The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-02-23 00:00:00

FEMALE ORPHAN SOCIETY

The annual meeting of the members and friends of the
Female Orphan Society was held yesterday, in the lecture-
room of the Royal Institution, Colquitt-street, for the pur-
pose of receiving the report of the committee for the past
year, the treasurer's statement of accounts, and the election
of officers. The attendance, particularly of ladies, was large,
and among the gentlemen we noticed many of the clergy and
principle residents. A most interesting feature was the pre-
sence of all the female orphans, at present under the care of
the society. They excited much interest in all parts of the

meeting

Sir JOHN SALUSBURY having been called to the chair,
said it was very gratifying to him to observe such a numerous
attendance upon this occasion • and he need only add his
firm conviction, that this truly interesting establishment
merely required to be more generally known in order to be
moreiuniversally appreciated. He therefore earnestly re-
quested those who had not hitherto visited it, to take the
earliest opportunity of doing so, for there they would see
fatherless and motherless children not only rescued from
misery, vice, and want, but clean and healthy,—every pains
taken to make them useful members of society, and in-
structed in 'that information which was the best means of
training them up " in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord."

Mr. HARWOoD BANNER, treasurer and secretary, then
read the annual report of the committee.
Mr. BANNER next read the accounts. From the state-
ment it appeared that the annual subscriptions during the
year amounted to £537 4s. ; arrears and payment, of which
was undoubted, £2l ; interest allowed by Messrs. Moss's
bank, £33 12s. 2d. ; total, £570 16s. 2d. The disbursements
for furniture, clothing, salaries, rent, provisions, drugs, ad-
vertising, &c. amounted to £3BB Is. 5d., leaving a balance
in hand of £lB2 14s. 9d. In addition to this balance the
donations in the bank were stated to be £1255 ls. 6d.
Mr. SANDBACH, after briefly expressing his gratification
at the satisfactory nature of the report, and of the state of
the funds, moved the first resolution confirming the report,
and ordering it, together with a list of the donations and
subscriptions, to be printed.
Mr. JAMES ASPINALL seconded the resolution, and it was
unanimously carried.
The Rev. HUGH APNEILE moved the following resolu-
•" The utility and value of the institution being fully
proved in the interesting cases already admitted, and con-
tinual applications to be admitted being received, resolved,
Mat earnest solicitation be made to the benevolent for ad-
ditional donations and subscriptions, that the benefits of the
institution may be extended as much as possible." After
a few introductory remarks, in which be mentioned that,
owiig to an engagement, he should not be then able to oc-
cupy much time, the rev. gentleman addressed the assembly
nearly as follows :—I perceive that the object now in view
is not to argue in favour of this institution, but to ask you
and others who may read what is said in this room for addi-
tional donations and subscriptions. The excellence of the
obligation being admitted, what more should be required by
serious exertions to support it ? We must answer that by
saying, " nothing more should be required, but something
more generally is required." There is a degree of ris inertice
about men with regard to parting with their money, which,
even after their understandings are: satisfied that the object
is good, requires some little momentum to be brought to
bear upon them to induce them to give of their sub-
stance. This is a matter of the deepest interest. I
am glad we are able to appeal 'to your eyes as. well as
your ears. (Hear, hear, hear.) Every thing among crea-
tures, is comparative, because there is a limit to the attain-
ments of creatures in every department, with reference to
which limit every subordinate grade in each line of things is
considered in man. That will be plainer if I observe in a
few words that with God nothing is comparative, because
with him there is no limit. It is a matter of equal facility to
him to create an universe, as it is to support an insect. "A
thousand years with him are as one day, and one day as a
thousand years." But with us it is not so; every thing with
us is comparative. Now I would peculiary call your atten-
tion to the comparative claims that certain objects of com-
passion have upon us. Around most of us it has pleased
God to spread a shield of providential second causes, such as
the circumstances of our birth, of hereditary property, pro-
perty possessed by our parents and friends, so that we are
brought under what I have called a providential shield of
second causes—free from exposure to want, and iu the same
proportion free from the position of an appeal to the com-
passion of others. In proportion as one of our fellow-crea-
tures is expcised to poverty, and is deprived of this shield of
second causes for his support, he becomes the object of com-
passion to others ; and if all second causes be removed—
even bodily health without which he could avail himself of
no opportunity to labour—be then becomes an extreme ob-
ject.of compassion. • This compassion applies not merely to
property, but to other circumstances, such as 'relationships
