, was held this afternoon in Covent-garden, for„:,
purpose of taking into consideration the proccoll,
of the Government for the subjugation of Irelso.,
and the persecution of O'Connell and others for the_ii
support of the rights of Irishmen, and to petition Parliaine:,
for the immediate release of Mr. O'Connell and his brothe
martyrs, now confined in the Richmond Penitentiary, Du"::,
The meeting had been convened by the High Bailiff,
Smedley, Esq., in conformity with a requisition, most ninne,",
ously and respectably signed, which had been presented
him for that purpose.
The hustings were erected rather to the left of the Chtta,rclk
~,,
instead of being erected in front of it, as heretofore. I,c",
arrangement was most judicious, as it afforded standing-T ,b,
t
for at least three thousand people additional in front of
hustings. The hour appointed for the commencer
of the proceedings was two o'clock, but the • Pell
began to assemble as early as twelve o'clock, 7,ir
by the time the proceedings commenced there could
have been less than ten thousand persons assernbi
Never have we known a meeting in Covent-garden lobe,'
numerously and more respectably attended, and the
haviour of those present was beyond all praise. A 117
orderly,-well-conducted assembly, never congregated
gether. At two o'clock precisely the High Bailiff took
chair. On the hustings we observed T. Duncombe, Peq/,'
M.P.,rolonel Rawdon, M.P., Sir R. Bulkeley, M.P., Sunn'
Harterd, Esq., E. D. Davenport, Esq., late High Sheri
Cheshire, James Coppock; Esq., Feargus O'Connor, Esq.,
several other gentlemen, supporters of the Liberal cause.
The MGR BAILIFF, who was received with much cheer,
then came forward and said, that having received a
Lion from the householders, rate- payers, and electors of ti(
City of Westminster, most numerously and respectv;,,
signed, requesting him to convene the present meeting,;
had fixed upon that day for the purpose.—(Cheers.)
object of the meeting was to petition Parliament to presei,,
an address to her Majesty, pra,ing that she would
graciously pleased to exercise the prerogative of her .Croy'
and to direct the immediate release of Daniel O'Connell, 911
M.P.—(lmmense cheering)—and the other State pels“°n,,J
confined in the Richmond Penitentiary, Dublin.—
cheers.) He had no doubt but that they would give eTt'e
gentleman who was desirous of addressing them an attent!'b
hearing, and that their proceedings would be conducted lit
the good humour which they had invariably displayed etcp
ever he had had the honour of presiding over them.—(Cheet%
Mr. T. Duiscosnm, M.P., who was received with the 113„°'
enthusiastic cheers, which lasted several minutes, then Cn
forward for the purpose of proposing' the first resolution, 1,
before he did so, he would take that public opportunity of e.OO
pressing, on the part of those who had signed the requiol
to the High Bailiff,, their gratitude to that gentleman for ~,
prompt :and courteous manner in which he had acceded 4
the :wishes of the requisitionists, by convening the prel,
meeting—(Cheers)—and thus affording to them the opnat
pity of exercising one of the proudest and dearest rights of Efgd:
lishm en, that of meeting together in public meeting assemln
for the purpose of discussing the grievances of which tb
had to complain, and of calling upon their representiitiY.,
in Parliament to redress those grievances, as far as it wss',
their :power so to do.—(Cheers.) He would also, before ~
proposed the resolution, congratulate the friends of Irelfo
on such a large, numerous, and respectable gathering asti'l;
which he had then the honour of addressing.—(Cheers.)
was a proof that the city of Westminster was beginning .f,
last to
_arouse itself from that apathy, that indrl
ference to public questions which he was so//
to say had bung over the constituency for so many years'
(Cheers.) Thi§i meeting would prove to the world that tb'
citisens of Weitniinster were still the Mende of the oppresoftj,
and the enemies of prrsecution.—(Ldud cheers.) )Ve'ei
minster had never before met in her thousands and ten 9
