as well as respecting the great leading principles of the
national movement. Thus shall the 'Council of National Distress and
National Safety' come to its labours with materials prepared and
suitably digested, and thus be enabled all the readier and speedier to
take, boldly and explicitly, its decisions and resolves, and maintain
them firmly, undauntedly, and perseveringly in the British House of
Commons. Thus shall the Irish members best show themselves to be worthy
of the high trust with which they have been honoured, and of the far
higher and prouder distinction of being again, and at no distant time,
deputed to represent their beloved country in her restored native
parliament."

The representation that the relief England had given to the people was
stinted, was a vile calumny, showing the utter want of principle of
the party from which it emanated. The intimation that it was not the
intention of government to do more; that the "stinted relief" which
England gave was "out;" and that nothing but ruin remained, although
rich England was at hand to save, if she were only charitable and
just,--was well calculated to keep up disaffection in the public mind.

The success of the repealers at the elections might be supposed as
tending to quiet the country, as it afforded a constitutional medium
of expressing their views. But it had not that effect: the desire to
procure arms which showed itself in 1846 continued through 1847, and
notwithstanding the great distress so generally felt, the expenditure
of money upon aggressive weapons was in some parts of the country larger
than in the previous year.

BITTER DISPUTES BETWEEN "OLD IRELAND" AND "YOUNG IRELAND."

The Young Irelanders were encouraged by the death of O'Connell to
believe that they could take the lead in public affairs among the Roman
Catholics, and they supposed that the Protestant population were more
likely to listen to arguments in favour of an effort to achieve national
independence, coming from them, than they were to hearken to the
old repeal arguments from the Old Irelanders. In this they were
disappointed; notwithstanding that several of the leaders were
Protestants, no considerable number of that persuasion followed the
new faction. The true tendency of that agitation was seen by the
Protestants, who rather prepared to resist both the Old Ireland and
Young Ireland parties, in the struggle which might be brought about by a
coalition of these parties