IRELAND.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 241, 20 September 1848, Page 3

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, May 21 —At nn early hour this morning several of Mr. Mitchells friends waited upon him in Newgate. Amongst them were Mr. T. I. Meagher, Mr. Doheny, and other prominent members of the revolutionnry party. The suddenness of the arrest, the time at which it took place, and other concurring circumstances, seem to have made a profound impression on Mr. Mitchell. He is thoughtful and reserved, evinces a disinclination to conveise, and evidently appears to feel the critical position in which he is placed. On arriving at Newgate last night he was conveyed to a cell in the upper story of the gaol, which was totally destitute of furniture of any kind, and on enquiring where he was to sleep he was told that a sheaf of straw would be provided for him if he wished. Mr. Mitchell replied that he did not want their straw. Subsequently, however, a mattiass and some bed clothing were brought from Mr. Mitchells residence, on which he passed the first night of his imprisonment. For a considerable time past the health of Mr. Mitchell has been declining, and from the statements of those who are intimately acquainted with him, it is impossible that he can hold out against a protracted incarceration. Mr. Mitchell is the son ot a Presbyterian clergyman in the north of Ireland, and intermarried with the niece of Sir William Verner, Bart., M. P. for Armagh county, by whom he has several children. At the moment of his arrest, Mr. Mitchell was at dinner ; but the in- ' spectoi of police permitted him to hnish his lepast ! 1 he separation from his family was of the most atfectin" character. Mr. Mitchells trial, under the Tre ison Felony Act, is to take place at the ordinary commission oi Oyerand Tenniuer, which opened in the Sessions Court at Qucen-streetycsU'rday (Saturday.) The Crown will of course be guided by the result of that trial, whether they will proceed against him upon the charges of sedition in the Queen's Bench, tbe first of which has been fixed for tii.il on the 29th instant, and the second on the Ist ot June.

The offensive article* The following it> an extract from the letter addressed " to the Protestant fanners, labourers, Sec. :"— " 1 tell you, trankly, that I for one, am not 'loyal,' I am not wedded to the Uueen of England, nor unalterably ..ttached to the House of Brunswick. In fact, I love my own barn better than I love that House. The thini? has lony since giowu a monstrous imposture, and has been alreidy in some civilised countries detected as such, and drummed out accordingly. A modern King, my friends, is no more like an ancient anointed

Shepherd of the People than an Archbishop's apron is like the Urim and Thummim. There is no divine 1 lglit now but in the sovereign people. And, for the ' institutions of the country,' I loathe and despise them ; we are sickening and dying of these institutions fast ; they aie consuming us like a plague, degrading as to paupers in mind, body, and estate-yes, making our very souls beggarly and cowaidly. They are a failure and a fraud, these institutions— from the topmast crown jewel to the meanest detective's note book there is no soundness in them. God and man are weary of them. Their last tao«ir is at hand. My friends, the people's sovereignty ; the land, and sea, and air of Ireland, for the people of it eland ; this is the gospel that the Heavens and the earth are preaching, and that all hearts are secretly burning to embrace. Give up for ever that old interpretation you put upon the word < Repeal.' Repeal is no priest movement ; it is no sectarian move* ment; it is no money sw ndle, noi ' Eighty- two' delusion, nor puffery, nor O'ConnellUm, nor Mullaghmast' green cap' stage play, nor loud sounding inanity of any sort got up for any man's profit or praise. Let once the great idea of your country's destiny seize on you, my kinsmen, and the way will be plain before you as a pike's staff 12 feet long. 1 will speak plainly. There is now growing on the soil of Ireland a wealth of grain, and loots, and cattle far more" than enough to sustain in life and in comfort all the inhabitants of the Island. That wealth must not leave us another year— not until every grain of it is fought for in every stage, from the tying of the sheaf to the loading of the ship. And the effort necessaiy to that simple act of self preservation will at one and the same blow prostrate British dominion and landlordism together. It is but the one act of volition. If we lesolve but to live, we make our countiy a free and sovereign state. " JOHN MITCHELL."

