the Catholic cause. The answer" does, see clearly, that Reform of Burdett, given in my presence," would leave him no seat to trafwas this:-"If you Catholics will" fic in! Yet, good join us heartily in the cause of "God! can any real change in the "REFORM, you may get your "affairs of the Catholics be exrights, for, if we succeed, we pected, without such events as "shall all get our rights; but, if" would demolish the whole of that you persist in your own selfish" infamous traffic? For my own object, nobody here will assist "part, if a French army were at you; and, indeed, we reformers" Shooter's-hill, I would say, give "cannot wish you success; for " us a constitutional reform, be"that success would place the "fore I march." "Catholic Aristocracy, and, in- Oh! no. I am, as I always have "deed, all of you, amongst our been, for the " emancipation" of "enemies." This was said to us all at once; and this is the way, Mr. Hay in my presence, and too, in which the thing will and never was there any thing more must come. The Catholic Arisjust. What was just and true in tocracy and Lawyers do not want 1812, is just and true now; and this. They want to get a share of this opinion has been greatly the good things: they want to be strengthened by the recent con- in place: and, once more rememduct of the Catholic Aristocracy ber, that they wanted to get into and leaders, who would, as we place by selling the franchises of all well know, have disfranchised all the poor Catholics; and that, even their own poor freeholders; in order to justify their conduct, who would have actually sold the they, in imitation of our boroughrights of half a million of Catho-mongers and their tools, said, and lics, for the sake of getting seats and silk gowns for themselves! The middle and working class of Catholics, and the Priests in general, are reformers, as the Protestants, in the same state of life, all are; but, the Aristocracy and the Lawyers are, perhaps, the very bitterest of all the foes of reform. They know well, that reform would take away all the sources of plunder; that it would give the middle and working classes a fair chance; and, therefore, they abhor the idea of it. 66 even took their oaths, that these In the Register of 30th Octo- In the meanwhile we may amuse ber, 1824, I said, "The Catholic ourselves with observing the capers "seat-jobber would, coming from that the "emancipating" lawyers "Mass, see the whole Irish people are cutting in poor, unfortunate drop dead before him with hun-Ireland, which seems to be the ger, or disease, rather than give almost willing dupe even of fools; "up a seat; and he must, and as for example. MEETING. The Catholic Meeting of the Province of Munster is intended to be held at Waterford, on Wednesday, the 16th of August. Such Gentlemen as are disposed to sign the requisition for that purpose, will be pleased to send their names to Mr. Dwyer, Catholic Rooms, Corn Exchange, Dublin, as speedily as possible. DANIEL O'CONNELL, Of the Order of Liberators. It is intended to have the solemn installation of "The Order of Liberators" take place on Monday, the 14th of August, at Waterford. The statutes of the Order will then be passed and published. The medal is in prepara tion. The ribbon of the Order is to be of precisely the same colour with that DISTRESS Seems to prevail in every part of the Kingdom. The Irish papers tell us, that it is producing death from starvation in IRELAND. Indeed, the situation of the poor creatures in Here is a day fixed in the pleni- that country is the most deplortude of absolute authority for the able that can possibly be imaginmeeting of a province! The day ed. Not a few of them are acbeing fixed, "Gentlemen" are in- tually stark naked. In SCOTvited, by public advertisement, to send LAND, of which we have heard in their adhesion-to give their direct hardly any thing till of late, the sanction to that super-eminent piece distress seems to be deplorable of mummery, the new order of indeed. There have been some Knighthood, and its ludicrous para-proceedings in SCOTLAND, phernalia of Grand Crosses!! The meeting is ordered to assemble which are very well worthy of atin Waterford. The reader will anti- tention. I will first insert from cipate that the respectable Catholics the Glasgow Chronicle of the of that county, whose noble disin- 20th of July, a description of the terestedness, whose splendid acts state of the people in that part of have amply compensated for the SCOTLAND. It is truly horrithousand" black and grained spots" ble; but it is just such as was which stain the wordy annals of our naturally to be expected: it is pseudo patriots, must have been consulted. It was due to the Catholics the natural fruit of a Ministry so of each county that they should be composed, and of a Parliament so consulted, even though it were only constituted! The state of the population of the out-put of the small note currency. suburbs of this city is at present It has been discovered that some alike calculated to excite