condolence-what denunciations of English misrule-what visitings when in prison by Whig aspirants for place, by Whig magistrates and Whig lawyers, all approved of and sanctioned by the leaders of the Whig party! Another change in the phases of Ireland's varied sufferings presents itself. Peel-Ireland superficially tranquillised-pledges himself to introduce measures for the amelioration of the condition of the people, thereby consummating and consolidating his system of free trade. He proposed to regulate the franchises, and to remove practical grievances. • But," said he, "I must be enabled to hold Ireland under control. I must have the arms registration act renewed, which you, Whigs, when in office, declared to be absolutely necessary to preserve the peace of the country." And now comes the most nefarious act ever perpetrated by any opposition, in the long and dark catalogue of political party crimes. 66 'No," reply the Whigs, headed by Lord John Russell, " no, you shall not treat the people of Ireland, as if they were slavesthey shall possess arms as well as the people of England-every man and boy of them shall be at liberty to purchase and keep a gun. There shall be no registration of arms. The English Tory landlords, to be revenged of Peel, turn on him, join the Whigs, leave him in a minority, and shove him from office; playing, like gamblers, with the fortunes of the people-death the stake, and Ireland the victim. And the supporters and partizans of O'Connell shout for joy, and places are created, and appointments made, and lawyers are promoted, and judges are elevated to the bench. And here I may observe that, in most instances, the legal appointments of O'Connell were judicious; and that in no case did he exercise a more sound judgment than in nominating you to the place which you now fill-the duties of which you so ably discharge!! This at least is something, and being the truth, the enemies of O'Connell ought not to deny him his merit--a great merit it was, and one for which the country owes him much!! Meantime famine did its work. No remedial measure was introduced. The people died of starvation in the very ports from whence cargoes of oats were, at the moment, exported to feed the carriage and dray horses of London. O'Connell does nothing. In the English parliament he supports the Whigs. In Ireland he abuses them. The people lose confidence in him. Smith O'Brien, the intrepid and incorruptable, denounces, in his place in parliament, Whig perfidy; and protests against place-seeking, making patriotism a mockeryusing the credulous and confiding Irish people as a means to power, and then flinging them aside, and trampling on them. The people heard and cheered him. The young and enthusiastic hailed him as their apostle, and pledged themselves to the faith that he preached. The young men of the Irish bar heard and applauded him. O'Gorman, Meagher, Leyne, Duffy, and others indentified themselves with him. Hatred of the truth-the fell spirit of malignant jealousy, where jealousy should have found no place for how often did O'Connell appeal to the " young blood of Ireland"-this spirit of jealousy, looking askance, and devising mischief, raised an unmeaning controversy about moral and physical force. A trap was laid-a deep pit was dug for the honest and true, the conscientious and the brave. Like fools, they played the game of their open foes and pretended friends. Facilis descensus Averni. They plunged from one error to another, and finally, most unquestionably, throwing aside all prudence, losing sight, in my opinion, of all discretion and common sense, they outraged the laws of the country. I was not acquainted with, and, in fact, had never even seen a single one of those individuals. I was a mere observer of passing events-disapproving of their proceedings, which seemed to me inexplicable, but which no voice of mine could reach. In their hour of daring I thus expressed myself. Now, in the time of their punishment and suffering, I grieve for them and sympathise with them. And why? I am not a lawyer. I know nothing of lawyers' quibbles. I despise them. But this I say, that he who, with malice prepense, furnishes another with the means of perpetrating crime, is himself a party to the crime, and ought to be indicted and punished as an accessary before the fact. I assume this to be the law, and I thus reason upon it. Who was the party who, next to O'Connell, encouraged the Irish people to hope for Repeal, and to agitate for it? Who was the party who laid it down in his speeches in parliament, that if the great majority of the people of Ireland demanded Repeal, Repeal would be granted? Who was it that in his writings proclaimed the doctrine, that armed resistance to authority was, in certain cases, in accordance with the spirit of the British Constitution? Who was it that furnished to the Irish people the excitements and the hopes and the appliances most likely to lead them to break out into insurrection? Was it not Lord John Russell? And if so, was he not the great offender the chief criminal-a wrong doer towards Ireland-and a dangerous and desperate servant of the crown? Sympathising, then, with O'Brien and Meagher, though I knew them not, I should have considered it strange and not creditable either to Mr. Leyne or to Mr. Duffy, if they had abstained from all allusion to them. Had they omitted to speak of them, others would have spoken with even greater warmth, and with, perhaps, less discretion. I did not interrupt them. I do not think it was my business to have done so. The attempt would have created confusion. My business, as chairman, was to preserve order. This I did, and having approved of the several resolutions that were to be proposed, my next duty was to ascertain and declare the sense of the meeting, which, you will observe, was an Aggregate Meeting, and at which, of course, any person had a right to speak. It was no easy task to manage a meeting so constituted. The least indiscretion, on the part of the chairman, would have been fatal to it-a result anticipated, and indeed, I believe, anxiously hoped for, by the enemies of Ireland. So much for the meeting itself. With respect to the ultimate object of the speakers, and of the members generally, of the Irish Alliance, my conviction