The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-08-28 00:00:00

COMMENCEMENT OF THE REPEAL AGITATION
IN LIVERPOOL.

Last night a public meeting was held in the Queen's
Theatre, Christian-street, for the purpose of forming an
association for the repeal of the legislative union between
Great Britain and Ireland. Mr. Daniel O'Connell was

announced to be present, and of course there was an immense

gathering of the " finest pisantry." It is impossible to con-
vey au adequate idea of the confusion ant disorder that
prevailed. On the great agitator entering the Theatre lie
found the stage completely crammed and the platform literally
giving way under the weight of those upon it, whereupon he
administered two or three gentle rebukei to the committee
on their want of arrangement. The place was, indeed, com-
pletely crowded, but amongst the whole batch there was not
-a single leading member of the reform party.
A Mr. GEORGE SHErtioce was called to the chair, and
resolutions declaratorj of the justice of repeal were moved
and seconded by Mr.' George Smith, Mr. M'Grade, Mr.
Fitzpatrick, and Dr. M`Carron.
Mr. O'CONNELL next came forward, and he was received
with loud cheers. He spoke nearly as follows :—I have felt
no small anxiety to have an opportunity in any part of Eng-
land to make the motive and the mode of my recent agitation
perfectly intelligible. I have no notion whatever that it can
be necessary for me to apologize, or to offer any excuse to
any portion of the British empire for that line of conduct,
which, in the conscientious exercise of public duty, I feel
myself compelled to follow. Let me, therefore, not be mis-
understood. If through the medium of this thronged and
crowded meeting, and more especially by the aid of those
paper wings that give sentiment &mode of flying through the
land, I am understood throughout England, my object will
be obtained. care not for censure ; I look not for praise ;
look merely to the performance of that which I consider a
sacred duty , and if I satisfy my conscience in- that perform-
ance—not by ability or talent, for I do not pretend to them—
but in zeal and energy of purpose, I shall rest quite satisfied,
no matter what verdict public opinion in this country may
pronounce upon me. (Loud cheers.) Yet let no man
think I am insensible to the censure or to the praise
of the good upon that line of conduct I am now adopt-
ing. Those objects which I now cherish are of too high
and too solemn a nature to allow any petty personal feeling
to mingle with my etertions, or to consume any portion of
my energies. I want—l am looking for, as you all know,
the repeal of the union. (Cheers.) lam looking for the re-
peal of an act of Parliament passed forty years ago—which I
oppoied in its progress, and which I have ever condemned
from dint period to this. .'(f.;heers.) It is but the repeal of
an act of Pal-Han-lent.- Some of the fury hirelings of the
press say it is high treason. I think an English newspaper,
the Sun of Monday last, answered that argument very well;
for it said, " O'Connell has as good a right to look for the
repeal of the union as Pitt and Castlereagh had to look for its
enactment." (Hear.) lam not, mind you, comparing my-
self to Pitt or Castlereagh. The one was a knave of the
most hideous dye; the other was a pretender who having in-
herited high and noble principles sacrificed them all to the'
foulest ambition of place and power : both found ,England
triumphant, and they left her involved in a debt that makes
her impotent in the struggles of the powers of civilized Eu-
rope. (Hear.) No, my. friends, there is nothing illegal,
there is nothing seditious, there is nothing unconstitutional
on my part. I am only looking for the repeal of an act of
Parliament. lam not speaking of the effect of that repeal,
but I am contending that I have a right to look
for that repeal. The English tory press—the hideous
villains that manage the Times newspaper, the sanguinary
wretches who conduct the Sianda-d, the drivelling old
ladies that write for the Morning Herald, the ladies' lap-
dogs that scribble in the Morning Post—all these faithless
two-legged animals combine in a cry of treason—in a cry of
separation : they say I want to dismember the empire—to
separate one part of it from the other. Am I here to conde-
scend to explain the cry of repeal to these paltry wretches ?
No. (Cries of "No !") What an echo is here ? The
moment I say " No," a thousand echoes spring up around
me. No ! But there are in England—there must neces-
sarily be—many good and deserving persons, who not know-
ing the real state of the question, and not knowing the real
object of repeal, believe it portends separation. To these I
am ready to reply : they are entitled to an answer ; expla-
nation to them is a duty ; and when I treat the sycophants
and scoundrels of the tory press with the contempt they
merit, I have the utmost respect to honesty, whether it be
enthroned, as it is, upon the highest pinnacle of Britain's
glory, or walks abroad in the humblest garb of honest oper-
ative exertion. To these I say, repeal does not mean sepa-
ration. Upon the contrary lam convinced nothing can
preserve the connection between the two countries long ex-
cept the repeal. The repeal is nothing more than restoring
to Ireland what she had during more than 500 years
of her connection with Great Britain ; it is not the
creation of anything new ; it is not the formation of any
thing originating in the human imagination ; it is nothing
imaginary or visionary ; it is only restoring things as they
were before, and placing them in the position which they
were in at the time I had arrived at manhood—and even after
was.called to the Irish bar, for I was called to the Irish bar
in the year 1798, and the union was not finally adopted till
1800.' I want to go back to the time 1 was called to the
bar. (Hear.) A merry fellow 1 was then—(cheers and I
laughter)—unknown, unmentioned, without any claim upon
notoriety, the son of a private country gentleman, yet prov-
ing how much an humble individual may do if he is per-
petually honest and perpetually active. (Cheers.) 1 want
only to bring things back to that period. There was no se-
paration in 1799 between England and Ireland, but there was
a connection between them. I want to bring the connection
to that. I want to know whether there is not an old married
fellow who would not wish to bring back the connection to
that period—who would not wish that if England and Ireland
are to be wedded, it should he a wedding of choice, and not
that of a false connection—like that of the master over the
slave, of the tyrant dominant over the serf? (Cheers.) The
repeal of the union is therefore nothing in the world but the
repeal of an act of parliament, and restoring things to the
condition in which they were. It is a part of Irish history
that no country in the world ever prospered as Ireland did
during her judicial and legislative independence—struggling
with England, sometimes triumphant, and sometimes over-
pow.erek—toliave.the priuciple mecognited that no power on
earth but that of the king—the monarch—of Great Britain,
the House of Lords of Ireland and the House of Commons of
Ireland, had power and authority to make laws to bind Irish
subjects. To that • I want now to bring her. Igo no fur-
ther. Ireland prospered under that state of connection. A
