IRELAND.

Reports gain ground in Dublin, that Sir Robert Peel contemplates some comprehensive policy in respect to Irish grievances. The Dublin correspondent of the Morning Chronicle asserts that an official gentle- man, who has been at work for six months, is engaged in completing by the next session of Parliament, an elaborate statement of the re- venues of the Irish Church Establishment, arranged in a tabular form, embracing each individual parish, and specifying the income of the in- cumbent, the number of Protestant parishioners, whether or not there is a church in the parish, and other details. Speaking of the relations landlord and tenant, the Pilot says- " Already preparations are being made to legislate on the subject. A Com- as/is:ion is about to be appointed to make the necessary inquiries; and the ani- mus of that project may be judged by the fact, that the Chairman is likely to be a Catholic Member of Parliament, with power to appoint his own Secretaries. We believe Lord Eliot will not contradict us—verily, the Canadian policy ia shoat° be adopted. Oh that it may not be too late 1" The Repealers have endeavoured to get up a counter-prosecution. Mr. Barrett, attended by his counsel, Mr. M•Donough, and a party of friends, appeared at College Street Police-office, on Friday, to lay in- formations against Mr. Frederick Boud Hughes, the Government short- hand-writer, for perjury ! In the depositions on which the warrant against Mr. O'Connell and his friends proceeded, Mr. Hughes stated that " Richard Barrett," the editor of the Pilot, was among those who attended at the meeting of the Repeal Association in Calvert's Theatre and at the banquet on the 9th October; whereas Mr. Barrett was pro- vided with thirteen witnesses to swear that he was all the time at his own house, four miles from Dublin. The Magistrates objected to re- ceive the informations in the absence of the party accused, or at lest anti' he had been summoned to attend. It was rejoined, that Mr. Hughes had left Ireland, and the prosecutor did not know where to nerve a summons. The Magistrate said, that at all events one might be 'served at the place of Mr. Hughes's residence in Dublin ; and in order to that preliminary formality, the party left the office. On Saturday, they reappeared ; and Mr. Hitchcock, the spokesman for the Magis- trates, said that the Bench had come to the conclusion that they could not entertain the application at that stage of the proceedings; as it had always been the practice not to interfere in a case of the kind until the anginal case had been decided by another tribunal. A long discussion _ensued on the legality of the procedure ; which ended in the Magis- trates definitively refusing to take the informations.

At a meeting of Dublin Corporation, in the City Assembly House, ea Friday, Mr. O'Connell brought forward the motion of which he had given notice, censuring the Viceregal Government for the manner of issuing the recent proclamation. Mr. O'Connell's notice was in these terms- " To submit to the consideration of the Council the insult offered to the Lord Mayor and to the Corporation, and the danger arising to the citizens at large by means of the issuing the proclamation, and by the total disregard of the Lord Mayor's undoubted power and willingness to keep the peace within the o Before Mr. O'Connell proceeded with his motion, the Lord Mayor spoke in deprecation of it. He said that he had taken every opportunity of endeavouring to ascertain whether it had been the habit to consult the Lord Mayor in similar instances. He bad received a letter from Lord Eliot, who seemed to feel a great deal of anxiety lest, as he said, be had unintentionally given offence to the Lord Mayor and the Corporation ; and Lord Eliot stated that there was no instance on record in which the Government had acted differently. The Lord Mayor also understood that the place of the Clontarf meeting was beyond his jurisdiction. He had received a copy of the proclamation when it was issued on Satur- day ; but he was told that even that was not customary. Mr. O'Connell then prefaced his motion with a lengthy speech. He said that nothing was further from his intention than to convey an idea that a personal insult had been offered to the Lord Mayor : but wrong had been offered to the head of the Corporation. He admitted that the place of the meeting was beyond the Lord Mayor's jurisdiction ; but the persons who would have attended it were persons who ought to be protected by his Lordship ; and a military position was taken up at Aldborough House, within the city boundary. As to precedents, where could they be found for such a case?— Had such a case ever occurred before? A similar absence of precedent was discovered on a melancholy occasion in Dublin during the time of Lord Clon- es& One Jackson, a Dissenting clergyman, convicted of high treason, anti- . eipated execution by swallowing poison, and died in the dock : the Court was rising, and the Sheriff, anxious to know what he was to do, rather obtrusively Mapped the Chief Justice, and exclaimed, " My Lord, my Lord, what am I to do?? " "To do?" said his Lordship; "do as in such cases is usual." If the poor Sheriff had been looking for precedents from that day to this, he would not have found one; and it would be equally impossible to find a precedent in the present case. A copy of the proclamation had, however, been sent to the Lord Mayor: what for ?—of course to protect the citizens; and yet it was ,sent to him at inch an hour that, even with the influence of his popu- larity, it was impossible for him to have stopped the meeting. Mr. O'Connell moved, " That we deem the transmission of the proclamation to the Lord Mayor, about the hour of four o'clock on Saturday the 7th October instant, to prevent a meeting to be held on the next day, too late for the purposes of due caution, and especially too late for him to warn the citizens of Dublin of the impending perit."

The motion was vigorously opposed by Dr. Maunsell, with a speech against Repeal. He stated why he was not a Repealer- " I will give my reasons simply and truly. I was born free ; I will not endure a foreign yoke ; I will not live in bondage, mental or bodily, civil or religious. I have children, and it is my earnest desire that they shall transmit to their children, ae entire as it was transmitted, the power of exercising the Protestant religion unrestrained by Pope or Pontiff. It is my certain convic- tion that were the Union now repealed this could not happen. It is my firm belief that the ultimate design 01 those who are now Repeaters is to eradicate the Saxon religion from Ireland, and if it be necessary for that end, to exter- minate the Saxon race. (" No, no!" from the 0' Connellita.)