sympathy empty houses have been taken posand alarm. In every quarter the session of, and are at present inhasymptoms of misery are visible-the bited by indigent families, without emaciated countenances and dejected the sanction of the landlord being appearances of the numerous human asked. A number of public works beings that are to be encountered that employed from 200 to 400 hands during a casual walk through the each, have been shut up for four extensive and crowded suburbs of months, and the condition of those Glasgow, sufficiently denote what a that were employed in them may be small portion of the necessaries of easily imagined. Some have been life fall to the share of the mechanic. forced to the hand-loom, and can It is a fact, that in some of the recent scarcely earn a few shillings a week. surveys made among a population of Others were employed in the green, 25,000, scarcely one of the working or breaking stones, and it was a sinclasses were found to have a comfort- gular contrast to find workmen, who able meal at dinner. Numbers aphad been making 30s. and 21. a week peared to have nothing to subsist upon, in print - fields and cotton works, while others were purtaking of the during the heyday of the specula coarsest fare, such as pease- meal tions, glad to get work at 1s. a-day. brose only. Some few mecha- The cloth, shoe, and other clubs in nics, such as carpenters, saw this vicinity, to which the working yers, &c., had beef at dinner. The population generally resorted in houses presented a most dismal proof order to obtain their raiment on payof poverty-houses rented at 41. 10s. ment of a certain sum a week, are had not 4s. 6d. of furniture within the now mostly dissolved, the collectors walls the inmates' beds were composed finding it impossible to gather money, of straw, without any adequate cloth- and afraid to grant credit. One coling, and if the distress reach winter lector in the suburbs, that would without material alteration, many will have drawn 407. in the week, and probably perish under the rigour of had credit with his merchant to the the season. The landlords are severe amount of 500l., was obliged to give sufferers, having lost nearly all their up the business, and cannot collect last half-year's rents; and they may one shilling for every pound owing. now be said to be proprietors of the There is a striking diminution in the majority of hand-looms in this vici- quantity of apparel which the females nity. Many six-loom shops are employed in the public works forwholly unoccupied in the hands of merly required. Numbers of dressthe landlord from this cause. An makers, that supported themselves uncommon number of widows and from this source, having had scarcely single women are to be found inha-anything to do during the last six biting the suburbs, the rents being cheaper, and the public burdens lighter, and the manufacturing works being carried on in the immediate vicinity. These females are at present in a very miserable condition from the stagnation of trade. There will be a heavy deficiency in the local assessments. Hardly any public works have been erected this year, and very few private houses; those finished this season being principally contracted for during the active months. Private charity has, no doubt, done much during the last few months to mitigate the appalling misery that prevails; but it is obvious that it is far too extensive and deeply rooted, and the resources of every man of business too much diminished, to expect any further stretch of effective liberality. Government alone possess the means, and to them do the starving population look for relief till trade revives. M the county, was unanimously called Colonel More stated that he had had seventy people employed on his estate for cleven weeks. Before I go further, let me remind Doctor BLACK of his repeated philippics against the poor laws, and of his repeated assertions, that the distresses of the Jabouring people of England arose from those poor laws. Let the Doctor look at the above picture; and then let him recollect that the Scotch are not afflicted with the English poor laws. With poor laws the poor may suffer; but, without them, they must starve, or, must take food by force; in consequence of this state of suffering in Scotland, Provost Farquharson stated that there has been a meeting of the Edinburgh ladies had sent 2001, county of Renfrew. I shall give which was on hand, besides the sum an account of this meeting, as I mentioned by Mr. Campbell. find it published in the above Mr. Campbell said he had communicated week with Mr. Peel, mentioned Scotch every paper. This account is as follows. The reader Secretary of State, for the home de partment, and his firm belief was that will please to mark the language it was not the intention of His Maof the speakers upon this occa-jesty's Ministers to give any Governsion. The Scotch are apt to be ment grant; and if they were forced very prudent upon such occa- to it, it would be the last shift. He sions; but