Irish Repeal Meeting

The Washtenaw Trish Repeal Association held lts Monthly meeting last Monday evening at the Court House. F. Sawyer Jüsq. presided. Hon. Mr. McClelland, of Monroe, Was expected to address the meeting, but was nbsent. A very respcctable number were present. M. Eacker E?q. wns elccted delégate to the National Repeal Convenlion, which is to be held in New Yotk in September. N. Ramsdell Esq. having been loudly called for, entertained tbo audience with an elabórate nnd able speech, on the wrongs of Ireland, thepolitical condition of tliat country, and the propriety of extending to them the hand of sympalhy and kindness. He iook occasion to answer the question so often asked. what right have wo to interfere witli the righte and political interests of Hngland; and he replied to the objection, tliat if we interfere with Irish oppression, England would Jnterfere with our Slavery. In speaking on lhese points, Mr. R. wished it distinctly understood that he wasnot a polilical abulitiontst. (cheersj He did lipt shrink frora avowing his principies, whatever they tnight be.- He was opposed to getling up new faction.s on every new question,and especially to founding a new politica] party on the narrow baisis of a single isolated question. But to the objection. He denied that England had any right to cnslave another country; and if she attempted if, and met with oposition, that op position was made, not to her righls but to her wron gs. (cheers.) He then read from Blackstone that portion in which the learned judge declares that it is the birth right of every man to enjoy liberty - to do as he plensee, if he do not interfere wilh the rights of others. This was English law - and if every individual may act as he thinks fit, so may every nation. Mr. R. then spoke of the domination of England as unjust, inasmuch as Irelund had never given her consent to it, nor had she been conquered, and even if she hnd been, he denied thai conquest.gave the victor any right to govern the vanquished. If itcould be called a right in any sense, it was one fonnded in blood and crueUy - a right acquircd by open aggressions on the rights of others. If he were nsked what hc wouM eay in anewer to the objection thot England would intorfere with our slaver}7, he answered, that he would say little about it. fcheers.) The truth was, we must confess our shame. We hold two and a half millions of African slaves, or.d yet we teil about our rights, and tho rights of man! We might as well talk about it now, as to wait till the retributive justice of hcaven shall bring about a consummation that will force it upon our attenlion. Ho w did we get these 6laves? By theft - westole them. But eome moy sny ive bought tliem. Yes, bought tliem of men worse than we are, and we can trace back the title tij] we find t origínate in the bloody robberv which tore them trom their native land. And we talk about our riglits over these slaves, and compel them to labor for nought from day to lay! It is a national sin, and a horrible one too. It is all based on wrong. Demagogues may sneer, but Iet the case of the slave be made their own, and they would feel that it deserved attention. If England firds fault with us for onr sin , let ue acknowiedge it. By Enoli.'h law, by the luw of Nature, nnd by the Üeclaration of Imlependence, the slaves should be free. Mr. R. concluded by referring to the necessity of acting upon first principies, and of adopting enlarged and liberal views, mstead of conforming our opinions to those of particular rnei, or of being bound to follow, with eervile steps, ihe behests of party dictation. These remarks wcrc favorably received, and elicited opplause. M. Eackkr Esq. upon rising smd, that he disapproved of this manner of discusstng the queötion of Irish Rcpeal. In nll parts of the country, in the North and in the South, it had been kept distinct from politics, and every eñbrt to introduce pohtical difcussions had come from the enemies of Repeal . We havo no right to introduce foreign or extraneo'is topics. He was opposed to forever lugging in the question of Abolition. We are all Aboliiionists nationally, though he trusied very few were polilical Abolitionists. He did not stand there as a censor, but as a friend of Irish Repeal he feit bound to express his conviction that the course the speaker had pursude was bad - it was injudicious. All politics ehould be kept out, and the cause of Irish liberty not be mixed with our doniestic affairs. Mr. Ramsdell arose in explanation, He had not wished or expected to speak at all that evening, nnd shonld not hnve spoken, had he not been called for. He was enlirely unconscious of drngging in the ruerits of anv jiolitic.nl party. His remarks certainly were intended to discourage political Abolition. - He