and friends. Most of us, again, are surrounded in this re-
spect with a providential shield of second causes, or with pa-
rents, kind friends, and relations. We are not exposed to the
'rude blast of desolation in the world, and are, comparatively
speaking, not objects of compassion to others. But in pro-
portion as we are deprived of those second causes—in pro-
portion as our home becomes desolate, the single inhabitant
of that desolate house becomes an object of compassion to
all right-minded persons in the neighbouring houses. You
see, then, how the matter comes to bear upon the orphan.
Everything, I said, is comparative. Look at our position.
Look at the position of our dear children, with the providen-
tial shield of second causes which I have mentioned both as
to property and connection around them, keeping them from
the position of an appeal to the compassion of their fellows ;
and then turn and look at these children (the orphans).
That providential shield has been taken away, second causes
removed, and desolation spread over the home of the little
one, before it is able to seek a home for itself. God has
taken away its father ! God has taken away
.its mother I
You see the position of an orphan child rises to the very
climax of a living appeal to the compassion of every Chris-
tian heart. Yet there is one step more. Exposure is neces-
sary, on an appeal to compassion, whether in male or female ;
but unquestionably the appeal gathers force from the in-
creased exposure of the female sex. More helpless, more
liable to be practised upon by designing traitors, more likely
to become the victims and afterwards to become the tempt-
ers of men, they appeal with a louder cry to the compassion
of Christians! I have touched a chord which it will not do
to dwell upon ; but it will do to say what ought to be said in
honest Christian fairness—that the fault lies with men in
our own station of life, who become the tempters in the
first instance, and their victims become the tempters of
others in the second instance ; so that for all the misery, for
all the unspeakable pollution with which our great towns are
infested, we have our gentlemen to blame. Yes, sir, our
gentlemen are to blame. As a minister of the gospel, as a
minister of the church, I hesitate not—more in sorrow than
in anger, but in christian fairness to say so here. And why
here, where such gentlemen do not make their appearance?
Because it is in the power of those who do not come here,
and who rule society in so many domestic circles—it is in
the power of the ladies to make such gentlemen feel that
they are not fit companions for their daughters and their
families. (Hear, hear.) But I have reached my climax of
compassion—first poverty, providential shields removed for
support; second orphanage, the providential shield of pa-
rentage removed ; and third, the female sex. There is my
appeal! my living appeal is a poor female orphan ! If any
man can love his money better than the luxury of relieving
such a case as this, I have no more to say to such a man.
I cannot move him. The arguments that God has given will
not move him. He lacks the common proper feeling of the
species who will not be moved by the position of an orphan.
That is my case. The rev. gentleman concluded amidst
much applause, by moving the resolution.
The Rev. T. M`Gree seconded the resolution in a speech
of considerable length, and it was unanimously carried.
The Rev. Mr. 111`IvErt moved the thanks of the meeting
to the committees of ladies and gentlemen, for their valuable
services in framing the rules and regulations for the manage-
ment of the institution. He made an earnest appeal to the
ladies, to exert themselves to procure increased subscriptions.
Mr. BUSHELL seconded the motion, which, on being put,
was unanimously carried.
The Rev. Mr. HESKETH, seconded by Mr. HASSALL,
moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Ort, the surgeon, and to Mr.
Harmood Banner, the,treasurer and secretary, for their ex-
cellent services to the institution.
Mr. BANNER, in returning thanks, mentioned that the
Rev. T. Gregg and the Rev. Prior were present, having
visited England as a deputation to promote the interests of
the Dublin Orphan Society, and probably.they would address
the meeting. As for himself, the best requital the meeting
could make for his services, would be an increase of his la-
bours as treasurer.
The Rev. T. GREGG then addressed the meeting in a
speech of considerable length, on the excellent nature of the
society's objects. In the course of his address, the rev. gen-
tleman narrated an affecting anecdote of an orphan girl at-
tending her mother's funeral in Dublin, whose admission
into the Dublin Charity be had the satisfaction of procuring.
On the motion of Mr. BANNER, seconded by Mr. SAND-
BACH, the ladies and gentlemen's committees were re-ap-
pointed for fhe ensuing year.
A vote of thanks was then presented 'to Sir John Salus-
bury, for his conduct in the chair, and for the active interest
he had taken in the establishment of the charity ; after which
the meeting separated.

tion—

At a chapter held on Friday at the Collegiate Church,
Manchester, the Rev. William Wilson, M.A., Curate of St.
Pancras, London, was elected Minor Canon, in the room of
the Rev. Henry Fielding, who •has been appointed Rector of
Salmonby, Lincolnshire.