their prudence seems then read a letter from Lord Glashere to have given way to their gow, which stated his Lordship's reanger. It will be seen that their gret, that he could not attend the main object seems to be to get a bell to put down his Lordship's name meeting; but authorized Mr. Campgrant out of the public money. for 100/., which Mr. Campbell imBut we shall have more to say mediately paid. Several other names upon this by and by. Let us were put down for considerable first see an account of the meet- sums. ing; for it is a most important matter. RENFREWSHIRE MEETING. On Thursday a very respectable | meeting of the noblemen, Gentlemen, Justices of the Peace, and Commissioners of Supply, and Magistrates of Towns, was held in the County Hall, Paisley, for the purpose of considering the best means of raising further relief for the distressed part of the manufacturing population at present out of employ ment. Mr. Campbell, Lord Lieutenant of Mr. Spiers, of Elderslie, said, that considering the long continued distress of the country was evidently becoming worse, he was fully of opinion that nothing but a Government grant could be the means of restoring the country to its former state. His proposition was, that a full detail of the sufferings of the manufacturing classes should be laid at the feet of His Majesty's Government. If they conceded such a grant, it would be for the good of the country. If they withheld it, they did so at their peril, and they must abide the consequences. Sir John Maxwell approved of the proposition of Mr. Spiers. Sir W. M. Napier also concurred [ want may be averted by the interposi in what had fallen from Mr. Spiers, tion of the executive Government. and hoped the proposal would be carried. The Lord Lieutenant again stated that he had a regular communication with the Government on the state of the country, and he did not doubt that if the case was taken into consideration, and Mr. Canning saw no other remedy, a Government grant would be given. 4th. That a Committee be appoint ed to carry the intentions of the fore going resolutions into effect, and to co-operate with other Committees appointed for similar objects in Lanarkshire, or the neighbouring counties. These resolutions were finally passed unanimously. But, before Mr. Wallace, of Kelly, considered they were passed a Mr. WALLACE it absolutely necessary for Govern- proposed a Petition to the King, ment to grant a sum of money to which petition I shall now insert, alleviate the distress, because there as a specimen of what Scotchwas no prospect of its speedy ter-men are capable of when once mination, and as the people of Largs, their backs are well set up; or, and the other towns in the district rather, when once their purses where he resided, were nearly in as and bellies are well squeezed. bad a state as those here, the subscriptions of himself and The whole of this petition is well others, which had been hitherto ap-worthy of the greatest attention, propriated to the relief of Paisley, and particularly that of the readwould in future be required to relieve ers of the Register. I do be their own neighbours. seech those readers to attend to Several other gentlemen spoke to every word of this petition. Here Here are the Noblemen and Genis matter of exultation for me! tlemen of a Scotch county, repeating, like school-boys, all my doctrines and assertions. the same effect. many Mr. Maxwell said he felt it to be his duty to do all he could for the mitigation of the present distress. This is a public duty to which every private feeling must give way. He had had a regular communication with those who had access to His Majesty's Government, and he believed that Mr. Canning would very probably accede to the proposition, and give a Government grant. He had prepared a few resolutions, which he begged leave to submit for the consideration of the meeting. 1st. That the privations of the working classes continue, and the funds for affording them adequate and necessary relief in the county are exhausted. 2d. That their situation demands the most serious consideration of the nation, and of His Majesty's Council. 3d. That it is expedient that every measure be resorted to for making the case completely known, and exciting the sympathy of the public, in order that the consequences of To the King's Most Excellent Majesty. 1. We, the Noblemen, Freeholders, &c., of the County of Renfrew, have this day met, being convened by the Lord Lieutenant and Sheriff of the [County, for the purpose of taking into consideration the best means of obtaining employment for the operatives. Resolved, that we have viewed with unfeigned sorrow the train of bankruptcy and ruin that has so generally spread over the country; and the no less distressing condition in which the operative manufacturers have been placed, to whom we give every commendation for their orderly behaviour and manly comportment, which has merited and obtained our approbation, and along with it our sincere sympathy. Such patient en |