amidst the loudest acclamations of the bystanders, and afterwards driving off together in the same carriage.

Not so fortunate, however, was Mr. John O'Connell, the brother of Mr. Daniel O'Connell, who at this time fought a duel with Mr. Blennerhasset; for, as actual fighting was there intended, the seconds would not reconcile the parties after the first fire, and on the second, Mr. O'Connell was seriously and dangerously wounded in the face, the ball passing through his cheek and tongue, and lodging in the hinder arteries. The wound, however, did not prove mortal.

Objectionable, as it may be, to fill our pages with official documents, to the exclusion of more valuable historical matter, we cannot still refrain from the insertion of the following Petition to the British Parliament, as presented to the Catholic Board, by Mr. O'Connell, to whom the composition of it was generally, and we believe, not untruly attributed. For strength of language, for force of argument, for the justness of its appeal, for the beauty and elegance of its diction, it will be difficult to find its parallel in ancient or modern history. It ran as follows:

"We, the Roman Catholic people of Ireland, again approach the Legislature with a statement of the grievances, under which we labour, and of which we most respectfully, but at the same time, most firmly, solicit the effectual redress. Our wrongs are so tortuous and so numerous, that their minute detail is quite unnecessary, and would, indeed, be impossible, were it deemed expedient. Ages of persecution, on the one hand, and of patience on the other, sufficiently attest our sufferings and submission. Privations have been answered only by petitions; indignities by remonstrances; injuries by forgiveness. It has been a misfortune to suffer for the sake of our religion; but it has been also a pride to have borne the best testimony of our doctrine, by the meekness of our endurance.

"We have sustained the power which spurned us; we have nerved the arm which smote us; we have lavished our strength, our talent, and our treasures, and buoved in the

prodigal effusion of our young blood, the triumphant ark of British liberty.

"We approach then with confidence an enlightened legislature. In the name of nature, we ask our rights as men. In the name of the constitution, we ask our privileges as subjects. In the name of God, we ask the sacred protection of unpersecuted piety, as Christians.

"Are securities required? we offer them, the best securities a throne can have, the affections of a people. We offer faith, that was never violated; hearts, that never were corrupted; valour, that never crouched; every hour of peril has proved our allegiance; and every field of success exhibits its example.

"We abjure all temporal authority, except that of our sovereign. We acknowledge no civil pre-eminence, save that of our constitution; and for our lavish and voluntary expenditure, we ask only a reciprocity of benefits.

"Separating as we do our civil rights from our spiritual duties, we humbly desire that they may not be confounded. We render unto Cæsar, the things that are Cæsar's, but we must also render unto God, the things that are God's. Our church could not descend to claim a church authority, nor could we ask for it, a state aggrandisement. Its hopes, its powers, and its pretensions are of another world, and when we raise our hands most humbly to the state, our prayers are not that the fetters may be tranferred to the hands that are raised for us to heaven. We would not erect a splendid shrine, even to liberty, on the ruins of the temple.

"In behalf then, of five millions of a brave and loyal people, we call upon the legislature, to annihilate the odious bondage, which bows the mental, the physical, and moral energies or Ireland; and in the name of that gospel which breathes charity to all, we seek freedom of conscience for the inhabitants of the British empire.

"May it therefore please their Honourable House &c." This petition was definitely adopted, and Mr. O'Connell

subsequently moved, that in the preparation of any bill for Irish Catholic emancipation, it might not be confided to an English barrister, who knew nothing of itself, its laws, or its inhabitants. It might be objected, that there was a want of respect to the legislature in this mode of proceeding, but he denied that such was the fact. Persons who apply, for road bills, trade bills, &c., uniformly come with the bills prepared, and surely it would not be said that the emancipation of the Catholics of Ireland was a matter of less importance, than a sugar regulation, or a new road. One most material objection to the late bill, was, the increase it gave to that influence, which was already so much overcharged, as to occasion regret to every lover of constitutional liberty. He meant the influence of the crown. He thought it necessary to throw out this much, in order to guard against misrepresentation.