solemn bargain, after the struggle, was made in the year
1782. It was denominated by the British ministry, " a final
adjustment ;" it was recognised by- the Irish parliament as
" the final adjustment." England was then at war with
America—with the French, with Spain, and with the Dutch :
all these nations had joined the Americans, and for the first
period in English history, the combined fleets of France,
Spain, and Holland, swept the English channel unmolested;
for the first time they saw no British navy in the channel,
and the Dutch admiral placed a broom upon the mast
head of his ship to show he would sweep the seas clear
of them. The final adjustment" took place then. The
moment the Irish parliament got. this they voted 36,000 sea-
men and able landsmen to man the fleet, and they- -took six
months to obtain them. Within.three weeks half of the men
were at Portsmouth ; and in three weeks more the whole
were there. Our navy was then quite equal to the French
fleet. Rodney followed them to the West Indies ; he gained
the glorious battle of the 12th of April, 1782, and Ireland was
conciliated as the first fruits of her liberty. (Cheers.) She
thus gave triumph to England and security to the throne.
War menaces now again. We are threatened with war.
France is arming. England for the first time in history does
not arm as soon as her enemies. Jobn Bull was never squared
at before but he showed fight—(cheers)—or if he did nothing
else he at least kept himself in exercise. France-has now
500,000 infantry and cavalry whilst England has not, yet added
a man to her force; she is beseeching and praying for peace,
yet Lord Lyndhurst has insulted -Ireland and Lord Stanley
has endeavoured to crush Ireland. (Hisses, and some cheers.)
Why that applause at his name? He seenis a great favourite
of yours. (Hear.) At this moment the heart of England
chills ; her arm is palsied—aye, the arm of Great Britain is
palsied—yet at such a moment as this Ireland will never vio-
late the law. She will acquiesce in every act of parliament
that compels any of her people to arm themselves in her de-
fence. But what I want to get for England is not acquiescence
or mere submission to law—l want to get her the pride, the
high heart of Ireland; I want to give Irish spirit and energy
to the armies of England, and then France and Spain and
Russia and Prussia may attack England if they please.
(Cheers.) Understand me therefore, and let the honest peo-
ple of England understand me, I want no separation. 1 want
no apparent separation. I want no severence of the connec-
tion. I want to make it heart-binding, I want it knit toge-
ther by mutual interest, and by mutual respect. That is what
I am struggling for. In the present form of the connection 1
find nothing but points of repulsion, nothing but insult and
aggression, the Times in London and M`Neile iu Liver-
pool—for instance, and every blasphemous bigot who can use
the name of Deity and indulge in the most Satanic hate of his
fellow Christians. I want to prevent the operations of these
persons by legislative authority, and that Ireland should have
a parliament which should give her an interest to support the
British connection. I want, in short, to make the connection
one of interest, allegiance, duty, and of a community of poli-
cy. (Cheers.) That-is what I want. I offer that explana-
tion to the honest. I laugh to scorn .the calumniators and
the miscreants of the tory press. . (Cheers.) But it may be
said, that it would be quite right in itself to separate the con-
nection between the parties by the repeal of the union ; but
that it is unjust to' look for it, as the union was a compact
between two nations--that it was originally a bargain and a
compact between Ireland and England—and would it not be
unjust in Ireland to violate her part of the bargain kind com-
pact? That it would be dishonest, unjust, nay. criminal—if
the facts be so—l submit at once. I say, if Ireland made a
bargain iu 1800, no matter whether. it Las turned .out .to her
benefit or .not—if she has made a contract or compact, she
is bound by it, and she cannot in honour,.and she ought not
in conscience, to recede. But, then, have you it not pub-
lished that the union was ,a bargain or a compact ? Now,
history—and I am a living witness myself—and history con-
firms my testimony, -that it was directly the reverse. The
people of Ireland never countenanced the union. Seven
hundred and seven thousand petitioners prayed the Irish
parliament not to pass the act of union ; less than 6,000
petitioners asked parliament, not to pass the union, but.to
take it into consideration. Only conceive these 6,000 people
asking for the union, whilst 767,000 asked parliament not
to grant it ! The whole adult population of Ireland—all the
males of Ireland, with a few degraded exceptions—called
upon parliament not to pass the measure! Did parliament
pass that union freely? (Hear, hear.) No. The first year
they rejected it. Lord Castlereagh then doubled his bribes :
he expended three millions in direct pecuniary bribery. I
have put upon record in public the names of the men to
whom he gave £1,250,000 of that money, specifying how
much each of them got, from the Earl of Shannon, who
got £45,000 in one shape or another, down to a man
of the name of Jepson, who got only £1223. (Hear.)
How do I prove that I am accurate ? A. public, a parlia-
mentary paper specified every one ; 1 have it, therefore, upon
parliamentary record, but this is not enough. Nothing but
enormous bribery could have accomplished the object. The
first year the Irish parliament rejected the measure. Lord
Castlereagh and Mr. Pitt, finding, then, that they could not
bribe the existing members to vote against Ireland's liberty,
some of the wretches—thirty-two of them—gave up their
seats, and they put in English and Scotch officers, who had
no connection whatever with Ireland,, and by their means
the act of union was carried. (Cheers.) Is that a contract?
Will any man tell me that is a compact? If any man does—
though lam disposed to be civil—l say if any man contradicts
me and says it is, I tell him to his teeth, that he lies.
(Cheers.) That is plain English ! (Cheers.) They call it
in Irish (we could not catch the word.) (Loud laughter.)
But that was not all. Pitt and Castlereagh filled Ireland
with British troops, with Scotch fencibles—fellows with no
shoes to their feet, with English, Scotch, and Wel'sli militia.
Yes, there was one of these a Welsh regiment. Sir Wat-
kins Williams Wynn carried 475 squeaking little Welshmen,
upon good horses, to Ireland ; they committed great cruelties
there ; they committed horrible murders, floggings, and tor-
tures, and indeed they were not much the better for it.
Only thirty-five of them went home ; the rest of them
got freehold estates in Ireland of their own length and
breadth. Pitt actually augmented the army in Ireland till
it cost £4,300,000 a-year, and the Irish people were com-
pelled to pay for the soldiers who forced the union. That
was what they called " justice." (Hear.) But that is not
all. (Hear.) I will mention the case of two counties in
Ireland. The high sheriff of one county called a meeting of
the nobility, gentry, and freeholders of his bailiwick, to pe-
tition Parliament against the union. The nobility, the
gentry, the freeholders of the county came to the town of
Marlbro' (we believe) to attend the meeting thus legally and