His proofs-

" I will not go back for them to the musty decrees of Councils or to the disgusting records of the Inquisition ; but I will tell you that I have read a work published within the current year, being from the pen of Alderman O'Connell, professing in its titlepage to be 4 A Memoir of Ireland, Native and Saxon.' This book is professedly the manual of Repeal; and the appropriate motto by which it has been recommended to public notice is expressed in such lines as these-

• Onward I the green banner rearing, Go desh every sword to the hilt; On our side is r irtue and Erin, On theirs is the Saxon and guilt.'

My Lord, the bulk of Alderman O'Connell's work is equal to the sample. And who is the guilty Saxon, in whom the sword of Erin is to be fleshed to the hilt? He is the Irish Protestant: he is impersonated in your Lordship, in myself, in my children, in my friends. The poetical motto of the memoir was at Mullagbmast written in plain prose for the benefit of the multitude. The festival there celebrated had no other object, could have no other end, than to excite the Celt against the Saxon—to rouse such malignant and unnatural feelings between the two races, and the two religions, as, if the pressure of the British power were taken off by a repeal of the Union, must end in the exter- mination of either one or the other."

He sometimes asked himself whether Mr. O'Connell was sincere in seeking for Repeal by such means as he had adopted-

" Is it not ever in his mouth that Repeal cannot be obtained without the ail of the Protestants. Yet does he ever miss an occasion of showing to Protest• ants, that the object of his life is the excitement among his reckless followers of such feelings towards them as those to which I have alluded? The infer- ence may be startling to some, but it is irresistible. Mr. O'Connell has no sin- cere desire to obtain a domestic Legislature for Ireland. If he proposed to him- self any such end, he is not the man to employ means which he knows must prevent its attainment. I am not desirous of attributing motives, but it is possible that Mr. O'Connell may see, as the result of his agitation, a restoration of the Whigs to qffice." Dr. Maunsell went on to justify the vigorous course lately adopted by the Government ; which he condemned as only having been too long delayed. Professor Butt defended the consistency of Government, Sr Robert Peel having declared that Ministers would forbear from in- terfering in Ireland as long as possible ; and he did not agree with Dr. Maunsell in thinking that the forbearance had been too long pro- tracted— " It is the moderation of their past forbearance that in the eyes of the coun- try and of Europe gives moral power to the vigour of their present move ; sad I believe that for their suppression of the agitation that is convulsing and die. tracting the country—at a time when they. had manifested to the world that they had no alternative but to abandon their duty or to interfere—they deserve and will receive the thanks of the country—of all friends of peace—of the sta- bility of the empire—ay, and of thousands who have been compelled and co- erced by intimidation to join your ranks. (Confusion, and cries of " Name !" cries of •'Order 1" from the Conservatives and from Mr. O'Connell.) Name, do you call? If you wish, I will name. (Cries of "No, no," from Mr. O'Connell, vehemently echoed by the Repeaters.) Well, be it so; you do not wish that 1 should answer your call. Well, I repeat my statement, that there are thousands who have been coerced to join your ranks who will in secret feel the deepest gratitude to the Government for having suppressed the agitation that enslaved them."

On a division, however, Mr. O'Connell's motion was carried, by 38 to 9.

Repeal meetings have been held in different wards of Dublin, and resolutions passed in support of Mr. O'Connell. At one of these, in the Post-office Ward, on Saturday, he gave an explanation respecting what he had said on the previous Monday about a Federal Perlis- ment— It had been most erroneously supposed by some persons that he bad changed his mind on the subject of Repeal. It was scarcely necessary for him to say that any such impression was totally erroneous. He had merely repeated on Monday what he had often before, and long since, stated on the subject of a movement then in contemplation respecting the attainment of a Federal Parliament. But then, as well as on Monday last, he fully retained his own opinion that nothing short of Repeal could or ought to satisfy the people of Ireland, and that nothing else would afford an efficient remedy for the mani- fold grievances of the country. He was still firmly attached to the principle of independent legislation ; but having reason to believe that a movement for a Federal Parliament would rally a considerable and very influential party, he had expressed himself ready to make the experiment, because he felt con- scious that the result would be a still deeper conviction that in Repeal alone the true remedy would be found. He had been promised the support of a very powerful party in England, and he had reason also to calculate upon the adhe- sion of a very influential party in Ireland. By the post of tomorrow he would probably know to what extent the English party be alluded to would be prepared to:cooperate with him. But he believed he might then state, that the Irish party upon whose aid and cooperation he had been led to calculate were neither so numerous nor so influential as lie had imagined. Most grateful was he, however, to both, for their good wishes ; to his English friends be was doubly grateful : but while entertaining and expressing these opinions, he was bound to declare, that lie was still of opinion that it was only in an Irish House of Commons, and in an Irish House of Lords, that the wrongs of Ireland could be redressed and the rights of Ireland maintained.

At a meeting in St. Audeon's Ward, on Sunday, he made the follow- ing odd declaration-

" Give me six months of perfect peace, and 111 give you my head on a block, if at the end of that time you have not a Parliament in College Green !"