It was on account of the great expence attending the presentation of the Catholic petitions, that Mr. O'Connell proposed his celebrated plan of parochial subscriptions, which subjected him of course, to the coarse and malignant attacks of his enemies, who saw in the collecting of a large sum of money, a repetition of the scenes, which had been enacted by the United Irishmen during the rebellion of 1798, for as they had collected large sums of money for the purpose of providing themselves with arms and ammunition, it followed of course, in the opinion of the alarmists, that the money which Mr. O'Connell proposed to raise by parochial subscription, had not, nor could have any other tendency, than to purchase arms for the people, and thereby carry into effect, the traitorous de signs, which the Catholic leaders secretly entertained against the government of the country.

Mr. O'Connell's plan of parochial subscription, was as follows:

"To appoint a person in each parish, to make individual application to every householder.

This person shall take with him, to each village or farm, a list of the householders, and should apply to each of them, to

know whether he was willing to contribute TENPENCE, or any higher sum, towards defraying the expences of the CATHOLIC PETITION.

Each person paying, should be marked down as paid, and the same inserted in the margin.

Each person refusing should have the words, "refused to contribute tenpence," added to his name.

And a second application should be made to those, who refuse, with an intimation that the list would be read at the chapel on the ensuing Sunday.

The list should be read at the chapel, as soon as it was ascertained that no more could be collected.

The more wealthy persons will of course contribute more than tenpence, but no sum should be received from any person, save what he can afford to give with the most perfect convenience.

The following circular letter from Mr. O'Connell, to the Roman Catholic clergy was to be appended to the copies of the plan.

SIR,

I am directed by the committee of accounts, to send you the above plan, and to request your attention to it. It will not be easy to carry this plan into effect without the countenance of the Catholic clergy. But it is presumed from their constant attention to the interests of their countrymen, that they will give this plan the support of their advice, It is also expected that you should transmit to the board an account of the parishes of the county in which you reside, in which this plan shall be carried into effect.

You cannot do a greater service to the Catholic cause, than by exerting yourself on this occasion, as the funds of the board are quite exhausted, and it will be impossible to transmit our petition to Parliament, unless subscriptions are collected.

The mode of carrying this plan into effect, is of course,

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left with you, but it is hoped that you will not refuse to give your zealous and active assistance.

I have the honour to be,

Your very obedient humble servant,

DANIEL O'CONNELL.

That this plan of Mr. O'Connell was open to great objections must be evident to the meanest capacity, for although it bore on the face of it, a voluntary subscription, yet it was, in its spirit, a compulsory kind of taxation. To say, that if a man refuse to contribute his tenpence, his name was to be affixed to the church door, as a kind of defaulter, obviated at once all idea of the subscription being voluntary, for on refusal, the individual becomes, directly, a marked character; he would fall, immediately, under the censure of his priest, an event, more feared and dreaded by the low Catholic householders, than any other calamity that could befall them. The spirit of coercion is visible throughout the whole plan; the register of the defaulter's name, with the inscription attached to it, "Refused to contribute tenpence," savours of any thing, but of the individual being left to act according to his own free will; and then, after another application, that his name was to be read aloud in the chapel, on the ensuing Sunday, ever attaching to the "refusal to contribute," such an odious stigma, that few individuals could be found, who had nerve to undergo the penance. Thus the sum that could be collected, was immense. Taking the Catholic population of Ireland at five millions, and allowing four persons to every house, which, considering the fecundity of the Irish peasantry, is taking it at a low average, the number of subscribing householders would amount to one million two hundred and fifty thousand; and when it is further considered, that many of the Roman Catholic families are very wealthy, and that a large portion of the landed property is in their hands, it is rational to suppose, that their subscriptions would not be confined to tenpence; in the circular, tenpence was the minimum, but to the maximum,