constitutionally called. But •were they allowed to petition?
No such thing. Castlereagh sent down a troop of horse
artillery, Castlereagh sent down three regiments of infantry,
Castlereagh sent down four troops of cavalry, and the meeting,
altho' convened by the sheriff, and consisting of the nobility,
gentry, and freeholders of the county, weredispersedby military
violence. The great county of Tipperary was called together
in the same way by the sheriff. The meeting was appointed
to be held at Clonmel. In the same way, horse, foot, and
artillery were sent among them: they were dispersed, and
not allowed to petition. Is that a bargain? (Hear.) Am
I bound in point of honour to that bargain ? I say no.
(Cheers.) The first speech I ever made in public was
against the union. It was the first time 1 ever addressed a
public meeting. I had not at that time that flippant as-
surance in addressing public meetings which I have since
acquired ; I first then began to tremble at the sound of my
own voice ; I have heard it so often since that it does not
frighten me at all. My first putlirc speech, I say, was made
against the union ; and so convinced am I of the value of its
repeal to Ireland that I would consent to-morrow that my
last speech should be pronounced at the close of it, if I could
hear the cry that the repeal was carried. (Loud cheers.) But
that was not all. (Hear.) At,thateime the habeas corpus
act was suspended; .•; Martial 'law was proclaimed. No man
had the least protection for his life. The jails were filled with
prisoners who were suspected of being suspicious—with pri-
soners against whom there was no evidence, against whom
there was no charge. A pretty notion of a compact ! If they
had known what sort of a fellow then began his career by
speaking against the union, I think I should have had a dun-
geon for my union. I owed my escape to my insignificance.
I am sure I. am very much obliged to my insignificance.
The courts merely were sitting for form ; men were
hanged without judge or -jury : even when the Court of
King's Bench were sitting, there were men hung at the bar-
racks, yet the judge had no control to assist or to give the
benefit of the law. It was in that hideous period—in the
period of total absence of law, of pools of blood shed by
mock forms of trial, of myriads put to death by the bayonet,
of villinies, of corruptions, of the worst species of perjury—
it was in the dark night of that desolating season, when there
was no law, no justice, or protection, that the country was
sold, and her best interests trafficked upon by vile peculation.
(Cheers.) I have, however, one comfort, but it is a hideous
one, it is a horrible—a frightful one. The great machinator
of the entire, Lord Castlereagh—was he assassinated ? Oh,
no ! (Great uproar in the pit.) The great machinator
of the entire—the head of the bribery and the corruption—a
fearless man he was; for he feared neither the spirit of justice,
nor the avenging hand of providence or of his fellow-men—
he went to Mr. Keller, the member for the county of Wex-
ford. He found him "laid up in his chamber with the gout.
" I am glad; he said to Mr. Keller, " you are come to town—
you are come lam sure to vote for the union." "No," ',said
Kelleee," amoot ; 1 arc emne tci vote against it." - " Si-
lence said Lord Castlereagh, " you'know the compensa-
tion we make to every' man that votes for it—do you wish to
appoint a general officer to a command—a relation to a ship
in the navy, to a bishopric, or to a judgeship, or will
you have £7OOO or a peerage ?" Keller said nothing ; but
Lord Castlereagh 'added, " we have a wish to have your vote,
because you are known to be an honest man." The other
pulled himself up upon his bed, and said, " I hope, my lord,
I shall be strong enough to go to the House of Commons to-
night." " Well," says Lord Castlereagh, " for what—will
you not vote with us?" " No," says he, " I will not ; but
I will state to the house the offer you have made me."
" Will you," said Lord Castlereagh ? " Yes, I will," was
the reply. " Then," said Lord Castlereagh, " the moment
you state that to the House of Commons, that this has
occurred, I will get up in my place and protest; upon my
sacred word of honour, 'that every word you have said is
a lie." There is a fellow for you to cry for the union !
(Loud cheers.) I said that by the blessing of heaven
no Irish assassinating hand doomed him to the fate he de-
served. He was put to death by no tribunal of this earth
—by no verdict of a jury—and by no censures of an
earthly judge,—but he put himself to death. (Hear, hear,
hear.) He bought a threepenny penknife, and put it
into his throat. Oh ! I hope to see the time when on his
tombstone will be inscribed, " Vendidit hie auro patriam sed
unquam tyrannum imposuit"—This man sold his country
for gold, and imposed upon her the heavy tyranny of the
union. Let him have it now far his perfidy. Yes, it was no
bargain ; it was no contract. It was forced and filched, and
taken ..away from the people—their parliamentary rights
were : all I want is to renew them, as if this crime had never
been committed. lam told it is forty years since the crime
was perpetrated. Does that make any difference ? The
longer the crime has existed, the more imperative becomes
the duty of restitution and I demand that restitution in the
name of injured Ireland. Igo further; and here upon En-
, glish soil, I proclaim this fact ; and I defy any of the miser-
able writers of the English press, or any man attached to the
oppression of Ireland, to contradict me with the appearance
of truth—l say there has been no union at all. (Loud cheers)
None ! (Cries of " None !") The Irish parliament
has been superseded for a time, but there has been
no union. (Hear.) There has been a piece of parchment—
there have been printing and paper—there have been good
types—there has been proper notation and marginal notes,
but there has been no union ; because a union means equa-
lity—it means assimilation—it Means amalgamation—it
means identity: (Cheers.) If there was a unionethe people
of Ireland would have the same privileges as the people of
England—there would be no difference between them. The
counties of York and Lancaster have a union, because the
people of Lancaster have exactly the same privileges and
franchises as the people of York--(hear, hear); but, on
the other hand, the people of the county Cork have no
privileges and franchises in common with the people of
the county of Lancaster, and therefore they have no union
with then,. (Hear, hear.) I put this to the common sense
of the people of England. Suppose the counties of Cork,
Kerry, and Mayo had franchises arid privileges which you
have not, would John Bull be satisfied with that as an union
which left him no equality? (Cries of "No, no.") I am
disposed to be as surly as John Bull himself upon that point;
I am not satisfied with that ; and though I look in a good
humour now, I am still in a great passion yet. If there
was an union we should have it between both ; we should
have the same privileges and the same franchises, the same
number of repeesentetiees, and have the same power of re-
turning members to parliament. We have none of them ;
therefore I say, to his teeth, that that man lies who tells me
there is an union. (Cheers.) lam not, therefore repealing
the union, I am only tearing a piece of parchment, and
scattering it' -eele.s to the, winds, ancla very good way it is of
treeing it. (Laughter.) Thouili for 29 years after that
union the people of Ireland were not admitted into
