3 JUNE 1843, Page 8

IRELAND.

Mr. O'Connell does not halt in his Repeal progress. On Thursday the 25th May, he had a demonstration at Nenagh for the North Riding of Tipperary ; which he entered, after a triumphal march of twenty miles, with an escort of 100,000; ladies waving their handkerchiefs from the windows as he approached. Thence he proceeded to the Grange, about two miles off ; where he addressed a meeting of 350,000: thousands came from a distance of fifteen or twenty miles : in-

habitants of King's, Queen's, Limerick, Clare, and Galway counties

were present ; and a thousand boats laden with passsengers crowded the Shannon. Mr. O'Connell explained the objeetch of such meetings— He often heard it said that it was impossible so many thousand persons could hear him together. He thought there were some forty or fifty thousand

persons that heard every word be uttered ; or indeed vastly more, for he

perceived his voice extended to the very extreme of the crowd. He came there to tell them what he was struggling for, that they should understand distinctly the purpose which brought them together. He brought them together that Peel and Wellington might be able to count noses, and to understand how many were at their side, and then they might count their own as fast as they pleased. (Cheers.)

Afterwards there was a dinner, at which Mr. O'Connell spoke as usual. He alluded to the multitudes whom he had recently addressed--

Since he last came to Munster, he saw the largest assemblage at Charleville that met up to that period, as well as the most enthusiastic. He went to

Cork, and found the multitude doubled ; and the beauty of the scenery of the

lovely valle.y that leads into Cork from Glanmire was rendered more vivifjingly attractive to the human eye, and the lover of the picturesque, by the multi-

tudes of men, women, and children that surrounded him. What did h.:: see on

the rock of Cashel ? On Wednesday he saw population and an extent of phy- sical force, that in the hands of a Napoleon would be sufficient to conquer the

entire of Europe. Napoleon marched from Boulogne to the centre of Hungary, gaining his battles on the way, with a smaller vigorous force than surrounded him on Wednesday on the rock of Cashel : and then, Napoleon had no such army in reserve as he had that day upon the bill of Grange. (Cheers and laughter.) It was a waste of physical force ; but let no one tell him that there was no security against aggression in that physical force. He told them it was

not as a sword to strike down, but as a shield to protect ; and from that spot he said, that Wellington and Peel, and the congregated force of British states- men, would never be absurd enough to think they could successfully assail those who had the protection of such a shield as that. (Great cheering.) Dr. Kennedy, the titular Bishop of Killa oe, was a speaker at the din- ner, and a warm adherent of Repeal. Ile referred to Sir Robert Peel's declaration that an Irish Parliament should never be conceded except at the expense of civil war—

Merciful God! the British Minister to threaten Ireland with civil war ! a war by England against the right arm of her own strength—against a moral and loyal people, who had fought her battles, and extended her possessions to the remotest portions of the earth. If such a war should occur—and God in his mercy prevent such a calamity—he was fearfully persuaded that it would be

a war of so bloody, of so deadly and desolating a character, that whoever the victors might be, they would have but too much reason to mourn their melan- choly triumph. It was impossible that those who threatened them could have any knowledge of the present condition of the feelings of the people of Ireland. Threaten them, indeed, with a civil war ! Why, he knew that the majority of the people were suffering the most grievous privations, and that no war had any terrors for them. (The entire assembly here rose and joined in one burst of ap- plause.) He repeated that war had no terrors for them, and least of all a war against their unnatural, their inveterate, and their still unrelenting oppressors. And he believed further, that eicept a restitution of their native Parliament, there was nothing so welcome to them in their present temper as such a war, whatever be its issue. (Tremendous cheering.) There was another great meeting to greet Mr. O'Connell, at Long- ford, on Sunday ; and a dinner, at which the titular Bishops of Meath and Ardagh were present. The meeting is computed at 250,000. Dr. Iliggms alluded to Dr. Murray's denial of his assertion that all the Bishops were Repealers : speaking in the most respectful terms of his superior, he said that Dr. Murray was sometimes at the Castle, for charitable purposes ; Dr. Higgins never went to the Castle. At the dinner he said—" The Earl of Wicklow denied that Dr. Murray was a Repealer : now, Dr. Higgins had the authority of a most respect-- able clergyman, who could verify his statement on oath, that Dr.. Murray had declared himself a Repealer before a numerous company ; and 'when or where had he since contradicted that statement ?"

