RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 AND EXPERIENCES 
 
 DUELNG ;. rAPiLIAMENTAUr CAEEER 
 
 FROM 1S33 TO 1818. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN O'CONINELL, ESQ. M.P 
 
 
 " (iiiR^que ipse vidi 
 " Et quorum pars fiii." Vino. 
 
 "Exul . . 
 " Projicit ampullar et sesquipedalia verba." 
 
 Hon. 
 
 ibMic 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 RIGIIAUD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON 
 
 1849. 
 
 I'MEILL LIBRARY ^ 
 
950.12 
 ,02 
 
 A C) 
 
 '-^ <j M 
 
 ^(^ 
 
 >^-5l 
 
 LONDON : 
 R. CLAY, PIUNTEU, BREAE STREET HILL. 
 
TO THE 
 
 REV. JOHN MILEY, D.D. 
 
 OF DUBLIN 
 
 THESE SKETCHES ARE EESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 BY HIS 
 
 ADMIRING AND DEVOTED FRIEND 
 
 : JOHN O'CONNELL. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 VOLUME TUB FIRST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Opening of the first Reform Parliament — William Cobbett — 
 Thomas Attwood — Election of a Speaker — Manners 
 Sutton — The King's Speech— Irish Repeal— Lord Stanley 
 —Coercion Bill — Daniel O'ConncU — Sir Robert Peel . 1 
 
 ' CHAPTER II. 
 
 Irish Elections — Peargus O'Connor — The Election Dinner — 
 Repeal Agitation — A National Council — Irish Popular 
 Press — Cobbett versus Plunkctt — "An Irish Peer" — 
 Viscount Taplow — Mr. O'Connell's Tail — Church Tempo- 
 ralities Bill — Negro Emancipation an act of Justice — No 
 Justice for Ireland 22 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The "Irish Members" — Irish Peculiarities — The Brogue — ' 
 English and Scotch Pronunciation — Irish Energy — Church 
 Temporalities, and Coercion Bills — The Chartists — Re- 
 sults of the Session — Suppression of Popular Opinion in 
 Ireland — Mn IMontgomery JMartin — Arrest of JMr. O'Con- 
 nell— Tom Steele .47 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Tom Steele— his Patriotism, Sensibility, and Despondency 
 —his Quarrel with O'Connell, and Chastisement of a Lon- 
 don Editor— Lord Anglesea — his Government— Feargus 
 O'Connor — Speech of O'Connell — Spring Eice— Eichard 
 Shell— Sir Robert Peel— O'Connor's Pedigree .... 70 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell's Motion, and Reply— its Effects- The Divi- 
 sion — Mr. Kennedy — Lord Althorp — An Electioneering 
 Expedition — Ebenezer Jacob — his Speech — A Parlia- 
 mentary Canvass — Mr. Jacob's Return, by O'Connor's 
 Agency — Dungarvon Freeholders — Duke of Devonshire 
 and Feargus O'Connor — The Repeal Debate — Weakness 
 of the Ministry — The Coercion Act — Earl Grey's Resig- 
 nation 92 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 Change of Administration — Dissolution of Parliament — The 
 Old Houses of Parliament consumed by Fire — Proposal 
 for change of Site — Probable Constitution of the New 
 Parliament — Bets thereon — Members begin to Assemble 
 — Election of Speaker — The Pretended Compact — Mr. 
 Abercrombie — The King's Speech — The Address — its 
 Presentation 1 1 < 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 Opposition to the New Ministry— Sir Robert Peel — Feargus 
 O'Connor — his Electioneering Tactics — Youghal — Right 
 Hon. T. B. C. Smyth— Absurd Objections— The " Royal 
 Reefer" — " Tea-Tastress to the Lady-Lieutenant " — The 
 
 , Old Tipstafi — An Election Scene — Bribery — An Honest 
 
CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Yoter— London "Watermen— An Election Bill— Colonel 
 Fairman— Lord John Russell— Jack Lawless— Lord Mor- 
 peth— A Hat not fit for a Gentleman 139 
 
 CHAPTER Yin. 
 
 Parliamentary Excitability— Scena between Lord Althorp 
 and Mr. Shell— They are taken into Custody, Apologize, 
 are Reprimanded, and Liberated— Church Temporalities 
 Bill—Attacks on Mr. O'Connell — Misrepresentations of 
 Feargus O'Connor, &c.— Keensightedness of Mr. O'Connell 
 —his Judgment of Men— Meets with Ingratitude and 
 Desertion from Friends— Election Petitions— Solemn Re- 
 primand — Parliamentary Privileges— Sir JamesGraham — 
 Sir Francis Burdett (Old Glory)— Parliament Prorogued . 167 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Applications for Places— A few Specimens— Franking Let- 
 ters—Irish Addresses— Fair Play— The English News- 
 papers—They all persecute Ireland— Many of the Writers, 
 Irishmen— A Poetical Epistle from the Dublin University 
 Magazine— Breach of Privilege— Irishmen against Ireland 
 —Clearing the House— A Maiden Speech — Newspaper 
 Reports thereof— An Agreeable Publicity— Rising of Par- 
 liament—Mr. Daniel O'Connell— his Life at Darrynane . 199 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The New Session— The Tithe Question— D. Ronayne, Esq. 
 —The Pikes !— Mr. Ronayne's Muse— The Coalition— The 
 Spanish Legion— Stockdale v. Hansard— Sir Edward 
 Sugden~The Law Institute— Mr. Grote— Mr. G. Berkeley 
 —Sir Andrew Agnew— Mr. Poulett Scrope— Perplexities 
 of "Young Members" — St. Stephen's Chapel— L'Echo 
 Fran^ais— A Stormy Debate 236 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEPt XL 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Lord Ashley — Lord Dudley Coutts Stewart — Lord Stanley — 
 Mr. Brotlierton— A Keform Dinner — " A Bottle of Port 
 for the Turkish Ambassador" — Opposition amongst Irish 
 Members — The llailways, a Party Question — ]\lr. Drum- 
 mond— Lord Normanby — Irish Eailways — Dublin and 
 Kingstown Pailway — Iler IMajesty's Accession — ISTew Par- 
 liament — Increasing Weakness of the Whig Ministry — 
 A'^isit to Paris — Joseph Hume 2G7 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Question of Pepcal — Daniel O'Conncll— Agitation Move- 
 ments — The General Association — Precursor Association 
 — Eecommencement of Agitation — ]\Ir. Daniel O'Conncll 
 retires to Darrynane — Dithculty of finding a Deputy — 
 Mauvaise Honte — Letters of Daniel O'Connell — Irish 
 Manufacture Movement — Restrictions on Trade — Mr. 
 Mooney's Proposition 305 
 
PARLIAMENTARY 
 
 AND 
 
 AGITATION EXPERIENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OPENINO OF THE FIRST REFORM PARLIAJIENT. — WILLIAM COBBKTT. — 
 THOJIAS ATTWOOD. — ELECTION OP A SPEAKER.- — MANNERS SUTTON. 
 — THE king's SPEECH. — IRISH REPEAL. — -LORD STANLEY. — COERCION 
 BILL. — DANIEL o'cONNELL. — SIR ROBERT PEEL. 
 
 Early in the forenoon of Tuesday, tlii 5tli 
 of February, 1833, my father led what might 
 have been called his Jiousehold brigade — viz. his 
 three sons, and two sons-in-law, down to the 
 House of Commons, to be present at the opening 
 of the first Keform Parliament, of wdiicli all six 
 had just been elected members. 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
2 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 In the passages we met, and were introduced 
 to, Cobbett, Avlio, like some of ourselves, was 
 then for the first time in Parliament, having been 
 just returned for tlie newly-enfranchised borough 
 of Oldham. Some — at least I may speak for 
 one — of our party felt no little interest at see- 
 ing and speaking to that singular man, whom, 
 hitherto, we had only known by his powerful, 
 but coarse and unscrupulous writings. lie was 
 habited, as I recollect, in a kind of pepper-and- 
 salt-coloured garb, in fashion something between 
 that of a Quaker and of a comfortable fiu-mer; 
 and Avore rather a broad-brimmed Avhite hat, a 
 little on one side, and thrown back, so as to give 
 the fullest view of his shrewd though bluff coun- 
 tenance, and his keen, cold-looking eye. 
 
 We also fell in with Thomas Attwood, of 
 Birmingham, the Lafayette of the Birmingham 
 movement party ; quite as respectable and as 
 politically imbecile as his French prototype. 
 With him and two or three more of the English 
 Beformers, who had been recently conspicuous 
 ,in agitation, we had an interchange of congratu- 
 lations on the actual assemblage of a Beformed 
 Parliament, and of some large anticipations as 
 
HOUSE OF COMMONS. 3 
 
 to further victories — congratulations and antici- 
 pations speedily to be put an end to by disgust 
 and disappointment. 
 
 As the hour drew near when the business of 
 electing a Speaker was to be proceeded with, we 
 went into the House of Commons, which was 
 then, as formerly, the old Cliapel of St. Stephen's ; 
 the destructive fire that has given such scope :o 
 Mr. Barry's great, although somewhat elaborate 
 and decidedly expensive architectural genius, not 
 having occurred for a year and a half later. 
 
 No man, Avhether young or old, ever entered 
 the House of Commons for the first time without 
 some degree of emotion. The same may doubt- 
 less be said of the novice in other public assem- 
 blies, but the emotion is peculiar on entering the 
 House of Commons of England ; or, at any rate, 
 such teas the case, while it met in the scene of its 
 ancient labours and struggles. 
 
 To call it the oldest deliberative assembly in 
 the world is a mere phrase at best ; and particu- 
 larly so considering the nonage of the representative 
 bodies existino; in other countries. But turninoj 
 from phrases to facts, it is (at least I so felt it) an 
 exciting thing to enter an assembly replete with 
 
 b2 
 
4 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 such historic recollections, and where the demo- 
 cratic principle has maintained so hard and stout 
 a fiofht durino; centuries. 
 
 As usnal, at the assembling of a new Par- 
 liament, before Avhat the Americans style the 
 " calling to order of the meeting," the floor of 
 the House was covered with members, either 
 exchanging greetings, intelligence, &c. with old 
 parliamentary acquaintances, or wandering from 
 group to group in quest of such, and in curious 
 examination of the Beform recruits. 
 
 I could discern that our "household brigade," 
 were tlic objects of ratlicr particular scrutiny and 
 criticism, and in especial were favoured with 
 rather a long quizzing from Lord Stanley's eye- 
 glass, — an ordeal to which a hot spirit of our party 
 manifested a good deal of disrelish, that he could 
 hardly be restrained from • making an active 
 demonstration on the spot. In our turn, such 
 of us as were new to Parliament were not idle, 
 but took ample revenge in commenting upon the 
 strange herd amongst which we found ourselves, 
 and on the discrepancies between our precon- 
 ceived notions of t]ie more remarkable persons 
 and the reality. 
 
WILLIAM COBBETT. 
 
 At length the hubbub began to cease, and the 
 chaos resolved itself into some order. Mr. Ley 
 took his seat at the table of the House in his usual 
 place as first Clerk, but acting for the nonce as 
 Chairman. A very pardonable feeling in my 
 father induced him to range his three sons in a 
 line on the bench where he sat himself, the second 
 bench on the opposition side. Before us, ranged 
 upon the front bench of the same side, were 
 Attwood, Buncombe, Ficlden, and, most con- 
 spicuous of all, William Cobbett. Around and 
 below us were others of the Radical Keform party. 
 In front, filling all the seats on the Treasury side, 
 the benches at and below the bar; and even 
 outflanking us, spread the motley and multitu- 
 dinous gathering of the more Whiggish Reformers 
 and ministerial followers, while in a narrow seg- 
 ment of the benches, at the upper end of the 
 House (on our side), frowned the small but com- 
 pact and well-ordered array of the so recently 
 discomfited Tories. 
 
 " Few and faint — but fearless still !" 
 
 While occupied in scanning all these dispo- 
 sitions, and noting the aspects of the various 
 
6 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 leaders, our attention was suddenly called to the 
 business of the hour, by Joe Hume opening fire 
 just over our heads. He spoke from what was, in 
 the old House, his accustomed and recognised 
 place, close by one of the pillars of the galleiy, 
 and near the end of the third opposition bench. 
 
 Mr. Hume rose to propose that Mr. Littleton, 
 then jM.P. for Staffordshire, (the present Lord 
 Hatherton,) should take the chair. The Whig 
 ministry proposed tlie former speaker, Mr. Man- 
 ners Sutton, the late Lord Canterbury ; and, on 
 a division, carried it by a majority of eight or 
 nine to one, but not till after a very animated 
 debate, very exciting to us novices. 
 
 Manners Sutton acted speaker very well — per- 
 haps a little overacted it ; but certainly looked and 
 filled the part well. His chief faults were an 
 imperiousness and hastiness of temper, and a not 
 entire forgetfulness of the partizan in the dis- 
 charge of his duties as arbiter and president of a 
 political assembly : occasionally allowing too much 
 of the intolerant arrogance which his party 
 affected towards the Eadicals to peep out, when 
 he had to do with members belonoinci: to the 
 latter political denomination. 
 
THE SPEAKER. 7 
 
 My father used to say that for the first two 
 years of his parliamentary life, he repeatedly 
 remarked a deliberate neglect of him by tlie 
 Speaker, when endeavouring to catch tlie latter s, 
 eye. But lie always added that during the sub- 
 sequent years, until Lord Canterbury's removal to 
 the Upper House, matters were entirely changed 
 in this respect, and there almost seemed, as it 
 ^vere, an anxiety to make a kind of reparation. 
 
 Amonsc tlie various little thins^s Avhich show^ed 
 his lordship's fondness for the externals of his 
 dignity wdille Speaker, Avas the manner in whicli 
 he used to keep in submissive attendance, at cither 
 side of his chair, the members who wanted to get 
 his signature to the tickets of admission for 
 strangers. Tliis custom, fruitful in annoyance to 
 members, and eminently so in disturbance to the 
 business of the House, was done away with two 
 years later, during the short sj^eakcrship of Mr. 
 Abercrombie, the present Lord Dunfermline. 
 
 As I shall have afterwards to speak of a much 
 more interesting debate on a Speaker's election, 
 that of the last-named noble lord, when the 
 contest was between him and Lord Canter- 
 bury, in 1835, I pass from that of 1833, to the 
 
8 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 opening of the real business of the session in 
 that 3^ear. 
 
 The newly-elected Speaker having tlien duly 
 gone through the chrysalis stage of the bob wig, 
 (which is de rigueur before he is presented to 
 the sovereign,) and thence emerged into the 
 full-winged or fidl-wigged splendour of his con- 
 firmation in office, and the bulk of the members 
 having dawdled through five or six days of oath- 
 taking and roll-signing, we met at last as a duly 
 constituted House of Commons, upon the 9th or 
 10th of February, about half an hour before his 
 ^Majesty was expected down to Westminster to 
 deliver the royal speech — opening the session in 
 form. 
 
 Presently we heard at our door the customary 
 tlu'ee knocks, solemn and awful, which announce 
 a special summons; and Sir Augustus Clifford 
 stalked in, stately and stiff, and delivered his mes- 
 sage, calling on us to attend his Majesty at the 
 l)ar of the House of Lords. On all such occasions 
 a pause ensues, evidently mercifully intended to 
 give Sir Augustus Clifford time to save himself, 
 ere the House break from their seats and rush, 
 push, and scramble like a parcel of schoolboys 
 
ROYAL SPEECH. 9 
 
 througli the passages and even up to tlie very bar 
 of the Lords; hurrying the unhappy Speaker before 
 them like the sacrificial ox, ursced alono; reluctant 
 to the horns of the altar ! 
 
 Even at this early stage of the session there 
 was earnest given of the hostile spirit towards 
 Ireland that was to mark its course. The only 
 part of the speech of William IV. which his 
 infirmities or his inclinations allowed him to 
 deliver with any distinctness, was that in which 
 he threatened Ireland : and even this agreeable 
 tojHC did not give more dignity to his demeanour 
 than that of a good scold ! 
 
 We listened to the speech, and returned from 
 the hearing with hearts full of bitterness ; miti- 
 gated only by a feeling of pity for the statesmen 
 who were thus so evidently bent upon throwing 
 aAvay the opportunities for fame that their some- 
 what unexpected success on one great question 
 had opened to them with regard to others ; above 
 all, with regard to the yet unachieved object 
 w^orthy of real statesmen — the pacific, equitable, 
 and therefore mutually beneficial settlement, of 
 the lon2:-distracted international relations between 
 Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 B 3 
 
10 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 In England there has been much ontcry against 
 Irish Repealers, for what is called their unwar- 
 rantable attacks on the Imperial Parliament, 
 on the score of negligence or of hostility towards 
 Ireland. Whether those attacks be justifiable or 
 not, is a question with regard to which some 
 materials for coming to a judgment may be sup- 
 plied ere the closing of this record. The writer 
 of it readily pleads guilty to the charge of being 
 one of those who have made the attjicks in 'question ; 
 but he does not so plead as having lightly come to 
 the convictions which impelled them, or having 
 entered Parliament with any predisposing pre- 
 judices. On the contrary, up to, and for some little 
 while after the time when Irishmen of the popular 
 party got admission to the British Parliament, 
 there was, among the greater number of them in 
 fact, a creduliUj, of which they have been long 
 since painfully disabused, with regard to the dis- 
 positions of that Parliament. "Englishmen are 
 just. Englishmen are fair-minded," was the cry ; 
 " they have done us wrong because they have not 
 known us. Hitherto the representation of Ireland 
 has been all in the hands of that faction in our 
 country whose interest it ever has been to mis- 
 
IRISH MEMBERS. 11 
 
 Tcpresent and to mislead the English with regard 
 to the real state of things in Ireland. But now 
 that the Irish people are, to some extent at least, 
 directly represented — now that their state, wants, 
 sufferings, and claims, will fairly and fully be 
 exposed, Englishmen will see and acknowledge 
 their error, and be prompt to do us justice." 
 
 I do not mean to say that a soliloquy in the 
 exact terms, and to the exact effect of the fore- 
 going was delivered by the new Irish M.P.s on 
 their first appearance on the parliamentary stage, 
 but most certainly there were expectations and 
 convictions to that effect; and most certainly, and 
 most utterly have those expectations been dis- 
 appointed. 
 
 It is nothing at all in answer to this to launch 
 out into abuse of Irish popular members. The 
 device is a favourite one, and very efficient in dis- 
 tracting attention from the parties really to blame. 
 It tells, too, in Ireland, where it is not unusual to 
 find a popular journal much more occupied with 
 repeating those attacks, than in taking the right 
 means of correcting the evil, (to whatever extent 
 it may exist,) by assisting and forwarding the 
 efforts that others may be engaged in, to excite 
 
12 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 and sustain such a force and concentration of 
 public oplnlouj and in especial;, of tlie opinion of 
 the constituencies, as would have real influence 
 upon the offenders ; a most desirable object, but 
 not by any means attainable by mere newspaper 
 scolding. 
 
 When we had all trooped back to our own 
 house again, and re-taken our places, the debate 
 on the Address in answer to the speech we had 
 just heard was commenced by Lord Ormelie, the 
 present Marquis of Breadalbane. It has been very 
 currently and frequently said, that his lordship, 
 at a period but a few years later, expressed some 
 degree of regret for the part which he happened 
 to take upon this occasion Avlth reference to 
 unfortunate Ireland. I shall therefore make no 
 further criticism, or say nothing more at all in 
 cormnent upon his speech, than that it was harsli 
 and violent In its allusions to the " agitators," and 
 expressed a full approval of the intention of the 
 Government to make the crimes by which a por- 
 tion of the peasantry of two or three counties of 
 Ireland sought to avenge the wrongs they and 
 their fellows suffered from harsh landlords, a pre- 
 text for putting down political agitation. 
 
LORD STANLEY. 13 
 
 Lord Stanley, — tLat " lord of misrule" in the 
 House of Commons, and political personification 
 of the genius of mischief (sadly so in the case of 
 poor Ireland,) — he who was the animating prin- 
 ciple of the otherwise inert international hostllit}'^ 
 which so pervaded that and succeeding dehates, — 
 spoke towards the end of the night. Bitter and 
 even spiteful as was his speech, yet its great 
 ingenuity, aptness and striking ability of ever}- 
 kind, set off as those qualities were by his clear 
 clarion voice and impressive delivery, commanded 
 a considerable degree of admiration even from us. 
 
 The effect upon his own supporters was tre- 
 mendous ; and yet it was scarcely complimentary 
 to him ; for so open-mouthed were they against 
 us, unfortunate Irish, that the pearls of Lord 
 vStanley were hardly more relished than the garb- 
 age of some of our less noted and more clumsy 
 assailants. 
 
 I know not how Lord Stanley Avould speak to 
 an unfavourable audience. He has, even when 
 well backed and supported, manifested great irrita- 
 bility and no little discomfiture at interruptions, 
 Avhether casual or intentional. And even those 
 who have had no personal experience in public 
 
14 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 speaking will easily comprehend that it makes 
 a potent difference to the orator, whether his 
 auditory shout icith him, or at him. 
 
 At the time I speak of, Lord Stanley had cer- 
 tainly nothing to complain of as regarded sup- 
 port. Out of an average attendance of 500 and 
 upwards, during the Coercion Bill Debate in 
 1833, considerably more than 400 chorussed their 
 " most sweet voices" on every possible occasion in 
 his favour, and against us. In fact, the coming 
 into Parliament of a body of Irish popular repre- 
 sentatives, numerous enough to be noticeable, while 
 still far too few to be formidable, was a kind of 
 promdence to the two great English parties, which 
 had so recently been tearing each other's eyes out. 
 To them it was a comfort to have a third party to 
 be made the scape-goats of their mutual bitter- 
 nesses ; and the chance was not tlie less welcome, 
 that in so using it they could ^' feed fat the ancient 
 grudge^ of their country against ours. 
 
 There can be nothing more sad than to think 
 upon that "ancient grudge." Two countries 
 placed so near each other, so mutually necessar}^, 
 so capable of mutual benefit, and of a high and 
 surpassing degree of common prosperity, achiev- 
 
LORD STANLEY. 15 
 
 able by combined effort and mutual assistance ; 
 yet so divided — so morally separated — almost, 
 nay in fact, so mutually hostile— can there be 
 a spectacle more sad, more depressing than 
 
 this ? 
 
 As one, however humble, of the " Agitators,'' 
 who, in their endeavours to teach the Irish people 
 not to look to other than themselves for political 
 redemption, have had, from time to time, to 
 "point our moral" with instances from history 
 of the systematic misgovernment and ill-treat- 
 ment of Ireland, I must expect to be included 
 in the usual accusation against us of having aided 
 to nourish and perpetuate the feelings we deplore. 
 It is an unwarrantable accusation. But we 
 shall be found ready to allow judgment to go by 
 default against us, if those in England who 
 scarcely can deny the heavy part they have borne 
 in bringing matters to this pass, or keeping them 
 there, shall unburden their souls and confess. 
 
 While awaiting such general and gejierous.ac- 
 knowledgment, it is but justice to record that, 
 with respect to Lord Stanley's razzia upon Ireland 
 in 1833, more than one English member has since 
 been heard to express sincere and most honourable 
 
16 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 regret at having allowed himself to be deluded by 
 that noble lord's skilful misrepresentation and 
 distortion of facts, into voting for the suppression 
 of Ireland's constitutional liberties, under pretext 
 of checkino; agrarian crime. 
 
 It was when the Coercion Bill, (after having 
 been stoutly battled through the three earlier 
 stages, viz., leave to bring in — first and second 
 reading,) had got into committee, that the battle 
 for the first time seemed to be on something like 
 fair terms. 
 
 Not that any material difference occurred in 
 the respective numbers; although undoubtedly 
 we did get now and then an occasional recruit, 
 when some particularly monstrous clause was 
 being discussed. Neither was it by any means 
 that any greater inclination to show fair play had 
 sprung up among our multitudinous opponents. 
 The war certainly did not fail of itself; and 
 '^' Stanley was the cry" c[uite as loud as ever ; 
 whensoever Stanley chose to get on his legs. 
 
 The change was owing simply to the rule that 
 allows members to speak as often as they please 
 when the House is in committee. 
 
 In each of the previous stages of the Coercion 
 
COERCION BILL. 17 
 
 Bill, my father could speak but once ; and after 
 he had concluded his speech, was compelled 
 to silence while made the target for every " fool's 
 bolt" during the remainder of that debate. But 
 in committee he was free to meet every charge, 
 answer every argument, throw back every taunt, 
 and crush with overpowering ridicule every puny 
 assailant, without fear of being called to order 
 on the ground of having already spoken. And 
 when he could no longer be taken at advantage, 
 the virulence of the attacks upon him and upon 
 his country, through him, was much abated, or 
 in a manner postponed until the next safe oppor- 
 tunity of giving it vent. 
 
 His labour, however, was greatly increased. 
 He was up upon every point, and ready at every 
 point. Explaining, remonstrating, arguing, re- 
 futing, suggesting, predicting, he left scarcely 
 anything for any one else upon his side to do, 
 and was more than a match for the numerous 
 defenders, official and officious, of the contested 
 provisions of the bill. 
 
 This credit may be allowed to him without 
 in the least derogating from the merits of those 
 who took part on the same side in the debates. 
 
18 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Other Irishmen rendered excellent service ; and 
 it would be great ingratitude indeed if the ex- 
 ertions of such men as Mr. Hume, Mr. War- 
 burton, Mr. Aglionby, Major Beauclerk, Mr. 
 Ewart, Mr. Gillon, and others among the English 
 and Scotch members — to say nothing of (last but 
 not least), the present Attorney-General, Sir John 
 Jervis, were not paid the poor tribute of being 
 mentioned, when speaking or writing of the able, 
 vigorous, and most constitutional opposition made 
 to Lord Stanley's iniquitous Coercion Bill of 1833. 
 I do not remember at what exact period of 
 the discussions upon that bill Sir Robert Peel 
 addressed the House ; but I -well remember m}^ 
 anxiety to hear him, and the impression which he 
 then made upon me, and which has not varied 
 during the nineteen sessions that have since 
 elapsed. 
 
 There is an elaborateness and an unmistakable 
 evidence of art about all Sir Kobert Peel's great 
 displays, detracting materially from their effect. 
 The observation struck me as very apt which 
 I once heard from a lady on her first visit to the 
 "Ventilator" (the ''Ladies Gallery'' of the old 
 house), that Sir K. Peel's manner and delivery 
 
SIR ROBERT PEEL. 19 
 
 were those of a clever schoolboy speaking a prize 
 oration,— fluently, stiffly, and grandiloquently. 
 
 After getting accustomed to these peculiarities, 
 — and you require to be accustomed to them — 
 real admiration begins. The thorough knowledge 
 and management of his audience, playing witli 
 the hand of a master upon their passions and pre- 
 judices (for, strange to say, passions and prejudices 
 do prevail, even in tlie House of Commons), the 
 skill, a little too evident, but yet very superior 
 of its kind, with whicli he manages, when his 
 purpose requires it, to wrap up a heap of 
 nothings in a cloud of fine words, while at another 
 moment he expresses in a sentence what it would 
 cost an inferior man a whole speech to convey; 
 the closeness and vigour of his reasoning, however 
 defective the premises may be, his intimate and 
 profound acquaintance with every department, 
 and with the most intricate matters of public 
 business— all these striking qualities command for 
 him tlie rivetted attention of the House, and 
 make even his opponents forget, for the time, the 
 artifices, the plausibilities, and the common-places 
 wliich must ever keep liim below the first rank 
 among orators. 
 
20 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Peel mistook his vocation ! He should have 
 gone to the bar. The character of his mincl, the 
 bent of his genius, both tended that way ; and in 
 the labyrinths of special pleadings and the strife 
 to make the wrong appear the better reason, none 
 could have surpassed, and few could liave come 
 near him. Important amendments too in the 
 letter and the working of the laws, and, doubtless, 
 in their spirit also, would have resulted from 
 the constant and close attention to them of so 
 clear a judgment, and so penetrating and practical 
 a spirit. 
 
 As it is, he lias but served tlie passing interests 
 and exigencies of a party, the most unscrupulous, 
 exacting, and ungrateful tliat ever politician's lot 
 was cast with; and the two occasions in his life when 
 he broke through his trammels, and dared to act 
 the statesman, and not the mere party-man, liave 
 outweighed with them the devotedness of all the 
 rest of his career, and the services which none 
 other could have rendered. 
 
 There are mighty opportunities before him still. 
 Ireland is still the great difficulty of the empire, 
 and a difficulty that nmst be speedily looked at 
 full in the face, and finally settled; other\Yise it 
 
SIR ROBERT PEEL. 21 
 
 will solve and settle itself in disaster and ruin. 
 For whom is this great task reserved ? Which 
 shall, Peel or Russell, render this great and para- 
 mount service to the empire, and Avin this great 
 glory for their name ? Or shall both be found 
 unequal to the task, and the inevitable and deplo- 
 rable alternative be left to its accomplishment? 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 IHISn ELECTIONS. — FKAIIGUS O'CONNOU. — THE ELECTION DINNEXl. — 
 
 REPEAL AGITATION. A NATIONAL COUNCIL.— IRISH POPULAR PRESS, 
 
 COBBETT VERSUS PLUNKETT. — " AN IRISH PEER."— VISCOUNT TAP- 
 LOW. — MR. o'cONNELL's TAIL. — CHURCH TEMPORALITIES BILL. — 
 NEGRO EMANCIPATION AN ACT OF JUSTICE. NO JUSTICE FOR IRE- 
 LAND. 
 
 The Irish popular members in 1833 were cer- 
 tainly discomfited, morally as well as physically, 
 by the reception they encountered from the myr- 
 midons of Lord Stanley. INIen whom the strength 
 of the popular sentiment in Ireland had suddenly 
 impelled or assisted forward to places in the par- 
 liamentary representation of their country, con- 
 trary in most cases to their own expectations, as 
 well as in some cases to their inclination and 
 habits, were naturally impressed with a respect 
 for the power which had thus advanced them, and 
 as naturally led to conclude that others would 
 esteem it as highly as themselves. 
 
THE IRISH ELECTIONS. 23 
 
 They liad little imagined at what an infinite 
 discount in England have been and are, all mani- 
 festations of Irish opinion and feeling, Avhen 
 unaccompanied by the immediate and evident 
 jeopardy of some English interest. 
 
 It is, of course, but natural that the people of 
 one country should be too mucli absorbed by their 
 own concerns to pay attention to those of the 
 people of another ; and especially this is natural 
 where there is domination on the one side and 
 subjection on the other. But natural as it may 
 be, it is not the less grievous and exasperating. 
 
 The elections of 1832-33, in Ireland, were 
 marked by a more general outburst of popular 
 feeling than had been witnessed in that country 
 before. Individual instances there had been, and 
 truly magnificent instances, of what the Irish 
 people could do, on a fitting occasion and for a 
 worthy object. In Waterford, in 1826, and in 
 Clare, in the ever-memorable election of 1828, 
 this had been abundantly and, I repeat the epithet, 
 magnificently demonstrated. But no general effort 
 had been made really hy the people and for the 
 people until the period we have mentioned, 
 namely, the winter of 1832-3, wdien thirty-eight 
 
24 TARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 or forty of the Irish members were returned on 
 the popular or Kepeal interest — the Repeal being 
 then for the first time made an election question. 
 
 Perhaps the queerest election that occurred in 
 the three kingdoms was that of Feargus O'Connor 
 as a member for the important county of Cork. 
 Without money and without previous influence, 
 personal or politicab an unknown and not over- 
 wealthy squire of an obscure part of the county, 
 set out to attack and overturn the influence and 
 sway of the most powerful and richest landed 
 aristocracy in Ireland ; and, thanks to his indomi- 
 table energy and audacity, and to the ready and 
 ardent patriotism of the people, which only re- 
 quired to be called into action, he succeeded. 
 
 One little incident will be enough to give an 
 idea of his campaign. It was thought advisable 
 by himself and others that his candidateship 
 should not appear to be altogether of his own 
 devising, but that something like an invitation to 
 him, or at least a sanction to his coming forward, 
 should emanate from some portion of the consti- 
 tuency. 
 
 How this was to be brought about Avas the 
 difficulty. A prophet is said never to be in 
 
FEARGUS O'CONNOR. 25 
 
 honour in his own country ; and Feargus had at 
 least so much in common with the prophets. To 
 use an ungainly but expressive word, which seems 
 thoroughly adopted from the French, his antece- 
 dents had brought him as little regard and respect 
 with any party, as his subsequent history up to 
 the present moment. 
 
 Done, however, this was; and no matter by 
 what manoeuvring it was effected, the public 
 announcement of it was creditable enough. Not 
 only an invitation to come forward as a parlia- 
 mentary candidate was addressed to Feargus 
 O'Connor ; but some tliirty or forty of the stout 
 yeomen farmers of the county requested the 
 honour of his gracious company to a public enter- 
 tainment. 
 
 The dinner took place. There was plenty of 
 mutton ; plenty of good hot punch, and more than 
 a plenty of speechifying. Feargus out-feargused 
 himself in his acknowledgments to the large and 
 enlightened body of the electors of the county 
 by whom he had the pleasure to see himself sur- 
 rounded, and who had proved their wisdom and 
 judgment by naming as their future member so 
 devoted, disinterested, and talented a gentleman 
 VOL. I. c 
 
26 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 as himself. The orator rattled on — the auditory 
 shouted on, (moistening their throats abundantly 
 the while) — the night wore on till long past the 
 witching hour, when all who were ca^oahle of 
 motion went off in one fashion or other ; and 
 Feargus himself took his departure, full of glory, 
 to his own domicile; unconscious of the aniare 
 aliquid which awaited him there in the shape of 
 a bill for the entire cost of the dinner and, (accord- 
 ing to some versions of the story,) for the stabling 
 of the farmers' horses, while their owners were 
 entertaining him ! 
 
 In his canvass he was assisted by, and in his 
 turn rendered back the same assistance to his 
 cousin, O'Neill Daunt, then standing, and after- 
 Avards elected, for the borough of IMallow. Be- 
 tween them both the plan of taking county and 
 borough aristocrats simultaneously by surprise 
 had been concocted and carried out by both with 
 infinite cleverness ; but Daunt, although very far 
 superior to O'Connor in information, tastes, habits 
 of life, and general ability, was no match for him 
 in dexterity, and had a lamentable proof of it on 
 one occasion in particular, when as both stood on 
 the hustings, Daunt, to his dismay and horror, had 
 
REPEAL AGITATION. 27 
 
 to listen Avlille Feargus delivered oj-e rotundo, 
 and greatly to the admiration of the multitude, 
 the very speech that Daunt himself had most 
 carefully prepared for that particular occasion; 
 Feargus having during their journey to the place 
 of meeting most industriously and successfully 
 immped his unsuspecting companion of his tropes 
 and topics, and, in short, all his treasured elo- 
 quence ! 
 
 Longford, Meath, King's and Queen's County, 
 Kildare, Kilkenny county and city, Clonmel, 
 Ross, Youghal, and other counties, cities and 
 towns bore good witness, as well as Cork county 
 and Mallow borough, at this general election to 
 the determination of the people in favour of the 
 new agitation for repeal. The agitation indeed 
 was new, but the subject itself was long familiar 
 and dear to their hearts. The people of Ireland 
 had never acquiesced in the degradation of their 
 country by the Legislative Union. To the utmost 
 that their voice could be raised they had protested 
 against it in 1799 and 1800 ; and during the thirty 
 years that had elapsed since the latter year their 
 continued aversion to that disastrous measure had 
 been manifested at every possible opportunity. 
 
 c 2 
 
28 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The struggle for Catholic Emancipation had 
 intervened to occupy their attention and engross 
 their energies, but what they ever recognised as 
 the great question — that of Ireland's legislative 
 independence, was never forgotten : and the 
 moment that the passing of the Emancipation 
 Act disembarrassed tliem of one struggle, they 
 girt up their loins readily, cheerfully, and eagerly 
 to eno'ao-e in anotlier. 
 
 Had not my father shown them that lie was as 
 ready to lead them on in the repeal agitation as 
 he had been in the one just then brought to a 
 triumphant conclnsion, they would have passed 
 him by, and gone forward at the call, and under 
 the disastrous guidance of the first wild and 
 reckless adventurer that presented himself with 
 the magic rallying cry of " repeal " upon his lips. 
 
 Even Feargus O'Connor might, in such a con- 
 tingency, have got at least temporarily into the 
 ascendant; and done as much mischief to the 
 liberal cause, and as much service to the enemies 
 of the people in Ireland, as he has managed to 
 do in England. 
 
 We had a '^national council" of all our new- 
 fledged repeal members in Dublin a week before 
 
THE " NATIONAL COUNCIL." 29 
 
 the opening of the session of 1833; and had 
 indulged in someday dreams as to the influence 
 which its deliherations might have in both 
 countries; and the energetic unity of action 
 in Parliament that might be amongst its re- 
 sults. 
 
 But within the narrow compass of five or six 
 days, which was all that could be spared for the 
 purpose between the last of the elections and the 
 meeting of Parliament, it was impracticable, 
 especially with men for the most part new to 
 public business, to shape out any very definite 
 conclusions; and so little more was realized by 
 our meetings than the making us mutually ac- 
 quainted. 
 
 The tribute is due to the gentlemen who then 
 assembled, to say of them, that, new to Parlia- 
 ment as they were, and severe and sudden as was 
 the change from the applause and enthusiasm 
 with which they had been surrounded at their 
 elections, to the jibes, sneers, attacks, and hostile 
 shouts of an overwhelming majority ranged 
 against them and against their country, scarce 
 one of them quailed, or proved otherwise un- 
 worthy of his trust. 
 
30 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The Irisli popular M.P. has a difficult charge of 
 it when he is faithful to his constituency and 
 country, and anxious to be active in their service. 
 In the first place, he has to enter and labour in a 
 House, in which, notwithstanding all the fair pro- 
 fessions that are made, the immense majority are 
 more oi- less prejudiced against everything Irish; 
 — and prejudiced from childhood and by education. 
 In the next place, the limited and grievously 
 restricted nature of the Parliamentary franchise 
 given to Ireland by her Keform Bill, and the 
 farther limitations whicli its connexion with the 
 tenure of land enables the larger proprietors, (of 
 whom unhappily for all parties very many are 
 hostile to popular rights,) to impose and effect ; 
 operate so to restrict and liamper the wishes and 
 the choice of the constituencies, as not only to 
 make few in number, but still fewer in spirit and 
 efficiency, the real Kepresentatives of the Irish 
 people. 
 
 Such of those representatives, therefore, as 
 seek to be active, must fight their way through a 
 thousand discourao;cments : oettino; little counte- 
 nance and less assistance from their own friends ; 
 and sure to be assailed without mercy by the 
 
IRISH POPULAR PRESS. 31 
 
 thronging host of those wlio see in Ireland only a 
 turbnlent province, which is best ruled when her 
 cries are choked down in her throat by the strong 
 hand of arbitary power. 
 
 There is not quite a sufficient recollection of 
 these circumstances in the harsh judgments which 
 tlic Irlsli popular press so frequently pass upon 
 the Irisli members returned on the popular in- 
 terest. There cannot, of course, be a doubt that 
 within reasonable limits nothing can be more use- 
 ful, or indeed necessary, than the surveillance of 
 the press over the conduct of public men ; but 
 when any and every occasion is taken to assail, 
 and vao-ue and general accusations are thrown out 
 and argued upon as if they Avere specific facts, 
 wliile everything at all creditable to tlie accused 
 is omitted, the only purpose served is to dis- 
 concert and distract still more the popular 
 mind, to the great profit and satisfaction of the 
 enemy; 
 
 While we regret, however, this useless and 
 mischievous practice of incessant carping, sneer- 
 ing at, and attacking, with scarcely any discrimi- 
 nation, and often with the slenderest possible 
 foundation, men who have quite difficulties enough 
 
32 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 in England to encounter, without having any 
 addition made to them from home, it must be 
 allowed to be only what is naturally to be ex- 
 pected in an oppressed and degraded country. 
 Slaves are ever found to be ready to attack their 
 fellow-slaves ; to the infinite joy and advantage of 
 the common oppressor. 
 
 The remark is trite, that few men from whom 
 anything is expected, and who come late in life 
 into Parliament, ever realize the expectations 
 formed of them. Cobbett was an instance of this : 
 his parliamentary displays foiling very sliort in- 
 deed in quality and effect, of his clear, pungent, 
 and powerful writings. 
 
 Still there was much to attract attention. In 
 speech and delivery he was quite as dogmatical 
 and as dotcnright as in his Avritten diatribes ; and 
 he had quite as much sarcastic audacity of self- 
 possession as though he were a wealthy patrician- 
 member of that tuft-hunting House. 
 
 The name of Lord Plunkett, then, and for some 
 years later, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, having 
 been mixed up with our earlier debates on the 
 Coercion Bill, owing to a quotation by one of our 
 party from his lordship's ancient denunciations of 
 
WILLIAM COBBETT.— LORD PLUNKETT. 
 
 33 
 
 the Legislative Union, Cobbett took the noble 
 chancellor in hand. The latter, Avhen a member 
 of the Irish House of Commons in 1799, had 
 
 spoken thus : — 
 
 « I, in the most express terms, deny the com- 
 petency of Parliament to pass this act (Union) ; 
 I warn you, do not dare to lay your hands upon 
 the Constitution. I tell you that if you do pa^s 
 it, it will be a mere nullity, and no man in 
 Ireland will be bound to obey it. . . . You are 
 appointed to make laws, not legislatures ; . . . 
 to exercise the functions of legislators, not to 
 transfer them ; and if you do so, your act is a 
 dissolution of the government, and no man in 
 the land is bound to obey you!" 
 
 And the Patriot (as he was then) finished his 
 powerful harangue with a declaration, that if the 
 Union passed into a law, he would imitate the 
 Carthaginian father, by swearing his sons upon 
 the altar to an eternal hostility ! 
 
 Cobbett dwelt heavily on the contrast between 
 such speeches and his lordship's conduct, in being 
 accessary, as an influential member of the Irish 
 Government, to the attempt then making to con- 
 found a legal and constitutional agitation in the 
 
 c 3 
 
34 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 same penal repression with agrarian ontrage and 
 murder. 
 
 But the grand point was the IIamilcar pledge, 
 l^rom a document with which he had taken care 
 to provide himself, Cobbett read out slowly and 
 with most distinct and sarcastic emphasis, name 
 after name of son, son-in-law, and relative of Lord 
 Plunkett's, who liad been snugly provided for 
 one way or other since the Union ; without an}^- 
 thing liaving been heard of the undying hatred 
 and hostility to which they were to have been 
 pledged as regarded that measure. As he finislied 
 the description of the place and emoluments which 
 each enjoyed, Cobbett, witli his hands in his 
 pockets, and occasionally turning his back, in not 
 the most orderly way, to the Treasury Bench, 
 while he looked full in our anuised and responsi\'e 
 countenances, wound up with, 
 
 " There s a pretty Hannibal for you !" 
 As if their degradation by the provisions of 
 the Union- Act were not enough for them, our 
 unfortunate Irish lords have too often of their 
 own act further degraded themselves. Plunkett 
 has not only totally ignored his pledge before- 
 mentioned, but has done Janissary work for the 
 
" AN IRISH PEER." 35 
 
 Engllsli uj^liolders of the Uniorij by a letter 
 which he pubhshed some years ago, regretting 
 that he had ever had the manliness to be a 
 patriot. 
 
 In one of his last decisions, just before the 
 Whigs put him on the shelf, he had to review a 
 case that had once been in the Irish House 
 of Lords. After declaring his reasons for dis- 
 senting from tlie conclusions which had appeared 
 to have been come to there, he ended with 
 the sneering remark, " So much for your Irish 
 lords!" 
 
 "He is quite right," said a young barrister, 
 " the Irish lords are indeed fallen into contempt. 
 He knew his condition when he spoke." 
 
 The designation of " an Irish Peer," is a matter 
 of jest and laughter in the English pot-houses. 
 The idea of a peer without rights — a peer in 
 name, and in one or two pitiful privileges, but not 
 in that which in this aristocratic country is the 
 great and essential quality of a peer — the quality 
 of a hereditary legislator. 
 
 Our Irish premier nobleman — our only DuJce, 
 sits in the English legislature, not in virtue of his 
 nominally high rank in Ireland, but by the not 
 
36 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 very euphonious nor exalted English title of 
 " Viscount Taploiol " 
 
 The discussions on the Coercion Bill went their 
 course slowly, by reason of our determined and 
 unwearying opposition ; and as they proceeded 
 became more and more marked with acerbity, and 
 indeed with not a little violence. In truth, it 
 may be said, (and any one who witnessed, and 
 still bears in mind the incidents of that period, 
 will not consider it an exaggeration,) that there 
 were not a few nights when, so great was the 
 storm brewed against us by the genius of mischief. 
 Lord Stanley, that a proposition to turn the Irish 
 members out of the House would have been 
 hailed and carried with eager acclamation. 
 
 I have already alluded to the impressions made 
 upon some of us parliamentary novices, when we 
 first heard Sir Robert Peel. In doing so I have 
 spoken more of the manner, than of the matter 
 and bearing of his speech. 
 
 I must confess to the folly of having enter- 
 tained a species of bastard hope as to the line he 
 would take. I thought it might be, that he would, 
 by withstanding the current then setting so hotly 
 against Ireland, have at leuQ'th made some little 
 
SIR ROBERT PEEL. 37 
 
 reparation for the many mischiefs clone her clurino- 
 his tenure of office. I know not whether this not 
 very sapient expectation was based upon one, or 
 upon a combination of two possibilities (of 
 which only the latter had any p'ohaUlity about 
 it)— first, that he might have the grace to repent 
 of his old offences against Ireland ; and secondly, 
 that he would take the opportunit}^, which oppos- 
 ing the Coercion Bill would give, of annoying and 
 embarrassing the Whigs. 
 
 My delusion, however it arose, was very short- 
 lived indeed. The right honourable gentleman's 
 speech was all that Lord Stanley's heart could 
 wish — unfair, unjust, calumnious, and severe 
 towards Ireland. As a mere party politician. Sir 
 Robert Peel had, perhaps, no other course to 
 take; derogatory as it was to his claims to be 
 considered a statesman. 
 
 His party, who had by no means forgiven, nor 
 forgotten, what they deemed his treachery at 
 the time of the Rehef Bill in the year 1829, 
 would have totally and utterly abandoned him, 
 had he neglected so fair an opportunity of leading 
 them on to have their revenge on the Irish agita- 
 tors, and ultimately on the English Reformers. . 
 
38 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The Irisli agitators were to be punished for the 
 double offence of having effected the defeat of tlie 
 Tory party in 1829, and having potently assisted 
 in their defeat in 1842. The English Reformers, 
 again, were ultimately to be reached by the ope- 
 ration of the bad and dangerous precedents, and 
 the innovations on popular liberty, to which an 
 adroit playing on their anti-Irish feelings and igno- 
 rant prejudices was inducing them to be accessory. 
 
 The speech in question was most unjust and 
 unfair, and, in truth, even calumnious; inasmuch 
 as it confounded every species of manifestation of 
 popular discontent in a common reprobation with 
 agrarian crime ; and inflamed the passions of his 
 auditory with a highl3^-coloured melodramatic 
 description of an outrage 'perpetrated thirteen years 
 before i as a reason for crushing political liberty 
 at the time he was speaking. 
 
 The House, which always sliows a timid obse- 
 quiousness and a corresponding adulatory spirit tc> 
 Sir Robert Peel, cheered him to the echo; and 
 for the Avhile it seemed as if his recent losses and 
 defeats were all at once retrieved, and that lie was 
 once again the leader and master of a sweeping 
 majority 4 
 
MR. o'connell's tail. 39 
 
 Early In the session Cobbett made a motion for 
 an address to His Majesty to remove Sir Kobert 
 Peel's name from the roll of the privy council. 
 The cause assigned was, the mischievous effects, 
 according to Cobbett, of Peel's currency policy. 
 I was one of four unfortunates who, amid the 
 laughter and jeers of the House, went out In 
 favour of the motion w^lien the division came 
 I did so, not for Cobbett's reasons, but my ow^n — 
 viz. the mischiefs done to Ireland by the object of 
 his wrath. It was not a very legitimate, but 
 neither was it a very unnatural vote. 
 
 The speech of Emerson Tennant, then M.P. 
 for Belfast (at present secretary to the Governor 
 of the Ionian Isles, and known as Sir James 
 Emerson,) which was violently in favour of the 
 Coercion Bill, gave occasion to a pardonable 7;?^;?- 
 on the part of one of our men, James Boe, M.P. 
 for Cashel — one of the best and truest of our 
 band. Alluding at once to the cant name given 
 in the House to the Irish M.P.s, that of being 
 O'Connell's "^«//," and to the suspicion that had 
 attached to Mr. Emerson Tennant's then recent 
 conversion from ultra-republicanism to arbitrary 
 principles of government — (a conversion not very 
 
40 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 charitably but yeiy generally attributed to a 
 desire of getting place) — Mr. lloe remarked: — 
 " It is quite clear that gentleman is not a tenant 
 in taili though he may be a tenant in fee /" 
 
 Another of our men, the excellent and most 
 respectable Mr. Lalor, then ]M- P. for Queen's 
 County, is said to have snatched the occasion for 
 a pun in his own plain country dialect, from the 
 circumstance of seeing Mr. Pease, the Quaker 
 member for Darlington, and the late Mr. Baines, 
 M.P. for Leeds, come into the House together. 
 " Oh," said he, " we are well off now — for here 
 we have Paas and Baans (peas and beans) at the 
 same time." 
 
 Sharp and angry as were the debates on the 
 two important subjects that came on the tapis 
 next after the passing of the Coercion Bill, 
 namely, the re-arrangement of Church Tempo- 
 ralities in Ireland, and the Abolition of Negro 
 Slavery, they brought relief to us, poor hunted- 
 down Irish members. We had no longer to 
 bear the brunt of the whole war — to be per- 
 petually on the qui xioe to repel attacks, watch 
 backsliders, and encourage friends. AVe were no 
 longer a scanty band, struggling vainly against 
 
CHURCH TEMPORALITIES BILL. 41 
 
 1 
 
 an overwhelming and tyrant majority; but men 
 acting in concert with one of the great English 
 parties in the House, and inevitably voting in the 
 same divisions with many of those who had been 
 lately among our fiercest assailants. 
 
 Of the Church Temporalities Bill, as it was not 
 a measure of remedy or relief of so heavy a 
 national grievance as the Church Establishment 
 in Ireland, but a mere re-arrangement of some 
 of the latter's details, I shall say nothing more 
 than that it was amusing to see the paralysis, as 
 it were, of astonishment caused in many of those 
 who had recently been enthusiastically praising, 
 cheering, and following Lord Stanley, by the 
 cavalier manner in which he knocked down bishop 
 after bisliop, and partitioned or re-partitioned, 
 reduced or consolidated, the various money-getting 
 posts of the Establishment. 
 
 I should say, that on this bill several of us 
 Catholic Members did not vote at all; — not 
 because we conceived that any subject within 
 the province of Parliament could rightfully be 
 tabooed to us — but as a matter of feeling. If 
 such a thing could happen as that the internal 
 concerns of our Church, by any misfortune, hap- 
 
42 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 penecl to come under discussion in Parliahient, 
 we should not much relish their being handled by 
 those who differ from us in religion : and Ave 
 therefore in this case only did as^ in the case just 
 supposed, we should have wished others to do by us. 
 The mixed divisions, therefore, to which I have 
 alluded, were not upon the Temporalities question, 
 but on that of Negro Emancipation. 
 
 The step with reference to the latter that was 
 taken by Parliament in the session of 1833, was 
 one that has been much and variously, but very 
 unjustly assailed. It was a noble act! Paltry 
 and unworthy motives may be, and have been, 
 assigned for it; and undoubtedly such motives 
 had influence, and extensive influence. But it 
 is still more unworthy than the worst of 
 these motives, to deny the general praise of 
 magnificent generosity to the people of these 
 realms, for their having so generally sanctioned 
 the large expenditure of twenty millions, to 
 purchase the enfranchisement of the West Indian 
 negroes. 
 
 That our poor Irish people should give their 
 sanction, was natural enoujxh. 
 
 " A fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind !" 
 
NEGRO EMANCIPATION. 43 
 
 And the fellow feeling of degradation and oppres- 
 sion naturally inclined them to sympathise with 
 the negro. But tliat England and Scotland — rich, 
 money getting, money loving — looking upon feel- 
 ing and sentimentality as little less than a crime, 
 and as the absurdest of follies — should with so little 
 remonstrance, nay, with so mucli cheerfulness of 
 assent, allow so large a sum to be abstracted 
 from the national resources, and sunk as it w^ere 
 in what the not very amiable nor over-enlightened 
 class who are specially called " practical men," 
 stigmatized as a dangerous and extravagant ex- 
 periment, — this argues a fund of native rectitude 
 — much overlaid and deeply hidden — but still 
 existing, and sound at bottom, that goes far to 
 redeem and wipe out the memory of years of 
 questionable and guilty acts. 
 
 JSTo doubt the parties who got the money had 
 no real title to it ; and no doubt at all that to call 
 it "compensation," or "indemnity," or "purchase- 
 money," was and is an abuse of terms, and an 
 insult to humanity. There could be no right of 
 property of one human being in another ; and if 
 " indemnity," or " compensation," were words at 
 all to be used, they should have been employed to 
 
44 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 signify what was dne from, and not to, the holders 
 of slaves. 
 
 Human slavery is an outrage of natural right 
 and natural law, which no lapse of time, and no 
 combination of circumstances, can make a rightful 
 and a just state of things. Whosoever is party to 
 it, whether by drawing profit therefrom, or giving 
 it a tacit sanction where his denunciation might 
 have effect, is guilty of fraud and robbery of the 
 worst kind; and in the eye of the moralist is 
 bound to make restitution and retribution quite as 
 stringently — nay, far more so — than the man who 
 plunders another of sums of money, or lawful 
 money's worth. The owners and holders of West 
 Indian estates had therefore no species of ri^ht 
 whatever to the money given them by Parliament 
 in 1833, — nay, ought not to have touched it at all, 
 save as for the purpose of handing it over directly 
 and totally to their black fellow-creatures, whom 
 they had unlawfully and criminally held in bond- 
 age. 
 
 But with these considerations the c^i'^ant of the 
 money by the British people had nothing at all 
 to do : except in so far as it was a noble atone- 
 ment for whatever share of guilt was involved in 
 
NO JUSTICE FOB IRELAND. 45 
 
 their having previously tolerated the holding of 
 slaves by the colonists. Under all aspects, this 
 vote of the House of Commons, so little opposed 
 in the country, so little repented of since, so 
 readily and unhesitatingly sanctioned, was an act 
 that has oast lustre on the British name, far 
 beyond what could attach to It from the most 
 brilliant victories, and the most extensive con- 
 
 quests in war. 
 
 Why is it that a nation capable of such acts as 
 thcse-with so many sterling qualities of head 
 and heart in the aggregate as well as in the 
 individual-appears to be utterly incapable ol 
 justice or reason, where Ireland is concerned; 
 and prefers the precarious bond of force to hold 
 the latter, rather than the far more enduring and 
 indissoluble ties of conciliated and grateful affec- 
 tion, mutual respect and mutual interest? 
 
 It is hard to over-calculate the degree of pro- 
 sperity to which the United Kingdom might 
 attain. If Ireland were but conciliated. If so 
 much has been accomplished while a large portion 
 of the resources of the empire were hampered 
 and crippled by the necessity of holding down 
 and watching Ireland, what might not be the 
 
40 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 result, if kindly and just treatment towards the 
 latter not only removed these impediments and 
 stays, but liberated also the abounding resources 
 of Ireland, to bear their part in advancing and 
 promoting the common weal ! 
 
 But, unhappily, it is idle to make these reflec- 
 tions. Prejudice and short-sightedness must have 
 their way, and work out their own sad results. 
 And yet how easily might not those results be 
 averted ! 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 TJIB " IRISH MEMBERS."— IRISH rBCULIARITIES.— THE BROGUE.— 
 ENGLISH AND SCOTCH PRONUNCIATION.— IRISH ENERGY.— CHURCH 
 TEMPORALITIES, ANI> COERCION BILLS." TUB CHARTISTS.— RESULTS 
 OF THE SESSION. — SUPPRESSION OF POPULAR OPINION IR IRELAND. — 
 MR. MONTGOMERY MARTIN. — ARREST OP MR. o'CONNELL. — TOM 
 STEELE. 
 
 Nothing more forcibly strikes an Irishman, 
 upon his entrance into and first acquaintance with 
 the House of Commons, than the discourteousness 
 amonff themselves of his brother-members be- 
 lonoiinj^ to the sister-countries ; especially, or at 
 any rate most evidently, of those belonging to 
 England. 
 
 And this applies not only to men sitting at 
 different sides of the House, for whom the ex- 
 cuse of the excitement of conflicting opinions 
 might be pleaded ; but to men sitting and voting 
 at the same side, and in many cases known to, and 
 acting with each other through several successive 
 
48 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 parliaments. A set of village school-boys could 
 not be more unceremonious with eacli other. 
 
 It would be absurd to deny that the House 
 contains many deserving to be ranked among 
 those whom tlie phrase handle of George the 
 Fourth's time would describe as " the first gentle- 
 men of Europe." But it would be equally absurd 
 to contend that the natural gene and cold 
 
 abrupt manner of the Englishman does not break 
 
 I- 
 
 througli all the lackering derived from position, 
 careful teaching, and finished art. 
 
 Despite the severity of the proverbs against 
 him, tlie Scot will often display an easier and a 
 kinder manner than his " Southron" neighbour, 
 who seems haunted with a constant terror of 
 committing himself. The bluntness which is 
 common to both is mixed up with frankness in 
 the former case, but with a cold misgiving reserve 
 in the latter. 
 
 I am, of course, speaking of mere manner; 
 and am not at all desirous of entering into a dis- 
 quisition upon more important qualities. As to 
 graver defects, and as to sterling virtues, of cha- 
 racter and conduct, the representatives of the two 
 countries, like those from whom they have 
 
THE "IRISH MEMBERS." 49 
 
 received their respective missions, are pretty 
 much on a par ; and all tliat need be further said 
 of them is, that it is to be regretted they do not 
 correct the one, and in their dealings with poor 
 Ireland, give her the benefit of the other. 
 
 But as the name of Ireland here obtrudes it- 
 self, as it does in everything and everywhere, a 
 word or two suggest themselves with reference to 
 the Irish members, in the particulars of manner 
 and outward habit of bearing just alluded to in 
 the case of their lesjislative colleas^ues of England 
 and of Scotland. 
 
 The " Irisli Members " have long been game to 
 the many small, and few and far-between great 
 wits of the metropolis. A vigilant', and most 
 unsparing criticism, perhaps a little smacking of 
 international antipathies, has most carefully 
 
 " Set in a note-book, — learu'd and conn'd by rote." 
 
 every defect, every chance peculiarity of manner 
 and of speech, that have marked, or by any inge- 
 nuity could be attributed to, these deputies from 
 the modern Carthage to the modern Rome. 
 
 By a kind of prescription, the term "Irish 
 INIembers" has most constantly been understood 
 
 YOL. I. D 
 
50 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 to apply, and been applied, to tliat portion of tliem 
 who were more immediately identified with popu- 
 lar opinions in Ireland, and returned on popular 
 principles. The Irish Members returned upon 
 other principles, showed themselves, at least such 
 of them as were in the House during my earlier 
 parliamentary experiences, only too glad to have 
 us so called ; partly because they looked to fur- 
 ther enlisting English prejudices against the 
 popular party of Ireland, and partly through a 
 bastard hope of being considered genteelly English 
 themselves. And we have not been at all reluc- 
 tant to accept of the designation, believing our- 
 selves the best entitled to it, in its true and 
 honourable sense. But since the extreme struggle 
 of English parties has terminated, a new order of 
 things, as Avell as a new set of gentlemen on the 
 benches of the Anglo-Irish members, is to be re- 
 marked ; and while under the one a distinction is 
 no longer recognised among the representatives 
 of Ireland, neither do the other claim it, at least 
 by any means so eagerly and anxiously, as was the 
 wont of their remarkably " genteel " predecessors. 
 The national peculiarities of the Conservative 
 Irishman are as eagerly noted, and as much 
 
IRISH PECULIARITIES. 51 
 
 exulted over non', when the break-up of English 
 parties makes it of less importance to keep him in 
 good humour, as ever have been those of the 
 roughest and readiest Repealer. 
 
 Of Irish peculiarities, the most noticeable is of 
 course i\\Q " brogue," with all its varieties, dis- 
 tinguishable so readily by our ears, but by those 
 of a "Saxon" confounded all in one hideous 
 cacopJiony. There is the lounging, easy-going, 
 drawling, saucy-toned Dublin accent; with the 
 several variations upon it that mark nearly all the 
 other counties of the province of Leinster. Then 
 follow the plain, outspoken, unmitigated roughness 
 of Waterford; the voluble, and somewhat sing- 
 song brogue of the beautiful city and county of 
 Cork ; — that of Tipperary, rough and racy of the 
 soil, even as the Tipperary men themselves; — 
 Limerick, with its tones more grasmfant, but 
 quite as unmistakeable ; Clare, and "the king- 
 dom" of Kerry, rapid, harsh, and fierce in sound; 
 and finally, the infinite sub-varieties of brogue 
 throughout the province of Connaught, running 
 through the whole diapason of discord. 
 
 The North can be dismissed in a very few 
 words. Take all the varieties and sub-varieties of 
 
 D 2 
 
52 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 all the other districts or provinces, and engraft 
 them respectively upon the stifFest and most un- 
 couth specimen of broad lowland Scotch, and 
 thus, with the exception of a few scattered dis- 
 tricts, chiefly in the north-west of Ulster, where 
 the aboriginal brogue " is yet to be found in all its 
 pristine purity and richness," you have the " human 
 voice divine," as it issues from the fancies of a 
 J^orth of Ireland man ! 
 
 No doubt all these accents are exceedingly dis- 
 agreeable to "polite" English ears; and in the 
 House of Commons we get proofs enough that 
 the " lingua Inglese in hocca Irlandesey'' is not at 
 all pleasant to our British and North-British 
 colleagues; but they have the remedy in their 
 own hands. We do not quarrel with the brogue ; 
 we are very well content with it at home, and 
 with our own portion of it ; and we would gladly 
 spare Englishmen and Scotchmen the annoyances 
 of it, if enabled to do so by their consenting 
 to dismiss us home, there to discuss in our 
 own way, and in our own way to settle, our own 
 affairs. 
 
 There is one accent, however, or mongrel 
 mixture of accents, which receives no mercy in 
 
IRISH PRONUNCIATION. 53 
 
 Ireland. It is the worst, and most unpardonable of 
 all ear-grievances, and a heavy aggravation of all 
 and every species of the brogue. I speak of the 
 attempt, unhappily not uncommon, to plate the 
 latter over, as it were, with the choicest specimens 
 of cockneyism ! 
 
 A certain most highly respectable gentleman of 
 the western province of Ireland, now some time 
 dead, was much noted for this. Of him it Avas 
 commonly remarked, that his accent was rather 
 "too English for the English themselves!''^ It 
 was also commonly reported that once wdien 
 he was passing through a vilkigc-town wlicrc he 
 expected to find post-commands for himself and a 
 neighbouring baronet, at whose house he happened 
 to be residing, something like the following 
 question and answer were overheard at the 
 Post-office window, between him and the official 
 within : — 
 
 " Any letta-s {letters), pray, for Sir John ? " 
 
 (pronouncing the Sir John as if spelled Sirrjin,. 
 and to the ear of the unsophisticated post-master 
 as if it were " Surgeon,^^ a grade usually con- 
 founded in Ireland with that of physician, under 
 the common designation of doctor?) 
 
54 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " No, Sir^ there's nothing here for any Docther 
 at all!" 
 
 There was in the House of Commons at the 
 period of the Coercion Bill for Ireland, introduced 
 by Lord Stanley, and at a much later period, — 
 perhaps even at the present day there may be still, 
 as we might find, were there a Parliamentary 
 Guide-book at hand, — another equally respectable 
 gentleman from Ireland, though not from the 
 province of Connaught, heavily afflicted with the 
 same malady which Richard Slieil would not 
 hesitate to denominate " complicated cacophony." 
 In general he began his speeclics, and often every 
 sentence in his speeches, with specimens of the 
 purest classic of Cockaigne ; but the dear country 
 was ever sure to assert itself in honest unmistakc- 
 able broQ-ue before he could deliver himself of a 
 dozen words. It was his custom most sedulously 
 and laboriously to fine off the concluding letter of 
 omne quod exit in R, into a vowel ; making com- 
 pensation, however, when he encountered that 
 canine consonant in the middle of a word by 
 rattling it off his tongue with redoubled vehe- 
 mence and roundness. Such words as " Chan- 
 cellor" and Exchequer" were etherealized into 
 
ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION. 55 
 
 something quite beyond all imitation or conception; 
 Avliile "property^"' and ^^ Ireland'''' 
 
 " Koused us like a rattling peal of thunder !" 
 
 The individual in question is a gentleman of good 
 social j)osition and private estimation ; highly- 
 intelligent and capable. We used to regret that 
 a man perfectly well qualified to take and hold a 
 position of respectable influence in the House, 
 should thus, no doubt quite unconsciously, expose 
 himself to the ridicule, not only of those whose 
 opinions he would value, but of persons far his 
 inferiors in good qualities and abilities. 
 In short, we used to wish that he 
 
 " Could hear himself as others heard him ;" 
 
 and he, doubtless, has often returned the friendly 
 wish ; doubtless, too, with far more good reason, 
 appropriateness, and necessity, at least in so far 
 as his present commentator is concerned. 
 
 But the laugh is not always against Irish- 
 men alone, upon the score of accent. Almost 
 every Englishman in the House adds to the diffi- 
 culties of the vexed question of the Poor-Law, 
 by calling it the " Poor-Lawr." And, indeed. 
 
56 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 generally speaking the R is in great requisition 
 at the end of all words terminating with a vowel. 
 
 I recollect, too, an English baronet exceedingly 
 severe upon something which he stigmatized as 
 an " Hirish way of doing business, that he \yped 
 the ^Ouse Avould never consent to — " 
 
 And we have heard Scotchman calling unto 
 Scotchman — (the one in a Jiigh position in the 
 House, the other awaiting a summons at the Bar 
 of the same,) — in something of the following- 
 style : — 
 
 " Musther Jems {James) ! 
 
 '' Jicpurrt, Sir ! " 
 
 " Please to bring it up !" &c. &c. &c. 
 
 A second much laughed at peculiarity of the 
 Irish M.P.s, is their warmth in speaking, and 
 violence of gesture. 
 
 To this, as to the " brogue," we simply plead 
 '' Guilty /" When we are in earnest, we cannot 
 help seeming so ; and it requires a long experience 
 and practice in England for us to know how to 
 freeze or starch ourselves up, like our respected 
 fellow-subjects " to the manner born." Irish 
 persons long resident in England do indeed, at 
 length, attain this knowledge ; and, in fact, as 
 
IRISH ENERGY. 57 
 
 generally happens with imitators, ratlier overdo 
 the thing. But it is a hard and disagreeable 
 lesson. 
 
