IRELAND.

The Dublin Evening Mail publishes a charge delivered by the Lord Primate to the clergy of his diocese, on the occasion of his visitation at Armagh. It consists mainly of a defence of the Established Church in Ireland. There had been gross misrepresentations, he said, as to the reve- nues of the Church, which did but afford on the average 2001. a year to the clergy; and without pay from the State, the Protestant religion would die away, for want of a clergy 'whom the Protestant Irish could not afford to support by themselves. In respect of non-residence, pluralities, and sinecures, the Church has greatly improved of late years; and so has the character of the clergy. The success vouchsafed by God to the instru- mentality of the clergy was a proof that God had not forsaken the Church.

Certain members of the Grand Lodge of Ulster have published a docu- ment which throws some further light on the schism among the Protestant party. The Grand Lodge called a meeting to be held at Enniskillen on the 26th August, and sent representatives to the meeting, which was duly held in the Town-hall. The sequel is told in a report made by those repre- sentatives, which we somewhat abridge.

The objects of the meeting were disunctly stated to be "a proposal from the officers and members of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ulster to the nobility and gentry of Ireland, who were supposed to be warm in the good old cause, to meet them, in order to consult together as to the best means to be adopted for carrying out and completing the organization of the Protestants of Ireland." A very dis- tinguished party of the friends of Orangeism met at Enniskillen. "Your re- presentatives were authorized to place at the disposal of the Enniskillen meeting the several offices held under your authority, and in fact, your entire organization, embracing about 30,000 Orangemen of Ulster and Connaught. Offering such terms, we naturally looked for the cooperation of the leaders of the Protestants of Ireland: but we have to regret that we were met with opposition from a quar- ter which we did not expect. Private conferences were held, to some of which, with a want of confidence, we were not invited; and to one in particular, held at Mr. W. A. Dane's office, Enniskillen, to which we were invited, we were refused admission; of this we have especially to complain. The result was, that your Grand Secretary, by whom the meeting was convened, was displaced, and a nominee of Lord Enniskillen's placed in the office. This naturally created suspi- cion; but we found there was greater cause for alarm in the fact, that previous to the meeting, and what did entirely away with its object, a series of resolutions was prepared, one of which involved the question of a name for an organization- s name !—as if any other than Orange could be adopted by the men of Ulster. Other causes of alarm were frequent; but your representatives were unwilling to cause dissension or division in the meeting by proposing amendments, although they had a large majority in the room." The representatives, however, pro- ws:d and carried the amendment limiting the operations of the confederacy JO Ulster. They "are unenimous in the belief that the confederation, which has resulted therefrom, will not further that union which they came to offer those assembled at it: they still offer, with your approbation, the same, believing that the sole obstacle to its adoption by the noblemen and gentry of the land is the private political purposes of interested agents." Since the meeting, there has been a great accession to the numbers of the Orange Lodge; showing full confidence in its organization.

At a meeting of the Grand Lodge in Londonderry, on the 30th September, a series of resolutions was passed announcing the revival of the Association, and authorizing an address to the Protestants of Ireland. The subjoined are the most interesting of the resolutions- " That no signs and pass-words are used in the Grand Orange Lodge of Ulster, nor are any oaths or tests either directed or authorized by our rules and regula- tions to be administered to its members; and that we do not unite or assemble for any illegal or unjust purpose, but simply to maintain, to the utmost of our ability, the Holy Scriptures as the only standard of faith and practice, Protestant ascendancy as the only means of saving our country from destruction, and the integrity of the Legislative Union, being Protestant. "That the object of the Orange Institution since its commencement was the support and preservation of the Protestant religion as by law established; that it is exclusively a religious society,. and disclaims all interference in politics, except as far as is necessary for the maintenance of the Protestant faith.

"That our best thanks are due, and are hereby given, to those counties and districts who, in their late addresses to our respected brother, James Watson, E • .r county of Antrim, declared, by their grand officers and officers, their full deuce in the Grand Lodge of Ulster, and their determination to stand by it at every hazard.'

That, viewing as we do with painful interest the unsupported condition of our Protestant brethren in the Southern parts of Ireland, and the perilous position in which they stand, we hold out to them the right hand of fellowship; and should the enemies of our religion and British connexion, in their traitorous attempts to revolutionize this country, in any way molest them, or put their lives in peril, we pledge ourselves that we will, by every lawful means within our power, endeavour to counteract and defeat such attempts, and to aid and assist our brethren."

