PUBLIC DINNER TO MR. O'CONNELL, AT COVENT GARDEN THEATRE.

Auckland Chronicle and New Zealand Colonist, Volume 2, Issue 55, 22 August 1844, Page 4

PUBLIC DINNER TO MR. O'CONNELL, AT COVENT GARDEN THEATRE.

(From the London « Times," March 13.) (Continued from our last*) unnecessarily meddling with an enactment that took place 44 years ago, of needlessly reviving old causes of complaint, and accumulating new grievances to make them more unbearable. Now, I am quite ready to meet that charge, and I should be utterly unworthy of the magnificient compliment that you have paid me this evening, if I were ndt ready here in the presence of yoa Englishmen, to justify every thing that I have done, and to rebut every imputation which has been oast upon me. I will tell you why I have held these meetings, and I will abide by your disinterested judgment. They say there is a union between the two countries. 1 utterly deny it. There is a parchment enactment, but there is no real union. What is the meaning of a real union ? A perfect identification between the two countries —that there should be no difference between Englishmen and Irishmen, except a little in the accent; that Englishmen and Irishmen should possess the same rights, the same privileges, and the seme franchises ; that there should be no difference between the men of Kent and the men of Cork ; between the men of Mayo and the men of Lancashire. That England and Ireland should be onp nation, possessed precisely of the same lights, the same franchises, and the same privileges. Is not that the real meaning of a union. I appealed to the Imperial Parliament to make the union what I have described it, but I appealed in vain. The Tories, of course, refused, and the Whigs were complimentary. I do not wish to weary this assemby by the barrenness of statistics I will, however, draw ycur attention to one or two statements. The county of Cork, which 1 have the honour to represent, has 71,000 inhabitants in its agricultural district, and upwards of 140,000 inhabitants iu its cities and towns, so that the population of Cork, taken altogether, amounts to 850,000 inhabitants. Now, the inhabitants of Wales are 800,000, being 50,000 less than the inhabitants of the county of Cork. The county of Cork, with its 850,000 inhabitants, returns jast eight members to parliament; and how many members' do you think Wales returns with 800,000? Why just 28. One Welshman is not able to beat five Irishmen. The Welsh are a brave and some* times an 111-tempered race ; but, at the same time, I respectfully submit that one Welshman is not worth five Irishmen. Man for man, I am quite content to allow ; but I cannot admit that, as compared with my own countrymen, they are worth five to one. I cannot admit they are entitled to return 28 members for the 800*,000 inhabitants, while the county of Cork, with.its 850,000 inhabitants, is only to return eight members to parliament. Ought that" to last ? Is it not a thing that ought to he changed? They laughed at me when I called for the chrnge. Then, again, let us look at the question in another point of view. The pailiamentary returns, made seven years ago, on the registration of voters, showed that there were 4,000 registered voters lor the county of Cork, with a population of 710,000 inhabitants, while in Wales there were 36,000 registered voters. I was looking over the parliamentary returns this morning, and I find the number of registered voters for Cork is now I,soo—only 1,500! The votes for the largest county in Ireland are nearly extinguished by the operation oPthe registration act, while in Wales the number;of voters has increased by 2,000. There are 3ff,000 registered voters in Wales, and 1,500 for the county of Cork. Now is that common sense? Is that justice ? Is that fairness, or is it honesty ? I have obtained the love and affection of my countrymen. I know what it is to feel the delight of being borne along, as it were, on the breath of a people. Oh ! if you saw the stalwart men leaving their work and flocking to the roadside as I pass by ; if you saw them in the attitude of firmness, and watched their eye beaming with affection as they looked on me, and their hand outstreched, almost asking, would you wish that we should strike the blow ? if you saw the aged woman greeting me as I.passed by, and praying for health and prosperity ; if you saw the merry .children and heard their chirping cry as I went along, praying for blessings on the head of him whom they called the father of

