Star.
London, England, 1817-01-20 00:00:00

DUBLIN MEETING.

A Meetir.7., cnnver.ed st Requisition cnuched in
the following trims, and s‘hich had been made pub-
lic in the usual way, tng,lc place on Wttday, the 13th
instant, at the Green Harold's-Crnss:

" CONS II 'U 1.1*.i.F. I ING.
We, the undersigned, request a meeting of such
persons as feel themselves interested in using all legal
means to procure relief for the suffering Inhabitants
of the C.ty of Dublin and its vici•iity, abd particu-
larly of the Manufacturing and Wot king Classes, at
Twelve o'clock out ►Monday nett:, the 13 h instant, at
the Green of Harold's• Cross, ,for the purp•ise of con-
sidering the pr,priety i t Petitionirg Government
and the Legislature for the redress of existing
grievances. The attendance of the Right Honour-'
able the Lord Mayor, Slit rill's, Magisttatcs, and
other Pithiic Officers, is earnestly recpiesit d; as well
for the p arpose of giving their countenance to those
Constitutional proceedings, as to assist in preserving
the Public peace, should any person date to violate it."
There was a capacious platform erected in the
centre of the Green, for the accommodation of
Speakers; and a few minutes after the appointed
hour, Mr. Noun's, of Sackville-street, was called to
the Chair.

The CHAIRMAN thanked the Meeting (consisting
of no less than HP or l 2 perstins) for the honour
conferred upon him. He wished to have an oppor-
tunity of serving his Country in a Constitutional
manner, but regretted his inability to clf.) it with effi-
ciency. As to the objects for which the Meeting wa,
convened, they were too notorious to requite expla-
nation. As to the order of the immense multitude
he saw around Mini, he felt no solicitude on that
score. It required no argument to skew, that the
slightest violation of the public peace must be the
parent of the very worst injury which could be in-
flicted on the Country under present circumstances.
;mere/ cries of Hear, hear.)
Mr. HAGAN, of Abbey-street, rose and said, that
he held some Resolutions in his hand, which he
would take the liberty of submitting to the Assembly.
They sought to obtain a Constitutional object ; and
if they did not, lie would not be the proposer of
them. The person who was an enemy to the King
and the Constitution was an enemy to him.—(hear,
hear). —They sought to obtain a necessary, or per-
hvs more properly speaking, an indispensable mea-
sure of public relief ; and if they did not, he would
be the first to condemn them, for he saw neither po-
licy nor propriety in advancing complaints upon fri-
volous grounds. or embarrassing Government with
projects calculated merely to indulge a discontented
and factious spirit. After many rational observa-
lions. this Gentleman read a strios of Resolutions,
nine in number. They declare that public distress
has arrived at its acme ; that Reform is a sine goo
Noe of National contentment and prosperity; that it
is imperative on Ministers to use all possible wades
by which Retrenchments and Economy can be effect-
ed ; that it is expedient to entreat the Prince Regent
to give his countenance to Reform ; that General
Mathews is a tit person to lay the sentiments of the
Meeting before Parliament ; that it is the bounden
duty ot all classes to protect the Manufacture of their
native Country ; and that the example held forth to
the Country by the present Meeting should be imitated
by die Counties in general. The unanimity which pre-
vailed on the question of Reform left him little to say
on the subject. Its necessity was to be seen in the ge-
neral condition of the Country—lathe accumulation of
taxes, the decay of trade, and the wretchedness and
rags which covered the face of the entire country. As
for Ireland, he thought the condition of it truly deplo-
rable. Some people estimated the population of its
Capital at 200,000. It has been lately stated, in
documents prepared by persons who have been em-
ployed to inquire into the condition of the poor, that
there are not less than 74,D00 of these absolute beg-
gars, and living upon the bounty of the charitable.
--(Hear, hear). —lf the eye is directed to other quar-
ters of the Kingdom, a similar, and perhaps worse,
condition of things will be seen. Nor is distress con-
fined to those who are called the lower order. There
is nothing now so common in our streets as persons
begging. whom the highest amongst us would not at
one tie be ashamed to recognize as acquaintances and
friends. In 14C4, he, tor his part, had it for some time
in contemplation to quit the country altogether, and
seek in another those rewards of industry which are
no longer to be found in his own. This, to be sure,
was more a personal concern than any thing else;
but as his prejeet, in regard to emigration, grew out
of the condition of the Country, and as multitudes
had views similar to his from similar causes, he
thought be was not going too far out of his proper
line in thus speaking of his intentions.— (Hear, hear).
Had there been a Reform five and twenty years ago,
or even at a later period than that time, no man of
honesty or egertion need leave the laud of his nativity
in search of bread.—(Hear, hear).—He could offer
no better argument than this in favour of the Reso-
lutions that hid been proposed to the Meeting.
Mr. Mac, a Law Student, spar next. He would
not take up the time of the Meeting by talking of
his want of abilities. " The course we have to pur-
'sue (said Mr. Brie) is ; the cause we advocate
irresistible 1" In seeking Reform (he continued),
the people sought no new privileges ; they merely
claimed those rights which the principles of the Con.
stitution expressly recognized. The time was at
length arrived when ,it was necessary to assert
those principles And reclaim those rights. He did
not fear that. this position could be controverted.—
Ask the man of sound head and cold heart, if a state
of dlings could ever arise that could justify the peo-
ple in demanding reform ? He must admit that such
a case was possible, then Maw a slight sketch of the,
preserit deplorable situation of this country, And ask
him whether it was not time to ask for reform, when
our great landed proprietors were living abroad,
spending the produce of the labour of those who re-
mained at home, in another country; when ourhigher
orders were embarrassed; our. middle orders in a
state of bankruptcy, and our lower orders starving ?
wheuvwith t'ie aid of a taxation enormous beyond all
hunter example, our whole revenue WAS unable to pay
tie interest of our debt ; When a Lord Camden, and
litany other Lords, received their 5£40,000 a-year for
doing nothing ; when we had a large standing army
. is a time of peace; when the numbers around him
were perishing fp want of food, in a country gifted
with nAture'cchoicest blessing ?-•-isten all, this and