LORD STANLEY'S IRISH REGISTRATION

BILL.
GREAT MEETING AT THE AMPHITHEATRE

(From our Second Edition of F 2

This morning, at half-past eleven o'clock, arr
took place of the inhabitants of Liverpool to petition
in favour of the Irish Registration Bill which has been
introduced by Lord Stanley in the House of Com-
mons, and in opposition to the bill introduced by go-
vernment. It must be fresh in the memory of all,
that at this period last year a meeting to a similar ef-
fect took place, which was most brilliantly attended.
Although the present meeting has not, perhaps, been
quite so numerous, yet it must be borne in mind that
the time of day at which the meeting was convened

was most inconvenient, not only to the mechanics,
shipwrights, and others, who, it is notorious, are en-
thusiastic supporters of all that appertains to the Con-
servative cause, but also to the gentlemen connected

with the trade of this port. In consequence of the oc-
cupation of the Amphitheatre by Mr. Cooke's com-

pang, the arrangement was unavoidable

Amongst the

gentlemen present we noticed the following on the

platform :

Sir T. Brancker ; Revs. H. M`Neile, W. Falloon, J. R.
Connor, W. Maynard, H. E. Prior, Allen, T. Gregg, C.
W. Richards, and W. Badnall; C. S. Parker, Esq., James
Aspinall, Esq., J. S. Leigh, Esq., N. Robinson, Esq.,
Bushby, Esq., J. Rigby, Esq. C. Grant, Esq., S. Holme,
Esq., T. T. '
Glazebrook, Esq., C. Boutflower, Esq., Daniel
Ledson, Esq., P. Leather, Esq., Jas. Pownall, Esq.,
Nicholl, Esq., Robertson Gladstone, Esq., Shepherd,
Esq., D. Hogan, Esq., M. Edwards, Esq., D. Hodgson,
Esq.

On the motion of Mr. NICHOLAS ROBINSON, seconded
by Mr. J. S. LEIGH, Sir THOMAS BC,ANCKER was called to
the chair ansidst tremendous applause.
The CHAIRMAN opened the proceedings in the following
words :—Gentlemen, you will all of you remember that during
the last spring we met in this building for the purpose of
etitioning the legislature in favour of the bill brought in by
petitioning
Stanley for the improvement of the system of Irish
registration—in other words, the putting down of fraud, and
the protection of the honest voter. (Cheers.) That bill

was thrown out of the House of Commsoris not by argument,
but to use an expression attributed to Mr. O'Connell, "by
the clock." (Hear, hear.) In consequence of this, Lord
Stanley has again brought in this bill during the present
session; ,and we now meet for a double purpose, inasmuch
as the government, beginning also to find at last that the sys-
tem of Irish registration wanted amendment, have brought
in a bill of their own (hear, hear), for which they claim pre-
cedence over Lord Stanley's. (Hear.) We, therefore, meet
for the double purpose, as I said before, first to petition
against the bill brought in by. 'Lord Morpeth, and in
favour of that brought in by Lord Stanley. (Cheers.) Last
year the result of the meeting was the adoption of a pe-
tition, which received upwards of twenty thousand signa-
tures. (Cheers.) I think I need scarcely call upon you to
repeat those signatures—(hear)—and to present a petition
this year still more numerously signed if possible, in order
that the result may be the adoption of the measure which
Lord Stanley has now before the House of Commons.
(Cheers.) Sir Thomas concluded by saying that the time
allowed for the meeting was so limited that he should not de-
tain them by any further remarks, but call upon Mr. Aspi-
nall to move the firstlesolution. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. JAMES ASPINALL rose to move the first resolution,
and was received with loud demonstrations of respect. Ad-
dressing the chairman, his brother conservatives, and the
gentlemen present, he said that the first resolution having
been placed in his hands, it was a duty he owed to them and
to himself, not to shrink from coming forward to give it his
cordial support, and he claimed their indulgence while he
offered a few remarks on the subject before them. When
they last met in that place, it was (as stated by the worthy
chairman), to give their support to the admirable bill of
Lord Stanley, which had for its object the real be-
nefit and prosperity of Ireland. (Hear, and cheers.)
Lord Morpeth, one of the members of that imbecile admi-
nistration which had very properly been denominated by
Lord Stanley, " the thimble rig ministry"—(cheers and
laughter)—had since brought in a bill in opposition to that
of the noble lord, at the instigation of a man who found that
ministry ever subservient to his uses and ready at his will—
a man who, by agitations, kept Ireland in a continued
state of trouble and confusion. This thimble-rig mi-
nistry had, in obedience to that individual, brought in
a bill; which they well knew would never pass for the
purpose of defeating Lord Stanley's excellent bill of last
session. This reprehensible line of conduct opened out
a fresh discussion on one of the most lamentable mea-
sures that had ever received the sanction of parliament. He
meant the Irish emancipation bill, by which, as they would
be aware, the forty shilling •freeholders of Ireland were dis-
franchised. The bill, however, brought in by Lord Morpeth,
made still'greater inroads on the purity of registration ; and
would give (which they could not too fervently oppose),
still greater power to the priests over the inhabitants of that
country. To aid in the defeat of so nefarious an object
had brought them together that day, and he trusted they
would do their duty manfully. He could not persuade him-
self to delay the meeting, however warmly he felt on the

