The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-19 00:00:00

and became thereby the law of the land. He bail a high
opinion of the authority due to the words of Mr. Saurin; and
he was sure that Mr. Saurin would be the last person to say
that-resistance to a measure.became a- duty when it was once
made the law of the land. The authority of that man was
now made use of to mislead the people amongst whom
this paper was circulated, while it was knawn that after
the Union became law he never uttered a syllable,
to show that he never recommended any violation
of what had once received the sanction of Parliament.
He would now read the article in the Nation newspaper to
which he had alluded. It- was this :—" THE CRISIS Is
UroN us.—Our union with England was not merely an un-
just and iniquitous, but an illegal and invalid act. The
natural rights of the people were trampled down, in utter
disregard of the forms and spirit of the Constitution. The
statesman's wisdom and the lawyer's learning, lent authority
to the instructive repudiation of the patriot. Saurin, amongst
others, declared that resistance was a question of time and
prudence, and would, become a duty whenever strength and
opportunity might concur in justifying the effort for its abro-
gation. A greater than Saurin has at length. given forth the
irrevocable voice—resistance to the union has become a duty.
This, the forty-third year of the provincial degradation, may,
if the people have worth and energy, become the first of re-
stored independence. The knot, which had haified every attempt
to unravel• its complications, has been severed with one final
decisive blow, struck with the sword of peace consecrated on
the height of Tara. There is a way, if there exists a will,
for the liberation- of Ireland—for the re-construction of her
Legislature. The case between the people and her leader stands
thus:—ln a season of apparent apathy to the high and holy
impulses. of nationality—when cicatrization seemed superin-
duced by Whig palliatives, and the wound inflicted on our Irish
pride and honour no longer gaped and bled—O'Connell tore
asunder the bandages and revealed to Ireland the exact seat and
true character of her social and political disease. He cast to the
winds the soothing system, and aroused his countrymen from
the delirious repose produced by dependence on the sympathies
of foreign faction. The memories of the past, blending glorious
traditions of remote days with recollections of modern 'B2,
were appealed to,.the necessities of the present time were
bared to view in their appalling reality, the hopes of the future
were invoked, until by every varied argument addressed to their
judgment and tneir feelings—their own firesides—the tombs of
their fathers—the cradles ef their children—he so wrought upon
the millions that then answered his invitation to come forth
from bondage with the unanimity of one man. It seemed as if
the time had come to evoke the slumbering might of
that Irish aimy which the legend tells us was doomed
to sleep entranced in panoplied array, until aroused by
some potent spell for the expulsion of foreign tyrants. So
sudden, so enthusiastic, so resistless was the response of the
Irish mind to the call of the Irish leader ! Meeting was held
after meeting, exceeding its predecessor in numbers, and all,
without exception, challenging respect for the demeanour of the
masses who attended. Evidence was piled on evidence of a
national will, combined with a national morality and intelli-
gence, universal throughout every county in Ireland. The
million shout of Tara completed the proof, and flung back the
responsibility again upon the leaders ! Yes 1 the people had
sufficiently shown their willingness and worthiness to be led,
by a thousand proofs of their devotion to the cause and of fidelity
to their leaders. Whither and when? began to be asked, ere
the echoes of Tara had died upon the public ear. The leaders
have answered, and the responsibility is again upon the people.
The Rubicon has been crossed by the promulgation of a plan
for the reconstruction of an Irish legislature.- For weal or
for woe—for ages of bondage or centuries of independence—
we stand committed. • Forward and prompt action is sure of
its reward, in speedy and glorious triumph—the
criminal abandonment of opportunity is equally certain
to be avenged in the perpetuation of misrule. In
the making or marring of our own fortunes, we involve to an
incalculable extent the hopes of the whole human family. We
have glorieffin the irresistible effieacy of a new element in po-
litical warfare which we boast to have invented, and by whose
employment we have already won many outposts. W ill the
principle or the men fail now in this last decisive struggle ?