their countiy ; oh, if you had seen and felt this as I have seen and felt it: if you had seen the congregated hundreds and thousands ,* aye, more than a million, come at my call and dissolve with my breath, whom I have taught the lesson of which I am an apostle ; that no political advantage can be of so much importance as to justify the shedding of one single drop of human blood ; this is the lesson they have been taught; this is the lesson they practise; and this is the lesson they will continue to practise until the success of their effotts shall imprint the maxim upon the wise and good of all nations; — ifyon'had seen all this as I have experioenced it you would think me, indeed, the all mankind if I did not struggle to remedy the ins equalities of which I have mentioned two, but which I might cite a hundred, existing between the two countries. The Irish nation, to be properly represented, ought to have 160 members attheleast; ahd that is less even than her right, We would take less tor a compromise; they will give us none ; but [set us at defiance, and indict us for a conspiracy for endeavouring to obtain them. Are you aware that the-corporate reform bill given to Ireland is most miserably defective in every respect. In England whoever is rated to the poor rate is a burgess, and is entitled to vote at municipal elections ; but. in Dublin, in order to be upon the burgess lists it is necessary that a man should berated at that is, he should occupy a ..£2O house, aud thet he should have paid no less than* nine different rates. The consequences is, that in Dublin not above one third of those who ought to beburgess are on the list. I ask for equality with' the Englise corporate reform bill, and when I call the people together that they may insist on the des sirable alterations in a peaceable, tranquil, and constitutional manner, I am indicted for a conspis racy. But there is another grievance in Ireland greater than all these. It may have the appearance of prejudice on my part, or of sectarian fanaticism, that I should advert to it now ; but, as I have assailed it (elsewhere, 1 am ready boldly to assail it here, and to take your judgment on it I allude to the established church In Ireland. Gentlemen , I appeal to you whether the church in Enland, that has the state emoluments, is not the church of the great majority of the people? f Cries of " No,") So much the worse ; it ought to he. Well, that is a disputed question which 1 will not argue. The church of Scotland, ' until lately, was the church of the great majority; but the church in Ireland, which has the state emolumeots, is not and never has been the church of the majority. I do not want the emoluments of that church for my church J I would not accept them. There does not live a Protestant who would be half so determined as I would be in throwing them aside from church. I would scorn to have my church the vassal of the state, or connected with the state. 1 think such connexion is injurious to the state, and must be detrimental to the church. My opinion may be insignificant; but the Catholio prelates of Ireland have within the last six weeks proclaimed that they would never take one single farthing of public money, or any state endowments whatsoever, I do not think that there is a greater crime on the face of the earth than that one man should be com-" pelled to pay foi the religion of another which he did not believe. Upon that principle the great oppression of Ireland is the established church, and until this system is put an end to it will be in vain to expect tranquillity in Ireland. My friends, I wish you had seen the Irish newspapers. A short time since, a very respectable Gentleman, named Archdeacon De Lacy died. He was the nephew of a bishop, and according to the advertisement of the sale of his effects, he was an excellent man, he had eleven hunters, an excellent paok of hounds, and a splendid cellar of wine. But it may may be said that these grievances of Ireland are rather specula* tive than otherwise. I don't think it will be said that the last is so. It is said, that we may be rich, happy, and contented, without these political advantages. But is Ireland rich ? Thatjshe is not contented is certain ; has she a right to be happy ? Allow me to vindicate myself by telling you the real slate of Ireland. In 1834, forty years after the establishment of the union, the commissioners on tbej poor law inquiry reported that they found 2, 385,000 in a state of destitution upon a population of B,OOOfOOO, more than one-fourth of the whole population ; and Captain Larkora has reported that 70 per cent, of the rural population were living in huts in one room only; that 30 per cent.of the town population families vtere living in one room, and in some instances several families in that one room. Nothiag shows greater misery than a des crease in the population. An increase in the popus - lation is a favourable sign, but the retrogression of a population of 70,000 a year is a most convincing proof of misery, distress, and wretchedness. Now, just to show you that what lam stating is correct, I will read you the description of Mr. Koh a German, who has been travelling all over Europe, who has visited Ireland, and lately published a bonk, in which is the following statement :— <l I remember, when I saw the poor letters in Livonia, I used to pity them for having to live in huts built of the unhewn logs of trees, the ores vices being stopped up with moss. I pitied them on account of their low doors and diminutive windows, and gladly would I have arranged their chimney for them in a more suitable manner Well, Heaven pardon my ignorance. I knew not that I should ever see a people on whom Almighty God had imposed yet heavier privation. Now that I have seen Ireland, it seem to me that the letters, the Esthonians, and the*Findlanders, lead a life of comparative comfort, amd poor Paddy would feel like a king with their houses, their habiliments, and their daily fare. A wooden house, with moss to stop up its crevices, would he a palace in the wild regions of Ireland, Paddy's cabin is built of one shovelful over the other, with a few stones mingled hers and there, till the wall is high enough. But perhaps you will say, the roof is thatched or covered with bark. Ay, indeed I A few sods of grass cut from a neighbouring bog are his only thatch. Well, but a window or two at least, if it be only a pane of glass fixed in the wall, or the bladder of some animal, of a piece of tale, as may often be seen in a Wallachian hut. What idle Ju= xury were this! There are thonsands of cabins in which not a trace of a window is to be seen. Nothing but a little square hole in the front, which does the duty of door, window, and chimney-