thousands in any cause which stood more in need of her elui
pathy and support than the cause they were met to advoest,e
j
What was the question they were met to discuss? .They b{
met to consider the treatment which Ireland had experien
for many years—the tyranny and misrule under which 11`,/
land had suffered, and which had nearly driven the people
that country to desperation; which would undoubtedly
fore this have shown itself in acts of violence, and
.4
the destruction of property if it had not been for the enn,
exerted in the cause of pacification by that individual ifir,
a contemptible Government had thought proper to place ivfl
the Richmond Penitentiary (Hear hear)—and
now suffered with those gentlemen, his brother rnartY,,',.
merely because the Irish people had exercised, for Int's';
months, totally uninterfered with by the Government, LP
very privilege which they were that day met there to ex,,,e,
cise—that of meeting in public to discuss public grievant'
The Irish had met to take into consideration the Act of PI;
liament under which so much injustice had been perpetrsl,
in the Act of Union.—(Cheers.) He was not there to exPretie
any opinion as to the Act of Union, but in consequence of
treatment which they had experienced, and the misrubt
under which they had suffered,, the Irish people had a rig;,
to meet, to discuss, and to petition Parliament to repeal tb
Act. He was not there for the piirpose of disgusting 11)
wearying them by going into the details of those' trials 1/.1,11
which they were all, no -doubt, wells acquainted. State txl_,)
indeed l—they ought to be called State farces.—(Chee'"i
There was not an honest man in England who would cro
forward and say that O'Connell and his brother martyrs
had a fair trial.—(Cheers.) He would not disgust the/11'
going into ' details. They were as well aware as
was how the jury had been packed—(Cries of "
oh !" groans, and hisses)—how certain sheets
the jury list, containing the names of Roman Catholics JS/
been conveniently lost—(Renewed groaning)—how evn
impediment had been thrown in the way of Mr. O'Conne
and the others in making their defence.—(Renewed groanii3g l
They all knew the contemptible and partial conduct of t'l,3
Lord Chief Justice—(Renewed groaning)—who acted
Counsel for the Crown instead of Counsel for the prisonel
—(Continued groaning and hissing, and cries of " Shante',,,
They knew these things, and did they suppose that the bro../
men of England, who warmly sympathised with eat
Irish brethren, would tamely submit without an effort '"/
rescue from the fangs of a powerful tyranny the individut;
now in prison, on whom the hearts, the affections, and the
hopes of the Irish people were settled ?—(lmmense cheering'il He would, therefore, propose the following resolution :
" That we, the inhabitants of Westminster, in public mee"6
ing assembled, do hereby protest against the prosecutiono
which have.recently taken place for what is called sediti'd
and conspiracy. And more especially against the illegal 013/
unjustifiable means resorted to to procure the conviction °
O'Connell and his brother martyrs, now undergoing impri9io.l'
ment in the Richmond Penitentiary. That, as rational men,
feel called upon to declare to the world our conviction that th
Irish State prisoners have not been legally tried, and 0
consequently unconstitutionally deprived of their liberlY.',
while we further assert that had the laws been duly adinl;
nistered it would have appeared that neither O'Connell n't
the other • prisoners had violated any statutory enactnle°,
nor offended against common law ; and therefore this meetinst
shall
insure to petition Parliament, to take such steps as
insure the immediate liberation of the said prisoners, and P'
vent a recurrence of those acts of persecution and dcapotistPh:
which, whilst resorted to under the pretext of law, men
uphold the ascendancy of faction by the prostration
~°
national feeling, and the suppression of public opinion-
(Loud cheers.)
The meeting had not concluded when we went to press-

