IRELAND.

The Repeal papers report at vast length "the Kilkenny demonstra- tion" on the race-coarse ; stating that the entire male population of Tipperary, Queen's County, Carlow, Wexford, and Waterford, might be said to be present ; and calculating the numbers above 300,000, in- cluding 10,000 or 12,000 horsemen. Mr. P. S. Butler, the recently dismissed Magistrate, was appointed to the chair, and loudly cheered on taking it. Mr. O'Connell began thus-

" Is there a band within hearniug / If there be, let them play up God save the Queen.' (More than a dozen bands here played up the national anthem, the entire vast multitude remaining uncovered. At the termination of the air three hearty and deafening cheers were given for the Queen.) I, will now give you another subject to cheer : three cheers for the Queen's Army— the bravest army is the world, (Tremendous cheers.) Three cheers. for the Irish people—the most moral, the most brave, the most. temperate, and the moat religions people on the face of the earth. (Great and long continued d'ecriNfax

Afterwards he said-

" I suppose you have heard of the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel having come down to Parliament one fine evening, and declared that they would prevent the Repeal of the Union, even at the expense of a civil war. We will not go to war with them ; but let them not dare to go to war with us. (Tremendous cheering, which continued for some minutes.) We will act on the defensive; and believe me, men of Kilkenny, there is no power in Eu- rope that would dare attack you and the people of Ireland, when they keep themselves in the right and act on the defensive only. They threatened us with this civil warfare ; but we only laughed at them, and you are at liberty to laugh at them again." (Cheers and laughter.) Again- " As to the Army, it has been always on the best terms with the people. In the Whitebny times, the people never showed the slightest animosity to the soldiers; who did no more than their duty, though they disliked the Police, and small blame to them. The Queen's Army is the best in the world ; and the class of sergeants that it contains is the most educated in existence ; and I trust that the day will come when all the sergeants will be in a fair way of becoming commissioned officers. (" Hear, hear ! " and loud cheers.) I will tell you a secret, and mind you promise me to keep;it—(A laugh)—it is Temper- ance that will give us the Repeal. (Cheers.) Temperance will give it to us: for I can now trust in every one of you, as I am not afraid that any drunken vagabond will get into a riot, or that a drunkard will, in his haughtiness, refuse to obey my commands. (Cheers.) I have you disciplined by Temperance, and I defy your enemies." (Cheers.)

Afterwards there was a dinner, to which Dr. Blake, titular Bishop of Dromore, was invited ; but, kept away by ecclesiastical business, he sent a letter of excuse and sympathy.

Mallow was, on Sunday, the scene of the next demonstration ; at which 400,000 persons are said to have been present. Large bodies of troops and police were stationed in the neighbourhood. The enormous multitude paraded the town in procession, and then proceeded to an open space, where Mr. O'Connell delivered an address. Mr. O'Connell dwelt much on Sir Robert Peel's use of the Queen's name, and on Lord Lyndhurst's assertion that the Irish were aliens in blood, language, and religion— When he heard him say that they were aliens in language, he replied, that, talking the same language, the Saxons spoke it with a hissing, croaking tone, whilst the Irish spoke it out fully from the heart, and gave the significance of cordiality to the words they uttered.

But his most notable speech was at the dinner ; when six hundred persons sat down to table. He began thus-

