LATE EUROPEAN NEWS. IRELAND. (From the Evening Mail, March 27.) DECLARATION OF CONFIDENCE.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 229, 9 August 1848, Page 2

LATE EUROPEAN NEWS. IRELAND. (From the Evening Mail, March 27.) DECLARATION OF CONFIDENCE.

Dublin, Marc h 24. — The Iriih Government continues to receive, day by day, incontestable prooft that the great mass of the population is ttill favouiable to the present order of things, and that the revolutionary principle has only for its disciples " men of no pioperty," crack biained theorists, and the tuibulent agitators, from whom no large community can reasonably Lope 10 be exempt. Save by such as these, Lord CUrendon's administration has the approval and crnlid nee of men of all cieeds and parties, who, merging their mutual diflbrences on the points of minor consequence, are testifying by addressei to the Queen's represematrve their devotion to the established institutions of the country, and the horror of the seditious attempts that are now being made to unsettle those institutions, even at the huzaid of a sanguinary and fruitless insunection.

THE IRISH CONFEDERATION. The mectn- of the confederates last night was adveitistdfor eight o'clock; but long before that hour arrived, every comer of the Music Hall wai crammed to suffocation. A perusal of the several speeches will show the desperate lengths that these mi»guided enthusiasts are prtpared to go, and the maddening effect such ferocious appeals to the worst passions or' tha human mind must have upon an excited populace. It is quite clear that the Government must interpose, and that the open treaion preached by Mr. Mitchell and hia co*conspirators must be crushed before it takes deeper toot. At eight o'clock the chair was taken by Mr. P. J, Bairy. The chairman, on rising to address the meet in x, was loudly cheered. He said he waa rejoiced at being called on to fill the chair at that, the most important meeting the confederation had ever held since its formation, becuuie it g-tve him the opportunity of telling Lord Clarendon, jin the name of the Irish people, that if be was disposed to go to war with them — hat if their fellow confederates were to be proiecuted or imprisoned for speaking or writing the truth, he would do well to give instant orders to have 1000 ad( itional gaols erected, inasmuch as thev — the confederates of Dublin — were ail prepared, one by one, to repeat what thoßO conspirators had said and written, and more beside. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) In fact, they were fully determined to win liberty for their countiy, and to diive Englishmen and all other foreigners fiom the government of Ireland, and legume the resposibility themselves. (Cheers.) Iti the mean time the government would do well to make their arrangements in time— for the time yet left to them was very short, and Irishmen would no longer be trifled 1 with. (Cheers, and cries of " not a doubt of it.' 1 ) For his own pari,i)ie would give them c just three month's notice to nnil, but those three months should date from the 22nd March. (Cheers ) Why should they stand idly by, looking listle sly on the startling events that were daily passing almost beneath their eyeB ? Should the whole world be free, and Ireland remain a &lave ? (Cries of "We won't.'') Let them at ouce prepare for the worst. Let the clubs take the example of the Paris clubs, who were able to turn out 25,000 men on three days' notice. (Immense eheeringj The bayonets of tyrants had no terrors for other men ; why should the law detain them? (Cheers.) Let those who respect the law go home, for God'i sake, to mind their business and their familieß, if they had any, and leave agitation to those who neither loved, feared, nor respected the law. (Loud applause-) It was rank nonsence to talk of the legal safety of the people. There was a law engraventon the heart of man which hispered to him to " do unto othen as be would he done by ;" that law was of God, and must be obeyed ; but all that thing jumbled togtther in London, and called law, was not to be heeded when it stood in the way of their liberties. (The speaker resumed hia scat amid loud applause.) Mr. C. G. Duffy then roie to address the meeting, and was warmly received. He said they had met on that evening to answer the challenge of the English government in Ireland. (Cheeis.) On the previom d'ty three of their brother confederates were charged with sedition by the government. Oti that day two o£ them were on the sea carrying their fraternal address to the French people, and they who remained at home weie there to sustain and reiterate their prosecuted opinions. (Hear.) The sycophants and tale bearers ot the Castle assured the English Viceroy that they would quail before the