The following is the letter from the Lord Chancellor's Secretary, which notified to Lord Ffrench his dismissal from the Magistracy-

" Secretary's Office, Four Courts. •• Jiubiju 23t1 May 4043. " My Lord—I have the honour to acknowledge your Lordship's letter of the 19th instant, stating that it was your intention to attend the Repeal meet- ing at Caltra, as well as that which is to be held in Athlone; and lam directed by the Lord Chancellor to inform your Lordship, that he regrets he has felt it his duty to direct your Lordship to be superseded as a Magistrate for the county of Galway. It has been his earnest desire not to interfere with the expression of opinion by any Magistrate in favour of Repeal, although from his first ar- rival here he deemed it inconsistent with the determination of her Majesty's Government to uphold the Union between Great Britain and Ireland to ap- point as a Magistrate any person pledged to the Repeal of that Union. Her Majesty's Government having recently declared in both Houses of Parliament their fixed determination to maintain the Union, it becomes the duty of the Members of the Government to support that declaration. The allegation that the numerous Repeal meetings are not illegal, does not diminish their inevitable tendency to outrage; and considering the subject in all its bearings, it is the opinion of the Lord Chancellor that such meetings arc not in the spirit of the constitution, and may become dangerous to the safety of the state. It is necessary, therefore, that the Government should be able to place a firm reliance on the watchfulness and determination of the Magistracy to pre- serve the public peace. A Magistrate who presides over, or forms a part of such a meeting, can neither be prepared to repress violence, nor could he be ex- pected to act against a body for whose offence he would himself he responsible. To such persons the preservation of the public peace during the present agita- tion cannot be safely intrusted. Your Lordship's determination to preside over such a meeting, immediately after the declarations in Parliament, proves to the Lord Chancellor that the time bas arrived for evincing the determina- tion of this Government to delegate no power to those who seek by such mea- sures as are now pursued to dissolve the Legislative Union. To allow such persons any longer to remain in the commission of the peace would be to afford the power of the Crown to the carrying of a measure which her Majesty has, like her predecessor, expressed her determination to prevent. This view of the case, which the step taken by your Lordship has forced upon the attention of the Lord Chancellor, will compel him at once to supersede any other Ma- gistrates who, since the declarations in Parliament, have attended like Repeal meetings. He thinks that such a measure is not at variance with the resolu- tion of the Government, whilst they watch over public tranquillity and oppose the Repeal movement, still to act with forbearance and conciliation, and to de- vote their hest energies to improve the institutions and promote the prosperity of Ireland.

" I have the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's most obediant servant, "HENRY SUGDEN, Secretary."

The following are the names of the Magistrates who have been re- moved from the Commission of the Peace : Lord Ffrench, the Honour- able Thomas Ffrench, the Honourable M. J. Ffrench, Mr. Daniel O'Connell, Mr. Maurice O'Connell, Mr. N. Boylan, Mr. Richard Albert Fitzgerald, Mr. Caleb Powell, Mr. P. S. Butler, Sir Michael Dillon Bellew, Mr. Alexander Sherlock, Mr. Daniel Clanchy, Mr. John Barter. Mr. James Sinclair and Mr. O'Hea, neither of them Repealers, have been superseded at their own request. Mr. R. D. Browne has also resigned.

Mr. William Smith O'Brien has addressed a letter to the Lord Chan- cellor, resigning his commission of the peace for the counties of Lime- rick and Clare. He says-

" I am not aware that by any law now in force it is forbidden to the people of Ireland to seek the repeal of an act of Parliament, which history tells us was obtained by the basest means and by the foulest corruption ; and, though anxious to exhaust every hope of good government through other means be- fore I unite with them in soliciting the repeal of that act, I cannot consent to retain any office which compels me to forego the acknowledged right to bold and propagate opinions not at variance with moral and statute law, which belongs to every British subject. Nor am I sorry to be relieved from the responsibility of acting in any capacity under a government which, while it forbids the ex- pression of national indignation, loses no opportunity of exciting well-founded discontent."

Mr. O'Brien asks the Lord Chancellor, what is the legal maximum of numbers for a public meeting-100, 1,000, 10,000, or 100,000; and whether any restriction of that kind equally applies to England ?

At the meeting of the Repeal Association, on Monday, Mr. O'Con- nell read a letter from himself to Mr. Henry Sugden, the Lord Chan- cellor's Secretary, in reply to one announcing Mr. O'Connell's removal from the commission of the peace : the pith of the letter lies in the following passage- " As the restoration of the Irish Parliament is an event in my judgment not remote, I will avail myself of the opportunity afforded by a seat in the Irish House of Commons to move for an impeachment of the present Lord Chancellor for presuming to interfere with the subject's dearest and most pre- cious right—the right of petitioning Parliament—a right expressly declared to belong to the people as one of ' the true, ancient, and indubitable rights and liberties of the people of this realm.' I use the words of the statute; which, it should be remembered, settles the succession of the Crown upon the basis of those rights and liberties of the subject. Her Majesty's title, therefore, to the throne, is based upon this right of petition ; and the statute expressly declares ' that all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal.' The deprivation of the Commission of the Peace may not be technically a prosecu- tion. But it is intended as a punishment ; and punishment without prosecu- tion would make the act of the Lord Chancellor only the more criminal."