subject, by lengthened re-Marks Of his own, after what had
been announced from the chair. There was, however, one
amongst them whose gigantic powers of mind enabled him to
grapple with this or any otherquestion that might be brought
before them ; one whose splendid eloquence had often re-
sounded within these walls. (Loud and repeated cheers.)
He should, therefore, leave the subject in his hands ; and he
felt assured that they would be delighted to hear what he
should advance on the important question before them.
(Loud cheers.) He concluded by moving the first resolu-
tion, namely :

" that this meeting, deploring the present defective state
and demoralizing tendency of the existing registration laws
for Ireland, rejoice to find that a bill has been introduced in
the House of Commons by Lord Stanley to supply the ac-
knowledged defects, to remove the proved abuses, and to
rarsvovlle a remedy for the various evils of the said registration

Mr.'C. S. PARKER said, that owing to the indisposition
of the gentleman who had
undertaken to second this resolu-
tion, that duty had devolved upon him ; but he would not
occupy the time of the meeting by speaking to it at any
length, particularly under those circumstances which now
rendered it desirable that their proceedings should not be
protracted. He would not, however, sit down without re-
turning thanks in his own name, and in that of his brother
merchants, to the Protestant operatives, to whom they were
indebted for this great meeting. (Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN then put the first resolution, which was
carried amidst tremendous cheering, without a dissentient
voice. •

The Rev. II tro M'NEILE then rose amidst very animated
applause, He said—Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, the re-
solution I have been requested to move, is this—
" That this meeting desires to express their conviction
that the bill introduced by Lord Morpeth, by lowering the
qualification of voters, will open a fresh door for corrupt and
fraudulent practices, such as the other provisions of the bill
are designed to prevent, changing the nature without di-
minishing the amount of the demoralizing operations of the
present law."
We are assembled to perform a solemn duty, for the con-
scientious discharge of which we are all, I conceive, reli-
giously responsible. It is an universal maxim,inseparable
from the great law of moral retribution, that privleges in-
volve corresponding responsibilities. This is true of every
description of privilege, and therefore it is impossible for
men to enjoy the political privileges which we enjoy, without
being called to the discharge of corresponding political duties.
If it be the duty of the representatives of the nation in par-
liament assembled to deliberate dispassionately on all mea-
sures brought under their notice, and to record the result of
their deliberations by their votes, it is equally the duty of
their constituents to deliberate on every great national
arrangement proposed to be made law, and to record the
result of their deliberations by petition. I said, on every
great national arrangement proposed to be made law, because
on minor matters of detail it is advantageous, as well as
convenient, to leave the management, without comment, in
the hands of our representatives. (Hear, hear.)
When once the law is passed, it is the plain duty of a
christian citizen to acquiesce in its provisions, and to do his
part, whatever his station may be, towards their practical
operation ; and the man who rebels, or threatens rebellion
againSt the law of the land, should be accounted and treated
as a traitor to the state. (Loud cheers.)
But when a measure is proposed which has not yet Become
law, the proposal, the repeated parliamentary discussions,
and the delay inevitablf consequent thereon, form a consti-
tutional appeal to the nation, to ascertain the prevailing
opinions of the people, and the grounds on which those
opinions are formed.
Such an appeal was made to the nation last year, and is
now repeated, upon the subject of the registration of voters
in Ireland. Our attention is now called, relatively as well
as positively, to the merits of Lord Stanley's bill, because
that bill has to contend, not only against existing abuses
which it seeks to remedy, but also against a rival bill which
seeks to supersede it. Last year it became our duty to prove
the existing evils, which were loudly denied ; aid not only to
prove their existence, but to exhibit their operation in a way
intelligible to all classes of time people. This we endeavoured
to do, by tracing the history of a vote, which by an easy con-
trivance was made to survive the voter. The evils com-
plained of are now admitted on all sides. I am happy to be
able to quote the grave words of her Maiesty's Chief Secre-
tary for Ireland, in full illustration of my popular sketch of
the family of the Cassidys. (Laughter and cheers.)
On the fourth of this month, Lord Morpeth, in his place
in the House of Commons, is reported to have said—" It
would be sufficient on that point, to admit, as he freely did,
that great facilities for fraud existed in the present system of
registration in Ireland; and it could not be denied by any
who had seriously considered the subject, that many instances
of such frauds had occurred. Those frauds took Place in the.
system of certificates, in personating dead or absent regis-
tered voters. Here is the noble secretary's official admis-
sion of what I told you about living Michael voting on the
qualification of dead Tom. (Hear, hear. Lord Morpeth
does not, indeed, describe the master spirits from Maynooth,
who preside over the system of personation. This would, in
all probability, be unparliamentary, as certainly it would be
uncourteous, towards some of the noble lord's colleagues ;
but it is our happiness out of doors—as they call every house
except their own (hear, and a laugh)—not to be under any
of those embarrassments when we tell the truth ; and as
there are no effects produced without adequate causes, it is
philosophically as well as politically wise to notice the moving
Power which manages the puppets. For power read priest-
hood, and for puppets read personifiers of dead and absent
registered voters, and you have clearness and precision given
to the statement of the noble secretary. (Loud cheers.)
To put an end to such digraceful frauds, Lord Stanley
proposed an annual revision of the registry, instead of
allowing all the names once placed upon the list to remain
there without any opportunity of a rectifying revision fqr
eight years. On this point Lord Stanley proposes to trans-
fer to Ireland the system now in operation in England. You
know what that system is, and that no practical inconveni-
ence is found to 'arise from time annual liability to revision of
every name on the list. The names of those who are known
to be the same persons, and to have the same qualifications,
remain unmolested, on the simple payment of a shilling an-
nually, which is charged regularly by the collector of taxes,
and the honest bona fide voter has no trouble whatever. The
The names of those who have died, or whose qualification
has in any way lapsed, in the course of the year, are removed
from the list, while the event is of recent occurrence, and
matter of notoriety among the attendant listeners and wit-
nesses in the revising barrister's court. This is an ordeal
t,l_e.ough which dis'honesty on a large scale cannot live,
michael ma
Years ba • may pass for Tom at an election, after three or four
e passed, without inquiry, but Michael can never
osuccessfully pass for Tom, if there be a rectifying scrutiny
(nee
a Year, and of course within a year after Tons's death.
(Loud
cheers.)
Anproainr of
effectual p -
the straightforward, honest, and as we think
in favour :,,;(I).p.osal of Lord Stanley, we petitioned last year
supported tr_i,t and we had the gratification of seeing it
mons. yolnr affirmed by a majority of the House of Com-
has retarded it from
all aware of the species of opposition which
'And now we becoming the law of the land. (Hear.)
said when haveintroducingntlie bill introduced by Lord Morpeth, who
" As to the
periodscts ofit revision, he was willing to let it be
once a-year, as in
ley) has proposed in hiscbintry, and as the noble lord (Stan-

