The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-08-08 00:00:00

' THE CRISIS UNMASKED."

Under this title Mr. Eneas M`Donnell—who has per-
haps done more to demonstrate the mysterious sources of
Ireland's misery and disorganisation than any man living
—presents us with a short pamphlet, from which we glean
much that is valuable, as bearing upon the present state
of things in that country. The information in question,
thoagh much of it of course is not new to us, is most
seasonable at this crisis. Whilst a furious reviling is
being directed by the agitator of Ireland against the Bri-
tish people, it is well to be reminded of that personage's
past professions and declarations, as well as of England's
deservings. Whilst Whig statesmen are industriously
patting rebellion on the shoulder, and endeavouring to
crawl back into office, as the slaves of its leader, it is well
to be warned of their past performances in Ireland, and
their alternate bullying of, and humiliating subjection to,
his power. We are, therefore, thankful to Mr. M'Don-
nell for his judicious work; and propose to bring a few of
his facts before the notice of our readers.
In all the harangues of Mr. Daniel O'Connell and his
co-conspirators, there is nothing so prominently dwelt
upon as " the Saxons' hatred of Ireland." Let us see
how this hatred has been evinced in times past. In the
spring and summer of 1822, it is probably within the me-
mory of most of our readers, that the peasantry of Ireland
were reduced to a state of distress almost amounting to
famine. Under such circumstances, what was the mode
in which this " Saxon hatred" towards the sufferers was
developed? Committees were promptly formed through-
out Great Britain ; large sums were raised and distributed
amongst the peasantry ; and, by these judicious and timely
aids, they were preserved from starvation until a bounti-
ful harvest came to their relief ! Previously to this, how-
ever, it became apparent that the funds collected by sub-
scription were in danger of falling short; and what was
the next effort—the next demonstration of " Saxon ha-
tred " ? It came from the " Saxon clergy" of Great Bri-
tain, who enthusiastically appealed to the benevolence of
their congregations, in behalf—not of their Protestant
brethren in Ireland, but—of the peasantry belonging to
the Church of Rome ; and so abundantly was that appeal
responded to throughout the land, that the committees
were enabled to carry to a successful issue the noble work
which they had undertaken !

That the feelings of Ireland's people—the kindly and
thankful spirit of that people, when unperverted by men-
dacious agitation, and permitted to act from the impulses
of their own hearts—were in that hour of deliverance most
grateful to the British public may be gathered from the
following address, agreed to "at a meeting of the nobility,
clergy, and freeholders of the county of Kerry, 22d Octo-
ber, 1822, the High Sheriff presiding" :
" Resolved,—That the grateful thanks of the county of
Kerry, assembled pursuant to requisition, by the High
Sheriff, be returned to our illustrious fellow-subjects of
Great Britain, who, in the late calamitous sufferings of
the south and west of Ireland, promptly pressed forward,
and, with splendid and unparalleled munificence, saved
our famishing peasantry from imminent and inevitable
destruction."

" Resolved,—That the grateful thanks of this county
be returned, especially, to the benevolent chairman of the
London Tavern Association, John Smith, Esq., M.P.,
who, with his generous associates, through the wole sea-
son of Irish calamity, devoted, with unconquerable perse-
verance, the labours of his mind and body, to this noble
work of mercy, and by his wisdom and energy eminently
contributed to the judicious and successful appropriation
of British benevolence."

And well was this expression of gratitude deserved, and
foully has its memory been since obscured by the ribald
scurrilities of the betrayers of the same people ; for, we
find that the amount distributed by the committees in
that year was no less than £304,180 7s. 5d., (!) and that
in a subsequent year the " HATED SAXON," for the relief
of a similar visitation of distress to Ireland, contributed a
further sum of one hundred thousand pounds! —or NEARLY
HALF A MILLION on these two occasions! !

With respect to the gross conduct of the whig party
towards the fomenter of the agitation for the repeal of the
union we need say little. In 1831 that agitation was de-
nounced, and by the full consent of the whig cabinet, a
proclamation issued to put down repeal meetings, which
the proclamation in question stated were held "for dis-
semminating seditious sentiments, and exciting among
his Majesty's subjects DISAFFECTION AGAINST THE AD-
MINISTRATION OF THE LAW, AND THE CONSTITUTED
AUTHORITIES OF THE REALM." Are repeal meetings
any thing other than this now? Are they now held for
the purpose of exciting any other feeling than "disaffec-
tion against the administration of the law, and the con-
stituted authorities of the realm 1" And yet whiggery
now tells us, with an audacity and forgetfulness unpara-
lelled, that magistrates—those "constituted authorities"
themselves—are justified in presiding over such meetings,
and that their removal by the Chancellor of Ireland is an
unconstutional stretch of authority ! Well, the agitation
on this question continued under various forms; and next
year, with the concurrence of the same cabinet, it was
again denounced and attempted to be put down. In 1833,
under the same administration, it was denounced from
the throne, and additional powers called for, to enable his
majesty to " control and punish" the disturbers of the
public peace !"—a demand which was readily responded
to by both houses of parliament. In 1834 the agitation
was again referred to in a speech from the throne, in
strong and indignant language; and on the Ist of May in
the same year, a joint address was presented to the crown
by both houses of parliament, commencing thus :
" We your majesty's most dutiful and • loyal subjects,
the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons in par-
liament assembled, feel it our duty to approach your Ma-
jesty's throne, to record in the most solemn manner our
fixed determination to maintain unimpaired and undis-
turbed the legislative union between Great Britain and
Ireland, which we bonsider to be essential to the strength
and stability of the empire, to the continuance of the con-
nection between the two countries, and to the peace, and
security, and happiness, of all classes of your Majesty's
subjects," &c.