 A fan* countrywoman, married most happily in 
 England, once told me that notwithstanding the 
 great and constant kindness of the family and 
 friends of her excellent husband, yet she lived in 
 a continual tremor lest she might give offence, 
 by not being cold, reserved, and distant enough 
 to suit the society in which she moved. 
 
 Again, there is another consideration which 
 ought to be admitted by our censors as some 
 palliation for our crime of Use-retenu. Poor 
 Sisyphus would scarcely have been criticised for 
 the sweats upon his doomed brow, in his never- 
 ending labours to roll up the ever-rebounding 
 stone of his punishment. And is not our labour 
 SisypJiean, in its painful and unintermitting fruit- 
 lessness, when session after session we vainly try 
 to impress upon the English mind the real 
 miseries of unhappy Ireland, and tlieir real and 
 only remedies ! 
 
 After that magniloquent comparison and meta- 
 phor, we must return to our muttons. 
 
 The extreme excitement of the early part of 
 
 D 3 
 
58 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 the Parliamentary campaign of 1833 had its re- 
 action, like all other excitements. The session 
 
 began-— 
 
 " Gay, desperate, daslaing, down-hilly, 
 
 And ended as dull as a six-inside dilly." 
 
 It can scarcely be necessary to remark, that 
 these Experiences can have no pretentions whatever 
 to the accurate particularity of a historical review, 
 or record, and therefore do not require a metho- 
 dical settling down of events in their due order, 
 with disquisitions upon each. I merely note 
 down, then, that among the few remaining occur- 
 rences of interest in the first session of the first 
 reformed Parliament, were, the abandonment by 
 ministers of the 147th clause in the Church Tem- 
 poralities Bill ; and the controversy as to the 
 legality or otherwise of Political Unions, and 
 Chartist organizations; the latter dating their 
 commencement from the subsidence of the lie- 
 form agitation, after its immediate object had 
 been attained. 
 
 The 147th clause of the Church Temporalities 
 Bill went to provide, that after satisfying all 
 wants and requirements of the Establishment of 
 the State Church, any possible surplus that might 
 
CHUHCU TEMPORALITIES BILL. 59 
 
 remain of tlie latter's revenues should be at tlie 
 disposal of Parliament, for purposes of general 
 education, &c. &c. 
 
 The contingency was remote as tlie poles are 
 asunder ; but the principle, namely, the applica- 
 bility of any portion of State Church-revenue to 
 other tlian Church purposes, was new ; and to 
 the Dissentinsc communitv, and also to the Ca- 
 tholics of the United Kingdom, it was of much 
 value ; as tlie first faint but decided blow at the 
 old injustice of locking up such heavy sums out 
 of the national resources, for the use and pur- 
 poses of one communion alone, to the exclusion of 
 all others. 
 
 " Only swallow this little physic," says the 
 wheedling nurse to the refractory child, " and see 
 what a nice lump of sugar you shall get after- 
 wards ! '^ 
 
 " Only swallow this little Coercion Bill," said 
 Lord Stanley to the Irish members, and to the 
 liberal Dissenters of the House, ** and see what' 
 a beautiful principle of Church- property-appro- 
 priation I '11 establish for you then ! " Well — 
 the physic ivas swallowed, hon gre mal grc, the 
 Coercion-Bill teas passed, — not indeed with the 
 
GO PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Irish members' good-will and consent; but cer- 
 ttainly "witli that of many of the representatives 
 of the Dissenters. As soon as its passing was 
 secure. Lord Stanley came down to the House, 
 and coolly told his dupes that the sugar should 
 not be given— the " appropriation" principle should 
 not be enunciated ! 
 
 The Chartists made a procession up to the 
 Home-Office to present a petition. The gather- 
 ing, according to the pompous previous announce- 
 ments, was to be at the least 30,000 " fighting 
 men." Some alarm was occasioned, and precau- 
 tions were taken by the Government with a quiet- 
 ness and efficiency that did them credit. Soldiers 
 were under arms, and police distributed in fcrce 
 in every direction ; but kept out of sight till the 
 moment they might be wanting. The procession 
 was then allowed to take its course, and a very 
 poor affair it turned out to be, compared Avith its 
 promises : and the Secretary for the Home De- 
 partment, the late Lord Melbourne, having very 
 properly refused an interview to petitioners en 
 masse J they went back, like the Sultan of Serendib, 
 " as sad as they came." The preparations against 
 " accident ^^ on this occasion were quite as efficient 
 
RESULTS OF THE SESSION. 61 
 
 as those of April last, without any of the rather 
 overdone demonstrations and oddities of special 
 constableship, and the very energetic bathos of the 
 police procLimations, to " fright the souls of fearful 
 adversaries ! " 
 
 The results of the session of 1833 may he 
 summed up in two sentences. A great — indeed a 
 magnificent act of justice was done, wdiich re- 
 deemed England entirely and for ever from the 
 hideous guilt of Negro slavery. An additional 
 and a heavy injustice was inflicted upon un- 
 fortunate Ireland : — one sad item more added to 
 the long and bitter account that for centuries has 
 been growing up between her and the dominant 
 country. England thus wipes out one black stain 
 from her escutcheon — while striking in another, 
 deeply and darkly. 
 
 It was said at the time, and afterwards, that pro- 
 minent and active as Lord Stanley showed himself 
 in the infliction of this ncAV harshness upon Ire- 
 land, the Prime Minister, the late Earl Grey, 
 was equally inveterate and determined. 
 
 There seems a fatality over English statesmen 
 in Irish matters. They can be "wise, liberal, 
 just," [at times,) in England : but where Ireland 
 
62 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 is concerned, there ever appears an incapacity of 
 counselling, or of acting, save as regards the chance 
 expediency of the hour. 
 
 It was said that personal resentments and 
 aversion were not without their effect on Lord 
 Grey's mind, in confirming this indisposition to 
 take a large and generous view of Irish affairs. 
 Certainly the English reformers treated us badly 
 at the period in question, as in the preceding 
 year, and many a year since. But for the Irish 
 M. P.s tlie success of the Engllsli Kcform Bill 
 would have been more than doubtful. In requital, 
 the English reformers not only allowed Stanley 
 to insult Ireland with a most limited and muti- 
 lated Reform measiu^e, but heartily backed him 
 up in his Coercion Bill. 
 
 I speak of the great body of the English re- 
 formers, and of several, but by no means of all, of 
 the English reform M. P.s in the house. Of these, 
 as is before recorded, several made a gallant stand 
 with us against Lord Stanley's coercive measure. 
 Let us hope that there will, next session, be 
 a grand reparation made for all injustices and 
 ingratitudes; and that Ireland shall have reason 
 to be surprised at the amount of actixe good-will 
 
SUPPRESSION OF POPULAR OPINION. 63 
 
 and generosity, of which she shall find herself the 
 object ! 
 
 The passing of this Coercion Bill enabled the 
 Government to put down by proclamation every 
 demonstration of popular opinion in Ireland, and 
 gave them several months of respite from agitation, 
 to prove how hollow were their professions of good- 
 will towards that country, and their protestations, 
 that "but for that same villanous saltpetre" of 
 agitation, they would have done wonders for her. 
 
 During a similar interruption of agitation in 
 1830-31, (under the operation of the act for the 
 suppression of the Catliolic Association — an act 
 passed pari passu with the Catholic Relief Bill, 
 as a kind of damjyer, to prevent our being too 
 mucli elated and too grateful,) various devices 
 were resorted to, for the purpose of carrying on 
 the popular movement. Organized bodies with 
 periodical assemblages being totally prohibited, 
 recourse was had to isolated public meetings. 
 The artillery of vice- regal proclamations being 
 brought to bear against them, the ground was 
 shifted again to public dinners. And these in 
 turn becoming untenable, public breakfasts were 
 got up on a large scale, at Home's Hotel on 
 
64 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Usher's Quay, where, while some made patriotic 
 speeches, the rest of us devoured hot rolls and 
 hot chops, and drank indifferent coffee and well 
 Avatered tea, with great assiduity and perseverance, 
 for the good of our country. 
 
 At one or two of these breakfasts, we were 
 graced by the attendance of Mr. Montgomery 
 Martin, the redoubtable pamphleteer against re- 
 peal. He was then, not only an ardent repealer, 
 but something more — a good deal more than my 
 father at all fancied. 
 
 During the proceedings lie drew up on his head 
 a red night-cap — as the Phrygian cap, the cap of 
 liberty ; and when my father insisted upon its 
 removal, he took it off, only to put it on again 
 when he had changed his place so as not to be 
 seen from the head of the table. But the ob- 
 noxious cap was doomed to another and a final 
 eclipse and disaster. The mirth of the gay meet- 
 ing was rudely broken by a magistrate, who, 
 followed by several policemen, presented him- 
 self at the door with the last new proclamation 
 in his hands ; and proceeding forthwith to read 
 its contents, called upon all present to disperse. 
 Mr. Martin seemed to consider it as an order to 
 
MR. MONTGOMERY MARTIN. 65 
 
 disappear, for he sunk, cap and all, under the 
 table, and was seen no more I 
 
 As another instance of that gentleman's qtioii- 
 flam devotion to the cause of repeal, which he has 
 since assailed with so much misplaced ability, 
 ingenuity, and dexterity, it may be recorded that 
 in 1832, or 1833, he earnestly solicited Mr. 
 O'ConnelFs support to a repeal newspaper he 
 proposed to establish in London. Mr. O'Connell 
 told him the attempt was hopeless; the repeal 
 interest beino; far too weak even to afford a tem- 
 porary support to an undertaking necessarily so 
 costly. Mr. Martin would not be dissuaded; and 
 Mr. O'Connell finally gave him a subscription, 
 warning him, however, at the same time, that 
 beyond the amount then given he could not go, 
 as he saw not the least chance of success for the 
 project. Mr. Martin persevered; and in three 
 weeks' time finding the loss severe, applied to 
 Mr. O'Connell again, and w^as very angry to 
 find that the latter reminded him of his previous 
 warning. 
 
 About the time of the proclaimed " hrealcfasts,^^ 
 my father was arrested and held to ball on a charge 
 o^ " disobeying a proclamation !'^ It was at his 
 
66 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 own house in Merrion Square that the arrest took 
 place. Farreil, a venerable specimen of the old 
 school of constables, was the party sent for this 
 purpose, accompanied by two Uudgeon men ; as if 
 it had been some coiner, or desperate burglar that 
 was to be laid hold of. 
 
 " Mr. O'Connell, I beg of you," said poor 
 Farrell, in an imploring tone, " let us go to the 
 police-office in a coach. I have got the gout, and 
 cannot well walk."" 
 
 " I am very sorry for your gout, INIr. Farrell," 
 was the reply, " but since the Lord Lieutenant 
 has chosen to arrest me as if I were a com- 
 mon thief or housebreaker, I think it right the 
 whole city should know it. I must therefore walk." 
 
 We w^alked accordingly to the police-office, in 
 what I believe is called Henry Street, a little 
 impasse by the Royal Exchange. The crowd 
 gathered as we went, till in Dame Street we 
 could scarcely make way through it. The people 
 were greatly excited ; and by more than one tall 
 fellow — particularly from among the butchers of 
 the Castle Market, several of whom had their 
 cleavers under their coats, — Mr. O'Connell was 
 assailed with — 
 
ARREST OF MR. o'cONNELL. 67 
 
 " All, Liberator, say tlie word, only let us at 
 tJiemr^ 
 
 "No, no!" was liis reply; "that is not my 
 game. I do not want to lose any of your lives. 
 Depend upon it we shall beat tliem yet, if you do 
 not put them in the right, by your breaking the 
 law!" 
 
 And the poor fellows, disappointed, but then 
 and for many a day afterwards, implicitly obedient 
 to him whom they loved more than their own 
 lives, shrunk back behind him, determined at any 
 rate to follow and see out whatever might happen 
 at the police-office. 
 
 My father saw plainly that the excitement 
 amongst the people was at a most dangerous 
 heiirht: and this determined him to consent to 
 give bail — his first intention having been to let 
 himself be sent to prison. 
 
 During the formalities at the police office, the 
 Lord Lieutenant's private secretary, a Hano- 
 verian, whose name I at this moment forget, kept 
 continually passing between the office and an inner 
 room, as if taking bulletins to some person inside. 
 
 " Come back here, Baron ," suddenly said 
 
 Mr. O'Connell, " take this message with you to 
 
68 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 your master. Tell him, I despise liim and the 
 jDaltry outrage he has committed this day on me 
 in the midst of my family. Say to him, that his 
 miserable acts of petty tyranny only determine 
 us the more to struggle to the last for the restora- 
 tion of our own parliament, under which, alone, 
 the rights and liberties of Irishmen can be safe!" 
 
 Several others were arrested and brought to the 
 police-office about the same time; amongst them, 
 Mr. Reynolds, the present M.P. for Dublin, IMr. 
 Barrett, proprietor of the "Pilot" newspaper, and 
 poor — poor Tom Steele ! 
 
 While the bail bonds were being made out in 
 the latter's case, he ashed permission of the pre- 
 siding magistrate to speak, as he said, " a few 
 quiet, calm, cool, deliberate words." 
 
 "Oh, certainly, Mr. Steele," said the magistrate, 
 a little taken in by the gentleness of tone and 
 manner in which the request was made; and which 
 indeed was a characteristic of Tom Steele in all 
 private and social intercourse. 
 
 " I thank you, Sir ; I thank you much for your 
 great courtesy," replied he, in the same soft tones ; 
 then, suddenly changing his manner to all the 
 excitement of his public delivery, and fixing his 
 
TOM STEELE. 69 
 
 eyes fiercely on the unfortiiuate Hanoverian 
 Baron, who had just " dropped in " once more, lie 
 burst out with — '' Then, Sir, I denounce the 
 tyrant. Lord Anglesea, and this his most infamous 
 proceeding ! I proclaim here, in the face of day, 
 and before the world, that a fouler, a blacker, a 
 more deadly crime against liberty, justice, and 
 right, was never committed by Nero, or any other 
 of the worst monsters of antiquity," &c. &;c. 
 
 "Well, Tom, you are a very cool fellow!" was 
 Barrett's quiet remark to him, as, when the 
 storm was spent, he bowed most politely to the 
 astonished officials, and swept out of the place. 
 
CHAPTEE ly. 
 
 T03I STEELE. — HIS PATRIOTISM, SENSIBILITY, A:S'D DESPONDENGI. 
 
 HIS QUARREL WITH O'CONNELL, AND CHASTISEMENT OF A LONDON 
 
 EDITOR. — LORD ANGLESEA UIS QOVERNMENT. — FEARGUS o'cONNOR. 
 
 SPEECH OF o'cONNELL. — SPRING RICE. — RICHARD SHEIL. — SIR 
 
 ROBERT PEEL. o'cONNOR'S PEDIGREE. 
 
 " Tom Steele" was one of the purest, most 
 single-minded, kind, and cliivalrous-souled men 
 that ever breathed. One who long enjoyed and 
 rejoiced in his friendship may now pay him this 
 small and sad tribute, without fearing to be sneered 
 at or contradicted ; for, in the melancholy circum- 
 stance of the noble-hearted fellow's death, there 
 were proofs most abundantly and most honourably 
 given, by his strongest political opponents, that 
 such was also their estimation of him. 
 
 Lord Brougham, erratic, unstable, and intem- 
 perate as he is, gave a sign of redeeming kindliness 
 and generosity, and of unexpected justice of appre- 
 
TOM STEELE. 71 
 
 ciatlorij bj liastcning, on the first notice of Steele's 
 danger, to offer a subscription towards the pro- 
 curing comforts around the dying bed of one who 
 had often most unsparingly assailed him. And 
 this truly honourable example was imitated by 
 others, with whom also Mr. Steele had been at 
 utter variance. lie was deeply moved by these 
 demonstrations, and, although refusing pecuniary 
 relief, expressed the warmest gratitude for their 
 intentions. There was one amono;st them deserv- 
 ing of special mention, and who must be mentioned, 
 notwithstanding that he may not be pleased at 
 having his admirable charity made knowm. After 
 having vainly attempted to induce Mr. Steele to 
 allow of his placing a very handsome sum for his 
 use in the hands of an attending friend, he did 
 that which he could not and would not be denied ; 
 namely, he visited, and by every means in his 
 power sought to soothe and comfort the dying 
 man. And he has his best reward in the con- 
 sciousness that the object of his solicitude felt it 
 deeply, and benefited by it in as much as was then 
 possible. The gentleman to whom I allude is 
 Colonel Perceval, formerly and for several years 
 member for the county of Sligo, and at present 
 
72 Px\.RLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Sergeant-at-Arms to the House of Lords. It is 
 unnecessary to add that his and ]Mr. Steele's 
 politics diftered toto coslo. 
 
 Such acts as these revive our confidence in our 
 fellow-man, and, for a time at least, relieve the 
 heart of the sad and sickening disgust which 
 o'athers about it, at the almost unintermittin"; 
 bitterness of political life. 
 
 In justice to his older friends it must be re- 
 corded, that while many from time to time assisted 
 him according to their means, two or three not only 
 did so, but implored of him to come and " wear out 
 the lamp of life" in the quiet and comfort of their 
 country homes, where he could have indulged his 
 high literary tastes, and forgotten the turmoil of 
 politics, from which he had retired with a break- 
 inir heart, when his leader and friend, Daniel 
 O'Connell, died. lie woidd not hear of these 
 proposals, and not only refused them, but inter- 
 fered actively and most determinedly to prevent 
 certain other arrangements, that would have per- 
 manently placed him, at any rate, beyond the 
 chance of want. 
 
 Allusion has been made to the chivalry of his 
 disposition. It was of the most romantic order. 
 
TOM STEELE. 73 
 
 The only quarrel he ever had with him Avhom he 
 styled his ^' Leader, and the Father of his Coun- 
 try," was connected with a love afFair, very illus- 
 trative of the foregoing remark. Passing throuo-h 
 a street of the town of Ennis one day, he stopped 
 and drew back, with the usual courtesy, to allow 
 a young lady, Avho had just tripped out of her 
 house as he came up, to cross the flagway to a 
 vehicle there waiting for her. She acknowledo-ed 
 his courtesy and proffered assistance with a bow 
 and a sweet smile,— and tlienceforth Tom Steele 
 loved ! 
 
 " I have no hope," he said to my father, about 
 a year later ; " I do not know the young lady, and 
 I will not get myself introduced, for I am too 
 poor a man to offer her my hand. But she is the 
 only woman I ever have loved, and ever will love; 
 and I shall love her till my death." 
 
 My father, uneasy at the heavy despondency 
 which he saw growing upon him, endeavoured to 
 reason him out of his predilection ; amongst othe^' - 
 matters, suggesting the extreme youth of the lady, 
 &c. as likely to excite ridicule in the public mind, 
 the affair beginning to get generally known. 
 Steele expressed himself hurt at tiie remonstrance, 
 
 VOL. L E 
 
7'1 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 and, professing still the warmest feelings of per- 
 sonal attachment, declared that he could no longer 
 act in politics under the guidance of a man who 
 had not understood him, and, it seemed, had not 
 properly appreciated the object of his affections. 
 He retired therefore from the public scene for a 
 time, absolutely and completely. 
 
 This temporary estrangement was a bitter pang 
 to Mr. O'Connell, who, after several ineffectual 
 efforts, succeeded, some months afterwards, in 
 getting an interview, and making atonement in 
 a manner that poor Steele never spoke of after- 
 wards without tears in his eyes. 
 
 " If my august leader, O'Connell, were to say 
 to me, ^ Steele, place yourself upon that mine ; 
 it is about to be sprung, and you will lose your 
 life, but it will be in the cause of Ireland,' I would 
 do it on the instant ! " 
 
 Such was a frequent declaration of this devoted 
 man ; and those who had opportunities of knowing 
 him, know well that could such an occasion have 
 arisen, he would most assuredly have acted as he 
 said. In private life, and among friends, there was 
 a kindliness, a delicate thoughtfulness, a gentle- 
 ness, nay, almost a womanly softness, that were 
 
TOM STEELE. 75 
 
 very striking and attractive. But Avliere be con- 
 ceived that lie had just cause of resentment, either 
 on his own account, or that of a friend, the 
 strength and warmth of his emotions made him 
 most fierce and unrelenting. 
 
 An unfortunate editor or proprietor of a Lon- 
 don paper most grossly assailed him some twenty- 
 five or thirty years ago in one of his leading 
 articles. Steele met him in the street, and irri- 
 tated at the man's refusal to make any atonement, 
 struck him ; warning him at the same time, that 
 the next oifence sliould be far more heavily visited. 
 A few days afterwards there appeared in the same 
 paper a still more grossly unfair and unfounded 
 attack. Steele kept his word, and on their next 
 meeting beat his assailant severely; repeating 
 once more his former warning. Again he was 
 defied; and a third attack, far outrivalling any- 
 thing that had gone before it in venom and fury, 
 made its appearance. Again a fierce retribution 
 followed, and this time with such determined 
 severity, that it is said the unfortunate newspaper 
 man never recovered its effects. 
 
 At a much later period Steele was talking with 
 a friend near the rails of Trinity College, when 
 
 E 2 
 
7G PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 an Orange squire from the North, who had been 
 Avalking with the other part^^, and who had then 
 for the first time seen Steele, said, by way of a 
 mauvaise plaisanterie, in reference to a remark 
 just dropped about my father — " lie ought to be 
 hanged!" Steele turned upon the unlucky wight 
 with a fierceness and a storm of passion that fairly 
 daunted him, and made him slink away, glad to 
 escape. But he had miscalculated if he thought 
 to get off so easily. They encountered each other 
 two or three times again within that and the fol- 
 lowing day, and each time Steele poured in 
 another broadside ; until at last the worthy squire 
 thouo-ht it wisest to aet himself out of ken of his 
 unrelenting assailant, and fly back to his '' dirty 
 acres." It would be endless to detail instances of 
 his deep and absorbing affection for my fatlier, and 
 of the ample and abundant return of that affec- 
 tion. A warmer, purer, higlier degree of mu- 
 tual affection never yet was witnessed, or could 
 exist. 
 
 The time is at hand when the great question for 
 Avhich both so devotedly laboured, must be carried. 
 The affairs of the Empire are coming to a dead- 
 lodCi owing to the Union-produced misery of 
 
LORD ANGLESEA. 77 
 
 Ireland. It is simply impossible that Ireland can 
 go on as a paltry pelting dependency. The 
 equality so much talked of, so long promised, must 
 be given as it can only be given — by re-investing 
 her with the power and privilege of making her 
 own laws. The only other alternative is, that 
 Ireland be made a huntinfi-ficld. To such of us 
 as have with them borne " the heats of the day, 
 and the sweats," the joy of success in Ireland's 
 cause, will be heavily and sadly damped at not 
 having them to rejoice with in the hour of suc- 
 cess. Yet, why should we wish them back in this 
 world of toil and trouble, and constant care and 
 pain ? 
 
 Lord Anglesea, one of the incidents of whose 
 unlucky second vice-royalty in Ireland is before 
 noted, had, when in Ireland in 1828, and the 
 early part of 1829, conciliated to himself the 
 warm, and indeed the enthusiastic affections of the 
 people. The secret of his success in this respect 
 was simply that he acted according to the dictates 
 of his good and right feeling ; and the Irish people, 
 recognising the good-will and kind intention, put, 
 according to their wont, no bounds to their gra- 
 titude. 
 
78 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The Tory Government of the clay, whose 
 deputy he then was, yielded to the angry remon- 
 strances of the Ascendancy party in Ireland ; and 
 recalled him for the crime of having been too 
 popular. The day of his departure was marked 
 by a striking demonstration of public feeling. A 
 very large number of private carriages, and enor- 
 mous crowds of the people, attended him through- 
 out the seven miles of road from Dublin to 
 Kingstown, with every mark of affection and 
 sorrow. 
 
 Even in the midst of their affliction the native 
 humour could not be repressed. As the procession 
 passed through the main street of Kingstown on its 
 way to the harbour, a Dominie Sampson looking 
 personage, wearing a huge pair of goggles, rushed 
 out upon a balcony, and flung his arms towards 
 Lord Anglesea's carriage in quite an agony of 
 grief. " A groan for the green-eyed monster I " 
 shouted a fellow in the crowd ; and the Dominie 
 disappeared back into the house, amid a roar. 
 
 Lord Anglesea returned to Ireland two years 
 later, as the Lord Lieutenant of the Whisc minis- 
 try. Unhappily tlie Upas influence of Lord 
 Stanley had come over him, as over others of that 
 
LORD ANGLESEA. 79 
 
 mlnlstiy; and he returned a changed man. He 
 had thought of the people before, and in so far 
 as in him lay, endeavoured to benefit them ; lie 
 was now given up to the Ascendancy party ; 
 not perhaps wilfully, but blindly, and most de- 
 cidedly. 
 
 Tliat his lordship subsequently regretted the 
 mistakes of his later vice -royalty has been said, 
 and is willingly believed by the Irish. At the time 
 the reflection uppermost in their mind was, that 
 this was but another fresh instance of the folly of 
 putting trust in Englishmen ; in short, " that Ire- 
 land had never yet trusted, but she Avas betrayed." 
 It was a pity of him to throw away the love, 
 and in fact devotion to him, of the warm-hearted 
 people of Ireland, — a people the most easily con- 
 ciliated, the most grateful, and the kindliest- 
 natured on the face of the globe. So fast, indeed, 
 was their affection for him, that to this day his 
 name is mentioned kindly ; and he has many an 
 humble defender when his later errors are objected 
 to his fame. 
 
 They were heavy errors. In the first place 
 there was the outrage upon the Constitution in 
 Ireland — an outrage, in the carrying out of which 
 
80 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 he displayed alacrity. In the next place he in- 
 flicted a more lasting injury on the people of 
 Ireland by putting on the judicial bench men born 
 and nurtured in hostility to them; and whose 
 minds, perhaps unconsciously to themselves, re- 
 tained, and on more than one occasion manifested, 
 the strong bias of their early opinions. The 
 magisterial bench was similarly made a greater 
 grievance than ever, in point of unjust exclusion 
 to the richer Catholics and Liberals, and petty, 
 but stinging tyrannies to the poorer. And in 
 every department and action of government the 
 same spirit was allowed to prevail ; nay, was even 
 fostered and encouraged. "Were it mine enemy 
 that did this thing, I could have borne it; but 
 thou, even thou, my own familiar friend ! " 
 
 Such might have been the address of the Irish 
 people to Lord Anglcsea, in their grieved astonish- 
 ment at Ms having been the hand to smite them ! 
 The more painful recollections of it, however, are 
 now lost ; partly, as I have said, in their belief that 
 that good and gallant nobleman himself, now 
 recognises his mistakes ; and partly because of the 
 unfortunately too numerous instances since his 
 time, of the mischievous and disastrous ignorance 
 
FEARGUS o'cONNOR. 81 
 
 and infatuation of English officials generally, in 
 dealing with Irish affairs. 
 
 Tlie Session of 1834 opened for us with a 
 serious difference among the Ke.peal members. 
 Feargus O'Connor could no longer stomach his 
 being considered as playing second fiddle to O'Con- 
 nell. He aspired to the first part ; but neither 
 then nor since, has he succeeded in producing 
 anything but discord. lie announced publicly 
 that he would not allow tlie testing of the Repeal 
 question in Parliament to be much longer de- 
 layed ; that it was trifling with the people of both 
 countries, and with the great question itself, to 
 have it postponed ; and that if no one else would 
 " bell-the-cat," he would make a motion on the 
 subject in the new Session. Of course }i\s firm- 
 ness met exceeding approval from the enemj'-. 
 
 In vain my father remonstrated. In vain he 
 asked him to consider that the question was yet 
 new to the public mind ; and that even the popu- 
 lar strength in Ireland w^as as yet by no means so 
 organized and arrayed in its favour, as so great a 
 question, so important a proposal of change would 
 require. The unthinking and the jealous got up 
 a cry in Ireland in support of Feargus O'Connor's 
 
 E 3 
 
82 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 specious patriotism; and sorely against his will, 
 and with very uncomfortable forebodings, the 
 originator of the Kepeal movement had to yield, 
 and give notice for an early day of subjecting it to 
 a parliamentary discussion. 
 
 About 5 P.M. on Tuesday, the 16tli of April, 
 1834, Mr. O'Connell began. He spoke for nearly 
 six hours : at first amid petulant interruptions, 
 and subsequently amid an affectation of scornful 
 indifference to him, his cause, and his arguments. 
 He expected all this ; and therefore was not in 
 any way disconcerted. 
 
 The plan of his speech embraced in the first 
 place a review of the constitutional history of 
 Ireland ; — her rightful position as a member of the 
 Empire, with the incidents to that position, and 
 chief amono; them, her entire rin-ht to make her 
 own laws and manage her own affairs ; — the con- 
 tinued invasions and outrages committed by Eng- 
 lish Governors upon those rights, &c. &c. Then 
 came a description of the tortuous, and at last, the 
 reckless and shameless policy by which she was 
 robbed of all her rights, and reduced to her present 
 condition of a miserable mendicant province. And 
 then statements in detail of the specific injuries 
 
SPEECH OF MR. O'CONNELL. 83 
 
 that have resulted to Ireland— comparisons of 
 her progress under a system of unshackled native 
 legislation ; and under the legislation of the Eng- 
 lish Parliament— expositions of growing, and pre- 
 dictions of future evils, the logical consequences 
 of tlie giant evil, injustice and misery inflicted 
 upon her by the taking away of her own parlia- 
 ment ; and finally, a suggestion of the outlines of 
 a very practicable arrangement between the two 
 countries, which should ensure to each the full 
 measure of their natural liberties, and draw the 
 bonds of tlic connexion closer than ever, by 
 removing all causes of bitterness, closing up all 
 sources of mutual injustice, and restoring the 
 dependent country to those rights, the full enjoy- 
 ment and exercise of which would make her 
 a powerful and valuable auxiliary to England in 
 the hour of adversity ; and not as now, a reproach, 
 a weakness, and a danger. 
 
 It is not for me to praise this speech ; and were 
 I to do so, it might only awaken again the cavils 
 and misrepresentations of those whose preconceived 
 opinions and prejudices were disturbed and irri- 
 tated by the power of its arguments. 
 
 But if there might be a reasonable expectation 
 
84 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 that an Englishman would be induced to exert 
 himself so far in an Irish matter as to put such 
 control upon those two passions, (among the 
 strongest of our nature,) which a long course of 
 national prosperity has so fostered and strength- 
 ened in his soul, — the love of power, and pride 
 of domination,— as to give a calm and candid con- 
 sideration to the arguments in favour of a restora- 
 tion to Ireland of her ancient and indisputable 
 right to legislate for herself, his attention might 
 confidently be asked and given to the speech of 
 Mr. O'Connell, of which we have just spoken, as 
 the best and most sufficient and entire statement 
 of our case : notwithstanding that it was made at 
 so early a period of the agitation for Repeal ; and 
 notwithstanding all that has been said and written 
 on that subject in the fourteen long years that 
 have since elapsed. And yet this was a speech 
 ver}^ little in favour with himself, either tlien, or 
 on a subsequent review. 
 
 It will surprise many who have only thought 
 of Mr. O'Connell as the rough, fierce and reckless 
 agitator that hostile interests and passions have 
 depicted him, to be told that he was one of the 
 most sensitive and nervous men that ever lived. 
 
SPEECU OF MR. o'cONNELL. 85 
 
 Previous to his motion he was very unhappy, and 
 spent several sleepless nights: which was by no 
 means unusual with him when any matter of im- 
 portance impendecl. 
 
 He was divided between two opinions : — liis 
 owu, which inclhied hiui to treat his subject 
 mainly, if uot altogetlier upon large aud general 
 grouuds, and with reference to great and states- 
 manlike principles of international polity ; and the 
 recommendations of others, who, knowing the 
 horror of theory, and the inveterate fancy for 
 wliat are called practical and husiness-like con- 
 siderations, Avhich mark the House of Commons, 
 wished him to deal largely in statistics ; and, in 
 fact, to incur the danger of o'serlaywg the subject 
 with figures aud details ; and thereby of fatiguing 
 an auditory already quite unfavourable enough. 
 
 The great point, however, on which he felt 
 annoyed and dispirited, was the premature forcing 
 on of the question. The necessary rally and 
 concentration of popular opinion in Ireland, with- 
 out which it was not reasonable to expect atten- 
 tion in the English Parliament, had not had time 
 to be effected. And the Irish members gencrall}^, 
 new to their position as members of parliament, 
 
86 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 were not prepared to bear, upon so short a notice, 
 the part they might otherwise have done, in so 
 momentous a debate. Spring Rice, — at present, 
 (and greatly in consequence of tlie part he then 
 took) Viscount Monteagle, commenced and occu- 
 pied the business hours of the next day's sitting 
 of Parliament with his reply. 
 
 Like all oppressed and dependent countries, 
 Ireland is constantly doomed to see amongst the 
 readiest advocates and vindicators of the injustices 
 inflicted upon her, some of her own children. 
 In the olden time the English "Lord Deputies," 
 or Lord Lieutenants of those days, received no 
 Irishman to mercy, unless he had first done s^r- 
 'clce upon some of his own countrymen : that is 
 to say, betrayed, or assassinated some ancient 
 comrade or leader. 
 
 In these gentler modern times, which Carlyle so 
 rebukes for savouring of rose-u'titer, the actual 
 dagger is laid aside ; but the betrayal, and the 
 metaphorical dagger of misrepresentation and 
 abuse, are as much in favour as ever ; and as 
 strictly required from the Irish janissary, ere his 
 EnMish masters Avill recoo:nisc and reward him. 
 The Spartan did not more laugh at the contor- 
 
MR. SPRING RICE. 87 
 
 tions of his drunken helot;— the Irish extermi- 
 nating landlord and magistrate, did not more 
 chuckle over the murderous faction-fights of the 
 unhappy peasantry around him, than do the Eng- 
 lish enjoy the gladiatorial contests between Irish 
 members in the House of Commons ! 
 
 I need not give a detailed opinion upon Lord 
 Monteagle's speech. The judgment of an ardent 
 repealer must inevitably be suspected in such 
 a matter. Yet, as opinion, whatever value may 
 attach to it, should at any rate be free, I say, 
 frankly, that we considered his lordship's speech 
 to have been a clever, special pleading, elaborate 
 and elaborately disingenuous dissertation upon all 
 things else save the real merits of the question. 
 He was cheered, of course ; and cheered to the 
 echo : for was he not doing service upon Ireland 
 and brother Irishinen ? But to the same test of 
 cool, calm, candid consideration, and examination, 
 to which I would willingly submit the opening 
 speech of the debate, let but the answer of Lord 
 Monteagle be subjected ; and we, at least, will 
 not fear the result. 
 
 The debate dragged a weary and a languishing 
 length, over eight or nine days. With the excep- 
 
88 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 tioii of the two first speakers, no one on either 
 side was properly up to the subject. Emerson 
 Tennant quoted as an argument against the con- 
 stitutional repeal of an act of parliament in these 
 countries, the results of the violent total inter- 
 national separation of Holland and Belgium ; and 
 had to misquote and misrepresent even then : for 
 even then, Belgian commerce and general pro- 
 sperity were progressing, although, naturally 
 enough, thc}^ had not attained to their present 
 hi^h condition. 
 
 Fearo;us O'Connor made what would he called 
 in Ireland a " rollickino;" rfittlino- off-hand sort 
 of speech, in his ordinary fasliion : " full of 
 sound and fury, signifying nothing." His rela- 
 tive, O'lSTcill Daunt, M.P. for Mallow, made an 
 able, sensible, and temperate speech. In his 
 case it was particularly to be regretted that the 
 discussion was so premature, as he has since 
 displayed a still greater ability, power of argu- 
 ment, and extent of information. 
 
 Ilichard Sheil made a clever, (it is a \yiij to 
 use such a word to such a man,) pungent, effec- 
 tive speech; not quite equal to his reputation; 
 nor to that which he will yet make in support 
 
niCHARD SIIEIL SIR ROBERT PEEL. 89 
 
 of the great and only measure tliat can save 
 Ireland and strengthen the empire — the Repeall 
 I sliall have to speak of him again, witli refer- 
 ence to the excitino; debates of the succeedincr 
 Parliament. 
 
 It is needless to call the roll of the other 
 speakers. Even Peel failed to interest ; but for 
 an obvious reason. The debate had been so feebly 
 sustained, that there was no occasion to depart from 
 the usual English policy of appearing to consider 
 the "Repeal" a question too wild for argument. 
 He caused, however, considerable amusement 
 by reading from some old record of barbarous 
 times, the ceremonial of a kingly election in Ire- 
 land ; where the successful candidate had to batlie 
 in hrotli and afterwards to drink up his own bath 
 — a ceremonial from which it of course cannot be 
 considered otherwise than a very natural and 
 obvious supposition that we derive the popular 
 phrase so common in parts of Ireland, of a broth 
 of a hoy ! " 
 
 Sir Robert Peel applied the description to 
 Feargus O'Connor ; as the latter might be ex- 
 pected to find himself, were the ancient Irish 
 monarch}^, or monarchies^ dating from the time 
 
90 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 of the Christian era, to be restored and con- 
 solidated in his august person. Sir Robert 
 Peel, however, was doubtless in ignorance, that 
 Ireland has no right to lay claim to the ances- 
 try of the honourable member for Nottingham. 
 He owes the distinguished honour of his na- 
 tivity to the circumstance of the coming over 
 from England, and settling in her southern pro- 
 vince, of his grandfather; or, perad venture, his 
 great-grandfather, a stout, shrewd and active Essex 
 man, of the name of Conyers. He had speedily 
 become the possessor of a good estate in the 
 county Cork, that had slipped through the fin- 
 gers of some spendthrift, whose family dated in 
 Ireland perhaps from a century before : when its 
 then representative had followed the fortunes 
 of Cromwell's lieutenants in the South, as a 
 " thorough godly" trooper, or a " chosen vessel" 
 of a drummer ; and profited accordingly, on the 
 native Irish being robbed of their lands. 
 
 The strange Sassenach name of Conyers 
 was ere very long transformed by the Celtic 
 tongues of his new neighbours into Connors, and 
 thence into Connor. After the latter change, and 
 when the penal laws had ceased to render the 
 
o'connor's pedigree. 91 
 
 Milesian prefix of " O " or " Mac" an abomina- 
 tion in the eyes of the " English garrison," the 
 transition was easy to the aristocratic and once 
 princely title of O'Connor; in which the de- 
 scendants of the worthy Essex immigrant or colo- 
 nist, at present delight. England, therefore, in 
 adopting the present most notable bearer of this 
 transmuted name, is but reclaiming her own ; and 
 in so far as the future may be judged of from the 
 present and the past, there does not appear to be 
 any very great reason to apprehend that the sister 
 country will be moved by any jealousy or churlish- 
 ness to resist or dispute the claim. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 MR. o'CONNELL's motion, AND REPLY ITS EFFECTS. — THE DIVISION. 
 
 Mil. KENNEDY. LORD ALTIIOUP. — AN ELECTIONEERING EXPEDI- 
 TION. — EBENEZEE JACOB HIS SPEECH. A PARLIAMENTARY CAN- 
 VASS. — MR. Jacob's return, by o'connor's agency. — dungarvon 
 
 FREEHOLDERS. DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE AND FEARGUS o'CONNOR. 
 
 THE REPEAL DEBATE.— WEAKNESS OF THE MINISTRY. THE COER- 
 CION ACT. — EARL grey's RESIGNATION. 
 
 Upon the ninth niglit of the debate upon Mr 
 O'Connell's motion, he stood up to speak in reply. 
 Sailors would have said that it was " high water 
 on a spring tide" in the House. Not only the 
 body of the House, but the members' galleries 
 were filled to overflowing ; and the strangers' gal- 
 lery, and seats under the gallery, were similarly 
 crowded. In short, the largest assemblage that 
 the old chapel of St. Stephen was capable of 
 containing had come together, to " see execution 
 done" on Repeal. 
 
 The debate had not been maintained as a debate 
 upon such a question should have been. In par- 
 
MR. O CONNELL S REPLY. 93 
 
 ticular, it Lad not been maintained, as such a 
 debate should have been, to make an impression 
 upon so hostile an auditory. There was therefore 
 no moral check to counterbalance the advantafre of 
 a numerical superiority so utterly overwhelming, 
 and the exultation was therefore without alloy 
 and without restraint. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell had to vindicate his subject, 
 answer the attacks, and correct the misrepresenta- 
 tions of his multitudinous assailants, and cover the 
 retreat of his discomfited ipavty. And to do this, 
 in the face of an overpowering majority, whose 
 personal and political aversion to him was flushed 
 and excited to such a degree by the circumstances 
 of the debate, that It was with difficulty their own 
 bear-leaders could get them to allow lilm to speak 
 without interruption. 
 
 He did not intrude upon their scanty patience 
 for more than three-quarters of an hour, and in 
 that brief space accomplished fully the three 
 objects before specified. Of the tone and temper 
 of either that or his opening address, the most 
 captious could not complain. It is true that he 
 had to make sharp and severe allusions to one or 
 two of his assailants : but the manner in which 
 
94 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 they had attacked him most evidently justified 
 and necessitated the severity in those particular 
 cases ; while the rest of his remarks rather erred 
 on the side of too great forbearance. 
 
 There were three main points to which he 
 invited the consideration, not only of men and 
 ministers in that House, but of every friend to the 
 welfare of the Empire without or within its walls. 
 
 1st. That however great the majority by Avhich 
 this motion was defeated, there was nothing of the 
 wisdom of statesmen in trusting to that alone, 
 without determining to investigate immediately 
 into the sources and origin of the great and grow- 
 in«" wretchedness of Ireland, which had been the 
 most effective agent in raising and sustaining the 
 cry for the Repeal of the Union. 
 
 2d. That no promise of any distinct, specific, 
 and practical measure of relief to any one of the 
 grievances of Ireland had been held out by the 
 ministry, or any of their su})porters, when declar- 
 ing their resolution not to give toleration to the 
 great demand of the Irish people for the restora- 
 tion of their own parliament. 
 
 3d. That the ministry and the House, being 
 now about to reject that demand by so triumphant 
 
EFFECT OF THE REPLY. 95 
 
 and crushing n majority, ought to follow up at 
 once their advantage, and complete the defeat of 
 the agitators, by giving practical proof to the 
 people of Ireland, that an English ministry and an 
 English Parliament were their friends, and zvould 
 relieve their wants, and promptly and permanently 
 ameliorate their condition. 
 
 The effect of his speech was such, that it not 
 only w^on him some cheers even from his oppo- 
 nents, particularly where he reminded them of 
 the necessity of their doing something more to 
 beat the agitators than merely recording a laro-e 
 majority against them, but induced the ministe- 
 rialists actually to restrain the vehemence of the 
 cheers with which the result of the division was an- 
 nounced. An intimation to that effect was actually 
 sent down from the Treasury benches, and a very 
 general cry of Hush enforced the obedience of 
 some of the dii minores, who were inclined to be 
 particularly noisy. The numbers were — 
 
 For Repeal 38 
 
 Against it .523 
 
 IMajority . . .485 
 with two tellers in each case. 
 
96 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The only member not an Irishman, nor repre- 
 senting an Irish constituency, wlio voted in the 
 minority, was Mr. Kennedy, then M.P. for Tiver- 
 ton, and since — but not exactly in consequence of 
 his vote — a jndge of the Mixed Court in the West 
 Indies, for adjudicating on cases of captured slave- 
 vessels. This gentleman, in the next Session, (that 
 of 1835, the first of the second reformed Parlia- 
 ment,) vacated his seat in fxvour of Lord Pal- 
 merston, and sulseqaently got the situation in 
 question. Y(\\q\\\q.y post hoc was propteo' hoc in this 
 case, I will not say; it is enough to have stated 
 a more proximate and more probable cause than 
 his vote for Kepeal— for which vote he made a 
 species of public apology, when his appointment 
 was publicly assailed on that account. 
 
 It was, as I recollect, during this debate that 
 Lord Althorp made the rational and proper decla- 
 ration, that if the majority of all classes of the 
 Irish nation demanded the '^Kepeal," it should 
 not and could not be denied. 
 
 There have been many and strange attempts — 
 the strangest of all by an Irish judge in one of the 
 recent trials — to deny that he made such a decla- 
 ration. The fact has been and can be attested by 
 
LORD ALTHOKP. 97 
 
 plenty of witnesses. As one, I affirm it positively; 
 and have much better reason to know it than the 
 learned Judge, who did not sit in that Parlia- 
 ment at all, being then, as now, upon the Bench. 
 
 There ought to be no contest, and ought not to 
 have been any wonder made about it. It was 
 a plain, straightforward, rational, and manly 
 declaration, entirely consistent, as regards those 
 qualities, with the words and acts generally of 
 honest Lord AWiorp. 
 
 Such was, indeed, the designation of the late 
 Lord Spencer, while in the Lower House, and one 
 as well merited as party interests could at all allow 
 in a minister. lie was an indifferent speaker, hesi- 
 tating and unimpressive. His nobility and wealth, 
 liowevcr, stood him in good stead, as always hap- 
 pens in the House of Commons, and his plain good 
 sense in still better, as not unfrequently happens in 
 the same locality. On the whole, there was a 
 " respectability " about him, that made his virtual 
 secession from politics after 1834 a decided loss 
 to his party. 
 
 In the summer of 1834, I accompanied, and 
 indeed formed a part of, an electioneering expedi- 
 tion to Ireland, 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
98 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 On tlie death of Mr. Lamb^ M.P. for Dimgar- 
 von, a Kepealer had been returned in the person 
 of Mr. Ebenezer Jacob, of the county AVexford. 
 His return was petitioned against ; and after a 
 sharp and bitter contest before the Committee, 
 with success, in so far as unseating him. A new 
 election being ordered, the expedition in question 
 was organized in a council of the Repeal M.P.s in 
 London, and set forth with the following dramatis 
 personce : — 
 
 Ebenezer Jacob, candidate ; 
 
 Feargus O'Connor, political godfather, speech- 
 maker, canvasser, &c. &c. ; 
 
 John O'Connell, nominis umbra, to represent his 
 fatlier. 
 
 Our journey to Bristol was enlivened by the 
 sweeping denunciations and maledictions which 
 our candidate heaped plentifully upon the heads 
 of those who, by their swearing, had ousted him 
 from liis seat ; and by Feargus' confident assur- 
 ances that, what between his own oratory and his 
 legal knowledge, the new election should not only 
 be successful, but unimpeachable. 
 
 A rough and tedious passage brought us to 
 Waterford, where, as we were closing the quay, 
 
MR. Jacob's speech. 99 
 
 I had the merit of restoring the sea-sick and lialL 
 dead Feargus to life and to his powers of speecli- 
 making, by prescribing a tumbler of hot brandy- 
 punch. This worked so miraculous a cure, that 
 in ten minutes afterwards he was in the balcony 
 of one of the hotels, giving full and most energetic 
 vent to his patriotic eloquence, even to the split- 
 tine: of the ears of the ffroundlinss ! 
 
 The speech of the Kepeal candidate, on the 
 nomination day at Dungarvon, was certainly not 
 to be blamed for too great mildness and softness. 
 Mr. Jacob had been in the navy in early life, and 
 brought away with him a little of the plain speak- 
 ing of the quarter-deck, — at least of the quarter- 
 deck of former times. " Mr. High-Sheriff," he 
 began, as soon as he had secured the most con- 
 spicuous and commanding position in the court, 
 by mounting on the sheriff's desk, with his heels 
 absolutely close to the nose of that respected 
 functionary : " Mr. High- Sheriff, and Electors of 
 Dungarvon, I have come to you again to be 
 elected, having been deprived of my seat by a 
 base conspiracy ! Look at that perjured mis- 
 creant !" (pointing at a person in the gallery who 
 had been a witness against him.) " See, the 
 
 F 2 
 
100 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 scoundrel, liow he crouches there, ashamed, yet 
 glorying in his villany ! " . . . . 
 
 Here there was a burst of interruptions, and 
 calls upon tlie slieriff to stop him. Tlie bewildered 
 functionary, thus adjured, made an attempt to do 
 so, but nearly had his wand broken across his 
 head. .... 
 
 *' I am not to be stopped — I shan't be stopped by 
 you, Mr. Sheriff, or any other man. , I respect you, 
 Sir, but I will not allow you to stoj) me ! (cries of 
 Order, order!) Who is it that dares to call me to 
 order? J ! (naming another of his assail- 
 ants,) — stand fortli, J ! in all your insig- 
 nificance and baseness ! stand forth, till I expose 
 you to the world ! " 
 
 Here a young relative of the individual thus 
 courteously addressed thought to make a protest 
 and stop him, but was silenced with, " Sit down. 
 Sir ! you have no business to interrupt me ! I am 
 not speaking of you. Sir; I don't know you, Sir, 
 and I don't care to know ! I am speaking of 
 scoundrels, and villains, and perjurers; such as 
 that man, and that man, and that man !" &c. &c. 
 
 I waited to hear no more; but squeezed my 
 way out of the court, rather more than satisfied 
 
A rARLIAMENTARY CANVASS. 101 
 
 with as much of our candidate's powers as I had 
 witnessed. 
 
 The only parallel that I recollect to this gentle 
 mode of courting a constituency's "most sweet 
 voices," occurred at a county election in the West 
 of Ireland some months later. The candidate 
 had asked a friend of his, a gentleman resident 
 and well knovv n, (and I will add, greatly liked,) in 
 the part of the county which the candidate was 
 going to visit, to accompany him on a ride to visit 
 and canvass the farmer voters. They drew up 
 their horses at the door of one farm-house, where 
 stood, in all the glory of his electoral privilege, a 
 stout and sturdy yeoman, waiting to be wooed. 
 The candidate, with all the deferential urbanity 
 de rigueur on such occasions, raised his hat, and 
 respectfully expressed his hope that he might have 
 
 the honour of Mr. 's vote and support at the 
 
 next election. 
 
 " Oh ! well, Mr. F , I am sure I respect 
 
 you and your family. Sir, very much ; but be- 
 fore I promise my vote, I'd like to hear, Sir, what 
 are j owx prenciplesf'' [^principles.'] 
 
 Mr. F was about to answer, as in duty and 
 
 interest bound, and with undiminished urbanity. 
 
102 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 when his canvassing friend and aide-de-camp 
 pulled liim back, and craning over the neck of his 
 horse, opened a broadside on the astonished farmer. 
 
 *^ Hia prhiciples ! ]\Ir. F 's principles ! You 
 
 ask a gentleman like Mr. F his principles ! 
 
 Get along with yon ! A pretty pass things are 
 
 come to, when Mr. F must stop on the road 
 
 to tell you his principles! Come away, F , 
 
 pitch the fellow, and his vote, and his principles, to 
 the d together, and don't be losing your time ! " 
 
 " Oh ! my dear ," said the candidate, as 
 
 soon as he got breath again, after the double 
 effects of ,laughter, and the smart canter into 
 which his indignant aide-de-camp had forced the 
 horses, " you 're an excellent fellow, and I am 
 much obliged for your offer to assist me ; but 
 unless you want me to lose my election, never 
 more be canvasser of mine !" 
 
 In jnstice to Mr. Jacob it must be stated that 
 he had experienced a very great virulence, bitter- 
 ness, and personal unfairness of opposition and 
 attack; and had been put to most serious expense 
 nearly single-handed to vindicate the choice of the 
 constituency against the heterogeneous but very 
 formidable coalition that had been entered into 
 
MR. Jacob's election. 103 
 
 against him by the Tories and Wliigs of the 
 neighbourhood ; aided by all the influence, such 
 as it was, of a Catholic family, one of whose 
 numerous scions was the opposing and government 
 candidate. The Whig party were furious Avith 
 him because he dared to dispute what they seemed 
 to consider the prescriptive right of the Duke of 
 Devonshire to do as he liked with the borough of 
 Dungarvon. The family arrayed against him had 
 expected to get their man in under his Grace's 
 w^ing, and thus get a hold upon some of the pa- 
 tronage of the county. But the deadliest inve- 
 teracy of all was on the part of the local Tories. 
 A Protestant himself, and of Orange lineage, tlie 
 Orangemen of the county looked upon him as a 
 deserter, and stopped at nothing to defeat and 
 annoy him, because he had boldly and thoroughly 
 identified himself with the cause of the people. 
 
 Feargus O'Connor effected his return for him 
 against the whole efforts of this powerful com- 
 bination. This election was not then, and has not 
 been the solitary instance by many, that has since 
 occurred, of the preference which the Catholic 
 people of Ireland give to a candidate, no matter 
 how opposed to them in religion and previous 
 
104 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 sentiments, wliere lie has declared for the nation- 
 ality of Ireland. In this, as in many other 
 instances, they promptly rejected for such a man, 
 a co-religionist of their own, and a gentleman of 
 great local respectability, and otlierwise entirely 
 unexceptionable. The alHance witli an English 
 party, and the refusal to vote for Kepeal, were the 
 fiital objections to him. 
 
 I have said tliat Feargns O'Connor carried the 
 election. He did so by his energy, activity, and 
 rough and ready oratory. He was everywhere 
 and everything ; — speechifier, canvasser, lawyer, 
 gutter-agent, mob-leader, &c. &c., and sorely 
 puzzled his opponents by his eccentric departures 
 from the old-established routine of electioneering. 
 
 Borouoh elections in Ireland at that time, and 
 indeed until the year 1846, could be extended 
 over six days — that is to say, one nomination day, 
 and five clear polling days; or four, if there 
 had been any polling on the nomination day, 
 — and either party having the power to avail 
 themselves of the extended term, it rarely hap- 
 pened that a contested election was concluded 
 before the evening of the sixth day. In 1846 
 Mr. Macarthy, then M.P. for Cork city, intro- 
 
DUNGARVON FREEHOLDERS. 105 
 
 duced, and succeeded in passing a measure which 
 has restricted them to two days. Of course the 
 extended term gave large opportunities for elec- 
 tioneering practices, and devices of all kinds ; and 
 those opportunities were very largely used by both 
 of the "high contesting parties" at Dungarvon in 
 1834. On the morning of the fourth day, when 
 Mr. Jacob's opponents seemed fairly to have ex- 
 hausted their quiver, and were nearly reduced to 
 a confession of defeat, a sudden piece of intelli- 
 gence came to revive their spirits, and give them 
 a new hope of success. 
 
 The forty- shilling freeholders of Ireland were 
 disfranchised, some immediately, and others pro- 
 spectively, by a penal act against them, passed at 
 the same time as the Catholic Relief Act of 1829, 
 with a view, no doubt, of preventing the Irish 
 from being too joyful and too grateful on that 
 occasion. In Duno-arvon there were a larofe 
 number of these freeholders, whose tenure and 
 vote hung upon a single life. This " life " sud- 
 denly determined during the election, and the men 
 who had gone to bed " free and independent 
 electors," got up next morning disfranchised, and 
 no longer of value to either party. This was 
 
 F 3 
 
106 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 a heavy blow to us ; for not only did we lose 
 their help — the greater number of them having 
 given promises to Mr. Jacob, but the remainder 
 of the diminished constituency began at once to 
 give unmistakeable symptoms that they now con- 
 sidered themselves too few in number to incur, 
 and bear alone the weiu'ht of the Duke of Devon- 
 shire's displeasure, or rather that of his agent, the 
 late Colonel Curry. 
 
 All was dismay then on our side, and corre- 
 sponding exultation amongst the " hjippy family " 
 of the combined Whig, Tory, and Papist Anti- 
 Repealers ; when suddenly, on the hustings in 
 the main square of the toAvn, appeared Feargus 
 O'Connor, tanquam Deus ex macldna^ to dissipate 
 all our difficulties, and set everytliing right again. 
 
 He loudly invited general attention, from ene- 
 mies as well as friends, to the contents of a letter, 
 which he held in his hands ; and which ran mucli 
 as follows, as my recollection serves me: — 
 
 " Lismore Castle, June 183t. 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " In answer to your inquiry, I beg to state 
 that according to tlie latest instructions I have 
 
DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE. 107 
 
 received from the Duke of Devonshire, his Grace's 
 Dungarvon tenants have his entire assent to the 
 fullest and freest exercise of their voting privilege. 
 Although himself opposed to the Repeal question, 
 the duke would consider it most unconstitutional 
 and improper to interfere in any way with those 
 who hold under him, as to their votes on this or 
 any other occasion. You are therefore at perfect 
 liberty, and have my warranty to say, that none 
 of his tenants shall be punished, or made to 
 suffer for supporting the Repeal candidate at this 
 election. 
 
 '^ I have the honour to be. Sir, 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 " To Feargus O'Connor, Esq. M.P." 
 
 In the extremity of their astonishment at this 
 unexpected manifesto, friends and foes called upon 
 Mr. O'Connor to read it two or three times over. 
 The effect was electrical — the deserters were 
 stopped, the doubting were confirmed, the willing 
 were cheered on. In the excitement and enthu- 
 siasm of the moment, there was a rush to the 
 poll ; half to gratify the common anxiety to sup- 
 port the Repealer, and half to make sure of the 
 
108 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 YOtes before any change of mind on the part of 
 his Grace should be made known, if change there 
 were. By four in the afternoon the die was cast. 
 It was generally known that so many had polled 
 on the Repeal side, that the election Avas virtually 
 won ; and that even, although the scanty remnant 
 of the constituency were, without exception, to go 
 upon the other side, J\lr. Jacob's return was 
 inevitable. 
 
 Another piece of intelligence was also spread, 
 about the same hour. It was announced that 
 Colonel Curry, agent to the Duke of Devonshire, 
 had suddenly come into town — 
 
 " Bloody with spurring — fiery red with haste !" — 
 
 in a perfect storm of fury against a forgery whicli 
 he had been informed had occurred of his name to 
 a pretended letter from him, authorizing his 
 principal's tenants to vote according to their con- 
 sciences. He indignantly denied that he ever had 
 got, and therefore denied that he ever had trans- 
 mitted, any such permission from his grace tlie 
 Duke of Devonshire ; and he sent a most indignant 
 summons to Mr. Feargus O'Connor to deliver up 
 the letter at once, or stand charged with the forgery. 
 
THE REPEAL DEBATE. 109 
 
 The summons was most promptly and imme- 
 diately complied with by Mr. O'Connor; when 
 it turned out that so great had been the astonish- 
 ment of friend and foe at the contents of the 
 body of the letter in the morning, that they had 
 forgotten to ask fo7' the name written at the bottom 
 of it : which was not that of the representative 
 or any subordinate of the House of Cavendish, but 
 one of a much more extensive family, inasmuch as 
 the name was Ebenezer Humbug. 
 
 The Repeal debate of this session having 
 ended with a pledge of good will and fair inten- 
 tions towards Ireland — a pledge whicli, however 
 vague in terms, yet Avas unmistakeable in its 
 general purport, and as such, Avas deliberately 
 and solemnly entered into by the three estates 
 of the realm: by the Commons, with whom it 
 originated in Spring Rice's amendment to the 
 " Repeal " motion — by the Lords, Avho passed 
 a substantive resolution of the same tenor— and 
 by the King, who received and approved a joint 
 address, embodying their common sentiments 
 and declarations; Mr. O'Connell resolved upon 
 testing the validity of this pledge, and the sin- 
 cerity of those who were parties to it. He resolved 
 
110 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 at all hazards of his popularity in Ireland, to sus- 
 pend the Repeal agitation for a term long enough 
 to give a fair trial to the benevolence so loudl}'- 
 vaunted, and so imposingly proclaimed. His 
 experiment had an ill-omened beginning, in an 
 occurrence which led to a scene of excitement in 
 the House of Commons, much beyond anything 
 that I had witnessed there before, excited as our 
 debates upon the Coercion Bill had been. 
 
 Lord John Russell, to use Lord Stanley's 
 phrase at the time, had upset the coach of the 
 Reform ministry, about the end of IVIay, by a 
 declaration of the urgent necessity of Church 
 Reform. The coach righted itself by getting 
 rid of Stanley and Sir James Graham ; and the 
 common expectation was, that thus lightened, it 
 would bowl along with renovated speed, upon the 
 road to further political ameliorations. An im- 
 mediate advance was to be made towards the 
 conciliation of Ireland. Lord Grey himself, dis- 
 posed as he was to be severe towards her, 
 consented that in the approaching renewal of 
 the Coercion Bill, the clause should be omitted 
 which substituted Courts-martial for the ordinary 
 tribunals. But he would not yield to the repre- 
 
WEAKNESS OF THE MINISTRY. Ill 
 
 sentatlons of the Lord Lieutenant of Leland, tlie 
 late respected Marquis of Wellesle}^, as to the 
 propriety of giving up also the clauses restrictive 
 of the right of public meetings. 
 
 The rest of the cabinet — Lord Stanley, that 
 " arch-artificer" of mischief, being no longer 
 amongst them, — were indisposed to continue this 
 wanton and wholly unjustifiable outrage upon the 
 sister country ; and common prudence dictated 
 that it would be well to conciliate the Irish repre- 
 sentatives, now that the large and sweeping 
 majorities which the Whigs had at their command 
 at the outset of the llcform Parliament were found 
 to be rapidly diminishing ; partly in consequence 
 of the disgust and disappointment their inactivity 
 and retrograde tendencies had given to the more 
 liberal of their supporters; and partly by the 
 almost unvarying fact, that the numerous vacancies 
 caused by successful petition, or otherwise, were 
 filled up by Tories. 
 
 In this altered view and condition of matters, 
 Mr. O'Connell was communicated with, and in- 
 formed that the more obnoxious clauses of the 
 Coercion Act should not be pressed ; and his 
 forbearance towards the staggering Government 
 
112 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 was invited. Such at least Avas the impression 
 upon his mind from tlie communication made to 
 him; and lie liaving nearly two months before 
 resolved, and announced that he would suspend 
 the Repeal agitation, for a time long enough to 
 test the pledges of the Parliament and Sovereign 
 Jbefore alluded to, did not hesitate to meet the 
 conciliatory overtures even more than half-way : 
 by withdrawing the Repeal opposition to a Whig 
 candidate at a pending election for the county of 
 Wexford ; and by refraining from taking the hos- 
 tile course he had determined upon in a debate 
 upon some of the ramifications of the Church 
 question. 
 
 However it came about, or on whom the ftiult 
 is chargeable, certain it is, that the word of pro- 
 mise, if kept to the ear, was broken to his hope ; 
 the Coercion Act Renewal being moved in the 
 Lords, with quite an illusory abatement of the 
 objectionable parts. 
 
 Thence arose that scene of fierce controversy 
 and violent personal contradictions between him 
 and the then Secretary for Ireland, the present 
 Lord Hatherton, which startled the House out 
 of the scanty propriety that it ever had in dealing 
 
THE COERCION ACT. 113 
 
 with Irish matters. The partizans of both the 
 combatants cheered lustily : our Irish lungs, (for 
 after all there is no one who knows Jioic to cheer 
 but an Irishman,) enabling us to make up in noise 
 what we wanted in numbers. 
 
 Poor Lord Althorp fidgetted on his scat as if 
 it had suddenly become red hot. At one moment 
 he bent over and whispered Mr. Littleton ; at 
 another, he started nearly to his legs, and tlien 
 sat down again, struck by the hopelessness of 
 the mess into which differences of opinion and 
 vacillation had brought the cabinet. All the 
 other occupants of tlic Treasury bench Avhispered, 
 and consulted, and jumped about in much the 
 same fashion, and much the same confusion. 
 Stanley and Graham, sitting aloof, looked down 
 upon their late colleagues in huge enjoyment of 
 tlieir difficulties, and " grinned horribly a gliastly 
 smile," while our Irish cry waxed stronger and 
 bolder every minute, and was chimed in with 
 by the more practised cheers of the Tory party, 
 exulting in the discomfiture and exposure that 
 had taken place, and glad of " any stick to beat 
 the dog" of whiggery, so lately wagging its tail 
 in triumph over themselves. 
 
114 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Into tlie particular merits of this distressing, 
 and 3^et in its results not unhappy controversy, 
 I do not wish to enter, particularly as the sur- 
 viving principal is worthy of every respect. Those 
 wdio would have any interest in examining into 
 it, can read the debates of the time, and form 
 their own opinion. I do not wish to say a word 
 in such a case that might savour of natural bias, 
 and shall therefore leave the subject, with the 
 single additional remark, that my father, con- 
 vinced as he Avas that his impressions of the com- 
 munications made to him were correct, ever 
 regretted that it was his misfortune to be obliged 
 thus to come into angry collision with one whom 
 he respected and esteemed. 
 
 The results were not by any means unhappy. 
 The split in the cabinet being now patent in all 
 its magnitude and irreconcllahUUy, and the fact 
 also being proclaimed that the nobleman directly 
 charged with the government of Ireland had 
 distinctly advised the mitigations to which Lord 
 Grey was opposed, the latter resigned. Feeble 
 and broken he appeared in spirits and in health, 
 as he rose in the House of Lords on Monday, 
 an evening in the second week of July, 1834, 
 
EARL GREYS RESIGNATION. 115 
 
 to {innounce and explain his resignation. While 
 the Irisli M.P.s, among others, were crowd- 
 ing pell-mell into the inconvenient sheep-pen 
 which the scanty courtesy of the Upper House 
 assigns to the members of the Lower Avho wish 
 to attend its debates, it would have been natural, 
 and most excusable, if the thoughts and fcelincrs 
 uppermost in their minds had been those of m-ati- 
 fied and exulting revenge. We were about to 
 witness the acknowledgment of defeat on an 
 Irish question, and in an attempt to inflict fresh 
 insult upon Ireland, of the man who had recanted 
 and acted against all his early opinions upon 
 Irish matters; and the leader and prime mover 
 of a cabinet which, after accepting the important 
 assistance of the Irish representatives to carry 
 the great question of Eeform for England, and 
 secure that cabinet itself in power, had ungrate- 
 fully turned round upon their auxiliaries, and not 
 only denied all but a most limited and inefficient 
 measure of Eeform for Ireland, but used its first 
 strength and first majorities in a reformed Par- 
 liament to assail us in the most important of our 
 few remaining constitutional rights. 
 
 No doubt there was much of this upon our 
 
116 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 minds. We slioiild have been less tlian men — and 
 far less than Irishmen — not to have exulted at the 
 baffling of tlie new attempt at oppression of our 
 country, and at the defeat and overthrow of the 
 leader of her assailants. But tliere was yet 
 another and a more generous feeling — tliat of sin- 
 cere regret that Charles Grey, in liis earlier 
 career the friend and advocate of the people, and 
 of the rights and liberties of the people, should 
 so have forgotten his former self — so have re- 
 canted, jyracticalhji if not in words, his former 
 principles, and so have let himself be made the 
 tool of the strange and scarcely sane inveterac)^ 
 of hostility to Ireland of one man, who seemed 
 to have only joined his cabinet to disturb, distract, 
 and pervert its councils, and then to abandon 
 it in its hour of need. 
 