The " Conciliation Hall" was opened on Monday, and the weekly meeting of the Repeal Association was held there. This building is close by the Coru Exchange ; occupying a frontage of 60 feet on the quay and a depth of 100 feet. The front is stuccoed and ornamented with pilasters, Brian Boroihme's harp, a crown, and other decorations. In a conspicuous part is the inscription—" The Repeal Year, 1843 "— surrounded by a wreath of shamrock. The interior, still unfinished, looked cold and cheerless, with bare planks and festoons of shavings ; but it is to be very handsome. The chair for the Chairman is on a dais ; on another dais is a chair for the Liberator ; near which is to be his statue, and a picture of him was already placed over the Chairman's seat. Two enclosures were set apart for the Secretary, and for news- paper-reporters. Three separate spaces were allotted for subscribers of 11., collectors of twenty associates shillings, and the one shilling asso- ciates themselves. The Hall is intended to hold 4,000 persons ; and an hour or two before the time of meeting it was crowded. A Government short-band writer was present. On the motion of Mr. O'Connell, Mr. John Augustus O'Neill, of Buuowen Castle, was called to the chair. He Made a speech two hours in length ; of which great part was devoted to defending his former speech at the Corn-Exchange from attacks that had been made upon it, complaints against the Dublin reporters for not doing it justice, and to reiterating the assurance that the Repealers intended no Wary to the Irish Protestants. He claimed the Duke of Kent as having " sympathized " with the people of Ireland— He personally knew that there were letters in Dublin from the Duke of Bent in his own writing, breathing the greatest and purest affection for Ire- land, and expressing a wish to be appointed Lord-Lieutenant at a certain criti- cal period. Now he referred to it because be wished that the Government would inquire if he would be able to prove his assertions ; and also that the Queen should be informed that such letters of her illustrious father were in existence. (Great cheering.) He hoped and he courted an opportunity of proving his assertion ; and he made that statement that the people of Ireland might know that the Queen was the daughter of a friend of the people. (Cheers.)

Mr. O'Connell began thus-

" I wish that the first sentence which I have to utter in this Conciliation Hall, formed now as it is into an assembly, shall be this truth, that there is but one way to obtain the Repeal of the Union, and that is by strictly peaceable means. (Cheers.) My second sentence, and the only one I shall utter before I hand in money, is that the Repeal is certain." (Deafening applause.)

Having handed in various sums of money, Mr. O'Connell moved that Mr. William Smith O'Brien, M.P. for the county of Limerick, be ad- mitted a member of the Association—carried of course by acclamation ; and then he read the following letter from the new convert to Repeal-

" Cahermoyle, Ratbkeale, 20th October 1843. "Dear Sir—I beg to transmit herewith an order for 51., my first subscription to the treasury of the Loyal Repeal Association of Ireland.

" As it is due to those who have hitherto honoured me with their confidence that I should state the reasons which induce me to take this step, I shall feel obliged if the Association will allow the following remarks to appear in the next report of their proceedings.

" When the proposal to seek for a repeal of the Act of Union was first seriously entertained by a large portion of the Irish people, I used all the in-

hence which I possessed to discountenance the attempt. I did not consider that the circumstances and prospects of Ireland then justified the agitation of this question. Catholic Emancipation had been recently achieved, and I sin- cerely believed that from that epoch a new course of policy would be adopted towards Ireland. I persuaded myself, that henceforth the statesmen of Great Britain would spare no effort to repair the evils produced by centuries of mis-

government; that the Catholic and Protestant would be admitted to share, on equal terms, in all the advantages resulting from our constitutional form of government ; that all traces of our ascendancy of race or creed would be effaced ; that the institutions of Ireland would be gradually moulded so as to harmonize with the opinions of its inhabitants ; that in regard of political rights, legisla- tion for both kingdoms would be based upon the principle of perfect equality ; that an improvement in the social condition of our people would become an object of the deepest interest to the British Parliament ; that the disadvantages resulting to Ireland from the loss of her Legislature, and from the transfer of her public establishments to London, would be compensated by equivalents such as would enable every friend of the Union to point to numberless benefits as consequent upon that measure ; and that in interest and feeling the two nations would be for ever identified as one people.

"Fourteen years have elapsed since that event; and the experience of each

succeeding year has tended to show the fallacy of those expectations and to dissipate those hopes. I have elsewhere taken an opportunity of illustrating in detail the progresss of misgovernment. Recapitulation is almost un- necessary. We have seen that the Anti-Catholic prejudices of the English people are still as strong as when they brought these countries to the verge of a civil war by protracted resistance to Emancipation. The feelings of the Irish nation have been exasperated by every species of irritation and insult—po- litical equality has been denied to us. Every proposal tending to develop the sources of our industry—to raise the character and improve the condition of our population—has been discountenanced, distorted, or rejected. Ireland, instead of taking its place as an integral part of the great empire which the valour of her sons has contributed to win, has been treated as a dependent tributary province ; and at this moment, after forty-three years of nominal union, the affections of the two nations are so entirely alienated from each other, that England trusts for the maintenance of their connexion, not to the attachment of the Irish people, but to the bayonets which menace our bosoms and to the cannon which she has planted in all our strongholds. " What results could arise from a repeal of the Legislative Union, more des- tructive of our national happiness than those which we derive from this mode of maintaining it ? " For myself, I have not been able to witness this course of events without feeling that the conduct of the British Parliament has fully justified the en- deavour to obtain the restitution of our National Legislature : but a strong sense of the difficulties which obstruct the accomplishment of that measure—a thankless apprehension of inconveniences which it might possibly cause to England—a lingering hope that a nobler and wiser spirit would still exhibit itself in the policy to be adopted towards Ireland—perhaps, also, personal con- siderations connected with my own education and individual position—have hitherto restrained me from engaging in pursuit of the remedy proposed by my fellow-countrymen for wrongs which equally with them I resent. I resolved, before I should throw myself into your ranks, to leave no effort untried to obtain redress by other means. Of our labours in Parliment during the last session you know the result. We condescended to address to the Government entreaties and expostulations humiliating to ourselves and to the country whose interests we represent : all was in vain. We made a last appeal to the British people: our warning—the friendly remonstrance of men averse to agitation, and for the most part favourable to the Union—was treated with neglect, ridicule, or defiance. Still a hope remained on my mind, that the Government, alive to the evils to which Ireland is exposed from the con- tinuance of national discontent, would call Parliament together in the autumn, and submit some general system ofconciliatory measures for its tranquillization. Lest I should be led to form a precipitate decision, I availed myself of the in- terval which followed the close of the session, to examine whether, among the governments of central Europe, there are any so indifferent to the interests of their subjects as England has been to the welfare and happiness of our popish- hon. After visiting Belgium, and all the principal capitals of Germany, I returned home impressed with the sad conviction that there is more human misery in one county in Ireland than throughout all the populous cities and districts which I had visited. On landing in England, I learned that the Ministry, instead of applying themselves to remove the causes of discontent, have resolved to deprive us even of the liberty of complaint—that public meet- ings are to be suppressed, and that state prosecutions are to be carried on against Mr. O'Connell and others on some frivolous charges of sedition and conspiracy.