angry brow of the law. Here was the answer of the Confederation to his challenge. Let them listen to it, and adopt it only if they were ready to sustain it to the last:—" Resolved, that the English government in Ireland having prosecuted the speeches delivered at the bßt meeting of the Confedelation by two of its members — W, S. OBrien, M.P., and T. F. Meagher— we hereby deliberately adop* tha principles contained in those ipeeches, and direct them to be piinted and circulated throughout Ireland, at tha expense of the Confederation." (Cheers.) That was i their answer, and they would maintain it with their honour and with their lives. (Cheers.) They were not learned in the luw, and could not undertake to drive a coach and six through their prosecution, but with God's help they would drive something belter through it. (A voice—" We will drive our pikes through it.") They would drive through it the will of the United Irish people. They would drive through it an e'ected Council of National Safety, and the green banners of 100,000 national guards. (Loud and long continued applause.) Mr. OBrien, in his last speech at the Confederation, suggested that a National Council of 300 should l« assembled to deliberate on the aff irs of Ireland. He did not know if thii was a part of his sedition, but he did know that himself and many of his iriends were already comidering what constituencies they would solicit to elect them for that asiem* lily, (Cheers ) As sqou as the plan of election.waa

completed, which would be on an early day, they would call on the people to commenco opemtions. Mr. OBrien hud alluded to the landed gentry in these t C ) nls : " But as their friend I feel it my duty warn to them, that if any struggle took place, and tliut they be found acting against the Irish people, it is by no means improbable, that if the Irish people succeed, their estates will be sold as national property." Perhaps this was sedition, but assuredly it was God's truth. (Great cheering.) Mr. O'Brien'i final proposal wns that they (should form a national guard. (Loud cheers.) They would that night be asked to give their assent to the appointment of a 'committee to consider how it might be spepdily and effectually done. (Cheers.) This was the first and most important step in all the gr*at movements which were then shaking the world. Each of the struggling states demanded a national guard, and obtained it (cheers), and when they had that, they had all, for it was the guarantee of liberty. (Cheers.) He believed the majority of repealers would be content with the independence won by Gratton, (" No, no.") and would be content to obiain it Without the death of one Irishman. The constitution obtained by Grattan regarded the soldier as a ciiizen in uniform, and did not separate him from the people ; and if that principle was denied to Ireland, it could only be on the supposition that they were slaves, and not entitled to the rights of ficemen. (Cheers.) If that independence came by free treaty between the two nations, they would accept it gladly ; but if the Irish people were driven to the la*t resort, repeal of the union would bo scattered to the four winds by the first volley of musketry. (Cheers.) The speaker concluded by observing that for his pait he was content to receive the liberty of Ireland on the terms G rattan had specified. But should it happen that there was left to th«m no choice between Skibbereens and an Irish republic, he hud no hckitation in saying, might God send it soon. (Loud cheuis, amid which the speaker Bat down ) Mr. R. O'Gonmn, jun., nc\t addressed the meeting. He said— Sir, lam rejoiced that our position is now beyond all mistake — we have been but fencing this while back. The bkirmislring is over—now the contest begins in earnest— war is pioclaimed from the Castle. Joyfully, proudly, hopefully, we accept the challenge, and answer the .summons with defiance. Let English power choose its own battle ground, and array itself as it will— let it intrench itself behind the tricks of the Queen's Bench, tnd fi^ht with the weapons ot its law, or come in all the pride of its chivalry, with fire and iword to trample us into subjection— let us use the indictment or the bayonet, the Attorney-Gcneial or the carbineer— the packed jury li>»t or the ingenious ambuscade — against every weapon, in every arena, on the scaffold or the hillside — with voice and pen, or quick eye and ready hand, by stubborn endurance or active resistance, with nil the energy of intellect and power of heart we can command, we shall oppose them face to face, and strive to bring this contett, boldly begun, to a triumphant issue. (Tremendous applause.) The acabbard is cast away— the truce is at an end— now God defend the right. (Loud cheers.) Where a