" The time is come when we must be doing. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, you may soon learn the alternative to live as slaves or die as freemen. ("Hear ! " and tremendous cries of " We'll die freemen ! " mingled with cheers.) No, you will not be freemen if you be not perfectly in the right, and your enemies in the wrong. (Cries of "So they are! ") I think I perceive a fixed disposition on the part of some of our Saxon traducers to put us to the test. (Cheers.) The efforts already made by them have been most abortive and ridiculous. ("Hear !") In the midst of peace and tranquillity they are covering over our land with troops. ("Hear! ") Yes, I speak with the awful determination with which I commenced my address in consequence of news received this day. There was no House of Commons on Thursday, for the Cabinet was considering what they should do, not for Ireland, but against her. (Cheers.) But, gentlemen, as long as they leave us a rag of the constitution, we will stand on it. (Tremendous cheering.) We will violate no law, we will assail no enemy; but you are much mistaken if you think others will not assail you. (A voice—" We are ready to meet them! ") To be sure you are. (Cheers.) Do you think that I sup- pose you to be cowards or fools. (Cheers.) I am speaking of our being as- sailed. (" Hear, hear ! ") Thursday was spent in an endeavour to discover whether or not they should use coercive measures. (" Hear hear! " and hisses.) Yes, coercive measures; and on what pretext ? (Cheering.) Was Ireland ever in such a state of profound tranquillity? " (Cries of" Never!") He imputed the Waterford expedition to the misinformation of "low vile Orangemen," through whom the people were to be coerced ; and remarked, that there was not a single Irishman in the Council on the Thursday. He proceeded- " What I want you and them to understand is, that we are sensible of the position in which we are placed—(Cheers)—that we have our apprehensions— by apprehensions I do not mean fears—(Loud cheers)—hut they are threaten- ing us Irishmen, peaceful and tranquil; and for what offence ? ( Heart") An act of Parliament binding two countries together is insisted to be repealed by the Irish people. (" Hear, hear! ") Have we not the ordinary courage of Englishmen ? (Tremendous cries of "Hear, hear ! ") Are we to be called slaves? (" No, no ! ") Are we to be trampled under foot ? ("No, no ! " and cheering.) Oh, they never shall trample me at least. (Tremendous cheering that lasted several minutes.) I was wrong, they may trample me under foot. (Cries of "No, no !" they never shall.) I say they may trample me; but it will be my dead body they. will trample on, not the living man." (" Hear " and most tremendous cheering.)

Subsequently he made this historical allusion-

" Yes, and Peel and Wellington may be second Cromwells. ("Hear!" and hisses.) They may get his blunted truncheon, and they may, oh, sacred Heaven I enact on the fair occupants of that gallery, (pointing to the ladies' gallery,) the murder of the Wexford ladies. (" Oh, oh I ") But I am wrong, they never shall. (Tremendous cheering and waving of handkerchiefs.) What alarms me is the progress of injustice. That ruffianly Saxon paper, the Times—(Loud groans)—the number received by me this day presumes to threaten us with such a fate. (" Oh, oh I") But let it not be supposed that I made that appeal to the ladies as a flight of my imagination. ("Bear, hear 1") No, the number of 300 ladies, the beauty and loveliness of Wexford, the young and old, the maid and the matron, when Cromwell entered the town by treachery-300 inoffensive women, of all ages and classes, were collected round the cross of Christ, erected in a part of the town called the Bull Ring, they prayed to Heaven for mercy, and I hope they found it : they prayed to the English for humanity, and Cromwell slaughtered them. ("Oh, oh I" and great sensation.) I tell you this, 300 of the grace and beauty and virtue of Wexford were slaughtered by the English ruffians—sacred Heaven! (Tremendous sensation, and cries of " Oh, oh ! ") I am not at all imaginative when. I talk of the possibility of such occurrences anew ; but yet I assert there is no danger of the women, for the men of Ireland would die to the last in their defence. [Here the entire company rose and cheered, for several minutes.] We were a paltry remnant then, we are millions now: (Renewed cheering.)

At the meeting of the Repeal Association on Monday, the rent for the week was reported to be 1,7171.1 The Reverend Mr. Lowry, n Presbyterian minister from the North of Ireland, presided.