is that such object is fully expressed in the rules and resolutions adopted at the meeting, and that no sane person now contemplates any other than a strictly legal and constitutional effort, through the medium of parliamentary legislation, to obtain for Ireland the restitution of those rights of which she has been so foully defrauded by England. By this I mean the restoration of her former nationality that is, the right to legislate for ourselves in all matters exclusively Irish, such as canals, railways, harbours, fisheries, the employment of the people, the security of property, the protection of the tenant occupier, the promotion of manufactures, the improvement of the land-taxing ourselves for these purposes, and demanding nothing from England. Are these matters of no consequence to us the people-to you, my lord the Chancellor-to the judges-to our landowners-to our over-rented and over-taxed householders, whether they reside in fashionable squares, or in the streets of business? Are these matters of no importance to the lawyers and attorneys, to the medical practitioners of Dublin, and Cork, and Limerick, and Belfast, to our merchants and traders, to our artizans and labourers? Is it no object worthy of the humane and truly pious of all sects, to preach those common principles of love and duty towards each other, which our common Christianity inculcates? Is it not praiseworthy that an effort should at last be made to frustrate the policy of England, by binding together the scattered fragments of our country in the bonds of peace and good will-by substituting kindly feeling, in the place of rancorous and senseless enmity, by teaching Irishmen, of every class and creed, that an UNION alone amongst ourselves will be found the means of renovating Ireland, and elevating her from her present prostrate condition? As a Protestant, I long for this UNION. As a Pro testant, I rejoice that for the first time a right movement has been made in the right direction. I assisted at the inauguration of the Irish Alliance. I am proud of this. I behold, in the formation of the Alliance, the dawn of a brighter day for Ireland. The time is not far distant I predict, when the men of the north and of the south, avowing those principles, will attend the same meetings, saluting each other as friends and brothers. The time is not far distant, when Irishmen of every sect, united, though distinct, will struggle not for ascendancy, but for the protection of the rights of all But these are the objects of the Alliance, and who is there to say he disapproves of them? I approve of them, and will give to them all the aid in my power. Should you, my lord, consider that by so doing I have forfeited my claim to hold the commission of the peace, you best know what course it is your duty to pursue. I never solicited the commission. It was, to a certain extent, forced upon me. By accepting it, I by no means considered that I was bound to support any political party, or eschew any line of political action that might be displeasing or inconvenient to the party in power. I always judged for myself, and acted in accordance with what my conscience told me it was right that I should do, not submitting to other men's dictation, and caring but little for their opinions, which experience has proved to me are, too often, founded in error and prejudice. I do not undervalue the commission of the peace, as it is a useful and constitutional office, but, in any other point of view, I care nothing for it. Its acceptance gave me no additional rankthe deprivation of it can impart to me no degradation. I have the honor to be, my lord, most respectfully your lordship's obedient servant, RICHARD GRATTAN, M.D., Senior-Fellow of the College of Physicians in Ireland. To the Lord Chancellor, &c., &c. P.S.-On referring to The Freeman's Journal, I find the following passage in the speech of Mr. Leyne, which I transcribe, as it may have escaped your lordship's notice. It appeared to me at the time so to qualify and explain his other observations, as to render it unnecessary for me to express any opinion of my own with regard to them : "Let no man misconceive me. I came not here to-night to propose for my country's adoption the pledges that in July '48 spoke the resolve that then burned in the nation's heart. Prostrate as the land now is, weakened by direst want-bereft of her strength by plague and emigration-irresolute because of senseless division-timid, cowering, and almost exanimate-to speak in this assembly in language of violent menance, and invite the country to rally in embattled array for the conquest of her liberties, would be braggart buffoonery to which I shall not descend." REPLY OF THE LORD CHANCELLOR. Secretary's Office, Court of Chancery, Sir-I am directed to acquaint you that the Lord Chancellor has read your letter of the 26th inst., and that he cannot regard it as a satisfactory explanation of the matters to which your attention was directed by my letter of the 23rd November. It consequently leaves the Lord Chancellor no alterative to the course he shall pursue, and he regrets to be obliged to direct that your name shall be removed from the Commissions of the Peace for the county of Kildare and the King's County. I have the honor to be, sir, &c. Richard Grattan, Esq., M.D. FRANCIS WILLIAM BRADY. LETTER OF MAURICE LEYNE. Lower Eaggot-street, Dec. 6, 1849. MY DEAR DUFFY-I have read my friend Dr. Grattan's reply to Lord Chancellor Brady with admiration, for its singular force and the proud independence of its tone. But to some portion of it I take decided objection. I dissent altogether from Dr. Grattan's estimate of the character, motives, and career of O'Connell. I know O'Connell to have been other than the supple, servile instrument of Whig chicanery and enmity to Ireland. Living, I regarded him as the impersonation of the genius, the passion, the power, and the cause of Ireland. Dead, I cannot allow one identified with me in present political action, without repudiating agreement in such impeachment, to ascribe unworthy motives to him whose great heart. I fondly believe, beat with as true and engrossing love for Ireland as ever animated human bosom for country and liberty. Another reference. Dr. Grattan represents me to have been a |