government is not the people's choice, but a violent usurpation (hear, hear), where its decrees are marked by ignorance* its motives tainted by selfishness, and its action* by malace — where the results of its legislation arc not peace and prosperity, but anarchy and everincreasing ruin— blacker and blacker gloom (hear, hear), then, Sir, to denounce the imposture is the citizen's duty (cries of " Hear, hear,")— to spread dmnffection, to foster discontent, to rouse the apathetic, to fire the cold, to cast his inramy in the teeth of the timid man, to excite all, till at last the sense of wrong becomes uncnduiable, and the whole people are ashamed and 6tung into resistance, (Hear, hear, and loud cheers.) One constitutional privilege, and one alone, lemains to ns — the sacred light of resistance ; for it is pait of the social contract ot every nation that when men suffer, and can by no legal means rediess their wrongs— when a few lord it over the many, and the prostituted tribunals of justice sanction the oppression — then it is the right and the duty of a people to reclaim the trust: to depose the aimed hand of the government that miHrules them, and set up instead a inoio congenial system cf legislation. (Ucar, hear.) We shall be assailed, perhaps— others will spring up to take our place. The Queen's Bench will be choked with indictments— the judge will grow weary of pro. nouncing sentence. Let them pack the jury— we'il iill the dock, till sedition becomes the fashion, and the gaoU be ovei crowded with convict* fiom the Irish Confederation. (Cheers.) ~The resolution was then put from the chair, and carried with acclamation. Mr. Dcvin Reilly then came forward to propose a resolution for the organization of a National Guard, and in doing so, »as vehemently cheered. He said this resolution called on the council of the Confederation to inquire and report on the best and most effectual means of organizing and arming such a body. (Loud cheering.) That was their answer to Lord Clarendon. (Cheeis.) For every one of them he might imprison, hundreds would be ready to take their place. For every leader of importance they imprisoned, they would arm 10,000 man. (Loud cheers.) For every hour he confined them, they would shorten his rule in Ireland by 100 days. For every hair of their heads he touched, for every one he hanged—but be would not talk to them of hanging ; for it' there was sufficient manhood and devotion amongst them, long before things arrived at such a pais, they would open the gaols with their pickaxet and crowbars. Long before that day every street of Dublin may be a barricade or a fortress, and every pavement carpeted with blood. (Great applause.) Long before that day they would show the tyrant out of Ireland by the light of the burning gaols. Before that day every field in Ireland must be fought, every di'ch defended, and every river obtain a notoiioui memory to live throughout future ages. Ay, and if they were driven into the remotest corners of their beloved island, they would make the graves ol their murdered countrymen the latt resting ground for the defence of their precious liberties. (Cheers,) If they were to fail, let them nobly fail— if they conquered, they must do so by their own right hands. While they had arms in their hands they might defy the whole world — without them they were at the beck of every petty constable. (Hear.) Four months ago, when the Coercion Bill was introduced, he culled on the people in that hall to arm. (Cheers.) Now, he culled on them afsecond time to arm, arm, arm! (Loud cheeis.) Had they armed four months ago, they would be four months nearer their liberty that day. Let them arm now ; and when they had nrmed they would be ready, and not sooner. (Loud cheeis) When they were willing to aid themaelves, then God would assist them, and not before. (Cheers.) They hud often been told about Ireland's opportunity, and that the time was not yet come. Now, he would tell them that no lime was opportunity to a nation which was not prepared to go out at any moment and assert its rights. (Immense applause.) They were slaves only who waited opportunities—a nation of brave men should be always pre-x.-ied. (Cheers.) 300.00 U Englishmen— Chanists— 'voui.l assemble in London next week, and then they , ] i have London in their hands. (Hear, hear, and i cheers.) He promised the»i as a brolhe-, that, ,u r Xuei that time came rooncr or later, the fust budge