" I should be unworthy to belong to a nation which may claim, at least, as

a characteristic virtue, that it exhibits increased fidelity in the hoar of danger, if I were to delay any longer to dedicate myself to the cause of my country. Slowly, reluctantly convinced that Ireland has nothing to hope from the saga- city, the justice, or the generosity of the English Parliament, my reliance shall henceforth be placed upon our own native energy and patriotism. " In asking for admission to your ranks, I think it right to guard myself against the supposition that I approve of every expression and resolution which have been used in the progress of the Repeal agitation. But in acting with masses of men in pursuance of a great and legitimate object, it is a weakness too fastidiously to condemn every imprudent word which may escape from those with whom we associate. I am fully persuaded that the calumnies and invectives which are daily launched forth from the Government press against the Irish people, have had more effect in kindling animosities than the strongest language which has been employed by Mr. O'Connell; nor can I doubt that the moral guilt which attaches to rulers who refuse to listen to the respectful utterance of national complaint is infinitely greater than the error of thous who break into indignant murmurs after gentler expostulations have been un- availing.

" With respect to the multitudinous assemblages which have formed so sin- gular an evidence of the admirable order and propriety with which the Irish people are capable of pursuing a great national object, I have high authority for believing that they are not less consistent with the laws and constitution of Great Britain than they are conformable to public usage; and whilst I admire the promptitude with which the meeting at Clontarf was countermanded, is order to prevent the people from falling into the snare laid for then, I sincerely trust that your Association will not surrender without a struggliedie right of holding meetings for the expression of public opinion. Proclamations front Dublin Castle have not yet the force of law ; and if the monster meeting' collected at Birmingham in 1831, under the sanction of Sir James Graham, to promote the success of the Reform Bill, was a lawful assembly—if the Con- servative Associations which were organised for the purpose of bringing into hatred and contempt ' the Government of Lord Melbourne and Lord Nor- manby were lawful—if the daily convention of the Corn-law League be law- ful—it is not easy to understand upon what ground a meeting to petition for a repeal of the Act of Union can be deemed to be illegaL This question I am per- fectly willing to bring to issue in my own person; and if it should be thought advisable that any number of my constituents should assemble to discuss the propriety of petitioning for a repeal of the Union, with a determination, what- ever may be the provocation, to abstain from all employment of force, I shall esteem it an honour to be placed at their head and to abtde the consequences. " I cannot conclude this letter without uniting my solicitations to the Re- peelers of Ireland with those of their other friends, that they will not, under any circumstances, allow themselves to be tempted to engage in secret ssocia- tions, or to commit any acts of violence. I am very far from saying that no extremity of misgovernment will justify a nation in resorting to measures of active resistance. To maintain such a doctrine, would be to impugn the prin- ciples which placed the House of Brunswick upon the throne of England. It would be to question the right to the crowns of France and Belgium, enjoyed by the Sovereigns upon whom our gracious Queen has been advised to lavish those Royal courtesies which she had spontaneously designed for her Irish subjects. " But, on the other hand, he who adopts measures which may cost the life of a single human being, incurs a fearful responsibility, which nothing but the gravest extremities of national danger can sanction. A month of civil war would produce incalculable miseries to all classes of our population ; and if these considerations were not sufficient to deter all good men from reliance upon physical force, motives of policy would not be less overruling. A. rebel- lious outbreak would be fatal to the success of our national cause. In these days, great political changes are effected, not by the force of arms, but by the power of opinion. Ours is peculiarly a cause which depends upon opinion. Convince the world of the rectitude of your purposes and of the expediency of your ends, and you may defy the hostile preparations of every foe. Time, the progress of events, the righteousness of our claims, peaceful but untiring exer- tions to give effect to our invincible resolution, the sympathy of mankind, (may we add) the blessing of Providence, will infallibly obtain for us final de- liverance from misrule.

" You will easily believe that it has cost me a painful struggle to separate myself, with regard to this question, from some to whom I am bound by the dearest ties—from many with whom I have been united by friendship and by accordance iu political opinion. But in a crisis of the national welfare, every honest man is bound to follow the dictates of his own conscience. Mine tells me that I have hesitated too long. Deeply sensible how solemn are the duties which now lie before even the humblest among us—conscious of the difficulties by which we are surrounded—I trust that, though educated in a different form of worship from that which is used by a majority of my fellow-countrymen, I may yet be permitted to unite with them in fervent prayer to the great Dix- poser of the destiny of nations, beseeching that we may be guided by His hand in the struggle for our national rights, and that our efforts may be crowned by the attainment, for our native land, of the blessings of peace, union, prosperity, freedom, and contentment.