had expressly stated that he disapproved of formíng a political party on an isolated basis, nnd he was himseif a mpmber of the Democratie party. He thought it much better for those who wcro desirous of removing the existing evils of society, lo remain with the political parties with which they are acjcustomed to act, and to use their miluence with them for the advariceinent of whutever waa right and beneficial.whilc they niight more efFectually oppose whatever was wrong, injurious or oppressive. He conceived that this was not the mere question of Irish Repeal. Il wns the cause of human libeity againsttyrrauy and oppression. O'Connell had so regarded it, and 60 proclaimed it, in his speech of May 10, in the most emphatic language. He haü told the oppressors of American sluves that he did not want their money to secure his liberty - for it was "thh price of blood!" It had bcea said that Irish Repeal and Abolilion wcrcconnected, and he would also eay that they truly were just as ntimately connected as were the rights, tlie liberties and the happiness of men in every part of the globe. (Great npplause.) Mr. Daily, an Irishmnn, vindicaied the sentiments of O'Connell's Speech, and declared that he went for the hberty of black and white. Mr. J. LAMBagreed wilh Mr. Ramsdel). Me thoughtthis was the cause of human liberty, and he dotfoted not it would extend more and more till it reached over the whole earth. He believed the millenial day of human free-ï dom was rapidly advancing, and he wished j that fifty years rnight he added to his life that ' he might behold its glorious consumation. In spenking of Irish or American Liberty, we need not bring in politics. He cxpected that in return for our iniltience, England would interfere with our slavery. But he did not care for that. He hoped tlmt some more speeches would come to us over the waters, that, like Ü'Connell's, would cause the ears of the slaveholders to tingle. Col. G. W. Jewett being called upon, said that he agreed with Mr. Lamb. He liad hstened attentively to the remarks of Mr. Ramsdell, and he could vouch for him, that he had been a fáíthful exponent of the views of the great Liberator; and though Mr. R. compared with him was but a star to the great orb cf day, yet so fur as he went he had tuken the same ground. Col. J. said that gentlemen might try to keep out the discussion of American freedom while they talked about Irish Liberty; but it would be all in vain, It was just as absurd to think of discussmg the fvo things separately, as it was to expect to ohtain the light of the sun without his heat: they were 'inseparable, and when you have one, you must have the otbergolso. (Applause.) The great Creator haa made men equal; and whcrever you find a man, you h'nd a bein" posf-edof rights equal to those of other men. He was not afraid of discussion upon any subject. Remarks upon slavery here nead not be prejudicial to Irish Liberty. It was a poor rule that would not work both ways. If Abolition would destroy Irish Repeal, then would not Irish Repeal destroy Abolition? - Yet this was not the case! Abolitionists were not afraid of Repeal, but this respectnble class of our fellow citizens were Repealers aK most to a man, and he would say thatthey were consistent ones too; and he feit the greater liberty to say this.because he was not himself a political abdlitionist. Col. Jewett then reverted to on objection that he had heard against Repeal, like this: - The great majonty of the Irish nation are Catholics; should Repeal be sticcessful, the reins of power will be in their hands, and they will oppress the Protestants. In reply to this he would sny, that the Catholics, being the most numerous, ought to rule. As he was a Democrat, he held that the mnjority should govern at all cvents. But he did not believe they would oppress the Protestants more than the Protestants had them. The worJd was now too far advanced to sustain new measures of ecclesiastical persecution. They would not be permitted in any denomination. Were his religious liberties to be intrusted to the kecping of any particular sect, he would cornrnit them to the Catho!ics,as soon as he would to any o' her, not on account of any particular partiality he had for the sect, but because the spirit of the age would preclude religious persecution. The piely and excellent character oftnembersof any denomination, inthemselves considered, wore no security against intolerance. In proof of this, he adverted to our Puritan ancestors, who commenced a religious persecution almost os soon as they had eecaped from that which offlicted them in Europe, and while the Quakers and Baptists were hangcd and banished in New England, Maryland was eettling under the Catholic auspices of Lord Baltimore, with the banner of universal