16 AUGUST 1845, Page 6

IRELAND.

The post of Chief Clerk in the office of the Irish Secretary, vacant by the promotion of Mr. Pennefather to be Secretary, has been bestowed on Mr. MKenna, a Roman Catholic barrister of acknowledged qualifications ffir the duties. The Morning Chronicle thus applauds the appointment- " The duties, we understand, are a good deal connected with the management Of confidential communications made to the Government from all parts of the country; and this being the case, the importance of having the office filled by a person on whose freedom from hostile bias the great majority of the people can rely must be manifest. We know nothing of Mr. MKenna except from report; but all that we have heard of him leads us to believe that the Government could scarcely have made a more judicious selection. Highly respected both in private and in his professional life, 'Mr. Mlienna is represented as liberal in his political principles, though he has taken no active part in politics. But whatever be his opinions, it is admitted that his conduct has been distinguished by the utmost moderation, and that there are few men against whom it is possible for political opponents to say so little. Under such circumstances, we readily acknowledge that the appointment is highly creditable to the Government; and is evidence, so far as it goes, that they mean to carry out the professions of the past session in the details of the Irish administration."

The Irish papers publish the letter from Dublin Castle officially inti- mating the dismissal of Mr. James Watson from the Commission of the Peace and a Deputy-Lieutenancy in the county of Antrini, for acting as chairman at the Lisburn meeting of Orangemen on the 23d July. The letter is dated on the 31st. Mr. Watson is reminded, that in 1836 King William declared his intention to discourage Orange lodges; and that, in the same session, Parliament adopted that intention, and embodied in an Set provisions opposing practical impediments to the formation of Orange lodges. Nevertheless, Mr. Watson had thought fit to preside at a meeting it which it was resolved to reorganize Orange lodges.

"His Excellency cannot reconcile your concurrence in such a resolution, and your acting as chairman at such a meeting, with the duties incumbent on you as a Justice of the Peace or as a Deputy-Lieutenant. As a Magistrate, you should e arefully guard and warn the people against breach of the law, should they appear likely to violate it: you have incited them to reorganize societies which the law prohibits. As a Deputy-Lieutenant, you should be an aid to the Lieutenant of y-onr county in all lawful measures tending to preserve its peace: you have encouraged assemblies, the result of which, in an adjoining country, has been a formidable affray, attended with loss of life. "In allowing the act to expire which prohibited party processions in Ireland, her Majesty reposed a willing confidence in the loyalty and good sense of her Irish subjects. That confidence has not in the main been disappointed. Suc- cessful exertions have been made by many of the most enlightened, patriotic, and influential of the magistracy and gentry towards the prevention of armed dis- plays tenditt to excite breach of the peace, to alarm the peaceable, and In- nate discord; and the country has had the advantage of owing their ' iscontimiance, not to the penalties of an act of Parliament, but to the laudable discretion and loyalty of the people.

" Among those who have thus merited the approbation of her Majesty and the gratitude of their country you have not been found. On the contrary, you are among the few of your station who have concurred in advising the renewal of an illegal association, whose proceedings have heretofore given occasion to frequent and sanguinary conflicts between different classes of her Majesty's subjects, of the lamentable character of that which has recently occurred in the city of Armagh.

" Under these circumstances, his Excellency feels bound to deprive you, as fat as in him lies, of influence and authority derivable from the offices you have

hitherto held under the Crown; and a letter has been addressed to the Lieutenant of the County of .Antrim intimating your removal from the office of Deputy- Lieutenant. The Lord Chancellor has your conduct under his consideration with reference to your commission of the peace."

At a meeting of the Dublin Protestant Operative Association, on Thurs- day week, appeared Mr. James Rose Cleland, a Deputy-Lieutenant and Magistrate, who declared, that although not an Orangeman himself, he should resign both offices, in disgust at the treatment of Mr. Watson. He has done so.

A grand Orange demonstration for the county of Fermanagh took place at Enniskillen on the 12th of August. The number of Orange lodges assem- bled was more than one hundred and forty; some contained as many as three hundred members, others fewer than a dozen; but the mean was about twenty or thirty. The larger lodges had full bands, most had at least a drum and fife; and each lodge was headed by a Master, supported by two Wardens holding drawn swords. The whole of these bodies collected in the market-square, formed in procession, and marched .

to a meadow where hustings had been erected. Lord George Loftus pre- sided; several country gentlemen, and a great number of gentlemen with "Reverend" prefixed to their names, were present; and the Countess of Enniskillen sat in front of the platform, though the Earl was absent. The speeches were anything but striking: some exhorted the Orangemen to energy, some to moderation; all had a fling at the Government. The spirit of the meeting is best gathered from the resolutions proposed-