 Such should not have been the closing scene 
 of the political life of Charles Grey, whose 
 name was once so bright a beacon of hope to 
 the oppressed! And with this regret for him 
 was mixed up in our minds the still bitterer feel- 
 ing, yet rankling deeply and darkly — that Irish 
 rights and Irish liberties were, to the leading 
 statesmen of England, of little interest or value ; 
 
EARL GREY. 1 1 7 
 
 not to be weighed or considered for a moment 
 in comparison with what appeared the passing 
 interest or inclination of the English mind, and 
 only to be regarded when they could be made 
 subservient to a party purpose, and a party 
 advanta2;e. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CHANGE OF AD5IINI3TRATI0N. DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT.— THE OLD 
 
 HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT CONSUMED BY FIRE PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE 
 
 OF SITE. PROBABLE CONSTITUTION OP THE NEW PARLIAMENT 
 
 BETS THEREON. — MEMBERS BEGIN TO ASSEMBLE. ELECTION OP 
 
 SPEAKER. — THE PRETENDED COMPACT.— MR. ABERCROMBIE.— THE 
 king's SPEECH. — THE ADDRESS — ITS PRESENTATION. 
 
 Lord Melbourne, wliose death has just been 
 announced in the papers, (December, 1848,) suc- 
 ceeded to the Premiership in the same month, 
 July, 1834. There Avere some trifling re-casts of 
 the characters in the ministerial list; and there 
 was, for the first time, a kindliness shown and 
 promised towards Ireland. 
 
 The events of the autumn belong to history, 
 and not to this humble record of mine. The news 
 of the wholesale ejection by William IV. of the 
 Keform ministry, on the queer pretext of Lord 
 Spencer's death, struck Ireland with dismay. 
 Great was the exultation of all Orange land 
 
CHANGE OF ADMINISTRATION. 119 
 
 therefor! The " Saturnia rcgna" seemed restored 
 for them ; and they seemed incluied to make them 
 the '' Saturnalia regna." In the theatre at Dub- 
 lin the Orangemen waved their party-flag un- 
 checked and unrepudiated over the liead of the 
 representative of royalty, the Earl of Haddington. 
 The more noisy and knoicing of the Anti-Popish 
 junior Fellows of Trinity College, in the same 
 city, increased mightily their Orange students; 
 and gave them suppers, in two senses hotter than 
 ever ! And in every county and barony through- 
 out Ireland, the petty Orange functionaries took 
 new courage in the everyday detail of annoyance, 
 and teasing persecution of their poorer Papist 
 neighbours. Indeed, throughout the three conn- 
 tries the Avinter wore on with the most extra- 
 vagant exultations and anticipations on the part of 
 the Tor}', or as Sir Kobert Peel at this time 
 re-christened them, greatly to the disgust of poor 
 old Lord Eldon, the Conservative party. 
 
 Notwithstanding the warnings of his cool and 
 practised judgment, that the pear teas not vet 
 ripe, — that the Court intrigue was premature, 
 by which the failing mind of the king had been 
 so practised upon as to cause him to dismiss with 
 
120 PARLIA3IENTAKY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 downright ignominy tlie Reform ministry, with 
 whose prochiimed principles he had so identified 
 himself in 1831, and that therefore extreme pru- 
 dence and circumspection should be exercised 
 until the new ministry should feel the ground 
 firmer under tlieir feet, — the cupidities and small 
 ambitions of Sir Robert Peel's supporters made 
 them utterly intolerant of delay, and he had to 
 dissolve Parliament, and try the doubtful chances 
 of a general election. 
 
 From tliis period, — tlie autumn and early 
 winter of 1834, — commenced that moral winter 
 of hatred, malice, and all imcharitableness, Avhich 
 for full seven years or more froze up all kindly, 
 manly, honourable feeling among political parties, 
 and made those years the most unpleasant and 
 bitter to experience at the time, as to remembrance 
 now, tliat are on. the record of modern parliamen- 
 tary history. I am confident tliat in so describing 
 them there is no more said tlian what politicians 
 of all parties, who went throngh that time of in- 
 veterate squabbling, would lieartily subscribe to. 
 Individuals, and individual parties, will add to tlie 
 description as most accords with their impression 
 of the consequences to themselves. Under, per- 
 
HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT CONSUMED. 121 
 
 liaps, a bias of this description, I would add, 
 tliat it were well for the good fame of England 
 that much of what occurred during the next seven 
 years in her internal, and, as regards Ireland, 
 international history, were sunk in oblivion. Bi- 
 gotry and intolerance were rampant ; incited and 
 fooled to the top of their bent by interested 
 knavery and reckless ambition. 
 
 It was during the recess of 1834-1835 that the 
 old Houses of Parliament were burned. The 
 common-sense motion of Mr. Hume, to provide a 
 more commodious place of assemblage, at least 
 for tlic Commons, had been negatived but a few 
 months before ; and, as the crowd remarked during 
 the fire, that motion was then carried " without a 
 division." 
 
 His object, however^ was but partially carried 
 after all, as the fire could not altogether destroy 
 and swallow up the site of the ancient palace 
 of Westminster, as it did the buildings, ancient 
 and modern, or modernized, which were upon 
 that site. A most abominable smell from that 
 cloaca maocima of London and Westminster, the 
 Thames, used to be perceptible whenever the 
 windows of the old Houses were opened; and 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
122 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 altbougli we are for the present a little less 
 afflicted by this nuisance, in consequence of being 
 shut out in the temporary House and library from 
 the river by the interposition of two courts of the 
 new buiklings, with their lofty surrounding con- 
 structions, yet^ when at length (if ever) we are to 
 remove to the latter, the health-destroying nuisance 
 Avill be renewed. Mr. Hume and others were 
 urgent for a removal to the site of the unhappy 
 edifice called the National Gallery, in Trafalgar 
 Square; but the majority of the House were of 
 opinion that " les souvenh's 'calaient mieux que la 
 saute I " and so we are doomed to remain within 
 the sphere of the incense-breathing Thames. 
 
 Tlie old House of Commons had great interest 
 about it. No doubt it was inconvenient, and 
 scant of accommodation, but the present House 
 has very little advantage over it in that or any 
 other regard : and the House that we are told 
 we shall get into at some remote future time in 
 the new building, will re-produce, if some reports 
 speak true, several of the faults of St. Stephen's; 
 while all the great recollections which hallowed 
 the latter, and made its defects to be almost for- 
 gotten, will of course be wanting to the new edifice ; 
 
ASSEMBLING OF THE NEW PARLIAMENT. 123 
 
 at least until it ceases to be iieAv, and the English- 
 men of 100 or 200 years hence (the Irishmen 
 having been then for several generations in " their 
 otvn house at home^^) shall be sitting upon its 
 benches. 
 
 There was great anxiety, and 7iot a little betting 
 as the time drew nigh for the assembling of the 
 new parliament. Distinct, and widely differing 
 from each other as the hustings professions of 
 Whig and Tory Avere then, at least in com- 
 parison with the present day, yet an uncertainty 
 prevailed as to the actual preponderance of either 
 party. 
 
 Undeniably the computations on paper were in 
 favour of the Whigs. But the peculiar circum- 
 stances attending the first question that w^as likely 
 to be tried, threw a great doubt and uncertainty 
 upon their securing a working majority. The 
 first question expected was that on the election of 
 a Speaker. Sir C. M. Sutton, Speaker of the late 
 house, (and of its predecessors, since tlje year 
 1817,) had, by mixing himself up Avith the in- 
 trigue that brought about the change of ministry, 
 and more remotely the dissolution of parliament, 
 forfeited all title to the support of more than the 
 
 G 2 
 
124 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 one party in whose fovour those events had gone, 
 that is, the Tory or Conservative party. But so 
 many were under personal engagements to him, 
 or, through an overstrained dehcacy, considered 
 themselves, in some degree, bound by their former 
 votes in his favour, that the result was quite 
 dubious ; and if in favour of the Tories, might 
 certainly exercise a very important influence on 
 tlie rest of the session : the large class of waverers 
 and " waiters upon Providence," being very likely 
 to be influenced and decided by the first success. 
 
 As the day of battle drew nigh, the uncer- 
 tainty appeared to increase ; until heiting ran 
 nearly as high upon the result of the contest, as 
 on that of the Derby, or " gold cup" race. In 
 the steamer tliat brought us over to Liverpool, on 
 our way to the opening of parliament, there Avere 
 hot and angry debates ; and one gentleman, con- 
 nected with a Dublin Tory paper, was earnest in 
 oiFering a wager on the result to my father, who 
 seemed to surprise him by not considering the 
 occasion quite weighty enough to depart from his 
 established rule of never bettini!;. 
 
 From a little after 11 a.m. of Thursday, the 
 19th of February, 1835, the House began to fill 
 
THE SPEAKER. 125 
 
 witli members endeavouring to secure seats, ac- 
 cording to the inconvenient and scrambling custom 
 that then prevailed. At 2 p.m., Sir Kobert 
 Peel, with several of his colleagues of the new 
 ministry, entered and took their places on the 
 treasury bench. The late Speaker was much con- 
 gratulated in anticipation, as he passed up the 
 House, and took his seat where Sir Ivobert Inglis 
 now usually sits, at the upper end of the bench, 
 on the floor, below the gangway, and on the 
 treasury side. Of course he was in a morning 
 dress, and not in any of the paraphernalia of 
 office; and. In this unaccustomed guise, would have 
 furnished a good moral for Caxton's homily on 
 the decay of wig-wearing. The somewhat extreme 
 dignity of manner and bearing which marked him, 
 did not suit so well with the ordinary costume of 
 a private individual, as with the ^^big icig^^ and 
 flowing robe. Custom, after all, is everything ; 
 and unmeaning in modern times as Is the prac- 
 tice of wearing the wig and gown, men's eyes arc 
 so accustomed to it, and their minds have so asso- 
 ciated these habiliments witli the office, that even 
 our present excellent Speaker, notwithstanding 
 all his easy and natural dignity, and distinguished 
 
126 PxiRLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 appearance in plain clothes, might, in some de- 
 gree, suffer by the contrast. 
 
 There was a common desire to terminate the 
 debate before post-hour ; in order that the great 
 and general anxiety of the public, throughout the 
 three countries, might be set at rest. The speeches 
 were, consequently, more succinct than usual on 
 " field da3^s." Lord Ellesmere oj)ened the debate, 
 and his speech, as well as several that followed, 
 betrayed symptoms of the angry excitement that 
 was prevailing. Lord Stanley was in his element 
 in this strife ; and yet his speech afforded a strong- 
 instance of that disconcerting effect of interrup- 
 tions upon him which has been before alluded to. 
 The Liberals of the House were no longer in 
 Coercion-Bill mood, and his fierce sarcasms at his 
 old colleagues and associates provoked interrup- 
 tions which made him end his speech in nnicli- 
 ad mired disorder. 
 
 Peel was not " up to the mark." Whether it 
 Avas the effect of his having; been in a manner 
 compelled to steps of which his own judgment did 
 not approve ; whether he had a better and a more 
 accurate estimate of the strength of the opposition 
 arrayed against him, than was the case with the 
 
ELECTION OF SPEAKER. 127 
 
 common herd of his followers ; or whatever was 
 the cause, he did not, in this difficult crisis, make 
 an effort worthy of his fame. On the other hand, 
 the leaders of the Whig party were so much ham^ 
 pered by the support they had formerly given to 
 Sir C. M. Sutton, that the debate was but indif- 
 ferently maintained upon their part also. The 
 Radicals took no part, but left the others to fight 
 it out between them. At last we came to the 
 division. According to the custom that then pre- 
 vailed, the different sides in a division were not 
 counted simultaneously, but one after the other : 
 tliat for which the Speaker declared being counted 
 the first. If the Speaker was in the cliair, he 
 directed the supposed minority to go out into the 
 lobby until the supposed majority were counted 
 as they sat in the House. In a Committee of the 
 whole House, neither party retired ; but ranged 
 tliemselves scrupulously upon opposing benches ; 
 the members who voted against those with whom 
 they usually sat and acted, crossing over to the 
 other side for the occasion. Our votes were now 
 taken as in Committee, there being, of course, no 
 Speaker in the chair. 
 
 Mr. Ley, the acting chairman, having declared 
 
128 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 for the Tories as the supposed majority^ the telling 
 began with them. 
 
 Even at that moment, the most entire uncer- 
 tainty as to the result prevailed with all but a 
 few ; and their confident predictions were* dis- 
 credited by our fears. It was a very nervous 
 thing as the tellers successively announced the 
 numbers — 299 — 300 — 301; for the youngest mem- 
 ber knew that 600 was a figure at wliich the 
 attendances in the House rarely arrived. 
 
 Still, regardless of our dismay, on went the 
 inexorable voices— 302— 303— 304—305— 306 ! 
 
 And then, at last, a stop. But a stop giving us 
 little comfort, for no one imagined that we could 
 number 307. A hushed murmur of congratulation 
 ran along the Tory benches; with difficulty re- 
 pressed by the more experienced and cautious, 
 from bursting into a cheer. Then our tale began ; 
 and the array of wands, with which the tellers 
 were then armed, was pointed almost as if in 
 derision into our blank Iouq; faces ! 
 
 250 — 251 ! — how long and tedious it appeared 
 as the numbers slowly crept up, and what an 
 fearfully large section of our party seemed to be 
 counted off before the tellers annoimced 290 ! 
 
LICHFIELD HOUSE MEETINGS. 129 
 
 Then a general hush and holding of the breath 
 as tlie tale went on and on, until 300 came. 
 Some of us who sat in the gallery could not move, 
 until at last — at last — came the welcome sounds, 
 304—305—306—307 ! 
 
 A cheer, such as even the Monster Meetings of 
 1843 scarcely could rival, burst from us at the 
 sound; and the remaining numbers (up to 316, 
 which was the total) were completely lost to the 
 hearing. Siich a cheer has seldom been heard 
 within the walls of Parliament : — it was perfectly 
 stunning, and reached through all the lobbies 
 and passages to the people outside, wlio responded 
 lustily ; without, perhaps, knowing very well of 
 which party it announced the triumph. 
 
 It was very wrong of us to cheer in that way! 
 We had most discreetly pledged ourselves but the 
 Wednesday before, when our new leader. Lord 
 John E-ussel], addressed us at one of the much- 
 talked-of " Lichfield House meetings," that we 
 would, in case of success, be on our very best 
 behaviour, and not give any sign of exultation, 
 least it should be misconstrued, and be taken as 
 personally offensive to Sir Charles Sutton. But 
 our promises were whistled down the wind in the 
 
 G 3 
 
130 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 tremendous excitement of the moment, and we 
 cheered and cheered again, until the okl walls 
 round us fiiirly rocked with the repeated con- 
 cussion. 
 
 As for the Irish M.P.s, we were, of course, par- 
 ticularly uproarious and disorderly — throwing into 
 our cheers all our old and recent recollections of 
 bitterness, and suffering, and insult, heaped upon 
 Ireland by the party that now sat opposite to us, 
 humiliated, disappointed, defeated. We had, of 
 course, no thought of giving offence to the late 
 Speaker, nor, indeed, any thought of liim at all. 
 It was the relief to Ireland, and the briglitening 
 prospects for Ireland, resulting from the Tory 
 defeat, Avhich drew those cheers from our inmost 
 souls ; and we could not have checked ourselves if 
 we had attempted it. 
 
 Empty, illusory, and vain have those hopes and 
 prospects been proved ; and dear and heavy has 
 been the penalty we have been made to pay for 
 our over-exultation ! The snake was scotched, 
 but not killed ; and first, by persevering obstruc- 
 tion, and afterwards by direct and active oppres- 
 sion, Avhen, in 1840, they had succeeded in 
 wresting from the enfeebled grasp of the Whigs 
 
LICHFIELD HOUSE MEETINGS. 131 
 
 the reins of Government, the Tories, or " Con- 
 servatives," or by whatever other title it may 
 please them to be known, made poor Ireland 
 suffer for her short-lived rejoicings and expec- 
 tations. 
 
 The " Lichfield House " meetings of the early 
 part of tlie session of 1835 have been a fertile 
 source of misrepresentation and calumnies. An 
 unfortunate and inconsiderate phrase of Mr. 
 Sheil's, in a speech with reference to them in the 
 course of one of the great party debates of the 
 session, gave colour and some consistency to the 
 cliargcs. 
 
 It was alleged, that in those meetings a " com- 
 pact," to use the chance phrase of Mr. Shell, 
 was entered into between the Whig Ministry 
 and my father, to the effect that support of 
 the former in the House should be bartered 
 against patronage given to the latter out of tlie 
 House ; and that Kepeal should be abandoned if 
 some minor measures of relief were passed for' 
 Ireland. 
 
 This calumny served amply and most efficiently 
 the purposes of the " Tadpoles and Tapers " of 
 the day; and when the additional j^o'i(^o« was 
 
132 rARLTAMENTARY EXrERIENCES. 
 
 thrown in, that the Protestant Church in Irehmd 
 was to be sacrificed to the Molocli of agitation, 
 the potion was complete, and John Bnll swal- 
 lowed it to the dregs. Then began again 
 his old "No Popery" nightmare; distracting, 
 disturbing, and impeding with its ravings the 
 course of a rational, a just, and an honest policy 
 towards Ireland, for a period of years not as yet 
 come to a termination. 
 
 It has not been in Great Britain alone that this 
 calumny has served the purposes of tlie enemies of 
 Ireland ; and as such, the enemies of the peace and 
 strength of the empire. Tlieir industrious circula- 
 tion and repetition of it, not only enabled them to 
 array Englisli and Scotch prejudice and passion 
 against us, but sowed a sad division even amongst 
 ourselves. The inveterate habit of suspicion which 
 centuries of ill-treatment, treacheries, and be- 
 trayals, liave implanted in tlie Irish mind, was 
 aroused, and every reckless aspirer after notoriet}-, 
 every jealous and self-admiriug scribbler, availed 
 himself of the opportunity to sow distrust and 
 disunion between the people and those in whom 
 they had hitherto confided. And although their 
 unworthy efforts for a time appeared to fail of the 
 
THE PRETENDED COMPACT. 133 
 
 desired result, the seed was not tlie less assuredly 
 sown, which in later times, and Avitli more dili- 
 gent, more skilful, and more malignant cultivation, 
 has brought forth such monstrous fruit to unhappy 
 Ireland ! 
 
 It was an utter and unredeemed calumny ! 
 No such compact ever was made. No engage- 
 ment, no stipulation, no barter, no compromise of 
 any kind, species, or description, took place then, 
 or at any time. My father said there publicly 
 what he had publicly said elsewhere — what he 
 had proclaimed over and over again in Ireland, — 
 that he would give the English legislature a trial, 
 full time to redeem its solemn pledges of the past 
 year, and to show (if it were disposed so to do) to 
 the Irish people, that the benefits which they ex- 
 pected from Repeal could be obtained, and should 
 be granted, without any necessity arising for the 
 re-construction of an Irish Parliament. 
 
 He said there, as he had said elsewhere, and had 
 proclaimed in Ireland, that he was to be bought, or 
 crushed, if Englisli statesmen desired to do either. 
 He could be bought, or his power and influence 
 could be crushed and destroyed, by the simple 
 process of righting the many wrongs of Ireland, 
 
134 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 relieving her miseries, striking off the manacles 
 which yet hung around her, and doing her full, 
 complete, and entire justice, if that should be 
 found possible without the restoration of her own 
 Parliament. 
 
 He declared that he neither expected, nor 
 believed it possible, that such justice could or 
 would be done, save by, and in consequence of 
 the restoration of that Parliament ; but that no 
 one should have it in their power to say of him 
 that he had not given the English parliament 
 the fullest and fairest trial and opportunity ; nor 
 that he had prevented immediate benefits and 
 measures of instant relief, by forcing on pre- 
 maturely the larger and more difficult question of 
 a great organic change. 
 
 And, finally, he declared before, during, and 
 after the Lichfield House meetings; and openlj'- 
 and publicly in Ireland, as w^ell as in England, 
 that in so far as the Whig ministry showed them- 
 selves disposed to treat Ireland fairly, and to do 
 her justice, so far, and no further, shoidd they 
 have his support ; and that the same support, to the 
 same extent, was at the command of the Tories, 
 the moment they should determine to change 
 
MR. ABERCROMBIE. 135 
 
 their councils, and out-rival the Whigs in their 
 promised eiforts to benefit the Irish people. 
 
 And this is the true history of what has been 
 improperly by some, uncandidly by others, and 
 most dishonestly by yet a third set of persons, 
 denominated the Lichfield House compact! 
 
 Stupid affairs enough were those meetings in 
 the dusty, unfurnished drawing-rooms of that 
 dingy-fronted mansion. We got lectures on pro- 
 priety and moderation, and vague assurances, and 
 promises of great things to be done at some paulo- 
 post-futurum period; and not a few glimpses of 
 the want of cordial feeling towards us of our 
 English associates. International aversion was so 
 thinly disguised, that some of the English Ive- 
 formers actually proposed, that, in the consulta- 
 tions which the progress and various incidents of 
 the campaign against Peel might necessitate, the 
 Irish members should deliberate apart, and send up 
 the result of their deliberations to the quad Upper 
 House of the English Reformers ; who (to use the 
 proper parliamentary formula) "would send an 
 answer by messengers of their own ! " 
 
 It can scarcely be necessary to say who was the 
 successful candidate for the Speakership in 1835. 
 
136 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Upon tlie very estimable Mr. Abercromble, at 
 present Lord Dunfermline, llic choice of the 
 majority fell; and during the brief period that he 
 reigned over us, we were kept tightly and smartly 
 to order ; and if it were possible to make good 
 and well-conducted boys of the members of the 
 House of Commons, it would have been done 
 under his awful sway ! 
 
 Our new Speaker having been received and ap- 
 proved bon gre mal gre, and the usual number of 
 days having been drawled through with the swear- 
 ing in of members, we met as a duly constituted 
 House to hear the King's speech, and to debate 
 and pass the address in answer. 
 
 The discussion upon the address was much better 
 and more spiritedly maintained than that upon the 
 speakership ; it also gave us a better and more 
 promising majority. There was a good deal of 
 amusement In noting the surly looks and second- 
 hand superciliousness of the palace-officials, as 
 the victorious majority of the Commons trooped 
 through the lobbies of St. James's, bearing up the 
 amended address, to present It to his Majesty. 
 Some said that our great offence was the revolu- 
 tionary plainness of our attire, few of our party 
 
THE ADDRESS. 137 
 
 being in court dress ; but whatever the reason 
 was, the little dogs in office as well as the big 
 showed their teetli, though they could not bite 
 at us, as we swept along to open our battery of 
 constitutional coercion upon the throne. 
 
 Poor William the lYth received us gruffly 
 enough, and after having listened with very evi- 
 dent impatience and indocility to the species of 
 lecture read to him in the alterations which his 
 ministers' plan of the address had undergone, dis- 
 missed us with a few sentences, quite as little satis- 
 factory, and as devoid of practical significance, as 
 any royal speech, short or long, that ever was 
 drawn up by minister and spoken by monarch. 
 
 We had walked from the House, the day being 
 fine, to present the address ; and we returned in the 
 same way, crossing St. James's Park. Next day 
 the Tory papers found consolation in announcing 
 that the Liberal members had icalked up with the 
 address, because they could not arfford to pay for 
 carriages. 
 
 This was of a piece with the explanation they 
 gave, at a later period of the session, of the con- 
 stant minorities of their party. They found out 
 that the young " Conservative" members were so 
 
138 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIEllCES. 
 
 sought after in society, that they could not get 
 away from dinner-room, or concert, or ball, to 
 attend their parliamentary duties ; while the 
 Radical members, and in particular the Irish 
 members, attended steadily and constantly; because 
 we were of a class to whom a good and well 
 staunched roof, a warm room, and plenty of light 
 for some hours of the evening, were positive 
 luxuries ! 
 
CHAPTER VIL 
 
 OPPOSITION TO THE NEW MINISTRY.— SIR ROBERT PEEL. — FEARGU3 
 o'cONNOR. — niS ELECTIONEERING TACTICS.— YOUGIIAL. — RT. HON. T. 
 B. C. SMYTH. — ABSURD OBJECTIONS. — THE " ROYAL REEFER." — " TEA- 
 TASTRESS TO THE LADY-LIEUTENANT." — THE OLD TIPSTAFF. — AN 
 
 ELECTION SCENE. BRIBERY.— AN HONEST VOTER.— LONDON WATER- 
 
 jIEN. — AN ELECTION BILL. — COLONEL FAIRMAN. — LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 
 —JACK LAWLESS.— LORD MORPETH.— A HAT NOT FIT FOR A GENTLE- 
 MAN. 
 
 " By small degrees, and beautifully greater,'' our 
 majorities increased during the five or six Aveeks 
 that it took to convince Sir Eobert Peel's sup- 
 porters, (not himself, for he was not likely to have 
 been a moment deceived as to the true state of 
 parties,) that the loaves and fishes were not to 
 remain in their hands. 
 
 His havino; consented to retain office for so 
 long a period after the hostility of the House to 
 his administration was made evident, has been 
 inconsiderately blamed. Had he resigned early, 
 there would not only have been violent reclama- 
 tions against him, among his official and parlia- 
 
140 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 mentary supporters; but the large mass of tlie 
 English public out of doors, with whose principles 
 he was and is identified, Avould have accused him 
 of timidity and desertion. He was bound, then, 
 for his own credit, and for the sake of his influ- 
 ence, future as well as present, to hold out to the 
 last ; and not to yield until the inevitable and 
 long foreseen checkmate should be given. 
 
 It is extraordinary, considering the very de- 
 cided hent of Toryism that is in the English public 
 mind, that the election returns of 1834-5 sliould 
 have given a majority to the Wliigs. The hurrah 
 of the Kcform times had completely subsided: the 
 experience of two sessions had abundantly demon- 
 strated that the new party in power were of 
 opinion that Keform had gone far enough, in 
 placing them there. The real Liberals through- 
 out the country were disappointed, disgusted, 
 divided, desponding. The Tories, or " Conserva- 
 tives" as I must henceforth style them, had, like 
 Milton's darkened spirits, entirely shaken off the, 
 first stupor of their fall, and had taken fresh 
 courage from defeat ; and the potent weapon of 
 bribery, so recklessly and regularly employed at 
 English elections, was far more at theij' command 
 
WHIG MAJORITY. 141 
 
 than at that of the less Avealthy and influential 
 Keformers. 
 
 Their failure in 1835 can have been owing but 
 to tlie one cause, that valuable though sometimes 
 inconvenient quality of tenacity, with which John 
 Bull holds to an idea, or principle, once fully im- 
 pressed upon his mind. Like all lieavy bodies 
 that have got a momentum in one direction, it 
 requires no inconsiderable pressure and skill to 
 turn liim in a new, at least until the old impetus 
 is entirely expended ; and time and sufficient 
 effort had not been given to accomplish this 
 purpose, when the general election we are speak- 
 ing of occurred. 
 
 It could not, however, be said that the war was 
 feebly and inefficiently waged, either on the whole 
 or in particular contests. More bitterness and 
 harder fighting was seldom witnessed b(3fore, and 
 has scarcely been outdone since. This was the 
 case all over England, and of course it was the case 
 in Ireland. 
 
 I had the assistance of Feargus O'Connor at my 
 election, (for the borough of Youghal, county of 
 Cork.) The opposing interest was strong — par- 
 ticularly the Duke of Devonshire, whose agents 
 claimed for him the control of this borough, as they 
 
142 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 had done that of its not very distant neighbour, 
 Dungarvon. Then came tlie Tory corporation, 
 with all its freemen ; and on my side were only the 
 poor Liberal householders, many of them suftering 
 for their patriotism on a previous occasion. 
 
 Feargus was not as happy here as in his former 
 electioneering tactics. He rattled away speeches 
 enough, and tramped about through the ancient 
 and venerable mud of that old fortress-town Avith 
 great industry and eclat ; but he contrived to start 
 the only possible subject on which there could have 
 been a disagreement between my constituents and 
 me — the Corn Laws. I had voted for their repeal; 
 and my constituents were many of them engaged 
 in, or dependent on, the Irish corn-trade, and had 
 the usual and natural prepossessions on the subject 
 of parties so engaged ; but luckily Feargus's mal- 
 adroitness did not attract their notice. 
 
 My opponent was the present respected Master 
 of the Rolls in Ireland, the Kight Hon. T. B. C. 
 Smyth: one who gave me a stout contest, and still 
 severer petition afterwards, but with whose personal 
 demeanour and inoffensive, though very determined 
 maintenance of his " Ascendancy" principles, I 
 could have no reason to complain. With such a 
 man, and so supported as he was, the contest was 
 
THE ROYAL REEFER. 143 
 
 protracted to the utmost verge the law allowed ; 
 and many and queer were the incidents that from 
 time to time occurred. 
 
 It will give the Englitjli reader some idea of the 
 powers of obstruction and annoyance which the 
 very defective and purposely-encumbered state 
 of the Irish electoral law places in the hands of 
 those who choose to use them, wlien the fact is 
 stated, that it took nearly the whole of five days 
 to poll some 270 or 280, all that could by any 
 means be brought up, out of a constituency of not 
 more, as I recollect, than 300 upon the whole ! 
 
 The small attorneys usually employed in the 
 election booths are sadly reckless of the multitude 
 of unnecessary oaths which they insist on making 
 the opposing party's voters take, with the sole 
 view of creating delays. Another and a more 
 venial device is the drawing up absurd objections, 
 Avhich tends to the crowding of the assessor's room, 
 and the delay and obstruction of his real business. 
 Objection-papers go up, with the plea recorded 
 on them, that the voter is " an Ill-looking felloAv," 
 — that he " has several holes in his coat," — that 
 lie " wears a shocking bad hat," &c. 
 
 The solitary polling-booth at this, as at my 
 
14-i PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 former election at Yoiighal, was the so-called 
 Court Jiouse, an ancient (but not venerable) billiard- 
 chamber, celebrated in Yoiighal annals as having 
 been the scene of one of the youthful visitations, 
 and no doubt of the sailor-freaks, of the '^^Royal 
 Reefer,^' hight Prince AYilliam Henry, and in my 
 time no other than the reigning monarch, William 
 the Fourth. 
 
 Indeed, the local historians of Avhat is now 
 Mr. Chisholm Anstey's good and liege town, 
 are confident in their boast, that it was within 
 the circuit of their borough where resided the 
 stout Quaker, who showed the young Prince 
 the door, on account of some noisy irregularity, 
 tellino: him at the same time : 
 
 "Were it George, thy royal father, he should 
 not do in my house what thou hast done ! " 
 
 Not only royalty, but mce-royalty had its memo- 
 rials at Youohal — in the latter case, a livine; one. 
 A most respectable and very aged lady resided there 
 in 1835, who rejoiced in the title (and pension, of 
 course,) of " Tea-Tastress to the Lady-Lieutenaiit! !'''' 
 
 During the taking of the votes, there were at 
 the bottom of the long, low, and narrow, incon- 
 venient apartment I have mentioned, a motley 
 
THE OLD TIPSTAFF. 145 
 
 crowd, exercising functions somewhat similar to 
 those of the chorus in the ancient Greek dramas. 
 They kept up a running fire of comments and 
 pungent remarks upon nil that was going forward, 
 and occasionally broke in upou the proceedings 
 with some home thrust at individuals peculiarly 
 obnoxious to them. 
 
 Woe betide the unhappy wight that has a hole 
 in his moral coat, if he show himself at an Irish 
 election ! Note is sure to be taken of it ; and while 
 he fusses about, good man, absorbed in his elec- 
 tioneering labours, a sarcasm keen as steel, and sud- 
 den as a flash of lightning, reminds him of some old 
 folly or peccadillo he had fondly hoped forgotten 
 years agone, and overwhelms him with ridicule and 
 confusion, despite of the most valiant efforts to look 
 unconcerned, or to vindicate his insulted dignity ! 
 
 These electioneering by-plays were exceedingly 
 distasteful to the tipstaff or crier of the court, 
 an old pensioner, as irascible and dogmatic as 
 most of his class, and with his own ideas of the 
 King's English, as well as of most things else. 
 
 In vain the worthy INIayor Avould call on him to 
 make proclamation word for word after him. The 
 old soldier had his own dialect, into which he most 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
146 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 punctually translated the Avords as they came ; for 
 instance : — - 
 
 Mayor. "All those that are — electors of Youghal," 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Crie7\ " Thim as iz — elicthurs o' Yo'hal," &c. &c. 
 But if it was difficult to keep the old soldier 
 to hooJi, in repetitions, the giant lahour was with 
 the voters, when tliey were called on to repeat 
 the words of the qualification or hrihery oaths, 
 after the official whose duty it was to administer 
 it to them, when required by either party. Some 
 such scene as the following has occurred a hundred 
 times upon such occasions, the actors being tlie 
 sheriff's deputy presiding in the polling booth, 
 his clerk, the voter, and occasionally one or other 
 of the attorneys or election agents there stationed. 
 
 Clerh. " Now repeat the words after me, * I, 
 Patrick O'Shaughnessy,' " (or Tim Leary, as tlie 
 case may be.) — 
 
 Voter, " Yis, that's me." 
 
 Deputy. *' That won't do, voter ; you must say 
 exactly as the clerk says." 
 
 Voter. " Yis, your honour ! — I will. Sir." 
 
 ClerTi. " I, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, do swear — " 
 
 Voter. "Yis, I do." 
 
AN ELECTION SCENE. 147 
 
 Clerk. '^ Come, come, you stupid fellow, repeat 
 tlic words after me,' I, Patrick O'Sliauglinessy,' 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Voter. "Well, anything for a quiet life; — *I, 
 Patrick O'Sliaughnessy, do swear — ' " 
 
 Clerk. " * That I am the same Patrick O'Shaugrh- 
 nessy whose name appears in this certificate.' " 
 
 Voter. " ' That I am — the same ' — Arrah ! [in- 
 dignantly] to be sure I am ! Who else would I 
 be ? Is it wanting to make game of me you are ? " 
 
 Deputy. " Come, come, voter, Pll send you off 
 the table if you don't do as you're bid, and not be 
 wasting our time in tliis manner. Repeat after 
 the clerk. Sir, as you are told, or I won't take 
 your vote at all ! " 
 
 Voter. "Well, sure I will, Sir, I will! This 
 is a poor case, now I Well, — ' that I am the 
 same,' &c. &c. — Will that 2^1(1^6 ye ? " — \to the 
 Clerhl 
 
 Clerk. '' Silence,, Sir ! — ' And that I have not 
 before voted at this election.' " 
 
 Voter. " No ! the Dhil a vote ! — Well, you know 
 it yourself that I wasn't up here before to-day 1 " 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Again, when the Bribery Oath is being put. 
 
 h2 
 
148 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ClerJi: " ' And that I have not received anything; 
 nor hath any one in trust for me.' " 
 
 Voter. " No ! — the dickens a lia-porth \Jialfpenny 
 wortJi]) nor any one for me either ! — Troth, if it 
 Avas a thing that I was goin' to sell my conscience 
 that way, it's little I'd thrust [trust] to another to 
 resave the vally [value] for me!" &c. &c. 
 
 At length — at long last — the poor clerk gets him 
 to the end of the oath, and the formula of kissing 
 the book is gone through. This is the signal for 
 a new difficulty. Up starts the opposing attorney, 
 ripe and ready for a rote, and protests that the 
 man did not " kiss fair ;" — that he " kissed his 
 thumb " instead of the book. 
 
 At sucli an imputation upon his honesty and 
 due regard for his oath, the indignation of the 
 voter knows no bounds : 
 
 " Kiss my thumb, indeed ! — kiss your granny ! — 
 Troth, then, if 'ijou only said yer prayers this fine 
 mornin' as surely as I kissed the book, the ould 
 hoy heloio wouldn't have tlie howld {JioUr] of yer 
 sowl that he has, Misthur Attorney ! " 
 
 Here the sensitive Professional appeals to the 
 Deputy for protection, amid the shouts of laughter 
 of the people in the body of the court, while his 
 
BRIBERY. 149 
 
 learned brother at the other side jumps up, quite 
 as smartly, to argue the matter with him. The 
 Deputy storms ; the police vainly shout for " Si- 
 lence!" and meantime the voter quietly slips 
 away, perfectly satisfied with himself, since lie 
 had an oj^portunity of giving an answer to his 
 assailant, and greatly rejoicing in the hubbub and 
 confusion he has created. 
 
 But in making any allusion, however passing, 
 to the conduct of Irish electors, it would be an 
 omission altogether inexcusable, to say nothing 
 of the extraordinary virtue which so many of them 
 liave displayed in the hour of sore and bitter trial. 
 
 Landlords and agents have, in numberless in- 
 stances, attended in the polling booth to note 
 down, for future persecution, the names of tenants 
 and dependants who came to record their votes for 
 their country. And notwithstanding the ominous 
 presence and often the open threats of those 
 virtual arbiters of their lives and of the lives of 
 their wretched families, — notwithstanding, too, 
 the large bribes offered freely, and almost without 
 any disguise, — thousands have gone up, and done 
 their duty to Ireland, not with a parade of defiance 
 or vain-s^loriousness, but with that meek unas- 
 
150 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Sliming while invincible firmness that marks and 
 constitutes real heroism of character. 
 
 At Youghal, at the election of which mention 
 has been made, a number of poor artisans, mainly 
 dependent on the Orange Corporation, voted man- 
 fully against their employers, in spite of every 
 effort of bribery and intimidation. One poor 
 nailer, in particular, showed a high degree of 
 virtue. I believe it was considered that his ex- 
 ample would be of great importance, owing to 
 the notoriety and usual determinedness of his 
 patriotism ; and as it was hopeless to expect he 
 could be got to vote the wrong way, the attempt 
 was made to induce him to leave Youghal before 
 the election, and of course to remain away till its 
 conclusion. 
 
 For this end, he was offered 200/. ; his house, 
 furniture, whole stock of goods, working tools 
 and all, being worth, at a good valuation, perhaps 
 some seven or eight pounds. And he most in- 
 dignantly spurned at the offer, remained in town, 
 and voted against his employers. 
 
 To those acquainted with Irish elections, this in- 
 cident will appear, as in fact on such occasions it 
 is, one of a very common order. I am bound to 
 
LONDON WATERMEN. 151 
 
 bear my testimony, after a good deal of elec- 
 tioneering experience in Ireland, that such con- 
 duct is tlie rule and not the exception. And I 
 cannot express or describe the feeling that I have 
 experienced, when, coming fresh from scenes like 
 these, I have, in the chances of parliamentary 
 duty, been called upon to sit on Englisli election 
 committees, there to hear of men worth 10,000/. 
 taking a 10/. bribe; to say nothing of the ordi- 
 nary and matter-of-course present to all comers 
 of one or two sovereigns, or, as they Avere 
 called at the Liverpool elections, ** coriander 
 seeds." 
 
 It is reported of the watermen of London, at 
 the election of 1841, that being determined Re- 
 formers, they declared that Lord John Russell 
 might have their votes for 3000/. ; whereas if the 
 Tory party desired to have them they should pay 
 5,000/. 
 
 And I have mj'-self heard an English witness 
 explain the whole morality of vote trafficking in 
 some such way as thefollowing: — 
 
 " If I were going to vote for Mr. A, and that 
 J\Ir. B comes and gives me money to vote for 
 liim ; and that I do vote for jMr. B, — why then 
 
152 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ilicit^s what I call bribery and corruption. But if 
 I am going to vote for INlr. A, and that he gives 
 me the money ; then I say there 's no bribery and 
 no harm in that." 
 
 As a refreshing pendant for my English readers 
 to these notices of the frailty of some of their 
 fellow countrymeuj when election bribes are going, 
 I will now give a veritable " treatlny^^ bill, fur- 
 nished at an Irish election, not a great number of 
 years ago, to an Irish Baronet since dead ; a gen- 
 tleman whose most respectable and excellent suc- 
 cessor is now in the House, a living witness, if 
 necessary, to the authenticity of this valuable 
 document. 
 
 '^ My Bill. Bryan Garity -f his mark. 
 
 £ s. (/. 
 
 "To ating [eating] 16 Freeholders above stairs for 
 Sir Marks, at three shillings and thriqipence a 
 head, is to me 2 12 
 
 " To ating 16 more [!] below stairs, and Two Priests, 
 after supj^er, — [It was well the Established Church 
 did not come in this fellow's way '' after supper,"] 
 — is to me 2159 
 
 " To six beds in one room ; and four in another ; at 
 two guineas every bed ; and not more than four 
 in any one bed at any time : cheap enough, the 
 Lord knows ! is to me 22 15 
 
 " To eighteen horses and five vieicles [mules], atthir- 
 teen-pence every one of them : And for a man 
 which was lost [!] on the head of watching them 
 all night, is to me 5 5 
 
AN ELECTION Bir.L. 153 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 " For breakfast on lay, in. the morning, for every 
 one of them, [horses and mewles too, it is to he 
 lioped,'] and as many more as they brought, as 
 near as I can guess, is to me 4 12 
 
 "To ?-(7?y "whiskey and punch, luithout talking of 
 2)ipcs or tobacco, as well as for porter ; and as ivell 
 as for breaking the potato-pot and other glasses [!] 
 and delf, for the first day and night / am not 
 very sure, [conscientious fellow !] but for the three 
 days and a half of the election, as little as I can 
 call it, and to be very exact, [!] it is in all, or 
 thereabouts, as near as I can guess, and not to be 
 too j)articular, is io me, at the least 79 15 
 
 " Sir Marks," whoever lie was, cannot have 
 resisted payment of this last item at any rate, 
 after so many careful reservations put around 
 to make it safe. But we have not by any means 
 got to the end of the account. 
 
 " For shaving and cropping off' the heads [ ! ! !] of 49 
 Freeholders for Sir Marks, [not stated, by the 
 way, whether for dinner or supper,] at thirteen 
 pence every head of them, by my brother, ivho has 
 a, wote [a vote] ; is to me 2 13 1 
 
 " For a tuomit [lu in place of v] and nurse for poor 
 Tim Kiernan in the middle of the night, when he 
 was not expected, [i.e. not expected to live,] is to 
 me ten hog — [Anglicfe] .... .... 10 10 
 
 "Signed, in the j^lace of Jemmy Carr's Wife [!] 
 
 his 
 "Bryan + Garitt. 
 mark. 
 
 H 3 
 
154 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " Sum of the total, 
 {otherwise, " totlle of the hull."] ' 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 2 12 00 [!] 
 
 2 15 09 
 
 22 15 00 
 
 f{ ^ 00 Note : — / donH talk of the Piper, or 
 
 — for keeping him sober so long as he was 
 
 — so, [another most prudent reservation^] 
 79 15 00 [!] this is to me £0 ! 
 
 2 13 01 [!] 
 10 10 
 
 £110 18 7" 
 
 " You may say lllZ. ; so please your Honour, Sir Marks, send 
 me this eleven hundred pounds [! ! !] hy Bryan himself," — [it 
 would have been a pity not, after his draAving up such a bill for 
 Jemmy Carr's wife,] "send it to me by Bryan himself, Avho and 
 
 I prays for your success always in T ; and no more at 
 
 jyresent!" 
 
 " Liteva scripta" manet. — The original of the 
 foregoing is, I understand, most religiously pre- 
 served, as it Avell deserved to be ; and tliere are 
 plenty of living witnesses to satisfy the most 
 sceptical. 
 
 During two or three months of this session the 
 famous exposure was made, (partly in various de- 
 bates in both Houses, and partly by the researches 
 of a Committee,) of the constitution and objects of 
 the institution of Orangeism. 
 
COLONEL F AIRMAN. 155 
 
 We had at our bar, for a couple of days' ex- 
 amination, tlic redoubtable Colonel William Blen- 
 nerhassett Fairman, Secretary to the Orangemen 
 of England, and subordinate engineer of the re- 
 puted plot to seat " Ernest of Hanover," in those 
 days " Ernest of Cumberland," upon the throne, 
 after the demise of King William the Fourth, 
 to the exclusion of her present Most Gracious 
 Majesty. Notwithstanding the gallant manner 
 in which the undaunted Colonel ruffled his fea- 
 thers at the poking questions put to him, while 
 undergoing the iieine forte et dure of being 
 cross-questioned at our bar, and despite too of 
 the vigorous diversions in his favour continually 
 made by the friends, patrons, and partisans in the 
 House of the Orangemen, such troublesome and 
 awkward facts were beginning to come out as 
 to the conjuration manque^'' of this party, that 
 there w^as a parliamentary surrender at discretion 
 to stop further inquiry, and save the plotters, 
 big and little, from condign and most deserved 
 punishment. 
 
 To such of us as had not been in Parliament 
 previous to, and at the time of the Reform Bill, 
 Lord John Russell, up to the session of 1835, had 
 
156 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 by 110 means appeared to merit the reputation we 
 had believed him to enjoy as a speaker. 
 
 Although the noble lord in question is certainly 
 not a very eager and over-precipitate advocate of 
 political changes, and on the contrary is more to 
 be remarked for a disposition to go to sleep over 
 them, and to continue that sleep to a very late 
 hour indeed, this measure of justice must be dealt 
 to him, that when he has at last prevailed on 
 himself to stir, and is determined to make an 
 advance, he seems to speak with far more nerve 
 and earnestness, and certainly with far greater 
 effect upon his auditory, than when proposing or 
 defending measures of restriction, severity, and 
 injustice. 
 
 In the latter case he is of the earth, earthy : — 
 heavy, laboured, stiff, dogmatical, and dogged. 
 
 In the former he surprises by the bursts of a 
 singular and really chastened eloquence ; glitter- 
 ing over the usual correct coldness of his deliveiy, 
 like sunshine over an ice-encumbered stream. 
 
 Of his powers of sarcasm, the observation may 
 be hazarded, that with him that very serviceable 
 but ignoble weapon is perhaps more keen and 
 piercing than when wielded by almost any other 
 
LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 157 
 
 in the House. To use the expressive language of 
 tlie 'Tancj," lie is '' in to you before you are 
 aware of it." 
 
 In the parliamentary campaign of the year 
 with which I am at present dealing. Lord John 
 Kussell " came out" in a far superior style to that 
 of which we novices had had experience before. 
 During the preceding sessions he had been 
 hampered with the trammels of the Stanley-Grey 
 policy — a policy towards which he has of late 
 manifested so lamentable an inclination to return, 
 especially in the case of unhappy Ireland. That 
 it should be in licr case in which this retrograde 
 disposition has thus been particularly displayed by 
 him, is no matter of wonder to us, wdiom bitter 
 experience has taught, that an attack upon Ireland 
 and the infliction of new injustice upon her, seem 
 ever to be tlie readiest means and most practicable 
 bond of reconciliation, or at least of truce, between 
 contending English parties. 
 
 " The people of England," said the late Lord ' 
 Sydenham, in a letter to Lord John Eussell, 
 ^vrltten at the time of the death-struggle of the 
 Whig Ministry in 1841, and published after 
 the noble lord's death ; —'' the people of Eng- 
 
158 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 land do not care a rush for your Irish hobby- 
 horses !" 
 
 The " Irish hobby-horses" in question at that 
 time were an improved electoral franchise for 
 Ireland — her franchise as then and now existing 
 being admittedly most defective ; an equalization 
 of corporate privileges with tliose enjoyed by the 
 municipalities of Great Britain ; a revision of the 
 Grand Jury laws ; and some species of arrange- 
 ment of the distracted relation between landlord 
 and tenant in Ireland. 
 
 Each and every one of these were matters of 
 great moment to that unlucky country, and she 
 remains to this day without them ! The Whigs 
 did certainly endeavour to do her some justice in 
 these respects, but finding that the attempt only 
 served to bring odium upon them in England, 
 they have abandoned it and adopted Lord Syden- 
 ham's hint — dismounting with a vengeance from 
 their Irish hobby-horses ^ and rarely thinking of 
 poor Ireland, save when some petty, paltrj', 
 stinging coercion is to be inflicted upon her. 
 
 Poor *'Jack Lawless," the honest Jack Law- 
 less of the old Catholic Association, was once 
 heard to remark of one of his brother agitators. 
 
LORD JOHN RUSSELL. — JACK LAWLESS. 159 
 
 (a gentleman avIio has lately ceased to be an M.P. 
 and attained a high office in one of the British 
 dependencies,) " T. W — is indeed a very clever 
 fellow, — very. lie has a great deal of eloquent 
 fluency, and a highly educated mind: but — but 
 he bewilders himself sometimes with his philoso- 
 phic theories ; in fact, he metaphysicallizes himself 
 into balderdash ! ! " 
 
 Without going quite so far, and adopting, with 
 reference to Lord John Eussell's theories of con- 
 stitutional liberty, the ingenious homeliness of 
 Jack Lawless's phrase, the spirit of the remark has 
 a thorough application. Perhaps another of the 
 old " Catholic agitators," who lives to exercise his 
 happy ingenuity of phrase-making, would re -cast 
 tlie remark to suit tlie noble lord's case, and would 
 say of him, that his notions of liberty do at times 
 seem as if they had been " metaphysicallized into 
 impalpable tenuity." 
 
 Whatsoever may be the cause, whether a natural 
 disinclination to exertion, where the pressure upon 
 him is not direct and instant; want of comprehen- 
 sion (unlikely in such a man) of all the bearings of 
 a great principle, or want of good will to the work; 
 certain it is, that />ojf?«/ar rights have not found in 
 
]60 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 liim the ardent, earnest, persevering advocate and 
 promoter, that a public man with liis opportunities 
 and position could have been, so efficiently and so 
 happily for his own renown, and for the well-being 
 of the British people. 
 
 Chartism could never have raised its wild and 
 unkempt head, if Lord John Russell had but 
 manifested and acted upon an earnest and steady 
 resolution to advance in the path of just and 
 necessary, while moderate and well considered 
 reforms. 
 
 But hitherto he has only too closely copied the 
 examples of the cunning artificers of the aristo- 
 cratic Bevolution of 1688, from one of the most 
 prominent but least fortunate of whom he traces 
 collateral descent. They who bade the English 
 people to rejoice 
 
 *' O'er one fall'n tyrant," 
 
 did not care to make others besides themselves 
 " more free." They sought not to protect the 
 people from the oligarchic influences which have 
 since the epoch just named replaced the monarchic; 
 and which have operated and are operating, fully 
 as much as ever did the latter, to the restriction 
 
LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 161 
 
 and practical denial of many of the privileges 
 loudly promised to all at the time of the Eevolu- 
 tlon, but then really secured to the aristocratic 
 class alone, and for many a long year afterwards 
 solely enjoyed by them. 
 
 Not even all Macauley's sparkling talent, un- 
 flinching boldness, and most laborious ingenuity in 
 the great AVhlg party pamphlet that he is pub- 
 lishing as a History of England from the time of 
 the Ee volution, have enabled him to avoid makinrr 
 damning confessions as to the characters of the 
 prime agents in the expulsion of the Aveak and 
 arbitrary, but quite as much sinned against as 
 sinning James. 
 
 That Lord John Kussell has better things in him, 
 than, considering the ro;?^-^«7^^^;^^ precariousness of 
 his present position— a minister upon sufferance, 
 m fact, — he is at all anxious to demonstrate just 
 now ; and that he is capable, if he will only be 
 "greatly daring" enough to enter upon the task, 
 of bringing to a happy solution the difficult pro- 
 blems of government with regard to the interna- 
 tional relations between Great Britain and Ireland, 
 and the relations between classes in both countries, 
 which the extraordinary events that have occurred 
 
162 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 in Europe during the last eighteen months have 
 tended, and in their ulterior consequences may 
 still more tend, to press upon the consideration of 
 Britisli statesmen, is the belief of many; and a 
 very justifiable belief in those who bear in mind 
 the occasional indications of ability, even for such 
 a large and noble task, that have from time to time 
 escaped from him, despite of all his frozen caution 
 and reserve. 
 
 It is witli him a favourite practice to quote 
 Burke ; and it were well if he were thus reminded 
 of the blot upon Burke's fame — the reproach that 
 he too well merited — of having 
 
 " narrow'd his mind, 
 
 And to party given up what -was meant for mankind." 
 
 Another of the Whig leaders. Lord Morpeth, 
 the present Earl of Carlisle, '^ came out'^ very un- 
 expectedly in the session of 1835. 
 
 Whenever he had spoken previous to that ses- 
 sion, he had spoken ivell — perhaps too icell ; too 
 much of a prize essay about his oratorical efforts. 
 This peculiarity was now not entirely gone, per- 
 haps, but put out of sight completely by the 
 practical tendency and matter of his speeches. IIq 
 
LORD MORPETH. 163 
 
 rose to tlie occasion, and having allowed himself 
 to be put in an Important and difficult office— that 
 of Secretary for Ireland— he readily accepted and 
 proved himself equal to Its labours and responsi- 
 bilities, both in and out of the House. And, 
 until the abandonment of the " Irish liobhy-liorscs' 
 before alluded to, he most creditably and effi- 
 ciently maintained his part. 
 
 Latterly he has allowed indolence to steal upon 
 him. Perhaps in the Uj)per House he may be 
 awakened to exertion, by the straitened circum- 
 stances there of his party. But " it was pity of 
 him" to disappoint the expectations which his 
 sudden energy of 1835-38 gave rise to among the 
 well-wishers of a liberal Ministry, 
 
 For the first time, under his regime, the Irish 
 members (and once for all I wish to say that I 
 use this phrase exactly as it was used in 1833-35, 
 and later years— namely, as designating the Irish 
 'popular members,) were treated with somethlno- of 
 proper consideration, their opinions consulted, 
 and their advice, on some occasions and to some 
 extent, adopted. 
 
 A circumstance of not a little amusement arose, 
 or by some farceur was made to arise, out of this 
 
164 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 intercourse between the Irish members and the 
 noble Secretary for Irehmtl. 
 
 One of the Irish members, a gentleman much 
 and deservedly respected, and a man of consi- 
 derable wealth, was singularly negligent in his 
 dress; wearing habiliments, and especially a hat^ 
 of a very ancient date indeed. 
 
 This gentleman, as representative for a very 
 important locality, had occasion several times to 
 call at the Irish office, and had been always 
 received with the peculiarly bland courtesy that 
 marked, and according to veracious accounts still 
 marks, the noble lord then at the head of that office. 
 
 Somewhere about the middle of June or July, 
 
 1835, Mr. K (the honourable member in 
 
 question) called, and after a very brief delay was 
 admitted to Lord INIorpeth. 
 
 After the usual courtesies and the usual hanale 
 observations on the Aveather, it is recorded that 
 Lord Morpeth looked rather inquiringly at his 
 visitor. 
 
 " I am come, my lord, to thank your lordship," 
 said the latter, answering the look promptly ; " I 
 am greatly obliged to your lordship." 
 
 " Oh— h— h ! Mr. R ;' said Lord Morpeth, 
 
LORD 3I0RPETJI. 165 
 
 not recollecting exactly what he was thanked for, 
 but supposing it must have been some attention to 
 
 one of Mr. R 's recommendations, '' I am very 
 
 happy that you are so satisfied. I shall be always 
 happy to be of any service in my power." 
 
 " I am much obliged to your lordship ; it was 
 very kind of you; I could not, and I did not, 
 mistake your motive for a moment ; and I beg to 
 say I shall always be obliged to your lordship for 
 such communications." 
 
 The mystified Secretary stared a little at some 
 of the terms of this address ; but seeing that his 
 visitor, however strangely he expressed himself, 
 appeared thoroughly and warmly iu earnest, he 
 made the best of it by again bowing, and express- 
 ing again his desire always to give similar satis- 
 faction. 
 
 "I am quite sure of it, my lord; and I am, I 
 beg again to say, greatly obliged to your lordship; 
 and here, my lord, here is m?/ hat:' 
 
 "Your hat, Mr. R !" 
 
 "Yes, my lord, my hail I hope your lordship 
 approves of it." 
 
 "Oh— hi certainly— certainly, Mr. R , it 
 
 is a— very nice hat indeed— i-^?v/— but " 
 
166 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 "I am very glad your lordship likes it. I 
 assure you I took great pains to get one which 
 you would consider unobjectionable ; and to 
 prove to you what a value I place upon your 
 advice." 
 
 "My advice! Mr. II , (looking aghast, and 
 
 half inclined to ring the bell) — my advice !" 
 
 " Yes, my lord ; according to your own note 
 here—" 
 
 And to Lord Morpeth's amazement he was 
 handed a note, addressed as from himself to Mr. 
 R, — — , representing in the kindest, most con- 
 siderate, and indeed affectionate manner, that such 
 was the writer's solicitude for the proper esti- 
 mation of the Irish M.P.s, that he was induced 
 to step beyond the limits, not only of his office, 
 but of the privileges of ordinary acquaintance, to 
 suggest in private and strict confidence to Mr. 
 
 R , that his hat icasnot exactly ichat a gentleman 
 
 of his positioti and wealth ought to tcear!" 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PARLIAMENTARY EXCITABILITY. — SCENA BETWEEN LORD ALTHORP AND 
 MR. SHEIL, — THEY ARE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY, APOLOGIZE, ARE 
 
 REPRIMANDED, AND LIBERATED. CHURCH TEMPORALITIES BILL. 
 
 ATTACKS ON MR. o'cONNELL.— MISREPRESENTATIONS OF FEARGUS 
 o'cONNOR, ETC. — KEEN-SIGIITEDNESS OF MR. o'cONNELL — HIS JUDG- 
 MENT OP MEN. — MEETS WITH INGRATITUDE AND DESERTION FROM 
 FRIENDS. — ELECTION PETITIONS. — SOLEMN REPRIMAND. — PARLIA- 
 MENTARY PRIVILEGES. — SIR JAMES GRAHAM. SIR FRANCIS BUR- 
 
 DETT (old glory). PARLIAMENT PROROGUED. 
 
 Besides tlic succcpsfiil cfunpaign against Peel 
 and his over-prccipitatc party, and the surrender 
 at discretion of the Great Grand-masters, little 
 Grand-masters, Deputy Grands, Purple Marksmen, 
 cScc. &c. of t]ie Cumberland-Falrman confederacy, 
 we had plenty of excitement during the Session. 
 
 And dearly does the House of Commons love 
 excitement ! It cannot choose but plead guilty to 
 the soft impeachmen,t of being, in its corporate 
 capacity, the most iimcliief-lompg assembly in the 
 world ! A most important question will often 
 command but an unwilling bodily attendance, and 
 no mental attention whatsoever : whereas, let it be 
 
168 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 but known, or wliispered, that a teasing question 
 is to be put to the Minister of the day, a point of 
 privilege to be vindicated at the expense of some 
 unfortunate wight out of doors, or a sharp en- 
 counter of wits, or of sometliing worse, likely to 
 "come off" between two honourable and hostile 
 members ; and the benches are sure to be crowded, 
 and the most exemplary silence and eager atten- 
 tion will everywhere prevail ! 
 
 We had, in the first place, a greater number than 
 I have witnessed before or since of those personal 
 " rows," which Dickens has so amusingly satirized 
 in the immortal " passage of woi%h " between Mr. 
 Pickwick and the audacious linen-draper. These 
 occurrences, the natural ebullitions of the over- 
 heated and irritated state of party-feeling, gave 
 great annoyance and difficulty to our respected 
 Speaker; avIio, thoroughl)^ versed in all the "wise 
 saws and modern instances," as well as ancient 
 precedents, that it behoveth Speaker to have at 
 his fingers' ends, had not been quite so happy in 
 acquiring that dignity of mien and manner which 
 is potent of itself to " unthread the rude eye of 
 rebellion," and bring even Members of Parliament 
 to tlieir senses. 
 
LORD ALTIIORP AND MR. SlIEIL. 169 
 
 But decision and dignity will not always carry 
 the day upon these occasions. In the preceding 
 session — that of 1834, we had the grand scena 
 between Lord Althorp and Mr. Sheil ; excited by 
 a mutual contradiction on the subject of a charge 
 made against the latter, of having privately ex- 
 pressed approbation of the Irish Coercion Bill, 
 when publicly voting and speaking against it. 
 
 In vain Sir C. M. Sutton thundered against 
 each of the delinquents on that occasion ; perhaps 
 a leetle more against the then private member, Mr. 
 Slieil, than against his noble and official ant- 
 agonist. In vain friend after friend of either party 
 tried their suasive eloquence, and exhausted their 
 officious ingenuity to prove " there was nothing 
 in it," and prevent something from being made 
 out of nothing. Lord Althorp threw himself 
 round into his ordinary half-sitting, half-sleeping 
 position, " bow on," (as a nautical member re- 
 marked,) " to the Chair, like a snug ship hove to in 
 a breeze," and looked glum and obstinate : Sheil, at 
 the other side, folded his arms tightly, and shrugged 
 himself up, as though to concentrate and keep hot 
 his wrath, his brow being firmly knit the while — 
 
 " And ever and anon he bit his bleeding lip." 
 VOL. I. I 
 
170 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 At length, persuasion and awful menace failing of 
 effect, the Ineluctahlh tempm arrived, when both 
 were ordered off for instant incarceration ! 
 
 First came the tall, gaunt, very gentlemanly, 
 and, despite of his years and of his pacific garb, 
 the still military figure of good old Colonel Sey- 
 mour. Then shuffled along Lord Althorp, with 
 his hands in his side pockets, and a look as quiet, 
 easy, and innocent of ill, as any one of his own 
 fleecy favourites, when being led to the slaughter. 
 Next came a subordinate of our good sergeant-at- 
 arrns, twice as important-looking, and ten times 
 more austere than his principal. Ilim followed 
 next the second prisoner, to whom, as an Irish- 
 man, rebellion seemed to come too natural to let 
 him be put much out of his way ; and the awful 
 procession closed with yet another official, stern, 
 vigilant, and determined. Two hours of carcere 
 duro were undergone by both patients, and then 
 came apologies to the insulted majesty of the 
 House of Commons, assurances that " matters 
 should go no farther," and finally, liberation with 
 a reprimand. 
 
 In 1835 we never got so far through the points 
 of a quarrel as to be laid hands upon in the man- 
 
CHURCH TEMPORALITIES BILL,. 171 
 
 ner just described ; but there were a number of 
 squabbles with infinitely less reason, and less 
 credit to the parties. 
 
 The other, and more rational excitements of the 
 session, were given us by the discussions on the 
 proposed Keforms in the Corporations of England ; 
 tlie Irish Tithe and Franchise bills; the party 
 questions arising out of Controverted Elec- 
 tions, and the question of the " Appropriation 
 Clause." 
 
 This latter was the designation given to the 
 147th clause of Lord Stanley's Church Tem- 
 poralities Bill of 1833, dropped by him out of the 
 bill in that year, and revived in the motions of 
 ]\Ir. Ward, M.P. for St. Alban's, until at last 
 taken up again by the Whigs in their advance 
 against Sir Robert Peel. 
 
 My father was a peculiar object of attack. The 
 rally that had been made in Ireland had in fact 
 turned the scale between the contending influences 
 in the House. It would have been a varying and 
 alternating success between the Wliigs and the 
 Tories, but for the Irish contingent, who were 
 sure to carry the day for the former, not through 
 any peculiar aflection for them, but simply because 
 
 I 2 
 
172 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 they then ~\vere initiating, and seemed determined 
 to carry out good measures for Irehmd. 
 
 Ireland having thus once more baulked the 
 " Tory," or Conservative party, she was not to be 
 forgiven ; and Daniel O'Connell being then accre- 
 dited by her as her representative, on his devoted 
 head the thunder was first to fall. 
 
 Every possible form and description of charge and 
 imputation was vomited against him by the organs 
 of Conservative opinion at the press. And no 
 young knight rode more zealously at the quintain, 
 in his earlier practices of arms, than did the young 
 " fire-eyed disputants" of that party essay them- 
 selves against Daniel O'Connell; cheered on, and in- 
 deed imitated as they were by their more practised 
 and more inveterate seniors. The main accusations 
 were: — 1st. He had coerced the unfortunate pea- 
 sant and artizan-voters of Ireland. 2d. He had 
 caused a death's-head and cross-bones to be affixed 
 to the doors of every man who had not voted as 
 he (Daniel O'Connell) chose. 3d. He had traf- 
 ficked in Parliamentary seats ; — (as, for Instance, 
 when he put Kaphael, " the incompi-ehensiblei'' to 
 the enormous expense of 2000/. for a severely contested 
 county elect mi ; including preparations for the 
 
ATTACKS ON MR. o'cONNELL. I73 
 
 petition! Furtliermore, and 4thly. He had ac- 
 cepted of 800/., or peradventure 900/., to change 
 his vote on the Factory Labourers' Short-Hour 
 question of that time ; and 5tli, and worst crime of 
 all, had expressed a derogatory opinion of the state 
 of morality in England, pa rticularlyamong the 
 lower order of females. 
 
 In fact, the multitudinous and many-coloured 
 popular accusations against Napoleon in the times 
 of Pitt, were now rivalled, if not outdone, by those 
 against O'Connell. If the latter had not actually— 
 
 " ]\Iade the quartern loaf and Luddites rise, 
 And fill'd the butchers' shops with large blue flics !" 
 
 lie had, at any rate, grievously interfered with 
 Tory enjoyment of the loates and fishes. 
 
 The two English calumnies against him were 
 the most successful ; though all were readily caught 
 up by the predisposed and prejudiced public mind 
 here. To do that which he scorned to do throuo-h- 
 out his life-time— namely, to enter into a refutation 
 of these and a thousand other empty and mallg- ' 
 nant falsehoods uttered against him, would be as 
 derogatory to his memory, as it would be an entire 
 waste of time. The candid mind has long since 
 detected their hollowness and rejected them ; the 
 
174 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 prejudiced and the base in spirit would not be 
 convinced — the former, loth to part with the 
 darling lie so long hugged to their bosoms ; the 
 latter, judging of others by themselves. 
 
 The fifth calumny was potently used against 
 him with the English commonalty, by Feargus 
 O'Connor, Richard Oastler, and other such " small 
 deer ;" and Avas based upon a gross misrepresen- 
 tation of a passage in one of his public letters ; 
 where, arguing against the introduction of Poor- 
 laws into Ireland, he illustrated his argument by 
 a quotation from one of the Keports of the Com- 
 missioners of Inquiry into the Poor-law System 
 in England, testifying to the disastrous operation 
 of that system upon female morality. 
 
 For no thin o' was he more remarkable than for 
 his high-souled contempt and disregard of calumny. 
 The thousand slmfts that were weekly, daily, 
 hourly shot against him, fell off innocuous and 
 unnoticed, save and except where sent by one 
 whom he had considered a friend. 
 
 A shaft from such a quarter was indeed the 
 
 lethalls arundo ; — without cause or justification, as 
 
 j\ the attack ever proved. JMo man ever felt un- 
 
 kindness, ingratitude, betrayal, more keenly and 
 
KEEN-SIGHTEDNESS OF MR. OCONNELL. 175 
 
 more painfully ; and unfortunately he was doomed 
 to experience several instances of one, or other, or 
 all three of these visitations from men with whom 
 lie thouuht he had contracted the stron2:est rela- 
 tions of private friendship. 
 
 But the positive shock and blow, which it was 
 evident that he ever underwent upon such occa- 
 sions, were not caused in any manner or degree 
 whatsoever by any deficiency of true and full 
 appreciation of the weakness, instability, and 
 strange perversity of human nature. 
 
 No man of the present, or of preceding ages, did 
 or could possess a deeper, clearer, more intuitive 
 and accurate insight into his fellow-men, than 
 Daniel O'Connell. He made little boast of his 
 keensightedness indeed : for he abhorred cynicism, 
 and felt much more pained than pleased, in con- 
 templating the darker side of man ; preferring 
 even to be injured by trusting too readily and 
 amply, rather than to nourish and brood over sus- 
 picions, jealousies, and doubts. 
 
 At times, however, indications of his real judg- 
 ment of men made themselves visible, almost in 
 spite of himself. A gentleman whom he had seri- 
 ously obliged, was one day overpowering him with 
 
176 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 thanks, and assuring him he would be " eternally 
 grateful." 
 