in England would be answered in Ireland. (Loud cheers.) Lt them wait for that day, and prepare for it by arming themselves ; and, till that day anived, he had hut one advice to give them, and that ndvice wai, to " put their trust in God, and keep their powder dry." (T emendous applause, amidst which tho sp tker resumed his seat.) Mr. J. Mitchell next addressed the meeting. llu appearance was the lignal for a general siiout of ap-pluiii-e, which shook the hall, and was kept up without intermission for several minutes. He said, that the glorious reception he had received that evening was his answer to Lord Clarendon. (Cheers.) Seven or eight weeks ago he emphatically said to them in that hall — "Do not any longer cry— ' Register, register, reguter!' but • Arm, nrm, arm !'" (Cheers.) That sentiment was unpopular on that evening. (No, no.) It did not meet, on that evening-, with the approbation of the greater number of the confederates, but he believed they were all of one opinion now. He was proud to be there that evening to second a resolution for arming the Irish nation. (Cheers.) He thought they had been speaking on the platform long enough. For his oven part he win altogether sick of it long ago, and of writing too. Talk was cheap, and they had an overabundance of it. (Hear.) Although the Confederation had been twelve months in existence, it hud not until that evening taken its first step to arm tr-a liibli people. (Hear.) He wished that the resolution went much stronger than it did, and that it had called on each :uan to sign a declaration to provide himself with arms and a certain quantity of ammunition. (Hear, hear.) But if in this respect the Confederation was 100 slow for them, they knew that it was in their own power to supply the deficiency ; and if he could persuade them to follow his advice, he would conjure , for the love of God, to get themselves guns. (Trernendoui applause?, with cries of " We'll get them, Sir, and don"c you think |»tKC3 would Dc newer?") He was given to understand that a very good serviceable rifle could be had for £3. (Cheers.) But if there was any man who could not afford to expend that gum of money, let him provide himself with a good ash pole, well rounded, and seven or eight feet in length. (Tremendous cheering.) [One of the confederates here whispered in Mr. Mitchells ear, when he proceeded to say] — It had been well suggested to him that lie ought to have a pole of nine or ten feet instead of •even or eight only. However, there was, he believed little need that he should correct his error, aa most Irishmen understood the nature of the weapon better than he did. (Continued and loudcheeis.) But what be wished to convey to them was this— that speeches and resolutions would never avail them unless they were all ormed and ready to turn out. (Vociferous cheering, and cries of "Pikes, pikes!") lie hoped that every |man there would participate in his impatience to see something like this done. (Cheers.) The King of the French had run away from Paris, the King of Prussia waß hiding ut Potsdam, the Emperor of Austria wa» packing his portmanteau to run away from Vienna, but Lord Olurendou still sat iv Dublin Castle. (Loud cheers.) A Voice— l would't change places with him. (('beers, bine;-, and laughter.) Mr. Miichell continued to observe, that it was quite possible the Government might proceed btill further than they h«4 done yet; the formidable appearance assuired by that Confederation since the arrests had taken place, might frighten them into a more ferocious tyranny. (C beers.) It wai possible they might proclaim their meetings, and not allow them to meet there unmolested. Now a proclamation was not law, and therefore his advice was, to meet there as hitherto in the teeth of a proclamation. (Cheers.) But if brute foice was used ot such a nature that they were unable to resist it successfully, they should attend the clubs ot the city, wbere they would find many friends, and heai nothing mean, low, or in the n.iturc of personal recrimination. (Cheers.) It would not be easy for government to put down clubs. If they wcie prevented fioin assembling, lie tiuslcd to the well-known ingenuity of his countrymen, that they would find out a way to baffle where they could not resist; but whoic they could not baflle, he by all means advised them to resist the violence and intrigues of the Biitish Government. (Chceis.) Whatever lie had written, spoken, or published, he would stand by; and he now infoimcd the gentleman who took notes for tho government, that it was he who published and piintrd them, and that they wero seditious libels. (Loud cheers.) But sedition was a small matter ; he was now about to commit high treason. (Cheers.) He meant to call on them, if they would not remain slaves lor ever, to lisc up — he did not say when— but to rise up at an early day, or perhaps an early night, and smash tluough the Castle of Dublin, and tear it down. (Ticmcndous applause.) He would now conclude by obseiving, thut whatever might bo the opinion of other confcdcialcs, there should be no rest for him until he saw Ireland a free republic. (The