iJk

much more was the case, would it be denied that a
time for reformation had arrived?? There 'most be a
cause for all this accumulation of grievances. There
was a cause, and it was to be found in the de-
parture from the principles of the Constitution..-.
Thous principles were plain in their nature, and easier
ly understood. The Crown had its ample preroga-
tives, the Aristocracy their extensive privileges, and
the People should have their just rights. According
to the aocieut system of representation, and that sys-
tem which was in conformity to the Bill of Rights,
it was impossible that Corruption could creep into
the House of Commons ; but since the passing of the
Septennial Act, it was almost impossible that it cotild
be kept out. That Act was the pares of all the
national afflictions; and he trusted ti..at it would not
be suffered to remain much longer on those statute
books which it disgraced ; because until it was re-
pealed the people's grievance, could nut be redressed.
Mr. Brie continued to impeach the present system of
representation upon a variety of grounds.—" I do
hope," said he, in conclusion, " that the present ag-
gravated afflictions wcll generate their own relict. I
think that the efforts of the people must be success-i
tul, and that we will see a Parliament called accord-
ing to the ancient forms of the Constitution and the
Bill of Rights. I know but one obstacle whi:h can
arrest the progress of the great cease, and that is tur-
bulence, or any violation of the public peace, how•
ever slight, on the part of the people themselves. I
entettaia no-apprehensions for your conduct ; but I
►would nevertheless entreat you to remember that the
ephemeral riots in London have done more injury to
the cause of recut m than can he repaired by the be-
nefits resulting from halt a dozm meetings. Consi-
der every man you see round you as a constable,
whose duty it is to preserve tile public tranquillity.
peace and unanimity be year motto: recollect
that a divided people are like a shattered and riven
nick, the ft agments of which every hand may cast
away qui commit to any rurpose ; but that an uni-
ted nation may be compared to that rock, cemented
and unbroken, which !nesr•nts an image of strength'
and a spectacle tit sublimity. May the Goo of peace
and of mercy give you patience, my countrymen, to
endure your present afitctions ; and, if you be des-
tined to encounter danger, fortitede to meet it I" •
Mr. MACOONNELL said, that though there was much
misery to complain of, much of abuse to rectilp. and
much corruption to remove, yet, he did think there
was in the spectacle before him strong reason to
change the tone from complaint to congratulation.
' It was a source of gratification to consider that the
advantages to be expected from this meeting, and the
ultimate success of the measure of relief now sought
for, depended entirely on the conduct and the will of
the people themselves ; for if they confined themselves
to legal and constitutional means of redress, there
could exist no doubt of its ultimate triumph. Mr.
Macdonnell spoke at considerable length upon the
subscriptions for the relief of the poor, which he cha-
racterized as • a delusion attempted to be practised
upon the people by an affectation of charity," and ,
dwelt particularly on the gift of £2OOO madh: to the'
poor of this city by a distinguished individual, con-
trasting it with other applications of the public money.
Mr. O'CONNELL rose, and said be rejoiced at hav-
ing an opportunity of addressing a meeting which did
not belong to any sect or party—which could not be
called a meeting of Protestants or Catholics, or Pres-
byterians, ►ut which owned a better name than any
of these—the name of Irishmen; and as his country
' had been depressed for centuries, and at length al-
most destroyed by the dissentions of her sons, he
hoped the hour had now arrived when their united
efforts, under the great denomination of Irishmen,
would achieve her restoration. He trustedthat every
other object and every other pursuit would give way
to the great cause of reform; and he asserted, that
the opinions of the humblest classes of society were
entitled to. as much consideration on this subject as
those of the highest. —(44lolause.) The lower orders,
as they were, impudently, but the People, as they
should properly be called, coat, ibuted their blood and
their money for the defence and support of the State,
as well as those who affected to look down upon
upon them. They felt in their persons and purses
the baneful effects at a defective system of represen.
ration and why should they not be permitted to
raise their voices against it ? Did the higher powers,
when they be it their recruiting strums, or sent out
their press-gang, object to a man because he had not
an estate ? No. They willingly accepted his ser-
vices, without inquiring whether he was rich or poor;
but now, if he ventured to express opinions upon a
matter vitally interesting to him, he was asked for
his qualiticatious. The people of Ireland had fought
their battles, and gained their victories; and every
man, however humble his rank in life might be, con-
tributed in one shape or other to their exigencies ;
witness the tax upon salt, upon sugar, upon leather.
The tea which the poor man's wife consumes, and
the spirits which he might'be blockhead enough to
drink himself, pay a duty which greatly enhances the
price upon him. These facts not only proved the
people's right to express their opinion, but their posi-
tive interest in a reform in the representation of their
country. To give one modern and familiar instance
of the consequences to the people of the present sys-
tem, he would reeal to the recollection of the Meet-
ing, that the salary of the Lord Lieutenant of Ire-
land, who had to perform the laborious and difficult'
duties of driving from the Park to the Castle, hold-
ing an occasional levee, and signing now and then a
proclamation, was raised from at2U,OOO to 030,000.
But how was the additional £lO,OOO a year to be
made up ? Why, M►. Vesey I:itzgerald, who rounds
netasionally in Parliament some very good periods
on the beauty of Ireland, Laid A tax of '3d. per pound
upuu tea, which exactly made up the £10,000; so
that every poor family which consumes a pound of
tea in a fortnight contributes its 3J. in that time, to
give the Lord Lieutenant his increase of £lO,OOO a
year. Now, he asserted, that a reformed Parlia-
ment would leave the Lord Lieutenant upon his for-
mer 020,000 a year, and by taking away the extra
410,000 allow the 3d. duty to remain in the pocr
van's pocket. Nay more, would save him 9d. on
every-pound of tea used in his family ; for it was
well known, that when a new impost was laid upon
any article, the consumer was usually charged three
times its amount, by the retailer,especially if he was
poor, and obliged to buy in very small qoantitivs.
It *as not too much theta to assert, that the people,
even the humblest of them, had an interest in the
Referm at Parliament, and he did assert it.—.