" I have the honour to be, dear Sir, your faithful obedient servant,

" WILLIAM S. O'Barms. " T. M. Ray, Esq., Secretary, Loyal Repeal Association, &c." That letter, remarked Mr. O'Connell, was not a document—it was a fact in history. He reverted to his previous remarks about Federalism; declared that he looked to Repeal, but he would reject the assistance of no man who went any part of the way with him. He moved that Mr. O'Brien's letter be printed, and a copy of it transmitted to every Mem- ber of both Houses of Parliament. That motion disposed of, Mr. O'Connell went on to assail the "calumnious letters " of "Philalethes," in the Morning Chronicle; the author of which he denounced by name-a. The writer of these letters was a Mr. Trevelyan, a Secretary of the Treasury, who was brought into office by the Whigs, and had been for some time in the Indies ; where he was laughed at by the people, as he was now by the la- habitants of this country, for his absurd statements. Some persons spolte of a Whig coalition ; but what was the conduct of the Whigs towards them in this instance ? The organ of the Whigs, the Morning Chronisk, published Mr. Trevelyan's two letters immediately after the issuing of the pen- clamation. He blamed Mr. Trevelyan for falsifying history. He did not say Osi the other topics is his letter he was a liar, though he might believe no himself, for that was the stupid formation of his mind ; but as regards history, he Wett- ed what was not true, and no word was too harsh for him. Re had the extreme audacity of asserting that the Rebellion of 1798 was a Popish rebellion : whit was the fact ? Why, the leading men in that outbreak were Protestants or Presbyterians. It began in the North of Ireland : it was in Belfast the trea- sonable conspiracy was formed, and it was formed exclusively of Protestants and Presbyterians. It was a shame and disgrace for any man in the Treasury of England to falsify history in that manner. On the part of Mr. Steele, the Liberator preferred a fresh charge against Mr. Haghes- Mr. Steele had been blamed for not having prosecuted Mr. Hughes for per- jury; but, seeing that informations on the same ground had been refused, he thought there would not be at present any use in commencing a prosecution. It appeared that Mr. Bond Hughes bad sworn that Mr. Steele, at a meeting of the Repeal Association, made use of these lines- ". Behemoth, biggest born of earth, Upheaved its vastness." Now, Mr. Steele had never used the lines; but he was in the habit of reporting his ewn speeches, and when writing his speech for the Thomas's goers& he

bad put them in ; and Mr. Hughes had thought proper to make use of them in his information'.

The Repeal rent for the week was declared to be 2,2841. ; and the meeting adjourned till next day.

The Association met again on Tuesday. Three points may he noted for their curiosity. Some of the " Liberal " reporters had objected to associating with the Government short-hand writer ; and accordingly a separate desk was provided for him, labelled "For the Government Reporters." Mr. O'Neill sent a letter complaining of the reports of his speech in the Dublin papers, which did not at all convey his ideas ; and Mr. O'Connell moved " that Mr. O'Neill be requested to furnish an authentic copy of his speech, to he printed and circula•ed by the Associ ttion." The Reverend Tresharn Gr-gg procured admittance,

and with much importunity and profession of a desire to observe rules, obtained a hearing for something which he had to say of a " con- ciliatory" kind : it proved that he objected, as a wrong against himself, to a resolution passed by the Association, " that the thanks of the Irish people are due to Mr. O'Brien for his letter"! He endeavoured to ex- tend his observations, but was quietly ejected. Business was then pro- ceeded with. A letter was read from Mr. Caleb Powel, Mr. Smith O'Brien's colleague in the representation of Limerick, intimating his adhesion to the Association, and enclosing 51, as his subscription. Mr. O'Connell recurred to the letters of Mr. Trevelyan-- He was, Mr. O'Connell understood, a brother-in-law or some near relative of Mr. B. Macaulay ; which would argue some connexion with the Whigs, though he was an employe of the Tories. He bad heard he was a gentleman of some talent, but of great irritability of temperament, and therefore very likely to be made a fool of by every sheer shrewd Distil-lieu who came across him. Among other falsehoods, he had stated that the Protestants of Munster were afraid of Repeal, because they thought, if carried, it would endanger their lives and properties. Now, he gave " Philalethes," as a set-off to that state- ment, two Protestants of Munster, Mr. W. S. O'Brien, who with all his con- nexions was Protestant, and Mr. C. Powell, whose family had been Protestant from the time they bad come to Ireland. Beth these Munster Protestants were Repeaters. He wondered at the C'hronicle's insertion of these shameful letters. He told Sir John Easthope it was more than his Baronetcy was worth to join against the Irish people at such a time as the present. (Loud cheers.) He understood, too, that an unhappy Irishman named Doyle was the editor of the paper; but that was only another proof of the truth of the saying, " that if any cut-throat thing were to be done against Ireland, there could always be found an Irishman to do it." (Cheers and groans.) Letters were read from Sir R. Musgrave, Sir Charles Wolseley, of Staffordshire, and Mr. R. de la Poer French, "first cousin of the Tory Lord Clancarty"; the two latter enclosing subscriptions. Mr. O'Connell made more speeches, alluding to a variety of topics. He advocated " conciliation " of all classes. He wished to conciliate England, but he saw no prospect of success were he to attempt it— He bad received a letter from an American gentleman who had travelled in England, and who declared to him that he found the people of that country, not excepting the most wealthy classes, unanimous only in the disgust, hatred, and contempt which they bore towards the people of Ireland. The Whigs were at present engaged in a by-battle of their own, endeavouring to filch power for themselves, to steal into authority, and to make use of Ireland as an instru- ment for that purpose; although, with characteristic duplicity and falsehood, they would trample her under Mot the moment they obtained it. The Whigs, therefore, he did not want to conciliate, for he thought them a false and treacherous party. It was said that they ought to conciliate certain Reformers of England, with Joseph Sturge at their head : but their number was small, and not likely to increase. No one more desired that they might become strong and powerful than he did ; but he confessed that his apprehension on the subject exceeded his hopes. He most wanted to conciliate all Ireland, including the Presbyterians of the North. Ireland could only be restored to her place as a nation by Protestant, Presbyterian, and Catholic amalgamating themselves as Irishmen ; and he called on all Irishmen to unite themselves for Repeal, OD the basis of freedom of conscience to all men, ascendancy to none. A committee was instructed to prepare an address setting forth the de- claration of that principle.

Mr. O'Connell stated, that in consequence of the irritated state of the country, the parish-meetings to petition the Queen and Parliament would not be simultaneous, but barony after barony would be enrolled successively. The meeting adjourned to Monday next.