Mr. O'Connell was absent from the weekly meeting of the Repeal Asso- ciation on Monday, having set out for Kerry; and the attendance was therefore not so full as it was on the previous day. Mr. John O'Connell read a correspondence between himself and the Times Commissioner; who disavowed all connexion with the letter signed "John Foster," read

at the meeting on Monday week: the Commissioner called upon Mr. John O'Connell to remedy what must be deemed his inadvertent mistake. Mr. John O'Connell returned the subjoined reply-

" Kingstown, Dublin, 4th October 1845.

"Sir—The letter which I read at Conciliation Hall last Monday, I beg to en- close, that you may see there was nothing in its outward appearance to lead me to suppose it a forgery. I was the less likely to form that opinion of it, as I had several days previously been informed that your name was precisely as signed in the enclosed.

"Of course, I shall make it my business to give your disclaimer, and my ex- pression of regret at having been misled, the same publicity as my attack of last Monday. This would be my duty, even were it not my inclination and intention.

"Reserving my opinions on the public matters in dispute between us, and on your manner of treating them, I fully and entirely retract every personality used by me while under the impression that you had written the certainly rather per- sonal and not very gentle-toned letter which occasioned my mistake.

"I have the honour to be, Sir, your faithful servant, Joior O'CossELL. "Thomas Campbell Foster, Esq., Ballinasloe."

Mr. John O'Connell also read a letter from the Reverend Mr. Feeney, parish-priest of Riverstown in the county of Sligo, calling in question the accuracy of the Times Commissioner's information respecting some past transactions in that parish; but the correction does not appear to affect any of the main positions assumed by Mr. Foster.

The rent for the week was 2331.

Mr. O'Connell held a Repeal meeting at Killarney, on Monday, with the usual dinner after it. The numbers at the meeting are estimated by the reporter for the Times at 50,000; at the dinner about 500 sat down to table, besides about 1,000 spectators. The proceedings were destitute of novelty or interest, excepting in one particular: at the meeting, Mr. D. Mahony, of Dunloe, delivered a speech against Repeal of the Union, as tending to a collision between England and Ireland. He was patiently listened to; and Mr. O'Connell replied, maintaining the opposite position : but the arguments on either side were not very striking.

Some further data are furnished for comprehending who and what is the new great unknown, Mr. Thomas Lloyd of Beechmount. The Limerick Chronicle publishes a letter meant to vindicate him from a charge of inconsistency, and purporting to be written with his sanction; and it is therefore fairly taken as a kind of manifesto of his views. The following are the principal passages: they read very curiously in the manifesto of a Repealer— For many years past he has unconditionally condemned the working system of the Established Church in Ireland; conceiving, as it was too rich, its doctrines were no longer promulgated in their simple purity. He separated from it, and loudly advocated the payment of the clergy by voluntary contributions, inas- much as this method would drive out all sluggards, and our religion might be preached with fervour, in spirit and in truth. A British Parliament would grant no measure conducive to this end; but it is one of the avowed objects of Repealers; and therefore as a Protestant Dissenter he has joined them. Again, Mr. Lloyd has long objected that a British constitution should support a College at Maynooth for disseminating a religion which he firmly believed to be erroneous. He could not understand why a Government, based on the struggle to annihilate Popery in these realms, should sink in oblivion all memory of our ancestors, and annually give a large sum from the public revenues of the kingdom to educate priests in the Popish faith, and send them forth to confirm our people in ido- latry and superstition, and compel their allegiance to the see of Rome. There- fore, as a Protestant, he conscientiously and consistently joined the Repealers in the hope (I grant you a frail one) that an Irish Parliament would never seek for the ascendancy of either party in this country. "With a mind richly endowed with all Christian graces, full of charity and love to all mankind, Mr. Lloyd was naturally most anxionitthat the Gospel truth in all its imposing grandeur and convincing simplicity should be widely scattered among the rising generation, clearly perceiving that its holy influence alone could ever regenerate the hearts of his beloved fellow countrymen, and release them from the degrading bondage of that mother of abomination, the Church of Rome. The National Education scheme, forced upon this land by the United Parliament, contrary to all the dictates of pure religion,—prohibiting, as it does, the study of the revealed Word of God in our schools,—was bat too well calculated to tend to an opposite effect, and leave the finest peasantry in the world just as ignorant and benighted as before. Could he not reasonably expect something better from an Irish House of Commons; his party seeking, as they profess, no religious ascendancy? He joined the Repealers as a Protestant, reserving to himself the option to secede on the first appearance of unchristian measures, or their smallest advance in steps in the slightest degree inconsistent with the sentiments of a subject loyal to the throne of Great Britain. He looks around him, and on every hand are starving thousands, while the wealth of the country is swept away and squandered among aliens and foreigners. Tenants are crushed to supply the luxuries of extravagant landlords; while the drain of means from our impoverished country leaves our resources undeveloped, and our apparent inactivity earns for us only the scornful pity of aspiring nations. To amend this crying evil, an Irish Parliament would enact an absentee-tax—would draw back much of our trade and commerce—would fill the streets of our capital with the wealthy of the land, bring with it the establishment of our customs, employ our labour, and (not the least of all existing evils) terminate agitation. As I under- stand him, these are a few of the minor convictions under which Mr. Lloyd has acted: but if I have put forward anything at variance with his real motives, he Can easily correct me: for this purpose, and for his satisfaction only, I give you my name and address."