So far vreill Mere is the ministerial adoption, in name at
least, of one of the important provisions of Lord Stanley's
bill—an annual revision—but we are compelled by what fol-
lows to declare that the adoption is in name only and not in sub-
stance ; because the limitation which Lord Morpeth proceeds
to propose would go far towards neutralizing the benefit.
His lordship says—" When a voter, was once on the registry,
he (Lord Morpeth) proposed to have his claim reviewed for
any change made in his tenure or his franchise ; but if no-
thing occurred to disturb that—if it remained the same as
when he registered—he would not make his right to vote sub-
ject to any further disturbance. He did not go with his noble
friend (Lord Stanley) in rendering the voter liable to be dis-
turbed, year after year, upon a point which had been already
decided and settled, and thus to go on to the end of all re-
corded time.'!

The limitation here described leaves an open door for frau-
dulent personation. Lord Morpeth proposes an annual revi-
sion where there has been any change in the qualification;
but where the qualification remains the same, he refuses an
annual revision of the persons claiming to vote upon that
qualification. He refuses to subject the living Michael to
the annual embarrassment of passing himself for the dead
Tom. The qualification upon which Tom voted remains
the same, but Tom himself is dead, or gone to Australia
for life. (Loud cheering and laughter.) Michael calls him-
self Tom, and claims to vote on the same qualification, and
where the qualification is the same Lord Morpeth refuses to
allow the voters to be liable to be disturbed from year to year,
by an inconvenient scrutiny. Here is a fruitful source of
fraud ! The tenure is the same, and the noble secretary's
bill contains no provision to give security that the voter shall
he the same. Certificates are not necessary for personation.
Personal identity is a thing easily manufactured in foro
eeclesi&. LOrd Morpeth's bill leaves the platform for the
puppets untouched ; the secret wires and springs of the
priesthood unbroken. (Loud cheers.) Hence, the Agitator
calls it a blessing to Ireland. (Continued cheers.) But Lord
Stanley, by opening the whole list annually, and making the
persons liable to be disturbed, if they turned out not to be
the same persons, aims a deadly blow at the craft. Hence
the rage and fury of the demagogue, who, after all, is but
the puppet of fhe hierarchy on a more elevated stage.
(Hear, hear, hear.) Hence his pent-up venom gathering a
characteristic title from within, and applying it, in the reck-
lessness of a seared conscience, to the intrepid adversary
whose skill has pierced the core of the corruption. The
monster of Romish usurpation and tyranny is stung, and,
therefore, the champion of British liberty and independence
is Scor,;(in Stanley. • (Loud cheers.) 1 would gladly go into
a consi ;oration of the double appeal, and the comparative
merits of the two bills with reference to the appellant juris-
diction court; but I must haste to what is more specifically
the subject of my resolution.
The point deserving attention, and the gravamen of the
ministerial bill, is the proposed change of the qualification
from a £lO to a£s franchise. This would add amazingly
to the number of the puppets, and greatly facilitate the manu-
facture of personal identity. This is much too serious a
matter to be slipped in, under the fair title of defining the
franchise. To define how £lO should be understood as en-
titling to the franchise, is one thing ; and to change it into
£5 is quite another thing. True, it is accompanied by a de-
scription of how the £5 is to be understood—namely, as the
value on which a rating to the poor law is to be paid ; but
this instead of supplying any compensation for the sweeping
change from £lO to £5, deteriorates the qualification below,
much below, £5 otherwise understood. It extends the fran-
chise to a class lower, much lower, than the old disfranchised
forty shilling freeholders. (Hesr, hear.)
At the risk of being tedious, I wish to give you a slight
sketch of how this would work.

Michael Cassidy lives in as neat a little cabin as ever was
excavated out of a bog. Three sides of it are the original bog
faced with furze bushes, the fourth is made of sods piled one
over another, and pressed together with a few large stones
at the top. The roof is of scraws. Perhaps, Sir Thomas,
you don't know what I mean by scraws; but as I have no
time for definitions in detail, I am glad to perceive that many
of my friends in the meeting are acquainted with the phrase.
(Loud cheers, arid laughter.) The apartment is six feet by
four, and contains a bed or shakedown of heather, two
stools, and a fair-sized potatoe pot. (Hear, hear.)
Michael has the use of the surrounding mountain, i.e., he
has liberty to run about upon it,. and his fine family of chil-
dren have liberty to play upon it ; but all that he can call his