At this meeting were enrolled as members of the Association, Sir Colman O'Loghlen, son of the late Master of the Rolls ; various bar- risters; and Mr. Freeman, the American giant, then exhibiting in Dublin.

At an adjourned meeting of the Repeal Association, Mr. O'Connell stated, as a fact for which be had authority, that the Queen had taken Sir Robert Peel to task for his unconstitutional use of her name ; ex- pressing her displeasure, and omitting to ask the Minister to dine after an official interview. He stated that Government had " actually sent round to all the Stipendiary Magistrates and other officials to procure a return to them of the forfeited land in their vicinage ; and they had. also got instructions to make out, as well as they could, the claimants to those forfeited lands." He also told, amidst great laughter, a story cur- rent in Dublin about a strange mistake of which Sir Edward Sugden was the victim, on Saturday— The present Lord Chancellor, in the interim of making out the write of supersedes, for the Repeal Magistrates, was very fond of investigating into the management of lunatic asylums, and made an agreement with the surgeon- general to visit, without any previous intimation, a lunatic asylum, kept by Dr. Duncan, in this city. Some person sent word to the asylum that a patient was to be sent there in a carriage that day, who was a smart little man, that thought himself one of the Judges, or some great person of that sort, and who was to be retained by them. Dr. Duncan was out, when Sir Edward Sugden came there in half an hour: afterwards; and on knocking at the door, he was admitted and received by the keeper. He appeared to be very talkative, but the attendants humoured him, and answered all his questions. Be asked if the Surgeon-General had arrived ; and the keeper assured him that he was not yet come, but that he would be there immediately. "Well," said be, "I will inspect some of the rooms until he arrives." "Oh, no, Sir," said the keeper, "we could not permit that at all." "Then I will walk for a while in the Arden," said his Lordship, "while I am waiting for him." "We cannot let you go there either, Sir," said the keeper. "What !" said he, "don't you know that I am the Lord Chancellor?" 46 Sir," said the keeper, "we have four more Lord Chancellors here already." He got into a great fury, and they were beginning to think of the strait-waistcoat for him, when fortunately the Sur- geon-General arrived. "Has the Lord Chancellor arrived yet ? " said he. The man burst out laughing at him, and said, "Yes, Sir, we have him safe ; but he is by far the most outrageous patient we have." Mr. O'Connell really believed the Chancellor caught the fury of superseding the Magistrates while he was in Dr. Duncan's asylum ; and it would be exceedingly fortunate if all the rest of the Ministry were there with him.

[The story is as ludicrous as it is creditable to the vigilance of the chief guardian of the insane.] The Dublin Correspondent of the Morning Chronicle says—" I have learned that a declaration in favour of a Federal Union between Great Britain and Ireland is now in course of signature, and that the names of several Whig barristers are already attached to the document."

The Athlone Sentinel announces that some of the Roman Catholic Bishops were about to direct their clergy to insert the name of Mr. O'Connell after the Queen's in the public prayers ; in consequence of threats of assassination, and "lest the Almighty would permit the vio- lent removal of the only man who can at present direct the mighty storm of public opinion."

There was some serious rioting at the village of Carney, near Dun- gannon, on Tuesday. An Orange party went from Dungannon to op- pose a monthly Repeal meeting in the village : at first they were re- pulsed and had a drum taken from them ; but, obtaining reinforcements in Dungannon, they renewed the attack, routed the Repealers, and razed some houses, variously stated at four and seven.

The Limerick Chronicle relates a fatal incident of the Nenagh meet- ing—

" There was a general run on the plantations of the neighbouring gentlemen for green boughs, laurels, &c., to grace Mr. O'Connell's entry; when Mr. Brereton, S.M., sent two men to watch some young trees, his property. The men, it appears, continued together for some time, when they separated ; and subsequently one of them mistook the other for a trespasser, fired, and, melan- -choly to relate, death yesterday followed the inadvertent act."

When the Croat mail-coaches started from Dublin Post-office on Sunday and the two next evenings, they passed amid the hootings of a collected multitude. On Sunday there was one passenger. On Tuesday there were two passengers—a lady, who fainted, and a gentleman, who got out and forfeited his place, through apprehension. In the tumult four men were thrown down and run over by the Belfast mail ; and there was some skirmishing between the police and the hooters.