 " Don't pledge yourself too strongly, my good 
 Sir," said Mr. O'Connell, " and don't give yourself 
 so much trouble to assure me. I am Cjuite convinced 
 that you entirely mean, at present, what you say. 
 But mark my words : 1 have obliged you too much 
 to meet a return. You will yet attack me, and 
 bitterly ; and you shall be welcome so to do 1 " 
 
 It fell out exactly as he said, notwithstanding 
 the earnest protestations of the object of his kind- 
 ness: and the realization of the prophecy gave 
 no surprise to its author, and caused no feeling in 
 his mind beyond that of indulgent pity. 
 
 A young gentleman whom he had favoured and 
 assisted by every means in his power, in an effort 
 at making an independency at the Bar, having 
 through quite another source obtained a Colonial 
 appointment, complied with the usual conditions 
 exacted from Irish candidates for office, by an at- 
 tack upon Ireland — in particular upon my father. 
 
 " It was but natural that he should do so," said 
 the latter to some friends, who bitterly denounced 
 
 the vouno* man's conduct: "did I not «:ive 
 
 provocatiou ? did I not do him a sermce?^^ 
 
INSTANCE OF INGRATITUDE. 177 
 
 In 1839, he received what he felt a severe blow 
 indeed. 
 
 A gentleman of much respectability and general 
 worth, had joined him with great heartiness in the 
 political movement of that year, — the working of 
 the "Pr^cwr^or Association," as it was called; being 
 the last phase of the Irish popular movement, ere 
 deciding irrevocably upon the demand for Kepeal. 
 
 During several months the gentleman in ques- 
 tion had worked cordially and heartily in the 
 committees and at the general meetings of this 
 body ; and being a large employer of labour, he 
 gained and gat)e popularity by such attendance. 
 There had always been a friendly acquaintance 
 between him and my father ; and this now rapidly 
 ripened into a warm and intimate friendship. 
 
 On one afternoon, when they had been a long 
 time en2:ao:ed tos^ether in committee business, at 
 the Corn Exchange, — the head-quarters then, 
 as now, of Agitation, — they w^alked arm in arm, 
 and in confidential, or at least very friendly con- 
 versation, towards IMr. O'Connell's residence in 
 Merrion Square. Arriving at the door, Mr. 
 O'Connell earnestly pressed his friend to do as 
 he had readily done on some previous occasions, 
 
 i3 
 
178 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 namely, to come in to a family dinner. The 
 other excused himself; and they parted at the 
 door as friends part, who expect to meet next day. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell entered his study, and seeing 
 the early edition of the Dublin Evening Post 
 upon his table, took it up to read while waiting 
 the summons to dinner. To his utter amazement, 
 he found in conspicuous type in its columns 
 a letter, from the friend whose grasp was yet 
 warm on his hand, accusing him, in nearly so 
 many words, of turning a political movement to 
 his own advantage in a pecuniary point of view — 
 in short, of peeuhUion under the garb of patriotism ! 
 
 Something like an hour had elapsed since the 
 breaking of this thunder-clap upon him, when the 
 member of his family who had been Avith him at 
 the moment returned to announce the serving of 
 dinner. lie found him as he had left him, with 
 the newspaper hanging from his hand, not a limb 
 changed from its position ; his eye mournfully 
 fixed — in no unconsciousness, but in the deep, 
 mute agony of a wounded heart. 
 
 Th^ sequel of this wretched incident was 
 worthy of its beginning. The plunge being once 
 made, no depth seemed too great; and credence 
 
DESERTION OF FRIENDS. 179 
 
 was absolutely refused by the accuser, or, at any 
 rate, by some one for him, to ni}^ father's simple 
 exposition of facts, unless the accounts should be 
 subjected to rigid examination. This condition 
 was granted; and the books containing every 
 detail of the financial transactions of the Precursor 
 Association were submitted for the fullest inspec- 
 tion of the accusing party, who had engaged for 
 the occasion a city magistrate and a bookbinder, as 
 his aide-de-camps. The use ,to which the latter 
 individual was put, was, to examine tchether there 
 had not been a fraudulent insertion of new leaves 
 into the cash-book, for the purpose of concealing 
 Mr. O'Connell's peculation ! ! ! 
 
 There yet remains to be told one more and 
 final instance of the effect upon my father of the 
 unkindness and desertion of friends ; but that will 
 more properly come in when discussing the events 
 of 1846-1847. 
 
 In this session the faults of the system of trial 
 of election petitions became glaringly apparent, 
 without any better substitute having suggested 
 itself, or having been devised to this day. 
 
 The custom then was to clear the House of 
 stranc^ers, all but the counsel and agents for tlie 
 
180 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 parties, and lock the doors. The clerk then put 
 into glasses on the table, slips of paper with tlie 
 names of all the members of the House upon 
 them ; and after a few formalities, and the more 
 practical preliminary of a good shake, proceeded to 
 draw them out one by one, announcing the name 
 as he opened the billet. 
 
 The first thirty-three members who answered 
 to their names thus drawn, constituted the rough 
 panel of the intended committee. The counsel 
 and agents for sitting member and petitioner, 
 with a few am'ici cur'iw from Treasury bench and 
 the chief bench of the Opposition, retired then to 
 deliberate upon tlie panel thus obtained ; and after 
 each party had separately marked off eleven of the 
 thirty-three names as persons to be challenged, 
 both met to communicate the result of the sepa- 
 rate deliberations, and settle the ultimate eleven 
 who were to be the committee. 
 
 During the calling by the clerk, the utmost 
 silence reigned : less enforced, however, by the rule 
 of the House, and the vi2:ilance of the wortliv 
 Sergeant-at-Arms, than by the universal anxiety. 
 The chances of this election-ballot were as sin- 
 gular and as capricious as those of any other 
 
ELECTION PETITIONS. 181 
 
 species of gambling. Sometimes there would be 
 a run of names belonging to one party ; sometimes 
 of those of its opponents. Again, some individuals 
 were sure to be called in every ballot of a session ; 
 while the names of others seldom or never turned 
 up. 
 
 According as these chances went in favour of 
 one or the other party, very audible expressions of 
 pleasure and displeasure respectively were to be 
 heard along the crowded benches. But there 
 used to be a positive ea^plosioUi on the one side of 
 wrath, and on the other of triumph, when through 
 negligence, or accident^ the individuals called 
 upon did not happen to be present ; and thus lost 
 to their friends the advantage which the chances 
 of the ballot had for a moment appeared to give 
 them. 
 
 When the rough panel was at length obtained 
 —a result often delayed for a considerable time 
 by the absence of some, and the smearing off of 
 others — (that is to say, the taking of an oath by 
 mem^bers who Avere past sixty years of age, that 
 they had arrived at that period of life, and did not 
 consider themselves capable of the labour of attend- 
 ance) — an interchange of congratulations was 
 
182 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 most plainly visible and audible among those 
 whose partisans stood in a majority on the list, 
 Avhile a corresponding crestfallenness was exhibited 
 by those whose hopes had been defeated. 
 
 In short, the question as to the success or failure 
 of the petition seemed as though considered settled; 
 without any thouglit of!, or any degree of reference 
 to the merits of the case, the value of counsel's 
 argument, and tlie obligations of the members' oaths. 
 
 The calculation seemed to be somewhat in this 
 way :— 
 
 " Out of the thirty-three in the gross panel, so 
 many of our side have answered that we muat 
 have the majority on the reduced list. There- 
 fore our man (petitioner or sitting member, as the 
 case happened to be) must succeed ! " 
 
 Undoubtedly all this smoke could not have 
 been without fire ; and there must accordingly 
 have been decisions, which a full and cool recol- 
 lection of the heavy bond of their oath would 
 not have justified in those who made them. But the 
 worst effect was, that a suspicion was thus thrown 
 upon all decisions, and a licence inevitably given 
 to calumny, bitterness, and all uncharitablencss, 
 which aggravated to the uttermost the fever of 
 
SOLEMN REPRIMAND. 183 
 
 political bate, that raged not only throughout this 
 session, but for a long time after, and out of the 
 House as well as in it. 
 
 It was a rather plain spoken exposition and de- 
 nunciation of the dangers, evils, and occasional 
 enormities incident to this system, which gave 
 occasion to the grand scene of a solemn repri- 
 mand (!) of one of the members of the House by 
 the Speaker. 
 
 The offender in this instance was Daniel O'Con- 
 nell. At a public meeting in Ireland, or in a 
 public letter, he had strongly denounced the 
 manner in which the deliberate and well ascer- 
 tained choice of important constituencies was often 
 set at nought by Committee decisions flagrantly 
 irreconcileable with a due observance of that judi- 
 cial impartiality to which the individuals composing 
 those Committees were sworn at the table of the 
 House. 
 
 This proceeding of his afforded an opportunity 
 for attack on him, not to be neglected by a party 
 to wliich he was so long and so bitterly obnoxious, 
 and, accordingly, some of the hotter spirits at the 
 Conservative side of the House took upon them- 
 selves the office of champions of the injured 
 
184 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 and interesting innocence of its Election Com- 
 mittees. 
 
 A magniloquent indictment, full of " noble rage " 
 and indignant sympathy with the objects of his 
 denunciation, was therefore most carefully hatched 
 and brought forth to light with all due pomp and 
 ceremony. The whole well-disciplined and eager 
 array of the Opposition Avere punctually present, 
 and personal antipatliies coming into play, several 
 of the Whig party lent the aid of their votes to 
 the division, which decided, that Daniel O'Connell, 
 one of the representatives for the city of Dublin, 
 had grievously transgressed in the premises stated 
 in the indictment, and merited and should receive 
 the severest reprimand of the Chair ! 
 
 The form in such cases made and provided is, 
 that the delinquent member, heing ^' named" hy 
 the Speaker, shall stand up in his place, (bare- 
 headed, of course,) and abide the scolding that he 
 has been doomed to undergo. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell stood up amid the triumphant 
 cheers and jeers of his accusers and tlieir abettors 
 of every hue and section of the assembly. 
 Mr. Speaker bent on him the awful terrors of his 
 brow, and ^^targed him tightly," in good round 
 
SOLEMN REPRIMAND. 185 
 
 terms ; concluding with the usual formula ot 
 rather superfluous information : 
 
 " You are hereby reprimanded accordingly ! " 
 
 Mr. O'Connell replied by challenging investi- 
 gation or denial of the imputations he had thrown 
 out. lie denied the justice of condemning him 
 without inquiry as to the truth or falsity of the 
 accusations for Avliich he was thus summarily 
 chastised. 
 
 He pointed out the inconsistency of attacking 
 an individual for what multitudes of others were 
 allowed to do with impunity : an indulgence that 
 qould be attributable only to a sense of the justice 
 of the allegations. 
 
 A pamphleteer of the preceding year— himself 
 a " Parliamentary Agent," as tlie solicitors accus- 
 tomed to parliamentary practice designate them- 
 selves — had gone into a full and accurate detail 
 of the miserable canvassing for attendance at the 
 election ballots, and of all the various " dodges " 
 resorted to, to make the Committees " safe ! " He 
 had concluded with these words : 
 
 " Thus, to ensure a fawiirahle Committee every 
 pri7iciple of decency and justice is notoriously and 
 openly prostituted / / " 
 
186 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 And yet this pamphlet had not ])een prose- 
 cuted ! 
 
 Mr. O'Connell concluded : 
 
 " If you will appoint a Committee, and that 
 they shall decide that I have made a false charge, 
 there is no submission too humble to be bowed to 
 by me. If they say I have misstated fticts, there 
 is no reparation which I shall not be ready to 
 make 
 
 " .... I have repented of nothing. I have 
 retracted nothing. I repeat what I have said : 
 I only wish I could find terms less offensive in 
 themselves and equally significant. I am bound 
 to re-assert what I have said : for I am convinced 
 of notldng by a 'cote ! " 
 
 There was, of course, a terrible outcry at this 
 " malignancy,''^ and tlie whole business would 
 doubtless have had to be done over ai^ain — indict- 
 ment, defence, reprimand and all — had not so maii}^ 
 other members started up and expressed in pretty 
 unequivocal terms their coincidence with Mr. 
 O'Connell's view of the case, that still greater 
 ridicule would have fallen upon the elaborate 
 process by which so doubtful a vindication of 
 decisions which, in spite of all the efforts of party. 
 
PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGES. 187 
 
 icere held by tlie public mind to be xerij doubtful 
 in themselves, was to be effected. 
 
 And there Avas practically a distinct confession 
 of the truth of the charges against Election Com- 
 mittees, as they liad been constituted, by the 
 entire change which, a very few years later, was 
 made in the constitution of those bodies. 
 
 Tliis change, under the provisions of which all 
 doubtful election issues have now for two parlia- 
 ments been tried, originated with Sir Robert Peel, 
 and undoubtedly is some, though not a very great 
 improvement. 
 
 There is no fault witli the right honourable 
 baronet that the improvement should not have 
 been thorough and sufficient. The House is, with 
 a good deal of sound reason, jealous even of the 
 appearance of an encroachment upon its privileges ; 
 and at that period, certainly, it would have been, 
 and in all likelihood would to a great extent still 
 be found, a very difficult task to obtain general 
 consent to a larger and therefore more efficient 
 change. 
 
 Nothing could have been worse, according to 
 the unanimous admission at this time of day of all 
 who had practical experience of it, than the old 
 
188 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 system, witli its levity of oath-taking, its canvass- 
 ings for partisan attendances, its industrious 
 ivMpping-in to an election-ballot as earnestly and 
 calculatingly as to a division after a debate ; 
 its fluctuations of triumph and dismay^ according 
 as the names of friends or of opponents chanced 
 to prevail; and, finally, the really indecent con- 
 fidence with which the result of the Committee's 
 labours was predicted,' — exultingly on the one 
 hand, and despondingly on the other, — merely 
 from the known political bias of those who hap- 
 pened to have answered to the appel nominal. 
 
 But through all the up-stairs and star-chamber 
 complexity of the present mode of making out 
 election-panels, symptoms of the unsubdued inve- 
 teracy of the old evils still make themselves 
 evident. 
 
 And the plain, practical, tangible absurdity is 
 as PTeat and as ojlarino; as ever — that of entrustino; 
 to men utterly unskilled in the law tlie absolute 
 and uncontrolled decision of matters frequently 
 involving very nice legal points ; to say nothing 
 of their equally absolute licence in dealing with 
 the facts of the cases before them, according as 
 their party bias may happen to incline. 
 
PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGES. 189 
 
 The suggestion of appointing, from amongst 
 the leading men at the bar, certain judicial asses- 
 sors to preside over the inquiries now conducted 
 by Election Committees, with a jury composed 
 of members of parliament, selected accordino; to 
 tlie present or any fairer mode that can be devised, 
 appears to offer tlie means of arriving at as fair 
 a tribunal as can be constituted without too irreat 
 a surrender of the jealously-guarded dignity and 
 powers of the House of Commons. 
 
 The M. P. jury would have to take their law 
 from the qualified and competent instructor on 
 tlie bencli, and not from the vagaries of their own 
 fancies and prejudices, as has occurred unfortu- 
 nately too often under the present system, which 
 makes them judges and jurymen at one and the 
 same time. 
 
 And the experience gathered in the ordinary 
 and regular courts, in the course of a long prac- 
 tice, would secure to them in the assessor an able 
 and most necessary guide in the elucidation and 
 arrangement of i\\Q facts of the case, as well as in 
 the law. 
 
 The only parties likelj^ to suffer if sometliing 
 like this plan were adopted, would be that portion 
 
190 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 of the parliamentary lawyers who seek to buikl 
 their reputation on tlieir cleverness in mystifying, 
 wheedling, or bullying a Committee. And the 
 change would be beneficial even to them ; for 
 nothing so spoils a professional man for ordinary 
 and reo'ular business, as the extreme licence taken 
 and allowed in pleading and conducting a case 
 before so motley and uncertain a tribunal as that 
 of a Parliamentary Committee ; whether one of 
 election inqiury or otherwise. 
 
 Lord Stanley was in the transition-stage in this 
 parliament; not yet a declared Tory, but decidedly 
 no longer a Whig. Sitting with \\\& fidas-achates, 
 Sir James Graham, and some three or four of the 
 crotchettiest men in the House about them, on 
 one of the benches below the gangway on the 
 ministerial side of the House ; he and they were 
 known collectively by the sobriquet of " the Derby 
 Dilly ;" one bestowed upon them with great suc- 
 cess by my father, in reference to Stanley's own 
 phrase the preceding session, of the "upsetting 
 of the ministerial coach." 
 
 The Derby Dilly, idih its six insides, trundled 
 along at its own eccentric pace, and on its own 
 eccentric line of route, through this session and 
 
SIR JAMES GRAHAM. 19} 
 
 the next ; swaying more and more to the Con- 
 servative side of the way, until, at the beginning 
 of the parliament of 1847, it fairly ran off the 
 road altogether, and transferred its passengers to 
 the capacious old Tory vehicle, then fast coming 
 up with its Whig rival. 
 
 The only man of ability belonging to the cele- 
 brated « Derby Dilly," (excepting, of course, its 
 gifted, but erratic driver,) was Sir James Graham. 
 In no case is there so striking an instance of 
 the harm that vacillation, as contradistinguished 
 from seasonable change of opinion, docs to a 
 puljlic man, as in the case of Sir James Graham. 
 
 No man can deny that he is rising in public 
 estimation of late years in a manner far more 
 proportioned to his intellectual endowments and 
 powers than during all the preceding portion of 
 his career. The simple explanation of the mystery 
 lies in this, that of late years his political opinions 
 have become steadier, if not very much more 
 defined. 
 
 Beginning life with a strong tendency to Kadi- 
 calism, " and something more,'' he passed through 
 all the changes of extreme, moderate, and at last 
 Conservative Wliiggery, with more or less delay 
 
192 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 at each stage, until he ultimately settled clown 
 into the measured, calculating, and (to use a 
 roundabout epithet,) the rationally impressionable 
 Toryism of Sir Robert Peel, 
 
 Having thus at last "got his course," as the 
 sailors say, and a good pilot at the "con," Sir James 
 Graham's mind has been freed from the crippling 
 and embarrassing uncertainties that marred its full 
 powers; and he has accordingly c'ow^e {>^/i5 with an 
 effect that the utmost efforts of his talents, emi- 
 nent as they have always been considered, had failed 
 to produce at any previous time ; and has perma- 
 nently established his reputation as a singularly 
 clear-headed, efficient, pleasing, and even states- 
 manlike speaker. 
 
 Nothing ever more redounded to his credit, or 
 could have done so, than his manly confession of 
 wrong: Avhen, during the Irish discussion of 1815, 
 he retracted and expressed his regret for having 
 given utterance to the injudicious declaration that 
 he had been betrayed into in the year 1843, to 
 the effect that "concession to Ireland had reached 
 its limits," and that severity rather than indulgence 
 should thenceforth be her lot. 
 
 His partnership in Sir Robert Peel's professed 
 
SIR FRANCIS BURDETT (OLD GLORY). 193 
 
 and practically cari^led-out recantation of opinion 
 on the Corn Laws, evidenced tlie same spirit of 
 lionourable reparation of error as regarded Eng- 
 land. 
 
 And if the time was then denied to him, as to 
 Sir Robert Peel, to give practical and tangible 
 effect to their Irish retractions as to their Englisli; 
 and again, if the opportunity of so doing has 
 been denied to them since, by the disastrous 
 faineancs of their successors in office ; let us hope 
 that the approaching session w^ill see those oppor- 
 tunities given and turned to their due and full 
 account : whatever be the chances of ministries, 
 and with whomsoever is to rest the credit and the 
 glory of having originated the long promised and 
 sorely wanted measures of rightful concession, and 
 laro-e and real benefit to Ireland. 
 
 o 
 
 Another member of the Derby Dilly, Sir Francis 
 Burdett, (^Old Glory, as Cobbett used to call him,) 
 made in the session of 1835 a recantation of a 
 very different description. 
 
 He had been injudicious, extravagant, and some- 
 what reckless, when advocating popular principles 
 in the prime of his days. He w^as equally inju- 
 dicious and extravagant in the opposite cause, 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
194 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 now, when his way of life had not only fallen into 
 "the sere and yellow leaf," but had gone beyond, 
 and was vero;ino: into anile dotao'e. 
 
 He swallowed all his old liberal pledges ; forgot 
 his high-flown theories; and adopted as trashy a 
 twaddle of Toryism as ever he had protested against 
 and ridicnled, callida juveiitu. 
 
 As in times of Cholera all virulent diseases of 
 other kinds are apt ultimately to assume the type 
 of the chief epidemic ; so the various bitternesses 
 that were, month after month, and week after 
 week, breaking up the once great "Heform party," 
 all tended to one uniform development — that of 
 the frequent moral epidemic — or, (to describe it 
 more correctly) the lasting moral endemic to which 
 English minds are subject — that of a disposition to 
 be severe and harsh towards Ireland. 
 
 Poor Sir Francis Burdett exemplified this in his 
 assaults upon her, and upon her representatives, fur 
 her offences and their own ; in particular against 
 Daniel O'Connell, who first felt the effects of his 
 fury, in the not very worthy nor creditable 
 attempt at expulsion from Brookes' Club. 
 
 In the heyday of enthusiasm in his new cause. 
 Sir Francis flung down the gauntlet to his old 
 
SIR FRANCIS BURDETT. 195 
 
 friends, the Westminster Eadiciils, by suddenly 
 resigning his seat, and standing again for AYest- 
 minster, on unmistakeable Conservative principles. 
 As it was the height of the session, and of the 
 season when he did so, the excitement and interest 
 were extreme. All London banded itself on one 
 side or the other ; the committee rooms and poll- 
 ing booths were crowded with members of Parlia- 
 ment, doing the most minute and laborious duties 
 as agents; and the unfortunate electors were 
 besieged in their own shops and houses by lady- 
 customers in their carriages, vowing, promising, 
 and threatening a world of wonders to secure their 
 votes. This was a game in which the superior 
 wealth of the Conservatives gave them the advan- 
 tage; and therefore the whilome patriot- turned- 
 Tory obtained his re-election. 
 
 The summer and much of the autumn wore 
 away in bitter party squabbles, and little fruit 
 to the people of the United Kingdom. At length, 
 as all things must come to an end, the session ter- 
 minated, and our respective leaders gave us all 
 permission to fly away to our homes, 
 
 " Like a bird that sccketh the mother's nest." 
 K 2 
 
196 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 \No school-boy ever did, could, or will enjoy 
 more the day when " Vacation" opens to him all 
 its pleasures, than does the unfortunate member 
 of Parliament, the happy hour when the business 
 of the session is fairly over, and he is free to go 
 home. 
 
 If he be a mere party -man, he rejoices that he is 
 no longer likely " to be wanted" — no longer to be 
 in fear of " urgent requests to attend," black 
 looks at occasional absences, &c. &c. 
 
 If iin mdependent member — in fact or injiction — 
 he has no longer his thankless pains of constant 
 attendances to undergo; and occasionally the 
 rebukes of his judgment, or mayhap of his con- 
 science: if such an article be not contraband in 
 m M.P. 
 
 And whether ministerialist or oppositionist, 
 w^aiter upon Providence or independent, he re- 
 joiceth much at being delivered from the dull 
 detail of parliamentary life common to all. No 
 more wearisome drawling dull debates, protracted 
 from hour to hour of a long evening of impatient 
 expectation ; only to be adjourned at two in the 
 morning for yet another dreary night of bootless 
 talk. No more Committees, absorbing the few 
 
PARLIAMENT PROROGUED. 197 
 
 hours that intervene between his fevered sleep 
 and the recommencement of the niglitly suffer- 
 ing; and no more day- sittings — worse, more 
 wearisome, stupifying, depressing, and w\asting, 
 than even the dismal drudgery of a Kail way 
 Committee ! 
 
 No more scribbling of orders for the gallery, 
 and occasional smuggling in of supernumerary 
 friends. No more hasty and ill-digested chops 
 at Bellamy's, or interrupted dinners at this or 
 the other Club. No more ruined domestic comfort 
 for the elders ; no more spoiled amusements for the 
 juniors; no more bother, hurry, and inconvenience 
 for all ! 
 
 I had almost said, (and, therefore, almost made 
 a sad mistake by saying,) "no more beseeching 
 letters," praying for your influence to get all 
 kinds of places : none too high for your earnest 
 correspondents' ambition— none too low for their 
 wants ! And all, all, without exception, **^perfectly 
 suited to the supplicants' abilities !!" 
 
 But this is a perennial affliction — not one 
 merely of the session; and none are exempt 
 from it, not even those who are known to stand 
 due north of Government favour. Their lot how- 
 
198 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ever is happy, compared with that of the recog- 
 nised ministerial supporter, who has fifty times 
 a-day to give the assurance that " one ivord from 
 himtoLord John'' will not make the fortunes of his 
 clients ! 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 APPLICATIONS FOR PLACES — A FEW SPECTJIENS. — FRANKING LETTERS. 
 — IRISH ADDRESSES. — FAIR PLAY. — TUB ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS — 
 TIIEY ALL PERSECUTE IRELAND — MANY OF THE WRITERS, IRISn?.IEN. 
 
 A POETICAL EPISTLE FROM THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE. 
 
 BREACH OF PRIVILEGE. — IRISHMEN AGAINST IRELAND. CLEARING 
 
 THE HOUSE. — A MAIDEN SPEECH NEWSPAPER REPORTS THEREOF. 
 
 AN AGREEABLR PUBLICITY. RISING OF PARLIAMENT. MR. DANIEL 
 
 O'CONNELL. HIS UFIl AT DARRYNANE. 
 
 Whatever may be the experience in the premises 
 of other members of Parliament, the applications 
 for recommendation to places, or* other advance- 
 ment of the writers' views, wliicli have from time 
 to time been addressed to my father, and those of 
 his family who happened to be in Parliament, 
 could scarcely be outdone in point of oddity as well 
 as in multitude. 
 
 Some such requisitions as the following (amongst 
 many, many others of equal or perhaps superior 
 queerness,) have come to hand from time to time : — 
 
200 parliamentary experiences. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — 
 
 " I shall be greatly obliged if* you will procure 
 me a situation in the Excise, Customs, Stamps, 
 Post-office, Ordnance Department, or any other 
 that may be most convenient. Of course I should 
 wish it to be a respectable one, andean confidently 
 assure you, that you never shall have reason to 
 regret your recommendation; as I shall do credit 
 to your choice by my diligence and faithfulness in 
 the discharge of my duties. 
 
 " You may not perhaps at once recollect my 
 name ; but I can recall myself very speedily to 
 your remembrance by a circumstance wliich took 
 place between us about twenty years ago, or 
 thereabouts. 
 
 " / rented from you a house in Sireet in 
 
 Dublin, and ichen 1 2cas leavinc/ it, you kindly for- 
 gave me half-a-years rent. Therefore [!] I trust 
 I may expect from you the kindness which I at 
 present solicit, 
 
 " And I have, &c. &c. &c. &c. 
 
 '* P.S. — One xcordfrom you to ■ , would, 
 
 I am sure, obtain for me all that I Avant i " 
 
applications for places. 201 
 
 " My dear Sir, — 
 
 " Having l.itcly been very unfortunate in my 
 business, I am about to wind up my affairs, and 
 retire with whatever means T have remaining. 
 Being still strong and in good health, I do not 
 wish to be idle ; nor could I very well support my 
 family, which is very large, and three of my sons 
 grown up. 
 
 " I will therefore be for ever indebted, if you 
 will be kind enough to exert your influence to get 
 me made a Stipendary Magistrate, or to get me 
 some situation, — I entirely leave it to your 
 own choice as to the nature of it, — which may 
 be worth £350 or £450 a-year, as less would not 
 well do in my present circumstances. 
 
 " One word from you to the Chief Secretary, 
 or to , would do the thing at once ! 
 
 " I beg to add that my sons are, all three, of 
 ages quite sufficient to ensure that they are com- 
 petent to any Government employment that you 
 could get for them. Places of £100 or £150 
 a-year would suit them very well for the present," 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 K 3 
 
202 parliamentary experiences. 
 
 " Great Liberator and Father of your 
 Country, — 
 
 " I am sure you will look with forgiveness upon 
 a poor distressed Irishman writing to you again ; 
 for whom your honour wrote a letter before — more 
 glory to you ! I sent in the recommendation, and 
 as your honour's servant bid me, I left my nome 
 [_name] and address, and i never got an answer, but 
 I went on this day and the dark told me you was 
 the person to get the answer. lie would not tell 
 me what the answer was, but come to you, and 
 that you knew it. So I do expect from your 
 honour to let me know it, or send me another 
 letter for the Commissioners to Great Scotland 
 Yard to get me on, for I hiozo you can easily do it. 
 You would bring or you could bring me from the 
 gallos [gallon's] — little oioing [let alone] to get me 
 into the Police. I am now badly of, doing nothing, 
 and you know that is a bad way to live in London ; 
 so I hope you will stick me in as soon as you can, 
 and that icill he in three dayi time. I beg your 
 honour's pardon for using all this freedom. I pre- 
 sume. Sir, to be your humble servant, &c. &c. 
 
 " N.B. — I am that man Avho Avas recommended 
 by Mr. , Esq., of , Killarney." 
 
applications for places. 2 03 
 
 " Beloved Liberator, — 
 
 " As you have always had a great Hkhig for 
 fine young Irishmen, I write to you to ask your 
 powerful influence to help one in his manly aspira- 
 tions and views, and not let him sink at home into 
 paltry dependency. 
 
 " I am past twenty-one years of age, six feet 
 one in height, and can play at tlie cudgels with 
 any man in the barony, or, for that matter, the 
 county. I know also the broad-sword exercise, 
 and I have learned fencing, and can jump over 
 any height, and vault over a horse and he saddled 
 and all I 
 
 " As you hate a son in the Russian service [!!! ] — 
 perhaps you could tell me how I could get into the 
 French, or Austrian, or the Kussian service itself; 
 and your son would give me a letter to a general 
 tliere, that would get me on, and get me made an 
 officer at once ; for I am tired of being here at 
 home, and I'd have no chance of getting promo- 
 tion if I went into the Police, in regard of my 
 being a Catholic," &c. &c. &c. 
 
 And so on midtis cum aliis, and indeed ad 
 
 infinitum. 
 
204 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 In the scope of their "Large ambitiorij" these 
 multitudmous claimants stopped at nothing. No- 
 thinof was too hi^h or too low to forbid candidate- 
 ship^ and vacancies of all kinds were watched 
 with lynx-eyed vigilance, and applied for ere the 
 previous occupant could well be said to have de- 
 parted this life, or his office. And whatever 
 might be the nature of the claim, the description 
 of the object, and the position of the applicant, 
 there was sure to be one unvarying refrain, viz. — 
 
 " One word from you would get me the place at 
 once," or, " would do all I want," &c. &c. 
 
 This alone made such applications a source to 
 my father of continual distress and annoyance ; 
 and no explanation, remonstrance, or assurance 
 from him, as to his inabilit}^ to make or succeed 
 in recommendations for places, met with the least 
 
 credit whatever. 
 
 Generally speaking, nothing is more true than 
 what is said of the consequences to themselves of 
 Members of Parliament being in a position to 
 recommend persons for Government employment, 
 viz. that by such recommendation, if snccessfiil, 
 they make enemies of all the defeated candidates, 
 and get no gratitude from their protegL Happy 
 
FRANKING LETTERS, 205 
 
 the man who is in Opposition^ and who can meet 
 all requisitions witli the incontestible fact, that he 
 is out of favour with the Minister ! 
 
 But the labour of perusing, attending to, and 
 disposing of requisitions, was as nothing compared 
 to that of deciphering and copying the addresses 
 of letters sent to be franked, while that most 
 troublesome and annoying privilege remained with 
 members. 
 
 It would have been thought that at my father's 
 London residence, where three or four members 
 of Parliament (himself and sons) were constantly 
 to be found, letters sent to be franked could 
 easily have been disposed of But diis alitei^ visum 
 — there Avas an over-proportionate demand even 
 for the supply ; and after we had exhausted our- 
 selves in the thankless office of o^ivinor at least 
 thirty -five out o^ i\\Q forty franks at our command, 
 there still would remain a heap of unsatisfied 
 claims. These, by daily accumulation, frequently 
 became hundreds in number, before a chance de- 
 parture from town of one or the other of our 
 party enabled us to reduce the arrear by charging 
 him with as many as he could possibly carry ; to 
 be franked and posted in batches, at each sue- 
 
206 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 cessive twenty or thirty miles of liis journey, tlie 
 Post-office reo'ulations allowino' of this Promethean 
 restoration of his close-eaten privilege at such 
 intervals. 
 
 Such addresses as these were common : — 
 
 " Patrick Neale, 
 
 {of Moyerta,) 
 
 care of IMr. , &c. &c. &c. at Sligo, 
 
 for Biddy Doherty, Ballina." 
 
 " Paddy Flannerty, at Mr. John Conner's, 
 General Post Office, \^ miles n.w. of Cork." 
 
 " Tim Eyan, England." [!!] 
 
 Again : — 
 
 " Under tlie care of Mr. , of Kil and 
 
 Kilmonag;han. 
 "For Timothy Daly, 
 who departed this life. 
 
 For his wife. Honor Daly, 
 Kilbeggan, Ireland." 
 
 In making reference to petty difficulties and 
 annoyances attached to the position of Irish mem- 
 bers, an opportunity suggests itself for allusion to 
 a difficulty and disadvantage of greater weight 
 and magnitude in ordinary estimation, and to 
 
FAIR PLAY. 207 
 
 which they are unhitermittlngly subjected — viz. 
 the attacks of the English press. 
 
 Englishmen boast of their love of fair play ; 
 and no doubt conceive they have reason in so 
 doing. But, whatever may be their claim to it in 
 other cases, it is certain that in dealing with Ire- 
 land and Irisli matters they are as little extrava- 
 gant of it as need be. As it is a good thing, they 
 like to keep it all to themselves, and have none to 
 spare for anybody else. 
 
 The more illiberal and bioroted ao-ainst Ireland 
 and Irishmen that a newspaper or other publication 
 can be, the more sure it is of success ; and so far 
 does this go, that even where there is the inclin- 
 ation to be just, and to allow both sides to be heard 
 on an Irish question, the newspaper managers dare 
 not indulge the inclination, for fear of displeasing 
 their readers b}^ troubling them with any but the 
 received and stereotyped opinions as to the "indo- 
 lent, puzzle-headed, turbulent, and unmanageable 
 Irish!" 
 
 For sixteen years now that the Irish popular 
 representatives have been in any number in Par- 
 liament, the whole, or nearl}^ the whole power of the 
 English press has been directed against them and 
 
208 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 their country — vilifying, ridiculing, and scoffing 
 at both one and the other ; or, what is far more 
 intolerable, affecting a patronising and com- 
 passionate tone in their criticisms and comments. 
 
 I know all the penalties incurred by talking 
 thus freely and plainly of the press. I am quite 
 aware of the consequences of vexing the ^^ irri- 
 tabile genus "' of the broad-sheet, who never admit 
 the possibility of their being in the wrong, and 
 never forget or forgive the gentlest hint to that 
 effect. 
 
 "/Z n^y que nous qui ont toujours i-aisoii!" is their 
 motto, and woe betide the unlucky Avight, not 
 himself of the craft, who shall attempt to dispute 
 it ! With the exception of the judges in Ireland, 
 whom the support and observance of English pub- 
 lic opinion have so very frequently made regard- 
 less of that prevailing in the country whose laws 
 they administer, {and zc/iose laics they not infre- 
 quently mahe\ there are none so despotic and 
 high-handed in their despotism, as proprietors of 
 newspapers, whether in the aggregate or the indi- 
 vidual. At once sliielded and armed with the 
 great " we " of the press, they issue forth to 
 battle with the double advantage of being able to 
 
THE ENGLISH PRESS. 209 
 
 strike their enemy (where he is not of their own 
 order and calling) many times for once that he 
 can return the blow, and of having the means of 
 preventing his defence from coming fairly before 
 the public. 
 
 If this be so where both the combatants are 
 English, making apjieal to a public of their own 
 nation, and, therefore, a public not without some 
 sympathies for either, how much more is it not 
 the case when the weaker party is Irish, and the 
 stronger English, with all the additional disadvan- 
 tages to the former of English prejudice and 
 international dislikings. Then is the Irishman 
 like unto — 
 
 " Feather-bed 'twixt castle M'all 
 And heavy brunt of cannon-ball ! '' 
 
 and, to borrow the Examiner's old quotation from 
 De Foe, war is made upon him a la mode le pais 
 de Pole! 
 
 Can it be greatly wondered at that the Irish 
 representative should not be over fond of his com- 
 pelled attendance in the English Parliament, 
 when, if he endeavour at all earnestly to discharge 
 his duty towards his constituents and country, he 
 
210 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 must make up his mind to experience and endure 
 eyery species of assault and contumely in the House 
 at night, and in the columns of the press in the 
 morning ; in addition to the other agremens of his 
 position, viz. of having a weary land journey and 
 a stormy channel between him and his home, his 
 family, and his ordinary occupations and affairs ? 
 
 The tone and manner of the attack may vary, 
 but the substance is ever the same. Whether in 
 the brickbat and bludgeon style of the Times, 
 the dulled and clouded sarcasm of the fading Exa- 
 miner, the uncompromising and heartless harshness 
 of the Morning Chronicle, the inveterate viru- 
 lence of the Post and Standard, the same diluted 
 with twaddle in the mopping and mowing INIorn- 
 ing Herald, the official impertinence of the 
 Observer and Globe, the Mungo-Malagrowtherism 
 of the Spectator, the pandering to anti-Irish 
 prejudice and bigotry of the half-Radical, half- 
 Tory Economist — the matter is still the same — 
 dislike, ridicule, and contempt for Irishmen and 
 Irish things ; and evidences of a disposition, more 
 or less developed, and more or less self-acknow- 
 ledged, to consider Ireland but as a conquered 
 and mutinous province, and not as an important 
 
THE ENGLISH PRESS. 211 
 
 member of the confederacy that o;ives name and 
 being to the British Empire. 
 
 The Daily News and the Sun are nearly, if 
 not altogether alone, in moderation of language, 
 and consideration of bearing towards Ireland. 
 True, there are times when the prevailing fever 
 carries even them away ; and Irishmen and 
 their country must only bend the back for the 
 blow in humble submission. But often a redeem- 
 ing, a truly liberal and manly article, shines out 
 in either paper ; all the more valuable and welcome 
 from the powerful contrast Avith the tone and mat- 
 ter of the 6cribl)lings of their cotemporarics. 
 
 There is a class of small, self-conceited, prag- 
 matical, and dogmatic barristers, haunting the 
 Clubs, (not by any means excluding the Beform 
 Club,) who are said to wield the thunderbolts of 
 the leading press In the tempest of Anglo-Saxon 
 wrath continually hurtling over the heads of the 
 incorrigible Celts of Ireland. I never meet with 
 one of those men that I do not feel impelled to 
 doff my hat, and — 
 
 " speak in bondsman's key,' 
 
 AVith 'bated breath and whispering humbleness," 
 
 before the creature who virtually rules luihappy 
 
212 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Ireland by the excitement Avliich the congenial 
 tone of his scribblings infuses into the heavy mass 
 of prejudice against lis in the minds of our Eng- 
 lish fellow-subjects. 
 
 What should be the right understanding (and 
 practice) of their mission by the journalists of 
 England ? 
 
 To remove, and not to foster, prejudices : — to 
 enlighten, and not to cast farther darkness around : 
 ■ — to conciliate the two people ; not " set roaring 
 war" between them ; — or that worse than actual 
 war, — the bitter deadly feeling of international 
 hostility, fomented on the one side by the intole- 
 rant pride of triumph and superior strength, the 
 love of domination, and the consciousness of having 
 inflicted suffering and wrong ; — and on the other, 
 by the deep and rankling sense of old, and long, 
 and accumulating injustice, oppression, contumely, 
 and hate ! 
 
 Once the Examiner did recognise as worthy 
 of its proprietor's talent such a mission as this. 
 Personal animosities, and the revival in advancing 
 years of early prejudices, which the noon-day 
 strength of intellect for a time controlled, have 
 unhappily occasioned an entire change of course. 
 
THE ENGLISH PRESS. 213 
 
 Even the Times at rare moments has spoken 
 like an oracle, of what might be done to remove 
 for ever old bitternesses, and bind the nations 
 together in the onlj secure and permanent con- 
 nexion—that of conciliated feeling, and perfect 
 eqnahty of rights and privileges. 
 
 The Morning Chronicle, while under other 
 guidance than tlie present— and yet only for 
 a portion of the time that it was so ; the Spec- 
 tator, before its idiey of human kindness became 
 utterly and hopelessly curdled and soured; and 
 some also of the other Aveekly papers,— as the 
 pope and priest-hunting Sunday Times, the Weekly 
 Chronicle, the Nonconformist, the Atlas, the 
 Standard of Freedom, Jerrold's paper, &c., all 
 these have from time to time allowed themselves 
 to be moved by a better spirit, and have emitted 
 worthy and statesmanlike opinions as to the treat- 
 ment of Ireland. 
 
 "Would that they might only have the courage 
 to persevere in the good dispositions that they 
 thus occasionally exhibit ! But to do so requires 
 a very high degree— perhaps too high a degree— of 
 courage, under the circumstances that surround 
 them. The English newspaper reading class are 
 
214 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 not remarkable for tolerance of anything Avliicli at 
 all comes into collision with the prejudices amongst 
 which they have been cradled and nursed — pre- 
 judices imbibed with the mother's milk, nourished 
 and enforced by the sayings and opinions of the 
 attendants of their childhood, Avoven into the very 
 story-books that are given to them, and after- 
 wards confirmed and established by the precepts 
 of those entrusted with their education, and by 
 the gross perversion of facts, and narrow and 
 uncandid judgments of events and of characters, 
 by the writers of the histories and books of general 
 information they are called upon to peruse. The 
 bigotries and intolerances thus rife and rampant 
 among them must be regarded and paid deference 
 to, under penalty oilo^s of custom. 
 
 One morning paper, the ]\Iorning Advertiser, 
 which has been accidentally omitted in the fore- 
 going catalogue and commentary, frequently and 
 forcibly displays the pressure of this necessity, by 
 its ever- shifting variety of moods, and frequent 
 alternations of reasonable and reckless articles. 
 
 Without meaning to allude to the writers of 
 any one of the just-mentioned newspapers, in par- 
 ticular, (or indeed, specially to any paper whether 
 
IRISHMEN AGAINST IRELAND. 215 
 
 mentioned or not,) there is, unhaj^pily, occasion 
 and solid ground for the remark, that those of the 
 English press, wlio write the articles tliat are of 
 the bitterest tendency against poor Ireland, and 
 manifest the most miserable and money-loving 
 obsequiousness to English prejudice and passion, 
 are generally Irishmen themselves ! 
 
 In every oppressed and divided country, in- 
 stances are sure to be found of this sordid recre- 
 ancy ; and therefore no argument sliould be based 
 upon it (as is sometimes attempted to be done) 
 against the Irish character in particular. Amonost 
 wealthy and prosperous nations, as in wretched 
 Ireland, individuals will ever be found, who readily 
 barter away for lucre all that ought to be dear to 
 them ; and care nothing at all for country, friends, 
 or creed, in comparison with the hopes of pecu- 
 niary advantage. 
 
 In the heat and bitterness of natural and very 
 warrantable indignation at the repeated and fla- 
 grant instances Avhich we are condemned to wit- 
 ness, and in the excusable feeling to which they 
 give occasion, of at least a temporciYy despondency 
 as to the fortunes of a country whose own children 
 thus assail her, there is often a disposition to jump 
 
216 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 at conclusions unfavourable to our national cha- 
 racter. But this is an error almost as grave, 
 though not so malicious nor deliberate, as any 
 committed by the objects of our indignation. 
 
 Of these recreant Irishmen, there are two 
 classes. The first belono; to the old bitter Oranoe 
 faction in Ireland ; whose petty and unworthy 
 interest, and therefore whose aim and eftbrt it is, 
 to misrepresent and calumniate their country and 
 countrymen ; and having thus hoodwinked John 
 Bull, to lead him to play such pranks with poor 
 Ireland as might make angels weep, and well 
 might make fiends rejoice. 
 
 To this potent generic motive there is super- 
 added the special and particular necessity of earn- 
 ing bread ; and the shortest and readiest way to 
 that object is by encouraging, flattering, and 
 affecting to adopt the favourite prejudices of their 
 English readers, viz. their prejudices on Irish 
 matters. 
 
 The other class are also poor adventurers : there 
 have only that sorry excuse for doing dirty work. 
 Allied in race, religion and traditions with the 
 people whom they revile, they seek as it were 
 to stun the feelings of self-reproach by an over- 
 
A POETIC EPISTLE. 217 
 
 acted earnestness of attack, that betrays itself, 
 even while it gratifies the unworthy feelings to 
 which it makes appeal. 
 
 A poetic epistle, rivalling Horace or Juvenal 
 in power and pungency of expression, and imbued 
 with deep sentiment of nationality, has lately 
 appeared in the pages of the Dublin University 
 IMagazine, directed mainly against the anti-Irish 
 Irishmen, who bring shame and degradation upon 
 their country by the prostitution of their talents 
 in London. I cannot refrain from quoting from 
 it the following striking lines : a fair specimen of 
 the vigour, singular ability, and high and profound 
 feeling that so markedly characterize the whole : — 
 
 " See where the ribald pages' affluent spleen, 
 Spreading, pollutes the putrid magazine 
 With mix'd obscenity and scurril jest, 
 And home-contempts, to give the whole a zest ; 
 Whose pen portrays the shameful caricature ? 
 Some Irish vagabond's you may be sure, 
 Who, from intrusive acolytes or bums, 
 Flying, subsists by picking coal-hole crumbs. 
 Or giving sittings, at so much per day, 
 As Mulligan, to Mr. Thackeray 
 (For who would now his vulgar serial plan 
 Without its regulation-Irishman ]) ; 
 Such sponsors must we for our sins endure 
 In legislation and in literature. 
 Or where at char for coterie and club, 
 The mother of the muses' laundry tub, 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
218 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Fresh from the literary steep wrings out 
 
 (As Irish washerwoman wrings a clout) 
 
 ' Mavourneen' scullions, till the kitchen melts, 
 
 And all the 'acushla,' catalogue of Celts; 
 
 'Tis Irish all, the ' dudeens' and the * duds,' 
 
 Irish the soap, and sycophantic suds. 
 
 Nor only is the parasitic part 
 
 In letters play'd. It scandalizes art ; 
 
 Oh, shut the book — on sheets degraded cease 
 
 To trace the shame and genius of Maclise : 
 
 Turn from the scoffing page your saddened eyes, 
 
 AYhere taste and feeling make self-sacrifice. 
 
 And meagre Teague presents his rugged foil. 
 
 To the smooth Briton, in the sketch of Doyle : 
 
 Uoyle, whose fine pencil, generously applied. 
 
 Moves free as beauty in her virgin pride ; 
 
 Put to home-mockings at detraction's suit. 
 
 Stumbles and shrinks, a conscious prostitute. 
 
 Ah, youths, before the gifted hand you lift, 
 
 To strike your Mother, think who gave the gift ; 
 
 Nor scorn the land, though poor she be, and far. 
 
 That nui-sed the genius makes you what you are. 
 
 Par better ere to crime like this it come, 
 
 Live all your days in Dublin here at home ; 
 
 Your lives and virtues, as your works approved. 
 
 Like Burton, self-respecting and beloved ; 
 
 Or, though one sordid act might wealth secure. 
 
 Like patriot honourably poor. 
 
 Still, howsoe'er the sycophantic trade 
 
 Profane the pencil, or the pen degrade. 
 
 At least the Irish chisel shall be known 
 
 In noble and in lovely forms alone ; 
 
 Thanks, Hogan— thanks, MacDowell ; Foley, thine. 
 
 Be all the grateful Graces' thanks, and mine ; 
 
 Yes— Irish all the men who chiefly mar 
 
 Poor Ireland's pleadings at Great Britain's bar ; 
 
 The anti-Irish press, an Irish host 
 
 Itself, Son, Standard, Herald, Morning Post — 
 
 In fine, who, with seditious dirt, begrimes 
 
BREACH OF PRIVILEGE. 219 
 
 Poor Ireland in the leaders of the Times ; 
 
 Up-closes, with the prompt diurnal lie, 
 
 The opening hand of English charity ; 
 
 Gloats o'er our crimes, and laughs our woes to scorn 1 
 
 A servile Irish scoundrel bred and born." 
 
 If, from the yarlous causes that have been before 
 enumerated, the Irish representatives are not to 
 expect mercy or fair treatment from the article- 
 mongers and " special correspondents" of the 
 English newspapers, the simple fact of their being 
 in bad odour witli the English public is enough 
 to deprive them of any chance of favour at the 
 hands of the Fourth Estate, the reporters of those 
 papers. And the experience of this additional 
 disadvantage is by no means confined to the popular 
 Irish members alone, but extends to all, when- 
 soever an Irish subject comes before the House. 
 
 In the session of 1833, a curious scene arose out 
 of a difficulty created by this neglect and contemp- 
 tuous treatment of Irish members. 
 
 A speech of Mr. O'Connell's, upon an Irish 
 question of considerable interest and importance, 
 was not only grievously abbreviated, but the 
 sense of it entirely perverted in several passages. 
 As I recollect, it was a speech on the then very 
 exciting and difficult subject of the Tithes of the 
 
 L 2 
 
220 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Protestant Church in Irehincl ; and Mr. O'Connell 
 among other things was made to say^ that he would 
 vote in a certain way on the immediate point 
 imder consideration, " although it was directly in 
 the teeth of all his former opinions on the sub- 
 ject ! I " On his bringing the matter before the 
 House, under the usual form of a "Breach of 
 Privilege," and making complaint of being thus 
 treated, the defence set up by the Reporter was, 
 that during his walk from the House to tlie News- 
 paper-office, the rtmiy which was filling heavily at 
 the i^time, had most unfortunately streamed into 
 his pocket, and •washed out the notes he had made of 
 Mi\ O'ComieWs speech. 
 
 Upon which the latter remarked, that it was the 
 most extraordinary shower of rain he had ever 
 heard of; inasmuch as it had not only icashed out 
 tlie speech he did maJce, but had washed in another 
 and an entirely different one. 
 
 Having spoken with some severity upon this as 
 well as upon other instances of neglect shown to 
 him, the Keporters retorted, by a resolution not 
 to report another word that he shoidd choose to 
 say. lie was not a man to be put down quite so 
 easily ; and accordingly brought the matter again 
 
SUPPRESSION OF SPEECHES. 221 
 
 before the House, with an intimation, that if the 
 line of conduct adopted towards him were perse- 
 vered in, he should require the nearly obsolete 
 privilege of debating with closed doors to be called 
 into action. 
 
 Several Members of Parliament took up the 
 cudgels for the Reporters, and were rewarded for 
 their trouble, by a declaration of the original 
 offender, (the hero of the shower of rain,) to the 
 effect, that he entertained a very low opinion 
 indeed of the intellect, acquirements, and abilities 
 of the vast majority of the House of Commons ! 
 
 No species of concession or redress having been 
 obtained, Mr. O'Conriell, after undergoing three 
 nights of suppression of speech, made the appeal 
 he had threatened to the ancient rules and privi- 
 leges of the House, and informed Mr. Speaker, 
 that he " saw strangers in the gallery ! " 
 
 " Strangers must withdraw !" was the brief, 
 stern edict in reply, given forth ore rotundo hj 
 Manners Sutton, then (1833) Speaker, in his own 
 fine sonorous tones. 
 
 The Speaker in such cases has no option, but 
 must, without suffering debate, or putting a ques- 
 tion, order " strangers to withdraw." There is 
 
222 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 not much of common sense about the reluctance 
 which is manifested to do away with the old rule 
 under which they are supposed not to be present 
 at our deliberations, although fifty or sixty of 
 them and upwards are nightly staring us in the 
 face. If the power of clearing the Plouse of all 
 but members, and deliberating in secret, be at any 
 time desirable, — and it is of course within the 
 range of possibilities that some extreme occasion 
 might arise to require it, — a short resolution can 
 give it, either for the special occasion, or as a 
 power to be vested in the Speaker for use by him 
 on the first occurring emergency. The puerility 
 of passing a sessional order which is every day 
 flagrantly and openly violated, would thus be 
 avoided, and plain common sense and matter of 
 fact be substituted for the absurdity of the fiction 
 which ignores the presence of those to whom the 
 Speaker himself, as well as each individual member 
 that pleases, gives written orders of admission to 
 attend the debates. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell had no choice but to appeal to 
 this old rule, or submit to be entirely hurhed: a 
 precedent which, if once established in the case of 
 so prominent a person in the House, would have 
 
CLEARING THE HOUSE. 223 
 
 ever after been mercilessly imitated in the cases of 
 members of less note and firmness. 
 
 It was a warm summer night when the magical 
 words were pronounced, which at once proclaimed 
 that the Speaker's eyes were suddenly opened 
 wide to the gross violation of the House's orders, 
 that had occurred by the corporeal and tangible 
 presence of forty or fifty audacious strangers, 
 and ordered their immediate expulsion I Like a 
 set of children suddenly let out firom confinement, 
 the members spread themselves at once through 
 the vacated benches, under and in the gallery, 
 rejoicing greatly in the increased room and the 
 comparative coolness thus obtained. 
 
 In truth there was a little of heroic virtue in 
 our ever admitting strangers again, after the com- 
 fort we experienced on that night. 
 
 It Is but fair now to record an instance where 
 the Reporters gave entire satisfaction to an Irish 
 member. 
 
 During one of the hot debates of ten years ago, 
 or thereabouts, an amendment to the proposition 
 then before the House was moved so unexpectedly 
 that its originator was left for a moment without 
 being seconded. An Irish M.P., a quiet going. 
 
224 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 excellent country gentleman, who had never 
 dreamed of opening his mouth, or taking any part 
 in the House's proceedings beyond giving his vote, 
 was suddenly stirred by the occasion to stand up 
 and do the needed office. 
 
 Next day he met a friend, whom he at once 
 addressed with — 
 
 " Well, I have been on my legs at last in the 
 House!" 
 
 '^ You — indeed ? — When, pray, and on what 
 occasion?" 
 
 " Oh, last night. I seconded • 's amend- 
 ment on the BilL" Then with an air of 
 
 indifference : " You '11 see it all in the morning 
 papers." 
 
 " Oh, I am very glad to hear it. I didn't happen 
 to look at the debates yet ; but I'll get the Times 
 at once." 
 
 " You will find a better report in the Morning 
 Chronicle ; but I am treated very badly indeed in 
 the Herald and Post." 
 
 The friend, thus informed and directed, at once 
 proceeded to look over the papers, that he might 
 be Cjualified to satisfy the orator's anxiety about 
 his fame when next they should meet. 
 
A MAIDEN SPEECH. 225 
 
 The task was neither very long, nor very henYj. 
 The churlish Post and Herald gave no more infor- 
 mation than that — 
 
 " An honourable member, whose name we could 
 not learn, seconded the motion." 
 
 In the Times report there was more accuracy, 
 but not much more of favour. It announced that — 
 
 " 3fr. seconded the amendment ! " 
 
 The fuller and entirely satisfactory record of 
 the Morning Chronicle was thus worded: — 
 
 " Mr. said, he had much pleasure in se- 
 conding the amendment of the honourable member 
 who had just sat dovni / " 
 
 It was of the " chief artificer " and most effective 
 agitator of this gentleman's repeated elections — 
 (elections, be it said at the same time., well merited 
 by the rectitude and straightforwardness of the 
 latter's votes in Parliament) — that the following 
 story is told : 
 
 He was haranguing a large meeting upon the 
 necessity of preparation for an election struggle 
 that was approaching. After having run through 
 all the popular topics of the time, and especially 
 dwelt upon that which was with them above all 
 and before all — the " Repale," he wound up amid 
 
 l3 
 
226 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 the delighted cheers of his auditory, (who had 
 often witnessed and fully recognised the value of 
 his former services to the popular cause,) with 
 some such peroration as this : — 
 
 " Ay, boys ! — you may he sure of seeing me 
 at your head at the next election, as you have 
 often seen me before ! [Cheers, and cries of ' We 
 have, we have ! Thrue for you, and long life to 
 you ! '] Yes, I will be ever ready at your call, 
 and the call of my country, to lead you on to 
 victory over the paltry enemies of Ireland ! 
 [Cheers.] To the end of iny life I will ever be 
 at your service, and I do think that were I to die 
 to-morrow, I think I 'd try and get back to you 
 for the elections ! " 
 
 " Troth, then, Charlie," said a fellow in the 
 crowd, " His yourself tcould he for short parliaments 
 then!'' 
 
 Much about the same time that the respected 
 ** single-speech " orator, whose unex])ected " coming 
 out " we have recorded, achieved his fame with 
 the British public, another Irish member obtained 
 as unexpected, but not quite so agreeable a pub- 
 licity, through the impertinence of one of the men 
 who make up lists of the members of parliament. 
 
RISING OF PARLIAMENT. 227 
 
 Deceived by the particularity of tbe inquiries 
 which he had been requested to favour the pub- 
 lisher by filling up, he unwarily mentioned the 
 circumstance that his family dated in Ireland from 
 the period of the first English invasion, in the 
 reign of Henry the Second. When the list came 
 out, he found himself enregistered as follows : — 
 
 '' Mr. , M.P. for , Eadical and Ke- 
 
 pealer. Went to Ireland with Stronghow ! " 
 
 In that case the honourable member might have 
 consoled himself by reflecting that he was thus 
 undoubtedly qualified to have attention paid to 
 his opinions, as the "oldest inhabitants^ of these 
 realms. 
 
 The rising of parliament in 1835 was a relief 
 and a release indeed. I doubt if, during any of 
 the stormy years that have since elapsed, it can 
 have been felt so in as great, certainly not in a 
 greater degree. To the unusual length, multi- 
 tude, and inherent diflSculties of the debates, was 
 superadded that which tires infinitely more, the 
 constant and extreme excitement of the worst and 
 bitterest party feelings. More fierceness, more 
 vindictiveness, and more uncharitableness of all 
 kinds, it is impossible that any session could have 
 
228 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ever witnessed^ since parliaments began ; and tlie 
 bad passions raging within doors had unfortu- 
 nately their counterparts outside. 
 
 After such a session, my father, who had liad 
 to bear much more than his proper share of " the 
 heats of the day and the sweets," relished the 
 seclusion of his mountain-home at Darrynane 
 with great and redoubled zest, and indeed stood 
 seriously in need of its repose and relaxation. 
 
 The manner of his life while there may have 
 some interest for those who have only known him 
 as the enero-etic and determined agitator. 
 
 So far as the weather permitted, he alternated 
 days of study and mental labour with those of 
 abandonment to extreme and protracted fatigue 
 in the enjoyment of his favourite amusement, viz. 
 hare-huntino* throuoh the neio'hbourino* mountains 
 
 O C O D 
 
 on foot. 
 
 Upon wet days, or days appointed for staying 
 at home, he did not rise till what had become, 
 since giving up his profession, his usual hour, viz. 
 between eight and nine. Mass in his domestic 
 chapel was said at nine every morning; after 
 attending which he received the post commands, 
 (brought every morning, a distance of fourteen 
 
MR. DANIEL o'cONNELL, 229 
 
 miles, by relays of indifferently mounted postboys,) 
 and occupied himself during breakfast, and for an 
 hour or two afterwards, with Avading through his 
 correspondence and the heap of newspapers that 
 he daily received. 
 
 Then came three or four hours of close confine- 
 ment to his study, while he wrote, or dictated to 
 secretary or clerk, answers to letters public or 
 private, frameworks of bills on different subjects, 
 and Addresses to the Repealers. About four, if 
 the weather at all permitted it, he sauntered out 
 in his dressing-gown and cap, along the green 
 beach or miniature dozens that intervene between 
 Darrynane Abbey and the sea, or tracked along 
 the edge of the Avavcs themselves upon the beau- 
 tiful sands below, pausing ever and anon in deep 
 thought, and betraying by the sudden and invo- 
 luntary motion of the arm, that some vivid thought 
 of Ireland's wrongs had flashed across his mind, 
 and had formed itself in words upon his lips. 
 
 At such moments w^e felt reluctant and at the 
 same time eager to join him. There was the 
 natural reluctance to disturb the absorbing train 
 of thought in which he was plunged, and break 
 in upon that precious solitude and solitary self- 
 
230 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 communion wliicli is so dear to men overworked 
 by the anxieties of politics ; and there was the 
 equally natural desire to enjoy his company at 
 such a time, when he was ever ready to pour out 
 his whole soul to those in whose sympathies and 
 affections he confided. 
 
 Next morning (if a bright, or at any rate a dry 
 one), the scene was changed ! Shortly after dawn, 
 his huntsman, — with his own previous permission, 
 certainly, but equally ready, in the freedom with- 
 out disrespect which, in the remoter districts of 
 Ireland, is yet to be found between landlord and 
 clansman, to do it without such authorization, — 
 knocked at his door and told him to be stirring 
 and not lose the fine morning. 
 
 Similar intimations went round to the young 
 men belonging to the family, or in the house as 
 visitors ; but ere the first of them had shown 
 themselves, the Arch-Agitator himself was sure to 
 be up, dressed, and out; with his tall wattle, or 
 long stick, such as is commonly used in mountain 
 walking there, in his hand, and the newly-released 
 hounds baying joyously about him. 
 
 Breakfast was not thought of, — or, to be far 
 more accurate, it was thought of most carefully. 
 
MR. O'CONNELL AT DARRYNANE. 231 
 
 but not for the time. Orders were carefully given 
 to have all manner of h^eaJcfast, Irish, vScotch, and 
 foreign, packed up in baskets, and sent on the 
 backs of three or four stout mountaineers after 
 the hunting party. Not a morsel of it, however, 
 was to be consumed till at least tico hares had been 
 killed ; an operation which sometimes engaged the 
 hounds until close upon, or full noon-tide, greatly 
 to the dismay and discomfort of the less active 
 and more voracious of the hunters. But when it 
 did come, there was ample compensation for the 
 delay. 
 
 A sheltered spot in some mountain ravine was 
 usually chosen for the meal ; taking care that it 
 should possess three other requisites, viz. a fine, 
 clear, sparkling, mountain stream; a southern 
 aspect, so as to have the benefit of the sun's heat, 
 while sheltered from the wind ; and a view over 
 the splendid scenery of mountain and ocean that 
 lay below. The breakfast was then set about in 
 right good earnest, and prodigies of demolition 
 accomplished, while laugh and jest went rapidly 
 round ; and the merriest of all there was Daniel 
 O'ConnelL 
 
 Merry until the post-bags came. On these 
 
232 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 morningSj after having been eased of the letters 
 for the stay-at-hoiites, the bags were despatched 
 after the hunting party, and during the time that 
 the inferior crowd of huntsmen, dog-boys, and 
 dogs, were regaling themselves at a little distance 
 with the disjecta membra of their superiors' meal, 
 my father was as deeply immersed in politics as if 
 on the point of going down to the House to plunge 
 into a hot debate. 
 
 The moment, however, that the men had con- 
 cluded their meal, he was upon his legs the first, 
 pitching away Times, Chronicle, Freeman, Pilot, 
 Globe, &c. &c. in much admired confusion, and 
 breasting the mountain again. Up to the last year 
 of his life, he displayed an activity, and a power of 
 endurance of fatigue on these occasions, that 
 often put much younger men to shame. 
 
 Hurrying from hill-top to hill-top, and choosing 
 his points of view with what military men would 
 call an admirable coup d^ceil, he watched every 
 incident of the hunt, every turn and double of the 
 hare, and all the patient or eager trackings of his 
 excellent beagles, with the liveliest and most 
 entire interest. During the lulls of the chase he 
 relapsed into political meditations again ; and the 
 
DARRYNANE. 233 
 
 same indications I have alluded to before, of the 
 current of busy and stirring tliought through his 
 brain, were visible from time to time. But one 
 cry from the hounds— one giting tongue, at least of 
 the older and steadier dogs, (whose note he always 
 distinguished as clearly and readily as the hunts- 
 man himself,) and at once politics, and all thouglifc 
 but that of the hunt, passed away as quickly as 
 the last wreaths of the morning fog, swept off 
 from the mountain-peaks around him before the 
 fresh and gladsome breeze of the Atlantic. 
 
 Of this I had one experience, the remembrance 
 of which teases me to the present hour. I was alone 
 with him upon a glorious autumn day during the 
 recess of 1835, at the very pinnacle of Cooma- 
 kisJitheh, the high mountain over which the road 
 from Caherciveen to Darrynane then traversed, and 
 around which the present road passes. The truly 
 magnificent panorama of mountain-promontory 
 and islet, wild bay and illimitable ocean, lay before 
 us in all its sublimity. Deei)ly engaged in thought 
 as he was, I could not restrain myself from inter- 
 rupting him with an expression of admiration. 
 He joined in it, and then added, 
 
 " These are the scenes, John, " 
 
234 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " Fiocli ! Fiocli ! — Fiocli inlsh ! (see, see now ! ) 
 there'^ the hare, masther — there's the hare," half- 
 whispered, half-screamed a ragged urchin, jumping 
 down between us from the top of a crag, and 
 pointing eagerly to what seemed a small brown 
 dot moving Avith vast rapidity across a patch of 
 green heather two or three hundred yards below. 
 
 At the same instant, like the sudden swell of 
 a magnificent organ, came up the hill the musical 
 burst of the hounds in full cry, as, emerging from 
 a deep coomer^ they got a view of the hare. Away 
 went my father, and away to the winds went the 
 deep thought which a moment before had been 
 beaming from his glance, and just breathing from 
 his lips, and it was lost to me for ever ! 
 
 Until too dark to hunt any longer, he always 
 persevered in staying out, and came home then 
 the freshest of the party. The late dinner then 
 ensuing was pleasant in the extreme, as the ex- 
 citement of the day usually put him in high 
 spirits, and he unlocked all his treasures of anec- 
 dote and historical and professional reminiscence. 
 At such times especially, the strangers who visited 
 the Abbey were pleased and fascinated with him ; 
 while none of them, however widely differing 
 
DARRYNANE, 235 
 
 from his politics, had ever reason to say, that even 
 in the most unrestrained moment of the conver- 
 sation a Avord ever escaped that could awaken 
 unpleasantness, by jarring with their peculiar 
 opinions, or offending their party prepossessions. 
 
 Next morning the eager huntsman had relapsed 
 into the studious and absorbed politician ; but only 
 to be transformed back again into the huntsman 
 when twenty-four hours more had rolled by ; and 
 thus, with the interval of Sunday — dedicated, after 
 the hours of prayer, to quiet exercise, or to the 
 settling of wrangles among his tenantry, which 
 else had grown to petty lawsuits — passed away 
 the few weeks of relaxation enjoyed by the Arch- 
 Agitator. 
 
CHAPTEE. X. 
 
 THE NEW SESSION. — THE TITHE QUESTION. — D. RONAYNE; ESQ. — THE 
 PIKES ! — MR. RONAYNE's MUSE — THE COALITION. — THE SPANISH 
 
 LEGION.— STOCKDALE V. HANSARD. — SIR EDWARD SUGDEN. THE 
 
 LAW INSTITUTE. MR. GROTE. MR. G. BERKELEY. — SIR ANDREW 
 
 AGNEW. MR. POULETT SOROPE. PERPLEXITIES OP " YOUNG MEM- 
 BERS."— ST, Stephen's chapel. — l'echo fran5Ais. — a stormy 
 
 DEBATE. 
 
