and neglecting our counsel. But, no! it will be quite unne cessary, and those meetings, which we now condemn will certainly cease.

I have the honour to be,

Your very faithful and sincere friend,

N. P. O'Gorman, Esq.

Secretary to the Catholics of Ireland.

DANIEL O'CONNELL

As a public document, the Address of Mr. O'Connell to the people of Tipperary, has scarcely its parallel, for argumentative reasoning, and a deep knowledge of the character of the people whom he was addressing. The effect was almost instantaneous; a profound tranquillity was restored to the very heart of the turbulence of Ireland; even the Judges on the Circuits, everywhere congratulated the magistrates on the small number of crimes which appeared to be committed; and all this was the work of one man, whom his enemies represented as the disturber, the agitator, the foe to the peace of Ireland.

The following is this celebrated Address :

:

TO THE HONEST AND WORTHY PEOPLE OF THE COUNTY OF TIPPERARY.

Darrinane Abbey, 30th Sept., 1828:

BELOVED BROTHERS-It was late last night when I received the command of the Catholic Association of Ireland to address you. My first business this morning is thus to obey that command.

I address you, in the first place, with the most heartfelt affection and gratitude. I have laboured already twenty-eight years in the great" Catholic Cause," and I have at length been rewarded for it. By whom have I been so rewarded?

People of the County of Tipperary, by you.

Yes you have rewarded me. I will tell you now• you

obeyed my advice as if it were a command. I advised you to give up factious fights and quarrels-you have given them up. I advised you to abstain from party feuds and riots-you have abstained from them. I advised you to forgive one another, and to be reconciled to each other-you have, at my advice, forgiven each other, and have become friends and brothers. My friends, my brothers I thank you. I advised you to cease from injuring your fellow-creatures, and, above all, to shudder lest you should continue to offend the great and good God, Oh! nay that merciful God, who certainly will one day judge us all for eternal bliss or everlasting misery-may that merciful and good God pour down his choicest blessings on the honest and worthy people of the county of Tipperary.

You have obeyed my advice-you have made peace amongst yourselves you have prevented the recurrence of Whiteboy crimes or nocturnal outrages. How sincerely do I thank you. Persevere in that course, my dear friends-my beloved brothers. We will then be able, as we promised at the Clonmel Meeting, to open the gaol door, and fling the key into the Suir.

But, my beloved brothers and friends, I have now again to advise you. In making peace, you have held large Meetings My opinion is, that you were right at first in holding such Meetings, because you held them, as I advised, in perfect obedience to the law, and without the least violence or outrage to any body. You were so kind as to call yourselves my Police. Surely no Police ever behaved themselves half so well, or kept the peace with half so much kindness and good

humour.

But the time is come to discontinue these Public Meetings. For the present year, let us have no more of them.

Halt, therefore, my beloved friends-halt, my dear brothers. I give you the word of command. Halt, and, for the present, let those public and general Meetings be discontinued.

In the meantime, depend upon it that the Catholic Association will not slumber over your wrongs. I myself shall not be 3 R

21.

idle. We will make our arrangements peaceably and constitutionally, but perseveringly and vigorously, to assert your rights and so obtain for the Catholics of Ireland that justice which is due to us, and which is all we want.

Will you not listen to my voice? Will you not follow the advice I give you? I venture to promise that you will listen to the advice that comes from a friend-from a brother, who has no other object under heaven but to obtain justice for the professors of the Catholic faith, and Liberty and Happiness for the people of Ireland.

You know that I am your friend-you know that my life has been 'devoted to your service—you know that I have been the active enemy of Orange injustice and Orange oppression. I have opposed the Orangemen, laughed at them, and with the aid of the Catholic Association, protected many of the Catholics of the North against them, and brought the guilty to shame, and some of them to punishment.

I am your friend. I am the enemy of oppression, bigotry, and tyranny. As your friend, I advise you-I entreat youallow me to add, I order you, to discontinue large and general meetings for the present year, and not to expose yourselves to the machinations of your enemies, or the treachery of pretended friends.

