political tyranny, under which nothing can flourish but slavery and superstition.

"It would be well, my lord, however, to enquire who and what the Protestants of Ireland are, and having ascertained that, to determine whether or not they are entitled to the sympathy of their fel. low countrymen in Great Britain, and to the protection of Government-(hear, hear.) The Protestants of Ireland, my lord, were originally an advanced guard, or rather a forlorn hope, of the army of civilisation thrown out by England to humanize this kingdom-(hear, hear.) They came over, my lord, to this country, and found that ignorance and barbarism prevailed to such a degree, that they found it extremely difficult to obtain à footing. In fact the inhabitants of the worst of the South Sea Islands were in a state of civilisation compared with the native Irish. The Protestants came here under the promises of English support, and for some time the Government of England did give all the assistance they required-under the fostering auspices of England, they established order and true religion where they found outrage and superstition in full possession. They brought with them the religion of the Gospel-through their energies, and by their care, manufactures, liberal arts, and agriculture flourished-in fact, every thing beneficial followed in their train: but notwithstanding all their efforts to impart intelligence and humanize the country, they have been opposed throughout, from the very hour of their landing up to the present period, by the obstinate and misguided race they sought to benefit. Still, though impeded, they continued to advance so long as they were encouraged by the Government of England, but since liberality has become fashionable, they have been neglected shamefully neglected, and cast off by that Government, which was bound to afford them protection and support-(hear,hear, hear,) and a lamentable relapse has begun. The religion of the natives was allowed to encroach upon them by degrees, the safeguards were one by one relaxed, till at length every law which was originally enacted for the preservation of the Protestants was repealed. So far from this line of conduct being met with a corresponding feeling on the part of these natives, so far from exciting their gratitude, not a single boon was granted to them that was not met with increased hostility on their parts-(hear, hear, hear.) Every thing was done by

ever

the Protestants to promote good feeling

nothing was left untried to conciliate the professors of the Romish religion, but all our attempts proved fruitless(hear, hear.) When any step at conciliation was made on our part, they invariably receded, and the result of each attempt was, that they demanded of us to go one step farther-(cheers.) Such is the description of the Irish Protestants, and such is the situation which so loudly calls on them for complaint and remonstrance-(cheers.) They are entitled to support, and it cannot in justice be withheld-(cheers.) Protection was pledged to them by the act of Union, and Ministers are bound to carry that act into force (hear, hear.) At the time that act was passed, the Protestants of Ireland were too important a body to be set at defiance. They had not at that time descended the hill to parley in the plain-(cheers) at that period they were not trampled upon as they have been since -(hear, hear, hear.) At the Union they were not described as a paltry faction-(hear, hear.) Their voice, and that of their aristocracy, at that period was not described as the whisper of a faction (loud cries of hear.) No, my Lord, their voice was considered then as the shout of men plumed with victory over a deep-laid and murderous rebellion, who had upheld the throne and altar of Great Britain, and whose opinions ought to be consulted-they were described at that period, as they may at the present, as possessing 19-20ths of the intelligence, wealth, and respectability of the kingdom, and a still larger proportion of its honesty and liberality—(hear, hear.) I feel we may be justified in supposing it to be the policy of the present Government to depress every thing Protestant in Ireland, aye, and perhaps in England too; but it manifestly is, with respect to this country, at least ultimately to extinguish the Protestants of Ireland-(cheers.) The hon. member who preceded me, did not wish to give utterance to his feelings with respect to the appointment of a LordLieutenant to the county which he so faithfully and zealously represents. honour his feelings, and participate in his honest indignation. Is it not notorious that an alteration took place in the nomination to that appointment, through the intimidation, or I may say dictation, of Mr O'Connell? But, my lord, I cannot stop here-I cannot look towards your lordship, or to the much-respected nobleman who sits near you, without remembering with unmixed regret the line of conduct which has been pursued towards

I

you. I mean, in the first place, to refer to the Lord-Lieutenancy of Louth, if I can do so without trespassing on your lordship's feelings. After the declaration that rank and county influence were in all possible cases to guide the choice, they have passed by your lordship, whose rank and general estimation established the claims, and whose character for integrity, talent, and moral worth, would have added efficiency and responsibility to the appointment-(cheers.) Your lordship they have passed over, and, as if they would make the injury more galling, they have also disregarded Lord Oriel, the worthy successor and representative of the wise, steady, and patriotic John Foster-(hear, hear)—to thrust a Governor, who, however he may be privately respectable, has no other qualification that we are acquainted with for being LordLieutenant of Louth, than professing that religion which our rulers seem determined to wade every injustice, no matter how foul or deep, to advance-(cheers.) Nor do the Protestants look with less disapprobation or contempt at the indignity in a similar way offered to the noble lord near the chair, (Lord Farnham,) to whom the Protestants and every well-wisher to his country look up as the steady, the patriotic, the wise and efficient friend of all our best interests. He, too, must be deprived of the power, which he is so competent and so worthy to be intrusted with, and why?—the reason is amusing it seems, forsooth, his lordship is warm and zealous in the support of Protestant institutions, an ardent lover of justice, and an opposer of corruption; and so they say he is a party man, and therefore unworthy of trust. This is doubtless a sufficient reason, if true; but before we allow it, let us see what is a party man? Of course Lord Cloncurry is not a party man-(cries of hear, hear, hear.) He has himself, however, in that ebullition of stupidity and egotism which he lately inflicted on the public, pleaded guilty of being an United Irishman (cheers) and boasts of his sufferings in behalf of a body who filled the land with rebellion and murder, and triumphantly exults in the speedy accomplishment of the objects of that patriotic body, by means less dangerous than those which were so near decorating his lordship with a halter (cheers.) Of course this lord, I will not say nobleman, is no party inan, or he never would have been advanced in dignity, and his vast talents and respectability would have been lost as an adviser of his Majesty, and an influential meddler in Irish affairs-(hear.) Can it then be