own is a little potatoe garden about three times as big as his
house. (Cheers.)

• Soon after the 'passing of Lord Morpeth's bill, the priest
pays Michael a visit. " Well Michael, have you heard that
the law is changed ?" "Is it, your reverence?" "Yes—
Have the poor-law valuators been here?" " No, your re-
verence." `• Well, I'll take care that they shall pay you a
visit. You consider this holding of yours worth £o. don't
you, Michael ?" " Five pound, your reverence ! Och, it's
myself wouldn't give- it for fifty, for what would I do without
it ?" (Loud, cheers.) " Well, Michael, you are very right
to set a high value on fatherland, and to speak your mind
freely to me ; but you must not speak so free to the poor-
law valuators. All you need to tell them is, that your place
is worth five pound—leave the rest to me." Michael, with
a knowing shrug and wink, says, " I take—your reverence:
may depend upon me." (Loud cheers, and laughter.)
In due time the poor-law valuators visit Michael, who then
feels all his importance as a negotiator to carry out the priest's
plan, which he supposes he understands. (Hear.)
" Well, friend, ypu seem to have but a small place here."
" Yes, your honour, she's small ; but she's good." "What
do you consider this place worth?" " 0 then, is it a poor
man like me that your honour would ask the value, you that
is paid for taking values ?" " I suppose, friend, that you
consider this place worth five pound ? ' Michael looks know-
ing and considerate, and then says—" Your honour's a real
judge—five pound is just the value. No one with his eyes
open could say it wasn't worth five pound, if he saw me and
my wife and the four weans lying down to sleep in it ; and I
am sure no one that considers the oppressions of the poor, as
I am sure your honour does, would put more upon it."
(Hear.)
I will not venture to say whether Michael's eloquence, or
the priest's influence, or both together, or some other in-
fluence connected with the personal interests of the valuators,
have prevailed ; but I will venture so say that in nine such
cases out of ten, the name of the mountaineer would be
entered on the list, and rated to the poor-law. But how is
the rate to be levied ? It is a small matter to be sure. At
sixpence in the pound, it would amount to half-a-crown a
year. But every thing is comparative, and he would be a
clever fellow that would get half-a-crown out of Michael.
He and hundreds like him would be troublesome customers
in the county goal, and all his goods and chattles would not
cover the expence of selling them. What is to be done ?
His name is on the list rated to the-poor-law: There are
no payments entered opposite his name, and thus matters
-stand when the time for registration comes. Then comes
another visit from the indefatigable Maynooth man :
" Michael, why but you go down and register your name as
a voter for your church and country ? Meet me to-morrow
at the court." " I will your reverence." Down comes
Michael and claims the franchise. The priest is the asses-
sor's assessor, and against any demur arising from Michael's
appearance, his reverence points significantly at the poor-
law list. Here he is rated to the poor-law, and therefore
fully entitled to the franchise. In vain a conservative
attorney urges that Michael has never paid a rate. He is
referred to the act of parliament, which only requires that
the man shall be rated, dad does not throw such vexatious
difficulties in the way of the franchise, as to require that the
rate should be paid. To do so would be a very great hard-
ship, and could not possibly have been the intention of an
enlightened, liberal, and paternal legislature. (Loud cheers.)
Michael is registered upon the potatoe garden and hut in
the mountain (the name is Clogheen-top); and so long as
the qualification remains the same, he is not to be liable to
be disturbed year after year. Michael Cassidy, of Clogheen-
top, is a standing qualification. Clogheen-top remains the
same tenure. in compliance with the requirements of Lord
Morpeth's bill, and we have already seen that the priest is
not absolutely confined to one and the same Michael Cassidy.
(Roars of laughter, and loud and continued cheers.)
No man, with a moderate knowledge of Irish affairs in de-
tail, can doubt that the measure proposed by Lord Morpeth
amounts to a new reform bill. It is a repeal of a measure
substantially a part of the emancipation bill. It is an open-,
ing up of the Roman Catholic question. It is a formal re-
moval of some of the securities to the institutions of the
country enacted in 1829. (Hear.)
In that fatal year the King's speech upon the opening of
parliament, after recommending a review of the laws which
imposed civil disabilities on his Majesty's Roman Catholic
subjects, contained these words :
" You will consider whether the removal of those disabili-
ties can be effected consistently with the full and permanent
security of our establishments in church and state, with the