the constitution of Great Britain at all, and they would
not have been admitted from that day to this if there
had not been certain busy agitators—(laughter)—with an ex-
traordinary fellow of the name of Daniel O'Connell. (Loud
laughter and cheers.) Oh ! oh ! if you speak so loud you
will disturb your honourable representative, Mr. Cresawell
Creswell. No, let me come back and not think of that
fellow of pediculose motion. There is something better still,
Mr. Peel put into the hands of Lord Fingal' a paper, which
he said he was authorized by the King to give, promising
equality of rights to the Catholics if the act of union passed.
1 heard of it at the time, and young as I was, I said—" I will
not believe a word that that fellow was authorized to bring
the paper." The act of union passed. Lord Fingall then
claimed the performance of the promise. Mr. Pitt went to
George 111., and told his Majesty that he had consented to
the performance of the promise which he (Mr. Pitt) had
given. He (George III.) was a stupid piece of an old block-
head. He lost America through his stubbornness, and, but
for the fidelity of the Irish people, would have lost Ireland
also. He said, " 'We have got the act of union ; give us the
paper ; they shall not have equality." (Hear, hear.) Every
body remembers Mr. Pitt's conduct upon that occasion—
that he was out of office for nearly twelve months. There
was at least so much honesty as that ; but it was left-handed
honesty. (Loud cheers.) He satisfied his conscience by
merely being out of office. (Hear.) There was then a new
brood of ministers,
,and Mr. Pitt became prime minister.
For 29 years Ireland struggled for that right which was
promised her, and inherent in the nature of a real union ;
and, at length, we agitated and obtained relief from Peel,
the cunning statesman, and the chivalrous hero of a hundred
fights. (Cheers.) We defeated the one, and we beat the
other ; and yet, I am told, we ought to be very thankful to
them. I remember playing„ when I was a child, when any
body said I was wrong, if thought I did not deserve it, I
said, " thank you for nothing." I say to Wellington
and Peel, in like manner, " Thank you for nothing."—
They were compelled to it; they were check-mated at
the game of political chess, and we will check-mate
them again if they oppose repeal. (Loud cheers.) Well,
at length we carried civil equality ; but I cannot avoid here
reminding you, and I hope there are many of my Christian
Protestant brethren listening to me, of this—that the year
before we carried our own emancipation—we petitioned for
the emancipation of. the Protestant dissenters of England,.
(Loud cheers.) There (holding forth his right hand) is the
hand that drew the petition. It was passed three times in
the committee of, and in, the Catholic Association ; it was
moved at an aggregate meeting of the Catholics of Ireland by
an estimable friend of mine, gone long since to the peace of
God. He was a Carmelite friar. He petitioned in favour of
the Protestant dissenters of England. It was carried upon
every occasion unanimously. (Loud cheers.) Three weeks
after it was presented to parliament, the protestant
dissenters, in spite of Peel and Wellington, were
emancipated. (Loud cheers.) We assisted them to the
constitution before' we opened the doors of it to ourselves.
I wish that fact to be recollected, it is always as well to repeat
the facts of history over and over again ; the memory is so
transitory, that objects and facts easily glide away from it.
At the end of 29 yeare, we carried that act, which was the
prelude to the repeal of the union. I am the man who led
those who carried it, but I do not thank the English parlia-
ment and government for it • for it was only an instal-
ment,-and we got it. Then there was no excuse for not
making the union perfect. Then you have commenced an
Anti-catholic prejudice ; then your M`Neile bigotry is de-
feating itself; all your liars and calumniators no longer suc-
ceed against the people of Ireland, bat England and Ireland
were. put upon the principle of equality. They then said
" wait awhile, or we cannot Carry reform for England." Did
we then press forward upon our own behalf ? No. There was a
majority of Scotch members against that reform ; there was a
majority of English members against it ; but the majority of
Irish members was so great that it overpowered both, and by
means of the Irish majority the English got their reform bill.
(Loud cheers.) By the same means the Scotch got their re-
form bill; they have got since corporate reform. Was not
this the time to make up the union ? Was not this a time
when the union ought to be realized ? Yes, it was, if there
had been honour, common sense, or justice; but there was nei-
ther, for Stanley was the secretary. (Hisses and cheers.) Scot-
land with a population of two and-a-half millions only, got
an increase of eight members ; whilst Ireland, with a popu-
lation of eight millions got an increase of only five, and two
of these were enemies of Ireland, for they represented the
University of Dublin. England continued to have her eese
franchise, but they raised the. Irish franchise to £2O in-
stead of 40s. Ireland is the poorer country, yet the
franchise is ten times higher than in England. (Hear, hear.)
They tell me I ought to be quiet, contented, with this glaring
injustice to Ireland, and thank them for their union !
(Cheers.) Well, I was agitating some eight or ten years ago
for the repeal of the union. At that time honest Englishmen
said to me, " The reform bill is progressing now wait awhile,
there will soon be a reformed parliament ; the present king
is old, lie will be most likely succeeded by a young creature
admirably educated, brought up in the pure principles of
equal justice to all her futureisubjects, and the English par-
liament will then do you justice." There was one part of
the prophecy true.- • (Laughter.) The Queen, God bless her
—(cheers)—she is true to her trust. Oh ! may she live long,
and be glorious-•—may her husband love her better
than
nl
the husband of any other woman in the British
ps , and
may they have more childretethan my grandmother, empire,
er -wheo had
two-and-twenty. , (Laughter and cheers.) No have been
deceived. I have applied for an extension of hi we
the have been
deceived. I have applied fy an extension of the nurubel' of
members for Ireland. How was I answered by an English
reform parliament ? Saving your P rgoence, I was laughed at. I
applied to assimilatethe franchise
Sir James Graham, or Peel, or St.anleyw,N'o.arsanlymoeft t?hNeVia-esgiut by
enemies of Ireland ? No. I was met by Lord Morpeth,
who refused me the assimilation, and even led on the oppo-
sition. Am I to be told, my Irish hearers, as I have been
often done—but it makes my Irish blood, naturally
warm, invigorate my'heart, and make me
young again
—am I to be told I am to be the petty vermin that my
Lord Morpeth that Lord Morpeth may spit upon; for when
he sells his country, he throws his foul rheum upon me ; and
the English parliament is to be placed in this position, to give
Ireland the benefit of the union. The minister of the crown
is able, excellent, well-disposed, noble-minded—for there is
not abetter human being than Lord Morpeth, who thus op-
posed me; but the degradation of Ireland is greater because
even that good man would do nothing for her. (Hear, hear.)
Oh ! the people who want others to do good for them will not
have it done at all.—
" Hereditary bondsmen, know ye not,
Who would be free themselves must strike the blow