 The Parliamentary sessions of the years 1836 
 and 1837 were periods of great bitterness, angry 
 feeling, and continuous sqiiahbling : but we were 
 not, by a few degrees at least, quite as near com- 
 ing to the actual pulling of caps and scratching of 
 faces as durino; our sittinp;s of 1835. 
 
 The Tithe and Church question of Ireland ; tlie 
 measures of Municipal Keform proposed for the 
 three countries respectively ; the bills introduced 
 by Lord Morpeth for the improvement and in- 
 crease of the Irish Parliamentary franchise, with 
 Lord Stanley's propositions at the other side for 
 curtailino' and in fact annihilating: that franchise, 
 
 O CD -^ 
 
 in so far as its exercise by the people of Ireland was 
 concerned ; the organization and operations of the 
 
THE NEW SESSION. 237 
 
 British Auxiliary Legion in the service of the 
 young Queen of Spain, and indeed the whole 
 question of British intervention in the affairs of the 
 Peninsula at that time ; — these, together with the 
 episode (occasionally amusing, but far more often 
 provocative of some of the dullest, heaviest, and 
 dreariest debates we ever had suffered ynder) of 
 the contentions between Stockdale and Hansard 
 on the subject of the House's privilege, questioned 
 before the courts by the former, of publishing evi- 
 dence given before its Committees, were the chief 
 matters that occupied our attention during the 
 two years in question. 
 
 The Tithe question in Ireland was for several 
 sessions what the Examiner called the "jack- 
 snipe" of the Whig ministry : alluding to the Joe 
 Miller story of the worthy gentleman to whom 
 one jack-snipe furnished sport during several 
 shooting seasons. 
 
 The grievance was heavily felt in Ireland, and 
 had given occasion to some terrific scenes of blood. 
 In five or six localities, the armed yeomanry, 
 aided by soldiers and police, had fired upon the 
 people, shooting numbers of them ; and in one or 
 two other places, the people, by stratagem, or 
 
238 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 otherwise, had mastered small bodies of the police, 
 and revenged themselves by a cruel massacre. 
 
 Of course it was a fruitful theme for oratory 
 and declamation at public meetings, and at the 
 hustings, during the general election, and did 
 yeoman ser'vice to many a halting speaker, as well 
 as powerful execution against all candidates hav- 
 ing, or being accused of having, any species of 
 interest in the tithe system, or any inclination to 
 support or defend it. 
 
 Various were the denunciations hurled at the 
 system, and the descriptions given of its disastrous 
 and cruel operation. The most original certainly, 
 as well as the briefest, was the following, given 
 forth from a hustings in the County of Kerry : — 
 
 " Ay, my fellow-countrymen ! thus the poor 
 man is robbed, by this accursed system, of fully 
 one-teiith of his hard earnings; nay, even sometimes 
 not less than one-fifteenth ! " 
 
 ^' Down with the bloody Thides^^ (as the word 
 tithes was generally pronounced) was as common 
 and as exciting a cry with the people, as '^ Hurrah 
 for the Kepeal!" and as formidable a war-shout 
 against the Tory party. 
 
 Other local imposts were not forgotten, when 
 
DOMINICK RONAYNE, ESQ. 239 
 
 popular attention came to be actively directed to 
 the grievances of the tithe-levy. In some parts of 
 the country these local imposts were more nume- 
 rous and more annoying than others; and a special 
 grievance of this kind gave rise, in 1836, to a scene 
 that would almost have suited the disturbed times 
 of the spring of the present year (1848) in 
 Ireland. 
 
 The then member for the borough of Clonmel, 
 the late Dorainick Konayne, Esq., (a gentleman 
 most deservedly regarded and esteemed, particu- 
 larly by the people of that district, to whom he had 
 rendered highly valuable service, by gratuitously 
 acting as their counsel in conducting cases for 
 them in the courts, with reference to local taxes 
 of which they complained,) was addressing his 
 constituents just previous to his departure to 
 attend Parliament in that year. 
 
 He was dwelling earnestly and eloquently upon 
 the popular topics just then most in vogue; de- 
 nouncing the fierce hostility to Ireland of the exas- 
 perated Conservatives in and out of the House ; 
 promising to do his part stoutly and faithfully in 
 the battles of the session just then approaching j 
 and conjuring the people to look for redress to the 
 
240 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 efforts of tlieir constituents, backed by their own 
 voices, and not to have recourse to any violence. 
 
 In the midst of his pacific adjurations, a voice 
 cried out from among the crowd — 
 
 " The piken ! the pikes ! Mr. Ronayne." 
 
 Startled and greatly vexed at such an inter- 
 ruption, with all its obvious inferences, the orator 
 thought, however, that as the cry had not appeared 
 to be caught up generally, the best policy would 
 be to affect not to have heard it, and to proceed 
 as if nothing had happened. 
 
 He accordingly resumed his speech as quickly 
 as possible, with no other change tlian tlu'owlng 
 a little more earnestness and energy in his coun- 
 sellings to peace, order, and a respect for the law. 
 But he had not proceeded for ten sentences more, 
 when, to his dismay, the same voice was again 
 upraised, shouting to him — 
 
 " Ah, the pikes ! the pikes ! — Mr. Ronayne, Sir, 
 what about the pikes ? " 
 
 After another pause of indignant astonishment, 
 Mr. Konayne, perceiving that the crowd did not 
 yet seem to take up the cry, or pay much regard 
 to the interruption, again resolved to take no 
 public notice of it ; and, raising his voice in the 
 
THE riKES ! 24 1 
 
 hope of regaining and securing his auditory 's 
 attention, he went on once more with his former 
 theme ; and for several minutes without further 
 annoyance. 
 
 But at last, the ominous cry was again upraised, 
 and this time from tliree or four voices : — 
 
 " The pikes ! the pikes ! Sir ! Themes the raal 
 things ! Talk to us about the pikes, Mr. Ronayne 
 — that's what we want just now I" 
 
 There was no possibility of turning a deaf ear 
 to this, especially as the people were beginning to 
 get excited. The only other course open, was to 
 meet full front, and crush witli sublime indignation 
 the rebellious outburst. 
 
 " You scoundrel," roared the incensed orator, 
 " you rebel and traitor, how dare you come here 
 to disturb a peaceful meeting with your seditious 
 outcries ? You have been sent here, and are paid 
 by some enemy of the people, thirsting for the 
 people's blood ! But you shall be disappointed ; 
 and if there be nobody else to give you up to the 
 police, I'll do it myself ! " 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Ronayne ! Oh, your honour, Sir !" 
 as, suiting the action to the word, Ronayne 
 sprung from the platform, and seized the man by 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
242 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 the collar, " what's the matter, Sir, at all ? Sure 
 I'm no rebel, and never was a rebel, and didn't 
 mane any harm in the world ! Sure it's often I 
 have heard your own honour spake, and spake 
 grandly too, agin thim thievin' tuiiipikes ! — where 
 we are fairly robbed — bad luck to tkim!" 
 
 And so it was. The turnpike system in some 
 parts of Ireland was, then at least, quite as ob- 
 noxious as in Wales a little later, with this dif- 
 ference, that what Rebecca denounced under the 
 genteeler name of toll-bars and gateSf Paddy is 
 quite content to anathematize under the easier and 
 handier name of "pikes I " 
 
 Mr. Ronayne had many capabilities to be a 
 useful member of parliament, had he entered it at 
 an earlier age, or had brought with him a moderate 
 de<xree of self-confidence. As it was, he made 
 tAvo or three exceedingly good speeches, and on 
 more than one occasion did the House good service, 
 by calling no less a person than Lord Stanley to 
 order. To a man of Ronayne's excitable tempera- 
 ment, the nonchalance of the noble lord, in loung- 
 ing nearly at full length along the Treasury bench, 
 putting his feet upon the table, and indulging in 
 other elegant Yankeeisms of various kinds during 
 
Mil. ronayne's muse. 243 
 
 tlie debates, was quite intolerable; and he i^rotested 
 against it with such energy, as to ensure at least 
 a temporary good behaviour on the part of the 
 offender. 
 
 No casual acquaintance would ever have sus- 
 pected ]Mr. Konayne of verse-making, and yet that 
 he was amenable to the charge, the following 
 specimens will show. They were trifles, with 
 Avhich he amused his occasional leisure hours 
 during his constant attendance in parliament 
 throughout the session, and were thrown off by 
 him witli singular ease and rapidity. I had 
 thought to have given some of his very strildng 
 poetical descriptions of Stanley, Sir Eobert Peel, 
 Sir James Graham, Lord John Russell, Lord Al- 
 thorp and others, but unfortunately have not been 
 able to make out the newspapers in which they 
 appeared at the time, and from which they were 
 never collected, although highly deserving of 
 separate publication. The following is all that 
 I have been able to rescue : — 
 
 " THE COALITION. 
 
 JM 2 
 
244: PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 THE COALITION. 
 
 [op WHIGS AND TORIES ON THE COERCION BILL ] 
 
 {From the Irish Monthly Magazine for March 1833, page 847.) 
 
 It is done, it is done, the strife is past, 
 
 And the struggle of years is over at last ; 
 
 The cup is drain'd and the dregs are gone, 
 
 And the Whig and the Tory all are one ] 
 
 Oh ! sure there must be some wondrous change — 
 
 Some bless'd Millennium near at hand. 
 When elements ever adverse and strange 
 
 Can mingle together so mild and bland. 
 
 " Or is it," said I, " that we've haply lit 
 On such times as are told in Holy Writ, 
 When the leopard and kid would blithely play, 
 And the wolf ask the lambkin out to tea] 
 Are we born to see such times as those. 
 When an end shall be put to wars and woes — 
 When earth shall become a minor heaven. 
 And church-rates and tithes be freely given; 
 When parsons shall look on pigs nor covet 
 
 To sweep the swine to their holy tether, — 
 And Biblicals think on ' the sod ' to love it. 
 
 And Pat and the ' jjolias ' * herd together"?" 
 
 So blithe were the broken tones that sped 
 Prom my joyful tongue, as I fondly read 
 How the Ayes and the Noes did meet of late, 
 And lacker each other in grand debate : 
 'Twas then that I felt beside mine ear, 
 The " little bird " of the poet peer ; 
 And thus it seemed to say or sing, 
 As it ruffled and plumed its tiny Aving : 
 " Are you, then, indeed of the doltisix race, 
 Who think from such scenes as these to trace, 
 
 * Hihernic^ for *' ■police." 
 
THE COALITION. 245 
 
 Through the threatening dim of the future's haze, 
 A promise of better or brighter days ] 
 Can you look for an hour of hope or glory, 
 
 An era of good to this blasted land. 
 From seeing the grasping heartless Tory 
 
 And hungry Whig go hand in hand 1 
 
 " Do times of rest and repose betide, 
 
 When the bear and the wolf range side by side,— 
 
 And sweep from the region of ice and enow, 
 
 To harry the peaceful vale below 1 
 
 Ah ! no — that sight is big with ill 
 
 To the hapless swain of the Alpine hill, 
 
 And heralds a scene of woe and blood. 
 
 That shall tinge with its hue the mountain flood. 
 
 'Tis thus with the prowling gang you hail ; 
 
 Like the wolf and bear arc yon mongrel clan ; 
 They have banded to hunt on a common trail. 
 
 For the selfsame prey — and that prey is IMan ! 
 
 " But never despond," — it ceased at this, 
 
 And its little breast swell'd with a song of bliss, 
 
 Like the martin that chaunts the dawn of spring. 
 
 As it flutters along on its golden wing ; 
 
 Yet, just ere the vision began to fail, 
 
 These words came faintly down the gale : — 
 
 " Let them flourish awhile with unwholesome growth ; 
 
 There's a spirit abroad that will crush them both." 
 
 The practice which is sometimes recommended 
 to young M.P.s of allying themselves Avitli one 
 particular subject, was pushed to great lengths 
 about this time in the Plouse of Commons. 
 Whichever of the subjects, enumerated at the 
 beginning of this chapter as having formed the 
 
246 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Staple of our discussions in '36 and '37, chanced to 
 turn up, there were certain individuals and sets of 
 individuals, who seemed to consider they had a 
 vested right in it, and immediately set about 
 vindicating it by long speeches. 
 
 Thus the affairs of Spain and the unfortunate 
 Spanish Legion seemed to be the ^' jack-snipe^ of 
 Messrs. Grove, Price, Fector, and Borthwick ; 
 while the tilting between Stockdale and Hansard 
 put us at the no-mere// of Sir Edward Sugden, 
 and four or five other very able and distinguished, 
 but most interminably prosing lawyers. A groan, 
 in which melancholy resignation contended with 
 despair, was sure to circle round the House when 
 Sir Edward was seen buckling on his armour to do 
 battle for the privileges of the sacred law of 
 libel, with the defenders of the privileges of the 
 House. 
 
 At a later period. Sir Edward Sugden was 
 appointed to the office of Lord Chancellor in 
 Ireland — having in the interim, of course, ceased 
 to be a Member of Parliament. 
 
 In this new position he showed himself to much 
 better advantage than in the former; and per- 
 formed its duties in a manner quite worthy of his 
 
SIR EDWARD SUGDEN. 247 
 
 high reputation a,s a lawyer. But he was " un- 
 congenial to the soili^ and the soil to him ; and 
 innumerable were the odd stories about him afloat 
 among the Dublin public, loith and icitJiout ^own-^ 
 dation. 
 
 For him was revived the story, I believe rightly 
 to be told of a countryman of his who had preceded 
 him by several years in the same high office, that 
 having expressed, in consultation with an Irisli 
 adviser, surprise, that in the case of a local insur- 
 rectionary movement, the posse comitatus of the 
 county where it occurred had not been called 
 out, he was astonished with the answer : 
 
 " Posse comitatus i''^ my Lord ; "why tlmfre out 
 already ! What we want is to get them home 
 again !^^ 
 
 It is reported exclusively of him, that he visited, 
 somewhat by surprise, a lunatic asylum in the 
 neighbourhood of Dublin, to satisfy himself as to 
 its condition. A hasty notification of the visit is 
 said to have got there just before his arrival, but 
 one a good deal coloured by the waggish propen- 
 sities of the sender (whoever he was) ; and the 
 head of the establishment chancino: to be absent, 
 the notification in all its colouring was accepted 
 
248 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 as truth, and so acted upon by tlie subordinate 
 officials. 
 
 In consequence. Sir Edward Is said to have 
 found himself rather unceremoniously treated, 
 while awaiting in the parlour the return of the 
 proprietor; and when his patience had become 
 exhausted, and that he signified his intention of 
 going over the establishment without further delay, 
 he was struck aghast by being informed by the 
 attendant that he could not be allowed to do it. 
 
 " Can't be allowed to do it ! What do you mean, 
 fellow?" asked the indignant Chancellor. 
 
 " I mean just what I say, then. Yom canH go, so 
 you may as well be quiet !" 
 
 " What do you mean by this insolence ? Open 
 the door, sir, and show me to my carriage. I shall 
 report your conduct, and if your master does not 
 punish you, I shall take steps to make both him 
 and you respect my authority." 
 
 " Oh ! be asy now with your authority. Keep 
 quiet, I tell you. Dixll a foot you'll stir out of 
 this till the Docthur comes back, and puts you 
 where you want to be sadly." 
 
 " What's the meaning of all this ? — Don't you 
 know who I am, fellow, or are you mad?" 
 
SIR EDWARD SUGDEN. 249 
 
 "Oh! faith, there's one of us mad, sure enough. 
 Troth, I know you very well, if that's all that's 
 troubling you !" 
 
 " You can't know me, or you wouldn't dare to 
 behave thus to me — I am the Lord Chancellor of 
 Ireland." 
 
 " Lord Chancellor ? — well, sure you're welcome 
 home to us — We have three or four Lord Chancellors 
 here already^ 
 
 And the story goes that Sir Edward Sugden had 
 to submit to the contrainte par corps, 
 
 " Patience, perforce, with wilful cholcr meeting," 
 
 until the return of the proprietor and manager of 
 the asylum, an liour or two later ; when with some 
 difficulty he established his identity and sanity, 
 and was once more a free man. 
 
 " I know not how the case may be, 
 I tell the tale as 'twas told to me !" 
 
 One of the least creditable acts of his Chancel- 
 lorship, was the having exerted the formidable in- 
 fluence of his office to crush an attempt then 
 being made to found a Law-Institute in Ireland ; 
 where young barristers and law-students might 
 get some better acquaintance with their profession 
 
 M 3 
 
250 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 than the present system of undirected individual 
 study can supply, even with the aid of the most 
 assiduous eating of the appointed legs of mutton at 
 the Irish and English Inns of Court. 
 
 The only assignable reason for this interference 
 with a most laudable and much needed enterprise, 
 to which some men of great eminence at the Irish 
 bar were about to devote themselves, and which 
 could not fail of being an improvement upon the 
 present almost burlesque system of legal educa- 
 tion in either country, was, that it might possibly 
 and remotely tend to the doing away with the 
 humiliating badge of inferiority to whicli students 
 for the Irish bar are compelled to submit, in 
 having to " attend terms" — that is to say, to eat 
 indifferent and high-priced dinners, at the Inns of 
 Court of England, as well as those of their own 
 country. 
 
 No imposition of the kind is attempted with 
 the students for the English bar. They are not 
 compelled to waste their time and money with 
 journeys to Dublin and residences there ; but can 
 " eat their icay to the laio^^ in the same place, 
 throughout all the requisite number of terms. 
 
 It was often suggested to my father to bring in 
 
MR. GROTE. 251 
 
 a measure to abrogate this unnecessary and In- 
 sulting infliction upon Irish law students. But 
 he always declined doing so ; partly, because the 
 obsequiousness of some of the law authorities in 
 Ireland would have arrayed them against the 
 proposal ; and partly that he considered that one 
 good resulted from the practice, inasmuch as the 
 young gentlemen of Ireland who were obliged to 
 come over to Ensfland under the reo:ulatlon in 
 question, had thus the opportunity of personal 
 knowledge and experience of the slighting and 
 contemptuous disposition there entertained to- 
 wards themselves and their country. 
 
 Reference to legs of mutton naturally recalls 
 me to " mes moutonSi^ in the unfinished list of the 
 special motions of the Parliament of 1835-1837. 
 
 Mr. Grote annually made an excellent speech 
 and took a division upon the Ballot question. 
 Mr. Grantley Berkeley made a similar annual 
 demonstration in favour of the very important 
 and interesting question of admitting the ladles 
 to be present at our deliberations. 
 
 To the shame of the House be it recorded, that 
 the ladies' champions were unsuccessful in each of 
 the three or four divisions taken as to their aduiis- 
 
252 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 sion. But, if rumour speak correctly, they have 
 in this, as in other points, been true to the tradi- 
 tions and rights of their sex, and have somehow 
 or other obtained admission in spite of all the 
 solemn votes, and still more solemn speeches, in 
 which their perpetual exclusion was decreed. 
 
 The Bill or Bills for the " Better Observance 
 (according to some parties in the House, the 
 hittej' observance) of the Sabbath day," brought 
 out Sir Andrew Agnew and Mr. Andrew John- 
 stone as punctually and as unmercifully to us, as 
 the Sj^anish question brought out Mr. Grove 
 Price, and the Privilege question Sir Edward 
 Sugden. 
 
 Sir Andrew was the target of many shafts, for 
 the exemptions which his measures reserved for 
 the Sabbath pleasures of the rich ; while they 
 came down with a heavy hand upon the scanty 
 enjoyments, and even common comforts of the 
 humbler classes. But no rebuff, no sarcasm, no 
 sharp commentary seemed to daunt or affect him, 
 till Mr. Ward, the present Secretary to the 
 Admiralty, brought against him the soft, but 
 undeniable impeachment, that he had been seen 
 travelling in a public coach himself; in one of 
 
MR. POULETT SCROPE. 253 
 
 those very vehicles, whose locomotion on Sundays 
 he had denounced as sinful, while entirely silent 
 as to private carriages; and, furthermore, that 
 when the coach stopped for dinner, he had 
 ordered a special beefsteak for himself; thus caus- 
 ing servile work to be done, in flagrant violation 
 of the spirit and teachings of his own legislative 
 essays. 
 
 The "great blunder" of Poor Laws for Ireland 
 had then, as they have had uninterruptedly since, 
 the indefatigable and honest, though sadly mis- 
 taken advocacy of Mr. Poulctt Scropc. Amongst 
 other coadjutors, he had ]Mr. llichards, M.P. for 
 Knaresborough ; a gentleman whose zeal was so 
 forward, that he generally was, to use a sea- 
 phrase, "brought up" by the table of the House 
 ere he had spoken twenty sentences. Beginning 
 at his i^lace on the floor of the House, he in- 
 sensibly advanced a couple of feet at every point 
 of his argument ; and despite all the coat'imlUngs 
 and whispered suggestions of other members, 
 (which in such cases are sure not to be attended 
 to, or to be misunderstood,) and even the re- 
 luctant w^arnings from the Chair, he inevitably 
 icorhed himself forward, either up to the table, or 
 
254 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 rio'lit across the House, accordiiio; to the direction 
 that the current of his remarks might happen to 
 take. 
 
 The remark has occurred before as to the love 
 of a little mischief that prevails in the House. 
 And certainly no set of school-boys ever more 
 enjoyed the perplexities of " a new hoy^'' than do 
 the members who are thoroughly broken in, and 
 accustomed to harness, and to the dull jog-trot 
 routine of the ordinary forms of the House, enjoy 
 the woeful perplexities of a " young member i"" as 
 neio members, even if they count their threescore 
 and ten of years, are always denominated. 
 
 At one time a new member will rise with 
 his hat on ; at another, he passes between the 
 person addressing the House and the Chair, 
 which is a high crime and misdemeanour; or 
 between the latter and the clerks' table — an 
 equally grave offence. Again, he interrupts irre- 
 gularly the member speaking ; or, as has happened 
 more than once with our warm-hearted Irish 
 recruits, he bursts beyond the limits of the cold 
 ^^ Hear, Hear,^^ of approbation, which is all Par- 
 liamentary canons allow for the expression of 
 identity of sentiment with the orator, and is 
 
PERPLEXITIES OF " YOUNG MEMBERS." 255 
 
 Carried away by his enthusiasm into a good, 
 honest, heart-spoken ^' Hurrah P^ 
 
 At all and each of these sJiocking transgressions 
 of propriety and form, a fierce volley of " Order ! 
 Order!" is fired off at the astonished offender; 
 Avhose look of ludicrous and helpless bewilderment 
 adds much to the zest of the scene. Not very well 
 comj^rehendlng the nature of his offence, and infi- 
 nitely more puzzled than assisted by the hurried 
 explanations of his officious neighbours, he slinks 
 down, with an awkward bow of apology and sub- 
 mission to the Speaker, into the nearest place that 
 he can screw himself into, in utter confusion or 
 in magnificent sullens, at the badgering to which 
 he has unwittingly subjected himself. 
 
 But the old members of the Plouse, who are 
 thus so active in observing the peccadilloes (or, 
 as Mr. Hume, by an unlucky slip of the tongue, 
 once pronounced it piccadillies,) of the new comers, 
 do not scruple upon occasion to be as disorderly, 
 or ten times as much so, as the rawest and most 
 inexperienced of the latter. When a tedious 
 debate is to be put an end to, an obnoxious or 
 drawling orator to be burkedi a division to be 
 hastened, that the sacred hour of dinner may not 
 
256 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 be too much trenched upon, a variety of noise and 
 disorder, higlily creditable to their ingenuity at 
 least, is sure to prevail, until the desired object 
 be perforce accomplished. Tlie diapason is rung 
 through all the changes of " Question, Question ! 
 Divide, Divide! Adjourn, Adjourn ! Bar, Bar!" 
 — the latter (which is invariably mistaken by the 
 uninitiated for Bah ! Bah !) being a kind of invi- 
 tation to the Speaker to add to the delays by in- 
 terfering: to order members standing^ at and below 
 the bar to " take their seats," — if they can ! 
 
 The unfortunate member speaking makes a 
 thousand fruitless, although, no doubt, (if they 
 could be heard,) eloquent and most moving appeals 
 for indulgence ; vows to all his gods that " he will 
 not detain the House one moment," — that he has 
 '^ but one or two remarks more to make," — that 
 really, " considering the great importance of the 
 subject, he did expect," — &c. &c. &c. 
 
 In vain ! — all in vain ! — for him there is no 
 mercy, no compassion, no consideration, no indul- 
 gence ! The inexorable disturbers will have their 
 way ! In vain even his last resort, the last — 
 
 " Fatal retreat of the unfortunate brave," 
 the menace that he will move the adjournment of 
 
ST. Stephen's chapel. 257 
 
 tlie debate ; or the actual making of the motion ! 
 In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred his reso- 
 lution Is not proof against the overwhelmino- 
 shouts of the indignant and intolerant host assail- 
 ing him, or the representations and appeals of 
 
 "^ good-natured friends^' beseeching, soliciting, 
 
 wheedling him, into a mollification of wrath, and 
 abandonment alike of speech and purpose. 
 
 The old House (St. Stephen's Chapel) was 
 much more favourable to the hurldng of a debate, 
 or an orator, by noise and interruption, than the 
 present. The recesses of the old gothic windows, 
 planked and wainscotted as they were in the 
 most approved style of those veritable darh ages 
 of England, the 17th and 18th centuries, aave 
 opportunities of concealment from the eye of 
 the most vigilant Speaker or Sergeant- at-arms; 
 whereas, in the present House there are no such 
 convenient lurking-places, and the guerilla war- 
 fare of interruptions and annoyances must be 
 carried on without cover, and exposed to the 
 heavy fire of the authorities. 
 
 It seems a consolation to French writers, con- 
 scious of the wildly exciting scenes that occur in 
 then- own Chamber, to remark upon the disturb- 
 
258 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ances which sometimes occur in the British 
 House of Commons. The author of a grave, 
 elaborate work of comparative statistics of Enghmd 
 and France, (le Chevalier F. de Tassies, in his 
 work on the subject just named, published in 
 1845,) has not thought it out of place to give a 
 narration of one of those occurrences in the 
 following fashion."^ 
 
 " On parle souvent de Findecence de certaines 
 seances a la Chambre des Deputes en France. 
 Les journaux Anglais de Juin, 1840, nous don- 
 nent des details qui surpassent de beaucoup tout 
 ce qu'il peut y avoir d'ctrangc dans les mccurs 
 parlementaires Fran^aises. 
 
 " VEclio Francals du 17 Juin, 1840, s'exprime 
 ainsi qui suit : — 
 
 Le Representatif de la Grande Bretagne est 
 en demence. La Chambre des Communes devrait 
 plutot tenir ses seances a Bedlam qu'a West- 
 minster. Plus de trois cents membres depuis dix 
 heures du soir, (les seances se tiennent habituelle- 
 ment le soir,) jusqu'a deux heures du matin, en 
 
 * "La France et I'Angleterre, ou statisque morale et physique 
 de la France comparee ^ celle de I'Angleterre. Par le Chevalier 
 F. de Tassibs. A^ersailles, 1845." 
 
A STORMY DEBATE. 259 
 
 reponse an discours crO'Connell, ont imite les 
 cris (111 cliieii and dii chat ; d'autres ont sifflts 
 avec leu7's cUs jusqud e(vtermination\}.\ 
 
 ^ -t ■?«• -^ * 
 
 On compte dans la Cliambre des Communes 
 cinq cents quinze membres presents. On vient 
 dc voter la revision des listes electorales \_Registry 
 of Voters' Bilf\, d'Irlande, presentee par les minis- 
 tres, et repoussee par 93 voix Le succes 
 est annonce par de bruyants applandissements. 
 Quelques membres jettent lews cJiapeaux en Vair, en 
 criantj Hourali ! Enfin le silence se retablit avec 
 peine, ct la parole est donnee a Lord Stanley, 
 Protestant zele. 
 
 " Je demande," dit-il, " que la Cliambre se 
 forme en comite, Lundi, pour cette mesure." 
 
 Loud John Russell, {Ministre.) — " J'insiste 
 pour que la deliberation soit renvoyee a Mercredi ; 
 faut-il, pour un projet de loi si conteste que le 
 present, sacrifier la discussion des lois dun 
 interct general. Je demande aussi que la Cbambre 
 vote sur ma proposition." 
 
 Monsieur O'Connell se leve au milieu d'une 
 agitation generale. 
 
 " Et moi," dit-il avec force, " au moment oil 
 
260 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 nous mettrons notre pied dans cette enceinte, je 
 demanderai que la Cliambre s'ajourne, et qu'il 
 n'y ait pas de Chambre. Je ferai cette motion une 
 fois, dix fois ; j'userai votre temps, selon mon droit, 
 a vous faire voter, afin d'empecher que ce bill 
 [Lord Stanley'.s counter-project of a Registry Bill,] 
 ne soit adopte ! " 
 
 Un inexprimable tumulte accueille ces paroles. 
 Les Whigs applaudissent avec ferveur. Les 
 Tories poussent d'afFreux grognemens. 
 
 M. O'CoNNELL. — " J'ai une raison decisive qui 
 justifie ma conduite. Ce bill foule aux pieds le 
 peuple d'Irlande." (Nouvelle explosion de mur- 
 mures, les membres de I'opposition addressent a 
 M. O'Connell les injures les plus grossicres ; 
 d'autres font entendre des oris sauvages ; enfin 
 des sifflets incessants ne lui permettent plus de 
 continuer.) 
 
 M. O'Connell, (faisant un violent effort de pou- 
 mons, and dominant le tumulte). — " Je repete que 
 ce bill foule aux pieds le peuple d'Irlande !" (Nou- 
 veau tumulte ; les membres places prcs la barrc 
 imitent les cris de plusieurs animaux ; Fun grogne 
 comme de coclion — I'autre miaule comme le chat 
 — un autre fait le chant du coq — on distingue sur ■ 
 
A STORMY DEBATE. 261 
 
 tout im horrible beuglement de taiireau qui se 
 prolonge long- temps.) 
 
 M. O'CoNNELL, avec une energie croissante — 
 
 "Oui! quand ces beuglements de la bestialite 
 [beastly bellowings, Hansard,^ seraient dix fois 
 plus forts encore, je declare que mon devoir me 
 commande d'empcclier la discussion, et je rem- 
 plirai mon devoir ! " 
 
 Ces paroles sont suivis d'un tel desordre, qu'au- 
 cune expression ne saurait le peindre. 
 
 Sir Stratford Canning saisit une seconde de 
 silence pour engager le President a sommer 
 riionorable membre a retracter ses paroles, et 
 surtout Texpression "bestialite." A peine ces 
 paroles sont prononcces, que pendant plimeu7's 
 heures [!I] plus de cinq cents membres orient de 
 toutes leurs forces — " // le fera ! il ne le fera pas ! 
 a I'ordre ! a I'ordre ! a la porte 0' Connell I " le tout 
 accompagno des imitations zoologiques le plus 
 etranges et les plus afFreuses ! C'ctaient les oris 
 de deux armees de sauvages en presence. 
 
 Le President. — " Si I'expression ' bestialite ' 
 a ecliappe a I'orateur par inadvertence, il en con- 
 viendra lui-meme devant I'asserablee." 
 
 Pro fond silence. M. 'Connell se leve. 
 
262 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " Le mot dont je me suis servi, c'est heugUment.''^ 
 
 Les Tories, avec force — " Vouz avez ajoute hes- 
 tialite I " 
 
 M. 0'CoNNELL(avec iin geste cle mepris). — " Oh, 
 etranges logicieiis ! est-ce qu'un beuglement n'ap- 
 partient pas a la bete ! Je le repete, je me retracte 
 rien!" 
 
 Les Whigs ont des convulsions d'un rire bruyant 
 et fou: les Tories sifflent, trepignent, imitent 
 les cris sauvages des animaux. Eniin, Monsieur 
 O'Oonnell, s'addressant au President, dit : 
 
 " J'aurais invoque votre autorite. Monsieur, 
 mais je voulais poursuivre ma discussion, lors- 
 qu'une premiere explosion indecente m'a coupe la 
 parole. Vous n'ctes pas inter venu. Une seconde 
 interruption arrive ; and vous n^intervenez pas 
 davanta^e. Une troisieme enfin, and c'est alors 
 que je me suis protege moi-meme ; puisque vous ne 
 me protegez pas. {^Jpplaudissements frenetiques.) 
 
 " A peine avais-je parle, que Sir Stratford Can- 
 ning s'est epris tout-a-coup d'un violent amour de 
 Fordre. Get amour avait doucement sommeille 
 pendant rinfernal tapage. . . Que I'lionorable mem- 
 bre me rappelle encore a I'ordre. J'ai dit et je 
 repete que le Bill de Lord Stanley part d'une in- 
 
A STORMY DEBATE. 263 
 
 tention perfide, et que c'est la destruction du 
 Bill de Keforme Irlandais, et de FE mancipation 
 des Catholiques. Lord Stanley est un vieil ennemi 
 de rirlande (avec un geste de menace); et 
 rirlande lui rend bien sa liaine !" 
 
 Sir Stratford Canning. — "L'honorable mem- 
 bre de Dublin a le droit de critiquer la mesure : 
 mais il doit s'interdire toute remarque sur les in- 
 tentions." 
 
 M. O'CoNNELL, (avec vivacite.) — " Qu'ai-je 
 avance ? Que le Bill etait tyrannique et des- 
 potique ? — Je le maintiens. Que le noble Lord 
 (Stanley) etait un profond ennemi du Catlio- 
 licisjne et de I'L'lande, et qu'il est lieureux de 
 voir aujourd'hui ce corps abattu, and de pouvoir 
 pietiner sur lui ? — Je le maintiens 1 
 
 " Ce qui me reste a faire, c'est d'user de tons 
 les privileges que la constitution, et les regle- 
 mens me donnent, pour embarasser et briser la 
 marche du Bill, je le ferai !" 
 
 Les membres Irlandais s'ecrient tons : " Nous 
 vous soutiendrons !" 
 
 Lord John Russell. — " Ce desordre affli^eant 
 dolt enfin cesser ; et je ne crois pas la cliambre 
 en etat de continuer a deliberer." 
 
264 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Sir Benjamin HalLj (Merabre de Mary-le-bone, 
 quartier oii les radicaux dominent). — " Je declare 
 que je refuse de m'associer a toute opposition fac- 
 tieuse centre un projet de loi, par la seule raison 
 qu'il emane du cote des Tories T (Applaudissements 
 a tout rompre du cote des Tories^ etonnement 
 extreme du cote des Whigs.) 
 
 M. O'CoNNELL. — " Quelles etranges paroles 
 que celles-la. Mon honorable ami ne vient-il pas 
 insinuer que mon opposition est factieuse ? Oh, 
 tracassiers a bonnes intentions ! I'hesitation de 
 votre esprit est toujours dans la couardise de Yotre 
 caractere I S'il y a quelque chose de factieux ici, 
 c'est le Bill lui-meme !" 
 
 SirB. Hall. — "Jene comprendspaslalangage 
 de mon savant ami, (rires bruyants.) Tout ce 
 que j'ai a dire, c'est que si je vois un membre re- 
 clamer ajournement sur ajournement, je crois 
 a une opposition factieuse." (^Applaudissements 
 forcenes.) 
 
 M. O'CoNNELL. — " Je vous felicite, membre de 
 Mary-le-bone, des bravos que vous recueillez ! lis 
 doivent vous etre d'autant plus chers, que vous en 
 avez pen I'habitude. — Je vous felicite aussi de 
 votre modestie. Quoi, vous ne me comprenez pas ? 
 
A STORMY DEBATE. 265 
 
 Je n'avais pas cette klee-la de votre intelligence. 
 Mais, vous m'alarmez pour la mienne, car je vous 
 comprends bien, moi. AUez reposer votre corps 
 et vos esprits, et reflechissez murement que si 
 vous entendez de moi de dures paroles, vous les 
 avez meritees, et vous prendrez la resolution de 
 ne les plus meriter desormais." 
 
 Apres ce dernier discours, un grand nombre de 
 membres places pres de la porte, et tout a fait 
 extenues de fatigue, ont fait un dernier effort 
 pour rire, crier et siffler ; et sont sortis en criant, 
 '* Ajournez, ajournez !" 
 
 " Enfin la seance est levee a une lieure fort 
 avancee de la nuit." — (Pp. 117 — 119.) 
 
 The foregoing description by a foreigner, of a 
 scene not by any means uncommon, (as those who 
 were in Parliament during the " ten years^ war '' 
 of Whig and Tory after the Reform Bill can 
 w^ell testify,) at the period, and for some years 
 previously and later, I have preferred to insert, 
 rather than jot down my own reminiscences of it. 
 He cannot be accused of bias either way; as I 
 might be. 
 
 He has omitted to record that the Speaker, on 
 being appealed to by both parties in the conflict, 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
266 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 gave the excellent and becoming decision, that the 
 expression " beastly belloivingsj''' {heuglements de 
 la hestialite, as rendered by le Chevalier de Tas- 
 sics,) was certainly out of order; but not more 
 so than the interruptions that called it forth." 
 The Chevalier thus concludes his narrative : — 
 " Que penser d'une pareille conduite, tenue par 
 plus de cinq cents membres de parlement, Felite 
 de la societe Anglaise? Au lieu d'une reunion 
 de gentlemen, n'est-ce pas plutot, en apparence, 
 la reunion desordonnee d'un Club? Comment 
 expliquer des demonstrations aussi sauvages, si 
 en opposition avec la mesure parfaite dans les 
 convenances des membres de I'aristocratie An- 
 glaise ? Cette enigme serait insoluble si on ne 
 reflcchissalt qu'une passion violente agitait les 
 cceurs : la haine profonde du Protestantisme contre 
 le Catholicisme !" 
 
CHAPTErv XL 
 
 LORD ASHLET. — LORD DDDLET COCTTS STUART. — LORD STANLEY. — MR. 
 
 BROTHERTON. A RBFORiM DINNER. " A BOTTLE OP PORT FOR THE 
 
 TURKISH AMBASSADOR." — OPPOSITION AMONGST IRISH MEMBERS. 
 
 THE RAILWAYS, A PARTY QUESTION. — MR. DRUMMOND. — LORD NOR- 
 MANDY. — IRISH RAILWAYS. — DUBLIN AND KINGSTOWN RAILWAY. 
 
 HER majesty's ACCESSION. — NEW PARLIAMEi*T. — INCREASING WEAK- 
 NESS OF TUB WHIG MINISTRY, — VISIT TO PARIS. — JOSEPH HUME. 
 
 Reverting again, after every episode, to tlie list 
 of special subjects specially taken up by particular 
 members of Parliament, it may be closed, in so 
 far as regards the j^ears I have been last speaking 
 of, with the following items and names : — 
 
 Factories Bill — Lord Ashley. 
 
 Polish llefugees — Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart. 
 
 Ireland and her franchises — Lord Stanley, 
 and — most appropriate for a conclusion — 
 
 The Adjournment — Mr. Brotherton. 
 
 A set discussion of the merits and details of any 
 of tliese subjects is foreign to the design of these 
 
 N 2 
 
268 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 rougli notes of Experiences, parliamentary and 
 political. 
 
 The last-mentioned subject would need little 
 discussion to recommend it, at least to the majority 
 of the House of Commons. The worthy and 
 excellent Mr. Brotherton has often been met with 
 cries of " Oh, oh ! " and other discouragements, 
 when rising', as he has done with such persevering 
 constancy, at twelve o'clock, or as soon after it as 
 he can catch the Speaker's eye, to move the 
 suspension of business, and the dismissal of the 
 wearied members to their homes. But those cries 
 have come from officials in possession, or ex- 
 pectant, who valued their own convenience in 
 preference to that of the great bulk of the House ; 
 and they have been supported in their opposition 
 by the many who';pin their faith on the sleeve of 
 the leading men at either side, and swallow their 
 dicta with implicit confidence in small things, as 
 Avell as in greater. 
 
 Alas ! that I shoukl have to write a postscript 
 to my laudation of Mr. Brotherton ! Since the 
 preceding paragraph was written, a session has 
 rolled away ; and hurried as I am by the printer's 
 devil, it is absolutely necessary, in the interests of 
 
MR. BROTHERTON. 2G9 
 
 truth and justice, to make nearly a wholesale 
 retractation. Mr. Brotherton's Spartan virtue hath 
 departed from him ! He is himself no more I One 
 appealing glance from the Treasury Bench, one 
 sweet soft word from ministerial lips, and the Cato 
 of Salford has yielded, and the adjournment has 
 not heen moved, while Mr. Brotherton himself 
 has I 
 
 " Old times are changed — old manners gone, 
 And Ministers have Brotherfo?i///" 
 
 There is no argument against the common-sense 
 proposal of changing the sittings from night to 
 day, to be deduced from the small advantage that 
 has appeared to result from the experiments 
 hitherto made of casual day-meetings. The very 
 circumstance that those meetings have been casual 
 and extraordinary, has militated against them, 
 causing difficulties and contrarieties with regard 
 to the proceedings of important Committees, and 
 putting men out of their way. 
 
 If the practice were regular and constant, 
 members would speedily make up their minds and 
 accommodate their habits to it. And even as it is, 
 there is no denying that one advantage results, 
 and of no common order, in the greater concise- 
 
270 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ness and brevity of the speeches delivered at 
 morning sittings, compared to those which are 
 inflicted upon us late in the evening. 
 
 All knowledge comes from experience, and 
 experience must be bought. The House pur- 
 chased it as to day-sittings, at the cost of many 
 weary hours utterly thrown away in 1833 and 
 part of 1834. It was thought that a great saving 
 of time would be made, by meeting at twelve in 
 the day for the presentation of petitions, and for 
 the discussion of them — a practice then permitted. 
 The consequence was, that every unfledged mem- 
 ber, whose love of hearing his own voice was 
 overborne by his mauvaise honte in the full assembly 
 at night, caught eagerly the opportunities given 
 him in the thinly attended sittings of the morning, 
 and inflicted hours of his empty tediousness upon 
 the unhappy Speaker, and those whom any business 
 compelled to be present. In flict, the early sittings 
 came to be mere debating schools, without 
 advancement of the real business of the ses- 
 sion in any Avay, or public profit in the smallest 
 degree. * 
 
 A very wise rule now precludes speeches (and 
 of course delates^ on the mere presentation of 
 
LORD DUDLEY COUTTS STUART. 271 
 
 petitions, save in very special cases, with special 
 notice given. And morning sittings — of which 
 there were more last session than ever before — 
 are devoted to real business quite as much as 
 those in the evening. 
 
 And there does appear to be a distant hope that 
 they will come to be the rule, instead of, as they 
 still are, the exception. When that desirable con- 
 summation is effected, Mr. Brotherton's midnight 
 occupation will be gone. 
 
 The perseverance of Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart 
 in his advocacy of the case of the unfortunate 
 refugee Poles, is deserving of all praise. It may 
 be true that his benevolence may have been prac- 
 tised upon at various times, and to a greater or 
 less degree, but that of course in no way detracts 
 from his merit. Such a circumstance rather gives 
 him a new claim to respect, inasmuch as so few 
 have the courage to persevere in charitable acts 
 where they have once found their confidence 
 abused. 
 
 At a Reform Dinner — I believe given by us of 
 the Liberal side of the Plouse to Lord John Hus- 
 sell, in the Freemasons' Tavern, early in 1836 or 
 1837, the noble advocate of the Poles gallantly 
 
272 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 and singularly displayed his perseverance in the 
 cause to which he has devoted himself. We had 
 all eaten, drunk, speechified, and shouted our fill, 
 when, just as we were breaking up — the excite- 
 ment of the evening burnt down as low as the 
 flickering candles, and every man more intent 
 on the dubious question of finding his own or any 
 hat to go home in , than upon any of the political 
 topics he had cheered to the echo half an hour 
 before — a voice broke out of the dense crowd of 
 departing members, with an earnest remonstrance 
 to us : — 
 
 " Oh, gentlemen ! one word for Poland !" 
 And, accordingly, we had not only one, but 
 many words for Poland, while we stood in disarray 
 around, hat in hand : 
 
 "And often took leave, but -were loth to depart !" 
 
 At this dinner there was, according to the 
 curious custom of English public dinners, a lusty- 
 voiced, red-faced, white-waistcoated waiter, sta- 
 tioned behind the Chairman to repeat the toasts, 
 as announced by the latter; and this duty he 
 performed with powerful lungs and great em- 
 phasis, if not due discretion. 
 
LORD STANLEY. 273 
 
 *' A thorough Reform of the Irish Church ! " 
 said the chairman. 
 
 " Gentlemen, please to charge your glasses — arc 
 you full? — A thorough i^^^-form of the Ilirish 
 Church r &c. &c. 
 
 It was of this worthy or one of his fellows that 
 the story went at the time, that at a City dinner, 
 where the Foreign Ministers were complimented, 
 he rendered the toast of — 
 
 " The Ottoman Porte and the Turkish Ambas- 
 sador!" 
 
 in a manner that somewhat astonished the wine- 
 abhorring Moslemin, viz. — 
 
 "J. bottle of Port f 07' the Turkish Ambassador'. " 
 
 Lord Stanley, when mounted on his hobby- 
 horse, to run a-tilt (or rather a-mucJc) against 
 Ireland, gave us some of the most excited and 
 angry scenes then, or at any time, to be wit- 
 nessed. 
 
 Wherever Ireland was concerned, he indeed 
 showed himself — 
 
 " Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer ! " 
 N 3 
 
274 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 and, to confess the truth, there was no want of a 
 corresponding spirit on the part of the Irish popu- 
 lar members in meeting him. But he had the 
 advantage of the then united, well-disciplined, and 
 powerful host of the Tory or " Conservative " 
 members, shouting as if life depended on it at 
 every point that he made ; while his Irish respon- 
 dents had but the uncertain and scattered " Hear, 
 hear !" of a portion of their own party ; with now 
 and then a faint cheer from their English friends, 
 not unlike Dickens' description of those which 
 greeted Squeers on his return to Dotheboys Hall, 
 namely, "sighs of extra strength, with the chill on ! " 
 To an Irishman there was something very 
 melancholy, to an Englishman (or, at least, to an 
 Englishman of the common stamp,) something 
 very amusing, in these hot debates about Ireland. 
 Not an assertion Avas dropped by an Irish member 
 on one side, but it was immediately contradicted 
 upon the other. Not a violent expression, or 
 gesture, but had its counterpart, witli interest. 
 And while we Irishmen fought, and blackened 
 each other, and rose higher and higher towards 
 hoilliig point, the English members looked on as 
 the Spartans of old at the riotings of their Helots, 
 
OPPOSITION AMONGST IRISH MEMBERS. 275 
 
 and asked each other, with looks of pitying con- 
 tempt, " Is it not well for such men as these to 
 have us to take care of them?" 
 
 Something similar occurs at this day; though 
 not to the degree that it did during the " ten 
 years' war." The division and mutual opposition 
 among Irish representatives is, indeed, as great, 
 although the parliamentary quarrels are not so 
 violent. It is an unworthy and a hollow triumph 
 that England has in our divisions: unworthy, 
 because based upon the principle that the best 
 means of maintaining English supremacy is by 
 encouraging and fomenting bitterness, hate, and 
 strife, amongst us ; hollow, because it is not in 
 the nature of things that this mode of ruling us 
 should endure. 
 
 Sooner or later, (in such times of European 
 convulsion and Irish general destitution as the 
 present, it may be 'cei^y soon,) the madness of our 
 intestine divisions will be acknowledged b}^ us all, 
 and their sole and certain result of leaving us 
 more and more at the mercy of England, will be 
 universally seen and declared. The necessity of 
 union amongst ourselves, even on the narrowest 
 basis of self-interest, will come to be avowed as 
 
276 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 openly, as it is clearly and indisputably recognised 
 already. And then will cease the pitiable spec- 
 tacle Ave now present to the world, of a repre- 
 sentation divided against itself, and thereby 
 neutralising each other's efforts to discharge 
 properly the high trusts committed to us, and 
 advance the interests of our common country. 
 May this soon he I 
 
 Of all subjects to be made a question of party, 
 that o-f Railways would appear the strangest ! and 
 yet, a party question it was made, and a violent 
 party question also, about the period I am writing 
 of. 
 
 The occasion was the proposition by the Whig 
 Government, of a large, general plan for the con- 
 struction and establishment of Railways in Ire- 
 land. It originated with the late Mr. Drummond_, 
 of Avhose abilities and labours it would indeed be 
 a work of supererogation to speak in praise. 
 
 It is well known that the labour which he 
 voluntarily undertook, in preparing the way for 
 this abortive proposition of the hampered and 
 badgered Government to which he belonged, had a 
 very great part in shortening his valuable life. 
 
 In general there are no two ideas more incoii- 
 
MR. DRUMMOND. 277 
 
 gruous than those of au active and trusted official 
 in Dublin Castle, of the English Government, 
 and a friend to Ireland and her people. 
 
 Mr. Drummond was that vara avis. He did 
 love Ireland and her people. He really entered 
 Into their feelings. There are in the public 
 documents lie so laboriously, elaborately, and 
 painfully drew up, expressions which jar a little 
 with the sentiments which some of us extravagant 
 Repealers and Irishmen entertain as to our country 
 and our countrymen. There are also statements 
 as to the material condition of Ireland, which are 
 utterly and wildly inconsistent with what we 
 knew and know to have been the facts at the 
 time ; and also predictions as to the then future, 
 which, that future being now onr past, all parties 
 must acknowledge it to have failed in realisino-. 
 
 But allowing for all these drawbacks— and they 
 are wonderfully small in comparison with the real 
 value, and established facts, of his Keport ; as well 
 as in comparison with the enormous lying of pre- 
 vious and subsequent Secretaries,— -there is a 
 manly, a generous, and really a devoted spirit per- 
 vading the Report, which must recommend him 
 to the heart of every Irish reader. 
 
278 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 In paying a just, though small tribute to the 
 memory of this lamented "gentleman, at least an 
 equal justice should be rendered to the nobleman 
 under whom he acted, the Marquis of Normanby, 
 then Lord-lieutenant of Ireland. 
 
 Other noblemen have gone to fill that important 
 office with intentions, probably, quite as pure and 
 good as those of Lord Normanby. Tliat they 
 were few in number, is, vinhappily, certain; but 
 that such there were, although few and far be- 
 tween, in the long and dark array of hostile 
 governors, is equally indisputable. 
 
 But it may be confidently affirmed, that no 
 other occupant of the office, ever since its first 
 institution, so well, so consistently, and so perse- 
 veringly carried out those good intentions as Lord 
 Normanby. He exposed himself thereby to a 
 thousand calumnies, and a thousand petty, but 
 audacious insults from the Orange-Tory party in 
 Ireland ; and to sneers, coldnesses, and assaults of 
 all kinds, even from men of his own party, as well 
 as from opponents, in Great Britain. 
 
 It has been said of the Irish, that the misgovern- 
 ment and ill-treatment of every description to 
 which they have for centuries been subjected, has 
 
LORD NORMANBY. 279 
 
 Inveterately implanted suspicion and distrust in 
 their natures. Whether it be a corresponding 
 effect upon their rulers, or merely another proof 
 that, 
 
 " They never pardon, who have done the wrong," 
 
 certain it is that English governors of Ireland 
 have generally gone over there, and acted while 
 there, with a strong distrust of the people. 
 
 Such was not the case with Lord Normanby. 
 He threw himself on the Irish people with a gene- 
 rosity of confidence to which they were not slow 
 in making response. He entered into their feel- 
 ings, he proved to them'his sympathies, he listened 
 kindly and patiently to all their complaints, and to 
 the very utmost extent that the scant power of 
 a Lord-lieutenant to act of himself, and by him- 
 self, permitted, he gave redress, relief, and justice. 
 
 For the first time for many, many years, the 
 Irish people during his vice-royalty began to 
 entertain confidence in the administration of the 
 law — that confidence, without which it is vain 
 and idle to expect that there will be respect and 
 veneration for the law. They saw ' their petty 
 local oppressors checked and reproved, the minor 
 
280 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 officials of the Government compelled to give 
 them protection and do them justice^ instead of 
 aiding and abetting in the small tyrannies attempted 
 upon them ; and, what they relished best of all, 
 a spirit of impartiality and thorough fairness per- 
 vading and marking the distribution of favours 
 and advantages, repressions and punishments. 
 
 '' There is no people on the earth," said Sir 
 John Davies, Attorney-General in Ireland, to 
 King James the First, " icho do so love equal and 
 impartial justice, as the Irish, even when it be 
 executed against themselves / " 
 
 To the Marquis of Normanby the people of 
 Ireland still look with that warmth of affectionate 
 confidence that they ever show to those who take 
 the trouble to earn it : no p^eat trouble ; as the 
 evidence of sincere good-will is accepted by them 
 readily, where the power to do much in proof of 
 that good-will is wanting. They are persuaded 
 that if he held office in England, the policy of the 
 Whig Government towards them and their unfor- 
 tunate country would be of a very different 
 character from that with which they have been 
 afflicted during the last two years; and that an 
 attempt, at least, would be made to redeem some 
 
IRISH RAILWAYS. 281 
 
 of the promises and pledges which were so pro- 
 fusely made in opposition. 
 
 In short, that something of the same vspirit tliat 
 Avas sliown towards Ireland when he had influence 
 in the councils of the Whig Government before, 
 would again be manifested ; and the faineance or 
 liostiUty which have alternately prevailed since 
 the AYliigs recovered power, or had it put into their 
 hands a^aiiif in 1846, would give way to kindness, 
 earnestness, and justice. 
 
 The general plan of railways for Ireland, which 
 has been mentioned as originating with the esti- 
 mable and truly able Under-Secretary, Mr. Drum- 
 mond, in 1836-37, was very bitterlj^, and indeed 
 inveterately assailed upon its introduction to the 
 House, not on its own indisputable merits, but on 
 the merits, or demerits, of the Ministrv who sane- 
 tioned, and the parties who supported and advo- 
 cated it. 
 
 Amongst the most forward of its assailants were 
 Irish members : according to the almost fatality - 
 with which poor Ireland is cursed, of ever finding 
 her worst enemies among her own children. Wit- 
 nessing the vehemence with which they resisted 
 it, one would have supposed that railways were 
 
282 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 tlie facilis descensus of poitery, slavery^ and ivooden 
 shoes, against which the Orange shibboleth of *' the 
 glorious, pious, and immortal memory" protesteth, 
 in good set terms, and specifically as regards all the 
 items just mentioned ! 
 
 England might have escaped much of the terri- 
 ble mischiefs of the years 1845-46, in their " spe- 
 culation 7nm m«c7," had the experiment been made 
 which was proposed by the Whig Government in 
 1837. Something like just ideas would have been 
 arrived at, by, if not before, the year 1845, of the 
 probable cost and returns of a railway; and i?ii'alu- 
 able experience as to the making and working, in all 
 their small and multitudinous, but very important 
 details, would certainly have been available. 
 
 Improvements in engines, &c. such as have now 
 been attained only after most costly experiments 
 by private parties, would doubtless have been 
 earlier and cheaper attained. And not the least 
 important matter would have been the saving of 
 a large portion of the enormous sums lavished in 
 contests between rival companies, wdio would 
 never have incurred such wild expenses, could 
 they have tested their golden visions by the prac- 
 tical experience of the Irish railways. 
 
DUBLIN AND KINGSTOWN RAILWAY. 283 
 
 The returns to the State could not have failed of 
 being productive, at least to a fully compensating 
 extent. The plant of the railway once existing, 
 abundance of private companies would have been 
 found to take it up on lease, if the Government 
 chose to let the management out of their own hands. 
 
 In the case of the Dublin and Kingstown 
 Railway, a year or two before the date of the 
 Government general plan for Irish railways, a not 
 inapt instance was given of how little the working 
 of railways was understood in those times. The 
 Bill in this case was, after a long and hard conflict, 
 carried only by reason of tlic conviction at length 
 established in the minds of the Committee, that 
 the railway icould pay by the facilities it would 
 give for the carriage of coals up to Dublin, and 
 thus cover even the losses by the cost of the pas- 
 senger traffic ! 
 
 The railroad in question is now made and in 
 operation eleven or twelve years; its shares are, 
 and have been for a long time, at a very consider- 
 able premium; and while it counts it^ passengers hj 
 the million, the coal bags have been only what 
 have supplied its engines on their multitudinous 
 journeys throughout the day. 
 
284 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " Tlie excellent public officer of this worthy and 
 deservedly prospering company gave the most 
 succinct and sufficient answer which was received 
 by the authorities of the Board of Trade, when 
 after the horrible catastrophe that occurred in 
 May 1840, on the Versailles '' Left Bank" Rail- 
 road, queries were officially distributed to the 
 various Railway Companies of the United King- 
 dom, to ascertain if the practice of locking the 
 doors of the carriages, which caused so fearful an 
 aggravation of the horrors of that catastrophe, 
 was enforced by them. 
 
 " The doors of the carriages of this company," 
 said the answer of the Dublin and Kingstown 
 Railway official, "^ are ^?e^^r locked; and o?^^ reason 
 is, that there are no lochs to them /" 
 
 After such a reason it will be allowed, as in the 
 old story of the eighteen reasons for not firing a 
 salute, that there was no necessity to go further 
 with the explanation. 
 
 The elections of 1837, on the dissolution of 
 Parliament caused by the death of AYilliam the 
 Fourth in that year, and the accession of her 
 present Most Gracious Majesty, went off much 
 quieter than those at the previous general election, 
 
HER majesty's accession. 285 
 
 that of 1835. They were not, however, without a 
 very liberal allowance of heat, bitterness, bribery, 
 and corruption of their own. 
 
 The Queen Dowager — or, as at one of those 
 elections in Ireland a fervid orator denominated 
 her, the Queen Doicagger — had her name dragged 
 into the contest by a portion of the Conservative 
 party, with more zeal for " a good crif than 
 respect for her feelings and position. 
 
 We were all half mad with joy in unfortunate 
 Ireland at her Majesty's accession. That William 
 the Fourth had, during his latter years, exchanged 
 his indifference towards Ireland for a more active, 
 but not a more favouring disposition, was a fact 
 which, as well as its unfortunate cause, was well 
 known to us ; and to it we attributed as much of 
 the delays and imperfections of the policy towards 
 Ireland as were not openly and manifestly caused 
 by the embittered and vindictive feeling against 
 our country, which prevailed at that time among 
 the English public. 
 
 We confidently expected that the new reign 
 would be a new era to us, and that the Whig 
 Ministry, released from the serious impediment 
 and restraint of royal displeasiu'e, would have 
 
286 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 been able to realize some of the fiiir promises 
 made in 1834, wlien the Repeal Question was in 
 debate. But their majority was too fast wearing 
 away, and their unpopularity with the English 
 people — who, as Poulett Thompson afterwards 
 said, " did not care a rush for Irish hohhy-horses^ 
 i. e. for measures of justice and kindness to Ire- 
 land — was too fast increasing, to give them any 
 real increase of liberty of action ; and so we were 
 disappointed. 
 
 In that disappointment, however, Ireland has 
 always recognised that her Sovereign had no share ; 
 and throughout all the vicissitudes that have since 
 occurred, and all the additional misfortunes heaped 
 upon the unhappy Irish people, through the con- 
 tinuance of misgovernment, whether by Conver- 
 vative or Whig, they have ever looked towards the 
 Throne with confiding aiFection and undiminished 
 trust : happy in the belief that its illustrious 
 occupant desires their welfare and happiness, 
 while deprived by the Constitution of the power 
 herself to advance it, and to restrain and correct 
 the ill-treatment they have received at the hands 
 of the " tyrant majority" of their English fellow- 
 subjects. 
 
WEAKNESS OF THE WHIGS. 287 
 
 "Spare, oh spare, my English subjects I" was 
 the cry of one of her predecessors, James the 
 Second, when, at an early period of the battle of 
 the Boyne, the Irish army seemed to be prevail- 
 ing, and to be carrying death into the ranks of 
 King William. 
 
 " Spare, oh spare, my Irish subjects !" those 
 Irish subjects have often thought that her Majesty 
 has exclaimed, when some fresh outburst of dis- 
 graceful bigotry, political and religious, excited in 
 Great Britain for party purposes, threatened more 
 than ordinarily our scant measure of remaining 
 liberties and rights. 
 
 Throughout the limited duration of the new 
 Parliament of 1837, viz. from August in that year 
 till Jiine 1841, the Whig Ministry may be said to 
 have been in their agony — dying by inches. 
 
 Their majorities slowly, but steadily frittered 
 away, — 
 
 " One by one, and two by two," 
 
 and the exultations and outrecuidance of their oppo- 
 nents proportionably, or perhaps over -proportion- 
 ably increased. 
 
 Upon the question of suspending for a time the 
 political privileges of the refractory planters of 
 
288 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Jamaica, the ministry were out for a short 
 time in 1839, in consequence of a defeat in the 
 Commons. The whole circumstances connected 
 with that occurrence, and the manner of their re- 
 storation to office, are too well known to require 
 recapitulation here. 
 
 Having to bring over my family from Paris, I 
 availed myself of the interval of parliamentary 
 inaction, which usually marks and accompanies a 
 ministerial interregnum, to go to that city. And 
 the journey was not without adventure. 
 
 The Calais steamer, in which I took passage the 
 morning after the resignation of the Whigs, left 
 London Bridge about 9 a.m., and made a slow 
 and wearisome passage down the river. The day 
 was cloudy, and there was a strong breeze from 
 the northward of east, which by the time we 
 were off Margate had increased to a heavy gale, 
 drawing at the same time more to the northward, 
 so as to make Calais nearly a dead lee shore. The 
 skipper prudently got the vessel's head round ; 
 and running back some distance, came to an anchor 
 for the night at the back of Margate sands. 
 
 It was quite evident that he and his crew did 
 not like our position ; for there seemed a certain 
 
PASSAGE TO CALAIS. 289 
 
 confusion and nervousness about tliem, and a 
 trifling incident gave what I thought a strong 
 proof of this. An unfortunate spaniel with her 
 pups was stowed in one of the quarter boats, under 
 a piece of canvass ; and as evening drew in, cold, 
 Avet, and stormy, I, who happened to be alone on 
 the quarter-deck at the moment, called to a sailor 
 in the waist to suggest that the Avhining and 
 starvinoj animals should be removed to some more 
 comfortable position. 
 
 " Is this a time," said he to me, fiercely enough, 
 " to be thinking about dogs, when we don't know 
 if we shall save our own lives ?" 
 
 With this pleasant and comforting response 
 I descended to the cabin, where, after recom- 
 mending the poor family in the quarter-boat to 
 the tender mercies of the steward, the best thing 
 to be done was to " turn in^'' and try to sleep 
 away the time. 
 
 Next morning it blew harder than before ; and 
 throughout that long day Ave remained at anchor, 
 riding tolerably quietly from about half-ebb to 
 half-flood, but jumping and sheering about at 
 other times, and occasionally rolling in not the 
 pleasantest manner in the Avorld. Ahead, the sea 
 VOL. L o 
 
290 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 was breaking over the banks, and tossing its 
 broken waters confusedly in upon us ; overhead 
 was the dull leaden sky, blotted by the hurrying 
 " scud," and occasionally by a heavier collected 
 cloud than common; while astern stretched the 
 low, uninteresting and inhospitable shore of Kent, 
 not a whit less uncheering in aspect, and having 
 more of real peril about it than the unquiet 
 element in which we so uneasily rode. 
 
 There were not many passengers, and of these 
 nearly all appeared to be of the same party; 
 respectable business people, entirely and properly 
 occupied with their own little affairs, and evi- 
 dently quite accustomed to the trajet between 
 London and Calais.' The outsiders Avere an officer 
 going to rejoin his regiment in India, and who, 
 for the major part of the time, was too much 
 engaged with his regrets to pay attention to any- 
 thing else; and an individual whose class or calling it 
 Avas difficult to guess at, but who seemed one that 
 had been knocked about a good deal through 
 Europe, and was fit — 
 
 " to daff the Avorld aside. 
 
 And bid it pass." 
 With this person, or anon with the captain, or eke 
 
PASSAGE TO CALAIS. 291 
 
 tlie mate, I paced the wet deck during the lono- 
 day, often making a mental contrast between tlie 
 wild, dreary and desolate scene around, and the 
 busy stirring debate of excited and overcrowded 
 partisans in the midst of which I had been not 
 very many hours before. 
 
 Sentimentalities and meditations were, however, 
 put to flight by the plain, prosaic, and very dis- 
 agreeable fact, that provisions were falling short ! 
 The voyage is usually one of eleven or twelve 
 hours, and we had already been aboard some 
 twenty- eight or twenty-nine. There were accord- 
 ingly threaten ings of a " southerly wind in the 
 bread bag," and a certain diplomacy was required 
 to secure a dinner. In this my travelled friend 
 was eminently useful ; and he and I dined com- 
 fortably at three o'clock, while our cabin-rnates, 
 who preferred a later hour, had to mess off sailor's 
 beef or " salt Jiorse'' and biscuit. 
 
 Another night of weary tossing, and mental as 
 well as physical uneasiness, and at last, about 
 half-past nine on the next morning, more than 
 forty-eight hours since leaving London Bridge, 
 we got under weigh once more, and ran, through 
 a tremendous sea, for Calais. The gale had 
 
 o 2 
 
292 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 bi'oken, but it still blew very strong, and the 
 conflict of meeting tides and sea off Calais made 
 our approach and entry to that port of exceeding 
 difficulty and not a little danger. The sun was 
 shining out brightly upon tlie broken water and 
 white ridges of foam, extending round us far as 
 we could see, and upon our wet and rolling deck, 
 with its clusters of woe-begone, terrified pas- 
 sengers, and anxious seamen. Four of the latter 
 were straining at the wheel ; Avhile either jetty- 
 head was crowded with shore- going people, ex- 
 pecting to see the wreck of ^Ue steamer Anglais i"^ 
 and Avith ])ilots and fishermen more humanely 
 intent on making an eflTort to " pick us up," 
 should the difficult manoeuvre of sheering the 
 lengthy and unhandy craft short in, happen to 
 fail, and the inevitable consequence follow, of 
 our being hove in upon the sand to leeward. 
 
 A day quite as weary and heavy as its prede- 
 cessor, but not dignified like it with danger, wore 
 away in the dull streets of Calais ; and at last, on 
 the third morning after leaving London, I got 
 en route for Paris. My companion in the coupe of 
 the Diligence was a French officer of the Calais 
 garrison, a middle-aged, plain, and brusque-man- 
 
REVOLT IN PARIS. 293 
 
 nered man, with no other subject of conversa- 
 tion but military matters and his own personal 
 history. He informed me that he had been in 
 the gardes de corps up to the time of the Revolu- 
 tion of July 1830, (the Revolution last hut one,) 
 and in about an hour afterwards dilated with great 
 unction upon the pleasure he anticipated from 
 visiting Paris, where /le had not been since about 
 the time of Napoleon's first abdication. 
 