maintenance of the reformed religion established by law,
and of the rights and privileges of the bishops and of the
clergy of this realm, and of the churches committed to their

charge

" these are institutions which must ever be held sacred
in this Protestant kingdom, and which it is the duty and the
determination of his Majesty to preserve inviolate." (Cheers.)
Of course, for the attainment of this desirable end, some
securities were to be taken, in compensation for the conces-
sions made. I will not trouble you with the oath required
as a security from• Roman Catholic members of parliament,
and which is likely to redound to the credit of the sagacity
of British legislation about as much as the trial of the Earl
of Cardigan will redound to the credit of the gravity and
solemnity of the highest court of British jurisprudence. (Hear,
hear.) The oath was no security whatever. In point of fact,.
the only real practical security taken, and that which has
retarded the progress of Romish domination, was the disfran-
chisement of the 40s. freeholders. Sir Robert Peel opened the
intended measure, as part of the general plan which the go-
vernment had formed for the renovation of. Ireland, in the
same speech in which he introduced the emancipation bill.
The two measures were to support each other. The minister
told the house, that he would not ask for disfranchisement,
unless emancipation were granted •, and that if emancipation
were granted, then he could not dispense with disfranchise-
ment. He developed in detail the object and the necessity
of the measure. He shewed that from the period when the
franchise was granted to Roman Catholics in 1793, 40s. free-
holders had been manufactured to such an unnatural amount
as clearly proved they were not the fruit of any constitutional
growth. (Hear, hear.) He compared the number of votes
polled at the contested elections of 1820, in different coun-
ties of England and Ireland :
" In the county of Bedford, 4,000 voters • in Berkshire,
2,270; Devonshire, 6,296; Durham, about 3,800 ; Glamor-
ganshire, 1,264; Middlesex, 10,000; Sussex, 5,500; and
Westmoreland, about 4,370. In many of the Irish counties
there were polled from 10,000 to 18,000. Never was such a
concurrent body of testimony brought to bear upon one point
as was given before the committees of both houses in 1825,
respecting the evils arising from the state of the franchise in
Ireland, by every Ivan who wasexamined, Roman Catholic or
Protestant, 1 lyman or ecclesiastic. The genefal opinion of the
witnesses so examined lurid been in favour of raising the fran-
chise to £2O ; but so great a rise he would consider too vio-
lent an alteration, and was inclined to be satisfied with £lO,
as affording a reasonable presumption that the character of
the voters would be raised. It would be necessary to deter-
mine upon some specific mode of ascertaining who were £lO
freeholders,—some tangible method of ascertaining the real
character of the freehold. For this purpose it was proposed,
that after the passing of the bill a day should be fixed in every
county in Ireland, for opening a bond fide registration of £lO
freeholds."
The avowed spirit of this bill was to place the elections
beyond the control of the Romish priests, and it is obvious
that without this bill the emancipation could not have been
passed. Surely, then, if these two bills passed together, as
parts and parcels of the same measure, and if they have
hitherto stood together, it is no more than fair play to de-
mand that they shall still either stand or fall together.
(Loud cheers.)
Sir, a few faithful and zealous Protestants in the country
have been branded as madmen for speaking of the repeal of
one of these bills. What then shall be said of her ma-
jesty's secretary for Ireland, who proposes the repeal of the
other ? Does he not open afresh the whole Roman Catho-
lic question Is lie prepared to say that the conduct of the
Roman Catholic members of the House of Commons has
been such as to entitle them to further. concessions ? Has
the sincerity of their gratitude been so great ; has their
sworn respect for the rights and privileges of the bishops and
clergy, which the King declared it his duty and his determi-
nation to preserve inviolate, been so delicate and scrupulous
as to remove all honest arehension as regards the safety. of
our Protestant institutions ? Has the conduct of the Popish
priesthood been such as to justify the removal of a restriction
which was designed to place the elections beyond their abso-
lute control ? Is the country prepared to go with her majes-
ty's ministers in such a measure as that now proposed ? Is
the country prepared to repeal the only security of 1829.
without repealing the concession of 1829 ? lam very much
mistaken if the growing convictions of disappointed English-
' men be not tending, and tending rapidly, in the opposite di-
rection. (Cheers.) What, for example, are the obvious
tendencies in our own important town ? (Hear, hear.)