' I returned to Ireland, and formed a Precursor Society—a
significant name. I came back last session to know if we
should get back our ancient franchise and equality—
whether, in fact, there Mould be an union or not: I
came back to ask that question. No parrot was ever
taught a single phrase more repeatedly than I repeated
that quesion, "is there to be an union or not?" The
answer was " no." " Will you increase the number
of our representatives ?" " No.►' " Will you reduce the
franchise ?" " No." Did it rest there?" No. There
was Lord Lyndhurst, who got the corporate reform bill into
the House of Lords. If there had been an union, Ireland
would have had the same corporate reform as England and
Scotland had five years ago ; but we have it not vet. Lord
Lyndhurst struck out almost all that was valuable in
the bills, and he threw us back, as a surly mendicant
would a dirty bone to his dog—the bald, jejeune, 'and
limited remnant of a stunted reform. h that an union ?
That was not all : our franchise was to be limited -yet.
What did Lord Stanley do? (The uproar pervading pre-
vented us bearing this passage distinctly.) That was. not
enough : the injustice of the thing was gross and glaring,
—(hear)—but be (Lord Stanley) determined to exaggerate
injustice, and go the incredible length of diminishing the
number of electors. Had he stood alone ? He had four
times majorities in favour of his measure, each time nearly
half the entire house being with him. I was amused,at a
Dublin newspaper reporting me the other day as saying that
Lord Stanley had only majorities of four ; the fact is, he had
' four distinct majorities upon suffering Ireland. The man
that tells me.there is any union between Great Britain and
Ireland, I tell him, to their teeth, there is no union—there
is as much union as there is between black and white, or be-
tween light and darkness : let him take his change out of
that. I say there is no union between England and Ireland.
Hurrah! now for the parchment. (Hear, and loud cheers.)
I do not know whether I am growing old, but I intend shortly
to spend the rest of my life amongst the mountains of Der-
rynane. (A voice, " College Green.") Yes ; College
Green. Now, I have explained these things, first, that
separation is not any object, let me tell you this ; if this
scene is to continue, if injustice is to be superadded to in-
jury, if insult is to be added to both, if Stanley and
Lyndhurst are to have the sole government of Ireland,
I will never consent to have Ireland strong to take
any political advantage, however great, at the expense
of a single drop of blood ; but I shall be driven out of the
field, and the young blood of Ireland, which is not at all like
the ichor which flows through the veins of the insect class,
but it is red and boiling- and bubbling and generous, and
ready for overflowing—the young blood of Ireland—our young
heroes, those whom the pride of birth has not surrounded,
but- who came into the world with the mark of freedom
upon have vowed that Ireland shall be -a great and a tree
country. ~(Cheers.) Yes, tlitre is danger of separation in
"'having things as they are. Let me reply-to the parchment.
It is a lying union—it is a monstrous national lie—it is a na-
tional falsehood—it is a legislative contradiction with the
truth. There is no union. Let the present connexion last
but a little longer, and, in spite of me, there will be
no connexion. Do you not think that the youth of
Ireland know this fact, that there but three independent
states in Europe—that there are twenty-one states I can rec-
kon. which have within one-third of the population of Ire-
land ? The king of Holland has not one fourth of the popula-
tion of Ireland; the king of Belgium has very little more
than one-third ; the queen of Portugal has not one-third ; the
queen of Spain has scarcely as much ; the king of Wirtem-
burg has not one-fourth ; the king of Bavaria has not one-
fourth ; the king of Hanover has not one-fourth ; (hisses)—
Sweden and Norway have not one-fourth • Denmark and
Holstein not one third; in short, 1 could detain you half-
an-hour on the statistics of Europe, and shew you that out
of 17 sovereign powers, separate independent governments,
and each defending themselves against their enemies in
Europe, not one of them has one third of the popula-
tion of Ireland. (Cheers and hisses.) I claim the
weed of genuine loyalty, I count to bring Ireland to
be the support of the throne of our gracious -Queen. I
want her to be the ready right arm in the battle of England.
I want that we should crush her enemies ; that we Should
make victory certain ; that we should hold the battle field
till the enemy blenches before us, and have the flag of Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland float-for an entire and a perpe-
tual victory. (Loud cheers.) But I may be bribed. I cannot
afford to do it for nothing. You must give me pay, and my
bribe is this, justice to Ireland ! (Loud cheers.) Lord Pal-
merston at the present moment finds a fetter upon his eyes
and a chain round his neck in his negociations with Louis
Philippe, by reason of Lord Stanley's conduct in the last
session, and Lord Lyndhurst's daring insult—the most con-
temptible of the human race. He is a political chimney-
sweeper. Lord Palmerston is not able to threaten France as he
would if Ireland was conciliated, but if justice were done to
Ireland, she would ask for nothing but to be led to battle.
Oh ! those are the foul traitors. lam a loyal man, because
lam sincerely attached to the person of the sovereign. I
sometimes think that my affections makes me cease to be
respectful. (Cheers.) Nevertheless 1 love her—l venerate
her. Yes, I will bring Ireland to support her cause and her
throne, but she must conquer first the vile tory party. (Cheers)
That party indulge an anti-national antipathy against Ireland.
I should be glad to know what they would do if we were within
a fortnight of the cannons rattling in anger. (Hear, hear.)
The first shot fired in anger gives Ireland justice. (Loud
cheers. A voice, " The first shot then !") That moment,
that instant, England is safe, the throne is secure, our ene-
mies discomfited, we bid defiance to them ; and the longer
the war lasts, after that, the more glorious will be the British
triumph, and the more certain we shall be of pulling down
the enemies of the country and of the throne. That is what
I am struggling for : I am a recruiting officer for the Queen.
(Loud laughter.) Who will be recruits, to listen to our fife and
big drum ? lam looking out for them, to support the throne.
Conciliate Ireland, and you may laugh to scorn the miserable
piscreant Lyndhurst, and the scorpion Stanley. Let liberals
and reformers surround the throne, and we :shall have
100,000 Irish to suppor them. (Loud cheers.) You are
boasting of yourselves. Yes, my friends, I have shewn you
my object is not separation, but continuing the con-
nexion. I have shewn you that the union was no bar-
gain—no contract. I have shewn you that there has been
none from that day to this ; that we have cooked forward,
but have obtained no identity. What is the predi-
cament I stand in. Now having made my apology here,
and to my enemies, by telling them what it is I want, and
what I mean. I cannot sit down without expressing two
opinions more. In the first plade, I saw upon the placaids
to-day; that you meati to tams,* repeal rsgoriatiOn:. 1 tell
you you cannot have that in point of law, bel:ause you would
then be corresponding with the repeal association in Dublin,
and the law of England prohibits corresponding societies.
You may be single repealers, but you cannot have repeal
associations. I am not asking you not to be single repealers.
Next to that, I congratulate you upon the glorious triumph
of those fellows with the vulgar Irish accent. lam told
there are 1250 of them. (A voice, " 1500.") Ay, 1500 ;
say 1250. These will prevent that stuttering, stammering
gey, yep, meg, meg of a lord, and Cresswell Cresswell, a fel-
low with two names, and neither of them good, for misrepre-
senting you. The one will go for what he is fit for, and the
other will take care of the attornies and his clients. (Loud
laughter.) Thus you will triumph over the cunning
of the lawyer and the stupidity of the lord. The speaker then
went on to speak of his own efforts to advance the cause of
repeal, and to recommend his countrymen to join the Pre-
cursor. He next made a ferocious attack upon M`Neile ;
and he concluded by declaring, that if his plans were carried
out Ireland would be what she ought to,
—" Great glorious and free,
First flower of the earth first gem of the sea." (Cheers.)
The meeting then broke up, 'every one being well pleased
that he got out of it.