A demonstration of sympathy with the prosecuted demagogues was made in Cork yesterday, Mi\ Meagher being the only one of the party in a condition to receive the compliment. Mr. Smith OBrien was employed in attending to his wounds and bruises, and Mr. Mitchell in the moie agreeable occupntion of puzzling the Attorney-General. The Cork Constitution sayi— " A body of about 600 Young Irelanders, in regular military order, 20 deep, marched through the streets on Sunday night, lingmg the • Inih Marseillaise.' Yesterday evening a procession, with flambeaux and torches, paraded the streets with music." On the other hand there have been demonstrations of an opposite character. The Newry Telegraph announces that— " An influential meeting of noblemen and gentlemen took place on Friday at Hillsborough-castle, when a declaration of attachment to the Throne, and determination to maintain the legislative union, was agreed to, to be forwarded for signature to the lieutenant, deputy lieutenants, magistrate", clergy, and other loyal inhabitants of the county ; and the Maiquis of Downshire has requested to correspond with the lieutenants of the other counties of Ulsttr on the subject." The Cork Constitution, also, has the following — " Munitions op War.— Six hundred stand of arms, with gunpowder, ball, grenades, and shot, were landed at Mr. Tobins pier at Monkstown yesterday, to be forwarded to Clonmel. Five bundled stand of aims, with a proportionate quantity of ammunition? will be landed this day, its destination being Fermoy, and we understand it is the intention of Government to forward arms and ammunition to the barracks through the country for the purpose of arming the loyal in* habitants. On the Bth May, Michael Guilfoyle was tried at Thurles, in Ireland, for having one of the " Roscrea pitchforks" (manufactured after the recipe of Mr. Mitchell), in his possession in a proclaimed district. He was found guilty, and sentenced to twelve inonllis' imprisonment with hard labjur.

The Military Force in Ireland.— The following is the official return of the present military force iv IreUnd, with the stations of the different regiments and depot companies :— Cavalry.— lo regiments, vjz. 2nd Regiment of Dragoon Guards, Newbridge ; Gth Kegioient of Dragoon Guards, Dundalk ; Ist Dragoons, Cahir ; 2nd Dragoons, Athlone ; 4th Light Dragoons, N-\vbiidge; Cch, or Enniskillen Heavy Dragoons, Dublin; 7th Hussars Dublin; Bth Hussars" Ballmcollmg j 13th Light Dragoons, Longford; and 17ih Lancers, Dublin. Infantry.— 23 regU ments, besides depot companies, viz — Ist Regimen of Foot (Royals, 2d battalion), Birr ; 2nd Foot, Athlons ; 3rd Foot, Belfast ; 6th Fool, (reserve battalion) Youghal ; 7th Fool, Waterford (depot companies) ; 13ih Foot, Newry; 19th Foot ((depot companies,) Castlebar; 26th Foot, Cork; 31st Foot, Dublin; 57th Foot, Enniskillen ; 64th Foot, L ; raerick ; 66th Foot (depot), Kinsale; 68th Foot, Mullingar; 70th Foot, Cork ; 71st Foot (lbt battallion), Dublin ; 77th Foot (depot), Fermoy ; 79th Foot (depot), Mullingar; 83rd Foot, Kilkenny; 85ih Foot, Dublin; 88th Foot, (de^ot). Tralee ; 92d Foot, Limerick ; 95th Foot, (depot . companies), Naas. Besides the above there are four troops of Royal Horse Artillery, 12 companies and detachments of Royal Foot Artillery, with field batteries, officers of the corps of Royal Engineers, and two companies of Royal Sappers and Miners, forming an effective force of upwards of 34,000 men. 'lhere are, also, exclusive of these, 22,000 enrolled (battallions of) pensioners) and the staff of militia teguments and the armed police- A corps is fotming of the young men employed in the different Government offices in Dublin and the Castle. 15,000 stand of arms, with accoutrements and ammunition (60 rounds of ball cartridge per stand), have been forwarded fiom the ordnance depots in Ireland to the different barrack stations for the use of the loyal in* habitants* so that in case of an emergent necessity there would be not only a strong military force, but every facility afforded to Her Majesty's subjects in that country to preserve peace and public property.