Shall the nation who have given- us their admiration, and sym-
pathy, and trust, mock at us for braggarts?—our children's
children curse our memories as . they spit on our dishonoured
clay ? The world looks to our country for an example. Ire-
Land must oecorne a nation now, or continue a province for
ever. We purposely postpone critical details of the plans sub-
mitted under the sanction of O'Connell's name, and with the
authority of the Association—contenting ourselves to admire—
and inviting our countrymen to admire with us—the symmetry
of the temple of freedom raised for their reception. The
portals stand open—the genius ef 'B2 has consecrated the
edifice—there may be - a bench removed with advantage, or
an alteration of internal arrangement with convenience;
but the exigency of the hour is to secure the possessor
and appropriate the structure to the sacred uses of self-legis-
lation. The number of representatives who will occupy seats
in the future Irish House of Commons, happens to coincitie
with that determined upon as the most eligible limit for the
intended Preservative Society. It;is desirable for many reasons
that the distribution of representation should be the same, so
that the transition may be easy and natural to the recognised
and technically legal condition of a Parliament. The chosen
trustees of the peoples' money now, will have the first claim
• upon their votes 'hereafter. Much inconvenience will be pre-
vented by limiting the number strictly according to the schedule
submitted to the nation in the plan of the Association. Con-.
stituencies—as they will be—districts as they are—having
greater enthusiasm in the cause, or enabled to contribute more
liberally to the qualifying fund than others, can transfer to less
fortunate localities their surplus of ability and pecuniary weight
with advantage and honour to both parties.
On the 4th of September, a meeting took place at the Re-
peal Association, at which there were present Mr. O'Connell,
Mr. J. O'Connell, Mr. Steele, and Dr. Gray. At that meet-
ing subscriptions were handed in from places abroad. They
were, 501. from Philadelphia, transmitted by Judge Doran ;
581. from Boston ; from the State of Maine, thirty dollars ; and
from Albany, New York, twenty-two pounds. Those were
the foreign subscriptions, which having been acknowledged,
Mr. O'Connell read a letter from the parties who enclosed
them, and then proceeded to address the Association, when,
among other matters, he stated that the meeting at Clontarf
would take place on the Bth of October, and that the chair
would be taken on the mound that covered the bodies of the
Danes. Mr. O'Connell then went on to call the attention
of the Association to what he called the prospect of the success
of the Repeal, question, and on that occasion he said that
the speech from the Throne, instead of throwing a damper
on the wide ardour of the Irish people, as it was intended to
do, was well calculated to produce the opposite effect.
Before, however, he proceeded to the meeting of the 4th of
/VP/Ittahn ch/tfrfleir I Trlf2escArieff its obey;
and he would now, with their permission, refer to it. It was
a meeting of the S.Bth of August. He would also first refer to
the speech from the Throne at the close of the last session of
Parliament. Her Majesty in that speech stated, in reference
to the repeal agitation, **that she observed with the deepest
concern the attempts that were made to stir up discontent
among her subjects in Ireland ; that the Crown had ever been,
and was, desirous to administer the government of that coun-
try with impartiality, and to amend the laws and the social con-
dition of the people, and develope the resources of the country.
The Royal speech then went on to state the determination ofthe
Crown, supported by both Houses of Parliament, to maintain
the Legislative S, nion inviolate between the two countries. Her
Majesty's speech arrived in Dublin on the '2Bth of August, on
which day there was a meeting of the Repeal Association.'