And his majesty's answer was couched in the following
strong and emphatic language:—
" It is with the greatest satisfaction that I receive this
solemn and united expression of both my houses of par-
liament, to maintain unimpaired the legislative union of
Qreat Britain and Ireland, which I entirely agree with
you in considering as essential to the peace, integrity, and
safety of the empire. _ _

" You may rely, therefore, on my discharging with
fidelity and firmness, the sacred duty which I owe to my
subjects, in exerting the powers with which the constitu-
tion has invested me, for their protection against attempts
which, if successful, must inevitably produce a SEPA-
RATION of my dominions," &c.
Can anything be more clear than the light in which the
Whig ministry of that day viewed the agitation of the re-
peal of the union ? And yet, in the following year, under
the Melbourne administration, into whose confidence and
care the often times denounced TRAITOR and INCENDIA-
RY had been taken, we find that traitor acting in both
houses of parliament in alliance with the ministry, and
pursuing the following atrocious course. We give it as
described by Mr. M`Donnell ; and it will be within the
memory of most of our readers. Speaking of Mr. O'Con-
nell's proceedings, the writer remarks—

,
" He opened his mission on the Bth of September,
1835, with a coarsely offensive public letter to the Duke
of Wellington, and then proceeded to Manchester, New-
castle-upon-Tyne, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other places,
convening large assemblies, calling upon his hearers to
assist him in putting down the House of Lords; and,
having arrived in Dublin, addressed his partisans on the
4th of October, calumniating violently and indecently
the Lords, collectively, and some of them by name. In
three days after which, he was invited to the viceregal
board by the Whig Lord Lieutenant, and within a week
after, on the 14th of October, was nominated by the Whig
Lord Chancellor a justice of the peace for tke county of
Kerry ; and, to crown all, was, in some time after, in-
vited to accept ONE OF TIIE HIGHEST JUDICIAL OFFICES
IN THE GIFT OF THE CROWN." 0)
We leave this conduct of Lord Melbourne's govern-
ment to speak for itself ; and now let us refer to a subject
of more local interest--the implication of the Irish popu-
lation of Liverpool in the threatening proceedings which
are occurring on the other side of the Channel. We have
in Mr. M`Donneil's pamphlet a list of British contribu-
tions in aid of the repeal movement—now become evi-
dently a physical force movement—for about three months
of the present year, beginning in April. In looking
through this document, the following startling facts meet
our observation. From " London and its vicinity,"
within these three months, the sum of £289 18s. id. has
been contributed. From the country districts of England
the sum is £768 Os. 6d. ; and from Scotland, £287 16s.
4d. ;—in all, £13.15 14s. 11d. Of this amount the town
of Liverpool alone contributes £227 Ms. 6d. ! and, with
the expenses of collection, the total amount drawn out of
the pockets of the Irish population of this town cannot,
during the past year, have been much less than THREE
HUNDRED POUNDS! Taking the average contribution
at 2s. per member, THREE THOUSAND of the most
wretched and debased amongst the population of this town
have enrolled themselves members of the Repeal Associa-
tion within the past three months !
This is a startling fact, and well worth reflecting upon,
when we remember the following unrecalled and unex-
plained language made use of by the agitator of Ireland
on the 21st of May last :

" Let them "—the government—" attack us • and if
they do, what will be the consequence? (Hear.) What
would be the state of the three and a half per cents?
(Hear.) If they did attack us, and that some penniless,
shoeless Irishman found his way on the deck of a steamer
to Manchester or St. Giles's, and collected a number of
Irishmen about him, and one would ask him What
news?' to which he would reply, ' Your father was cut
down by a dragoon; your mother was shot by a police-
man ; or your sister,—but I will not say what has hap-
pened to her.' Let him but say that, and I would ask
Peel how many fires would blaze out in Me manufactories
of England ? (Hear, hear, and tremendous cheering.")
Or the following expressions, used at Longford, on the
28th of May :

" Yes, my Lord Beaumont, the brother of Ellen
O'Moore would be near your castle. He would hear
that you were one of the men who hallooed on the de-
stroyers of the peace of his home. Oh ! vou would be
very safe that evening, would you not, Lord Beaumont ?
The manufactories in your neighbourhood would be safe,
too, and proud London herself; in which you would flat-
ter yourself with the hope of being secure, would be also
safe when the account of the ruin of Ireland would arric e?
(Hear.) No: ONE BLAZE OF POWERFUL FIRE WOULD
REACH THROUGH HER VAST EXTENT ' • and, in THE DE-
STRUCTION OF ENGLAND, would vindicate the country
of the maddened and persecuted Irishman who would
have reached her shores. (Cheers.)"
This is language certainly worthy of Englishmen re.
fleeting upon, and especially of the attention of the au-
thorities of a town in which repeal is making such gigantic
strides, and where there is such a mass of property for
incendiarism to operate against !