 At one of the night-stages Ave were astounded 
 with the news that Paris was in full revolt, or 
 full emeute ; a pleasant piece of intelligence for a 
 man who had his family tlicre. All kinds of 
 rumours met us at each successive stage, until we 
 stopped to breakfast. Here the gendarmes of the 
 district appeared to have set their faces not alone 
 against the tmeutiers^ but against all mention of 
 them; for a person to whom I had addressed a 
 casual question on the subject, was nearly taken 
 into custody for presuming to give me a civil 
 answer. But the approach of the "<:/o?f?i" Dili- 
 gence soon gave the means of satisfying our 
 inquiries. 
 
 Choosing a passenger, whom, by those inde- 
 scribable tokens that one learns to distinguish on 
 
294 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 the Continent I rightly guessed to be an English- 
 man, I quickly learned from him that the insur- 
 rection had not lasted more than a few hours, and 
 was thought to be all over by that time ; and in 
 return he asked — 
 
 " What news from England ? " 
 
 " Oh," said I, " the Whig ministry are out. 
 They have been beaten on the Jamaica question, 
 and immediately resigned." 
 
 " Oh," replied he, " we had that news tiuo clays 
 ago. Where on earth have you been since ? Do7i, H 
 you hioio they ^re in again V 
 
 I found I was bcliind the time quite as much 
 after the short sea voyage from London to Calais, 
 as if after circumnavigating the globe a couple of 
 times the icroiig way, and had to be equally par- 
 ticular in inquiries to recover the lost ground, 
 and correct my reckoning. 
 
 As we ncared Paris, reports came rife and more 
 rife of the renewal of the struo-o-le, and of its 
 
 DO ' 
 
 having been joined by the population of the vil- 
 lages in the neighbourhood of the city. A ques- 
 tion arose as to the chances of our progress being- 
 interrupted, and my military friend, in the ex- 
 ercise of a sound prudence, consented to adopt my 
 
REVOLT IN PARIS. 295 
 
 advice, Jind hide his uniform under a large travel- 
 ing cloak which I lent him, and substitute a hat 
 of mine for his schako. And in this guise we 
 rolled and clattered into Paris from the northern 
 road, and traversed the Boulevards and several 
 busy streets, threading our way with difficult}^ 
 through the strong patrols of National Guards 
 whom we met at every turn — 
 
 " Fire in eacli eye, and musquets in the hand !" 
 
 anxiously looking out for the perturbators who 
 were " frifrhtins; the soul of fearful commerce" 
 with their alarums. 
 
 Every " Place " was crowded with the regular 
 soldiery, arms stacked, fires lighted, and a regular 
 bivouac established; and the Carrousel, which I 
 had to traverse on my way from the coach office, 
 was covered with military of all arms, as the 
 French phrase it — heavy and light cavalry, in- 
 fantry, and a large force of artillery ; with ammu- 
 nition wagons, &c. &c. 
 
 I had left England in the midst of an attempted 
 political change of importance and great national 
 interest. I found Paris occupied Avith a similar 
 attempt, but by most dissimilar means. The 
 
296 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 comparison, it is needless to say, was all in favour 
 of the former. Parliamentary majorities and party 
 votes may have much about them both in their 
 origin and employment that is base, corrupt, and 
 unworthy ; but their results are much less pro- 
 ductive of immediate evil and misery, and far 
 more capable of being ultimately turned to real 
 and enduring good, than those which are achieved 
 by violence, and cursed with the stain of blood. 
 
 It was to the Parliament of 1837-41, that Mr. 
 Hume was elected an Irish Representative. The 
 " Faire Citie " of Kilkenny took him as their 
 choice, and returned him Avithout a canvass — 
 without even personal attendance — and entirely 
 without expense. So determined were the good 
 men and true of Kilkenny to do their work clean, 
 that the very postage of the letter, {Is. Id. in 
 those antediluvian days, while yet the penny post- 
 age loas not,) announcing to him his unanimous 
 return, on the introduction and recommendation 
 of Daniel O'Connell, was paid by them. 
 
 In 1839 they were much disgusted at the vote 
 he gave with the Tory party, in favour of the but 
 half-weaned slave-holders of Jamaica. The vote 
 emperilled, as already mentioned, the then Whig 
 
JOSEPH HUME. 297 
 
 Ministry ; and threatened to deprive Ireland of 
 the administrative benefits with which tliat Minis- 
 try were inclined to make some compensation for 
 their want of power to effect legislative ame- 
 liorations. 
 
 The Kilkenny men sent over a Deputation to 
 remonstrate with Joseph Hume. They were ex- 
 ceedingly and very constitutionally indignant with 
 his refusal to yield to their remonstrances, and 
 his utter impassibility to their suggestions and 
 instances that he ought to resign his seat. 
 
 But he shocked their ideas even more. While 
 seated with them, one of his servants announced 
 '' Limclieon r on which announcement their mem- 
 ber took occasion to bow them out, making not 
 the least proffer of that hospitality which in Ire- 
 land covereth a multitude of sins. 
 
 With Mr. Hume's considerable business abilities 
 and admirable perseverance, it is singular of Iioav 
 little comparative weight he is in the House, or in 
 the estimation of the public. Few men have so 
 perseveringly advocated a particular question as 
 Mr. Hume that of financial economy ; fewer 
 still have carried so much of the question to 
 which they wedded themselves; but yet fewer 
 
 o 3 
 
298 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 have got so little credit for their exertions and 
 success. 
 
 It is true that financial matters are not attractive 
 to the general reader or general public, and that 
 great merits and services may be exhibited in that 
 line without securing anything like an adequate 
 acknowledgment. But Mr. Hume possesses the 
 additional recommendation of a multitude of honest 
 votes upon other questions, as well as on those of 
 a financial nature. Indeed, with the exception of 
 a few queer votes in his earlier years of par- 
 liamentary life, and the sad and constant exception 
 of West India slavery questions, he has ever 
 shown himself the friend of reform and popular 
 enfranchisement. 
 
 What, then, can be the reason of his compara- 
 tively trifling weight in the public mind, but 
 especially in the House ? To a large extent it is 
 undoubtedly to be attributed to his want of an 
 aristocratic position and following ; a want which 
 it would require nothing short of a sweeping re- 
 volution to do away with in England, and which, 
 even after such an event, would be sure somehow 
 or other to re-appear before long. Among a 
 people of the habits and tendencies of the English, 
 
JosEpn HUME. 299 
 
 Mr. Hume's other main deficiency — that of any- 
 thing beyond a plain, business-like, plodding ability, 
 which never rose to the rank of talent — will make 
 up the rest of the account. 
 
 His speeches, while full of valuable matter, are 
 so defective in arrangement and manner, and 
 sometimes so unmercifully lengthy, as to fatigue 
 attention ; and, although the graces of delivery 
 are so little cultivated, or at any rate with such 
 little success, by the majority of the accustomed 
 debaters of the House, that no peculiar censure 
 should attach to him, yet hence arises another 
 dlsadvantajre. And there is the additional un- 
 lucky circumstance of occasionally giving her 
 Majesty's faithful but most mischief-loving Com- 
 mons occasion for a horse-laugh, when, in the 
 earnestness o f his honesty of purpose and of mind, 
 he does not wait to measure or consider his ex- 
 pressions, but uses the first disjointed form of 
 words that happens to come to his lips. 
 
 On one occasion he asked across the House, of 
 Sir R. Peel's ministry, then in power, for some 
 papers connected with foreign affairs, which he 
 had vainly solicited from the preceding Administra- 
 tion. The papers were, however, refused again 
 
300 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 to him, on the ground of public inconvenience, 
 and the propriety of respecting* the secrets of 
 office. This highly excited his indignation ; and, 
 after dilating for some time on the practice of one 
 Ministry screening, as he said, the piccadilUes {sic) 
 of another, he concluded, impressively, as follows : 
 
 " Depend upon it. Sir, wherever there is 
 delicacy, there is always something wrong!" 
 
 In the discussions on the Orange system in 
 1835-1836, Mr. Hume took an active, and, as 
 usually happens with him, a manly and an honest 
 part. Here again, however, his excitement be- 
 trayed his tongue. Mr. Sheil, alluding to the 
 disclaimer of a certain personage of very high 
 rank, that he had been aware of the fact of his 
 name being at the foot of warrants for the creation 
 of Orange lodges, which had been distributed in 
 some of the regiments of the line, had said — 
 
 " When I am called upon to give credit to this 
 disclaimer, I take refuge in one of the dicta of my 
 creed, and I say, ' Credo quia i?npossibile l""^ 
 
 To this Mr. Hume appended the following free 
 translation: 
 
 " Like the honourable member Avho has pre- 
 ceded me, I say; in reference to this denial, ' Credo 
 
JOSEPH HUME. 301 
 
 quia impossibilei — 'Let icJio will believe it — I icill 
 
 7iotr'' 
 
 And upon a yet more remote occasion, ^vlien 
 some intolerance on the part of a ministerial 
 majority drew from him a sharp, well-merited, 
 and effective rebuke, he upset his own good work 
 by the tremendous task tliat he marked out for 
 himself, with regard to the 658 members of the 
 House, when, at the end of his speech, he ex- 
 claimed — 
 
 " Sir, / blush for them /" 
 
 There cannot be a question, that to blush for 
 the whole House of Commons at once was a 
 Titanic task, above even his powers of face ; but 
 it was something to have even attempted it. 
 
 But Avhatever may at a chance moment be said 
 in haste or mistake by him, or whatever may be 
 remarked in levity or in party spite of him, this 
 much is certain, that he has done good service 
 to the State in his long and useful career in 
 Parliament. 
 
 And it does not bespeak a wholesome state of 
 feeling in the English public mind, that so true 
 and staunch a man should not have a following, 
 and a good back in-doors and outside. 
 
302 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Alas! that I shoiikl, in Joe Hume's case, as 
 well as in that of Mr. Brotherton, have to add a 
 postscript at the end of the session of 1849. Poor 
 Ireland came in for hard knocks at his hand. 
 The Irish people were included by him in the 
 same category of unmercifiilness as the Negro 
 slaves ! Lord Clarendon's most outrageousl}^ 
 unconstitutional, and most wantonl}^ aggressive 
 letter of February last had no heartier nor stouter 
 hacJher-up than Joseph Hume ! He who had, during 
 his time, protested against all species of Coercion 
 Acts, Gagging Bills, and repressive measures of 
 all kinds, threw in with the Ministry this session, 
 and harked them on to the disgraceful task of 
 violating the constitution. It was in vain to argue 
 with him — in vain to remonstrate ; — Ireland should 
 be tyrannized over; all former acts and pledges 
 were to be regarded as nought; oj^tpression was to 
 be given its full way. 
 
 The infliction of the measure of coercion to 
 which I refer, namely, the second suspension of 
 the Habeas Corpus Act, has been passed over in 
 Ireland with an ominous and a brooding silence. 
 Assuredly it is not forgotten. Assuredly it Avill 
 yet bring forth most bitter fruit. Assuredly it is 
 
"IRELAND AND THE IRISH." 303 
 
 one more earnest to us of the deep, undying, 
 inveterate international dislike and aversion that 
 prevails in the English mind towards Irishmen; 
 and its having been proposed by what are called 
 "Liberal" ministers, and mainly carried by the 
 support of a "Liberal" majority, have gone far to 
 confirm the deep-rooted impression in the L'ish 
 mind, that from England, or from Englishmen, of 
 whatever class, creed, stamp, or party, it is utterl}' 
 vain to expect any good for Ireland ; and that it is 
 only when we are active, and stirring, and assert- 
 ing ourselves, that they will withhold their hands 
 from increasing our fetters and our restrictions. 
 
 Well and truly did my father remark, in the 
 preface of liis book, " Ireland and the Irish," as 
 follows : — 
 
 " It has pleased the English people in general 
 to forget all the facts in Irish history. -They have 
 been also graciously pleased to forgive themselves 
 all those crimes. And the Irish people would for- 
 give them likewise, if it were not that much of 
 the worst spirit of the worst days still survives."^ 
 
 In the same way and the same spirit it has 
 pleased the English members (with a few, and but 
 * " Ireland and the Irisli," preface, p. viii. 
 
30-i PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 a few exceptions, and Joe Hume certainly not 
 amongst tliem,) this session to forget all the 
 wrongs of Ireland, and all the facts of her ill 
 treatment and misgovernment, and to give them- 
 selves entire absolution for the share which, by 
 their parliamentary votes, they themselves had in 
 continuing and aggravating them. It is for us^ 
 the injured, to forgive ; and we shall be ready to 
 do so, when we shall see any 7-eal intention of 
 reparation on the part of our boasted Liberal allies 
 in the English House of Commons. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 QUESTION OF REPEAL. — DANIEL o'cONNELL. — AGITATION MOVEMENTS. 
 — THE GENERAL ASSOCIATION. — PRECURSOR ASSOCIATION. — RECOM- 
 MENCEMENT OF AGITATION. — MR. DANIEL o'cONNELL RETIRES TO 
 
 DARRYNANE. DIFFICULT? OP FINDING A DEPUTY. — MAUVAISB 
 
 HONTE. LETTERS OF DANIEL o'cONNELL. — IRISH MANUFACTURE 
 
 MOVEMENT. — RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE. — MR. MOONEY's PROPOSITION. 
 
 The year 1840 witnessed the termination of 
 the experiment of British legislation which my 
 father had consented to make in 1834. In that 
 year, as noted in another chapter, his demand for 
 Repeal had been met by a decided rejection, so 
 far as Repeal was concerned ; but that much 
 ought to be done for Ireland, and that much 
 should be done, was the main burthen of the 
 answer to him. 
 
 I have already alluded to the circumstances that 
 induced, or, to say truth, compelled him to put these 
 fair expressions and promises to the test. 
 
 Never could there have been anything more 
 perilous for him, as to his popularity and influence 
 
306 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 in Ireland, than his deciding to make this experi- 
 ment. Popular opinion is capricious and intole- 
 rant of delays, and he who essays with it a Fabian 
 policy, must make up his mind for many a rub 
 and many a suspicion. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell felt the eifects of this impatience 
 and suspicion to the latest moment of his life. 
 It is said, indeed, of the Irish, that the long series 
 of misgovernment and ill-treatment of every kind 
 to which they have been subjected during centu- 
 ries, has made them peculiarly prone to suspicion 
 and distrust; and there is undoubtedly much truth 
 in the remark. He had the full measure of botli 
 discharged upon his head, and not all tliat he 
 could do by his utmost endeavours, during the 
 seven succeeding years ere death snatched him 
 from his labours, could entirely remove the species 
 of apprehension that hung over the public mind 
 in Ireland with regard to his final perseverance 
 in the great cause to which he had devoted 
 himself. 
 
 And yet, if ever there were man devoted to a 
 cause, Daniel O'Connell was devoted to Kepcal ! 
 From the earliest period tliat he could form a 
 judgment on public matters, doAvn to his latest 
 
DANIEL O'CONNELL. 307 
 
 gasp at Genoa, he was a convincecl, cletermined, 
 devoted Repealer. His epitaph is not yet written ; 
 but if more than his simple name is to be upon 
 his monument, it should be the inscription himself 
 proposed : — 
 
 *^ He died a Repealer!" 
 
 Instead of fulfilling the fair promises of 1834, 
 the year 1840 found the British legislature busily 
 engaged in forging fresh chains for Ireland ! The 
 successive Bills for the amelioration and extension 
 of her parliamentary franchise which the Whig 
 Ministry had brought in from 1834 up to and 
 including 1840 itself, had all been contiuncliously 
 rejected, or their authors compelled to allow them 
 to drop; and not 'only had this occurred, but a 
 bill restrictwe of our already too limited and de- 
 fective franchise was in this session (after being 
 defeated in the preceding, as well as in that of 
 1837,) read a second time in despite of the oppo- 
 sition of the Ministry. 
 
 The agitation immediately recommenced. In 
 April of that year, Mr. O'Connell went over to 
 Dublin, and invited to the new struggle his com- 
 panions of the old Catholic agitation, as well as 
 of all the intermediate movements. 
 
308 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Of these movements there were several, with 
 something of the following designations and 
 history : — 
 
 1st. "The Society for the Improvement of 
 Ireland." 
 
 This was got up in the first heat of the success 
 of PeeFs Catholic Emancipation measure, by 
 several well-meaning theorists and castle-builders 
 of various parties, who had been momentarily 
 united on the great question just then carried. 
 Mr. O'Connell attended it in no great hopes of 
 any good resulting from it, but desirous to show 
 that he was ready to co-operate in any thing, or 
 with any one, for even the shadow of a benefit to 
 Ireland. 
 
 After some weeks of inoffensive existence, a 
 wanton murder was committed upon this innocent 
 Society by a Lord Lieutenant's proclamation, 
 under the " Algerine Act " against popular bodies, 
 passed in 1829. 
 
 Then came the scanty gatherings at the " Par- 
 liamentary Intelligence Office " in Stephen Street, 
 Dublin. This was little more than a mere news- 
 paper and conversation-room, where Mr. O'Connell 
 used to talk over past labours and future prospects 
 
REPEAL AGITATION. 309 
 
 with some of the other noted agitators, and whither 
 he used to address his public letters when in 
 London attending Parliament. Upon this also 
 a murder by proclamation was committed, nearly 
 as wantonly and quite as ruthlessly. 
 
 Then came in quick succession three other 
 Innocents, put an end to by similar means while 
 yet in swaddling-clotlies, viz. : — 
 
 " The Friends of Ireland of all Religious 
 Denominations." 
 
 " The Irish Society for Legal and Legis- 
 lative Relief, or Anti-Union Association." 
 
 " The Irish Volunteers of 1782." 
 
 Came next the '^Public Breakfasts,'''' of which 
 I have spoken in a former chapter, and which 
 were held at Homes's Hotel on the Quays. These 
 also did a Proclamation slay. 
 
 The " Algerine Act" of 1829 expired in 1831, 
 and thereupon arose no less than two popular 
 bodies, viz. : — 
 
 The " National Political Union," and 
 
 The " Trades Political Union :" — 
 
 Both had for their main end and object the 
 Repeal of the Act of Union. 
 
 The third " Algerine Act," viz. the Coercion 
 
310 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 measure of 1833, enabled the Government to 
 recommence the warfare against agitation, and 
 these new bodies died the same deaths as their 
 predecessors. Coercion becoming once more 
 threadbare towards the end of 1834, Mr. O'Connell 
 got up the " Anti-Tory Association/' whicli in 
 the succeeding year gave place to the " Petition - 
 Committee;" the latter in its turn yielding, in 
 1836j to tlie " General Association of Ireland." 
 
 A stranjxe hallucination having; come over that 
 small, crotchetty, and scarcely tangible party in 
 Ireland, who call themselves Whigs, that they 
 would do wonders for the Liberal cause, if only 
 allowed a clear stage, Mr. O'Connell determined 
 to give it to them, and with it every aid in his 
 power, that the world might see what stuff they 
 were made of. 
 
 Accordingly, the " General Association " went 
 down, and the " Central Registration Board " 
 arose, and dawdled on most well-behavedly and 
 most insipidly until people forgot to think or ask 
 about it, or attend to it at all, and so it fell asleep 
 and dreamed itself out of existence. 
 
 Then came the " Precursor Association, for full 
 and prompt justice to Ireland, or EepeaL" It 
 
THE PRECURSOR ASSOCIATION. 311 
 
 was with reference to the management and affairs 
 of this Association that the unhappy differences 
 occurred between Mr. Purcell and Mr. O'Connell, 
 of which sufficient mention has been already made. 
 
 The artificer and founder of all these various 
 associations had now reached the penultimate step 
 in his experiment of " Justice to Ireland," as 
 promised in 1834. From the first he had not put 
 faitli in that promise; knowing Avell that the 
 inevitable predominance and paramount influence 
 of English prejudices, passions and mistaken in- 
 terests, would defeat the faint good intentions of 
 the Whigp, and give the lie direct to the profes- 
 sions of other parties to the vote of April 1834. 
 But having then resolved to make the experiment, 
 he had resolutely carried it out so long as he pos- 
 sibly could; and now by the name of the new 
 body, (viz. " Precursor,'') indicated that the time 
 was fast approaching when that experiment should 
 end ; worse than total failure having attended it, 
 in the fresh encroachments now attempted upon' 
 the restricted and diminishing franchise of Ireland. 
 
 However, so strong an instance was made to 
 him to allow of another mere-ichig effort, that he 
 consented to suspend for a few months the 
 
312 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 decisive step he was about to take ; in order 
 that a new " Reform lleglstry Association^^ shoukl 
 parade its sickliness and feebleness on the political 
 stage, and endeavour to excite some sympathy 
 with Ireland in the assault then being so hotly 
 urged against her by Lord Stanley. 
 
 The end came. Lord Stanley succeeded early 
 in the spring of 1840 in getting his penal and 
 restrictive measure passed the second reading. 
 Several English Whigs deserted their party and 
 the cause of poor Ireland, and voted witli him. 
 There could no longer be a delusion upon the 
 mind of any man. Justice would not be done. 
 Injustice — flagrant, undisguised, unblushing— was 
 being inflicted upon her. The Imperial Parlia- 
 ment had l)een once more fully tried, and found 
 wanting — wanting to reason, to justice, and to its 
 own solemn pledges. The proof had been once 
 more given that, in the words of Daniel O'Con- 
 nell's maxim : — 
 
 ' " Ireland never yet trusted hut she teas betrayed /" 
 There was no longer the shadow of a hope for 
 her, but in her own exertions. My fatlier, tliere- 
 fore, threw aside for ever all further trials and 
 experiments, and belief in English political pro- 
 
RECOMMENCEMENT OF AGITATION 313 
 
 mises, and sliook out and waved to his fel- 
 low-countrymen and the world, the banner of 
 Repeal ! 
 
 There rallied to him immediately some few of 
 the ancient leaders of agitation. But death, and 
 (still worse) place, or the prospect of place, had 
 committed wild havoc among the old staff; and 
 their vacancies were scantily and inadequately 
 supplied by younger and unpractised men. The 
 people, however, were ready and true ; and, wher- 
 ever they could obtain the aid and benefit of local 
 leading and marshalling, hastened to enrol them- 
 selves in his ranks. 
 
 It was remarked of Napoleon, that one of his 
 chiefest difficulties in his later campaigns arose 
 from the disinclination of his lieutenants to forego 
 the comforts . and enjoyments already won, for 
 a repetition of their old hardships and dangers, 
 on the chance of an increase of advantasces. 
 
 The ^"^ foremost men of all tlie^' Catholic agitators 
 manifested pretty generally the same spirit and 
 inclination ; and Mr. O'Connell not being one of 
 those who wait to have opportunities and helps 
 created for them, but who determine to create 
 such for tliemselves, went on, regardless of deser- 
 
 VOL. I. p 
 
314 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIE>:CES. 
 
 tions, and resolute to do his own duty to Ireland, 
 whoever might abandon lier. 
 
 Early in August he found himself in a diffi- 
 culty, The infant Repeal Association had so far 
 progressed in safety, because he had been able 
 to attend its meetings himself, or to secure a 
 faithful, talented, and most efficient representative 
 of his opinions and principles in his secretary, 
 Mr. O'Neill Daunt. But now he had to leave 
 town for the indispensable relaxation of a few 
 weeks at Darrynane Abbey, and Mr. Daunt'a 
 private affiiirs required his presence at his own 
 home in the county of Cork. Who, then, was to 
 be his mouth-piece and delegate ? 
 
 In this dilemma, (and for some time it was 
 a very perplexing dilemma,) I came out of my 
 shell. Not out of an egg-shell; for I was too old 
 a bird for that: but out of the moral shell, (if the 
 phrase may be used,) in which take refuge the 
 victims of morbid constitutional shyness, from the 
 many rough rubs they are doomed to feel in life. 
 
 What the struggle in such cases may be, is 
 a matter of no interest except to the individual 
 sufferer; or perhaps in a remote degree to those 
 who happen to be similarly cursed. Of all draw'- 
 
MAUVAISE HONTE. 315 
 
 backs and difficulties to an unfortunate agitator, 
 mauvaise Jionte is decidedly the heaviest ; and as 
 this demon can never be wholly exorcised) unless 
 conquered in early life, the wight thus afflicted, 
 who may be luckless enough to have politics and 
 a public part thrust upon him, has to fight a new 
 and severe battle on each new occasion for his 
 comins: forward. 
 
 Shortly after leaving school I had thought to 
 oi^pose the proposition for dissolving the Catholic 
 Association (in March, 1829), when that step 
 was mooted at one of the usual weekly meetings 
 of that body^ and had got on my legs three times 
 to make the opposition ; but, 
 
 " Obstupui, steteruntque comse ; et vox faucibus lia3sit ! " 
 
 and that triumph of sheepishness at the outset was 
 not recovered for eleven long years, and then and 
 since but imperfectly. 
 
 Let me give one counsel to all who find this 
 evil influence upon them at the outset of life, 
 checking their energies, chilling their hearts, and 
 impeding in every way their usefulness. Fight 
 against it at first, if possible ; but first or last, give 
 it no quarter, for it will give 3- ou none. 
 
 p 2 
 
316 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 It will cast as it were a spell about you, making 
 you say and do often what you least would wish 
 to have said or done ; often again preventing 
 you from words or actions that your judgment 
 would recommend; teaching others to feel the 
 distrust of your opinions and capacity that comes 
 down like a bleak rain-cloud upon yourself at 
 times, with or without cause or reason, proximate 
 or remote ; and too frequently condemning its 
 victims to a more than ordinary experience of the 
 disappointments, mortifications, regrets, and bitter- 
 nesses of all kinds, which chequer the life of man. 
 
 I find the following letters from my father, 
 among other memoranda of the year 1840, in 
 connexion with the recommencement of the Kepeal 
 agitation in that year, and the establishment and 
 early progress of the " Loyal National Repeal 
 Association." 
 
 " Merrion Square, Dublin, 
 April 29, 1840. 
 
 " My dearest John, 
 
 ***** 
 
 " I am getting on famously with agitation. The 
 
 Ilepeal will soon spread like wildfire. 
 
 " After Stanley's blow at our franchise, and the 
 
LETTERS OF DANIEL o'cONNELL. 317 
 
 manner in which the House of Commons has 
 received it, who can doubt of the necessity of 
 Repeal? It is true they have not passed his Bill 
 yet ; but if they meant to redeem their pledges to 
 Ireland, why should he have got the support lie 
 has. His bill is only postponed, and unless we 
 rouse ourselves, he will succeed. 
 
 " You will have seen the address I drew up for 
 the Association — we are now fairly launcJied, 
 
 " I leave in the early boat on Sunday night, 
 and will be in the House on Monday night. 
 
 " Your fond Father, 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 The foregoing was written in the first fortnight 
 after the Kepeal, or " National Association/' as it 
 was at first simply denominated, had been set on foot. 
 
 The next extracts are of a date several months 
 later in the same year, when, as before mentioned, 
 I had volunteered to become his dclcsate durins: 
 the period of his much needed relaxation at Darry- 
 nane Abbey. To such of his old friends as may 
 chance to look over these pages, there will be 
 interest in being reminded, by the minutiae of the 
 directions and instructions in these letters, of the 
 
318 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 activity, and as he would himself have said, the 
 efficiency of his intellect, whicli neglected nothing, 
 and left nothing to chance, Avhen he had an object 
 to carry, whether great or snialh 
 
 The first is dated from liis first stopping-place, 
 on his journey from Dublin. 
 
 " Maryboro', 9 o' Clock, Friday, Sept. 5, 1840. 
 
 " My DEAREST John, 
 
 " We arrived here a quarter of an hour ago well 
 and merry, screeched^ a great deal as we came 
 along. 
 
 " I want to write to you my directions. 
 
 " 1st. Go to the office of the Dublin Evening 
 Post, and get my paper of to-morrow, Saturdaj'^, 
 directed to Limerick. Leave a icritten order to 
 have it fi^rwarded from to-morrow out to Darry- 
 nane Abbey. 
 
 " 2d. Do exactly the like at the Monitor office. 
 
 " 3d. Give similar orders at Johnson's respect- 
 ino; the Sun. 
 
 " 4th. Send the Morning Chronicle that arrives 
 to-morrow, Saturday, to Limerick, tlienceforward 
 to Darrynane Abbey, ^j your reading the Chro- 
 
 * A playful expression for the cheering he had got. 
 
LETTERS OF DANIEL o'cONNELL. 31 D 
 
 nicle at my house, I will miss the Chronicle which 
 will arrive in Dublin each Sunday, as you cannot 
 forward it on that day, though Johnson could. 
 
 " 5th. Send the Freeman and Eegister to-mor- 
 row to Limerick; afterwards to Darrynane Abbev. 
 
 " 6th. Give directions to Johnson to forward 
 the Examiner to Darrynane Abbey. 
 
 *' 7 th. Send me one Tablet to Darrynane every 
 arrival. 
 
 " 8th. Send me Humphrey's Clock to-morrow 
 to Limerick, afterwards to Darrynane. 
 
 " You see what a quantity of commands I have. 
 But that which I am most anxious about is that 
 you should cut a figure at the Association. It is 
 the best opportunity you could have to introduce 
 yourself quietly and discreetly into public life, 
 especially by showing yourself a man of business. 
 The facility of being so will groAV upon you, 
 though you should feel awkward at first. I im- 
 plore of you to try. Begin manfully on Monday. 
 
 * -5^ ^ ^ ^ . 
 
 " Ever, my own dear John, 
 " Your fond Father, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell. 
 '^John O'Connell, Esq." 
 
320 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " Limerick, Sept. Q, 18-10. 
 
 " My dearest John, 
 . •}«■ -x- ^ ^ ^ 
 
 " You ought to have sent me the Morning Chro- 
 nicle of Friday, which arrived yesterday. I know 
 it came in time, because I got the Sun of that 
 evening ma Johnson & Co. 
 
 " I send an address on the subject of the regis- 
 tries. I direct it to Kay. Go and read it before the 
 meeting, so that you may read it at the meeting 
 legibly, as K. M. said about reading tlie affidavit. 
 
 "Move 1st. The admission of Doctor Cantwcll, 
 (Right Rev.) the Bishop of Meath; his diocese is 
 the larirest in Irehind. Pronounce the deserved 
 eulogium on him without any contrast with others, 
 which is always invidious. 
 
 " 2d. Move the admission of Doctor Blake, 
 (Right Rev.) the Bishop of Dromore. Speak of 
 that good Prelate too as he deserves. Read his 
 letter, move its insertion on the minutes, and that 
 I be requested to send him a suitable reply. 
 
 " 3d. Move the admission of your fair daughter. 
 
 " Let the Secretary then read his correspondence 
 carefully, so as to prevent confusion. 
 
LETTERS OF DANIEL o'cONNELL. 321 
 
 " As I wrote tlie above, your letter was sent to 
 me. I am delighted with the account of your pro- 
 ceedmgs in Committee. Accept my blessing — go 
 on and prosper. I sec I can safel}^ rely on you — 
 you only want an opportunity of showing yourself. 
 What about the Morning Chronicle ? Look to 
 that paper especially. I got Humphrey's Clock at 
 Maryboro'. 
 
 " Ever your most tenderly fond Father, 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell. 
 
 " John O'Connell, Esq. 
 
 " Call on Eitzpatrick, and tell liim not to omit 
 to send me the published papers respecting Ireland 
 in the reign of Henry YIII. I want them at once." 
 
 " Bahoss, Caliirciveen, Sept. 9, 1840. Wednesday. 
 
 " My dearest John, 
 " I came here on Monday from Killarney. Mor- 
 gran and suite, as the newspapers say, remained in 
 Killarney that day for a stag hunt on the lake. 
 They were pleased with the amusement, and came 
 here yesterday in torrents of rain. I had ex- 
 cellent hunting in the morning ; as good as ever 
 
 p 3 
 
322 TARLTAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 I had. To-morrow we go to Darrynane, (D. V.) 
 I hunt on the way. 
 
 " I got, and could get, the papers only of Mon- 
 day, Dublin, to-day — that is, they were at Cahir- 
 civeen at 12 last night. As I have those only of 
 Monday, I cannot form any opinion save from 
 your outline of the proceedings, (at the Asso- 
 ciation on that day,) but I like that outline 
 much. 
 
 " Attend as much as you can at the Committee. 
 Give your best support to Ray, who is just the 
 best man in his station I ever met with ; beyond 
 any comparison the best. Protect him from an- 
 noyance. There is a man of the name of ■ , 
 
 who is a jealous and most unmanageable man ; he 
 endeavours to get others to annoy Ray. Shield 
 the latter with temper and tact from all attacks. 
 
 " Get the correspondence abbreviated ; if Ray's 
 health permit him, he will do it well. The letters 
 that come in during the meeting may be read, 
 but not inserted in the newspapers until they are 
 abbreviated. If necessary, form a Committee for 
 abbreviation. Meet every evil with a remedy. 
 
 " You have not sent me the Tablet. I must get 
 that : if the one of Saturday last be missing, get 
 
LETTERS OF DANIEL o'cONNELL. 3.23 
 
 Johnson, the newspaper agent, to send to England 
 for another. 
 
 " You have not sent me the Morning Chronicle 
 of cither Friday or Saturday. This annoys me 
 the more, as I perceive by your letter that one of 
 them contains a saucy article on the Repeal. I have 
 had more disappointments about newspapers since 
 I left Dublin this time than I ever had before. If 
 possible, get me a Morning Chronicle with that 
 article. Perhaps Ray could give it to you. But 
 make me sure of a Tablet of Saturday last, the 
 5th instant. 
 
 " There is a most anstcerahle article on the Re- 
 peal in the Sun of Saturday. What a pity that 
 Barrett, of the Pilot, does not read and answer 
 these articles occasionally! 
 
 " Give my love, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 " Ever, my dearest John, 
 
 '^ Your most affectionate Father, 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 " Darrynane Ahhey, Sept. 11, 1840. 
 
 " My dearest John, 
 " I have got the Tablet I wanted ; and all is 
 now quite right. We arrived here yesterday, all 
 
324 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 well. The new road splendidly beautifnl. I 
 hunted on the way, and had admirable running. 
 
 " Bay is mistaken. On the registries the title 
 need not be shown. That is the law ; but he is 
 right that several Tory barristers require such 
 production againat law. 
 
 " I was greatly pleased with the procedings of 
 last Monday. You got on exceedingly well. I 
 hope you will do as well next Monday. Deter- 
 mine on making topics to speak upon. You will 
 delight me by doing business. 
 
 " Your paragraph in Kay's admirable Report 
 was just what it ought to be; clear, and satisfactory 
 of its intended object. 
 
 " Your fond Father, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 " Darrynane Alley, Sept. 14, ISiO. Monday. 
 
 " My dearest John, 
 
 " Congratulate my darling on the great 
 
 accounts I get of your ■ and business 
 
 habits. I am delighted with you, my darling 
 
 child. 
 
 ^ -jf * ^ * . 
 
LETTERS OF DANIEL O CONNELL. 325 
 
 " I tliink you are right In making the experi- 
 ment of abbreviating the letters before you put 
 yourselves under any subsidy to the newspapers. 
 I have always found schemes of subsidy fail. The 
 public will, be assured, come round to the papers 
 Avhich give the fullest report. Everything that 
 relates to Kepeal has met an accumulating interest. 
 
 "Every letter you will mention the state of 
 Ray's health. How I hope that you will all get 
 on well at this day's meeting I I shall have no 
 publication with the proceedings before Thursday. 
 
 I am not sorry that the attacked you 
 
 even with ridicule. It is a certain sign they tliink 
 you worth frightening off the stage, if they can. 
 But that they cannot do. 
 
 " I should write to Kay, but that I am writing 
 to you. Let him and you set about getting sig- 
 natures for the Limerick Provincial Meeting, 
 from as many quarters as you can. Especially 
 from Wexford county. If there are any persons 
 whom I should specially write to, give me their 
 names and addresses. Send from yourselves to 
 Drogheda. 
 
 " I have had another day's delightftd hunting. 
 The dogs ran down five hares in the wildest parts 
 
326 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 of the mountains in noble style. The last, espe- 
 cially, was as fine a hunt as ever I saw. INIorgan 
 and his darling wife are quite well : she and her 
 sister admire the place exceedingly. 
 
 ■5f ^ ^ -X- * 
 
 " Your most fond Father, 
 
 *^ Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 " Darrynane Alley, Sept. 19, 1840. 
 
 " My dearest John, 
 
 " I am still continuing highly pleased with your 
 conduct, and mode of doing business. I have no 
 doubt tliat it Avill be useful to you during life to 
 have an opportunity of making yourself known. 
 
 " I proceed to answer your questions. First, 
 Eeynolds" [^ThomaSy the present "Marshal" of the 
 Corporation of Dublin, and brother of the M.P. 
 for that city, 1848-49,] "is right in saying that it is 
 useful to have a petition to Parliament one sub- 
 ject of every meeting ; but his case does not apply. 
 It was an anti-Tithe^ meeting case ; and as they 
 were for abolishing tithes, it was agreed that as 
 they were not about to petitioni they must intend 
 
 * Alluding to the prosecution of Mr. Keynolds and others, 
 a few years before. 
 
LETTERS OF DANIEL o'cONNELL. 327 
 
 to abolish tithes by other, tliat is, by illegal 
 means. 
 
 " Have, therefore, a petition in every case that 
 you can ; or, what will do as well, appoint a 
 committee to prepare, and procure signatures to a 
 petition. The prayer of every Repeal petition, 
 must for the present be simply, that the House 
 may pass a Bill to Repeal the Act for the legis- 
 lative .Union of Great Britain and Ireland — 
 nothing more. 
 
 " To the second question. I am as decided as 
 ever I was in my life, that the j)lan to subsidize 
 the newspapers by taking off a weekly quantity 
 ought to be rejected. We had twenty such plans 
 in the Catholic Association, and every one of them 
 proved abortive. If even it were necessary to 
 to give them money, I would do it in cash, and 
 take no papers. Any papers gratuitously distri- 
 buted have no other effect, save the raisins^ of a 
 belief that the parties do not think their own pro- 
 ceedings of sufficient value to be purchased. That 
 which is given for nothing is supposed not to be 
 better than the price. 
 
 " But, of course, I admit that our proceedings 
 encumber those papers which insert them, even 
 
328 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 in an abridged state. I also admit that it is very 
 important to have the publication of what we do 
 as ample as possible. The difficulty of getting 
 the newspapers to publish in that manner may be 
 got over by increasing our advertisements in the 
 two morning papers and tlie Pilot. Let every 
 Kesolution passed by the Association be publislied, 
 — that is, a substantial advertisement of each 
 Association-day's Kesolution, with the gross amount 
 received from the last meeting. It will not be 
 difficult thus to have a good advertisement after 
 each meeting. 
 
 " The Monday meeting — that is, the preliminary 
 notice of it, may also, and I think should, be in- 
 serted in the morning papers of Saturday, as well 
 as Monday, and in the Pilot of Friday. As we 
 go along we shall have more occasions to advertize, 
 and I will take care so to arrange when I go up to 
 Dublin, that our advertisements sliall be a good 
 thing for the honest papers. They may rely on 
 my promise, and do you in the mean time consult 
 and see how you can augment the advertisements 
 to compensate the papers that serve us. This is 
 the proper way to assist the friendly press : Ray 
 will be able to carry it into effect. Let it, if 
 
LETTERS OF DANIEL OCONNELL. 329 
 
 possible, be done at once, for the deservino* 
 papers. 
 
 " The objection to the application of the Repeal 
 funds to the Registry in Dublin county is not 
 well-founded. It is not for Evans or Brabazon we 
 are acting, but for the cause. We are not pledged 
 to cither of them ; and it may, before the new 
 registries are out, be necessary to put out both of 
 these gentlemen. We are, I repeat, working for 
 the cause; and I hope that Ave will soon have 
 money enough to carry on the registries in every 
 county in Ireland. 
 
 " At all events we are pledged to Dublin county 
 for the next ensuing Registration session. I do 
 therefore entreat that matters may go on as they 
 are, until my return. I will then calmly and de- 
 liberately discuss the subject with the dissentients, 
 and we Avill all endeavour to come to the rioht 
 conclusion for the future. But I repeat that I un- 
 derstood — I niay be mistaken, but I very distinctly 
 understood — that no alteration in this matter should 
 take place until my return. I repeat, that then 
 the subject shall be perfectly open and unbiassed 
 ,for the opinion of each member of the Committee. 
 " Your article was an excellent one. 
 
330 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " I had a splendid day's hunting on Thursday : 
 we ran down five hares in the best style, and with 
 long-continued running. * * ^ This 
 
 being a fast-week I have not hunted since Thurs- 
 day. * -Jf -x- -x- -x- 
 
 " Ever, my dearest John, &c. &c. 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell. 
 
 " P»S. — Write articles for the papers as often 
 as you can : short and pithy." 
 
 '' Darrynane Abbey, Nov. 21, 1840. 
 
 '^ My dearest John, 
 
 " I wrote last night one word of advice respect- 
 ing the ' Irish Manufacture' meetings. I am very 
 anxious you should do all in your power to help 
 their promoters. 
 
 ^* I now want to write you a few Avords on 
 another subject ; and by Avay of caution. I allude 
 to the subject of representation, 
 
 " In that excellent paper of yours, the address 
 to the English people against the conduct of their 
 press — an admirable address it is, and I am ex- 
 ceedingly pleased with it — you, however, speak of 
 our being supposed, as members of the Kepeal 
 
LETTERS OF DANIEL O^CONNELL. 331 
 
 Association, to be representatives of the Irish 
 people. True, you then disclaim that title, but 
 you give us a qualified station in some degree of 
 the same nature. Now your phrase is perfectly 
 accurate in itself, and free from being fairly con- 
 strued to claim any element of representation. But 
 we would not get a fair construction. 
 
 " We should have the unscrupulous Court of 
 Queen's Bench and an Orange jury, who would 
 sign our conviction before they heard even the 
 evidence for the prosecution. 
 
 " What I want to impress upon your mind is 
 this — the danger of our assuming a?it/ species of 
 representative capacity. 
 
 " We must always be an original society — ema- 
 nating from no other body or "class, and not re- 
 sponsible to any other body or class. Our danger 
 in point of law is, lest we should be accused of 
 being either representatives or delegates. Just keep 
 this always in your mind : always disclaim unqua- 
 lifiedly delegation or representation. 
 
 " It is the Irish Convention Act which creates 
 the danger ; and the construction put upon that 
 Act in Dr. Sheridan's case enhances the danger. 
 
 " You will not, my beloved John, mistake me ; 
 
332 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 I say tins to you not by way of reproach, but 
 simply by way of caution. Your only reply is, to 
 say you will bear my caution in mind. Say not 
 one word in explanation of the past. 
 
 " I also wish to advise you to volunteer your 
 services at the Carlow election, and at the preced- 
 ino; a2:itation. Write down to Arthur French, 
 or to Mr. Fitzgerald, who acts as secretary — Ray 
 will give you liis address — and offer any aid in 
 your power to the success of Mr. Ponsonby's elec- 
 tion. Say that you will go about agitating, or 
 working in any other way in which you could be 
 useful. 
 
 " Let these offers come as emanating from your- 
 self, and not at all as suggested by me. 
 
 " God bless my dearly loved John ! You are a 
 and a to me. God Almighty bless you ! 
 
 ■Jf ^ * * * vr 
 
 " Your most fond Father, 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell. 
 
 " It has been literally blowing tip and thwn 
 here. Such squalls, such whirlwinds — such rain, 
 snow, storm, &c. I never witnessed. No mischief, 
 however, blessed be God !'- 
 
LETTERS OF DANIEL O'CONNELL. 333 
 
 " Darry7iane Abbey, Dec. 4, 1840. 
 
 " My DEAREST John, 
 
 " I entirely approve of all you have done. 
 You have my blessing, my esteem, and my cordial 
 love. 
 
 " Recollect two things— First, that your busi- 
 ness is, not to be disturbed by any body ; not to 
 mind what this one or that other said ; and to 
 conciliate every body, ^ood, bad, and indifFerent, 
 without yielding any 2^rinciple, and w^ithout failing 
 to make the good perceive the preference of your 
 kindness for them. 
 
 *' Secondly : (with reference to the popular desire 
 afloat for a joint-stock company of manufacturers, 
 artisans, &c. in order to promote the manufacture 
 and consumption of Irish goods,) recollect this ; 
 that in a joint-stock concern every contributor, 
 even down as low as to him who contributes one 
 shillins:, is liable to tlie extent of his fortune or 
 means, whatever that may be, for the debts and 
 losses of such joint-stock concern. 
 
 " I doubt if one constituted on the basis pro- 
 posed could be managed with economy and 
 prudence. Be therefore cautious how you pro- 
 ceed. * * * 
 
334 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 '^ Next, it is in mj mind liigli]y desirable to 
 
 make no opposition to what may promote M 's 
 
 pecuniary interest in the new agitation for the 
 using: domestic manufacture, wherever such in- 
 terests do not chish with public utility. He Avill 
 work the harder if he see that his private inter- 
 ests are not to be compromised ; and the people 
 will thus be better served. 
 
 " I highly approve of Pierce Mahony's Eequi- 
 sition (for a general meeting of Irish Reformers). 
 It does not imply any dereliction of Repeal ; and 
 that I will 'practically prove. And it does not 
 assert any such thing. Attend therefore at West- 
 moreland Street, and put my name and Maurice's 
 to that Requisition. Tell IMahony by a note, 
 written when you receive this, that I approve of 
 
 and sign his Requisition. 
 
 •je- ^ ^ -5^ ^ 
 
 " I leave this, please God, on Saturday week, 
 the 12th instant, for Bahoss; that is, to-morroAV 
 week. On tlie 14th, I intend to go to Killarney. 
 ^ "^ I go to Cork on the loth, and remain there 
 aoitatino- for the Provincial Meeting: on the 16th. 
 
 DO O 
 
 On the I7th, I go from Cork to Limerick, and 
 on Friday, the 18 th, to Dublin. 
 
LETTERS OF DANIEL O'CONNELL. 335 
 
 " Give Kay this list, that I may write to him 
 about my letters and papers. Tell Maurice Pren- 
 dergast that I can see him in Merrion Square on 
 Saturday, the 19th, and that he can have the 
 Charity Dinner any day in the ensuing fortnight, 
 beginning with Monday, the 21st, which I think 
 would be the best day for him. But give him 
 the entire fortnight, to choose his own day. 
 
 "k ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 "I have had great hunting — only one blank 
 day. I have, since I saw you, killed seventy - 
 seven hares. Yesterday the most splendid hunting 
 I ever saw. 
 
 " Ever, my dearest, dearest John, 
 
 " Your fond, your Father, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell. 
 
 " See my letter of directions to Hay. Assist 
 him ; but let him alone be responsible. You must 
 not share the responsibility. I do hate to be dis- 
 appointed in my letters and papers." 
 
 •H- -K- :{< -K- ^ 
 
 I have given the foregoing letters in their order 
 of dates, without interposing any comment, that 
 
336 PAHLIAMENTAKY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 the reader might form his own judgment upon 
 them. 
 
 It will be seen hoAV anxious, constant and 
 tenderly affectionate was the endeavour to en- 
 courage the novice in agitation ; overwhelming 
 with praise every little thing that gave him satis- 
 faction, and so delicately and tenderly touching on 
 other points. I have the misfortune of possessing 
 but a small comparative number of other letters 
 from him, — a misfortune which I feel now; but 
 for which I w^as in a manner compensated hefore- 
 hand by its cause, namely, my being so constantly 
 in his company or neighbourhood, that there was 
 no occasion to write letters. 
 
 Of the other letters that I do possess, I shall 
 have occasion to give some at a future stage of 
 this work. 
 
 The '^ Irish Manufacture'^ movement that is 
 spoken of in two of those which are given, com- 
 menced in the fall of the year 1840, and lasted 
 some eight or nine months. It was, as its name 
 indicated, a movement in favour of Irish manu- 
 factures, by promoting their consumption. Few 
 objects more popular in Ireland, and more cried 
 out against in England, could possibly be taken 
 
IRISH MANUFACTURES. 337 
 
 up. In fact, tlie question of Irish manufactures 
 has been, for more than a century and a half, one 
 of the chief grounds of bitternesses and bicker- 
 ings between the two countries. 
 
 " From the Kevolution, till within these few 
 years," said Mr. Pitt, in the English House of 
 Commons, a.d. 1785, when discussing the cele- 
 brated "commercial propositions" of that year, 
 " the system had been that of debarring Ireland 
 from the use of her own resources, and making 
 her subservient to the interests {so-called) and 
 oiDulence of the English people." 
 
 '' Ireland," said the same high authority, nine- 
 teen years later, when discussing the first propo- 
 sition of the Legislative Union, in 1799, "had 
 long felt llie narrow policy of Great Britain ; who, 
 influenced by views of trade and commercial ad- 
 vantage, and stained and perverted with selfish 
 motives, had treated her with partiality and 
 neglect, and never looked on her prosperity as 
 that of the empire at large." 
 
 " Till tlie year 1780," said Mr. Iluskisson, in 
 1825, in the Imperial Parliament, " the agricul- 
 ture, internal industry, manufactures, commerce, 
 and navigation of Ireland were all held in the 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
338 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 most rigid subserviency to the supposed interests 
 of Great Britain. 
 
 " In 1778 there Avas a proposal to allow Ireland 
 to import sugar direct^ and to export everything 
 except woollens, (which manufacture had been 
 greatly crippled and restricted by special statutes 
 passed in King William the Third's reign,) to pay 
 for it ; and this proposal w^as almost made a question 
 of allegiance by the great towns of Great Britain; 
 and so it was lost ! 
 
 " In 1779, a more limited concession was also 
 lost ! 
 
 " But, towards the close of that year, the dis- 
 asters in North America, and the state of things 
 in Ireland, produced a different feeling in the 
 British Parliament. State-necessities, acting under 
 a sense of political danger, yielded without grace 
 that wdiich good sense and good feeling had before 
 recommended in vain ; and in the year 1782, under 
 the like pressure, those concessions were rendered 
 irrevocable." 
 
 The foregoing testimonies, from unimpeachable 
 and very unwilling authorities, Avill show the state 
 of things from Avhich sprung the frequent demon- 
 strations, one of the latest of which is alluded to 
 
RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE. 339 
 
 in the letters of Mr. O'Connell in 1840. From 
 Swift's time clown to the year just mentioned, the 
 Irish community have at various periods made 
 efforts to counterbalance the injurious effect of 
 legislative restrictions on their trade and com- 
 merce, by the operation of voluntary national 
 agreements to give a preference to native manu- 
 facture over that imported. 
 
 Swift's maxim was pithy and to the point: — 
 " Burn everything that comes from England, save 
 the coals l''^ — even if seriously and literally adopted 
 and acted upon, would not have involved a more 
 monstrous absurdit}^, than the legislation which it 
 was put forward to countervail. 
 
 Not the Dutch, nor even the English East India 
 Company, in the wildest wantonness of their com- 
 mercial jealousy and eagerness to secure unjust 
 and pernicious monopolies, ever more flagrantly 
 outraged right and reason, and the dictates of 
 sound policy, than did the legislators of England 
 in the restrictions, embarrassments, and cruel 
 injuries which, at the suggestion of small interests 
 and narrow trade prejudices in their own country, 
 they inflicted upon the enterprise and commercial 
 industry of Ireland. 
 
 Q 2 
 
340 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The woollen manufacture of tlie latter was put 
 clown by special statute, passed openly and de- 
 claredly lest the woollen manufacture of the 
 dommant country should be interfered with ! It 
 was not pretended at the time that the contem- 
 plated danger had actually occurred. On the con- 
 trary, the fact was well known, that up to that 
 time no such interference or competition had 
 occurred, or was likely soon to occur. But there 
 was the chance that at some remote future time it 
 might come about ; and this paido post futurum 
 contingency was held as reason good and sufficient 
 to justify an address from both Houses of Parlia- 
 ment to the King (William the Third), requesting 
 him to " discourao-e the woollen manufacture in 
 Ireland;" and his answer, that he would "do all 
 that in him lay" for that end, as well as the statu- 
 tory enactment by which Parliament and Monarch 
 gave effect to their declarations. 
 
 Irish cotton manufactures were subjected to 
 twenty-five per cent, duty on importation into 
 England, and the icearing of them in England was 
 forbidden under heavy penalties ! 
 
 Direct trade with the colonies was utterly for- 
 bidden ; and foreign trade practically so ; as of the 
 
RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE. 341 
 
 articles that foreign countries would take from us, 
 nearly all were forbidden to be exported save 
 through England. 
 
 There Avas a similar severity and injustice as to 
 our importations. We were obliged to receive 
 nearly everything tlirough and from England. 
 Indeed, our importation of some articles — such, 
 in particular, as hops — from any other country, 
 was declared, in the Acts of Parliament prohibit- 
 ing it, to be a ^"^ public and common nuisance^ 
 
 These few details will suffice to show what was 
 the original force of the restrictions and trade- 
 injustices against which the "Irish manufacture" 
 agreements of the last century were directed. If, 
 as has been before remarked, those agreements 
 were practical absurdities, and total violations of 
 sound principles, they were not more so than the 
 legislative monstrosities which provoked them. 
 
 Their defeat was easy to be foreseen, and pro- 
 ceeded from very natural causes. Too many 
 persons were interested, in Ireland itself, in the 
 importation of English goods, to allow either of 
 the universality of the agreement, or of good faith 
 being always observed, even by those who did 
 accept and loudest declaim about it. The most 
 
342 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 strenuous and most general eftort in this direction 
 was made about sixty years ago, and was then 
 defeated utterly and signally by some of the im- 
 porting merchants, who, at the very first mention 
 of the matter, took care to lay in much larger 
 stocks than common of the threatened articles, and 
 afterwards retailed them at their leisure, most 
 probably under the denomination of home-mviTiu- 
 factures. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell publicly warned the promoters 
 of the last move of this kind — that which took 
 place in 1840, the period to which his letters just 
 given have reference — of the failure of all previous 
 eiforts, with the certainty of disastrous conse- 
 quences; inasmuch as the temporary excitement 
 created a demand, that, after calling labour into 
 action to an unusual extent, speedily subsided 
 again, leaving that labour unemployed, and 
 thereby creating greater misery than before 
 existed. 
 
 But, at the same time, he offered every assist- 
 ance in his power, by preaching and e.vample, to 
 secure every possible chance of success and per- 
 manence to the effort ; and he most fully carried 
 out his offers. 
 
MR. mooney's proposition. 343 
 
 It was whispered at the time, that not a few 
 Avho were very prominent in the movement had 
 vahiable agencies from English manufacturers to 
 receive and pass off English goods as Irish. To 
 render this the easier, Irish marks were counter- 
 feited in Manchester, Leeds, &c., on various 
 articles sent in; and the trick was completely 
 successful. 
 
 At one of the meetings then daily taking place 
 in the otherwise unoccupied and deserted Royal 
 Exchange of Dublin, Mr. Mooney, one of the 
 foremost and most active propagators of this new 
 form of nationality, lamented that the delf and 
 earthenware manufactories of Ireland had so de- 
 cayed, or perished, that their produce could not 
 be substituted for English or Scotch made cups, 
 saucers, plates, &c. &c. 
 
 " But," cried he, with all the joy of a new dis- 
 covery, " can we not for a time use glass ? Our 
 Irish glass-makers were the most skilful in the 
 world. They are not all gone from us even yet. 
 Let us call their skill and industry into requisition. 
 Let every man who hears me instantly resolve to 
 abandon the use of English or Scotch ware ; and 
 till we make a proper substitute at home, let us 
 
344 - PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ,have glass cups, plates, dishes, pipkins, pans and 
 all!!" 
 
 Upon this hint spake, not so much his willing 
 native auditory (whatever might be the extent of 
 their capabilities to carry out the advice,) as a 
 worthy sharp-scented Englishman from Manches- 
 ter, who happened to be in the crowd. He in- 
 stantly wrote off the news to his principal in 
 England, and followed his letter himself to press 
 in person the idea that had arisen in his mind. 
 This, which was literally carried out, was none 
 other than the investment of some thousands of 
 pounds in getting glass ware of all the before- 
 mentioned descriptions cast and moulded, with, 
 upon each article, the stirring legend : — 
 
 " Erin go Bragii." 
 
 '' Eepeal." 
 
 and 
 
 " Irish Manufacture I " 
 
 It is a pity to have to add that so ingenious 
 and ready a scheme should have ftiiled. The 
 Manchester bagman little knew that amono^st the 
 crowd who cheered Mr. Mooney's uncompromising 
 
MR. MOONEy's PROPOSITION. 345 
 
 proposition, there was but a small per-ceutage 
 who knew the luxury of a tea-cup at all, or used 
 any other plate for theu' scanty meal of potatoes 
 than tlie few rough planks w^hlch did duty for 
 tables in their wretched lodging-rooms. 
 
 A few of the operatives of various trades com- 
 bined to establish "via7^ts" of their own for the 
 exchiske sale of Irish goods, distrusting the regular 
 shopkeepers. But even into those marts, or in 
 some of them at least, it was ascertained that 
 English goods crept in, after a time, and the 
 discovery of this fact gave a final blow to the 
 movement. 
 
 It never could have had a chance of success 
 unless the richer and higher classes had joined in 
 it, and they, with few exceptions, held off. Many 
 of them indeed over-acted the " liberality " which 
 they professed as a reason for not joining, and 
 seemed actually to give a marked preference to 
 English and Scotch goods, for fear they should 
 be accused of any partiality for the products of 
 their own country, or any great anxiety for the 
 employment and welfare of their poorer fellow- 
 countrymen. 
 
 This over-acted " impartiality," coupled with a 
 

 346 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 calumnious candour in speaking or writing about 
 their country, are two characteristics, as striking 
 as they are unfortunately common and patent, of 
 too many of the classes above the people in 
 Ireland. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 n. CLAY, PttiNXER, BREAD STREET HILL. 
 
'RECOLLECTIONS 
 AND EXPERIENCES 
 
 DUEING A PABLIAMENTART CAEEEE 
 
 FROM 1833 TO 1848. 
 
 Br 
 
 JOHN O'CONNELL, ESQ. M.P. 
 
 " Quaeque ipse vidi 
 " Et quorum pars fui," Virg. 
 
 "Exul . . . 
 " Projicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba." 
 
 IIOR. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES, 
 VOL. 11. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 
 
 1849. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OP 
 
 VOLUME THE SECOND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FADE 
 
 Open- Air Agitation— A Break Down— A Monster Meeting 
 —Anathema against Repealers— Pretended Coalition- 
 Letters of Mr. O'Connell— The "Young Ireland" Party- 
 Mr. Davis— Election of 1841— The '^ O'Connell Rent' 
 —Candidate for Dublin— The Dublin Election— Carlow 
 Election— Abduction of Voters— A Morning Meal— The 
 Election— Our Defeat— Mr. Kavanagh 2 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Letters of Mr. O'Connell to his Friends, referring to vari- 
 ous Periods of his Political Career— Mr, Henry Grattan— 
 Antipathy shovrn by George the Fourth towards Mr 
 O'Connell— Further Extracts from ISh: O'Connell's Corre- 
 spondence 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Interest excited by Mr. O'Connell's Letters— The Clare 
 Election — The " Progress"— Trades Political Union- 
 Mr. O'Connell returns .to London— his Letters .... 81 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Premature Session of Parliament— The Irish Tories— Lord 
 de Grey — Reformed Corporation of Dublin — its first 
 Lord Mayor— JMunicipal Reform Act— ]\rr. Grote— The 
 New Ballot-box— Vote by Ballot— Mr. O'Connell takes 
 Possession of the Mansion-house in Dublin — Difficulties 
 he had to encounter — Corporation Address to her Majesty 
 — its Presentation — Dinner at the London Tavern — 
 Sir Robert Peel — his Speech on the Distress of the 
 Country — Meeting at the lieform Club— The Corn Laws 
 — M. Soyer's Dinners — The High Sheriff of Fermanagh 
 — Bribery and Intimidation — Mr. Roebuck — Peel's 
 Financial Plans — Customs Tariff — State of Parties — 
 Francis fires at the Queen — Another Attempt — The Pot- 
 house Plot, . - - . . . 10(> 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Commencement of new Efforts — Provincial Repeal Inspectors 
 — Repeal Errand in the N^orth — Mr. Ray — his Labours in 
 the Repeal Association — his Memorandum — State Prose- 
 cutions — Extracts from the Attorney-General's Speech. . 152 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Repeal Missions — Mullingar — Dr. Cantwell — New Catholic 
 Cathedral — Carrick-on-Shannon — Boyle — Rockingham — 
 Scenery— Castlerea— its Church — Castlebar — Ballinasloe 
 Fair — Proposal to waylay ^Mr. O'Connell — Other Attempts 
 to destroy him — Feargus O'Connor — ]\Ir, O'Connell's pre- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 sence of mind — The Dublin Press — Meeting at the Royal 
 Exchange — Compelled to escape — The "Nation" — Yoimg 
 Ireland — Thomas Davis — Smith O'Brien — Gavan Dufiy — 
 The Young Irelanders — Repeal Discussion — Speech of Mr. 
 O'Connell 192 
 
 CHAPTER Yll. 
 
 Repeal Discussion — Public Meetings, -with Statement of the 
 Numbers attending them — State Trials — Monster Indict- 
 ment — Rumours of Perils — Alarm on the Road — Amount 
 of Miles travelled — Popularity of Mr. O'Connell — Peace- 
 able Agitation — The IMail Contracts — Building of Concilia- 
 tion Hall — Donnybrook Fair — The Meeting — Father de 
 Sraet— Exertions of Mr. O'Connell 235 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 Mr. William Connor — Entree of Mr. James Gordon Bennett 
 — " Great Room" of the Corn Exchange — Mr. Bennett's 
 Exit — Rev. Tresham Gregg — The Coal Porters — Great 
 ■Meeting at Tara Hill— Ledru Roll in — Return Home — 
 Mr. O'Connell's Exertions and Encouragements . . . .261 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 England's Pride of Domination — Campaign against Repeal — 
 Earl of Roden — Sir James Graham — Meeting at Athlonc 
 — Meeting at Dundalk — ]Mr. O'Connell's Speech — Yenedy 297 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Mr. Macaulay — Sectarian Bigotry— Persecution in Switz- 
 erland—Increase of Repeal Committee— Repeal Associa- 
 tion Reports — Mr. O'Connell's Suggestions — Proceedings 
 of Repeal Committee .... 318 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Meeting at Mullaglimast— Ratlimore — Kilcullen— Repeal 
 Speeches — The Banquet — Government Proclamation — 
 Meeting at Clontarf forbidden— Conclusion 342 
 
PARLIAMENTARY 
 
 AND 
 
 AGITATION EXPERIENCES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OPEN-AIR AGITATION. A BREAK DOWN. A MONSTER MEETING. 
 
 ANATHEMA AGAINST REPEALERS. — PRETENDED COALITION. LETTERS 
 
 OF MR. O'CONNELL. THE " YOUNG IRELAND" PARTY. MR. DAVIS. 
 
 ELECTION OF 1841. — THE " O'CONNELL RENT." CANDIDATE FOR 
 
 DUBLIN. — TUB DUBLIN ELECTION. — CARLOW ELECTION. — ABDUC- 
 TION OF VOTERS, — A MORNING MEAL. — THE ELECTION — OUR DEFEAT. 
 — MR. KAVANAGH. 
 
 My first experiments in open-air agitation were 
 not particularly encouraging. Upon both occa- 
 sions, the platform, or hustings, fairly b7'o]ce down. 
 Upon the first of them, the platform, fortunately 
 not at a great elevation from the ground, yielded 
 in the centre; and the chairman, from having 
 upon him, metaphorically, the Avhole weight of the 
 meeting, was made to undergo something like an 
 experience of it in hard phj^sical reality. 
 
 VOL. II. B 
 
2 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Secretary, reporters, movers and seconders of 
 resolutions, orators and all, we tumbled in upon 
 him in doubtless "much admired" but not very 
 agreeable confusion ; and but for the lucky chance 
 of a stout oaken table having covered him, the 
 " pressure from without " would have put an end 
 to him, as it has before now to ministries and 
 parliaments. 
 
 On the second occasion we were a considerable 
 height from the ground, and just before our fall 
 we were assured that the platform '^ would bear a 
 houser — a form of expression very much in fashion 
 on such occasions, but which 1 earnestly recom- 
 mend to the particular distrust of all platform 
 orators. 
 
 In both cases there had been persons underneath 
 until a few moments before the accident. In the 
 second case we had had exceeding trouble and 
 difficulty to get them to remove, and the last had 
 scarcely left the place, ere the crash occurred. 
 A cross beam, made of green wood, snapped sud- 
 denly in two, and the superincumbent staging, 
 with all its patriotic load, went down at once — 
 
 " Like some vast mountain, 
 Half sunk, with all its pines ! " 
 
A MONSTER-MEETING. 3 
 
 It Is by no means a pleasant sensation, tliat of 
 i\mQ foundering on drtj land, particularly where the 
 planking imder your feet is loose, and separates 
 m the fall This was the case In the present 
 instance, and as If the danger to our limbs was 
 not great enough otherwise, a stout young bull- 
 calf of a farmer set to leaping among the planks, 
 with the kind intention of re-assuring the crowd 
 outside as to his personal safety, and thus frac- 
 tured a man's leg, besides minor damages resulting 
 from his untimely activity. 
 
 In October, the first specimen of a " Monster- 
 Meeting" took place. Mr. O'Connell came up 
 from Darrynane for the purpose, and met our 
 Dublin party at Kilkenny, where the assemblage 
 was to be. 
 
 Upon an elevation in a large field, just outside 
 of the town, a huge platform was constructed, 
 having three stages diminishing In size until, at top 
 of all, alone and unprotected, was the seat of the 
 Chairman. 
 
 That position was reserved for me ; and upon 
 Its very unenviable elevation I had to abide for 
 four mortal hours the whole force of a smart 
 westerly gale, sweeping with unobstructed fury 
 
 B 2 
 
4 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 from Mount Leinster and the comrade hills, over 
 miles of champaign country, until it came whistling 
 and shrieking past my unfortunate head, making 
 every tooth jar again, and almost realizing the 
 " galley-yarn " aboard a man of war, of the hur- 
 ricane in which it took six men to hold the cap- 
 tain's hat on ! 
 
 It was calculated on a bird's-eye measurement 
 from the high top of the platform, corrected by 
 measuring the ground afterwards, that near 80,000 
 persons must have assembled. And nothing could 
 have a finer effect than the scene which ensued at 
 the dispersion of the meeting, when for miles on 
 every side the roads, lanes, and by-paths through 
 tlie meadows and tilled fields were tracked dis- 
 tinctly out in all their windings to the furthest 
 stretch of the horizon, by the black lines of the 
 departing crowds. 
 
 But a week previous to this assemblage, the 
 present Lord Fortescue, then Lord Lieutenant of 
 Ireland, had taken occasion of an address from the 
 old unreformed Corporation of Dublin, to fulminate 
 an anathema against the Hepealers ; cutting them 
 off from "place, power^ and pension," favour, emolu- 
 ment, or office, at the hands of the Government ! 
 
ANATHEMA AGAINST REPEALERS. 5 
 
 We lived and prospered notwithstanding, and 
 at this very meeting got yeoman-service out 
 of this topic. Indeed, His Excellency's denun- 
 ciation rather helped the agitation, not only at 
 Kilkenny, but in other parts of the country. 
 
 Still the accessions to the Kepeal ranks during 
 the Avinter of 1840-41 were by no means in pro- 
 portion to what had hitherto been my father's ex- 
 perience when starting a new Association. The 
 reason has been before noticed — the ingrained 
 suspicion with which centuries of ill-treatment 
 and treachery have so deeply marked the Irish 
 character. 
 