Mr. O'Connell has issued a new address-

" TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND.

Merrion Square, 20th October.

"The nations have fallen, but thou still art young, Thy star is but rising. whilst others have set; And though slavery's cloud o'er thy morning bath hung, The full noon of freedom shall beam round thee yet."

"Beloved fellow-countrymen—We are engaged in the most noble experi- ment that ever was made by man or nation, the endeavouring to obtain the restoration of political franchises and rights of which we have been iniqui- tously despoiled, and the achieving of that restoration by means purely and entirely peaceable and legal.

"This is my great experiment. I have desired, and I am endeavouring to prove to the world, that the moral combination of the people is the most potent means of procuring the amelioration of the institutions of any country. "The achievement of Catholic Emancipation was one such proof. The abrogation of the Legislative Union, by the repeal of the statute 40th George III. c. 38, will be the second.

" We, fellow-countrymen, have worked out the first part of our experiment completely. We have held some twenty monster meetings, to demonstrate the intensity and universality of the desire of the Irish people for the restoration of their domestic Parliament. So many human beings never congregated together for peaceful purposes as have assembled at those meetings. There may be a difference as to the amount by 20,000, 50,000, or 100,000; but there is no doubt at all that such immense multitudes never assembled before, and that at least one of them considerably exceeded 500,000 human souls.

• "fhis fact is certain—that some twenty meetings of the largest unarmed multitudes that ever assembled were congregated together in Ireland during the past summer.

"There is another fact equally certain—that at no one of these meetings did any act, however slight, of force, violence, assault, or breach of the peace occur.

"Dwell upon this, all generous believers in the amelioration of the human race, wherever you be, throughout the world. Console yourselves with the conviction that men can meet in countless myriads without the slightest violation of peace, of order, of decorum, of civility.

" There is one additional characteristic of our multitudinous Irish meetings— that so disposed were the people to avoid all acts of force, even for individual accommodation, that not so much as a single personal injury occurred, even accidentally, at any of those meetings.

" The experiment was thus complete in both its parts,—firstly, in showing the unanimous, universal will of the Irish people in favour of the repeal of the 40th George III. c. 38, called the 'Union Statute '; secondly, in the proof we gave of the perfect order, decorum, and thoroughly peaceable conduct of the Irish people.

" Nor was this experiment spoiled by the uncalled-for proclamation directed against the Clontarf meeting. On the contrary, the ready submission to a

proclamation which we deemed, and still deem, illegal—the perfect obedience of the people to the advice of their guides and leaders—the promptitude with which they abandoned all idea of holding the meeting the very moment those guides and leaders told them they ought to abandon it—the perfect control over every exciting passion and irritating provocation which the Irish have since displayed, and are displaying—have all, all given practical proofs to the

fullest demonstration, that the lessons of peace inculcated by their leaders have been fully understood and adopted into the popular sentiment, and have be- come the fixed and unalterable rule of their political conduct.

"Yes ; the proclamation has demonstrated that the Irish people are too well convinced of the strict propriety of peaceable demeanour, not only to be desirous of but to be incapable of being provoked into any even the slightest force, violence, or breach of the peace.

" Yes; the proclamation has come to place beyond all doubt the cheerful alacrity with which the Irish are determined to adhere to their glorious senti- ment, that permanently useful political changes can be best attained by peace- able and moral means ; and that no political change can be worth the price of any one crime, and, above all, of one single drop of human blood. " Shall I be asked, what, then, is it I require of the Irish people? They have honoured me with a confidence more unlimited than ever was bestowed before by a nation on a single individual. My duty is to advise them with something of the force of that influence which almost resembles a command.

" My advice is twofold : I advise perseverance in two different, but essentially connected topics- " First, foremost, and, above all, I advise perseverance in peace and order; perseverance in avoiding any species of riot or violence whatsoever, no matter

what the provocation may he, no matter what the irritation may be, no matter what the vexation, still, peace, order, total absence of all violence. In all and every event, peace, order, and absence of violence ; and I especially say—what- ever be the event of the pending prosecutions—peace, order, and no violence.

"Indeed, this advice is a superfluous precaution. In every event, I reiterate— peace, order, and no violence. " The second topic upon which I require perseverance is the continued ex- ertion in all legal and constitutional sources left open to procure the repeal of the Union Statute. That repeal must not be abandoned. On the contrary, every event that is taking place proves more clearly the absolute necessity of a local Parliament, sanctioned by her Majesty, and connected in an inviolable bond with ber British dominions by the golden and unonerous link of the crown of our revered Sovereign, Queen Victoria. Persevere in peace, order, loyalty, and allegiance. Persevere in constitu- tional exertion for obtaining the repeal of the obnoxious statute. " Prosecutions never yet extinguished a great public cause. Prosecutions may or may not retard, but they cannot terminate the struggles to obtain ame- liorated institutions. There were several prosecutions in order to extinguish

the struggle for Emancipation. Yet Emancipation was triumphantly carried. There were unnumbered prosecutions to extinguish the cause of Parliamentary

Reform ; yet a large instalment of Parliamentary Reform was nevertheless tri- umphantly obtained. The present prosecutions may be intended to extinguish the cause of Repeal. As well may a schoolboy's rattle be used to overpower the thunder of the ocean waves. Dropping figurative language, I can assert in firm sobriety and truth, that the pending prosecutions, even should they delay, yet they cannot possibly prevent the attainment by the Irish nation of their right to a domestic Parliament ; but on the contrary, their effect must be to in- crease the necessity for the existence of the Irish Legislature—in other words, for the repeal of the statute of the 40th of George III. c. 38.

" People of Ireland! be patient—be persevering. Follow out the experiment in which we are now engaged, to obtain our political objects by peaceable means. It is a noble experiment that of endeavouring to obtain the restoration of po- litical franchises and rights by the use of means strictly and exclusively peace- able and legal.