THE RUINS OF POMPEIL—AbOve thirty streets of Pom-
peii are now restored to light : it is the third part of the town.
The walls of its ancient enclosure have been recognised;
a magnificent amphitheatre, a theatre, a forum, the temple
of Isis, that of Venus, and a number of buildings have been
cleared. The secret stairs by which the priests slily crept up
to prompt the oracles have been detected. On beholding so
many monuments which display in so lively a manner the im-
portance of public and the independence of private life among
the Romans, it is impossible to resist a feeling of sadness and
melancholy.

ODDITIES Or GREAT MEN.—The greatest men are often
affected by the most trivial circumstances, which have no
apparent connection with the effects they produce. An old
gentleman, of whom we knew something, felt secure against
the cramp when he placed his shoes, on going to bed, so that
the right shoe was on the left of the left shoe, and the toe ff
the right next to the heel of the left. If he did not bring the
right shoe round the other side in that way, he was liable to
the cramp. Dr. Johnson used always, in going up Bolt-
court, to put one foot upon each stone of the pa.vernent : if
he failed, he felt certain the day would be unlucky. Buffon,
the celebrated naturalist, never wrote but in full dress. Dr.
Routh, of Oxford, studied in full canonicals. An eminent
living writer can never compose without his slippers on. A
celebrated preacher of the last century could never make a
sermon with his garters on. A great German scholar writes
with his braces off. Reiseg, th German critic, wrote his
commentaries on Sophocles with a pot of porter by his side.
Schlegel lectures, at the age of 72, extempore in Latin, with
his snuff-box constantly in his hand : without it he could
not get on.