wondered at if the Protestants of Ireland should feel dejected and discontented with the present administration of affairs?(hear, hear, hear.) But now, my lord, to descend to what may appear of less importance, though when combined with the others becomes no slight matter-I allude to the manner in which the Government persecute all persons, even to the lowest situations, who exhibit any symptom of Protestant feeling-(hear, hear.) Now, my lord, with respect to the processions of the Orangemen, about which such an outcry has been raised, I will not now argue whether they be right or wrong, wise or imprudent-but this I will say, that they were taught us by the Government of the country-(hear, hear, hear.) I myself well remember, and many I see around me cannot have forgotten, the time when the Lord-Lieutenant, accompanied by all the influential persons in the state, proceeded on every 5th November, in grand procession to College-green, and paraded round the statue of King William; the horses of the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker, and the nobility and gentry who accompanied them, were tricked out in Orange ribbons, the statue decorated, and the whole forming such a noble display of high Protestant feeling, as would satisfy the most zealous Orangeman in the kingdom-(cheers.) These scenes, my lord, were the delight of my childhood, and I have not forgotten them in my old age(cheers.) What, let me ask, is the case now? Why, my lord, a respectable young man, who resides at Lurgan, and who held the office of distributor of stamps there, at a salary of perhaps some twenty pounds a-year, was not I say considered worthy of being trusted with the distribution of twopenny stamps because he was an Orangeman, and wore an orange rib bon on the 12th of July, and he was accordingly dismissed. The Orangemen of Ireland, my lord, have already suppressed one rebellion, and they may, ere long, be called upon to trample down another(cheers.) They have always been found ready to support the law, and is it thus they should be rewarded? is this the gratitude they are to expect if they should again be required to stand forward in their country's cause?-(hear, hear.) It is, however, for that cause they originally united, and for upholding which they still continue combined-(cheers.) The objects of the Government must be apparent to every person, their conduct is liable to but one construction-they first court the Orangemen and take part in their processions-they arm them-they find them brave, devoted, stanch, victo

rious; at first they acknowledge this with thanks they soon proceed to neglect, then to discountenance, and at length they persecute, and they will, if they can, finally destroy them-(hear, hear, hear.) I think then, my lord, that the Resolution is borne out, that the Protestants have cause, abundant cause, for complaint. Indeed, the Resolution, I think, only goes part of the way; it details but a small portion indeed of the grievances of which we complain. Now, it is important that these grievances should be laid at the foot of the throne. It is not possible, my lord, that a son of George the Third can be insensible to our wrongs; it is impossible that the feelings of the Protestants of Ireland, who all but adored the father, can be outraged by the son-(hear, hear.) Did his Majesty but know the causes of our discontent, he, I am satisfied, would right us. In his paternal care, in his generous solicitude for us, our last best hope is reposed. One part of the legislature has been corrupted, and the other is assailed (hear, hear)-and the prerogative of the Crown is, I fear, about to be exercised to corrupt that portion which hitherto supported us. Let us therefore appeal to the King. His illustrious family were placed on the throne expressly to support Protestant principles, and I cannot bring myself to believe that an appeal to the Monarch, admired as he is for generous feelings and love of justice, will be made in vain. The Orangemen of Ireland participate in this feeling. I am one of the earliest members of their institution, and one of its most steadfast, though perhaps ineffective supporters; and I fearlessly assert that that body has shewn a degree of forbearance under accumulated injuries, unparalleled in the annals of history-(hear, hear.) They were in a great degree deserted by those to whom they looked up for countenance or advice. They had, it is true, a few, and but a few, high and illustrious supporters, and their salutary influence shewed what good might have been achieved by a different treatment-(hear.) One of these illustrious Princes, alas! alas! now no more, had he lived to the present moment, would have sympathized with our feelings, and powerfully aided his beloved and illustrious relative in our support. The Orangemen were goaded on one hand, and either despised or neglected on the other-(hear, hear.) They have been waylaid and murdered by their implacable enemies-(hear, hear.) They could not attend their ordinary occupations in either fairs or markets without being insulted, maltreated, and abused