A meeting of the Irish. Metropolitan Conservative Society was held. at Dublin on Wednesday, for an Anti-Repeal demonstration. Lord Rubdown wee in the chair ; and several leadingtitled and untitled. Cna- servatives were present. A string of resolutions was passed, asserting the readiness of the Protestant population of Ireland to maintain the connexion with Great Britain, and declaring,

" That to the mistaken policy which has hitherto dictated repeated conces- sions to a fallen and ambitious religion, is to be attributed the present formid- able and organized agitation carried forward throughout this country, and that a perseverance in the same unwise and pusillanimous policy can only result in the dismemberment of the empire."

Mr. J. Butt used some violent language towards O'Connell, and said, " In the name of the Protestants of Ireland, I defy him !" which was vehemently cheered.

The Belfast Protestant Operative Association held a meeting in the Theatre, on Friday, and unanimously resolved " to tender to the Queen their best services and exertions to maintain the integrity of the empire, and sapport:her Majesty's throne and dignity." The Theatre was crowded, chiefly by operatives. A few ministers were among the speakers.

Sir Edward Sugden has written a letter to Lord Carew, deprecating the resignation of Mr. Maher as a Justice of the Peace, as Mr. Maher placed the acts of Government on grounds which they disclaim. Mr. Maher replies, through Lord Carew, that he cannot consent in any way to put Repeal on any other footing than that of other public questions : with that explanation, he leaves his resignation in the Lord Chancellor's .hands, neither withdrawing nor pressing it.

The Earl of Roden has addressed a letter to the editor of the Dublin Evening Mad, on the state of Ireland. He attributes the Repeal move- ment to the desire of aggrandizing the Roman Catholic Church ; he observes, that on the Protestants depends the issue of the " contest between the Government of the Queen and the demagogues now clamouring for Repeal "; and he counsels thus-

" The principle of our Protestant faith teaches us submission to ' the powers that be ; and when our meetings, as Orangemen, were declared to be Illegal, we ceased from holding them. I would therefore implore my Pro- testant brethren, to avoid all processions, all assemblies of large bodies, at the present juncture. Let no provocation, however great, induce them to transgress. I would beseech of them not to give cause to their enemies to triumph over them. Our wisdom is to foresee the danger, and to be prepared for any emer- gency. Farther declarations of ours can be of no advantage."