HARVEST THOVOUTS.—The following quotation is from
one of &shop Heber's Parish Sermons;-" When we wit-
ness the many dangers which threaten the springing of the,
rising corn; when we reckon up, in our thought, the oppo-
site dangers of drought or of moisture, of parching heat, or
of pinching untimely cold ; the blights, which may taint the
ear; the worm, which may consume the root; and all the
other alarms which the husbandman feels or fears; we can-
not but be aware, that something wore than the industry of
man is required to make him happy or prosperous, and that
it is with good reason, that, in our daily prayers, we ask our
daily bread' of God; since no day in the year can be found
in which his blessing is not needed, either to preserve the
seed, or to prosper the tender stalk, or to fill the ear, or to
rebuke the mildew or the storm, by which the mature crop is
endangered. And, even when the food of many days is
waving before our eyes, we cannot choose but feel an anxious
joy, a solemn, and, in some degree, a mournful thankfulness,
when we compare our own unworthy lives with the un-
bounded mercy of God ; when we recollect how little and
how seldom we have thought of Him who careth for us
con-
tinually, and when we tremble, lest, even now, our 'sins
should interrupt the stream of his mercy, and that the impro-
per use which we too often make of plenty, should, even
yet, turn our abundance into hunger."
BATHING ON THE CONTINENT.—Bathing abroad is a 'very
different operation to the mode as practised in England. At
Havre I was amused at observing the process. You enter a
canvas box, and undress, putting on, as a bathir, costume, a
blouse, pantaloons, and oil-skin cap, and being thusb equipped,
as if for exhibition on a tight rope, with the addition of a pair
of sabots to preserve the feet, you follow the path indicated
by planks, along the shingles for some hundred yards in the
face of all the world, followed by a man, also in a bashing
dress. Arrived at the edge of the water you present your
hand to your companion to tnter the wide expanse together.
. Thus hand in hand, like lovers resolved to dare fate in each
other's company, the pair commence a promenade, getting
deeper and deeper amongst the waves, till they reach the
hips. This lasts as long as you please—half-an-hour, or for
hours, as it may happen, and according to the society which
may arrive—as a French person must have society every-
' where, and then you return to your canvas box in your wet
garments. " But," Premonstrated to the wotnen who kept
the rooms, "all the world can see you." " Mais certaine-
mt qu'est ce (pie cegue cela fait ? ' was all the answer.—
Aen . Summer among the Bocages and the Vinei.
Melancthon, in his answer to Dr. Eck, after laying down
the principles of hermaceutical science, shows that we ought
not to explain the Holy Scriptures by the Fathers, but the
Fathers by the Holy Scriptures. " How often," says he,
" has not Jerome been mistaken ! How often Augustine !
How often Ambrose ! How often do we not find them dif-
fering in judgment ! How often do we not hear them retract-
ing their errors ! There is but one scripture divinely in-
spired and without mixture of error .1 Luther does not
adhere to certain dubious expositions of the ancients, say his
adversaries ; and why should we adhere to them ? In his
explanation of the passage of St. Matthew, ' Thou art Peter,
and on this rock. will I build my Church,' he says the very
same thing as Origen, who in his account is a host,.yea, the
very thing that Augustine writes in his Homily, and Ambrose
in his 6th Book on St. Luke, not to mention others. What,
then, you will 'say, can . the Fathers contradict each other !
What is there so surprising in that ? I reverence the Fathers,
because I believe the Holy Scriptures. The sense of Scrip-
ture is one, and simple, as hiavenly truth itself. We enter
into it by comparing Scripture with Scripture, and deduce it
from, the thread and connexion of the whole. There is a phi-
losophy enjoined us with respect to the Scriptures.of God :
it is to bring to them all the thoughts and maxims of men, as
to the touchstone by which they are to be tried."—Meionc-
Ikon contra Eckium. Quoted by M. Merle d'Aubigne in his
" History of the Reformation," vol. ii. p. 76.

