24 DECEMBER 1836, Page 6

Mr. O'Connell dined at Drogheda on Monday, with a large

party of his admirers. In the course of the evening, he delivered a speech, which contains the following passages-

" I spent five years in 'endeavouring to conciliate the Orangemen ; and the last time I dined in Drogheda, we quaffed a bumper of the Boyne water. ( Lauyhter awl cheers.) I am glad that I made the effort, although I failed in the experiment ; and indeed I am sorry that I did fail. I should be unworthy to stand forward the champion Cof the people, if I had not made the effort to ' combine them altogether as the first fruits of our own emancipation; but they spurned ale for doing so. I showed them that I was able to lay aside my pre- judices, anti that they would not prevent me from embracing that man as a friend and brother who was willing to act the part anti the character of an4, honest and honourable Irishman. I am now making another five years' ex- periment—two years of them are over ; and to it I devote whatevei?'energies of my mind and body remain to increase the auccess of that experiment. I see the people of Ireland combined together to support me in achieving that measure. I call upon the people of Scotland and of England to join me in this cry of justice. If there be some slackness in England, I trust they will soon see the necessity and the justice of perfect unanimity, in obtaining fair, equal, and im- partial justice for Ireland. I have 'fallen into the sear and yellow leaf' of life; but my heart is still as young and my head as determined as ever ; and I believe that my arm, if the fatal necessity should come, would not be amongst the weakest in the struggle. Why do I, who have been all my life a man of peace, thus speak ? Why do I who throughout the entire progress of my political career, deprecated any revolution that would be effected by the shedding of even one single drop of blood—why do I dare thus to speak of the coming struggle? Why, because I would prefer that the waters of your river should again run red with Irish blood, rather than submit to be insulted and degraded as we are. We might submit to robbery, plunder, destruction of property, the pillage of our houses, the bereavement of our wives and daughters; we might submit to the renewed cruelties of penal statutes and enactments against our persons and pos- sessions, as we did before to torture and to persecution of every kind ; all this we might suffer and submit to ; but I tell you that we never will consent to endure the insult that has been cast upon us, by the faction of him who is the renegade of all parties, and true to none—who was the violent and untameable Jacobin in his youth, but who is now, in his old age, the sycophant of the Tory paltI.." lkr. Power, son-in-law of Mr. Shell, will be the Liberal candidate for Dungarvan ; he will be supported by the Duke of Devonshire. His opponent, 111r. Galway, has the aid of the Beresfords.

According to the Dublin correspondent of the Times, Lord Talbot the Malahide, Mr. Villiers Stuart, and Mr. A. R. Blake, are to be made Privy Councillors.

The clergy of the diocese of Limerick have published a strong pro- test against the Irish system of education.

The gentry and clergy of Leitrim have subscribed 400/. reward for the discovery of the miscreants who set tire to the Reverend Mr. Hogg's habitation amid attempted to shoot that worthy minister.