 The kind of reasoning adopted practically, if 
 not generally confessed, was something in this 
 strain : — 
 
 " The Repeal Agitation was once suspended 
 before ; — argal, it may be susj^ended again !" 
 
 No account was taken of the circumstances 
 (already detailed) under which the suspension 
 occurred ; no account, or little account of tlie 
 proclaimed resolution that the Repeal Standard 
 was now finally hoisted, never again to be struck 
 till " the Standard of Ireland should wave over 
 her own native Parliament re-assembled in 
 
6 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 College Green I" The refrain still was the same 
 from a large portion of the Liberals of Ireland: — 
 
 " The Agitation was once suspended before ; 
 it may be suspended again. Therefore we won't 
 join it." 
 
 Mr. O'ConnelFs answer to this was simply : — 
 
 " If you distrust me, that is the very reason 
 why you should join the agitation, and so compel me 
 to go on and be steady in labouring for the KepeaL 
 The more you hold off, the more danger will 
 there be that the agitation will again have to be 
 suspended, through want of adequate support." 
 
 Another difficulty of quite an opposite cha- 
 racter also came in the way of a rapid augment- 
 ation of numbers in the new body. 
 
 This was the over-eager, headlong, terrihlij un- 
 comjyromising men, who wanted the Association, 
 while yet in its weak and struggling infancy, to be 
 committed to the strongest measures with regard 
 to those who held off from it : measures which it 
 required all the excitement and enthusiasm of 
 1843 to justify in the eyes of the country, when 
 afterwards adopted. 
 
 According to these counsellors, an instant de- 
 nunciation should be made — without giving the 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF MR. o'cONNELL. 
 
 slightest law, or opportunity of grace, and while, 
 as before remarked, the Association itself could 
 scarcely be said to be in existence — of all parties 
 occupying or seeking to occupy posts of public 
 importance in the gift of the people, (as Members 
 of Parliament, Poor Law Guardians, candidates for 
 corporate honours under the " Municipal Corpora- 
 tions Bill," which had just then passed into law,) 
 who did not at once enrol themselves on our books. 
 
 Dublin City and Dublin County, to keeping up 
 the Parliamentary Kegistration in which, the po- 
 pular attention had been for some time devoted, 
 and money applied from the growing funds of the 
 Association, ought, according to these gentlemen, 
 to be utterly abandoned, without a struggle, to tlie 
 Conservative party ; because the Liberal members 
 or candidates for the representation of these im- 
 portant localities did not at once declare for 
 Repeal, before even the people of Ireland, in 
 sufficient number to attest their general will, had 
 as yet done so. 
 
 Of course the same inexorable rule was to be 
 applied to any remoter localities assisted by the 
 Association, that was recommended for the Metro- 
 politan. 
 
8 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 It was to such premature and unreasoning 
 rioidness as this that the passages have reference 
 in Mr. O'ConncU's letters ah-eady citcd^ where he 
 commissioned me to communicate his opinions to 
 the Committee of the Association, on electioneering 
 matters. 
 
 The " Crokers Hill " meeting at Kilkenny (as 
 it was, not very felicitously nor appropriately, 
 designated from the locality where it was held) 
 was not by any means the only monster- precursor 
 of the real monster-meetings of 1843. 
 
 At four or five other places^ in the interval be- 
 tween the summer of 1840 and the opening of the 
 parliamentary session of 1841, there were also 
 large Kepeal meetings — not less than from 25,000 
 to 30,000 people at any one of them. Indeed, 
 they were then considered so large as to attract 
 attention and remark at a very early period of the 
 session. 
 
 At any moment of the brief duration of the 
 latter, Lord Stanley could have carried his bill 
 for the further restriction of Irish parliamentary 
 franchises, had he so chosen. But, notwithstanding 
 his declarations when brino-ino; forward the same 
 measure in former years, that the necessity for it 
 
PRETENDED COALITION. 9 
 
 was most urgent and Imminent, and that all who 
 opposed any difficulties in its way ought to con- 
 sider themselves responsible for the repetition and 
 continuation of what he declared to be crying 
 evils and iniquities in the existing system, he no 
 sooner had the power (by reason of tlie gradual 
 ebbing out of the Liberal majority, and stranding 
 of the Ministerial bark) to push effectively, and 
 procure the enactment as law of this great remedy 
 so recommended by him, than all at once his 
 ardour slackened; and neither tlien, nor during 
 the two or three subsequent years that he held 
 office under Sir Robert Peel, did he take one step 
 towards what had so long been with him a prime 
 object. 
 
 In fact, Ireland, that had been so long made use 
 of as a pretext for assaulting the Liberal Ministry 
 of the day, was, in tliis, the final session of that 
 Ministry's term of office, allowed to drop nearly 
 altogether out of sight and thought. The object 
 was accomplished. The unpopularity in England, 
 of the Liberal Ministry was brought about and 
 established. The calumnious cry of a coalition 
 and disgraceful barter between the Whigs and the 
 leading Irish representatives (that cry which was 
 
 B 3 
 
10 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 made such base use of a few years later in Ireland, 
 and with equal absence of foundation in fact,) 
 had done its work, and the final battle could now 
 be given on purely English ground. Accordingly 
 the Chancellor of the Exchequer's budget for the 
 year, with its attendant infinitesimal doses of 
 Oorn-Laio and Commercial lleform^ was selected as 
 the occasion for giving the coup -de-grace ; the 
 " Irish hobby-horses" (as Poulett Thompson after- 
 wards denominated tliem) of the Whig Ministry, 
 being allowed to sink quietly out of notice and of 
 thought. 
 
 Early in the month of May in that year, (1841,) 
 I was despatched by my father to arrange some 
 matters in Ireland connected with the approaching 
 general elections. The followino; were amono; tlie 
 letters that he Avrote to me from London, while I 
 was engaged upon this mission. 
 
 " London, May 21, 1841. 
 
 " My dearest John, 
 
 •X- ^ ^ * iH 
 
 ^' * * I think I 7nust go to Dublin 
 
 next week, but in the meantime act for me, and 
 act as if I was not to go over — cautiously, but 
 firmly. 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 11 
 
 4?- 4f 4f ^ ^ 
 
 " First, — as to Dublin city : — 
 
 " Is it possible to get a second Repeal candidate 
 for that city? I fear not. I went over with some 
 friends here the likely names, but found nobody 
 whom we could hope to prevail on to stand. 
 
 Consult Ray and the Committee. Ask his 
 
 advice confidentially. You will gain him so, — or 
 at least disarm him. 
 
 "Next, submit whether in the last resort it 
 would not be better have Mr. Hutton again, if 
 we cannot procure a second declared and desirable 
 Ilepeale7\ 
 
 *' Inquire in the most particular and most con- 
 fidential way on this subject. 
 
 " Secondly,— Dublin city again : — 
 
 "Find out from Ray what approach he has 
 made to ascertain the constituency of Dublin city. 
 Let me have a distinct answer. I do not care to 
 the value of a pint of ditch-water for the reasons 
 which prevent the precise constituency from being- 
 ascertained. All that I want is, the fact, the o)ie 
 way, or the other. 
 
 " Kilkenny city : — 
 
 " I have written to Edmond Smithwick, telling 
 
12 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 liim confidentially tliat you would address the 
 electors of Kilkenny tlie moment that you were 
 honourably disengaged from Athlone. You pro- 
 bably will hear from him. Do whatever he tells 
 you it is right for you to do. 
 
 " Athlone town : — 
 
 " As soon as you possibly can, after you receive 
 this letter, see my friend O'Beirne, and tell him 
 how you are situated as to Kilkenny; but that 
 you will arrange everything so as to aid the 
 Liberal candidate for Athlone ; that I should 
 prefer him to any other whomsoever — a preference 
 he certainly deserves for his disinterested attach- 
 ment to us in reference to that town ; that you 
 and I will give him every assistance in our power; 
 that there are other candidates spoken of, namely, 
 
 Mr. , (to whom I must in a day or two 
 
 write,) and who, if lie stand, and that O'Beirne 
 refuses, (I should have the refusal first,) will gladly 
 employ as his agent. 
 
 "But, above all things, see whether O'Beirne 
 will not at once accept the candldatesJiip. Urge 
 him to it, and let him go down at once and pre- 
 occupy the voters. This may be of vital im- 
 portance. Not a minute should be lost. The 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 13 
 
 Tories will spend money in hanclfuls, and they 
 should be forestalled in canvassing, while yet 
 there is no corruption in the market. 
 
 " If O'Beirne will not stand, I think he and 
 
 you should take post-horses and go down to ; 
 
 his father is dying, and he may wish to be in 
 Parliament. Do you and O'Beirne put him in the 
 right way, and give him all the aid in your power. 
 
 " If neither O'Beirne nor will stand, there 
 
 is, I believe, a candidate ready; but one whom I 
 should postpone to any faithful Irishman. 
 
 " Do not read nor show this letter to the Com- 
 mittee, nor to anybody save to Ray, in whom I 
 place unlimited confidence. Let, however, no- 
 thing prevent you from seeing O'Beirne at once. 
 
 •X- ^ 4f ^ ijc 
 
 " I enclose you a note I got from . I am 
 
 sure that will not, and he must not, under 
 
 existing circumstances, create a row in . I 
 
 will, if it be necessary, go down myself to coun- 
 teract him if he do, and to canvass for . 
 
 " Ever your tenderly affectionate Father, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell. 
 "John O'Connell, M.P." 
 
14 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ''London, 26 May, 1841. 
 "My dearest John, 
 
 "There are no news of consequence. The 
 result of the debate on PeePs motion to-morrow is 
 not as yet even guessed at. 
 
 "It is thought that Lord Worsley, (present 
 Earl of Yarborough,) and other corwlato men, 
 who voted against us on the last motion, will vote 
 with us upon this. The debate will, I suppose, 
 last several days. 
 
 " If the Ministers are beaten, it will hurry the 
 dissolution of Parliament; that, however, is the 
 only effect that it will have. 
 
 " I have written to Kilkenny an answer to some 
 
 resolutions that have been passed and published 
 
 there. I concluded my letter with proposing you 
 
 for their choice. You will, I make no doubt, 
 
 hear the result from the Secretary. I take it 
 
 almost for granted that you will be returned. 
 ^ * ^ * ^. 
 
 " 28^7i May. — I am so torn to" pieces, that I 
 could not finish my letter to you yesterday, or 
 the day before. 
 
 " The time is come when the City of Dublin 
 must ascertain who is to be the second candidate 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 15 
 
 at the approaching election. Is it not cruel at 
 
 such a moment to distract our attention by 
 
 's personalities and bye-battles ! I am ex- 
 ceedingly displeased at his conduct, and am con- 
 vinced that he must at any risk be stopped in his 
 reckless career. Steele, as usual, beliaved admir- 
 ably in the chair. And I must say I am delighted 
 
 with your conduct, and your speech, or 
 
 rather speeches. My beloved John, you do give 
 me . You were, from the ne- 
 cessity of your position, obliged to treat with 
 
 too much consideration. But he must not meddle 
 
 any more with or : 
 
 " It is not serving the country to make wrangles 
 or quarrels. Wkaf is desirable to be done can 
 nemr be accomplished even by a Bepeal triumph 
 over dissentients from Repeal in this or that loca- 
 lity* We want to convince, not to insult; and 
 it would be better to do nothing than to excite 
 a strong opposition. 
 
 * * * * *if 
 
 " Speak to him calmly but firmly. And beg of 
 him, in my name, to give us his best energies in 
 the struggle to save Dublin ; to help us to seek 
 out a second Eepealer ; and if he cannot, and xce 
 
16 PARLIABIENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 cannot get one — then to get us as good a substi- 
 tute as possible. 
 
 " I enclose Hutton's letter to me. I am at 
 liberty to have it published. Read it therefore at 
 the Association Meeting on Monday ; but prepare 
 the speakers to treat him — Ilutton — with the 
 consideration that he deserves on every account, 
 public and private. Impress upon them that he 
 has a considerable following, especially of Dissen- 
 ters. Our cause needs the support of every class; 
 and we should show them that we value their aid, 
 as well as that of other Protestants. Nothing, 
 therefore, should be said to give just cause for 
 irritation. Get a veil of oblivion thrown over such 
 parts of his public conduct as have displeased the 
 people. * * * * 
 
 " Of all men living not pledged to Kepeal, 
 I would desire to see George Roe in Parliament, 
 if he could be ""ot to stand. But that I fear is 
 ho2:>eless. 
 
 " If John Ennis will declare himself a Repealer, 
 he would be a good man. 
 
 " I wish you to go as soon as possible to , 
 
 and set him quite right as to my opinions respect- 
 ing Lord Kildare. 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 17 
 
 " Indeeclj I wish you to know my exact thoughts 
 on this as on other points. As far as I am per- 
 sonally concerned^ I should icish to have him as a 
 colleague. It is unnecessary to say, however, that 
 he should be as explicit as possible in political 
 opinion. On the whole he would make an excel- 
 lent Government candidate ; and I repeat, that as 
 far as I am personally concerned, I would be very 
 glad of his coming forward. 
 
 " I really have a veneration for his family, 
 notwithstanding the apathy of the present duke. 
 
 " But you must distinctly warn , that / am 
 
 not to decide for the popular party In Dublin. 
 They must be consulted. I would readily do all 
 I could in favour of Lord Kildare ; but I cannot 
 pledge myself for the party which supports me. 
 They certainly would prefer to try the battle with 
 an out-and-out Repealer. 
 
 " But if they cannot get such, I should hope, 
 and indeed I do believe, they would support the 
 young marquess. 
 
 "It will be very difficult to fight Carlow. There 
 must be a protection fund provided, otherwise the 
 destruction of the unfortunate tenantry after the 
 election will be terrible. If they can get no other 
 
18 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 candidate to stand along with Ashton Yates, I 
 suppose I must give them your brother Daniel ; 
 though it will be very hard on me to have to bear 
 the expense of so many elections. I will of course 
 go down to Carlow at once when wanted, and go 
 from parish to parish agitating. 
 
 " I will write off for Dan at once, (my brother 
 was at Florence at the time,) and meanwhile 
 hold myself in readiness to go down at call and 
 work for him. But those who are urging me to 
 this trouble, risk, and expense, must recollect that 
 protection for the tenantry by some species of an 
 indemnity fund will be absolutely necessary, as 
 there will assuredly be plenty of evictions after 
 the struggle. 
 
 " My accounts from Carlow say that under the 
 circumstances I mention, we should succeed — viz. 
 ultimate protection for the tenantry, — immediate 
 and extensive agitation, — and a son of mine. 
 
 " I entirely approve of what you have done in 
 the matter of the elections. 
 
 " Great uncertainty prevails as to what is to 
 be the ministerial fate on Peel's motion. The 
 majority either way will be very small. Our 
 friends expect to have it. The public mind seems 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 19 
 
 coming round. There never was such a change 
 in their favour as on the free-trade question. 
 
 " I will write two letters to-morrow. One to 
 be read at the Association; the other for your 
 discretion. 
 
 " Ever, darling John, 
 
 " Your tenderly fond Father, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 " London, May 29, 1841. 
 
 '' My dearest John, 
 
 " I send to Ray a long letter for the Associa- 
 tion. But I want you not to read to that body, 
 or to print, Hutton's letter. He would be too far 
 committed if that letter were published, and we 
 should leave him a locus j^oGnitentiw after he sees 
 my letter to the Repealers. I have, you see, 
 changed my mind since I wrote my last letter. 
 
 " See , and communicate to him all I write 
 
 to you. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " Announce at the Association as a fact I 
 assured you of, that Ashton Yates stands again 
 
20 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 for Carlovv county with my son Dan. Announce 
 tliis after my letter is read, so as not to spoil the 
 effect of that letter. ]\Iy great object is to make 
 Carlow the Clare of the Kepeal — urge this point. 
 
 " I will send my address for Dan by the train 
 as a parcel to-morrow, or next day by post. 
 
 " Tell Davis, with my regards, that he is not 
 aware of the great delicacy there is in managing 
 
 ; principally because jealousies amongst 
 
 themselves are easily excited. Tell him tlie want 
 of funds is a decisive reason for not urging the 
 Repeal as we otherwise would. This is really 
 the secret of our weakness. I will press the ap- 
 pointment of Repeal wardens until every parish 
 is provided with that machinery. 
 
 " There never was the least idea of 
 
 standing for Dublin. lie and I would be awkward 
 colleagues. 
 
 " Tell , I believe that all parties at 
 
 Athlone are favourable to O'Bcirne. I wrote to 
 all I could on his behalf. h< * h< 
 
 ''Yours, my beloved John, 
 " Most tenderly, 
 
 '' Daniel O'Connell. 
 
 " John O'Connell, Esq. 
 
THE " YOUNG IRELAND" PARTY. 2 1 
 
 " Announce, also, that Gishorne stands for Car- 
 low town. At least, so I have been assured. 
 
 " Take equal care that Mr. Hutton's letter does 
 not get into print. 
 
 " Tell — , that I believe Hutton made his 
 
 peace with the grocers. They ar^ a most valuable 
 class of men, and deserve his attention." 
 
 The *' Davis " mentioned in the [fifth paragraph 
 of the foregoing, was the talented and ardent 
 founder of that section of the Repealers which 
 came to be known much later as the " Younar 
 Ireland" party. 
 
 He was a man, it is needless to say, of great 
 literary talent, and of a highly informed and 
 cultivated mind, with extraordinary powers of 
 retaining and utilizing whatever he had once ac- 
 quired, and a constant thirst for new intellectual 
 acquisitions. Had his judgment been as matured 
 as were his literary tastes, and above all, if 
 a few years more had been allowed for the pro- 
 cess in which his mind was so evidently and so 
 admirably engaged, of self-purification from pre- 
 judices imbibed as it were with his mother's milk, 
 and fostered and strengthened by the sectarian 
 
22 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 influences to which he was subjected by the acci- 
 dents of birth and position, there can be no doubt 
 that he would have acted a prominent part upon 
 the political stage. As it was, he created a 
 new party, and one which, if he had lived to influ- 
 ence its counsels, might have escaped the shoals 
 upon which it has made shipwreck since his death. 
 
 In 1841, he had not as yet come actively 
 forward in politics, but was evidently preparing 
 himself so to do. I believe indeed that he was 
 even then connected with a newspaper advocating 
 Repeal politics, the Dublin Weekly Register, as 
 at least an occasional contributor. 
 
 The part which Mr. O'Connell was under, in 
 fact, a moral necessity of taking at the general 
 elections of the year 1841, like that which was 
 expected from him at all the elections during the 
 last seventeen years of his life, was not a very 
 easy nor a very limited one. 
 
 He was consulted on every thiiig, by every body, 
 from everyiohere. He had to cheer up and stimu- 
 late, to caution and to check ; to mediate between 
 contending sections of the popular party ; to allay 
 jealousies, smooth down irritations, suggest or 
 express opinions upon candidates, write a multi- 
 
THE "O'CONNELL RENT." 23 
 
 tude of public addresses, and lose no time in 
 attending to each and every one of tliese par- 
 ticulars, lest offended vanity should make the 
 neglected party abandon exertion, or throw him- 
 self into the hands of the anti-popular party. 
 
 The interests of a man's own locality, like those 
 of his own self, always appear to him to be of 
 paramount importance; and Mr. O'Connell had 
 to deal with each case thus referred to him 
 for counsel, opinion, and assistance, as if it were 
 the most important of all, and had caught and 
 engrossed his whole attention. 
 
 In addition, he had to arrange for his own 
 election and that of his sons, and, of course, 
 provide what funds were required. Nor did his 
 pecuniary efforts end here ; for wherever there 
 was a difficult election, he was looked to as a 
 species of national treasurer, and answered the 
 call to the best of his power. 
 
 There never was any species of public contri- 
 bution of which so much returned into the hands 
 of the public, as of the " Tribute'' or " O'Connell 
 Eent," as was indifferently called the magnificent 
 annual collection made by the people of Ireland 
 to enable my father to fight their battles in 
 
24 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Parliament. Even in ordinary years, large 
 amounts went back in subscriptions of all kinds, 
 religious and political ; but in years of general 
 elections considerably more than one-half was 
 disbursed in the expenses of the elections and 
 election petitions of which lie undertook the 
 burthen. 
 
 The Carlow election, to whicli reference is 
 made in Mr. O'ConnelFs letters, was one of the 
 fiercest contested in Ireland. Carlow is a small 
 county, with — what is unusual in Ireland — a resi- 
 dent proprietary big and little ; and all Tory, or 
 very nearly so. Tlie unscrupulous use of inti- 
 midation, petty persecution, and bribery by the 
 squires great and small, who were always at hand 
 and ready to assist each other in their mal- 
 practices, had completely broken the spirit of 
 the middle classes, and seriously depressed that 
 of the people. 
 
 It was, therefore, a task far beyond the ordi- 
 nary business of agitation to '^ create a soul 
 beneath the ribs of this death" of all public 
 feeling and patriotic exertion. 
 
 The following extract of a letter from my 
 father when actually on the spot, will give some 
 
CANDIDATE FOR DUBLIN. 25 
 
 idea of the difficulties in the way. The letter in 
 question first refers to the attempt to get a 
 candidate for Dublin. 
 
 " Carlow, June 18, 1841. 
 <f ^ ^ * 
 
 "It is a bitter disappointment not to have 
 Lord Kildare stand; but as we must quietly 
 resign ourselves to get no work out of that family, 
 let not one angry word be spoken, nor one single 
 reflection on the duke's conduct. He is sadly 
 faint-hearted, but there is no use in his beino- 
 told so. 
 
 " We have glorious prospects here, if we could 
 but work them out. The people are rousing, and 
 the Catholic clergy are, for the first time for 
 years, taking their station. One barony, that in 
 which the Kavanagh property is situate, was 
 remarkable for the indisposition of the clergy to 
 agitation. Well, we have got them all in active 
 motion. If the Whig candidate got the help 
 from the Whigs which he ought, and which they 
 can give, we should succeed gloriously. 
 
 " With respect to our own affairs, the prospect 
 is of course clouded by the refusal of the duke 
 
 VOL. IL C 
 
26 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 to allow liis son to stand. I do not believe the 
 deputation will have any weight whatsoever with 
 him. I have known him visited by several depu- 
 tations to beg of him to take part in several 
 proceedings. I never knew any deputation to 
 succeed, lie never yields : so much the worse 
 for us. I see the parishes are meeting right 
 well" 
 
 Four of us w^ent down from Dublin to " open 
 trenches " for this purpose, some four weeks pre- 
 vious to the election, and to prepare the way for 
 my father. 
 
 Our party were, poor Tom Steele, Arthur 
 Ffrench, late Secretary to the late Reform and 
 Precursor Associations, Thomas Keynolds, now 
 Marshal of the City of Dublin, and myself. 
 
 Of these, the two first are in their quiet graves. 
 Of my beloved friend Tom Steele, I have spoken 
 in a previous chapter. Arthur Ffrench was a 
 man far less known in political life, not having 
 engaged in it till about two years before ; but he 
 liad already commanded respect by his activity, 
 sincerity and efficiency. He acted as agent to 
 the Kepeal candidates. Mr. Reynolds, as already 
 
THE CARLOW ELECTION. 27, 
 
 stated, is now an active, ever busy, and most, 
 efficient officer of the municipality of Dublin. , 
 
 We had forty long Irish miles (nearly forty- 
 eight of the English measurement) of a hilly and 
 dusty road, in an open carriage, with a hot sum- 
 mer sun above, and tremendous clouds of dust 
 below, to endure ere we reached our destination. 
 Here we had no sooner arrived than an enormous 
 crowd collected, and Ave were compelled, without 
 a moment's respite, to " go into action," and give 
 them a specimen of our astonishing eloquence. 
 One of the Avindows of the drawing-room of the 
 hotel where we had entered was removed bodily, 
 and we presented our blowzed and dusted faces 
 and persons to the delighted gaze of the patriotic 
 inhabitants of Carlow. 
 
 Mr. Reynolds Avas the first to address them, and 
 in the course of his harangue enlarged much upon 
 the admirable " temperance movement," (then in 
 the hey-day of its progress and prosperity,) of tli6 
 precepts and practice of Avliich he was (and is) a 
 most rigid observer. But the effects of our seven 
 or eight hours' boiling and baking on the road had 
 been to enflame his visage most suspiciously ; and 
 it Avas Avhispered among us that a fellow in the 
 
 c 2 
 
28 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 crowd, who was not quite such a passionate admirer 
 of Father Mathew, was heard to remark, 
 
 " Faith, that gentleman spates very finely of 
 temperance, to be sure ; but just look at his face ; 
 sure, if he doesn^t drink, he ought to take doion 
 the si(;?i!" 
 
 After this, it required double courage in the 
 rest of our party (none of whom were qualified, as 
 Mr. Reynolds was, to exhort to total abstinence) 
 to present our portentous visages to the censorious 
 multitude. 
 
 On the following day, Sunday, after having 
 heard mass, 8:c., we started in a hired carriage-and- 
 four to Tallow, a small village about twelve miles 
 from Carlow", known to be the rendezvous, on 
 Sundays, of a great number of freeholders. After 
 the last mass there, the freeholders and people 
 assembled, and for three long hours did we dis- 
 course "most excellent imisic" to them, stimu- 
 lating and cheering them up to the approaching 
 fight. We left the place amid several hearty 
 cheers, and returned in high spirits and hope to 
 our head-quarters at Carlow; when all our exulta- 
 tion was damped and destroyed, by being informed 
 by one or two of the local leaders, that they con- 
 
THE CARLOW ELECTION. 29 
 
 sklered enough liad been done that day for a week 
 or a fortnio;ht, and that our best course would be 
 to take post-horses next morning and return to 
 Dublin ! 
 
 Tom Steele looked at me — I looked at Tom 
 Steele — Kejnolds and Ffrench exchanged glances 
 of dismayed astonishment ; — and for a while Ave 
 had not a word to say ! Here we had been 
 brought down, away from our various occupations 
 in Dublin, expressly for Xh^ purpose of agitating, 
 and of agitating actively, in the short interval to 
 elapse ere the election should commence. We 
 liad made a first step with apparent success, — 
 advanced well " into the bowels of the land," — and 
 were we now to strike our tents, and deloger saiis 
 trompette f 
 
 At length I mustered courage to say, that we 
 had not come down upon our own motion, — that 
 we had been specially solicited, — that it was for 
 no personal pleasure or advantage we had come, 
 but at great personal inconvenience and trouble, 
 to discharge what we believed a duty, and serve 
 the good cause as far as in us might lie ; — that 
 wdiat we had seen that day gave us hope that the 
 people could be roused, even from the depths of 
 
30 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 the slavish depression into which the active, inces- 
 sant, and grinding petty tyranny of their local 
 oppressors, constantly resident and constantly 
 combined against them, had plunged so large a 
 portion of the farmer and labouring classes; — that 
 Ave really should not know what account to give in 
 Dublin of a mission so abruptly and ridiculously 
 terminated ; — and, finally, that until better reason 
 should be given than any as yet mentioned for 
 our running away^ we would not only stand our 
 ground, but push the agitation to the utmost 
 extent of our opportunities and powers. 
 
 This declaration set matters at rest for the 
 moment ; but next morning, while in deep 
 consultation with a large number of gentlemen 
 connected with the town and neighbourhood, an 
 excellent clergyman, known to be an Anti- 
 Kepealer, suddenly came in ; and, scarcely waiting 
 for the ordinary introductions, assailed me, and my 
 father through me, for presuming to agitate, and 
 to introduce the name of my brother. 
 
 To this new, pleasant allocution I quietly re- 
 plied by shoioing my credentials, and informing him 
 of the manner in which my father, after making 
 every effort in his power to procure some one else, 
 
THE CARLOW ELECTION. 31 
 
 had at length been compelled to consent to my 
 brother's nomination, rather than even one of the 
 Conservative candidates should have a walk over 
 
 the course. 
 
 My respected assailant waxed even warmer, and 
 was proceeding to lecture extensively on politics 
 in general, when I made appeal to the gentlemen 
 in the room — told them I was quite ready, on the 
 instant, to withdraw my brother's name— and cer- 
 tainly should do so, if they did not confirm what 
 I had said, &c. &c. 
 
 On this, there was a general insurrection against 
 the worthy clergyman, my post-horses were coun- 
 termanded, and we all sat down to dinner together, 
 and became excellent friends. 
 
 A week afterwards I had to go to Kilkenny on 
 the business of my own election ; and while there 
 some 120 or 130 Carloio freeholders were sent in to 
 our especial care. It appeared that the landlord- 
 practice at the Carlow elections had been, to 
 " sweep the country side" of the voters several days 
 before the election, and lodge and keep them com- 
 fortably under watch and ward within the demesne 
 walls of one or other of the candidates, and so 
 secure them from being operated upon by agitation. 
 
32 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Refusal to submit to this species of abduction 
 was considered as high and grave an offence as 
 refusal to vote according to the landlord's wish, 
 and punished accordingly. 
 
 The popular party at the election of 1841 
 retaliated this practice on the landlords. For 
 three whole weeks we had, as I have said, 120 or 
 130 voters of the neighbouring county snugly 
 quartered in an old brewery in the city of Kil- 
 kenny, fed most abundantly, entertained during 
 the day with the music of the temperance bands 
 of the city, and during the evening with political 
 speechifi cation, — a strong and active Avatch of true 
 Kilkenny boys being meantime maintained within 
 and without, day and night, to prevent desertions 
 and invasions. 
 
 The feats o^ su'cdloicing which some of these poor 
 fellows accomplished during the two or three first 
 days, while they were quite new to good feeding, 
 and our commissariat was not sufficiently regu- 
 lated, were wonderful. One poor fellow, over six 
 feet in height, and nearly five in the breadth of 
 the shoulders — a bony, gaunt, lank-looking crea- 
 ture — made the following morning meal, greatly 
 to the dismay of the caterer and contractor: — : 
 
A MORNING MEAL,* • S3 
 
 Two plates of cold corn-beef; 
 Two ditto of mutton ; 
 Bread, butter, and cheese, to no end; 
 Two bowls of coffee ; 
 Three large bowls of tea ; 
 A bottle of soda-water; (how got, history 
 sayeth not, nor yet how it was relished;) 
 j\nd, finally, 
 
 A glass of whiskey ! (This item was " con- 
 
 trahand.^^) 
 
 On the day of " nomination" at Carlow, we set 
 
 out from Kilkenny, with our " caged birds," to 
 
 traverse the tAventy-two Irisli miles intervening 
 
 between us and the scene of action. 
 
 First came a stage-coach, loaded with the 
 "agitators" — Carlow and Kilkenny men inter- 
 mixed; tlien one of Bianconi's long stage -cars, 
 with a temperance-band to enliven us on the road ; 
 then twenty jaunting-cars, with the voters, and 
 a guard car bringing up the rear. On either side 
 we had an escort of County Kilkenny farmers, on 
 their stout hacks, to guard our convoy from any 
 guerilla charges that the enemy might take it into 
 their heads to make. 
 
 Within five miles of Carlow we received a 
 
 c 3 
 
34 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 message from my father^ that lie did not wish amj 
 sticks to be brought into the town, for fear of any 
 disturbance that might give the enemy an advan- 
 tage. Those who know how inseparable the Irish 
 peasant ordinarily is from his beloved stick, will 
 estimate the difficulty that we at first anticipated 
 to induce obedience to the intimation just received. 
 But out of the hundreds that by this time had 
 gathered around us, not one refused to comply, 
 when the reason was stated ; and they chose a 
 novel, and to some of us rather an inconvenient 
 way of disarming themselves — that of flinging the 
 sticks high into the air, giving or intending to 
 give them a direction that Avould cause them to 
 fall into the fields at either side. 
 
 The intention not being always quite carried out, 
 such of us as were on the elevated front box and 
 roof of the stage-coach had several very narrow 
 escapes for our heads ; and much as I admired the 
 realization of the old descriptions of '^the air 
 being darkened with missile weapons," I was by 
 no means sorry when the hurtling storm was 
 over, and we were at liberty to proceed, with our 
 heads as unbroken as there was now a guarantee 
 that the peace would be. 
 
THE CARLOW ELECTION. 35 
 
 The tactics of our opponents were to affect as 
 much alarm as possible ; and accordingly we found 
 a strong military force to greet us at the entrance 
 of the town. But our very peaceful demeanour 
 procured us entrance, and at last we had our 
 convoy safely lodged in a long hay -store attached 
 to the hotel ; where, during the succeeding night, 
 they had a very narrow escape of being all burned 
 to death, owing to the criminal carelessness of a 
 man who had undertaken the duty of watching 
 at tlie head of the ladder that led up to their 
 abode, and who fell asleep, dropping his lanthorn 
 among the hay. 
 
 We had, during the five polling days that 
 ensued, several flagrant specimens of the *^ fan- 
 tastic tricks" that partisans " decked in a little 
 brief authority" can play with impunity. The 
 sheriff, sub -sheriff, and magistrates who chose to 
 act, were all of the other side. They secured for 
 their own party all the convenient rooms and other 
 accommodations of the Court-house ; leaving . us 
 nothing but what they could not possibly deny, 
 and what was open to every interruption. They 
 availed themselves of every rumour to shut gates 
 and doors, and march soldiers and police in the 
 
36 PARLTAMENTAJIY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 way of our voters as we souglit to bring tliem np; 
 and when we had surmounted the difficulties and 
 escaped the perils outside, we were set upon from 
 ambuscades in the winding passages inside, and 
 the wretched trembling voters sought to be wrested 
 from us, and conducted to the tally rooms of the 
 Conservatives, where agents and rent-bailiffs were 
 in waiting to scare the poor creatures out of all 
 idea of independence. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this, we were doing well, 
 when on the third or fourth day the gates to the 
 Court-house were all closed of a sudden; and 
 when we remonstrated on the outrageous injustice 
 of thus interrupting us, we were informed that a 
 report had just come in that a large force of 
 armed peasantry were marching from the DuhUn 
 side upon the town ! Cavalry, infantry, police, 
 and artillei'ij ivith lighted matches proceeded out to 
 meet the foe, and after nearly two hours' absence 
 returned with two men, three women, and a boy, 
 whom they had met on the road. 
 
 Meantime we had applied to the sherilF for the 
 keys, to get admission to the Court-house. The 
 sheriff referred us to his deputy: the deputy re- 
 ferred us back to him ; and when we went, we 
 
OUR DEFEAT. 37 
 
 could not find the principal. Having at length 
 hunted him out, we were again referred by him to 
 the sub-sherifF, who in turn was missing ; and thus 
 for nearly three hours was the polling stopped, to 
 the great discouragement of the trembling serfs 
 of the landlords whom we had in our tally rooms, 
 and to the great advantage of the other party. 
 
 Finally, we were defeated by a majority of 
 seven : those seven being actually men who de- 
 serted from us in one of the polling booths, 
 frightened by the shouts, execrations, and threats, 
 with which their old masters and their allies 
 overwhelmed them, when going up to vote. 
 
 An Englishman would naturally ask. Was there 
 no help for all this— at least, no remedy afterwards? 
 There was none ; the Whig government were too 
 much occupied with packing their trunks, preparing 
 to leave office; and the new Tory government 
 Avould have realized to us the old adage of what 
 befell the unfortunate gentleman who thought to 
 go to law with the monarch of the nether regions; 
 the court being held heloic. Money we had none 
 for the expenses of an election petition ; and if 
 we had, the Parliament of 1841 was not likely to 
 have furnished a very impartial tribunal. 
 
38 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 An indemnity fund of several thousand pounds 
 was however collected in subscriptions ; one gen- 
 tleman, the late Major Eryan, of the county of 
 Kilkenny, giving, with a munificence for which 
 he was distinguished upon all public and especially 
 on charitable occasions, no less a sum than 500/. 
 Many poor fellows who suffered for their honest 
 votes were relieved ; and if a little more judgment 
 had been exercised, scarce one would have ulti- 
 mately suffered. But to save one farmer alone, 
 over whom an enormous arrear of rent was hanging, 
 more than a thousand pounds were most injudi- 
 ciously spent; and the collections which my father 
 had succeeded in causing to be set on foot in other 
 parts of Ireland to come in aid of the Carlow men, 
 were checked and finally stopped by the unfortu- 
 nate resolution adopted by the local agitators of 
 that county, not to let the result of their own 
 efforts for the same purpose be generally known. 
 
 I have been thus minute in describing the 
 occurrences of this election, because they afford a 
 striking proof how utterly misplaced the charge 
 of intimidation, so frequently brought against the 
 popular party in Ireland, would often be found if 
 the facts of each case were known. There was 
 
MR. KAVANAGH. 39 
 
 Intimidation certainly, and gross and flagrant inti- 
 midation; but it was exercised against the people: 
 and there was persecution ; but the poor creatures 
 who Yoted for their country were its victims, and 
 not those who submissively bowed to the arbitrary 
 will of the local squires. 
 
 The Conservative party had succeeded in the 
 election contest of the preceding year, by a ma- 
 jority of upwards of 150. In the interval, cir- 
 cumstances had occurred to strengthen them still 
 more ; new registries of sure voters having been 
 made, and the tenure of what they called rebel- 
 lious, that is to say, conscientious voters, having 
 expired. And yet, we not only beat down their 
 majority, but Avould have gained the victory only 
 for the chance defection of a few men at the last 
 moment. 
 
 Mr. Kavanagh, one of the Conservative candi- 
 dates at this election, had a strong hold upon the 
 clannish affections of the people. He was reputed 
 (I believe with justice) to be a lineal descendant 
 of the O'Kavanaghs, Milesian princes of Leinster; 
 and his large property included a good deal that 
 his family had held in fee from time immemorial. 
 
 Throughout the penal laws the family had 
 
40 TARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 remained Catholic, preserving tlieir property by 
 virtue of the antiquity of the title ; that iniquitous 
 code not having had a retrospective operation. At 
 length, when the storm was some time blown over, 
 and the sun beginning to shine out once more upon 
 the Catholics, (they having not only been freed 
 from some of the more cruel restraints and penal- 
 ties, but also admitted to a portion of tlieir poli- 
 tical rights,) the then head of the family, frightened 
 by the passing cloud of the occurrences of 1798, 
 abandoned the faith of his forefatliers, and became 
 a Protestant. 
 
 This circumstance weakened, but could not en- 
 tirely counteract the old traditionary devotion to 
 the family, that made the canvassing of his tenantry 
 at the election of 1841 one of our greatest diffi- 
 culties and impediments. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL TO niS FRIENDS, REFERRING TO VARIOtrS 
 PERIODS OF HIS POLITICAL CAREER. — MR. HENRY GRATTAN. — ANTI- 
 PATHY SHOWN BY GEORGE THE FOURTH TOWARDS MR. o'cONNELL. 
 
 FURTHER EXTRACTS FROM MR. o'CONNELL's CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 In these loose, disjointed memoranda of political 
 matters in and out of Parliament, it will not be 
 considered out of place to give other letters of Mr. 
 O'Connell, besides those which he happened to 
 address to myself, and relating to other and 
 interesting periods of his protracted and arduous 
 political career. 
 
 The following, then, have reference to the great 
 event of the year 1829, the carrying of the Ca- 
 tholic Relief, or, as it was generally denominated 
 in Ireland, the Catholic Emancipation Bill, as also 
 to the circumstances of his own rejection by vote 
 of the House of Commons, when, first elected for 
 
42 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Clare, and seeking to take liis seat for that county 
 in tlie year just named. 
 
 Many of these letters were addressed to James 
 Sugrue, Esq., a relative of Mr. O'Connell's, and 
 one of the kindest, truest, most devoted friends 
 that man ever had. In addition to his personal 
 kindness and devotion towards my father — whose 
 private affairs he may be said to have managed, 
 as it were, during upwards of fourteen busy years, 
 gratuitously, and at exceeding trouble to himself, 
 James Sugrue had been also singularly useful and 
 efficient in working the details of the Catholic 
 agitation in the Committees at the Corn Exchange. 
 This respected gentleman is several years dead. 
 
 The other letters were addressed to the late 
 Edward Dwyer, Esq., the very able and truly 
 estimable Secretary of the Catholic Association. 
 
 Of his merits it can scarcely be necessary to 
 speak, to those who have taken any interest in 
 Irish affairs during the " Emancipation" struggle. 
 He rendered the most important, and indeed, in- 
 valuable service to the Catholic body, and to the 
 cause : services such as could not be surpassed. 
 Mr. O'Connell ever held him in the very highest 
 estimation, and frequently declared that he con^ 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 43 
 
 sklered it a most happy circumstance for the 
 popular cause, to have had such a man in the 
 difficult, laborious, and most responsible office of 
 Secretary ; and that but for Edward Dwyer, he 
 could not have carried on the Association. 
 
 Mr. Dwyer is also dead several years. Indeed, 
 looking back to the comparatively brief and recent 
 space of time within which the Catholic Associa- 
 tion rose, flourished, conquered, and passed away, 
 it is startling to think how many of those whom we 
 recollect to have seen (and heard) among the most 
 prominent of its members, have themselves passed 
 away, and left their places vacant. 
 
 The Reverend Francis J. L'Estrange, the ex- 
 cellent, pure-hearted, single-minded, and truly 
 patriotic Friar of Clarendon Street Chapel, the 
 first, or nearly the first, who set the good example 
 to the second order of clergy, of discharging their 
 duty as fearlessly and openly as citizens, as they 
 always had done as clergymen, — his respected (and, 
 to every member of Mr. O'Connell's family, he- 
 loved) name is the first that suggests itself upon 
 the sad list of faithful servants whom poor Ireland 
 has lost. 
 
 John Brie, the faithful and the true — a man of 
 
44 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 singular promise of utility and 'practical loork in 
 the cause of Ireland, one who had already done 
 much in her service during the few years that he 
 was spared to work in it, and who would have 
 assuredly achieved high and honourable distinction 
 in his profession, (that of the law,) had he lived 
 after emancipation had opened to Catholics the 
 legitimate rewards of skill and ability, comes next 
 to memory. Between him and Mr. O'Connell 
 there was the warmest and fastest friendship 
 throughout his short career. 
 
 Martin Lanigan, John Redmond, the eccentric, 
 wayward, but not ungiftcd Lawless, Siigrue, 
 Edward Dwycr, Steele, and other honoured names, 
 crowd upon the mind. It is sad indeed to think 
 that Ireland has lost such men — such tried, able, 
 and devoted servants ; and in this present hour of 
 her deepest misery, the thought of what they 
 might have effected for her relief is a new and an 
 increased affliction. 
 
 Of him whom these true patriots so readily 
 and cheerfully recognised and followed as their 
 political leader, it is not for the writer of these 
 pages to speak in eulogy. His deeds are before 
 the world; and it is for posterity to pronounce 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 45 
 
 upon them, when the heats, jealousies, passions, 
 and prejudices of the present time shall have 
 passed away. 
 
 The following is the first in date of the letters 
 referred to at the commencement of this chapter. 
 
 (private.) 
 
 " 19, Bury Street, St. James's, 
 March 2, 1829. 
 
 " My dear Friend, 
 
 " I have had three appeals to me on the subject 
 of the Finance Committee. How ignorant they 
 are who imagine that I have any control over 
 your measures beyond what poor influence the 
 advice of an individual may have ! 
 
 " The three claimants are — first, the Model 
 School — second, Staunton — and, third, Eev. Mr. 
 Brady. On their claims I respectfully offer my 
 advice — submitting of course the decision to the 
 wisdom of the Committee. There were, I believe, 
 1,500/. voted to the Model School, of which, I 
 believe, they did not get above 500/. If I be 
 right in this, it would appear to me that any claim 
 within the 1,500/. ought to be attended to: so 
 far, indeed, it would be my opinion that the body 
 
46 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 is pledged ; farther than that it would seem to me 
 that we ought not to go. 
 
 " As to the second^ Staunton's claim, it really 
 strikes me to be a very strong one; he never 
 would have been prosecuted but that he was the 
 organ of the Catholic body, and he was prosecuted 
 by the very worst enemies of the Catholics : he 
 is therefore strong at both sides. The counsel in 
 that cause took no fees. The bill due to jMr. 
 Scott must be comparatively light ; and suffer me 
 to add, that there is not one single agent amongst 
 the entire number of the attorneys who have so 
 nobly sustained the Catholic cause in Ireland — 
 there is not one who in my judgment deserves 
 more attention and respect than the honest, in- 
 telligent, disinterested, and spirited Scott. 
 
 " Pray speak to the Committee to give Mr. 
 Scott's and Staunton's claim the most favourable 
 consideration. Let them recollect what a present 
 Mr. Scott made of his services at the Ennis 
 election. The sum he then forgave would cover 
 this demand of Staunton. 
 
 The third was the claim of the Rev. Mr. Brady. 
 Everybody knows that his was purely an Orange 
 persecution. I beg to recommend him strongly to 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 47 
 
 the consideration of the Committee. I have only 
 to add, that if the Committee differ with me on 
 these or any of these points, they owe me no kind 
 of excuse or apology — not the least ; each indi- 
 vidual has as good a right to exercise his judgment 
 on these topics as I have, and to decide accordingly. 
 
 " The Association Bill has not as yet received 
 the Koyal Assent. You can go on receiving 
 money for ten days after the Bill passes ; — you can 
 transact all business respecting the expenditures 
 as long after the Bill becomes a law as you choose. 
 The Bill prohibits tAvo things : it abolishes the 
 name of the Catholic Association ; it prohibits 
 the receipt of rent for any public body. It leaves 
 every assembly a legal one until the Lord Lieu- 
 tenant may choose to proclaim it otherwise; so that 
 there must be a previous notice disobeyed before 
 any legal cause can occur — save by receiving rent 
 in the name or for the use of any Association or 
 Society. 
 
 " I will give further information as soon as the 
 Bill receives the Royal Assent ; but the Finance 
 Committee may be certain that for the present 
 they are quite safe in every respect. 
 
 '^ The failure of Peel at Oxford has, after all, 
 
48 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 had very little effect on the public mind. It is 
 my opinion that it has made rather a rally in our 
 favour, 
 
 " There is but one obstacle, or rather but one 
 danger — namely^ the Mng, It is said that he 
 would still disappoint the measure if he possibly 
 could ; but there seems to be no resource in point 
 of ministry since Wellington and Peel have 
 deserted. 
 
 " Perhaps we are threatened with more hos- 
 tility on the part of the king than really exists, 
 in order to mitigate our opposition to any objec- 
 tionable clause in the wings. It is now said that 
 there are to be wings to accompany the Bill, instead 
 of a tail to follow it. As we approach the actual 
 movement, every thing fills one with anxiety. 
 
 "You perceive that I am at my post, dinner- 
 speeching, letter writing, &c. I have got the 
 Kadicals with me to a man. I was a general with- 
 out troops until then ; and you knoAV that it is poiver 
 does every thing. If the Catholic Association had 
 not been powerful, we should be still prostrate. 
 "Believe me, always, 
 
 " Yours very sincerely, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell. 
 
LETTERS OF MR. OCONNELL. 49 
 
 '' P.S. The fight is over. The king has defi- 
 nitely yiekled; but I fear there will be a freehold 
 ^ving, (Half-after-five.)" 
 
 (private.) 
 
 (fTiT T^ " March Z,n2^. 
 
 "My dear Friend, 
 "I could not get a moment till now on my 
 way down to the House of Commons, where the 
 Committee is to be selected, to give you a sketch 
 of what passed between Brougham and me this day. 
 " Brougham had about an hour's conversation 
 with me; his object, to convince me that we 
 should accede to a freehold wing if it shall be 
 I)roposed. He put his arguments as strongly as 
 possible upon the expediency of not throwing out 
 the Belief Bill by opposing the freehold wing, 
 i^—marJc, as yet it is if— that measure shall be 
 proposed. 
 
 " I need not tell you that I availed myself 
 of that opportunity of urging every argument 
 against any such measure. I declared my per- 
 petual and unconquerable hostility to it ; I 
 showed that emancipation, accompanied by that 
 wiug, would rather irritate than assuao-e ; I 
 
 D 
 
50 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 showed him that the people woiihl get into worse 
 hands than ours. In short, lie left me convinced 
 that it was the duty of the Whigs to take as 
 decisive a part as possible in preventing the 
 ministry froin bringing in such a ^ving. So 
 stands the matter at present. 
 
 " It was curious that BronQ;ham should come to 
 me the very day — the morning of the day — on 
 which my Committee was and is to be formed. 
 
 *' Perhaps it w^as accident, but certainly it was 
 just the day when it was most likely that I should 
 wish to be in favour with the men who miirht 
 form that Committee. 
 
 " In haste, 
 
 " Yours most truly, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell. 
 
 "' The Committee is just struck. I take it to be 
 favourable. 
 
 "Lord William Kussell is chairman. Almost 
 all voted for the Catholics. An excellent Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 Lord W. Eussell. ]\[. Liddle. 
 
 James Brougham. T. P. Courtney. 
 
 Sir G. Eobinson. M. Look. 
 
 Robert Clia'^e. T. Eastiiope. 
 
 E. B. Cliye. M. Carew." 
 JouN Stuart. 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 51 
 
 (private.) 
 
 " 19, Bury Street, St. James's, London. 
 March 6, 1829. 
 
 " My dear Friend, 
 
 " 'And we will plant a laurel tree, 
 And we will call it Liberty.' 
 
 " Yes, there is much good. The Committee 
 have unanhnouslj decided in my favour. Peel's 
 bill for emancipation is good — very good ; frank, 
 direct, complete ; no veto, no control, no pay- 
 ment of the clergy, 
 
 "I always said that when they came to eman- 
 cipate, they would not care a bulrush about those 
 vetoistlcal arrangements which so many paltry 
 Catholics from time to time pressed on me as 
 being useful to emancipation. 
 
 " The second Bill is to prevent the extension of 
 monastic institutions, and to prevent the Catholic 
 bishops being called lords. I will stake my ex- 
 istence that I will run a coach-and-six three times 
 told through this Act. 
 
 " The third Bill is the freehold wing somewhat 
 modified ; that is, reduced to 10/. qualification. 
 This must he opposed in every shape and form. 1 
 
 d2 
 
52 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 will write, and transmit to-morrow to Ireland, an 
 address on this subject. 
 
 " There should be meetings every where to 
 petition against it; if possible, the Protestants 
 should be urged to join with the Catholics in 
 opposing it. 
 
 ** We met this day, as usual, at the Thatched 
 House Tavern. The Whigs were in conclave at 
 Sir Francis Burdett's. I moved a Kesolution 
 calling on them to oppose the freehold wing at all 
 hazards, and had it transmitted to them by Mr. 
 O'Gorman ; I understand, however, that they 
 have agreed to support it ! ! ! 
 
 *' Every honest man should join in petitioning 
 on this point without delay. Urge this in every 
 manner you can. Let St. Audeon's rally. But 
 let them confine their exertions to the freehold 
 Aving until the clergy pronounce on the otlier two 
 clauses. Perhaps an application should be made 
 on these clauses to the clergy ; but I only fear 
 the freehold wing. 
 
 " Ever yours truly, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell." 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 53 
 
 The foregoing will sufficiently prove, if proof 
 indeed were at fill required, how utterly un- 
 founded was the paltry allegation then and for 
 some years made against Mr. O'Conuell, to the 
 effect that he had bartered the rights of the forty- 
 shilling freeholders for the opening to richer 
 Catholics of the way to honours at the bar, on the 
 bench, and in the senate. 
 
 The truth is, he gave the measure for their 
 disfranchisement the most strenuous and enersietic 
 opposition. 
 
 (private.) 
 
 "19, Bury Street, St. James s, 
 March 11, 1829. 
 
 " My dear Friend, 
 
 " By the time that this reaches you, the Associ- 
 ation Suppression Act — the Lying Act — the worse 
 than Algerine Act, will be the law of the land. 
 How long it will continue so is another question. 
 I will not be in the House one fortnio-ht when I 
 shall apply for its repeal. 
 
 " How mistaken men are who suppose that the 
 history of the world will be over as soon as we are 
 emancipated ! Oh ! that will be the time to com- 
 mence the struggle for popular rights. 
 
 " But to the point : as the law stands, the 
 
54 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Finance Committee of the Association can re- 
 ceive no more money; they can sit, however, 
 for making payments and investigating accounts. 
 As to the future, my advice is, that the Catho- 
 lic rooms should be kept up by a subscription of 
 from five to ten shillings by each individual, to pay 
 current expenses of newspapers, coals, candles, 
 clerks, &c. 
 
 " It will serve as a nucleus for talking over 
 Catholic and Irish affairs. Call it the Catholic 
 Heading -rooms. A few months will enable us to 
 do better, but in the mean time a rallying point 
 of this kind is w^anting, and a reading-room is 
 just the very best you can have. 
 
 " Let me press the necessity of having such an 
 establishment, and put my name, and my sons', 
 IMaurice, Morgan, John, and Dan, as original 
 subscribers. Let us attempt to keep it on foot for 
 some months at least, if we can get [but ten sub- 
 scribers. There is no danger of the Lying Act 
 affecting us. 
 
 " So much for details — now for politics. 
 
 " I am exceedingly sorry to say that the Irish 
 forty-shilling freeholders are likely not to get any 
 support in this country. You know already that 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 55 
 
 we sent a l^esolutioii to the Whigs calling upon 
 them to resist the Disfranchisement Bill at all 
 hazards. It was I who drew it up, and Purcell 
 O'Gorman took it to Sir Francis Burdett's when 
 they were all assembled. Yet Brougham and ail 
 the party gave in. The Opposition, to a man, will 
 vote for it : it almost drives me to despair on this 
 subject ! 
 
 " I sent Lawless to stir Hunt to get up some 
 English opposition. I begged of O'Gorman Mahon 
 to call upon him this day, and I will also go myself, 
 but I expect nothing. Lawless's expedition has 
 failed — totally failed ; Hunt has got no following. I 
 Avas until now convinced that the Radicals were i n 
 some power — they are not : they are numerous, 
 l)ut they have no leaders, no system, no confidence 
 in either Henry Hunt or William Cobbettj — 
 not the least — not the least." 
 
 The remarks here made on the English Re- 
 formers in 1829 apply at the present time, 1849, 
 with almost as much accuracy ; and indeed, with 
 the single exception of the Reform Bill times, 
 the English Reformers have uniformly displayed 
 a want of unity of action, a mutual distrust and 
 
56 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 jealousy, and a consequent weakness and ineffi- 
 ciency, liigldy disastrous to the progress of good 
 government. 
 
 The successful agitation for the repeal of the 
 Corn-laws cannot be deemed an exception. That 
 agitation was sustained and brought to its triumph- 
 ant conclusion, by the aid, and the most powerfid 
 and influential aid, of many who, whether before 
 or since, never manifested any sympathy with the 
 advocates of political reform. Indeed, several of 
 the latter stood out stoutly and pertinaciously 
 ao^ainst the abolition of the duties on food : a cir- 
 cumstance of course not much to their credit as 
 Reformers, nor saying much for the soundness and 
 elevation of their views. 
 
 It has been often a source of amusement to us, 
 strangers in the English Parliament, but a source 
 of amusement not immingled with considerable 
 pain, to witness the paltry squabbles which dis- 
 unite the Englisli Keformers, and make them 
 check and embarrass each other in their parlia- 
 mentary efforts as rudely and efiectually as if they 
 had adopted the means in i'ashion amongst the 
 members of the National Assembly of France, 
 where obnoxious speakers have not infrequently 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 57 
 
 been pulled down by the tail and collar of their 
 coat. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell thus proceeds with his remarks 
 upon the English Eeformers : — 
 
 " This Is the case with the Reformers generally : 
 they are powerless by reason of the people who 
 considered themselves leaders, but who are despi- 
 cable both from their characters and their yile 
 jealousies and ill-temper. 
 
 " It is right that the friends of freedom in 
 Ireland, or at least those in Dublin, should know 
 how little assistance they can expect to receive 
 for the forty-shilling freeholders, from any portion 
 of the English Members of Parliament whatever— 
 not the least, 
 
 " You will have seen by the Duke of Welling- 
 ton's speech last night in the Lords, that he is 
 determined to carry the Bill through both Houses 
 rapidly. 
 
 '' The clause against the Catholic bishops 
 taking a denomination by diocese is confined 
 to their own acts, and does not prevent others 
 from calling them by any denomination they 
 please. 
 
 D 3 
 
58 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " It is one of the most foolish and most abortive 
 clauses ever invented. 
 
 " The clause ao;ainst the monastic orders is 
 equally so ; I would ride a troop of horse three 
 times through it; and you will observe, that no 
 person belonging to these orders can be prosecuted 
 before any magistrate, or by any private person. 
 The prosecution must be in the Court of Exche- 
 quer only, and by the Attorney General alone. 
 
 " The Emancipation Bill is an excellent one in 
 every respect — ay, in every respect ; for although 
 it seems to exclude me, yet, in point of fact, I wish 
 it Avcrc passed in its present form. 
 
 " The freehold wing is as little objectionable in 
 its details as such a Bill can possibly be. It will 
 make the right of voting clear and distinct ; its 
 only evil is the increase of the qualification. 
 " Very faithfully yours, 
 
 '' Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 . " London, March 12, 1829. 
 
 " My dear Friend, 
 
 " The Irish forty-shilling freeholders have no 
 friends amongst the English members ; the Whigs 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O CONNELL. 59 
 
 and fill are against tliem. Even Lord Grey 
 declares lie will not oppose the Disfranchisement 
 Bill. This is cruel— yerj cruel. 
 
 " Hunt or Cobbett can do nothing. They have 
 not one particle o^ following. Our petition will 
 be presented this day against the disfranchising 
 wing ; and we must have many petitions from 
 Ireland. We must put on record our decided 
 hostility to it in every shape and form, so as to 
 enable us hereafter, and soon, to- do battle in 
 favour of a restoration of this right. 
 
 "I deem it my duty to give this information, 
 that the gentlemen, having early notice, may act 
 accordingly. 
 
 " I beg now, as a member of the Finance Com- 
 mittee of the Catholic Association, to make a 
 motion. I hope that I sliall be allowed to make 
 one : — it shall be the only one. I am quite serious. 
 
 "I w^ish to move that a sum of one hundred 
 guineas be transmitted to Mr. Secretary O'Gor- 
 man to defray his expenses in London. I implore 
 of you, my good friend, to canvass for me on this 
 motion. 
 
 " Mrs. O'Gorman is with him ; and as he is not 
 rich, we should certainly prevent his being at any 
 
60 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 expense on his own account. Before the Com- 
 mittee meet, show this letter to Eev. Wm. 
 L'Estrange, &c. &c. I feel deeply anxious to 
 pay O'Gorman this mark of my personal atten- 
 tion ; and if the Emancipation Bill pass, I. trust 
 Government may be induced to pay the Catholic 
 body the compliment of making a provision for 
 him, by giving him such an oflice as he is well 
 suited to fill, and as would increase his comforts. 
 
 " Do not show this letter to any person but 
 to those who will feel its confidential and delicate 
 nature. 
 
 " Very sincerely yours, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 The next letter speaks for itself. 
 
 " The first day of Freedom ! 
 April U, 1829. 
 
 "My dear Friend, 
 
 "' I cannot allow this day to pass without ex- 
 pressing my congratulations to the honest men of 
 'Burgh Quay' (Corn Exchange) on the subject 
 of the Relief Bill 
 
 "It is one of the greatest triumphs recorded in 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 61 
 
 liistoiy — a bloodless revolution, more extensive 
 in its operation than any other political change 
 that could take place. I say political^ to contrast 
 it with social changes, which might break to 
 pieces the framework of society. 
 
 " This is a good beginning, and now, if I can 
 get Catholics and Protestants to join, something 
 solid and substantial may be done for all. 
 
 " It is clear, that without gross mismanagement, 
 it will be impossible to allow misgovernment any 
 longer in Ireland. It will not be my fault, if 
 there be not a ' Society for the Improvement of 
 Ireland,' or something else of that description, 
 to watch over the rising liberties of Ireland. 
 
 " I am busily making my arrangements re- 
 specting my own seat. As soon as they are com- 
 plete, you shall hear from me. 
 
 "I reckon with confidence on beina: in the 
 House on the 28th instant; the day to which the 
 adjournment is to take place. I tliink my right 
 now perfectly clear, and beyond any reasonable 
 doubt. 
 
 " Wish all and every one of 'the Order of 
 Liberators' joy in my name. Let us not show 
 any insolence of triumph ; but I confess to you, 
 
62 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 if I were in Dublin I should like to laugh at 
 the Gorporatoj's. 
 
 "I am writing a congratulatory address to the 
 people. It will appear, I hope, on Easter Llonday 
 in Dublin. 
 
 " Believe me, &c. &c. 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 The "Order of Liberators" here alluded to 
 was one of those casual expedients that stimulated 
 from time to time the flagging energies of agita- 
 tion. Every one who could boast of a service 
 rendered to the cause — a popular right asserted 
 — a local tyranny checked — an election-triumph 
 promoted, or whatever the service might be, 
 became entitled to the medal of the " Order." 
 And numbers who claimed to be enrolled during 
 the three years of its existence, (from the 
 Waterford election of 182G, when the powerful 
 Beresford family were for the hrst time beaten, 
 until the putting down of the Catholic Associa- 
 tion in 1829,) abundantly proved the value set 
 upon this little distinction. 
 
 The recommendation " not to show any insolence 
 
MR. HENRY GRATTAN. 63 
 
 of triumjyh,'' Avas most entirely congenial to the 
 disposition of the people. 
 
 In one of the letters of the celebrated Grattan, 
 given in the collection of his correspondence, by 
 his son, the present Henry Grattan, M.P. for the 
 county of Meath, there is a comparison of the 
 manner in which the popular triumphs of 1780-82 
 and that of the English faction in 1801 were 
 respectively received. 
 
 " There were two days in the Irish history that 
 I can never forget:— The one, that in which we 
 gained our freedom, (1782). How great the 
 triumph ! How moderate — how well it was borne ! 
 — with what dignity! what absence of mdgar 
 triumph ! 
 
 "The other Avas the day we lost our Par- 
 liament. It was a savage act, done by a set of 
 assassins brought into tlie House to sell the 
 country and to sell themselves. They did not 
 belong to Ireland : some were soldiers, all were 
 slaves ! Everything was shame, and hurry, and 
 base triumph ! " * 
 
 The manner in which the Catholics received 
 the news of their liberation was such as that 
 * Grattan's Life, by his Son, vol. ii. 
 
64 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 described in the first part of tlie foregoing. AYe 
 got no credit for it from our exasperated enemies ; 
 but, nevertheless, throughout the whole of Ireland 
 there was a peaceful inoffensiveness, an abstinence 
 from insult, and a repression even of the most 
 pardonable degree of exultation, without a single 
 exception in any quarter. 
 
 One signal, most rational and formidahle re- 
 venge was taken by the younger Orangemen of 
 Dublin upon my father. A runaway crowd of 
 them took advantage of darkness to assemble in 
 front of his house in Merrion Square, and break 
 the draiclng-room windoivs ! After one discharge, 
 they fled; luckily for themselves, as a crowd 
 gathered at once. 
 
 The next letters refer particularly to the long- 
 discussed question of Mr. O'Connell's claim to 
 take his seat in Parliament, as IMember for the 
 county of Clare ; for which county he had been 
 returned at the memorable and eventful election 
 of the preceding year (1828), and of course pre- 
 vious to the passing of the Catholic Relief Bill. 
 
 Up to the month of April, 1829, he had for- 
 borne, upon good advice, the making of any effort 
 to assert his claim ; and he was now recommended 
 
GEORGE TUE FOURTH. Q5 
 
 to come forward, in the iclcca that a parliament 
 which had just distinguished itself by so grand an 
 act of liberality, Avould not consent to " throw 
 away the meed of its large honours " for the sake 
 of inflicting a j^etty personal disqualification. The 
 expectation was by no means idle. There is now 
 little question that he would have been permitted 
 to take his seat, but for the personal antipathy 
 and special opposition of George IV. 
 
 This personal antipathy Avas show^n in a ludi- 
 crous and on every account indecent manner, on 
 an occasion which presented itself about this 
 time. 
 
 From the period of George the Fourth's visit 
 to Ireland, in 1820, when the fairest hopes were 
 entertained, and deliberately and specially en- 
 couraged from ministerial quarters, as to con- 
 cessions to be made to the Catholics, wrongs to 
 be redressed, wants attended to, &c. &c., Mr. 
 O'Connell, disgusted and disheartened at the total 
 breach and disregard of the royal pledges then' 
 miderstood to be given, had not attended a royal 
 levee until the bringing forward of the measure 
 of Catholic Emancipation in 1829. 
 
 ^\hen, after the usual amount of pushino- and 
 
66 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 struggling and squeezing, and inconvenience of 
 all sorts, that is to be undergone on such occasions, 
 lie reached the door of the Presence Chamber, and 
 had his name announced, he saw the king's lips 
 moving as he advanced, and for a moment thought 
 the words, whatever they might be, were ad- 
 dressed to him ; the king looking intently at him 
 while speaking. However, their sound not having 
 reached him, and no farther sign being made, Mr. 
 O'Coimell made his bow, and backed out, think- 
 ing no more of the occurrence for the time. 
 
 But some weeks afterwards, he saw in a Scotch 
 paper a statement, which on making particular 
 and close inquiry he found to be literally true, 
 that the words uttered by the king, as he ap- 
 proached, had been nothing more nor less than the 
 
 elegant and Christian ejaculation of " D the 
 
 fellow /" 
 
 Mr. O'Conn ell's ultimate rejection by the 
 House of Commons, on his refusal to take the 
 disgraceful oath tendered to him at the bar, is too 
 well knoAvn to require any special mention here. 
 The House, which had previously manifested a 
 considerable inclination to show favour to his claim 
 for admission, followed the beck of the Ministry, 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 67 
 
 when at length, in obedience to their royal mas- 
 ter's positive injunctions, they declared against 
 INlr. O'Connell ; and thus, contrary to very general 
 expectation, (including his own,) tlie election of 
 the latter was declared to be null and void. 
 
 The only result of this act of petty and childish 
 spite, was to send Mr. O'Connell back to another 
 and easy triumph in the county of Clare, and 
 make him still more popular in Ireland than ever, 
 on account of his thus beino; sino-led out for ex- 
 elusion at such a moment and in such a way. 
 
 The following extracts from his correspondence 
 Avill sliow what were his own feelings as the im- 
 portant occasion approached, and iuhen it came, 
 
 *' Bury Street, St. James's, London, 
 April 29, 1829, 
 
 " ]\Iy dear James, 
 ^' I have great pleasure in telling you, that I 
 have ascertained that there is to be no opposition 
 to my taking my seat on the part of the Govern- 
 ment, unless they are compelled to it by the 
 Speaker and Mr. Wynne. So that if the Whigs 
 stand by me, I am certain of being seated. This 
 
 you may confidently communicate to , as 
 
 well as ; and my real friend Barrett may 
 
68 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 {innounce that intelligence has come from London 
 that the universal belief was, that tlie Mini- 
 sters would suffer Mr. O'Connell to take his 
 seat for Clare at his own risk, and without giving 
 him any opposition. 
 
 " More to-morrow — the post is at the door. 
 " Ever yours, 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 " 19j Bury Street, London, 
 April 30, 1829. 
 