FLANDERS MAIL.
BRUSSELS, Jurtu 28.—The loan, the subscription to Nr
will be opened to-morrow, continues to engage unive7o
attention. In adding the sums which are supposed
known, and the subscriptions which are considered as cern:
we obtained sums total, which we do not venture to state,
for fear of being charged with exaggeration. Thus ",„"a
affirmed, that even before the subscription was announr.,
our two great banking establishments offered to take'
e
whole loan; it is also affirmed that a single banking ilo'w
offers to subscribe for 25 millions.

BELGIAN FUNDS.—Buysam.a, Ants W.
Actual Debt, 234 per Cent., .... ....... 60
Rothschild's Loans Five per Cent....— ...... 103
Loan of Thirty. Millions, Four per Cent. 11)
Three
(ter Cent........
Thirtyseren Milli. ns, Ito . '77%.
1.3%
Loan of City, 1832, Four per Cent. ..... 102%
1843.. ...
Society of Commerce, Fourand a Half per Cent.
Bank of Belgium, Five per Cent
Issue bf .......
...Brussels Papers,-June 211

IMPROVEMENTS AT THE TOWER.—The conteo
plated improvements at this ancient fortress, which have bees
laid before his Grace the Duke of Wellington, the Constable
of the Tower, and been approved, will forthwith be o°o
menced. The old armoury, which was destroyed by fire, d
been cleared away to make room for the new barracks. Pio
ditches are all well dried up, and sewers have been cut $
carry off the soil. What was formerly a putrid and staglisll,,
moat round the Tower will very shortly form a fine csln;
nade, gravelled over and planted with trees for the recreati°,
of the garrison. There are no water mains laid down in tb
Tower, and the inhabitants and the troops are obliged t°
drink the Thames water, with 'all its impurities, which
been the cause of many disorders ; and the spring pump 18
Postern-row is the only means they have of procuring Pubis
water. This great inconvenience has been represented CO
t$
Grace, who is at all times most ready to study the coma° d
of the troops, as well as of the residents of this little fortifie,
town, the population of.which amounts to 3,000, and arraq„es
ments are in contemplation, for.laying down regular 11101",
and pipes, so as to supply them with purified water. Pit
sanatory state of the. Tower since the drying of the moat
highly satisfactory.
The
CHATHAM GARRISON.--CHATHAM, JUNE
29.—
embarkation of troops for India still continues. About 2P,i,
men have already embarked. Yesterday Sir Thomas W!'e
shire, K.C.8., issued another garrison order, commanctio:
Colonel Thomas Weare, K.H., of the Provisional Battalic;
to hold the undermentioned corps in readiness for immedil!,h
embarkation :—The 28th Regiment to furnish 209 men, it'a
the following officers, Lieutenant Dean, Ensigns Wright PP"
Ellis. with Ensign M'Lean, of the 17th depot; they are ;
dered to marsh to Gravesend on Monday morning, J 1114;
and there embark on board the ship John Cooper. On :
same day a draught of the 22d Regiment, consisting of
,!513
,d,
men, with Lieutenants Millar and Blackhall, of the zf„,,
accompanied by Lieutenant Prettyjohn, Assistant-Surges
Bowrie, of the 78th Highlanders ; Ensign Bullinar, 01.41
22d, will also embark at the said port on board the ship.
Grey; and on the 18th of July, 108 men of the 28th Ref
merit, with Lieutenant Roberts and Ensign APKennar,r,
the 78th Highlanders, with one man of the 78th, are uoci:en
orders to march for Gravesend to embark on board the slip
Falcon.

The case of poisoning in London, which creates
great an interest in this neighbourhood, is still under
vestigation both before the coroner and the police magistrat;
and full particulars of the proceedings which have talc,
place since our last, will be found in our,
preceding eolurro
It will be also seen, that an officer of the London police, Phe
been at North Sunderland making inquiries respecting the
case and the accused party, and six witnesses have gone h
London to give evidence ; and we are informed that throlibi4
the active exertions of the Rev. L. S. Orde, of Alnwic
some very important evidence and documents have e
obtained, creating suspicions of a most awful character.
Newcastle Chronicle.

The funeral of Mr. T. Hudson took place n:
Saturday, at the Kensal-green Cemetery. His son,
H. Hudson, was attended by a host of gentlemen, al
anxious to show their respect for the deceased. Mess,;"
King, Bo wyn , Courtenay, Brackett, Ken sitt, Grey,retrit:
Brown, Fporle, and Beuler followed him to his last horne
Many others who did not follow the melancholy lif°oi
cession were on the ground to pay the last tribute
respect to departed worth.
di EXTRAORDINARY STRAWBERRY..— An exvraor t '
r.
narily large strawberry was picked in the garden of Dir.
tb.
Aston, of Powiek, on Saturday last, of the sort called co
Battersea Champion; measured no less than nine inch
in circumference ! Worcester Guardian.