The Dublin Nation thus contradicts an absurd report respecting the health of Dr. Crolly, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, which was mentioned in our Political Summaries last week- " A diabolical libel has appeared in the Pilot newspaper, stating broadly that this illustrious Prelate is insane! and forging a chain of circumstantial evi- dence, in which there is not one solitary word of truth. The infamy of this fabri- cation is heightened by the fact, known to all men who have watched the course of that abandoned .journal—that the lie was systematically invented and propagated for temporary factious purposes. Beyond doubt, it was calculated, with nice in- quiry, what proportion of the people might be deluded by such a slander; and the chances of impunity were weighed, as a poisoner or a stabber weighs them before he falls upon his victim. Whoever doubts this need only be reminded, that two years ago, Mr. Richard Barrett, the editor of the Pilot, having occasion to slander the Nation, accomplished his purpose by FORGING a letter from an American correspondent; was detected, exposed, and tacitly ad- !anted his guilt. This man commenced his life by slandering the Catholic clergy in the Evening Mail; that he should have brought into the people's ranks the base practices of the men among whom he was trained was not unnatural; but that once again, under the guise of popular zeal, he should have an opportunity of renewing his slanderous assaults on the same men, is one of the strangest inci- dents in the history of party. It is scarcely necessary to say, that at the very period at which the slander was written, Dr. Crolly NUS here in Dublin, engaged in ecclesiastical business, and in his usual health and spirits." The Roman Catholic clergy of Dr. Crolly's diocese have also come for- ward in vindication of their Prelate. The Evening Freeman publishes the following declaration with a long list of signatures— "We, the undersigned Catholic clergy of the Duuleer district of the archdiocese of Armagh, in conference assembled, having read in the Pilot of the 29th ultimo a article affecting the character of our beloved and venerated Primate, by repre- senting him as unable to attend the late concursus at Maynooth in consequence of the unsound state of his mind, and obliged from the same cause to live in retirement, deem it our duty to declare publicly, that the article in question is an atrocious, malignant, and sacrilegious calumny; knowing as we do that the Most Reverend Dr. Crony attended at Maynooth from the commencement to the con- clusion of the concursus; that he has from that time been publicly engaged in the discharge of his various, solemn, and important duties; and that at no period of his useful and edifying ministry was his Grace in the enjoyment of better health of mind and body."

On Wednesday, the Pilot put forth a most ample apology, which incor- porated a statement by the Secretary to the Board at Maynooth, contra- dicting the story of Dr. Crolly's absence. The Pilot also disclaimed the actual authorship of the libel- " It was written by a distant correspondent, from whom we have been in the habit of receiving communications of great value. In the multitudinous occupa- tions with which an editor is surrounded, the handwriting of the one in question became the passport to our columns; and it appeared without the least .'conscions- ness on our part of the matter it ;contained, although we are technically respon- sible for it."

