The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-17 00:00:00

THE MINISTRY.

Now (continued Mr. O'Connell) I come to the business
of the day.—(Cheers.) Hurrah for repeal !—(Loud
cheers.) No compromise !—(" Never, never.") No sur-
render !—("Never, never.") No postponement !—(Loud
et ies of "Never.") Come weal, come woe, they would
struggle for repeal.—(Cheers.) These were not his
sentiments alone—they were the sentiments of one of
the most distinguished patriots that Ireland ever pro-
duced—William Smith O'Brien.—(Cheers.) He would
read a letter which he had received from that patriotic
gentleman on the present crisis. The Hon. Gentleman
then read the following letter from Mr. O'Brien ;
" Cahirmoyle, Dec. 13, 1845.
" My dear Sir-As it will not be in my power to at-
tend the meeting of the Repeal Association on Monday
next, I write, instead of speaking, a few brief words to
the Repealers of Ireland upon our political prospects.
" Assuming that the intelligence of a change of
Ministry which has reached me to-day is correct, I fore-
see that no pains will be spared by the Whig leaders to
induce us to waive our agitatiog for the repeal of the
union, and to engage in a struggle for party ascendancy.
They will endeavour to effect by corruption that which
their adversaries failed to accomplish by intimidation.
" Deeply indeed should I regret that I ever espoused
the cause of repeal if I could believe that these machi-
nations would be successful. Indescribable will be the
scorn with which the people of Ireland will be named,
not only in our own time but throughout all future ages,
if the pledges which we have recorded before Heaven
and before man should so soon be forgotten.

" Never, in the day of danger—never, in the hour of
hope—never to desist—never to pause from our high and
hallowed labours until we shall have obtained a Parlia-
ment for our own native land—is the vow to which the
Irish nation is irrevocably pledged.
" That pledge shall be kept—that vow shall be ful-
filled.

" Our leaders give the word—REPEAL AND NO
COMPROMISE. Our electors, whilst they realise our
triumphant expectations, will repeat the cry—REPEAL
AND NO COMPROMISE. The shout will thrill
through every Irish heart, and every, every patriot
tongue will re-echo—REPEAL AND NO COMPRO-
MISE.—BeIieve me, very truly yours,