(hear, hear)—and though their lives were constantly endangered, and not unfrequently made a sacrifice, they did not retaliate according to the power they possessed-(hear, hear.) They did defend themselves, it is true, when they were attacked-(hear, hear)-and God forbid they should not-(cheers)-but all attempts to fix the first aggression on them has failed (cheers.) It has been the habit heretofore to disclaim all alliance with the Orangemen, and to sneer at what was called their ultra loyalty, and to take for truth the charge of persecution, however gross, against them. These accusations, however, are all unfounded. They are absolutely a defensive-a conservative association-(cheers.) They seek not to disturb any man in the exercise of his religion. The constitution was assailed -the properties and lives of Protestants were endangered, and to support the one and protect the other, the institution was originally formed, and still continues to hold the same principles. The laws were trampled upon the constitution which our fathers gained for us at the glorious Revolution of 1688 was rebelliously assailed and endangered, and to maintain it they arose as one man, heart and hand; and in the same great cause they now stand firm and resolved. I find, my lord, I am led beyond the bounds to which I ought to confine myself; I therefore entreat the indulgence of this meeting for my intrusion on their patience, and beg

to have the honour to second the resolution proposed by the honourable gentleman who preceded me."-(Great cheering.)

The other resolutions, moved and seconded by Lord Dunlo, Colonel Blacker, Lord Valentia, Edward J. Cooper, Esq., M.P. for Sligo, George Mandeville, and D. Crommelin, Esq. A. Hamilton, Esq., Lord Viscount panied by able and eloquent comare equally strong, and were accomments-"That while our local grievances, and the deep and permanent injuries with which we are threatened, have led us to dwell upon our own wrongs, we fully sympathize with those steady and resolute men in Great Britain, who are struggling to preserve the Constitution of England, so often and so justly called the admiration of surrounding nations; that we are satisfied that such a measure of Reform as that proposed during the last Session of Parliament, instead of introducing into the House of Commons men of

more intelligence, more ability, more virtue, and more independence, in place of those who at present compose that assembly, would substitute ignorant and unprincipled demagogues and adventurers, men who would impose on the bad passions of incompetent electors, and would direct their efforts to the overthrow of the most valuable institutions of this country. That the Irish Protestants are no paltry faction, as they have been represented, but a gallant people, possessing a moral and physical energy, which no power can crush-comprising the vast proportion of the property, education, and industry of Ireland-the descendants of the brave men who won privileges and rights which their posterity must not forfeit by indolence and neglect." "We trust that that loyal and resolute body of men who belong to the Orange institution of Ireland, who so often and so successfully have come forward in defence of the laws and Constitution of their country in times of peril, will not now be unmindful of the noble principles on which they have associated, and that they, and all the other classes of our Protestant brethren, will cooperate with us in making the most urgent and decisive statement of our wrongs to our most gracious sovereign." “That while we call upon all Irish Protestants for their instant and entire co-operation, we would, in the strongest language, impress upon them the most implicit obedience to the law, and of avoiding every occasion leading even remotely to a disturbance of the public peace; to the Protestant Clergy of all denominations we need say nothing, but assure them of our anxiety to preserve them in that condition in which they have been so effective in the inculcation of scriptural truth, and of the knowledge and practice of all Christian virtues."

These are all resolutions of the right stamp, and worthy of the Protestant Patriots of Ireland. Lord Valentia joins the previous speakers in their indignant reprobation of the insulting and injurious conduct of the Ministry towards the Preservatives. "They have now," he says, "been upwards of twelve months in office, and not a single appointment has taken place, from that of my

Lord Plunkett down to Mr Corcoran, that has not been hostile to the Protestant feeling of Ireland. (Hear.) There is no act of theirs, from that of permitting MrO'Connell to escape from the hands of justice, down to the persecutions of the magistrates and the yeomanry of Newtonbarry, that is not characterised by the same anti-Protestant spirit. (Hear-hear -hear.) In every instance which we have witnessed of the exercise of power and authority, but one spirit appears to have pervaded their actions-but one motive appears to have influenced them, namely, the discovery of the most insulting means by which the feelings of the Protestants might be wounded, their dearest rights invaded, and, finally, their religion exterminated. (Cheers.) In the recent appointments to the lords-lieutenant of counties, have they not put aside men of station, of rank and character; and in the appointments they have made, have they not actually added insult to injury?" As to the Reform Bill, he believes that, if it be carried, the repeal of the Union must ensue, and, as a necessary consequence of that measure, the downfall of the Protestant aristocracy; and that if the Irish Reform Bill pass, (what is it now to be?) it will give to the Roman Catholics such an increase of power in Parliament, as not only to injure the Protestant interest, but to obstruct any administration from carrying on the affairs of the state. In that event affairs would be of a more desperate character than in England; for in Ireland they would have not merely to contend against the democratic encroachment of the mob, but against a mob who are blinded by priests, and led astray by mischievous and designing demagogues, far worse than any yet heard roaring or growling in England, though there the many-headed monster has been bellowing with all his mouths.

Mr Cooper and Mr Hamilton, in the few words they use, let us understand that the same game is played in Ireland as in Britain-getting up paltry Reform meetings, at which half-a-dozen gentlemen, at the most, shewed their faces, red with disappointed shame-and then trumpeting in newspapers the odious omnega