But though a complete and radial Reform in
the mode of electing members tor epresent the country
in the House of Commons was die only effectual re-
medy for the numerous grievances which the people
were at present enduring. Mr. O'Connell thought
that those benevolent perteos with had come forward
with charitable contributions for an immediate,
though but temporary alleviatiion of the distresses of
their afflicted tellow•-creatures,, were deserving of
praises and tbanki. Though :0 the great and Listing •
evils which oppressed the people must be traced to
their want of faithful representatives in PAT-h.:meet,
it was but fair to admit that their present accumu-
lated sufferings were increased by the severity of the
late seasons. Those seasons had proanced a seal-
city, and the humanity of the individuals who
sought to relieve the poor from the full weight of
i!, pressure should not bt unappreciated—(//m/eare.)
While he was willing to give fill credit to many of
the charitable sithscrihers, he could not help observ-
ing, that the Noble Lord, to make up whose addi-
tional relo,ooo a-year, the poor consumers of every
pound of tea had contributed their threepences, ought
to hive been ashamed to return hack se2oo of that
sum, by way of relieving the diaresse. of ;•I•,tHllf
men. The object of the present Meeting was to put
an end to the necessity of such eleemosynai y dona-
tions; and that was to be done by reforming the
representative system, which, by enabling the Mi.
nester of the day to act exactly as he chose, gene-
rated all the evils under which the nation now
groaned. Mr. O'Connell concluded by again re-
commending unanimous and constitutional pursuit
of Reform, from which he anticipated many blessings.
Mr. MAC Dosser-1. moved, that as an Address to
the Prince Regent had been resolved upon, the Meet-
ing should, at its rising, adjourn to Thursday, the
ISth day of February nest, then to be made acquaint.
ed with the reception which their Address should
experience from his Royal Highness, which was
agreed to.
The greatest order prevailed aU through. Large
' batiks of military and police officers were stationed
in the neighbourhood of the Green from an early
hour, but there was not the slightest occasion for their
interference.