When I had the honour of 'addressing- yon or, the subject of my
ord Stanley's bill last year, the attention of the town had been
already called to it by the giants of Clayton square, and it only re-
mained for ns petty men to direct that attention into the right
channel, which we happily succeeded in doing. This year we seem
to have it all to ourselves. Is there any harm in asking in a good-
natured way (and to mingle our business with a little amusement)
where are the giants gone? What has become of them? Have
they been stain by a good old English sling and a Glad-stone at
Walsall ? or has the Cathedral at Canterbury fallen upon them and
smothered them? or have they departed from the arena of politics
to the tune of " Morgan-rattler" on the Monmouthshire harp? or,
in these days of cocks has all their crowing shared the fate of
Alcock in East Surrey? Or, though last, not least, have they so
much good feeling, so much integrity, so much of ingenuous de.
testation of corruption of all sorts; thaw, even crowned with mo-
mentary victory, they hide their heads in honest shame at the
name of St. Alban's ? (Cheers.)
Whatever may be the proximate cause or causes, certain it is
that since the opening of the present session of Parliament, and
the occurrence of the events alluded to, our good old town has
not been frighted from its propriety by any demonstration of the
sublime and beautiful, triumphing over the last impotent struggles
of "an expiring Tory faction." (Cheers.)
But they are coming. I have here their organ of this
morning. (Loud and vehement cheering.) It announces a
meeting, in the square, for Monday, to adopt a petition in
favour of Lord Morpeth's bill. The scribe who introduces
it to the notice of his readers, says, " Two things at least are
certain ; that Lord Stanley, in his 'attack on the rights con-
ferred on Ireland by the reform bill, is the most potent ally
of Mr. O'Connell in his repeal agitation; the second, that
his success will almost infallibly lead to the dismemberment
of the empire." I wish you to notice the judgment here
pronounced upon Mr. O'Connell, and his threatened mil-
lions, by their radical coadjutor in the press of this town.
The dismemberment of the empire is their object, and the
success of Lord Stanley's bill will so exasperate them as to
induce them to accomplish their object by violence. The
success of Lord Stanley's bill is another name for an act of
the imperial parliament.; and here is a scribe, professing
great loyalty to the Queen, and great attachment to the Irish
Roman Catholics, who gravely tells his readers that, if the
Queen and the two houses of parliament dare to pass a certain
measure into a law, his dearly beloved friends on the other
side of the channel will manifest their loyalty by open rebel-
len and forcible dismemberment of the empire. (Loud and
hearty cheers.)
I will read you a part of the petition to be submitted to the
meeting on Mull do}
" That the

of Ireland have just cause to complain
of the laws whi, regulate the right of voting for members
to serve in parli n:ent for that part of the United Kingdom.
" That the el. :.toral qualification is not only higher than
that required fo English voters, but the proof of the quali-

ficationis tedious, complicated, and often expensive; in ad-
dition to which the qualification is in itself uncertain, some

c Irish judges holding that the qualification must be not
merely a ten-if:mild qualication, but a qualification based on
a beneficial interest of ten pounds,--making, in fact, a