The great meeting of Irish peers, members of Parliament, and landlords,
as it was called, was held in the Rotunda on the above day. The
attendance on the occasion was large, and the meeting was what might be
termed a great success. Tickets of admission were issued to fourteen
peers, twenty-six members of Parliament, and about six hundred other
landed proprietors, from all the four provinces. Admission was only by
tickets, and their issue commenced on Tuesday morning, and was continued
to an advanced hour on Wednesday evening, the meeting being convened for
Thursday. So great, however, was the influx of country gentlemen who
were anxious to take a part in the proceedings, that it became necessary
to issue a further supply of tickets in the forenoon of that day,
notwithstanding which a considerable number were sold at the entrance
door. Every phase of Irish politics was represented at the meeting.
Amongst the peers were the Marquis of Ormond, the Earl of Erne, Lord
Cloncurry, and Lord Farnham; the M.P.'s reckoned, amongst others,
O'Connell, Frederick Shaw, William Smith O'Brien, Anthony Lefroy, John
O'Connell, and Edward Grogan. The Marquis of Ormond was chairman. The
resolutions prepared by the Reproductive Works Committee were proposed
and unanimously adopted. They had, the chairman said, been considered by
a committee composed of gentlemen of all shades of parties. Great
differences occurred upon almost every word of every resolution.
However, personal opinions had been sacrificed with a view of having
perfect unanimity at the present meeting--a meeting, as he truly said,
of peculiar construction--perhaps the only one of the kind ever
assembled in the Rotunda before. The resolutions adopted by this very
remarkable assembly were:
1. That we deem it our duty most earnestly to impress upon our
representatives, our solemn conviction of the necessity of their now
co-operating cordially together in Parliament, for the advancement of
the interests of Ireland, and of their uniting to advocate such measures
as may appear calculated to raise the social, material, and moral
condition of the people; to save society from the ruin by which all
classes in the land are now threatened; and to preserve the country from
confiscation.
2. That, before and beyond all other considerations, is the salvation of
the lives of the people; and we therefore deem it our solemn duty--the
present system having signally failed--to call upon the Government, in
the most imperative terms, to take such measures as will secure local
supplies of food sufficient to keep the people alive, and to sacrifice
any quantity of money that may be necessary to attain the object,
declaring, as we do, that any neglect or delay in that matter will
render the Government responsible for the safety of the people of
Ireland, who must perish in multitudes unless supplied with food.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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