The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-23 00:00:00

nell and the companions of his triumph, was handed to
me just as I was starting with my family for England
and the continent. You will therefore see, my dear sir,
the impossibility of my availing myself of so flattering
an attention; but I request you will do me the favour to
convey to the gentlemen composing the committee the
high sense I entertain of the distinguished honour they
have done me in sending me a special invitation on so
very important and joyful an occasion.
I have the honour to be, my dear sir, your very
obedient servant, " JOHN SEARLE, JIM.
" The Albany, Sept. 16, 1844.
"My dear Sir—On my way through town this day I
had the honour to receive your kind letter of invitation
of the 11th instant.

" I can assure you that it is with extreme regret that
engagements previously made preclude the possibility of
my being present at Dublin on Thursday next, other-
wise nothing would have afforded me greater pleasure
than to have joined my Irish fellow-subjects in their na-
tional congratulation to Mr. O'Connell and his late
fellow-martyrs on the recent triumph which constitu-
tional law and justice has obtained over Ministerial base-
ness and party revenge.
" With best wishes, I have the honour to remain, dear
sir, your obedient and faithful servant.

" THOMAS S. DUNCOMBE.
" John L. Arabin and James O'Hea, Esqs."
" Wellington House, Templeogue, Sept. 13, 1844.
" Gentlemen—l have the honour to acknowledge your
letter, and in reply have to express my deep regret that
urgent and unavoidable private business renders it im-
perative upon me to absent myself from the approaching
public banquet in honour of Mr. O'Connell and his
fellow-martyrs.
" I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your faithful
and obedient humble servant,
__

" VALENTINE BLAKE."
" Crawfordsburn, Sept. 16, 1844.
, •
" Gentlemen,—l regret that it is not in my power to
be present at the banquet on the 19th instant, to which
you did me the honour of inviting me ; but permit me at
the same time to assure you of my desire to join my
fellow-countrymen in every constitutional mode of ex-
pressing our reprobation of the proceedings by moans of
which Mr. O'Connell and his late fellow-prisoners were
subjected to confinement, inflicted under the forms of
law, whilst the essentials both of law and justice were
scandalously ♦iolated—trial by jury, the palladium of
British freedom, rendered a mockery—and the consti-
tutional rights of the people invaded-4 feel I may truly
say, that if these proceedings had been affirmed by the
highest court of appeal, the liberties, not only of Irish-
men, but of Englishmen, would have ceased to exist.

" When I see this attack made upon the rights of
Irishmen, by means such as no officer of the Crown
would have dared to apply against Englishmen, even in
the present imperfect state of British representation, I
am confirmed in the opinion, which I have long enter-
tained, that these steps towards despotism arise from the
circumstances of our representative condition. We have
what is called a constitution, but what is really only the
fragment of a constitution. We have an Irish executive
with all its offices and appendages for the purposes of
the state and law, preserved in its integrity, whilst the
legislative branch—the Parliament—has been annihi-
lated, and, consequently, the executive governs with all
the arrogance of irresponsible power. I feel the neces-
sity of applying a remedy to this evil, and I wish, whilst
I would secure the rights of Ireland by local representa •
tion, to confirm the connection between the two coun-
tries by imperial representation. The joint action of
these two principles would, in my judgment, secure the
happiness, the prosperity, and Integrity, of the whole
empire.

'II regret that I, in common with many true friends
of Ireland, have the misfortune to differ from the distin-
guished leaders of the repeal agitation in the propriety
of admitting the federal principle in any reconstruction
of the Act of Union, but I anxiously hope that some
means may be devised of removing the obstacles to
united action among all those who agree on the common
principle—that Ireland ought to hare a representative
body, with powers competent to give her the manage-
ment of her own resources, and to protect her rights—
and that all those whose hearts are warmed with the
love of country, whether Catholic or Protestant, who
desire to draw forth the long-neglected industrial re-
sources of Ireland, to recal her absentees, and to estab-
lish the rights of her people on a just and stable founda-
tion, and thus create that national prosperity of which
the elements exist in such abundance, may yet—before a
long time elapses—be found working together, shoulder
to shoulder, in a common struggle for national regene-
ration.

" I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your obedient
servant, WM. SHARMAN CRAWFORD.
" To John L. Arabia and James O'Hea, Esqs."
"Bristol, 15th September, 1844.
"My dear Sir,—My constitution has been for some
time seriously undermined by a neglected cold, and I am
now, by the advice of Sir P. Crampton and Dr. Stokes,
travelling in search of the lost blessing of health—this,
and this alone, prevents my being present at the banquet
to be given to Mr. O'Connell and to those gentlemen
who have had the honour of suffering with him for the
cause of Ireland, and who have now the happiness of
knowing that their temporary loss of liberty has ensured
the permanent welfare of their country, and placed
beyond doubt the restitution of her rights. My only
consolation in not being a witness of their triumph is,
that I participated in some of their risks. The first
chairman of the Conciliation Hall—the first chairman
on the day after Mr. O'Connell was arrested—the first
chairman on the day after the verdict was pronounced—
in the two latter cases a 'volunteer, must feel most keenly
the solitude of a sick chamber on a night like that on
which you will confer a favour on me by reading this to
my countrymen, whom I cordially congratulate on a
most rapid advance towards the consummation of their
wishes. Iremain, my dear sirs, very sincerely yours,
" Joni.; A. O'NEILL."
" Kilcornan, Sept. 13, 1844.
" Gentlemen—lt would afford me the sincerest grati-
fication to join you in commemorating the liberation of
our distinguished countryman from his unjust captivity,
were it in my power to be in Dublin on the day fixed
for the national banquet.