toleration floating over every form of religious belief. Mr. EACKER'said that after the remarks of gendemen, he feit called npon to define his position. Thetruth was, that on thequestion of Slavery, O'Connell differed rr.aterially with the Repealers of this country. That speech of O'Connell's had done more to kill Irish Repeal than all other opposition which it had encountered. It bad dissolved some of the best associations of the South, and struck a severe blow at the prospenty of those of the North. Since the puhlication of that speech, every demonstration of Irish Repeal zeal had been hostile to its position?. Yet he wished l.o make an apology for Daniel O'Connell. - He had no doubt this injury had been done unwittmgly. He attributed it in part to the influence of the World's Convrntion, then assembled in London. [Mr. E. was in error in this, for the speech wasdelivered May 10; the Convention did not meet till one month afcer.] Mr. O'Connell was unacquainted with the nature of the Abolition question in America. - Tbc question is now politica!, as much so os the Tariff is. Every Abolition lecturer or emissary, so far as he knew, was a poütical Abolitionist. Nine tenths of the people of this country are opposed to political Aboütion, and O'Connell, in letting his heart give vent to this tirade against slavery, had destroyed, to a large extent, the spirit of Repeal, and taken offthe eclat from tbc cause. He concluded by expressing his conviction that the platform of Irish Repeal was long enough and broad enough for every propi-r purpose, and solcmnly protestcd against the introduction of any extraneous topic. Mr. Ramsdhli, roso to etiy that if, as had been said, the discussion of the causo of Irish liberty would have tho effect of hastening the libcration of our slavcs, all hoiiad to say was,God speed the day! (üreat applause.)ttt was a bloody, and a murderous systein of ciuelty nnd wrong. Ilow could we stand up oud plead for liberly and the rights of man in Ireland, and then turn round and chain vp our shivrs.' He wished for the largest ]iberty for freedom oí discussion in ts broadest and fnllest extent. TJie trnth would nevor suffer by it. If political Abolitionipm was founded upon justice, and truth; and was in accordance with tl.e great Laws of the Deity, it would prevnil in spite of all the puny arms whicli i mighl be raised against it; but if it were an absurd combination,bosed on nnrrow and ineuf ficient principies, nnd controllcd by demnffogues, it would come to nauglit of itself. - He concluded by calling on all of every sect and persuasión, ofevery political party, VVhigs Democrats and Aboütionists, to uso thoir exertions in their political partiesen their churches. in every place where they had influence, to advance the cause of human liberty and equal rights in Treland, in America, in every part of the globe where a human being could be found oppressed I y his fellow man. [Great apphuse.] The meeting then adjourned, to meet in one month. REMARKS. The preceding discussion lasted till nearly 11 o'cJock, and was animated, interestiug, exciting. It will be observed that the subject of Abolition was not introduced, or epoken to by any Liberty man. All the speakers were of the other partios. Neither do we wish to have our polilical measures introduced into a Repeal meeting, contrary to the wishes of the members. But the fact that gentlemen cannot bear to hear the wrongs inflicted upon the moral, physical, and intellectual nature of a slave menlioned for a moment in a Repeal meeting, merely because the liberty party proposes to do something for his elevation, exhibits a morbid senëitivencss that would be ludicrous,were it not lamentable for the heart - less indirTerence it manifests to the claims of s sufiering humanity The fact that Liberty party men are friends to the slave, seems to be regorded as á reason %vhy every other person should pass by their w rongs with contempt. We listpned with pleasure to the eloquent exposition of our utvn principies, as given by our political oponents on this occasion, and we were deoply impressed wth the belief, that when certain oppoeing political obstacles shall be removed, these principies will have free course through our land, and spread with great rapidity from mind to mind, and from heart to heart. These principies are adaptec lo the nature of man; they give ampie scope to the intellect, yh'üe they excite it to vigorous action, and cali out the noblest and best feelings of our nature in behalf of the oppieseec and downtrodden. Liberly in every age has had some volaries and defenders; and we believe that ere long we shall see in our country a spirit and entlus:asm ror a general and rígiiteous reform, which has not been exhibí tec sinco the days of the Rerolution.