Vottrp.

THE MYRTLE

BY JAMES MONTGOMERY,

.en, and gemm'd with,flowers of snow,
:lose, uncrowded branches spread,

ly high, nor meanly low
myrtle raised its head
of unwithering leaf

lative mood,

,ne, fair tree !

while I mused,

bruised

Ich set free

their secret cells

e," I cried, " fair tree I.
fragrance dwells.

wrongs, nor death destroy,

its sweetness from repose;
thus Heaven's gifts employ-
1, worth hidden, thus disclose !

h, with unpretending grace,
h, with meekness and with fear,

season we

one face,

-be in truth what I appear.
1, should affliction's chastening rod
se my frail frame, or break my heart,
sweet sacrifice to God,
breathed in incense would depart

3aptain of Salvation thus,
i as a lamb to slaughter led,
y the Father's will, for us
,elf through suffering perfected !"

CONTEMPORARY PRESS.

BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENG-
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.
From the Oxford Herald.)
e blustering of the 'French press still
sted, and preparations for war are os-
aded, as if a rupture with this country
vorld were unavoidable, it fortunately
)uis Philippe is too prudent a statesman

tence of Ws own dynasty and the wel-
ntry, in an unnecessary war. The ran-
jects against England is as fierce as
declare that war alone can vindicate
lonour; but the King, although his part

onal h

,clared himself determined to

between two countries whose interests
points identical. Neither state could
by war, and it would have been indeed
)th if upon a question almost of mere
est had been commenced, of which the
iave certainly proved most disastrous,
l 0 one could have foretold the end.—

eat resource of modern diplomacy,
dy take the place of arms, and unless
event, similar, perhaps, to that at Na-
ake place, it seems almost certain that
I be avoided.

D ward

!ncy, however, is one to which many
fined to fix a high degree of probability;
in event occur, there is no doubt but
fich only a week since looked so for-
ven now can scarcely be regarded
, would be at once rendered irre-
ve believe, knows that the French
ranean has been gradually increased,
by fresh reinforcements both of
it present it amounts to nearly
we possess in that quarter.
course, instructions from his
ich would be ready to ext-

whatever risk—and the chance is
iprobable, that in some one of the many
the coasts of Syria and Egypt which
to perform, a collision may take place.
Tamed with the spirit of rivalry which
n the fleets of nations which were
ed—and while the one burns to
victory at sea is not impossible,
)t where the flag of France sus-
; signal defeat; the other will not
rt the naval superiority of Eng-
pite of every disadvantage, he
I to defend its honour.

lat a hostile collision is not improba-
: consider the exciteable character of
, and the temptation which so vast a
rity as they possess offers to 'induce
can help reflecting what would be
lgagement to the only fleet nearer
I, we have at present afloat. The
s small—the expense of their arma-
nothing compared with that of many
sions issued during the last one

of Parliament—and it would therefore
le would think, the duty of a ministry
It nothing should be neglected which
ie efficiency of a force to which so much

ur precious Admiralty, a worthy

,rtby ministry, done on the occasion?
be believed, that of these few ships not
.n half-manned, that not one has more

ailed the peace establishment, and that
i board even sufficient arms and ammu-
-11 complement of men, if the number

whig economy ! This is the economy
I such disastrous results in the contest
-and yet with all the experience which
Wild have gained from the reverses of
fleets are again sent upon a most im-
luous service in a state which renders
7apable of defence, much less formida-
Of all errors none can be more danger-
►roved more fatal, than that which ne-
lutions from a contempt of the enemy's
rely, indeed, as we have every reason to
mrage of our seamen, and we are con-
,' as they are, and acting under every
[ley will nobly support the character
.d in a long series of victories. But is
them or to the country to expose them

to contemplate defeat, but let us
.er what would be the consequences
,o nine, and those but half-manned,
gain a victory perhaps on the very
The news arrives, war is
~restige of success which had al-
;led our arms has vanished ; even if
,rocnred no ships are ready to re-
.n twenty-four hours a French fleet
Thames, without a single vessel to
;s, or a single fort except old Tilbury,

lurnph

re a shot against it.
alarmists. We trust that no such na-
is impending ; but we would ask whe-
it England, on the brink of war with
Eql in actual war in India and in China,
onerica upon a most important territorial
with large armaments on foot and larger
;s in every other kingdom, should remain
nceless as she is at present ? Fleets and
as hitherto depend upon the chances of
Elect of war steamers, such as France has
rbonrs, could pour 100,000 men upon
lc w hours' notice ; and where, we must
:, is the force to resist them ? The yeo-
of u4en who have done the state good
nen disbanded ; it is not thought safe to
ilitia ; and yet although the means of
id are wanting, our ships are rotting idly
rages, and our coasts are left unprotected

INDIA

ovading power

responsibility of those men to
the empire is entrusted, if this
nued.