" Rally round me in this noble experiment, this glorious struggle, Be not abashed—be not (oh ! need I say it ?) be not dismayed. Peace, order, tranquil- lity—these are our arms. With these we are certain of success.

"Persevere, and your country will he a nation again, indissolubly connected, with Great Britain, but legislating for herself. Persevere, firmly and peace- ably, and the Repeal is certain. " I am, and always will be, your ever faithful servant,

"DANIEL O'CONNELL."

Mr. O'Connell's retreat from the bargain by which he was to descend from Repeal to Federalism, in consideration of aid from Federalists and the advocates of Complete Suffrage in England, may derive some illus- tration from such passagei as this, extracted from The Nation ; indicating dissatisfaction among his more ardent supporters-

" With the Conciliation Hall, on Monday, will open a new and vigorous agitation. That day, it is understood, will witness some remarkable acces- sions to our ranks; and it may be gathered from the proceedings of the last meeting that Mr. O'Connell will countenance a movement among those new allies for a Federal Parliament, while the Association will continue to demand an independent one. This is undoubtedly a momentous measure. For our- selves, no reader of The Nation need be told that we abhor all dependence upon England, and that we look with a hope as sure as the rising of tomorrow's sun to the regeneration of this country. But we fear too deeply the deadly bane of Ireland—DivisroN—to resist the movement because we would not propose it. The only man whom the country trusts or believes in has pronounced for it; and if we could draw any popular opinion from his views to ours, it is only too obvious that to that extent we would weaken the national strength. The post of commander is his—he is accredited—he is responsible; and we dare not peril the cause in which we labour by that Celtic wilfulness (which lost so many fields to Ireland) of resisting the trial of every plan but our own. We needs must follow the only general who can muster an effective army, though his plan of battle does not tally with ours."

The Dublin Monitor of Monday last has a paper headed " Uncondi- tional Repeal versus Domestic Legislation," calling Mr. O'Connell to account for having retracted after reciprocating the advances of the " Federalists" to an alliance, and marking out the distinctions between the Repeaters and Federalists or advocates of a Local Parliament for local purposes. The writer confesses that Mr. O'Connell's address to the People of Ireland, dated Saturday last, redeclaring for " uncondi- tional Repeal," has taken him by surprise. On the Monday, every- body understood that " unconditional Repeal " was to be abandoned, in favour of agitating for a Local Legislature for local purposes in connex- ion with Imperial representation : on the Saturday, Repeal is not to be abandoned, bat Ireland is to be " a nation again," " legislating for her- self": the Monitor desires " simply and explicitly to understand what he would be at?" Called on to support Mr. O'Connell in his time of difficulty, the Federalists desire to know his real intentions. Many influential persons seek for " domestic legislation on a federal basis,' but they do not want to be fighting for a shadow. Mr. O'Connell has had his full swing for the last nine months; the people had been subser- vient to his will; " he promised them ' the Repeal,' and where is it?— Why, as far off as ever ; and the only consolation he offers to the people now is, to be as sober, obedient, peaceable, and as ready with the pence and farthings as heretofore ; while his part of the bargain is as far from realization as ever." This, says the Monitor, is what " unconditional Repeal," as advocated by Mr. O'Connell, means— -411 " A Parliament in Ireland consisting of two Houses—Lords and Commons. The Lords consisting of the Irish Peers—though lee has never informed us whether the Bishops of the Established Church or of the Roman Catholic Church are to occupy seats in the Lords as Temporal Peers. The Commons are to be chosen by a complete or household suffrage franchise ; and Parlia- ments are to be annual. The Lords and Commons of Ireland are alone to make laws for Ireland—none other to be binding. The foreign relations of Ireland to be negotiated and settled by the Irish Parliament. All that relates to our internal or external affairs, to come under the cognizance of the Irish Parliament. The Army is Ireland, and Navy intrusted with the surveil- lance and protection of our coasts, to be under the same authority. Grand Jury cess is to be abolished, tithe rent-charge to be annihilated, and fixity of tenure to be established; law appeals to the English House of Lords to be done away with. In fact, according to Mr. O'Connell's plan, Ireland is to be in all and every respect an independent nation, save that we are not to have a crowned head, hereditary or elective, of our own choosing; it being provided that the Monarch of England is always to be Monarch of Ireland."

Now the people of Great Britain, and a very large and influential portion of the Irish people, believe that this scheme is impracticable, and that it would lead either to separation or to the reconquest of Ire- land by Great Britain ; and the Monitor asks whether Ireland is now, in 1843, any nearer becoming an "independent nation" than in 1832, when Mr. O'Connell began the agitation for Repeal ? The difference between Mr. O'Connell and those who advocate a Domestic Legislature on a federal basis is thus described— "Si e seek for a local representative body to regulate our internal relations, without in any way seeking to interfere with the functions of Imperial repre- sentation. We would not abandon utterly, as Mr. O'Connell does, our right, as an integral portion of the empire, to be represented fully and fairly. in the Imperial Parliament. On the contrary, we would maintain and exercise that right as at present. We want a local body to attend to and regulate our local affairs, which, in the multiplicity of business that engages the attention of the Imperial Legislature, cannot by any possibility be properly attended to. " Ours is no new scheme—no impracticable bobby, which sounds well in theory but has never been reduced to practice. We refer not now to other countries—to Norway, Switzerland, America, or other countries in which the principle we advocate has been applied, and found to work admirably, and with beneficial effects, as well to local as to national interests. We content our- selves with adducing a familiar illustration from our own institutions. We take our Grand Jury system ; which only requires to be enlarged to give us all that is requisite, in an administrative sense, as far as the material interests of the country are concerned. " Every Grand Jury in Ireland exercises the right of taxing the people for improvements within the jurisdiction of each county. Road-making and re- pairing, bridge:building, and so forth, are all presented for and considered by the Grand Juries; and, when adopted, the people are taxed to pay for the exe- cution of the works. We would, then, extend this power, and centralize it, and make the Central Board or Legislature a representative body, and confer upon it additional powers,—such as to effect improvements in our internal com- munications, by means of canals and railroads ; to drain bogs, reclaim waste lands, improve harbours, encourage trade, promote manufactures, administer wisely and uprightly our various public charities; and to aid in the develop- ment of our vast national resources, both mineral and agricultural, which at present afford but a paltry proportion of the labour and wealth to our indus- trious population which under a better ordering of things they would do."