In the mean time, and before the next Summer comes, I trust that the accursed flag of Orange oppression will be laid in the dust for ever. I trust that Irishmen of every class and of every sect and persuasion, will become friends and brothers, and that our lovely native land-green Erin-of the rivers and streams, will be the abode of peace and happiness, and Liberty.

Yes, my friends, I can venture to promise, that if you obey the advice of the Catholic Association- if you follow the counsels that I give you-liberty will be near at hand, and that within the space of one or two years at the utmost, we shall see all we want,, all we desire-we shall see throughout Ireland

Happy Homes and Altars free."

Commit no crime. Be not guilty of any outrage. Discontinue large meetings. Hold no secret meetings whatsoever. Have no secret societies of any kind. Secrecy in political matters is in itself bad, and is the fruitful source of every crime. I have no secret whatsoever. The Catholic Association has no secrets. The Orangemen and the Whiteboys have secrets, and accordingly blood and murder, and every species of iniquity are produced by them.

Our instructions to you are public--we publicly call on you to discontinue, for the present, those large and public meetings. Let parties be reconciled in their own respective parishes, but let not one single man go into any other parish for that purpose. If any man, after this warning, go into any other parish, or make any part of a public procession or meeting out of his own parish, believe me he is not a friend. He is an enemy. Do not trust him as a brother, but deal with him as with a hired spy-treat him with contempt and scorn.

Discontinue, therefore, immediately, those large meetingsdiscontinue them cheerfully, readily, and at once.

Listen as men of sense to the reasons why these meetings should be discontinued.

First-Your most valuable and excellent Clergy-the poor man's best friends, all join in advising you to discontinue them Did they ever give you bad advice?-Never. Did you ever regret that you followed the advice they gave you?-Never. When have you disregarded their advice without being sorry for it afterwards?-Never. Follow, then, the advice of your pious and exemplary Clergy, and discontinue those meetings.

Secondly-The Catholic Association of Ireland advises and orders you to discontinue those meetings. That body constitutes the most honest and patriotic assembly that ever yet met to advance the cause of civil and religious liberty-that honest, patriotic, and pure body, the Catholic Association of Ireland, advise and command you to discontinue those meetings. Obey their advise as if it were a command.

Thirdly-I, your faithful friend, advise you immediately to

discontinue those meetings. I have laboured for you f twenty eight long years, and am going to Parliament that I may be able to do you some effectual good. I ought to know what is useful to you, and I do most solemnly assure you that nothing could be more injurious to you than having any more of those large meetings for the present. You took my advice before the Catholic people in many parts of Ireland take my advice-discontinue these large meetings.

Fourthly-It is the wish of the honest and patriotic part of the present Government that you should discontinue those meetings. The Lord-Lieutenant, the Marquess of Anglesea, is a sincere friend of the peace and prosperity of Ireland-he is what you all like and love, as brave a soldier as ever wielded a sword he is most desirous to produce peace, tranquillity, and happiness in Ireland—he is anxious to put down oppression of every kind, and crime of every description. The Orangemen hate and fear him-the people love and respect him. It is necessary, in order to gratify what must be his wishes, that these large meetings should be discontinued. Discontinue them, therefore, that the noble and brave Marquess of Anglesea may be able to serve our country-to put down faction and party of every description, and to do his duty to the King and the people by seeing Ireland tranquil, free and happy.

Fifthly-Let me, as a fifth reason, tell you that we have also in the Government a most impartial and upright Chan cellor. Under his controul are the magistracy of the country. The Catholics, during the Chancellorship of Lord Manners, suffered much from delinquent magistrates. Let us be grateful to Sir Anthony Hart, and shew that gratitude, by our ready obedience to the law. Let us, therefore, discontinue those public processions and large meetings, which must be displeasing to him and injurious to the great cause in which the people are engaged.

Sixthly-Let me also tell you that we have in the Govern ment another manly, independent, high-minded, and honest friend to the people of Ireland. I mean Lord Francis Leve