At that meeting there were present, Mr. O'Connell, Mr. John
O'Connell, Mr. Ray, Mr. Steele, Mr. Barrett, and Doctor
Gray., and it was then stated that the arbitration forms were
being made up. An adjourned meeting took place on the day
following, that was on the 29th of August. The same per
sons as those mentioned as having attended at the preceding-
meeting were present, except Mr. Barrett. Upon that 29th
of August Mr. O'Connell gave notice of the issuing of what he
(the Attorney-General) should call a counter manifesto to
the Queen's speech. '1 hat was to be an address to the sub-
jects of the British Crown in every part of the dominions of
her Majesty: That was within three days of the delivery
of her Majesty's speech from the throne. At that meeting
Mr. O'Connell said, among other matters, that his next
topic related to his plan- for the restoration of the Irish Parlia-
ment. The plan he recommended was the preparation of an
address, or manifesto, to be submitted to the Committee, and,
if approved, issued and addressed to all their fellow-subjects
every part of the universe who were obedient to the Bri-
tish Throne. That address was to state the details of the
grievances under which the people of Ireland laboured, to
prove to the world that they were not discontented without
cause. In the same speech he said they were accused ef
being disaffected. He denied the charge—" it was as
false as hell." He asserted (referring to the speech from
the Throne) that they made a distinction between the
Sovereign on the throne and the Minister acting for
her,. and . responsible for the advice he gave her. He
should have further occasion to direct their attention to
this document so prepared by Mr. O'Connell, and adopted
by the Association. He bait now to state to them, and to
call their attention to a publication in the Pilot newspaper
of the 28th or:August. The progress of the conspiracy had
been carried on to this extent by every means that suggested
themselves to the minds of those engaged in it. Every
means had been used to excite discontent and dissatisfaction
in the minds of the psopie of t his country. They had' been
roused into feelings of anger against those who were called
their " Saxon foes." The people had been taught their own
strength—they had been brought together from great distances
in.thousands—they had been taught to know the reliance they
might place in themselves. This conspiracy had been thus
carried on to a certain extent. But still there was a great dif-
ficulty which stood in the way of the full accomplishment of the
designs of those who were engaged in it. That difficulty was
the army was to be depended upon, there could be no
possibility of successfully carrying out these designs. '1 hey had
already heard of several speeches in which Mr. O'Connell had
endeavoured to excite dissatisfaction among the non-commis-
sioned officers of the army, by drawing a parallel between the
course adopted towards them in the English army, and that
pursued towards the non-commissioned officers in foreign ser-
vices. He had .done nothing new in this ; the same attempts
to excite disaffection in the army had been made at former
periods of their history. In this, as in so many other of
his proceedings, Mr. O'Connell had acted on the precedent
given by the proceedings of the Rebellion of 1798. It was
part of the system of 1797 ; it wasprecisely the same in its view
and objects ; the same attempts were made upon the army of.
that day. In the report of. the Committee of Secrecy, ap-
pointed -by the House of Commons, which be had referred to
on, a former occasion, it was stated that while these ,designs
were nurturing in secret, and acquiring strength and consis-
tency, no device was omisted by which they might hope to
embarrass the Government of the 'country. Early in 1792,-the
seduction of the soldiers was made part of the system. Ima-
gining that the season had arrived for the accomplishment of
their designs, no means were left unemployed for this purpose ;
printed papers were circulated among them, exciting their
minds, and holding out offers of preferment to such of them as
might desert their colours. He must now- call their attention
to-the publication he had mentioned, the Pilot of the 28th'of
August. .It was • entitled—" The Duty of a Soldier." The
article .was long, and:he should read-a portion, or the-whole of
it, if necessary. The Attorney-General then -read from the
article, it was in the form of 'a letter, signed Richard
Power, •P.P.
" There are at this instant more men in Ireland who under-
stand their just rights,-and whir are conscious of their power of
asserting them, than ever existed in• any nation, eyen of five
times its population. There are three millions of ai brave men
as ever trod the grass, united as one, a sufficient number to
conquer Europesready at a signal, and determined to die, or
have full and.ample justice; and yet I :don't:fear to assert it
there is not one man amongst them who hopes to obtain one
shilling's worth of any man's property, or who intends to do the
slightest personal injury to any human being, by joining in
thegr
deatenteartmioinnaeldr. e v 016hoi, is the
ion upon h whichst
degreethey are °
of
now
politicalunal-
terably
training to which a nation ever yet gwas brought.. It is a con-
dition of society which no one ever imagined until- the great
apostle of peaceful agitation has exhibited it to the astonish-
merit of the world. This, after all, is not depriving the thief of
hhise
principlepd ha dare
i 101
at ftoe. rnnc
encounter,
0,
uolantuhtteerr creatingtehoinesft,
cuaa,
nnt e
udos, overwhelming ehriowt7h:ei
vtal
smec
rei,nogur animatingpf
narr cesj whichuucsthi
cea
prin-
ciple being justice, peace' if possible—but,
There. is one class of persons whom Mr. O'Connell has not
taken :nto his school in his lectures upon political rights and
duties, but- who have it seems profited, notwithstanding, to
some extent by his peaceful doctrines-1 mean the military.
Mr. O'Connell is the best abused man in the world—his mo-
tives are misconstrued, his objects misrepresented, his cha-
racter maligned, his person insulted, and his religion held up
to scorn—his course must be cautious. If he touched upon
this subject, he would be cried up at once as an open rebel.