Mr. O'Connell is rated for the misapplication of his power, with a moody glance at the future-

" We do not want speeches on Monday, to be contradicted and unsaid by addresses on the subsequent Saturday. The country is heart-sick of delusion. The people want a plain, honest, unsophisticated policy, by following which, resolutely and determinedly, they can work out their own redemption from the grievances that afflict them, and the innumerable blighting influences that press upon their industry and keep them in a state of impoverished bondage. * • • Can we reflect upon the dangers that now encompass Irish liberty—Toryism more triumphant than ever—the Attorney-General and all the harpies of the law in full cry after the destined victims—Mr. O'Connell the object of a State prosecution, and the Liberal strength of Ireland prostrate in the dust—can we reflect on these things without regretting the past, and a misgiving respecting our prospects coming over us. In God's name, then, let something be done to unite all Liberal men in the common cause of our country."

The Dublin Monitor of Wednesday, in an article of much friendliness to Mr. Smith O'Brien, speaks thus of the " false move" he has made in joining the Repealers- " We do not exactly comprehend the exact process of ratiocination by which Mr. O'Brien arrived at the conclusion that joining the Repeal Association is the best and most practical mode of serving the real, substantial interests of Ireland at the present moment. As far as his arguments go, they tell with equal force in favour of separation as in favour of the unconditional Repeal' project, to which the Association is now, beyond all retractation 'pledged. But there is one thing which we expected to find in Mr. O'Brien's fetter, and have been disappointed. We expected, when a gentleman like him joined the Asso- ciation, he would explain the grounds on which he relied for the Association being able to work out what it has undertaken—that Repeal would have been shown to be a real practical benefit, and, above all, attainable! Now, Mr. O'Brien has failed to do so. • • * We should like to know, much as Mr. O'Brien despairs of justice from a British Parliament, whether the chance of obtaining justice from it is less than the chance of obtaining Repeal ? • • • We are sincerely sorry Mr. O'Brien has made what we cannot otherwise regard than as an exceedingly false move. • • • We think he would have better served his country by maintaining the independent and highly honourable po- sition he has hitherto done—not being connected with the extreme of party, but exerting incessantly and beneficially his abilities in procuring useful measures for the country. Devoted to the cause of good government, his position in Parliament was such as to command respect and merit confidence ; and we do not think that his services will be one whit enhanced now that he has joined the Repeal Association."

The following "rough draft" of a petition for a kind of Counter-Re- peal has been sent to the Belfast Northern Whig " from a very influential

quarter"; and " may probably be submitted for signature in the North Lof Ireland] if the Repeal agitation proceed much further "— " OUTLINE OF A PETITION TO TUE QUEEN, &C.

"That your petitioners are not, nor ever have been, advocates of the Repeal of the Union; which they deprecate, as destructive to both countries. They do not anticipate it as likely to take place. Nevertheless, if any circumstances do induce your Majesty and Parliament to grant such a measure, we earnestly entreat that Ireland may be constituted not one, but two distinct kingdoms, with Belfast as the capital of the Northern division of the island. "Besides, we observe that the advocates of Repeal urge the distinction of the Saxon and Celtic races as a reason for disunion. We are a people in a great measure of a Saxon race, or largely intermixed with that race ; and we there- fore humbly submit, that those who advocate, on such grounds, a separation from Great Britain, cannot wish, or at least fairly demand, that the new king- dom they propose to form should contain subjects of a race which they profess to regard with hostile jealousy. We ourselves, indeed, disavow and deprecate any such hostile feelings as characteristic of barbarians and heathens, rather than civilized and Christian nations. We believe that both Great Britain and Ireland are inhabited by a mixed race, descended from Saxons, Danes, Normans, Mileaians, and others, mingled with the descendants of various Celtic tribes, as hostile to each other, in former days, as to any foreign invaders. " We wish the difference of race, and former contests thence arising, to be practically buried in oblivion ; and we desire to continue as fellow-subjects with all the inhabitanrs of the British Isles. But we deprecate being formed into a distinct kingdom of Ireland, when a large proportion of the inhabitants of this island have been trained to regard us with unfriendly feelings, as aliens and intruders.

" Whether these, and other reasons for our wish, appear to any one satis- factory or not, we humbly submit, that if a separate Legislature be conceded to a certain portion of the subjects of the Milted Empire, on the sole ground that such is their earnest wish, it would be most unreasonable not to concede the same, on the same ground, to another portion. " We beg leave again to declare our aversion to any dissolution of the Union, and our sincere hope that it may never take place. We petition fur the erection of the kingdom of the North of Ireland (or Ulster) merely as the less of two evils, on the supposition (we trust most improbable) of the impossibility of maintaining the existing Union."

Two companies of Artillery and the First Royal Dragoons have arrived in Dublin.

The Limerick papers of Friday mention that on the previous night, between six and seven o'clock, the surrounding country blazed with fires, lighted simultaneously, with surprising exactness. It appeared that these fires spread to the counties of Cork, Tipperary, and Clare, by ten o'clock In several instances the fires were burning in the public roads, and torches were seen to be borne along by the people in all di- rections. The meaning of the conflagration is a mystery.

Subsequently it is stated, by the Cork Reporter, that the fires were in honour of Mr. Smith O'Brien's return from the Continent, and his accession to Repeal, which was already understood throughout the country 1