" I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your obedient
servant, " T. N. REDINGTON.
"J. L. Arabin and James O'Hea, Esqs."
" Killakee, Sept. 13.
" Dear Arabin—As I am not yet convinced of the ne-
cessity of the repeal measure,. I must decline co-ope-
rating with its friends on the occasion of the dinner to
be given on the 19th, to the martyrs in commemoration
of their liberation, "Believe me truly ours,
" SAMUEL WHITE."
" Grena, Killarney, Sept. 10, 1844.
" My dear O'llea—Your circular of the 10th instant,
relative to the dinner on Thursday next, only reached
me on last night. I regret to say that engagements
here will not leave it in my power to attend at this great
national manifestation of sympathy with those who have
suffered in the cause of their country under an unjust
as well as an illegal sentence. I need not assure you,
that though absent in person my heart will be with
you on this glorious occasion, and if you think my name
as a member of the committee can be of any use you
are welcome to publish it.
" I remain, my dear O'Hea, yours very sincerely,
" James O'Llea, Esq." " M. J. OVoxxEu."

" September 14, 1844.
" Gentlemen—Pray excuse the delay of my letter to
your circular, which I have only just received. Fully
participating in this glorious triumph, I would attend
on the 19th, but for a very recent domestic affliction, by
which I am obliged to decline the honour of serving on
the committee (as my name appearing on it would, on
the present occasion, appear unseemly). Permit me to
assure you that my best efforts are directed in aid of our
common cause.

" I have the honour to be your very obedient servant,
" JOHN BARTON.
" John L. Arabin and James O'Hea, Esqs."
" Wimbledon Park, Sept. 15, 1844.

" Gentlemen—l am exceedingly obliged by the honour
of your invitation, and regret extremely that my engage-
ments in this country preclude the possibility of my
availing myself of it.
" I have the honour to remain, gentlemen, your most
obedient servant, " SHREWSBURY."

" Nynehead Court, Wellington, Sept. 16, 1844.
" Gentleman,—l have bad the honour to receive your
letter of the 12th September. I regret that it will not be
in my power to have the honour of accepting your in-
vitation on the 19th inatant.

" I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your obedient
humble servant,

"J. L. Arabia and J. O'Hea, Esis." " KILDARF.
" Scarborough, Sept. 16, 1844.
Gentlemen—Your letter of the 10th inst. onlyreached
me yesterday after post hour.
" Though unable to join my fellow-countrymen at the
public banquet to commemorate the liberation from their
recent unjust imprisonment, of Mr. O'Connell and his
fellow-martyrs,' I do not the less rejoice with them at the
successful termination of the proceedings of the last few
months, and the glorious triumph of the cause of justice
and of right.
" I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your obedient
servant, " W. M. SOMERVILLE.
" J. L. Arabia and J. O'Hea, Esqs., Secretaries."
" Drumconora, Ennis, Sept. 16, 1944.
" Gentlemen—l regret very much that it will not be
in my power to attend at the national banquet, on Thurs-
day next, to join with my fellow-countrymen in doing
honour to the men whose recent imprisonment in the
cause of our father-land have rendered them deserving
of the very highest honour.
" Long and peacefully did they struggle to regain for
us the rights of which we were foully despoiled, and,
with indomitable perseverance did they expose the
wrongs which for centuries wo had endured, and de-
monstrate the justice of our cause.
" Unable to cope with them in argument, our oppo-
nents resorted to a prosecution. The odious doctrine of
political conspiracy was revived in it • most odious form
2 ,
—jury-lists were tampered with, and a conviction was
obtained by means worthy of the worst of times.
" Undismayed, our great leader and his fellow • con-
spirators' shrunk not from those principles. They
boldly re-asserted the doctrines they had ever contended
for ; with indignant language they denounced the means
by which their convictioe, had been obtained, and ap-
pealed for redress to the highest tribunal of the land,
where at length—but with difficulty—right and justice
triumphed.
"To the men who thus in their own person suffered
for our liberties, the deepest gratitude is due, and I
should have been most happy, were I enabled to do so,
to attend at any festival in their honour. The victory
they have achieved is the greatest constitutional one
that has ever been obtained, and can only be equalled
by that which will restore to us our nationhood, and
place us once more among free states in the rank we de-
serve to hold.

" I have the honour to be your obedient servant,
" COLMAN M. O'LocuLEN."
" Lodge Park, Freshford, Sept. 18, 1844.
" Gentlemen,--I regret extremely that sows family