" That, notwithstanding years of concession to Popery, this unfortunate countg has only become the scene of increased agitation, winch Sir Robert Peel, being in his place in Parliament, expressed his inability to suppress; and in consequence, the spirit of faction and disobedience to the laws havmg spread extensively even through this once peaceable county, to the great peril of our lives and fortunes, we are resolved, as the only means of safety left to us in these perilous times, to reorganize the system of Orangeism." "That, deeply regretting the absence of many of the aristocracy, who should itt our opinion identify themselves with as in the great constitutional movement this day, we pledge ourselves to support at an election none who do not come forward.: and join our loyal and venerated institution."

"That we hereby repudiate the innumerable assertions so frequently made by , the agitators of the Conciliation Hall, that the Orangemen of Fermanagh are in every way friendly to the cause of Repeal; and that we scout with contempt the r advice issued by the Repeal Association to us."

"That we consider the removal of Mr. Watson one of the most respected and: respectable resident country gentlemen in Ireland, from the office of Deputy- Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace, a despotic exercise of arbitrary power—a course not justified by law or warranted by circumstances, and one eminently: calculated to insult Protestants and afford a triumph to Papists."

" That, a loyal and dutiful address from her Majesty's faithful and attached" Protestant subjects resident in the county of Fermanagh be presented to the Queen, praying her to dismiss her present Ministers from office; that a com- mittee be appointed to prepare such address; and that they report the same to US on our next day of meeting."

These resolutions, as well as the loyal and dutiful address founded on them, were unanimously adopted. Rather a ludicrous incident marked the day. Mr. Thomas Steele, " O'Connell's Head Pacificator," came down on Monday, ostensibly to keep

the peace; but everybody was afraid that his presence would occasion a breach of peace, and the Pacificator was an object of alarm. He went to M'Bride's Hotel, of which the owner is understood to be a Repealer; bat Mr. Steele did not by any means "find his warmest welcome at that inn ": he was told that there was "no room." He could not find a lodging' elsewhere, until a stanch Repealer and publican opened his doors to the wanderer. At night, a deputation of Orangemen waited on him to bet that he would withdraw from the town; but he refused. Next morning, Mr. Steele entered the White Hart inn to breakfast; selecting a room in which several newspaper-reporters were breaking their fast. The landlady was in a pucker, and divers stratagems were tried to oust the perilous Pacificator. A mechanic entered the room with an invitation to dinner, purporting to be sent to Mr. Steele by a party of tradesmen; which was politely declined, and Mr. Steele sat still. Then the landlady asked tei speak with him, and told him that the room was privately engaged: but finding that her other guests were also going on that hint, she was obliged to confess the trick, as well as the imposture about the invitation to dinner; and she personally asked Mr. Steele to go away. He refused with dignity. Her son threatened force; which only made Mr. Steele more inexorable. crowd had now gathered round the house. Finally, however, two Magi- strates entered the inn and persuaded the intruder to retire. It does not appear that Mr. Steele's presence in his capacity of Pacificator caused any further disturbance.

At the meeting of the Repeal Association, on Monday, another letter was read from Mr. O'Connell, written at Darrynane Abbey on the 8th instant, on the necessity of extending "the Repeal registry" "in every locality," so as to return sixty or seventy Repeal Members to Parliament; in order to which, he implores the Association to appoint active Repeal- Wardens in every parish. He then specially directs attention to the vaunt, of Galway; intimating that the Members ought all to become Repealers, or to be replaced at the next election by those who are so. He congratulates the Association on the perfect tranquillity of "the great Repeal counties Wexford, Kilkenny, Galway, and others: "it is delightful to think that by increasing the agitation for Repeal, we augment the sources of peace and good order." On the motion of Mr. John O'Connell, it was resolved that some refractory Repeal-Wards of London be closed, namely, the St. Patrick's Maze, Edmund Burke Roche, Dr. Gray, Alderagate, Bermondsey, and Smith O'Brien Wards. The rent for the week was 377/.

In reference to Mr. O'Connell's recent denunciation of the Members flat Wexford for not being Repealers, the Wexford Independent makes id& atmonnoement-. U We understand that it is t te intention of Henry Thunder, Esq., eldest eon of Michael Thunder, Esq., of Ballyseskin House' in this county, who so long stood

at the head of the eminent firm of Thunder Co, brewers, to put forth his claim to represent this independent county in Parliament n the first vacancy that nuty occur. Mr. Thun&r (who is at present in Eng d) is a warm and steadfast Repealer, and, we understand, will at once join the Repeal Association."