Mr. Sharman Crawford has published in the papers some " Observa- tions addressed to the English People, and more especially to English Members of Parliament, on the state of Ireland." He attributes the out- rages and the discontents of the people of Ireland to their wretchedness ; and the wretchedness to the oppression and bad systems of landlords, which are no less injurious to themselves than to their tenants— "It arose from the repeated wars which occurred in Ireland, in consequence of rebellions against the British power, that all the lands, with very few ex- *options, have been at different times forfeited, and have changed hands, in many cases even three times over. The natural result was, that those who got these lands felt no security in the property so obtained ; and their object con- sequently was to levy the greatest possible revenue in the shortest possible time, without any respect to the consequences of such proceedings on the future or permanent condition of the people : and in addition to this, a source of Hostility existed between the people and the landlords, derived from the cir- cumstances of conquest, and difference of race and religion. From these causes, the connexion commenced in a spirit of mutual hatred, and has con- tinued so. The landlords had the power to indulge unrestrained their desire to oppress and exact, because no counteracting responsibility was created by a system of poor-laws, or by any other measures—but the reverse, the most dire system of laws was passed to supply the means of oppression. • • • From hence arose the system of middlemen, joint tenancy, conacre, letting the lands to the occupier without buildings or improvements, or any allowance for the same ; and all the excessive provisions in the form of distraint and ejectment for the recovery and extorting of rent which distinguish the Irish law of land- lord and tenant. This the occupiers of the land were reduced to extreme poverty, without the opportunity of subsisting themselves by the produce of their labour in any way : without education, without agricultural knowledge, and deprived, by repeated distraints, of their stock, and of all means of bene- ficially working their holdings, they have been rendered incapable of paying that amount of rent which the quality of their lands would otherwise easily yield, and which those small holders, under a proper system of management, would have been perfectly competent to pay." Several concomitant causes gave an impulse to the system of ex- termination : the abolition of the forty-shilling freeholders by the *Catholic Relief Bill rendered consolidation necessary to produce a ten- pound constituency ; the ten-pound electors did not prove sufficiently tractable, and consolidation was extended; and the dread of a settle- ment-clause in the Poor-law induced the landlords and farmers to drive away the poor from their lands. A dreadful and heartless persecution is carried on against the small holders by the farmers of Ireland— "There is a return made this year to Parliament for five years, from 1838 to 1842, both inclusive. This return gives the number of ejectments for all the countite of Ireland, but does not give the names of plaintiffs or number of defendants. J li-s in manuscript in the Library of the House of Commons, not having been ordera. for printing. It appears by the last-mentioned return, that the number of civil bits ejectments entered for the five years terminating with 1842 were 28,559, being at the average rate of 5,712 yearly ; but this only gives the number of ejectments entered—it does not show the number of persons served on each ejectment. By a reference to a former return it will be found that each entry comprehended in many cases a large number of occu- pants, even so many as forty. This arises from the nature of the letting of lands in Ireland in sub-tenancy and copartnership. By that return, the eject- ment-entries for nineteen counties in seven years were 13,425; but the defend- Ants amounted to 31,007, being. in the proportion of about 2i to the entries. If, then, we assume this proportion as a guide in referring to the late return, the number of entries being 28,559, the number of defendants would be 71,397. Each of these defendants is a separate occupier, and probably head of a family ; taking the families at the usual average of five heads, the total number of population against whom ejectment proceedings have been taken would amount to 356,985 souls in the five years, being at the average rate each year of 14,339 families, comprehending 71,397 heads of population. But I can show farther, that this extermination is going on,in a rapidly. increasing ratio. By the first report, the number of ejectment cases in the nineteen counties are 13,425, being at the rate of 706 for each county At the same rate, the number for the thirteen omitted counties would be 9,178; making a total of 22,603 for seven years, or on the average 3,229 entries yearly. But the average of five years, given in the last return, would be 5,712 each year ; showing a yearly in- crease of 2,483 cases on the average, or an increase of very little less than one-half in nine years; or in other words, the average of five years, Ending in 1842, is nearly one-third greater than the average of seven years, ending in 1833. It may be attempted to meet my statement by the allegation that these entries were not all decreed. It matters not : the entries show the animus of the landlords ; and the presumption is, that the persons named were driven out by some other means : and undoubtedly, large numbers have been expelled against whom no legal process had been taken."

Mr. Crawford recommends as a remedy, alteration of the law of- landlord and tenant, so as to defend the tenant against this exterminating process, and to secure to him the value of his improvements.

The Dublin Mercantile Advertiser states, on authority which it con- siders trustworthy, that the naval armament at Cork " has been ordered, not for any Irish object whatever, but with a view to possible and pro- bable events in Spain ; where a feeble Government finds itself unable to cope with daily augmenting difficulties and factious plots which are organizing in all directions. Besides, it is well known that the King of the French still sets his heart upon the darling object of wedding the-young Queen Isabella to a Prince of Bourbon ; an arrangement which Great Britain has the deepest interest in preventing."

After two days of minute investigation, the inquiry at Dungannon into the disgraceful riots at Carland has closed. The Magistrates commit- ted for trial seventeen of the Protestants and nine of the opposite party against the first, for riot andattack upon houses, or as it is termed' " wrecking "; against the others, for riot and assault ; the trials to take place at Omagh.

A Coroner's Jury sat on the body of the man who was killed at Magheraeloone, in Monaghan, on the 7th; and their verdict declared that there was no proof which policeman shot the man, and that at the time of the firing the police were in imminent danger of their lives. A party of military are stationed at Carrickmacross to keep the peace.

Mr. Lalor Sheil, the late Vice-President of the Board of Trade, is at issue with some of his tenants, who refuse to pay rent.