Star.
London, England, 1830-04-12 00:00:00

[s MORNING.

♦. D.
I Lhboll
o Jamaica .. 1
o Sweden 0
O Malta .. 0
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THE EVENING STAR.

LONDON.

MONDAY, APRIL 12.

EASTER. 'IIiIiDAT.H-01.11/411T AT Till BANN.

The French Mail of this morning brought the cus-
tomary despatches from Lord STUART DE ROTIISAY,
our Ambassador at Paris ; and from the Right Hon. Sir
Cif ARLES BAGOT, our Ambassador at the Hague.

It is not our purpose, at the present moment, to enter
into any discussion of the merits of that question which
Mr. O'CoN N ELL has chosen as the pretext for his re-
newed agitation of Ireland. Our object is, simply, to
protest against the impolicy, as well as the inconsistency,
of the course which that individual has marked out for
himself ; to maintain the opinion which we pronounced
against him on Saturday last; and to prove him " as the
head of a Political Association, the most unsafe—nay
the most dangerous—man in society." With the abstract
principle upon which the merits, or demerits, of the Union
must be argued, we have nothing now to do ; our senti-
ments on that subject aro neither involved, nor compro-
mised, in the consideration of Mr. O'CoN N ELL'S conduct.
Whatever the effect of that measure may bo upon Ireland,
whether it can with justice be deemed the blessing or the
bane—the defence or the destruction—the ruin or the
safeguard, of that unhappy country--deomed as she seems
to be, to perpetual distraction and desolation—to internal
strife and wretchedness ;—we shall not here pause to in-
quire. It is enough for us to shew that the success of
the Minister by whom the measure was brought forward,
was secured only by the stipulated surrender of that re-
straint upon civil and religious liberty, which was of all the
attributes of English supremacy the most odious to the
people of Ireland. In short the UNION of IRELAND—
with all its consoqueuces—was made a business of nego-
tiation and barter ;—yes, it became, in every respect, as
much a matter of national agreement and public sale, as
if the distinct privileges of the Sister Kingdom had been
formally disposed of by diplomatic treaty, or sold by " inch
of candle ;" and the principal equivalent conceded by
the British Minister for the attainment of his object, was
Roman Catholic Emancipation. The fact is upon re-
cord, and beyond all dispute. Nay, so solemnly did Mr.
PITT hold himself pledged to the fulfilment of his part of
the contract, that when he found objections raised in the
highest quarter, to the ceAcession—or rather, in strict jus-
tice, we should lay, to the ratification of that contract,
and the discharge of the obligation into which he had
entered—he instantly tendered the resignation of his
High Office, and thus offered the only reparation in
his power to those whom he conceived defeated of the
advantages for which they had bargained. Well—after
a lapse of years, the contract was at last completed ;
Emancipation was granted ; at what expense to England
of heart-burnings, dissentions, and party struggles, we
shall not pause se consider ;—but it was granted :—and
what is the result? Why twelve months have not yet
passed over our heads, since the fullest participation in all
the rights of subjects was extended to the Roman Catho-
lics of Ireland, and they were released from every stigma
of " civil incapacity :"—and now they turn round upon
us, and demand—aye, boldly demand a repeal of the
very measure which formed the quid pro quo of their
agreement—the restitution of the stipulated price of
their ransom ! " And what has been the result ?"
—Well may the Morning Journal—following up our
late reprobation of this ungrateful proceeding—ask that
question ; and well may he reply to it, as he has done :
" The formation of new Associations—the advancement
of fresh claims—the presentment of new demands—a
cry for the repeal of the Union, and a threat of panic
and bankruptcy, if what is asked be not conceded.—A
new Society, called the " FRIEN DS OF IRELAND," has
been instituted by Mr. O'Cow ziELL—a new rent is to
be collected; periodical meetings are to be held ; the old
ferment is to be kept up, and a run upon the banks is to
be the response of any act of intimidation on the part of
the Government."— In the ordinary transactions of life
—nay, in the intricate negotiations of States, if such an
attempt were made, it would be scouted as dishonest—or
be resented by force of arms. All that the Roman Catho-
lies bargained for, they have had:—and, friends as we are to
every principle of civil and religions liberty, we must de-
clare that even a show of perseverance in the system which
they have now been persuaded to adopt, will prove them ut-
terly unworthy of the.hoon which has been conferred upon
them. But we yet hope better things from the great body
of die people. It may suit the purposes of such patriots
as Mr. O'Covirstrar.-who holds his tenure of popularity
bat by-thi agitation of the elements around him—to excite
them loam:Meat and turbulence ; but the delusion cannot

last. They must see, that every promise which he has
yet so vauntingly made, of the splendid achievements
of his Parliamentary career, has " vanished into air—
into thin air ;" and that the hurly-burly which he now
keeps up, is only meant to divert their attention from an
inquiry into his own conduct, middle display of his own
prowess in the legislative " war of words." He sank so
completely into insignificance—nay, to such very nothing-
ness—in the great National Assembly, that his name
would have been " a dead letter" in Ireland, had not the
" five and twenty" headed monster of Agitation presented
itself to his fertile imagination. We shall, for the present,
only notice one point of contrust between his conduct in
his place in Parliament, and his acts at the head of the
Association.—The Repeul of the Union is the primary
object of this revived Body ; and let us see with what
equanimity he maintains his position at home and abroad.
In the House of Commons, on the 23d of March, the
Honourable Member for Clam " presented a petition very
numerously and respectably signed, from the inhabitants
of the city of Drogheda, praying for a repeal of the Act
of Union." In support of that petition " the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman" said so little, after all his parade at
home—" Parturient monies, et nascetur ridiculus nius''
—that the report of his speech, in which he travelled to
Canada, Halifax, and Jamaica, did not occupy more than
twelve lines ; at the Corn Exchange, however, it is quite
a different affair. An Association must bo formed—
speeches made—Rent collected—the whole parapherna-
ia of agitation displayed—and Ireland once more flung
into a state of most alarming ferment. But the Morning
Journal is mistaken:—Mr. °VON N ELL is not a "re-
luctant agent;" he does not speak the " feelings of the
priests and the rabble only :"—He is the master-spirit,
whe