speaker here resumed his scat amid the most deafening cheers.) The resolution for the formation of a National Guard was then put from the chair, and carried with acclamation. Mr. Doheny came forward and read a letter from Mr. John Maher, Deputy Lieutenant of tho county of Wexford, inclosing a subscription of j£so. He had also to propose the nephew of Lord Thimlestown, Mr. It. Barnwcll, Mcadstone, county Mcath, and Mr. J. Barnctt, of 83, Lower Sheriff-street, who had handed in their subsciiptions. He moved that those gentlemen be admitted members of the Confedciation. The motion was seconded and passed. Mr. Doheny said his next duty wus to bring up the following address from the Council of the Confederation to the Irish nation :— "Citizens of the Irish nation! — A. voice calls you from afar. The breath of young nations mingles with your old and holiest aspirations. Awake! If you, cause must be consecrated by sacrifices, they will nor be wantcdt " Those of your truest friends have been already called to the altar. They have gone with a pioud step and ( fearless hearts, because they hope, and because they appreciate their destiny. "jCitizens, this is the beginning of the end. All is now staked on the majesty and the virtues of the people. Jse ours the post of suffering — youra the path to liberty —its vindication in the hour of trial — its enjoyment in success. j "Be wise, be steady, be prudent, but be bold. One backward step is death. Look around, and look within, and ask your hearts if the time has not come? I'iom the east and west — from the north and the south thundcis freedom's invocation. Her lessons aie read by the light of burning tin ones — her echoes heaid in J the footfalls of flying tyrants— and icligion and peace aic her handmaids. Here, too, her cause shall be sacred. Here, too, popular virtue shall sanctify populai triumph. There shall be order, pioteetion, tr.m quilhty. Property and life shall find their best security in the magnanimity of a liberated people. " Stand together and swear that the time is at hand. Stand together, and prepare. Prepare! for the trial will require all your firmness. The end is in view. Courage, truth, virtue, and it shall bo yours. '• So the people be saved, and be free, let us perish. We shall be happy. " MICHAT.I. DOHBNY, " Chairman oi the Council, 1 '

Resolved,— That the Council be instructed to inquire and rrpoit .it the eailiest possible day oil the bi'st and most effectual means and manner of holding a National Council, to be composed of elected delegates from all the principal towns and rural districts in Ireland, re« presenting as f.ir as possible all sects and classes of the Irish people, to consult together how the island is to be liberated most speedily from the dominion of the Hi itLsh Parliament: and whether how far the great national event 1 ? occurring throughout Europe may alTortl additional means and opportunities for that enIcrprisc*. Mr, Dohcny then proceeded to say that the address he hail just read would satisfy Mr. John Mitchell that the council of the Confederation did uot hesitate to identify themselves with him (chocrs.) How strunge was their position that night ! The reporter of the government Bat belore them — the castle of Dublin w.is not 54 perches distant, and it was unguarded — all Europe waa alive and awake, and there were they, the gieatest slaves of all sitting <|uietly at ft public meeting. Mr. Meagher had told them that for the future their speeches should be short, sharp, and decisive; but he could tell them that the three summer months should not be mouths of spouting and speechifying, and to his mind the shortest, -.harpest and pleaiantcst iound was the sound of the iifle, (cheers.) How were they to win their liberties ? Surely not by i evolutions and speeches; no, nor even by arming there in the city of Dublin (hear, hear). There must be a deep determination in the mind of every man, whether he live in a town or country, that the English government was a niusmice and a tyranny, and must be uprooted at every cost and every hazard (loud and vehement applause). The castle of Dublin had no business except to frown on their fair city. Wha did tiie students of Vienna do ? They went with no slavish deputations to an emperor or his deputy. The artillery of thuir enemy was sent against them, and they were cruelly mowed down. But what then happened ! The citizens came up, and dipping their handkerchiefs in the hlood-itained soil, waved them in the teeth of the cannon, as the sign and watchword of their liberty. Where death was before them, and liberty to be won, they dared the death and won the liberty. They must resolve and resolve firmly, not to talk, but to fight, in the open streets. (Vehement applause and criei of " pikes, pikes