The proceedings of the Royal Agricultural Society, at Ballinasloe concluded with a splendid ball, on the evening of Thursday week. The nobility and gentry from all parts of the country were present; and no fewer than five hundred per- sons paraded the rooms.

The usual auction in connexion with the show, which was postponed from the Thursday on account of the had weather, took place on Fnday. None of the " great' prizes were disposed of ; but some sales were made of the inferior classes, at pretty fair prices.

The regular October fair commenced on Sat urday. The sheep fair was one of the largest eiier held : the sheep were in prime condition; and the prices realized were considerably larger than those of last year, when the fair was accounted a remunerative one. It is estimated that 100,000 sheep were exhibited upon the fair-green. On the first fair-day, Saturday last, 54,000 were sold. The advance on wetbers was at least 48., on ewes Is.; and on Monday there was a further ad- vance of about Is. 6d. on both kinds. It is remarked, too, that the bulk of the sales were for cash; that comparatively few bills were given in payment, and that those were for only two months: heretofore bills at three months were passed to a very large amount.

At a recent meeting of the Upper Ossory Farming Society, the Secretary made a curious statement respecting some landlords of the barony. Within the last few months, he repeated his solicitations to three of the prin- cipal proprietors, namely, his Grace the Duke of Buckingham, the Earl of An- neslev, and Viscount Dungannon. His Grace's agent had since informed him by letter, that as be had heretofore forwarded the report and the application on the part of the Society to the Duke, and not having received any reply, he presumed that he did not intend to support the Society. Mr. Roberts had been also ho- noured with a communication from Lord Dungannon, which he would read to the meeting- ., Str—I cannot command a purse for everything ; and therefore the Upper Ossory Farming Society must, I fear, remain and flourish without any aid from me. It has my good wishes, but I cannot alford to give any money in support of it. "Your obedient servant, DUNGANNON." Brynkinalt, Sept. 7, 1845." A member remarked, that his Lordship extracted a rent-roll to the amount of 1,5001. per annum from the district. (Cries of "Shame, shame.") Mr. Roberta added, that the noble Earl of Annesley did not condescend a reply to his appli- cation.

No fewer than three murders are reported this week. A car-driver has been beaten to death near Armagh, by three men who insisted on riding in the ear: they insulted a woman who was in the vehicle, and on the driver's attempting to protect her, they fiercely assaulted him. While they were perpetrating the mur- der, the woman escaped, and ran to the next police-station : in a few minutes the body of the car-driver was brought in by three men, who said they found him dead on the road; and that they thought he fell off his car, and was accidentally killed: but, much to their surprise, the:woman identified them as the persons who killed the deceased.

One Hill has been murdered near Killoscully, in Tipperary, by two men who entered his house at night and beat him with sticks, while others watched outside. It is said that this crime originated in the refusal of Hill to permit his brother to marry a woman whom the latter had seduced. Three men are in custody.

Lenny, steward of the Reverend Mr. Butson, Rector of Chaffed, has been shot dead, at night, as he was passing through the farm-yard. A short time since, Mr. Butson discharged a man of the name of Coates, who was steward, taking Lenny in his place. In the interval between that and the murder, the Rector received several threatening letters, commanding him to dismiss Lenny from his situation, or the worst consequences would follow. The father of Coates was arrested, and committed to prison for sending the letters. Christopher Coates, a brother of the dismissed steward, and Bergin, a groom, both in the employ of Mr. Butson, are in custody on suspicion of having been concerned in the murder.

The widow of Mr. Bell Booth has visited the gaol where ',Teeny, the man ac- cused of Mr. Booth's murder, is confined; and, after seeing all the prisoners, she declared that the man who fired the shot was not among them. Heany will be liberated on bail.

A conflict took place, a few days ago, at Dromod, in the county Leitrim, between a party of Police and a detachment of Molly Maguires, who met accidentally on the high-road: several shots were fired by both parties without effect, and the Ma- guffe,s escaped across the country.

Irish Temperance appears to be seriously on the decline, in Mr. Mathew's own district. Seven hundred and eighty prisoners were committed to Cork Bridewell during the month of September. Of this number, no fewer than 653 were drunkards. During the corresponding month of the past year, the number of drunkards committed to the same prison was 344; showing an increase of 309.