non-resident freemen, (of whom the corporation had been for many years principally composed,) to counteract which, the inhabitants were called upon to register their freeholds. Subscriptions were then entered into, and every preparation was made to contest the approaching election after the then ensuing dissolution of parliament. While these efforts were making to weaken the influence of Mr. James Daly in Galway, he and his numerous friends, both in the town and county, made every exertion to defeat the objects of his opponents. Of the exaggerated evils, before enumerated, they denied the existence; or even admitting that, in so large and unemployed a population as that of Galway, some of those grievances were to be found, they could not be attributed to the corporation, or to the parliamentary representatives of the town, but were occasioned by the decay of public spirit in the merchants and wealthy inhabitants, and by the habitual idleness and want of industry so prevalent and conspicuous amongst the lower orders. The town'speople were reminded, that the right of Mr. Daly was sanctioned and strengthened by the legal exercise of the corporate privileges for more than half a century, with the continued approbation of government, which, it was not to be supposed, would countenance any measures contrary or injurious to the general interest of the country: they were also reminded of the many benefits conferred on them by his ancestors, who had not only originally succeeded in rescuing the town from the tyranny and bigotry of the former corporation, but had afterwards invariably exerted themselves in its favor; that these circumstances ought to have called forth the gratitude of the community for their descendant, who was himself pursuing the same line of honorable conduct, or at least have prevented a combination which was set on foot by a few ambitious or intermeddling individuals, for the purpose of depriving him of his legal rights, and of those advantages to which he was for so many years entitled. These and many other arguments urged against the " Independents," as they were now denominated, had considerable weight with numbers of the most respectable of the inhabitants, many of whom at length resolved to support Mr. Daly. Many others, including the more moderate of his opposers, admitted that the representation of the town and the enjoy ment of the corporate privileges could never, as the place was then circumstanced, continue general or popular, but would, in process of time, inevitably fall into the hands of some more politic individual: they, therefore, unanimously declared, that if Mr. Daly had paid more attention to the common interests of the place, had resided amongst them even for a portion of his time, or applied some part of the revenues of the town to promote the public convenience, to pave and light the streets, and to establish some form of municipal police, or any regulation to preserve peace and order amongst the people, they would, from the hereditary attachment which they had all along borne to his family, cheerfully support him to the last extremity. If, at this juncture, advantage had been taken of those feelings, there can be no doubt but that much, if not the entire, of the proceedings which afterwards followed would have been prevented; but Mr. Daly, irritated at the opposition, chose rather to rely on his legal rights, and the result proved that he was not entirely mistaken. The long wished for dissolution of parliament having at length taken place in 1812, Mr. Valentine Blake, of Menlo, was prevailed upon to offer himself as the popular candidate for the town: Mr. Ponsonby, the late member, was again put in nomination, and, after a severe contest, was declared duly elected. A petition was then presented against his return, and, after several proceedings before a committee of the house of commons, his election was pronounced void, and Mr. Blake was declared duly elected. This success occasioned the greatest rejoicings in the town; but the committee having also determined the right of election to be in the freeholders and freemen, the great question of non-residence still remained undecided. To determine this important point, on which the entire businessTM now depended, proceedings were instituted in the king's bench. In the mean time the exertions of Mr. Blake and the Independents were uninterrupted, and their endeavors were again crowned with success. On the election which took place after the dissolution of parliament in 1818, that gentleman (whose conduct in the senate and attention to the interests of the town met with the warmest approbation of his constituents,) was declared duly elected by a considerable majority over Mr. Prendergast, the friend and nominee of Mr. Daly. second victory, by which the independent cause seemed to be finally and firmly established, caused universal joy. Public dinners were given to signalize the event, and the triumphal procession of the victorious and popular candidate through the town was the most splendid ever before witnessed in this part of Ireland. • The following account of this procession is taken from the public prints of the day. Mr. Blake, "the choice of the people," had a majority of one hundred and eighty-nine by the sheriff's books. On the 15th of July, the respective guilds of the corporation assembled at Newtown-Smith, and the procession commenced in the following order: A flag, bearing the inscription, " See the conquering hero comes;" a fisherman with a flag, motto, "A long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together," followed by three hundred of his profession. The different guilds or companies, whose right to the corporation was established, each bearing a flag with an appropriate device and inscription, A boat, emblematic of the Galway arms, covered with blue and pink, tastefully decorated with wreaths of flowers, and placed on the carriage of a chaise, drawn by horses, in which was seated a military band, playing appropriate tunes during the procession. Four gentlemen carrying white wands and banners; motto, "Blake and Independence." Four more; motto, "Galway shall flourish." This These Four ditto; motto, "The glorious majority of 189." The splendid chair in which the representative sat, crowned with a wreath, composed of oak and laurel leaves and flowers, under a triumphal canopy, beautifully decorated, surrounded by several of his friends. Four gentlemen bearing white wands and banners; motto, " Unanimity." Four more; motto, "The man of our choice." Four ditto; "Purity of election." Four ditto; "No non-residents." Freemen and freeholders valking six and six, to the number of four hundred, all decorated with oak and laurel leaves. The procession, thus arranged, proceeded, amidst the most triumphant plaudits of the populace, through the principal streets of the town, greeting, in their progress, the several families favorable to their cause, and ended at Meyrick-square. The greatest unanimity prevailed, and, although upwards of twenty thousand people were assembled, not a single accident occurred. was brilliantly illuminated in the evening, and every possible demonstration of joy was evinced on the occasion. The town feelings, however, were soon after considerably depressed by the decision of the judges in favor of the non-resident freemen of the corporation. This decision, so favorable to the rights of Mr. Daly, and so contrary to the expectation and wishes of the Independents, again renders it doubtful to which side victory may ultimately incline: the next vacancy or dissolution of parliament will, however, determine that point; and, in the mean time, Mr. Daly remains in the full exercise and enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the corporation. Having now fulfilled our intention of tracing, through a great variety of facts and documents, the history of this town, from its origin to the present time: having beheld it, as it were, in a state of infancy, protected by the fostering hand of the powerful family of De Burgo; then, arrived at full maturity, and impatiently rejecting the rule of its former protectors; again, in a more advanced period, increasing in power, flourishing in wealth, and crowned with honor and prosperity; and, finally, through fatal reverses of affairs, languishing, as at the present period, in a state of neglect and decay; our narrative shall here be closed; not however, without expressing a final hope, that whoever shall possess the confidence, may never forget the interest, of the town: that he or they may direct the attention of the rulers of the country to a place which, though now so reduced, had been formerly so considerable; and which, if its foreign trade and home manufactories were at all promoted or encouraged, would prove of incalculable benefit to this neglected, unimproved, and consequently unproductive, quarter of Ireland. The promoter of measures, such as these, by diffusing innumerable blessings amongst the community, and augmenting the resources and revenues of the country, would enjoy those exalted feelings which accumulated wealth or elevation of rank cannot always bestow: he would, moreover, command the grateful suffrages of the present, and secure the lasting praises of future generations, and be deservedly ranked amongst the benefactors of mankind. |