I") He looked upon the rifle as an excellent weapon for a man who vied it well ; hut he did not care much whether they procured riflea or the national weapon of Ireland, but they bad the right to arm, and with God's assistance they would do so. They had liberties to defend, and they would arm in their defence, and when they had arms in their hands, why then they would proceed to erect barricades. (Loud and protracted cheering.) This was the tune wuen calumny was thrown at every man, and it therefore behoved every friend of 1 1 eland to be at his post. For his own puit the post he most desired way the one nearest the castle, ut it would give him a chance of assisting to turn their viccioy out of Ireland. There was no law against the formation of a national guard. Every man wus legally entitled to have arms, nnd it wag only the coward who refuted to avail himself of what the law allowed. But they piop >sed to do more than that — lhey proposed to violate the law and trample upon it: they would do. (Renewed applatwe.) The Irish Confederation proposed to meet m Dublin, a convention of Irishmen to make laws for Ireland. (Laud applause.) Unless there were found 300 men to meet in Dublin, to ait in defiance of the law, and issue their orders to the people of lieland, they might at once give up the notion of liberty. (Cheers.) All their talk would be mere fustian unless 300 Irishmen resolved manfully to come forward and defy the law of England. (Cheers ) Let this be boldly done, and bhould even death be their fate, why even deatli itself would be a welcome boon to the alllieled Irish nation. (Cheers.) However, thongh he did not propose to them an immediate in* surrection, he would uot hentate to lay that at every risk, and by any force, in the streets, oi in the provinces, English domination in Ireland should have an end, or they should cease to be. (Loud and vocifetoui • beers.) They had, from that time forwatd, consecrated themselves to liberty — .they had sworn to liberty, and let them not live and be hais, but rather die and be putiiots. He came there that evening to tell the Irish peop'c that whatever he would henceforth do for them would not be talking. (Lheeis.) In England, llicre wcie many men whoweie slaves like them, men who had once been misguided concerning Ireland, but were now her warmest Ii lends Those friends had said, that if blood was shed in Ireland, the intelligence would be read by a horrible light in England, and (hat Manchester and Liverpool especially would make wonderful bonfires. (Immense applause.) They should to a man pledge themselves to the death if necessary ; for his own part, in any place, in the stiects or in the provinces, he was resolved to be a martyr. (Trcmen* dous cheering.) He would thcrcfoic strongly advise every man who had not a weapon, to sell all he pos scssed, if necessary, and buy one. Were they prepared to make this last trial with England 1 (Yes, yes.) If they meant to light and make their last effort «•-. (Cries of "We arc," "Tikes," " Barricades," &c.) These are the right words to employ for there is no knowing how soon they may be needed. Let them leave that hall prepared that, very night, or tlic gibbet and the altar might bo pieparcd for them ; and when they mcet'again let it be to celebrate victoiy. (Immense applause.) lie believed the timo for struggle was rapidly appioaching, and the man who was not then prepared was nothing but a coward and a slave. Mr. Doheny sat down amidst deafening cheers, which lasted ior several minutes. Mr. Stephenson, late fellow and professor of St. Columba College, was then introduced to the meeting, and warmly applauded. He thanked the authorities of that college for (jiving him an opportunity of 'levoting his entire time to the service of his country. He would now tell the heads of that college how he had been employing the leisure lime their conduct had afforded him. In the first place ho pioceedcd to take lessons from a friend, who promised to instruct him in the theory of barricades. (Loud eheeiing.) He was also rec( iving lessons in guerilla waridrc, and to piactise firing in a shooting gallery (applause), for he lelt that present was a time when every man would lcquirc to have a steady arm and a true eye. (Renewed cheers.) His iiiend, Mr. Dully, had told them th.it he (Mr. Sleplienson) was engaged in endeavouring to organize a Polilechnique, with a view to mutate the students of Jans in theii revolution. He had thought this a suitable /iist olleiiug to the Irish nation. Sucli a body would be of immense assist mcc to I lie liish Confederation, for it would be the means of communication between it and the great bulk of the Irish people. After a few moie brief speeches on the introduction of new membcis, the meeting separated.