IRELAND.

Mr. O'Connell has addressed a letter to the " Protestants of Ire- land," the object of which is to gain their cooperation in his plans for the repeal of the Union. In the Dublin correspondence of the Times we find the following abstract of its contents.

" He takes a scrap of poetry for a motto, as usual. The present is from an Antrim weaver's song in the time of the first United Irishmen, whose principles he eulogizes so highly : viz.

• Oh Union, how social 1 Oh Union. bow rare!

.All sects and religions may equally share; Unites in one cause

Both the mint and the poor, Makes the fate of our tyrants Decided and sure!"

He again calls up to their imagination the efforts of the Volunteers of 1782, at the convention of Dungannon ; and the glories of the great leaders of the first Protestant families of Ulster, who, leaning on their ready-drawn swords, unani- mously declared that a claim of any body of men other than the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, to make laws to bind this kingdom, is uncon- stitutional, illegal, and a grievance.' So Mr. O'Connell proceeds, quoting Volunteer resolutions, and endeavouring to stimulate the pride of the present Protestant generation to emulate that -of their ancestors, who spoke out like men in the good days of Ireland.' The letter is altogether written in a style of argument and temperance far superior to many of his former productions on the same subject, and illustrates satisfactorily what must be his own conviction on the uselessness of pursuing his usual system of abuse and threats in the pre- sent instance. Some sentences are very characteristic and interesting. I will be quite candid with you. 1 do at once acknowledge that, much as I desire the repeal of the Union, I would not at present consent to that repeal unless a large majority of the Irish Protestants joined in the desire to restore our native Parlia- ment. Without such a combination o: Repealers, much, very much of the

good results of legislative independence would be lost ' ' Now, these advantages can only be gained by a peaceful and nearly unanimous altera- tion of the present system for a better. They cannot be procured by force and violence, and it is utterly impossible to attain them by bloodshed ' In the present social order, an immense class of society depend for their daily subsistence upon their daily earnings. Let there be but such a convulsion as would throw the artisans and labourers out of employment for months, or even for weeks, and you devote myriads to perish by famine. It is frightful to contemplate a lame city cut off from its resources by civil commotions and unable to obtain the daily subsistence which its inhabitants require. 'Cie are therefore just in that social state which makes it the first duty of every honest man, of every conscientious man, and above all of every religious man, to exert all his faculties, and to be uutired in his exertions to prevent the recurrence of

any change or revolution by force or violence ' It is therefore the interest of the working classes especially, that we should avoid all violent

and forcible change in our political system ' He cannot, however, finish his letter without an appeal to the passions. What ! Protestants of

Ireland ! shall we he told that there is in England or Scotland a race so exalted above us? But I will not pursue the degrading topic. Submit to its reflection if you can—I would almost say if you dare—and then Irishmen go to your homes, and tell the sweet and chaste partners of your most secret thoughts, that there are human beings before whom you veil your heads, and acknowledge your paltry inferiority. All gentle as those partners be, I leave you to the punish- ment of their scorn. This is, however, too painful a subject to be dwelt upon : yet the Union—the Union—speaks it trumpet-tongued; and had you witnessed the scenes I have beheld, and heard the cheers and shouts of derision at the Irish vassals—But it drives me mad, and I desire to be considerate and cool.'"

Mr. Lambert, the Member for Wexford, is exerting himself against Mr. O'Connell. On the day when the rent-collectors were to be en- gaged in his parish of Cushinstown, the following placard was posted through the district, to attract the notice of the people on their road to the chapel.

"No Humbug !—No Hypocrisy! " Men of Cushinstown 1—Who refused you aid from the Catholic Association fund. at the period of your struggle with the rector of this parish in his merciless proceedings against you for tithes ?—O'Connell!

" Who fled the banners of his country, by deserting the House of Commons on the night of Mr. J. Grattan's resolution on tithes, though pledged to support said resolution? —O'Connell!

" Who deserted the Carrickshaugh men on trial for life or death, after pocketing two hundred guineas of their money ?— O'Connell 1 " Who paved the way by his evidence before the Lords and Commons for the total destruction of the brave 40$. freeholders of Ireland ?—O'Connell

" Who, by his evidence before the committee of both Douses of Parliament, at- tempted to lower the character of the Irish priesthood in the estimation of the English nation, by declaring that they were the sons of poor peasants, and that a golden link (detestable libel!) was necessary to bind them to time State, while he held up to the ad- miration of the world the characters of the Irish parsons. as the sons of gentlemen of first.rate education and refined manners,whose habits of life and station in society fully qualified them to fill the void to make good the link in the chain, so neegssary in Ire- land, between its nobility and people ?-0'Connelll "Who deluded the people of Ireland on the Repeal of the Union ? Who, while he was publicly declaring In Dublin and elsewhere that nothing short of the success of that question could regenerate the country and establish the peace, prosperity, and happiness of the nation, still was not a Repealer, as appears by his letter to Mr. Pag,m, of Cork, written the 26th day of October last, where he says that previous to the pas- sing of the Coercion Bill, he only intended Repeal as a means and not as an end to be sought ?-0'Connell 1 Away with such base prevarication! •• Who, at a late Sheriff's dinner ha Dublin. drank that hateful, that obnoxious, and factious toast. • The glorious, pious, and immortal memory? '—O'Connell 1

" Men of Cushinstown, make your own comments on this mass of doubleglealing and

duplicity. "Ax HONEST PATRIOT.'

Dr. Doyle told the collectors of the O'Connell rent, when they called for his subscription, that "he had no money for such purposes."