light, smoke, pigs, and children all roust pass in and out of the same aperture ! A French author, Beaumont, who had (seen the Irish peasant in his cabin; and the North American Indian in his wigwam, has assured us that the savage is better pros vided for than the poor mail in 'lreland. Indeed, the question may be raised, whether in the whole world a nation is to be found that is subjected to such physical privations as the peasantry in some parts of Ireland. This fact cannot be placed in ioo> strong a light; for, if it can be shown that the wretchedness of the Irish population is without a parallel example on the globe, surely every triend of humanity will feel himself called on to reflect whether means maj not be found for remedying an evil of'so astounding a magnitude!" And, in Ennis, the following statement was made the other dey at a meeting, at which Sir Lucius O'Brien presided:—" At a meeting of" the Ennis poor law union on Wednesday, Sir Lucius O'Brien in the chair, Mr. Butler brought forward the resolutions of which he had given notice, relative to the exorc bitaot amount of grand jury cess now leviable, and which he stated was entirely borne by the occupiers of land. His object in bringing forward the resolutions was, to call attention to the matter, in the hope that the grievance would be redressed by the introduction of a provision into the grand jury laws, which would render the landlords liable for a moiety of the tax; in the same manner in which they are subject to poor rates. The chairman and Mr. Carrick supported the landlords, attributing all their misfortunes to bad seasons, failures in crops, &c.: while Mr. James Mahon, B. Butler, Mr Finucane, Mr. Knox, and nearly the entire board were of opinion that the major part of the population were in a state of dreadful destitution ; that pauperism was on the increase, and that nothing short of sound remedies should be considered*" Why do I harrow you with these picturs 1 Why 7 for the purpose of calling upon you tojexert yourselves in the cause of my unhappy country, and to do all in your power to render her happy once again. Does this misery that I have pictured to you arise from the laziness of the people of Ireland ? No. Do they not travel far and uear to obtain work ? Do they not crowd your streets and your villages hVhopes of obtaining work? But then it may be said that Ireland is unproductive. Oh 1 no, tis one of the greenest and fairest isles of the globe. Its crops are abundant, and its produce magnificent. It has the best harbours and the finest estuaries in the world. It has all those ad van. tages ; and, added to this, U has in spite of all their misfortunes a cheerful, a gay, laborious and affectionate people. Then why is it that this misery exists 1 From bad government. It is impossible to give any other reason for it. Since the union, matters have become worse and worse in Ireland. They have given us a poor law, and that poor law, I will venture to say, will bring rebellion in Ireland if it exists for two years longer. I stood alone in opposing it. I was attacked, as bardhearted, for doing so. I said it could be no remedy ; that Ireland was too poor for a poor law. It is literally so, and now the country is- breaking up in consequence of it. Let them send me to my dungeon, let them preclude me from intercourse with the people; the consequences will be awful. They wait in the expectation that something will yet be done for them. They have learned from me that something may be done for them, and I have told that he who Commits a crime gives strength to the enemy ; but the only mode of obtaining justice is by being peaceable aud quiet, I have trespassed on you long ; but how could I avoid expressing my gratitude and showing you that I deserve at least your good attention, your kindness, and support? I have never shrunk from standing by yoa in any contest; I have always been at your &ide. I have never given a vote that was calculated to increase the burdens of the English people, but I have invariably supported every measure for the extension of civil and religious liberty. I have ads vooated the cause of the slave iu a America, as well as the peasant.in Ireland. I care not what a man's creed, or caste, or colour may be, no matter, how incompatible with freedom, a southern sun may have burnt npon him,l care not whether the dess potism of the Spanish tyrant or of the French mocker of liberty .presses on a country, I am for freedom for every man, liberty for all, tyranny for none. I stood by you in the Reform bill, I formed one of your majority, and and influential one it was, for others voted with me. It promised much. It was spoiled in its management. Its nursing mothers were unkindly to their foster child. In another struggle for freedom I also joined you. I shall always be with you in giving the protection of the vote by ballot, andfor the shortening of che duration of Parliaments, recollecting thai short accounts make long friends. I owe this statement to you, and now I solemnly assure you, that if I was thoroughly convinced that the estabhshmant of a domestic legislature was essential to the comfort of Ireland, and that it was necessary tojkeepup the' connexion between this country and Ireland, I would advocate it no longer; If idid not apprehend that when I am gone some» one else will do that'which I never will do, countenance the separation of Ireland from England, I would not struggle for a local legislature. But to say that a local legislature must end in a separation is a mockery Look to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Canada, Barbadoes, even Botany Bay. So that every dea pendency of England, except Ireland, has a local legislature. We don't want to check or curb England. What we want is, that the laws, to be obeyed in Ireland, should be made in Ireland. It was so before the Union; it will be so again when wise and good men understand the question as I do. And in the meau time, 1 ask all to assist us io getting jnstice for Ireland, and they will draw away the repealing from me, Let us have equal franchise, equal representation, equal corporate reform equal freedom of conscience from a church to which we do not belong Let them try the experimeut of kindness'and they will soon defeat any plan of further agitation. The life and soul of agi tation is the injustice attempted to be done us/to crown which they come out now with a wicked perversion of the law, the scandalous partiality of the judge, the corrupt packing of the jury, and the insulting title "convicted conspirators." Coovided? convicted in their teeth, the renegades, Renegades who have forsaken every principle, who violently opposed emancipation ono year, and carried it the

next. There is the renegade Stanley who was the principal contriver of the Reform Bill in such a manner as to prevent it from workintr. There is Graharin,4oo, who was first on one side the house, and now is qiffhe other, and goes to the very extreme of renegadism. There are the real conspiraors, and let all those of both countries who wish.for rational freedom, those who look for a free trade and unshackled commeroe, cheap law, and a relief from the intolerable burden of debt, let those whodesire economical, practical reform, join with old Ireland. They will be sure of meeting grateful hearts. We will have no separation, but a perpetual friendship. The union wouldjthen, indeed, berendered valuable by a domestic legislature and by a complete Combination ol a loyal, contented, and' happy people, [thebon. and learned gentleman thei> retired amidst loud and general cheering].