WILLIAM S. O'BRIEN."
He (Mr. O'Connell) would not pause to move the inser-
tion of that letter on the minutes—its sentiments would
be found written on the heart of every Irishman. " Wil-
liam Smith O'Brien and no compromise" would in future
be the rallying cry of every man animated by the love
of Ireland, and compassion and sorrow for the miseries
of her population.—(Cheers.) But while they sought
the repeal without delay or postponement, it was neces-
sary to look into the state of the people,of this country.
Famine was staring them in the face, and pestilence
was following in its wake. The potato disease was
making frightful ravages, and had reached a height
that should cause the greatest apprehension. Pesti-
lence, the first results of famine, was already com-
mencing in Ireland-Lin Waterford, Limerick, Drog-
heda, and in various districts of the south, fever was
raging violently. It was their duty to rally the people,
and endeavour to raise them from the miserable condi-
tion into which they were sunk. Whilst in Waterford
he ascertained that the wages of agricultural labourers
in that county were one shilling and sixpence a week,
with some miserable diet. That state of things should
be changed. The present, or rather the late Govern-
ment,
had been humbugging the Irish people with their
promises of relief, and their commissions were issued
merely for the purposes of delay. Well, then, the Ad-
ministration was broken up. Was it by the superior
eloquence of their opponents that that matter was
achieved ? No. What was it, than, that dispersed
them ? He (Mr. O'Connell) might be considered super-
stitious—but he did not care what might be thought of
the declaration—he was firmly persuaded that
the dispersion of the Peel Administration was the
act of a benevolent Providence, and he bowed his
head before his Creator in thanksgiving for
the blessing.—(Cheers.) Yes; they consulted to the last
—they could agree upon a Coercion Bill, and ho dared
say they could agree upon a " projected massacre," but
they had no occasion for military massacres any more ;
the British bayonet might remain resting in its scab-
bard, they had more potent weapons to use in the work
of death—they had the weapons of famine and pestilence
to conquer, to kill, and to destroy. But he rejoiced to
say that the Ministry who tolerated the massacre of
famine and starvation was scattered to the winds, and
its members were as powerless as drivelling infants.—
(Cheers.) Yes, he rejoiced at their dispersion; but what
should he say of the incoming Ministry?—(hear, hear.)
He would say this— let them give the Irish people food—
let them abolish the corn-laws.—(Cheers.) On that ,
question he would join the people of England—he would ,
make common cause with them—he would insist with
the English people upon cheap food—he would raise his
voice for the opening the ports, and join in the cry for
the abolition of the corn-laws.—(Cheers.) He would sup-
port the incoming Ministry with all the zeal and
earnestness in his power in that cry—and he did not
care whether he should be Whig or Tory, the man that
fed the people should have his vote. He proclaimed from
that spet that he entirely agreed with Lord John Rus-
sell on the subject of the corn-laws. Indeed, he believed
that he and Sir Robert Peel also agreed on it. He was
entirely with Lord John Russell, and he felt it to be his
duty, as well as the duty of every other Irish Member,
to attend in London from day to day, and vote on every
occasion in support of cheap bread and food for the
people.—(Cheers.) Dow could any man in his con-
science refuse to vote against that measure, the direct
effect of which was to spread poverty and destitution,
and strew the land with the corses of its victims?—
(Hear.) How could any Irishman refuse to vote for the
abolition of that law, when tne result of such abolition
would be to make food cheap, and give the means of
subsistence to so many of their famishing and poverty-
stricken countrymen.—(Hear and cheers.) He cared not
whether the slaughter be by the bayonet or by starvation;
but that man was an enemy to the human race, to Chris-
sianity, who at such . a time and under such circum-
stances, could refuse his vote and his exertions in get-
ting rid of such an abominable law.—(Cheers.) He did
not hesitate to say, without abandoning or compromising
his opinions on repeal, that he should be prepared to
vote for every motion in support of Cobden and Bright,
and on this question to give his steadfast adhesion to
Lord John Russell, who had the manliness to proclaim
his conviction that the corn-laws were a calamity which
ought not to be allowed to continue longer on the statute-
bcok.—(Loud cheers.) Why should they not be for the
abolition ? It was said, to be sure, that the corn-laws
were good to some classes, and that they had the effect of
raising the wages of the labourer.—(No, no.) In Ire-
land, which is exclusively an agricultural country, I ask
what has been their effect ? have they raised the wages of
the labourer ?—(No, no.) On the contrary, in this most
agricultural country in Europe, wages are lower than
anywhere else. No reason can therefore be advanced
on that head; and he might mention that a nobleman of
high rank had become a perfect convert on the subject,
being convinced that there never could be a steady rental
till the corn-laws were abolished.—(Cheers.) What
was the effect of those laws ? They gave a fictitious
value to land; they induced the farmer to offer for land
more than it was worth ; in two or three years the
capital was all sunk ; the absentee landlord got more
rent; the tenant pays mere than he ought; the landlord
squanders his resources in foreign countries, and the
tenant starves at home.—(Hear, hear.) He asked any
Irishman who now might hesitate, how he could go
to any Government and ask to have money ad-
vanced for labour ? How could he pledge the
security of railroads if he refused to give his
voice for making provisions cheap?—(Hear.) He (Mr.
O'Connell) would therefore proclaim as a decided
enemy to Ireland any man who would not now rally with
Cobden and Bright, triumph at the success of the League,
glory at putting down the oligarchical Administration
of England, and rejoice at the utter defeat of the mono-
polists of food, wbo would refuse the unfortunate widow
the opportunity of getting another slice of bread, and
place the famishing artisan in the position of having his
children crying to him for bread, and not having it in his
power to offer them even a stone.—(Hear, hear.) It was
a cruel and hard-hearted thing that the man who calcu-
lated on wealth, station, and luxury for himself; makes
that calculation upon the misery of others, and supports
and extends these thingc by a perpetuation of the
wretchedness of the poor. In Ireland they were tor
honesty ; in Ireland they were fur the poor ; in Ireland
they were for free, fair, and perfect justiee.—(Cheers.)
Ireland had the merit of carrying out the Christian Fin-
ciple, for they would cl ithe the naked, feed the hungry,
and throw open the prison doors. It was their duly
to act so, for no man's life or property was secure
it' the famine and pestilence spread as they were
spreading. He was, therefore, for supporting the new
Administration in getting rid of the corn-laws.—(Hear,
h
givingup the vessel ? No such
thing.supporting the Administration on
ti r. )
Was Was
hh
ee
for f'o r
any other measures ? That would depend on the nature
of the measures proposed.—(Cheers.) He could tell
them what he wanted from them. He would require
that they should immediately pass an Act to hold the
committees upon Irish railroads in Dublin and not in
London. He was not in their secrets ; but he knew from
others that there would be no difficulty on the part of
the new Administration to allow us to have all the com-
mittees on Irish railways hold in Dublin. That would
be a gift at once of half a million to be spent in Ireland,