Melancholy Occurrence. — An occurrence of a most dibtresiing character took place ou Sunday morning at the Sciennes, (in the southern environs of the city,) which has occasioned the loss ot five lives. This melancholy circumstance was caused by suffocation from the den«e smoke of a smouldering fire. The tenement in which the lamentable occurrence took place is occupied by families of the humblest rank.— The apartment, which was the immediate scene of the deplorable event, is situated on the ground fbor, and was occupied by an old woman, named Ann Taber, 72 yeais of age. with whom a grandchild, Ann Liddle, 5 yeira old, generally resided. The poor woman, in order to eke out a subsistence, also boarded three boys of the West Church parochial board, of the nnmes of of James B ftry, aged 7 ; Jo.eph Adams, G ; and Robert Melville, 8 years. The whole of the inmates slept in two beds, and they had retired to rest on Saturday evening. On Sunday morning a neighbour observing the ehutter of the wiudow closed, proceeded to open the door and ascertain the cause, when she was driven buck by the thick smoke which filled ihe apartment. An entrance was, however, effected by the woman and her husband, when the bodies of Mrs. Taber and her grandchild, Ann Liddle, were found, life being guile extinct. The boys were als? found suf. focated. The o igin of the fire Uiis not been ascertained.— Edinburgh Courant.

COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. It is certainly tantalizing enough to read the accounts whcli history hands down to us of the nafuie and grounds of the financial differences between England and her older colonies. The question then used to be, liow much she could get out of them ; (he question now is, hnw much th^y can get out of her. . We read of quairels result'ng from an attempt to tax them , without their own consent, for Impeiial purposes ; the tables are turned now with a vengeance, itisGriat Dritain which is taxed for Colonial purposes. Victor Hugo has drawn an ingenious and interesting parallel between the state of Europe in the 15th and in ths 19th century. He shows the feature! of similaii y which exist between the two great military powers of the two periods (Turkey and Russia) and then he goes on to compare the two great colonial and commercial powers, Spain and England He traces, very justly, the decline of the former to the effects of her colonial system, and he shows the danger which the Biiiisli empire incurs from the same cause. But he has omitted to point out one among the many striking distinctions whiih exist between the two cases—it is, that Spain's decay was attributable to the effects of the precious metals which her colonies poured into her. It England's coloDies are to ruin her, they will do co by the exHCtly opposite process. For nearly 150 years, after lhe foundation of the first British Colony in North America, there never was a British soldier stationed in garrison on that continent ; the colonists not only raid their own civil lists (including very often the salary of an absentee governor appointed by the Crown,) but they made war, offensive and defensive, on Greac Brtain'a account, with their own means. When Eng* land went to war with France, the American colonies fitted out expeditions and attacked, at their own charges, the dependencies of the common enemy.— - For example, we find in the journals of the House o£ Commons the following reiolution of a committee in the year 1748 .— ' Resolved, that it is just and reasonable that the provinces ot Masachuie t's Bn\\ New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island be reimbui'aed the expenses which they have incurred m taking and securing to the Ciown ot Great Britain the lsiaui of Cape Breton and its dependencies." Tins is one instance, out of many quoted by Mr. Burke in support of his position that the colonies, in the 18th century, habitually "gave, and gave to satiety," tluir cotiim butions to the general expenses of the empire. We will not attempt to exhibit a balance-sheet of the account between the colonies of the lShh century and ourselvei. We have abandoned everything which can. even be called financial advantage from them. A hundred years ago, direct taxation was considered the smallest of the colonial contributions to our Exchequer ; the main boast of those who advocated our colonial system was founded on the advantages supposed to result from our monopoly of colonial commerce. Now, we have not only given up all idea of taxing our dependencies, directly or indirectly, but we have assumed the task of protecting and supporting them, at an expense of at leaat four millions a year, and we have besides succeeded (such is our progress in statesmansaip) in changing their loyalty into discontent.— Now surely it is incumbent on us to inquire what is the meaning and cause of this singular change in the relative position of Great Britain and her dependencies, and in what respect our administration of their affairs differs now from what existed in the times when thty gave so much and asked so little. To such an inquiry the answer is obvious ; the old colonies governed themselves. It is a remarkable fact, that until wa begua to colonize with convicts, sixty years ago, it never secuis to hare entered the heads of the Government and people of this country that a Brilisn Emigration could take place unaccompanied by British institutions of local government, Even the most despotic of our S uarts never thought of carrying out their piinciples to such an extent as to govern the colonies irresponsi* bly, by means of a bereau in London. Everything else in the comparison is unfavourable to the older colonies ; they had more formidable enemies, and generally speaking, a worse climate and so,l to deal with, navigation and commerce were less advanced, the resources from whence their capital and labour were derived were lar more scanty. One element of superiority alone tbey posseted, they were not governed from Downing-strest. Ths colonial office is a modern invention. Th re was no cant then talked about giving to colonies constitutions when they are " fit 'or it" (that is, when they have acquired the habits which grow up under a system the very opposite ot constitutional ;) the day they landed they proceeded to make their own regulations, under tha powers conferred upon them by their eh alters, and to piovidefor the growth of communities, the constitution of which should be sound, vigorous, and stable, because its roots were planted in tin soil. This is not the place to enlarge on the effects pro* duced by participation in political affairs on national character. They are appreciated, we hope, by every Englishman already. We confine ourselves to results ; we find that in the days when the colonies governed themselves from the beginning, they were self-respect-ing, independent, able not only to defend themselves against foreign aggression, but to take a part in foreign conquest ; and above all, wLen not treated 'with contumely and injustice, that they were contented and loyal. Tlu result of ihe opposite system has been, in the first place, to nurse in the colonies a spirit of indolent dependence, founded on the notion that everything is to be done for them by England j next, to give them a just ground for making exorbitant demands ou her Treasury — if she chooses to manage their atfausit is only fair that she should pay for the effects of that management; and lastly, to create such a spirit of disloyalty and disconten'. in theii breasts, as to make the task of keeping them in subjectiou invidious and burdensome m time of peace, perhaps impracticable m time of war. Self-government Mid self taxation are co-relative terms. Let people manage their own afiairs, and they will pay the r own expenses. Give them the patronage of their offices, and they will pn>» vide the salaries ; let them raise their own militia, and you may keep your soldiers at home ; let them trust to their own exertions, and they will not want your help ; let them have a direct interest by paiticipation in the Government under which they live, and they will be faithful and loyal to. Surely history his been written to no put pose if we fail to draw so obvious a lesson as this from the two historical pictures which are vow before us. The words of Burke, with which we will conclude, are as applicable and as important in out* day as in his: — '• Magnanimity in politics is often the truest wisdom, and a great empire and little minds go ill together, We ought to e'evate our minds to the greatness of that trust to which the order ot Providence has called us. By adverting to the dignity of this high calling, our ancestors turned a savage wilderness into a great empiit 1 . Let us get a colonial revenue as we got a. colonial empire. English privileges have made it all that it is. English pnvilfg s alone will maku it all that it can be." — Morning- C/nonicle, April 29.

The Minister of War lias ordered the citadel of Doullerm to be pi iced in a state of defence. The Bank ot Jfrauce has lent 15,000,000f. to tl.e Govemmeut.