 "tT ^f TT 'TT "X" 
 
 '* I am making my arrangements for my seat. 
 I suppose you will hear of me " as of'' — in the 
 phrase of us lawyers — this day week. If ]\Ir. 
 Wynne and the tail of the Grenvilles beliave well 
 to me, I am sure to succeed. 
 
 " To-morrow I shall have digested my new 
 letter. It will contain my view of the subject, 
 and my, I trust, convincing arguments in favour of 
 my right to take my seat. If Lord Nugent help 
 me, as I hope he will, my success is not doubtful. 
 
 " You will see the absolute necessity of not 
 allowing these names or any communication from 
 me to get into print. But the Irish people may 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 69 
 
 be cheered by the prospect of my taking my seat, 
 and being thus enabled to work for them. 
 
 '' I heard that the Duke of Wellington is de- 
 termined not to increase the currency, but to 
 resort to an income-tax. This is the last private 
 report, and is believed by many. Income from 
 the funds would of course come under such a tax. 
 Tlie Subletting Act will be materially changed 
 this session. Of this I am assured, and I hope 
 the assurance will be realized. 
 
 ^ * * -x- ^ 
 
 "Ever, my dear James, 
 
 "Your obliged and affectionate 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 '"' 19, Bury Street, London, 
 Mmj 1, 1829. 
 
 " ]My dear James, 
 
 * ^ ^ * * « I gpcnt all day- 
 working at my case for the House of Commons. 
 I have every hope that this day w^eek will see me 
 at my post in the House. 
 
 " I intend to take an immediate active part in 
 
70 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 the proceedings. I need not say to you how im- 
 patient I am to be useful. 
 
 " Every hour increases the favourable accounts 
 (or at least reports) of the intention of the l\Iinistry 
 to allow me to take my seat quietly. And my 
 present object is simply to make such a case in 
 point as will render it impossible for IMr. 
 Sugden, or anybody else, to give me any eifectual 
 opposition. 
 
 " Believe me ever 
 " Your obliged and affectionate 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 " Bury Street, London, 
 May 12, 1829. 
 
 " ]\Iy dear Friend, 
 
 " I was unwilling to write to you while I 
 remained in a state of uncertainty, with respect 
 to the course which it was right for me to take. 
 
 " I certainly felt more than unwilling to raise 
 any question personal to myself, as long as it could 
 be possible to consider my claim hostile to the 
 Ministry. This was but an act o^ gratitude on my 
 part, for the manly and excellent Emancipation 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 71 
 
 Bill they carried through botli Houses. I call 
 that Bill excellent, although there are parts of it, 
 indeed, which deserve any other appellation ; but 
 the Bill has in itself the principle of improvement, 
 and its defects will soon be effaced by the 
 inevitable results of parliamentary and popular 
 information. 
 
 " I was all the more desirous to pay this tribute 
 to the JMinistry, because, if I should get into Par- 
 liament, I can nevej' be a ministerial member. 
 
 " I however ascertained, that my brinrrino- for- 
 ward my claims would not and could not be con- 
 sidered by the Ministry in any hostile point of 
 view. 
 
 "You will perceive that there is not any violent 
 hostility in the Government Papers to my right. 
 This is, I take it, a decisive symptom of the absence 
 of ]\Iinisterial opposition. 
 
 "You have, of course, read my letter which 
 was published yesterday in the Times. I have 
 the pleasure to tell you that I am every moment 
 receiving fresh proofs of the impression which that 
 letter has made. In fact, the law is quite and 
 clearly in my favour. 
 
 " They may do what they please with me, but 
 
72 PARLIABIENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 this I consider that I have put beyond all possibility 
 of doubt — namely, that by refusing to allow me to 
 sit, they will do a palpable and a gross injustice. 
 I confess that I do not expect anything so incon- 
 sistent with every sense of right. On the contrary, 
 I have reason to be convinced that I shall meet 
 with little, if any, opposition. 
 
 " Unfortunately, the Speaker is a nephew of 
 Lord Chancellor Manners, and on that account 
 alone has some claim to my apprehensions. 
 
 " But I hope he is an honoura})le man, and will 
 listen to no other counsels than those of good sense 
 and duty. In fact, it would be exceedingly wrong 
 of them to interfere, unless expressly called on by 
 the House, or some member of the House. 
 
 " If then the Speaker does not go out of his way, 
 and, in fact, make himself the scapegoat of party, 
 there can be no doubt of niy admission. I repeat 
 that I do not anticipate any personal objection on 
 his part, nor anything inconsistent with his high 
 rank and station. 
 
 '* Upon the whole, then, my course is deter- 
 mined. I will, please God, make all my previous 
 arrangements to-morrow and Thursday morning, 
 and on Friday, p er emptor il if, I will go down and 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 73 
 
 address the House. That day is fixed on for my 
 taking my seat. 
 
 ^' Yours, my dear friend, most sincerel}'', 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 " Bury Street, May 13, 1829. 
 
 " JMy dear James, 
 
 " All appears well : my last letter lias had great 
 success, simply because it is unanswerable. The 
 law is with me in all its bearings, and, as yet, 
 I have every reason to think that the opposition 
 to me, if any, will be feeble. In forty-eight hours 
 I shall know more. 
 
 " I was this day at the King's Bench, at half- 
 after-nine, and took the new oath. So far, I have 
 progressedi as the Americans say. I am now cer- 
 tain of getting into the House — that is, as far as 
 the table. Plow much beyond that, I know not. 
 I will then call for the new oath, and if it be 
 administered, then the contest is over. If they 
 refuse to administer it, I will take my seat without 
 it, and put upon others to make any motion they 
 may please. 
 
 " Since I wrote the foregoing paragraph, I have 
 
 vol. II. E 
 
74- PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ascertained that the Government declare positively 
 that they will not make it a Government question, 
 nor give me any Government opposition. 
 
 " I think, therefore, that my prospects are the 
 very fairest: but one must not be too sure of 
 anything to come." ***** 
 
 (private.) 
 
 "Bury Street, London, 
 May 14, 1829. 
 
 " My dear Friend, 
 
 " The hour of combat approaches ! At half-past 
 three to-morrow the question is to be tried. 
 
 "I have the judgment and opinion of three- 
 fourths of the House with me, as I am fully con- 
 vinced j but that will be entirely useless if the 
 Government behave to me faithlessly, and if the 
 Speaker take a strong part against me. How- 
 ever, that is not to be apprehended ; and at all 
 events everything appears at present to bear a 
 favourable aspect. 
 
 " I have great declarations of support from 
 various quarters ; — Brougham, Burdett, Lord 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O CONNELL. 75 
 
 Althorpe, Balnes, and many, very many other 
 great names, are active to assist me. I repeat, that 
 if the Government does not take a very decided 
 part against me, I am quite safe. It is admitted 
 at all hands that I have proved my right. 
 
 " Have you heard of the conduct of the English 
 Catholics towards me? They have a club here 
 called the ' Cis- Alpine,' — a bad name, you will 
 say. They had been much divided amongst them- 
 selves, and were now about all to re-unite. I 
 agreed to be proposed into it, when, behold ! they 
 met the day before yesterday, and hlack-heaned me. 
 
 " However, I believe it has knocked up the 
 club, as Howard of Corby, and several others at 
 once declared that they would never again come 
 near it. 
 
 " Mr. Blount has behaved exceedingly well on 
 this occasion — no man could behave better. I 
 believe there are many of them highly indignant 
 at the conduct of the rest; and at all events, I 
 heartily forgive them all. But it was a strange 
 thing of them to do — it was a comical * testi- 
 monial' of my services in emancipating them. 
 It would be well, perhaps, if I could un-emancipate 
 some of them. 
 
 £ 2 
 
76 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " There is a petition from the parish of Dun- 
 garvon for the old Association lustre ; it could 
 not be better bestowed. I beg of you to endeavour 
 to get it for my friend, the Kev. jNIr. Fogarty. 
 
 " There are also demands from Clare ; and I 
 hope those are particularly attended to. I think 
 there ought to be 20/. or 30/. sent down to Clare, 
 to assist in the new registry of freeholders. Send 
 for Richard Scott, and consult him on the subject. 
 ^ * -5^ * * 
 
 " I long to shake hands again w^ith all the wor- 
 thies at 12, Burgh Quay. How I hate that affec- 
 tation ! I hope that Staunton is allowed to continue 
 his weekly papers to the churchwardens at my 
 expense, if not at that of the Finance Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 " Yours, &c. &c. &c." 
 
 " My dear James, 
 
 " I have only to communicate these particulars. 
 My letter has done wonders. Tierney, Agar 
 Ellis, Alexander Baring, Charles Wynne, &c. 
 have declared it conclusive, 
 
 "Lord Duncannon has been with me, and 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 77 
 
 Friday is fixed for the grand experiment. Tlie 
 post of Sunday will carry you the news. 
 " In haste. 
 
 " Yours affectionately, &c. 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 "London, May 21, 1829. 
 
 " My dear James, 
 
 "You cannot form the least idea of my first 
 appearance on the parliamentary stage. My 
 speech was a dry argument ; but it is said to have 
 been in manner and tact beyond what could have 
 been conceived, and all that it should be. Lord 
 Grey, Lord Lansdowne, Lord Anglesea, &c. are 
 among the warmest admirers of it. 
 
 " If I be put out for Clare this night, which is 
 very probable, I have had a kind of an offer of 
 2, free seat for the rest of the session, for aborougji, 
 and to address Clare at once. Let not this matter 
 get into the newspapers. 
 
 * ^ * -Sf ■5f 
 
 " I must conclude, as I am going down to the 
 
78 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 House. I expect little from Spring Eice's 
 motion. 
 
 " Most faithfully yours, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 "May 22, 1829. 
 ■X- * -Jt ^ * 
 
 "You will see / ain out, and out for the 
 session, of course. We must be stirring. Work 
 the press for me. I am myself preparing my 
 address to the Clare men. It will, I hope, appear 
 to-morrow. I do not mince the matter in it. 
 
 " Consider of forming a Dublin Committee at 
 once to conduct the Clare election. It cannot, 
 however, come on till the month of July at soon- 
 est. Vesey Fitzgerald will not attempt the county 
 again. That much is certain. 
 
 " In haste, believe me 
 
 " Yours most sincerely, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 The ' next letter has certainly no connexion 
 whatever with the preceding, nor with any political 
 subject. But it recounts an incident of interest ; 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 79 
 
 when Mr. O'Connell had a narrow escape of being 
 killed, in the autumn of tlie same year as that 
 which saw Emancipation carried. It will be seen 
 that his usual activity and promptness of expe- 
 dient did not desert him on this occasion. 
 
 " Darrynane A hhey, 
 
 October 13, 1829. 
 
 " My dear James, 
 
 ***** 
 
 " You may be quite sure that I will be in 
 Dublin as soon as I possibly can. 
 
 " But my ])rother James is laid up with a sad 
 accident. We were coming from his house to 
 Cahirciveen in the mail cart, when, as we were 
 going along the Drung Hill road, one horse 
 stumbled and broke the pole, and then both 
 horses started off at full speed along the precipice. 
 
 '' There is no sufficient guard wall, and we 
 might have gone down several hundred feet in a 
 few minutes. The driver roared to us to jump 
 out, which we foolishly did as the car was going 
 at full speed. I fell on my shoulders and 'back of 
 my head, but came off with some sound bruises 
 and the stunning of a few seconds. As to James, 
 
80 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 he came on his right arm, and broke it between 
 the shouklcr and elbow. I sent off for surgeons 
 in two directions, cut up a shirt into bandages, 
 and had splints made before Dr. Barry arrived. 
 He at once set the bone. This is the fourth day, 
 and, thank God ! James is going on as well as 
 possible. 
 
 ■ " You may rely, however, on my being in 
 Dublin as speedily as possible. 
 " Ever yours, 
 
 " Most sincerely, 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 INTEREST EXCITED BY MR. o'CONNELl's LETTERS. — THE CLARE ELEC- 
 TION — THE " PROGRESS." —TRADES POLITICAL UNION. — MR. o'CON- 
 , NELL RETURNS TO LONDON — HIS LETTERS. 
 
 The interest which the receipt of these letters 
 excited in Dublin was extreme. I do not speak of 
 the interest and anxiety experienced among Mr. 
 O'Connell's own family, the extent of which can 
 be easily conjectured ; but amongst his old fellow- 
 labourers in the Catholic cause, of all ranks, there 
 was the strongest anxiety and eagerness to know 
 the contents of each despatch as it arrived; and 
 the " Parliamentary Intelligence Office," (as the 
 species of reading-room and temporary head- 
 quarters of agitation had come to be designated,) 
 w^as crowded for hours after the arrival of the 
 English mail. 
 
 According as the letters happened to be ad- 
 
 E 3 
 
82 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 dressed to Mr. Edward Dwyer or Mr. Sugrne^ 
 either of these excellent gentlemen found himself, 
 greatly to his personal discomfort, the centre of 
 attraction, the observed of all observers, and the 
 unfortunate victim of the most incessant and per- 
 severing boring* And whenever a stray missive 
 came addressed to some other of the ancient 
 '^ generals of dimsiou " in the agitation, the indi- 
 vidual was for the nonce elevated into the utmost 
 importance ; and usually assumed an air of mys- 
 tery and consequential reserve that procured him 
 double attention, till the contents of his letter 
 were at last squeezed out, and found perhaps to be 
 of the most ordinary character, or referring to 
 quite other matters than the all-absorbing con- 
 troversy in London as to Mr. O'Connell's seat. 
 
 Those who happen to pass in the present time 
 the dingy premises, (if they be yet standing, and 
 have not long ago fulfilled their evident threat of 
 tumbling down,) in a still more dingy street, 
 (Stephen's Street,) where the " Parliamentary 
 Intelligence Office " was located, can form little 
 idea of the bustle and stir that prevailed there for 
 a few months of 1829 ; large crowds being fre- 
 quently assembled outside the house, while shoals 
 
THE CLARE ELECTION. 83 
 
 of gentlemen, many of tliem now in high official 
 position, were pouring in and out, to hear and to 
 bear away the news of the progress of Mr. O'Con- 
 nell's case, and the chances of his success. 
 
 From the correspondence given in the last 
 chapter, it will be seen that his hopes were high, 
 up to the last moment, of being admitted to take 
 his seat ; and they had not become so without 
 very considerable justification. The question in- 
 volved in his case was complicated and nice ; and, 
 as usual, the efforts of lawyers at either side — 
 men of the longest practice and highest skill and 
 reputation in their profession — did not tend to 
 unravel its difficulties, but rather to mystify matters 
 still more, in the eyes of "laymen" at any rate, if 
 not in their own. The consequence was, that 
 many of those who had to decide upon It, finding 
 that such grave doubts prevailed where they had 
 thought all was clear, well defined, and positive 
 against the claim, inclined to a manly and gene- 
 rous course, and began to think of giving the 
 claimant the benefit of those doubts. In this 
 creditable disposition, however, few ultimately 
 persevered, after it had become finally known, 
 and known at the eleventh hour, that the king 
 
84 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 absolutely and utterly forbade his ministers to 
 
 permit Mr. O'Connell to take his seat. 
 
 « 
 
 In the summer of that year I accompanied him 
 to the county of Clare, when going to his new 
 election. All down the line of road from Dublin 
 to Limerick his progress was a continued triumph. 
 The popular " posse comitatus " turned out at 
 every mile of the way ; and the post horses, 
 where not actually impeded by thronging thou- 
 sands lying in wait for us, were urged on from 
 stage to stage by the shouting and running of the 
 people, instead of the traditionary red-hot polier 
 which figures in the well-known pictures of 
 " Posting in Ireland." 
 
 To those who witnessed for the first time (as 
 I then did) one of these " progresses " of Mr. 
 O'Connell, the scene was most exciting and curi- 
 ous indeed. Literally the ii^liole country turned 
 out! By some extraordinary instinct or other, 
 some carrying of the matter by the birds of the 
 air, his approach, even when his journeys were 
 most unpremeditated, and in no way previously 
 announced, (because often not previously resolved 
 upon,) the population of the districts througli 
 which he was to pass came to know of his 
 
THE '' PROGRESS." 85 
 
 journey ; and from not merely the cabins and 
 fields close to the line of road, but from those 
 distant a mile and upwards — in short, from every 
 point whence there was the least chance of arriv- 
 ing in time to salute him in passing — men, women, 
 and children, were to be seen running at the top 
 of their speed, and waving hats and fragments of 
 garments, or green boughs, shouting all the while 
 at the top of their voices. 
 
 The poor old women used particularly to attract 
 my father's attention. Some few of them, throw- 
 ing aside for the moment their load of years, used 
 to skip and jump as merrily as the youngest there, 
 and join the screech with their cracked voices, 
 greatly to the amusement of the impertinent 
 youngsters of the crowd. But the majority dropped 
 upon their knees as the carriage approached, and 
 raising their aged hands and eyes to heaven, were 
 to be heard praying fervently, and invoking bless- 
 ings and mercies upon the man who was labouring 
 to upraise a fallen nation, and to vindicate an 
 oppressed creed. 
 
 The object of their prayers ever seemed most 
 profoundly affected by these scenes ; and I have 
 often heard him say that he valued one prayer of 
 
86 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 these poor old creatures more liiglily and deepl}^ 
 than the proudest honour which this world can 
 confer. 
 
 Although his re-election took place without 
 opposition, still every precaution was observed to 
 prevent the possibility of being taken by surprise. 
 All the canvassing and polling arrangements were 
 made as punctually and particularly as though 
 a desperate contest were imminent ; and very 
 probably this preparedness on our part had a good 
 deal to do with the fact of his not being opposed 
 when it came to the point. 
 
 We were greatly surprised on entering, and 
 afterwards when traversing the town, (^Ennis, the 
 chief town of the county, and therefore the locality 
 of the election,) to find ourselves passing under 
 iohife flags at every step. Inquiry was made 
 whether this colour had been adopted as significant 
 of a disposition to show the ivhite feather, or what 
 might be the meaning; and we received for a 
 solution of the mystery, the information that these 
 were the veritable c/reeJi flags of the great election 
 of the preceding year, faded and bleached now 
 into the semblance of the Bourbon flag of France. 
 
 After his unopposed re-election, and the tri- 
 
trades' political union. 87 
 
 umphant chairing winch he was compelled to 
 undergo, Mr. O'Connell retired for a short period 
 to Darrynane Abbey, to recruit himself for new 
 battles, and early in the winter returned to Dublin. 
 
 Here the Kepeal agitation was beginning to 
 stir the masses. The " Trades' Political Union," 
 then an Important name, had begun its meetings 
 with rude vigour and most uncompromising ear- 
 nestness ; and the working-men of the individual 
 trades began to come together, and pass resolutions 
 in favour of the restoration of the Legislature of 
 Ireland. Public meetings and public dinners of 
 the other sections of the " Agitators" were also 
 frequent ; and everything announced that the 
 popular strength was being knit again to seek 
 new conquests, and recover more of ancient liber- 
 ties and privileges. 
 
 A beautiful scene — afterwards often repeated, 
 but never so impressive as on the first occasion — 
 took place early in January, 1830, when the 
 *' Trades* Political Union" presented an address to' 
 Mr. O'Connell. They marched in greater num- 
 bers, and with greater display than ever known 
 before, and indeed, than on any subsequent occa- 
 sion ; each trade marshalled by Itself, with its 
 
88 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 own leaders and banners — the latter being quite 
 new and richly decorated (at a very large expense) 
 for the occasion, to Merrion Square, and formed 
 in front of Mr. O'ConnelFs house, while their 
 President, (no less a personage than an Attorney- 
 General at present in one of the dependencies of 
 Great Britain, and one discharging his important 
 duties with the highest credit to himself and 
 benefit to the public service,) attended by a staff 
 of vice-presidents, entered the house, and on the 
 balcony of the front drawing-room read and pre- 
 sented Mr. O'Connell with the address. 
 
 The response was of course given in the same 
 place, and with all due form, amid the ringing 
 cheers of the enormous multitudes that filled the 
 streets and enclosure of Merrion Square. 
 
 A few days after, Mr. O'Connell proceeded to 
 Kingstown, (seven miles by the coach road, the 
 railroad not then existing,) to embark for England, 
 and was attended throughout every yard of the 
 way by a vast crowd, blessing him and wishing 
 him success in the new career about to open to 
 him. 
 
 • No obstacle existed, of course, to his taking his 
 Beat this time ; and he did so accordingly at the 
 
MR. o'cONNELL's return TO ENGLAND. 89 
 
 beginning of February. His first impression of 
 the Legislature was not very flattering, nor did he 
 find it much improve upon further acquaintance. 
 
 " 5, Maddox Street, London, 
 Feb. 9, 1830. 
 
 "My dear James, 
 
 :|s -Sf -Jf * * 
 
 " I am fast learning the tone and temper of the 
 House, and in a week or so you will find me a 
 constant speaker. I will soon be struggling to 
 brino; forward Irish business. 
 
 " I am exceedingly amused by tlie exhibitions 
 of the human mind that surround me. Such a 
 
 finished as is, I never witnessed. 
 
 Indeed, there is more folly and nonsense in the 
 House, than anywhere out of it. There is a low 
 and subservient turn of thinking ; and there is a 
 submission to authority, which is to the last de- 
 gree debasing. 
 
 " In haste, yours, &c. &c. 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 The next letters are of much later date in the 
 same year. 
 
90 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 "London, Saturday, Kov. 6, 1830. 
 * -K- ^ -K- * 
 
 " I cannot write much to-day. I was hitting 
 riffht and left last nio;ht. * * * I have heard 
 nothing more of the attempt to negotiate about a 
 change of Ministry ; nor shall I until after this 
 letter goes oiF to you ; but I do not myself think 
 that the Duke can stand. The exasperation about 
 tlie King's Speech is extreme. 
 
 " Nothing can equal the temper of the people 
 in their detestation of this Ministry. It would 
 surprise and amuse you to see how popular I am 
 grown. I refer you to the Irish newspaper cor- 
 respondents for more particulars. But you m.ay 
 be sure to hear fi^om me on every debate ; and to 
 hear from me to the purpose. 
 
 " I am delighted to perceive that tlie Anti-Union 
 spirit is alive, and that its meetings continue with 
 such vigour. The ^^ Saint Jnclreto's/^ &c. was a 
 delightful treat. Apropos of treats — I hope you 
 have another political breakfast on foot. The 
 conceit is admirable. 
 
 "You may there get gentlemen to undertake 
 particular counties, so as to be responsible for 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O^CONNELL. 91 
 
 petitions from that county. In. short, let the next 
 breakfast add business to speechifying. Improve 
 on this, and give the boat a shove. 
 
 "You cannot conceive what a change has 
 occurred already in the public mind here, on the 
 subject of the Repeal of the Union. It is not 
 only practicable^ but certain, if we persevere as 
 we ought to do. 
 
 "I intend to-morrow to write a letter on the 
 subject of the expense of petitions. Get it 
 printed. You know that I do not wish my letters 
 to you to be printed. Head to yourself the letter 
 in the cover ; it relates to private business. Believe 
 me always 
 
 " Yours sincerely, &c. 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 " London, Nov. 9, 1830. 
 4f "H- ^ -X- :jt 
 
 " The times are exceedingly critical ; this is 
 just the period when good, wise, and considerate 
 men should urge their claims for amelioration. 
 
 " This is emphatically the moment to get as 
 
92 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 many places as possible to petition for the Repeal 
 of the Union. 
 
 " The successors of the Wellington Administra- 
 tion, whoever they shall be, will not be able to 
 resist the cry of the people, if really raised. We 
 shall see a daily progress towards the principle of 
 democratic liberty. It is most important that 
 those successors should be convinced that the 
 Repeal of the Union is desired by all the people 
 of Ireland, with the exception of a few paltry 
 jobbers. 
 
 " Tell this to every person who comes to the 
 Rooms. Let every man know from me, that it 
 is my decided opinion that we may have an Irish 
 Parliament soon, if the voice of the Irish nation 
 shall be expressed by petitions so numerous as to 
 place beyond any doubt the anxiety of Ireland for 
 that measure. 
 
 "I do not say this lightly. I am convinced 
 that what I say to you is of great importance to 
 be attended to — and yet we are an uncertain race. 
 Before Emancipation, I saw that it would be 
 necessary for us to have a rallying point for the 
 future struggles of the country. I was, therefore, 
 very anxious to get up a place for public meetings. 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 93 
 
 The theatre in Great Brunswick-street was to be 
 
 had cheaply, but and others disliked the 
 
 owner, and I was overruled. Those who over- 
 ruled me all promised to find another and a better 
 place ; they all saw the necessity of having a place 
 for public meetings. We had funds then^ but not 
 one step was taken by anybody but me to get that 
 other place. I failed entirel3^ 
 
 " In fact, that theatre would now be quite a 
 treamre for all kinds of useful agitation ; at pre- 
 sent the want of such a thing is severely felt, and 
 each day it Avill be more and more so. Its utility 
 would be constant. 
 
 " Every parish in Dublin would certainly meet if 
 they could but be certain of having the use of a 
 proper meeting-place. It is quite clear that the 
 store in Stephen Street is suited, admirably suited 
 for the purpose ; and now there is a fastidiousness 
 about the street, as not being fashionahle enough, 
 although it is within four or five minutes' walk of 
 either Stephen's Green, College Green, or Dame 
 Street : where will those who reject that spot find 
 another ? 
 
 "I am perfectly content to become tenant at once 
 to any other, provided it shall be found ; but it 
 
94 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Avould disgust any otlier man save myself from 
 politics, to find a practical measure of this sort 
 abandoned, or postponed first and then aban- 
 doned, upon the score of a paltry fastidiousness 
 respecting the situation of the place of meeting. 
 
 " Is there any man who does not know that but 
 for getting the constant use of Clarendon Street 
 Chapel we never could have got up the Catholic 
 Association ? We cannot have chapels now ; 
 why then should not we have a perpetual sub- 
 stitute ? 
 
 "I implore of all real Anti-Unionists to consider 
 well of this; and to lay their best thoughts 
 together to procure a comfortable and extensive 
 place for public meetings. We cannot do without 
 one. 
 
 " Having thus vented my spleen, I come to the 
 politics of the day. 
 
 "Every body says that the Duke of Wellington 
 must resign ; he will, however, cling to office as 
 long as he possibly can, and I am convinced no- 
 thing will induce Peel to quit his secretaryship 
 but absolute necessity ; yet every body insists that 
 they must resign. I myself cannot see how it is 
 possible for them to go on. 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 95 
 
 " Now every change must be favourable. The 
 new men are of necessity weak. It is calculated 
 that the leadersof a new Cabinet will be Lords Grey 
 and Lansdowne; as yet, however, I fancy that the 
 resignation of Wellington has not been actually 
 sent in. 
 
 " Since I began this paragraph, however, I hear 
 that the Marquis of Lansdowne is to be at the 
 head of the Incomers. Nous verrons, as they say 
 elsewhere. The riot last night was a mere tumult, 
 easily put down by the police, though they are 
 not armed; yet, certainly, the King's shrinking 
 from going into the city is calculated to encou- 
 rage the tumultuous in the interior parts of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 " There never was a more critical or important 
 period, or one in which an extensive demand for 
 the Kepeal of the Union would have a better 
 effect. I am now anxious to remain in Parliament. 
 I think some good may be done in the House, or 
 rather through the House. I am determined to 
 stick to it as long as I can. 
 
 " Believe me to be, 
 
 " Yours most sincerely, 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell. 
 
96 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 te -x- * ^ * ^g soon as I have any news to 
 communicate, you shall hear again from me, but 
 at present I am all anxiety to hear from Ireland. 
 
 " If the people will keep quiet, and allow me 
 to regulate, I think I am certain of procuring the 
 Repeal of the Union. This may be called vanit}^ 
 Well, I am vain : I thought before I left Ireland 
 that I was the best-abused man in the world, but 
 I now perceive that I have not received half the 
 wages which are due to me for being the faithful 
 and persevering friend of the people. 
 " Believe me to be, 
 
 " Yours most sincerely, 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 In the foresjoino; letter there is much that mif>;ht 
 be written at the present day. We are in Ireland 
 at present in a state as it were of political paralysis, 
 and although matters may mend a little, and some 
 symptoms of political life again become discernible, 
 there is little hope of any eifectual concentration 
 of public opinion in Ireland, without a rallying 
 point in a fixed place of meeting. 
 
 Conciliation Hall — that most convenient and 
 excellent place of meeting, built with the people's 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 97 
 
 money, and that lias earned such odium with the 
 enemies of the people, by reason of the services 
 rendered to Ireland Avithin its walls— must shortly 
 be sold, or given up, for the mere ground-rent, for 
 the want of but a little effort ; and thus an effective 
 rallying place lost to those who yet remain true to 
 the people's cause. The want of it will yet be 
 severely felt ; but at present there seems no help 
 for it. 
 
 The next two letters refer to Lord Andesea's 
 second visit to Ireland, and to the desire that was 
 generally felt to mark the national sense of his 
 former good-will towards Ireland by a public pro- 
 cession to receive him ; notwithstanding that some 
 ugly rumours as to the evil influence acquired 
 over him by some whispering " malignants" of the 
 old ascendency fashion began to take form and 
 likehhood, and to receive credence : — 
 
 "London, Nov. 29, 1830. 
 * * * * j}i 
 
 '' I approve of preparing for a procession to 
 meet the Marquis of Anglesea, on his return to the 
 Vice-Royalty of Ireland ; and I should think that 
 it would not be at all amiss, but very much the 
 
 VOL. IT. F 
 
98 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 contrary, if Marcus Costello were to head the 
 procession. 
 
 " Lord Anglesea, however, does not go over for 
 at least another fortniglit or three weeks, and 
 there will be time enough to countermand the 
 procession of Lord Anglesea, should he be be- 
 trayed into making unpopular appointments in 
 Ireland. 
 
 " At present, what appears fixed one day is 
 totally altered the next ; or, at the least, it is so 
 unfixed, that nothing appears settled. There is 
 
 an immense deal of low intrigue, and is 
 
 dabbling in the matter up to the elbows. 
 
 " What I want to find out is, what is to be done 
 for L'eland? They say, a great deal, — but what 
 is it ? Let me know that. 
 
 " Such is my question. As to Spring Kice's 
 * nineteen Bills,' they may all be despatched in 
 one word — -fudge I 
 
 " We shall soon see, I again fear, that the 
 INIarquis of Anglesea is getting into bad hands. 
 The only good thing about him is his determina- 
 tion, which is fixed, to pack off the Gregorys, &c., 
 from the Castle. 
 
 " I am sorry you had not ^ Eesolutions' at the last 
 
LETTERS OF MR. o'cONNELL. 99 
 
 brefikfast. The Government certainly will not 
 meddle with any orderly public meeting. You 
 know that Lord Anglesea's own letter to Mr. 
 Kertland is quite a pledge upon that point ; and 
 I should have already put on its legs a new asso- 
 ciation, but that I wish to see the new Government 
 actually under way, and the Duke of Northumber- 
 land out of Ireland, before we form another, and 
 arrange as to funds. 
 
 " This alone prevents me from at once begin- 
 ning. But, depend on it, I will meet Lord 
 Anglesea and his new Government. 
 
 " Believe me, &c. &c. 
 
 " Daniel O'Connell.'' 
 
 "London, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1830. 
 :^ ^ :^ :^ ^ 
 
 " My present opinion is, that it is better to let 
 the Marquis of Anglesea come in quietly, with- 
 out any show or procession. I decidedly think 
 the Anti-Unionists ought not to give him any 
 glorification. This is the result of my deliberate 
 judgment. Abandon, then, all thoughts of our 
 
 F 2 
 
100 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 friends joining in tlie procession, unless the people, 
 against my advice, desire it. 
 
 " If tliey do, let them be gratified ; but mix 
 the strongest Anti-Unionism with your honours. 
 
 " The new Government of Ireland is being- 
 organized. These things are certain, — that young 
 Stanley" (the present Lord Stanley) ''goes to Ire- 
 land as Chief Secretary, and that Mr. Doherty is 
 out of office, and will not get any situation under 
 the Government. 
 
 " I have reason to believe that Lord Plunkett 
 will be the new Chancellor. 
 
 " Depend upon it, that the attempt to arrest 
 the progress of Anti-Unionism will be a complete 
 failure, as nothing solid or substantial for the good 
 of the Irish people will, or indeed can^ be done by 
 these Ministers, or any British Ministers. 
 
 " I am sincerely sorry to hear that ' the 
 patriots' are so insensible to the necessity of 
 having a place of meeting of their own. The 
 store at the back of the premises affords such an 
 opportunity of making an admirable place of 
 meeting, that I am almost disgusted at the apathy, 
 or small motives, which prevent its being used for 
 that purpose. 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 101 
 
 *^ I will, if I can afford itj be myself at the 
 expense of putting it into proper shape and form. 
 We can never be independent until we have a 
 place of our own to hold an * aggregate meeting.' 
 I Avas thrown out of the theatre in Brunswick 
 Street by miserable jealousies. 
 
 " Yours, 8ic. &c. 
 
 *' Daniel O'Connell." 
 
 Before concluding these extracts from Mr. 
 O' Conn ell's correspondence, which I have thought 
 might be of interest in a work referring to the 
 scenes of parliamentary " agitation,^^ in and out of 
 the House of Commons, in which he Avas so pro- 
 minent a figure, parts of two other letters that 
 have chanced to be among those of the years 1829 
 and 1830, from which I have selected, may be 
 given, although dated some years previously, 
 and one of them not referring to Jiome politics 
 at all. 
 
 The first will show what confident hopes were 
 entertained, and with abundant justification, of 
 a much earlier settlement of the question of 
 Catholic Emancipation. 
 
102 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " Coohe's Hotel, Albemarle Street, London, 
 March 2, 1825. 
 
 " My dear James, 
 
 " I believe I may venture to say that loe are to 
 be emancipated. The tide has turned in our favour ; 
 and the reaction of the injustice done us has 
 contributed much to om: promised success. 
 
 "I cannot write more to-day on politics; but 
 I am in the highest hopes. / believe Lord Liver- 
 pool will take up the question. More to-morrow. 
 I got your letter yesterday, but could not answer 
 it till now. To-morroAV I will write to you again, 
 and at length." -^ * * 
 
 Then follow some directions about law papers 
 connected with the cases in which he was engaged, 
 and which he had to leave unattended to, when 
 suddenly required by the necessities of the 
 'Catholic cause to go to London. 
 
 Also some of the harassing details of arrange- 
 ments to meet various portions of the pecuniary 
 engagements which he had contracted early in life 
 by a too great readiness in going security and 
 accepting bills for a party who left him in the 
 lurch. These engagements hampered and liarassed 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 103 
 
 liim during upwards of twenty years of his life ; 
 and, in fact, made that life often miserable. The 
 letter thus terminates : — 
 
 " The truth is, I will sacrifice everything to 
 stay here to get Emancipation. I have reason to 
 hope that everything ecclesiastical will be satis- 
 factorily settled. I know this. I will remain here, 
 at all eve?its, another week, and if the OTlara case 
 does not go to trial, I will remain here another 
 fortnight at the least. 
 
 " In great haste, 
 
 " Yours most faithfully, 
 
 *' Daniel O'Connell. 
 " James Su^rue, Esq." 
 
 This letter was written after a personal inter- 
 view with Lord Plunkett, to which Mr. O'Con- 
 nell had been specially invited. The noble Lord 
 himself was deceived as to the real intentions of 
 the IMinistry of the day ; and it is therefore not to 
 be wondered at if Mr. O'Connell were deceived. 
 The hopes of the Catholics were raised to the 
 highest pitch, only to be the more rudely dashed 
 to the earth. 
 
104 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Some credit for prophecy might be cLaimed for 
 him on the strength of the few lines about France, 
 with which I conclude these extracts. They were 
 written to the same party, Mr. Sugrue, and pre- 
 ceded, like all his multitudinous letters to the 
 same truly kind and truly devoted friend, with 
 money-details of the same harassing nature, and 
 originating similarly with those already alluded to. 
 
 The date is the 7th October, 1824, from 
 Bordeaux, whither he had gone to meet his 
 family, which had then been for a year in the 
 south of France. 
 
 " My stay at Tours, whither we are now 
 journeying, will be very short; after I see my 
 family established there, I will see you, please 
 God, early in November; certainly before the 
 first business-day of INIichaelmas Term. I will 
 be myself, therefore, in Dublin before the bills 
 become due. 
 
 " My opinion of France and of Frenchmen is not 
 raised by a near inspection. Their climate is to 
 me detestable ; nor can I endure the parched and 
 sunburnt appearance of the country. After all, 
 poor Ireland is the spot — if she had but justice. 
 
LETTERS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 105 
 
 " The French seem very discontented. In truth, 
 they are full of all manner of uncharitableness. 
 The Bourbons are, indeed, far from being popular. 
 I should not be surprised to hear one day of their 
 starting in a new o-ace of revolutions ! 
 " Believe me 
 " Always your obliged and affectionate 
 
 "Daniel O'Connell. 
 
 '* What a treat an Irish news])aper would be 
 to me !" 
 
 I :', 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TREMATURE SESSION OP PARLIAMENT. — THE IRISH TORIES. — LORD DE 
 GREY. — REFORMED CORPORATION OP DUBLIN — ITS FIRST LORD MAYOR. 
 
 MUNICIPAL REFORM ACT. — MR. GROTE. — TUE NEW BALLOT-BOX. — 
 
 VOTE BY BALLOT. — MR. O'CONNELL TAKES POSSESSION OP THE MAN- 
 SION-HOUSE IN DUBLIN. — DIFFICULTIES HE HAD TO ENCOUNTER. — 
 
 CORPORATION ADDRESS TO HER MAJESTY — ITS PRESENTATION. 
 
 DINNER AT THE LONDON TAVERN. SIR ROBERT PEEL — HIS SPEECH 
 
 ON THE DISTRESS OF THE COUNTRY.' — MEETING AT THE REFORM CLUB. 
 
 THE CORN LAWS. — M. SOYER's DINNERS. Till': HIGH SHERIFF OF 
 
 FERMANAGH. BRIBERY AND INTIMIDATION. MR. ROEBUCK. PEEL'S 
 
 FINANCIAL PLANS. CUSTOMS TARIFF. — STATE OP PARTIES. FRANCIS 
 
 FIRES AT THE QUEEN. ANOTHER ATTEMPT. — THE POT-HOUSE PLOT. 
 
 Little was done in the short first session of the 
 newly elected Parliament of 1841, save the easy 
 task of turning out the already doomed Whig- 
 Ministry. It was with the inauguration of this 
 Parliament that, very appropriately on account of 
 its Toryism, and very happily on all accounts, we 
 ceased to be afflicted with the constant repetition 
 of the phrases handles for the previous nine years 
 constantly recurring in debate, viz. " this re- 
 
PREMATURE SESSION OF PARLIAMENT. 107 
 
 formed Parliament," and " now that we all ham 
 constituents." 
 
 This first session, or first instalment of a session, 
 began in September, and lasted about two months. 
 Of all the devices that ever have been brought 
 into action for man's annoyance, that of a prema- 
 ture session of Parliament is far and away the 
 most irritating, troublesome, and useless. It never 
 advances the real work of the ordinary session one 
 inch, — it never tends to shorten that ordinary 
 session by a single day. Nay, the experienced in 
 those matters, especially those most respectable 
 laudatorcs iemporis acti, the older oflicers of the 
 House, do not hesitate to affirm, that a session 
 before Christmas makes the subsequent session 
 even longer than it would otherwise be, instead 
 of helping to " cut it short,'^ And there is no- 
 thing very paradoxical in the assertion, to those 
 at least who know how hard it is to get members 
 to give up entirely their winter amusements in the 
 country, and persuade them not to take revenge 
 for the unusual duties before Christmas, by at 
 least a corresponding period of inattention and 
 absence afterwards. 
 
 The Irish Tories made a wonderful display in 
 
108 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 order to spite the unfortunate Papists, when Sir 
 Robert Peel's Government were firmly seated m 
 office in 1841, and a Lord Lieutenant sent over 
 who was supposed to be true-hlue. Every old 
 family coach, antiquated landau, chaise, and car- 
 riole of high or low degree, was dragged lumber- 
 ing out of the receptacles where they had slumbered 
 for years, and sent up to Dublin by easy and safe 
 stages, there to furnish out the grand inaugural 
 procession of the representative of a truly Pro- 
 testant Government. For a wide radius around 
 the city of Dublin, the posting-houses were left 
 without horses on the days of the first levee and 
 drawing-room of the new Vice-Regal luminaries ; 
 and poor raw-boned and skinny post-cattle became 
 for the nonce — at least in the columns of the 
 Dublin Tory journals — the " splendid carriage- 
 horses" of the aristocracy of the land, who had 
 assembled in Dublin to pay honour to the Con- 
 servative Lord Lieutenant. 
 
 Lord De Grey did not seem by any means so 
 impressed with the magnitude and importance of 
 the tribute thus rendered to him, as were the 
 Dublin Mail and Packet, &;c. &c. A very short 
 experience told his visitors that he was too fond 
 
LORD DE GREY. 109 
 
 of a quiet life to be over-anxious to see them 
 often. Not that he had the least objection in the 
 world to oblige them with a little bit of bigotry, 
 and give them a small party-triumph by the 
 appointment of some inveterate, narrow-minded, 
 and bitter enemy of tlie Catholics. That he w^as 
 quite ready to do, it being merely at the expense 
 of the country. What involved his own expense 
 was a different matter, if all tales be true, especi- 
 ally that of the celebrated " leg of beef," which the 
 Dublin Mendicity vSociety accepted in lieu of, and 
 as a composition for, the annual Vice-Regal tribute 
 of an ox. In a country addicted to hospitality and 
 to joking, this offering was an unfortunate mistake 
 of his Conservative Excellency. 
 
 The effect on the Repeal Agitation of the 
 advent to power of a Tory Government, was cer- 
 tainly beneficial. One immediate good effect, of 
 no small importance, began without delay to 
 show itself. The miserable suspicion of each 
 other, which a long experience of oppression and 
 betrayal has unfortunately generated among Irish- 
 men, w^as checked by the evident impossibility of 
 fixing an accusation upon men marked out for 
 exclusion from oflice by the brand of their religion. 
 
110 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 even more than by that of their known *' Kepeal" 
 sentiments. A greater degree of unanimity, there- 
 fore, and a much warmer feeling of cordiality, be- 
 gan to be apparent amongst us, and the accessions 
 to the Repeal Association gradually and steadily 
 increased. 
 
 In was in the month of November of this year 
 that the new or "Reformed" Corporation of 
 Dubhn came into office, my father being their 
 first Lord Mayor. The excitement amongst the 
 poor people was extraordinary. To have lived to 
 witness the downfal of the old virulent Orange 
 Corporation of Dublin, and the installation in its 
 place of a body composed of Catholics and Liberal 
 Protestants, appeared to the more aged of the 
 popular party almost as a kind of pleasant vision, 
 instead of a comfortable reality ; while the young 
 looked upon this success as the bright dawning of 
 a new era, in the triumphs and advantages of 
 which they would be largely partakers. 
 
 The annoyance, mortification, and irritation on 
 the parts of the adherents and sympathizers of the 
 old Corporation was proportionately great ; as 
 were also their expectations of further discomfiture 
 and deprivation. 
 
REFORMED CORPORATION OF DUBLIN. Ill 
 
 Both the one and the other party much mis- 
 calculated. Toryism was not so easily beaten. 
 Like the Yankee in the Indian bush-fight, it was 
 " not half dead yet." The old policy of obstruct- 
 ing and neutralizing the benefits of concession, 
 which had been and is to this day pursued by 
 English statesmen with reference to the measure 
 of Catholic Emancipation, was directed against 
 the working out of the Liberal amendment now 
 made in the municipal institutions of L'eland. 
 And we see its results to-day in the protracted 
 refusal to correct the defects which haste or ill- 
 will occasioned in our Corporation Reform Act ; 
 and in the increasing peril and persecution which 
 is allowed to gather around the new bodies, with- 
 out any effort on the part of the fair-promising 
 Liberal statesmen of England so to improve their 
 own work, as to enable it to resist the attacks 
 accumulating against it. 
 
 A session has passed since the foregoing words 
 were written ; and although Bills styled Amend- 
 ments of the Irish Municipal Law have passed 
 for Dublin, we cannot acquiesce in so styling 
 them, till experience shall have tested whether 
 they are not delusions and frauds. 
 
112 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The spirit in wliicli the Upper House legislated 
 for Ireland in the case of this measure, as well as 
 in that of the first Irish Poor-law, was not cal- 
 culated to add much to the fame of tliat bod3^ 
 The Irish Poor-law ran a very great risk in the 
 Lords, and its English advocates and supporters 
 in that ITouse might not have succeeded in miti- 
 gating the fierce opposition of their Irish col- 
 leagues, had not the lure been held out to the 
 latter, that one operation of the new law would 
 be indirectly, but gradually and certainly, to chech 
 and mu^tail the popular franchise. 
 
 In the case of the Municipal Reform Act for 
 Ireland, the expectation was openly expressed and 
 avowed, that the little dignities and offices which 
 it would place within reach of the hitherto ex- 
 cluded agitators of the smaller class, would be- 
 come a fruitful source of contention, jealousies, 
 and divisions in the popular ranks, and so weaken 
 the popular strength. And the new Municipal 
 Act Amendment Bills have been made law in such 
 haste, and with such suspicious support from the 
 enemies of the people, that there can scarce be a 
 doubt of its being hoped to turn them against the 
 rights of the latter, by means of the power and 
 
MUNICIPAL REFOR3I ACT. 113 
 
 influence put into the Lands of the Lord Lieu- 
 tenant. 
 
 Even at the outset this expectation was partly 
 realized, though (infinitely to the credit of the 
 parties whose interests and small ambitions were 
 expected to conflict) not to the extent that was 
 anticipated. A variety of candidates started for 
 each post and seat in the new Town Council of 
 Dublin, and the hitherto unanimous " agitators " 
 split up into sections and cliques, each labouring 
 hard to return some favourite of their own. My 
 father proposed, and with some of the wards se- 
 cured, the adoption of an expedient of some 
 general as well as particular interest, to determine 
 the choice of the various constituencies before 
 proceeding to the poll. Mr. Grote, late M.P. for 
 one of the electoral districts of London, had for- 
 warded to him some time previously two models, 
 large and small, of a Ballot-bow — the invention, I 
 believe, of Mr. Grote himself — applicable to the 
 purpose of taking the votes of a large constituency 
 on the principle of secret ballot. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell, following closely the directions 
 which had accompanied the box, had, some time 
 previously to the Dublin IMunicipal struggle, 
 
114 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 caused it to be fitted up in one of the Committee 
 Rooms of the Corn Exchange ; a bulk-head being- 
 run across the room for the purpose, and the box 
 inserted in the middle of it ; while at either side 
 of the box were doors, one of which was to admit 
 the voter into the small inside room formed by the 
 bulk-head, and the other to give him egress when 
 he should have voted. The judges or inspectors 
 of the ballot were to take their places in the 
 outside compartment into which the room was 
 divided by the bulk-head, and they had one face 
 of the ballot-box, together with the front of the 
 well-padlocked chest into which the voters' cards 
 were to fall, turned towards them. The other 
 face of the ballot-box looked into the little com- 
 partment inside, into which the voter was to go, 
 and through which he was to pass after marking 
 his card in the manner in which I shall presently 
 attempt to describe. 
 
 To render the description more readily intel- 
 ligible, it may be well to trace a small plan, to 
 which reference can be made. The following, then, 
 was the disposition of the apartment : the Roman 
 letters indicating the points requiring to be par- 
 ticularly noticed. 
 
THE NEW BALLOT-BOX. 
 
 115 
 
 REFERENCE TO THE ABOVE.* 
 
 A. Entrance door to the room. 
 
 B. Seats of the Inspectors of Votes, &c. 
 
 C. c. The Bulk-head or partition, across the room ; reaching 
 
 from the floor to the ceiling, and from side to side. 
 
 D. The inner room, or compartment, into which the voter was to 
 
 go, and Avherc his motions and actions could not be seen 
 from the outside. 
 
 E. The Ballot-box " let in," or inserted into the partition. 
 
 F. and G. are the two faces of the box ; one presented to the 
 
 Inspectors in the outer compartment, the other seen only 
 by the voter inside. 
 H. and I. are the doors in the partition ; the first for the voter's 
 entrance, the second for his egress. 
 
 * Just when writing this description, I have seen (March, 1849,) 
 the advertisement in the Dublin papers of this Box for sale, 
 along with all the other furniture and fixtures of our bankrupt 
 Association. 
 
IIG PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The voter — his identity, &c. being elsewhere 
 established — is supposed to enter at a, and to pro- 
 ceed according to the dotted line in tlie plan, 
 throngli the door ii, which shuts after him witli a 
 spring, into the inner compartment d. There he 
 approaches the side g g of the ballot-box (e), and 
 sees, in a species of frame at the top of the box, a 
 card with the names of the respective candidates 
 printed upon it. A species of gimlet hangs near 
 the frame, and he has been instructed outside, 
 (upon a small model kept in the outer room for 
 the purpose,) that he is to indicate his choice by 
 punching with the gimlet the card before him, in 
 a line with the name of liis favourite. Holes are 
 mp,de in the frame in a line with each name, to 
 enable him to introduce the gimlet for the fore- 
 going purpose. He then withdraws and drops the 
 gimlet; and if he choose himself to make the 
 card he has thus marked drop into the pad- 
 locked chest under the ballot-box, he has only to 
 press a small brass knob, as he has been shown 
 to do in the model outside, and the card drops 
 safely and promptly into its appointed recep- 
 tacle. He then leaves the inner compartment 
 D by the door i, which only opens outward, and 
 
TUE NEW BALLOT-BOX. 117 
 
 closes after him with a spring; and he goes 
 his way. 
 
 Meantime, neither the inspectors outside, nor 
 any one else, have any means of knowing what 
 name he has chosen to mark. The voter has been 
 alone, and completely concealed by the bulk-head 
 or partition. All that the inspectors see is the 
 white and unmarked bach o£that portion of the card 
 on the other side of which the names, to them 
 invisible, of course, are printed. The frame in 
 which the card stands is glazed on their side, and 
 is much smaller than inside ; so small as entirely 
 to conceal that portion of the card which the voter 
 punctures with the gimlet. If, after he has done 
 so, he has not pressed the brass knob inside, which 
 makes the card descend, but comes out and goes 
 away while the card is still there, a corresponding 
 brass knob on the outside gives the inspectors the 
 means of causing it to fall down into the chest 
 below; still, however, without their having the 
 least opportunity of detecting the mark that the- 
 voter made. When the card has fallen, the frame 
 and glass of course appear vacant ; and the in- 
 spectors, through a groove in the top of the frame, 
 insert a new card, with its back, like the former 
 
118 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 one, turned towards themselves ; and its front, 
 with the candidates' names printed on it, turned 
 towards the inner compartment, ready for the next 
 voter. The latter is not introduced until the 
 change has been thus made. 
 
 To any one who may have taken the trouble of 
 going through this description, and of looking at 
 the little plan to which reference is made, it must 
 be evident that the secresy is complete ; and the 
 process quite simple enough to be comprehended, 
 at least after a short previous instruction on the 
 small model outside, by the most ordinary capacity. 
 Of course the agents of the various candidates 
 would take especial care to see that their voters 
 understood the process ; however little chance 
 they had of knowing ultimately the disposition of 
 each vote. 
 
 In this way, upon the occasion I have men- 
 tioned, the votes of some thousands of burgesses 
 of the city of Dublin were taken with an ease, 
 regularity, and absence of disturbance and inter- 
 ruption very unusual in conducting such operations 
 according to the ordinary process. Mr. O'Connell, 
 with that earnestness of interest that he threw 
 into every matter that he took up, whether of 
 
THE NEW BALLOT-BOX. 
 
 119 
 
 great or snifxll importance, sat in the outer room 
 the whole clay, superintending, directing, coun- 
 selling, and watching ; and personally assisted in 
 counting the cards, when at the close of the day 
 the three appointed inspectors unlocked each the 
 padlock he had himself placed upon the chest under 
 the ballot-box into which the cards had fallen, and 
 proceeded to examine the result of the voting. 
 The followino; sketch will show the arrans^ement 
 of the front of the card; that which was presented 
 to the voter when inside the partition. 
 
 Ar 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 B 
 
 Mc KENNA. 
 
 G 
 
 o 
 
 
 B 
 
 GRACE. 
 
 G 
 o 
 
 B 
 
 Mc LAUGHLIK 
 
 G 
 o 
 
 B 
 
 MURPHY. 
 
 G 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .4 
 
 A 
 
 A A A A The frame, 
 
 B B B B The candidates' names. 
 
 G G G G The additional slip of the frame, through which a hole 
 was made opposite each candidate's name. Through one of 
 these holes — that opposite his favourite's name — the voter 
 passed the point of the gimlet ; piercing the card within in 
 the manner described in a previous page. 
 
120 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 If any card was found to have been pierced 
 opposite more names than tliere were representatives 
 to be chosen — as, for instance, if in wards where 
 two persons were to be designated for support, 
 three names had been marked, and Avhere one was 
 to be designated, tioo names were marked — such 
 card was considered of no effect, and was accord- 
 ingly thrown out of the count. The phrase 
 " designated for support" will recall to the reader's 
 recollection, that tliis voluntary ballot at the Corn 
 Exchange was but a preliminary measure to the 
 legal election for seats in tlie new town-council or 
 corporation ofDublin, and was but a means of 
 settling disputes among the Liberals as to the par- 
 ticular individual or individuals who should receive 
 general support at tliat election, by mutual con- 
 sent and a<]i:reement amonfi: the various sections 
 into which the Liberal or popular party had been 
 split. 
 
 The secresy then of the ballot was found com- 
 plete; the facility and rapidity of taking the Azotes 
 complete ; the opportunity also complete for each 
 voter to act according to his own will and private 
 inclinations, without being subject to any extra- 
 neous influence ; and finally, and as a necessary 
 
VOTE BY BALLOT. 121 
 
 consequence of the success of the steps in the points 
 just enumerated, the result of the ballot gave 
 complete satisfaction, and restored a unity of 
 action to the councils of the popular party in the 
 approacliing struggle. Of course there Avere some 
 few malcontents and mutineers, as will always occur 
 among bodies of men, large or small, seeking to 
 come to a common decision and purpose. These 
 worthies broke off from their agreement, and 
 voted according to their previous fancy, or to the 
 fancy of the moment; but the vast majority of 
 those who had taken part in the ballot-experiment 
 remained true to their cnjxafjcments, and the con- 
 sequence was, that in the wards whose electors 
 and candidates had submitted to this ordeal 
 the Tory enemy was easily and thoroughly 
 beaten. 
 
 For nearly two months after his election as 
 Lord Mayor, my father could not be prevailed 
 upon to leave his comfortable house in Merrion- 
 square, and go to the Mansion-house. The latter, 
 a building of the time of William the Third, or 
 Queen Anne, has some good rooms on the ground 
 floor, but very defective accommodation for a 
 family upstairs, as well as for unfortunate servants. 
 
 VOL. II. G 
 
122 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The Dublin Orangemen were sorely disappointed 
 
 "vvlien he at last overcame his reluctance, and 
 
 entered its precincts. They had hoped that that 
 
 sacred citadel of sectarian and political ascendency 
 
 would never 
 
 " By pajyist feet be trod ; " 
 
 and the idea of having an O'Connell living 
 where true-blue and no siirrendet^ Lord Mayors 
 had so long reigned, and where a GifFord, 
 a Duigenan, and other we7'e-ivolve8 of fierce 
 and vulgar bigotry had resorted, was to them in- 
 tolerable ; but t/ie^ little knew, poor men, to what 
 audacious length Popish audacity and profanity 
 would go. Presently a horrid whisper ran through 
 all Orange-land, then grew into a hoarse murmur, 
 and finally burst out in a shout of indignant 
 astonishment and execration. Tlie fact, the ap- 
 palling fact became known, that the Papist intruder, 
 Daniel O'Connell, had dared to outrage the sacred 
 memories of the domicile he had invaded, and the 
 shades of Orange heroes that were said to flit 
 through the dusty and comfortless passages of the 
 rooms of the Mansion-house, revisiting the 
 glimpses of the moon, by causing Catholic 
 prayers to be offered up by a real live Catholic or 
 
THE MANSION HOUSE. 123 
 
 Popish priest, upon one Sunday, when he was 
 unable to go out to chapel. 
 
 After such conduct it was impossible to say- 
 where the audacity of the Papists would stop ! 
 The establishment of the Inquisition itself, in the 
 large banqueting -room behind the Mansion- 
 house, which had been erected for the purpose 
 of entertaining that truly Protestant monarch 
 George the Fourth when he visited his Irish 
 dominions, was by no means improbable as the 
 next proceeding. 
 
 Without unduly speaking of one with whom 
 my connexion was so close, it may be allowable 
 that I should say that, but for Mr. O'Connell's 
 legal knowledge, personal superintendence, advice 
 and exertions, physical as well as moral, it would 
 have been utterly impossible to have got the new 
 Corporation to work ; such were the designedly 
 intricate and difficult provisions of the Act under 
 which it was constituted, and the entire inexpe- 
 rience in such matters, and confusion of counsels, 
 among the liberal constituency of the city of 
 Dublin. 
 
 That the reader may judge of one form of 
 these difficulties, it will be permitted to state 
 
 g2 
 
124 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 that no less than 8,000^. was the expenditure 
 rendered inevitably necessary in constituting the 
 machinery for the elections^ and bringing the 
 Corporation into working order; and all this 
 expense was official, and entirely irrespective of 
 the personal disbursements of the candidates. 
 The new Corporation, therefore, was not only 
 saddled with the ancient debts and encumbrances 
 contracted by the reckless and characterless par- 
 tisans whom they succeeded, but Avere inevitaUi/ 
 compelled, by the minute and multitudinous pro- 
 visions and requirements of the Act, to incur at 
 their outset an additional burthen, to the amount 
 before mentioned. 
 
 Having at last got the body fairly on its legs, 
 and havino; discharo;ed all the duties, conventional 
 as well as legal, that a Lord Mayor has at his 
 first entrance into office to perform — such as 
 entertaining, presiding at meetings, attending 
 charity sermons, and, above all, the important 
 point of giving subscriptions, contributions, &c. 
 to all manner of public objects and institutions 
 — Mr. O'Connell set out late in February, 1842, 
 to attend Parliament. 
 
 One duty of his new office he had to discharge 
 
ADDRESS TO HER MAJESTY. 125 
 
 in full paraphernalia of state, a short time after 
 arriving in London. The Corporation of Dublin 
 had agreed to an address, congratulating her 
 Majesty upon her then recent marriage with 
 Prince Albert ; and they had claimed their right, 
 " and had their claim allowed," to present it by 
 a deputation of their own number, to her Majesty 
 in person. Accordingly, two of the aldermen and 
 two of tlie common councillors, representing 
 respectively the two classes of corporators, accom- 
 panied by the Town Clerk, Sword and Mace- 
 bearers, Marshal and Higli Constable of the body, 
 rendezvoused at my father's hotel in London on the 
 appointed day, all en grande tenue, for the purpose 
 of attending him when presenting the address. 
 Some three or four Irish M.P.s and one or two 
 burgesses of Dublin, who happened to be in town 
 at the moment, added to the tail : and away we 
 went through Pall Mall, with many a jeer from 
 the passers-by at the modest and mitigated display 
 of gingerbread on the equipages and appointments 
 of " the shabby Irish Corporation." 
 
 We Avere kept waiting below for a short time, 
 and then marshalled in state up the great staircase 
 of Buckingham Palace: the Corporation officers 
 
126 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 going first, and then the Lord Mayor and his 
 chaplain. The Litter, a most respectable and 
 deservedly respected old clergyman, now some 
 years dead, gave some amusement just at this 
 important moment, by a display of one of the 
 little harmless peculiarities for which he was 
 noted in laughter-loving Dublin. The oldest 
 curate, not only in Dublin, but perhaps in Ireland 
 — having been in that subordinate rank for nearly 
 fifty years, during the greater part of which 
 lengthened period he had remained in it volun- 
 tai'ily, refusing several parishes which had been 
 successively offered to him, — he yet had from the 
 Court of Rome the honorary title and dignity 
 of a Monsignore, part of the outward and visible 
 signs of which honorary office are a short mantle 
 of black silk, worn on the shoulders, and a neck- 
 cloth, stockings, and gloves of prelatical purple. 
 Both stockin2:s and cloves in his case bore testi- 
 mony, by many a darn and many a discoloration, 
 to the habits of a most rigid economy, which he 
 had practised through life for the most laudable 
 and unvarying purpose of dedicating the savings 
 of his small stipend to erecting " free founda- 
 tions '^ or burses for ecclesiastical students in 
 
ADDRESS TO HER MAJESTY. 127 
 
 Maynootli, and, I believe, the Irish Ecclesiastical 
 College at Kome. One of these gloves, marked by 
 many a token of his honourable and apostolical 
 poverty, he now held up to the fastidious eyes 
 of a gold-bedizened and perfumed official of the 
 Palace, and said, in his own homely, fatherly 
 way, — 
 
 " My dear, I left the fellow of this glove in the 
 parlour below. Will you look for it for me, while 
 we are upstairs? and the Lord bless you!" 
 
 " Certainly, Sir, certainly ; I shall be sure to 
 have it for you as you come down ;" Avas the civil 
 and very proper reply ; and the assurance was 
 most punctually redeemed. 
 
 After due marshalling in the ante-chamber, the 
 double doors into the throne-room were opened, 
 and in we went to the royal presence. Had the 
 fates spared Lord Eldon to witness that day and 
 that scene, how his inmost soul would have been 
 shocked to see Irish Papists, clad in the despoiled 
 trophies of the Protestant Corporation of Dublin, 
 marching up in solemn state to the crowned repre- 
 sentative of the Protestant House of Brunswick, to 
 speak Avith her face to fac6 ! And how Avould not 
 " On Horror s head horrors accumulate," 
 
128 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 could lie have heard her Majesty, in her own 
 singularly clear, pleasing, and silver-toned enun- 
 ciation, express her gracious acknowledgment of 
 the respectful congratulations of the " mere Irish" 
 — and worse than that, the Papist Irish ! 
 
 A dinner at the London Tavern, conducted on 
 the Ttef or med- corporation principles, viz. charges as 
 moderate at least as the London Tavern would 
 undertake for, and charges paid out of private 
 pockets instead of out of corporation property, 
 closed merrily the proceedings of the day. 
 
 Having about this period commenced a kind of 
 very irregular journal of passing occurrences of 
 interest in the political world, I transcribe, with- 
 out alteration or emendation, from it a few notices, 
 jotted down from time to time according to im- 
 pressions of the moment, of some of the events of 
 the parliamentary session of 1842. 
 
 " Thursday, Feb. 10, 1842.— Last night Peel at 
 length prescribed (to use his own medical simile) 
 for the distress of these countries. There was of 
 course great anxiety to hear his plans, and conse- 
 quently a very full house. The Anti-Corn-law 
 delegates marched down full six hundred strong, it 
 
SIR ROBERT PEEL. 129 
 
 IS said, but could not get admission. At a little 
 after five Peel rose, and there was instantly, and 
 throughout his speech, the deepest attention. 
 
 " For two hours and a half did he speak, and in 
 all that time no one enlarged view, no one states- 
 man-like sentiment ! To be sure, his cause was 
 bad, and he was restrained and fettered by his 
 party; but so much the more disgrace to him. 
 He confessed the existence of distress, which he 
 had denied last August ; but he said that Corn- 
 laws had nothing to do with it ; that is, that re- 
 strictions on the importation of food, and conse- 
 quent high prices of food, to the poor man, are no 
 real evil to him ; and that the loss and ruin now 
 falling heavily upon the manufacturers, are in no 
 way caused by the retaliation of foreigners in 
 shutting their markets against British manufac- 
 tures in return for the exclusion of their agricul- 
 tural produce from British ports ! He attributed 
 the distress to, first, the war with China, which 
 interferes with our trade thither ! second, to over 
 speculation ; third, to improvemejits in machinery ; 
 fourth, to the derangement of intercourse with 
 America., from her monetary confusion (omitting 
 the exceeding likelihood that if America could 
 
 G 3 
 
130 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 have sent lier corn, she woukl have paid much of 
 her debts); fifth, to the dispensation of Providence! 
 &c. &c. 
 
 " He then combated, or addressed himself to 
 combat, the total repealers and the fixed-duty men. 
 To the first he brought up the old bugbear of 
 dependence upon foreigners, and to the second 
 he said, that their fixed duty would be useless when 
 corn was low, and cruel when corn was high — 
 asserting, and merely asserting, that it would not 
 prevent fluctuations as great as at present I He 
 also argued generally against the idea that cheap 
 bread makes the comfort of a people ; contrasting 
 Prussia, &c., with England ; bread being cheaper 
 in the former than the latter, and yet a greater 
 average consumption of bread, meat, sugar, &c., per 
 head among the people of the latter country than 
 those of the former, — as if that Avere any reason 
 for not giving bread as cheap to tlie English ! 
 " He then came to his plan. First, &c. &c. 
 ■)f * Hi -^ -^ 
 
 " This is an insult, as Cobden truly called it 
 last night. It leaves all the restriction and the 
 grinding pressure of the Corn-laws, while it is put 
 forward as a measure of rehef ; and the insult is 
 
MEETING AT THE REFORM CLUB. 131 
 
 aggravated by the shallow trick of the Duke of 
 Buckingham's resignation of office. 
 
 " Of course the other measures of this Govern- 
 ment, where they pretend relief, will be equally 
 delusive ; but there is little doubt their measures 
 towards poor Ireland will be of an efficient cha- 
 racter — efficient in evil and tyranny. 
 
 " As yet, indeed, notwithstanding the powerful 
 and reckless majority against Ireland, there is 
 none of the bitterness of hostility breaking out 
 openly that used to be manifested while the party 
 were in opposition. But this present forbearance 
 is all to spread a thin veil of moderation over their 
 intentions, until their preparations for action are 
 made; and then tw metis ! Ireland shall pay for her 
 long opposition to the Tory party. 
 
 " She has now for more than ten years returned 
 a strong Liberal majority. Had she a Parliament 
 of her own, what measures of benefit would she 
 not have passed in that interval! She returned 
 at this last election, despite of the most reckless 
 intimidation and foul play, a Liberal majority. 
 Had she a Parliament of her own, the Government 
 would be Liberal in Ireland. 
 
 " 4 P.M. — A meeting of the liberal M.P.s and late 
 
132 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 M.P.s at the Eeform Club, good feeling prevail- 
 ing : rather a disposition on the part of the Whig 
 section to conciliate the more popular portion of 
 the party ; but though I think this will improve, 
 through the pressure of sheer necessity, I fear 
 they would need more experience of adversity to 
 make them act steadily in the true interest of the 
 people. 
 
 " On Monday, we have consented that an 
 amendment should be moved to the Speaker's 
 leaving the chair for the Corn-laws Committee, to 
 this effect : ^ That no modification of the Corn- 
 laws can be satisfactory that preserves the sliding 
 scale.' This motion enables us to vote all together ; 
 — when beaten on that, Villiers moves for total 
 Bepeal. 
 
 " A symptom that the Whigs are verging to- 
 wards jc>ojD2^/t«r/2;/;2y themselves a little more, is the 
 getting up of mixed dinners at the Reform Club 
 once a-week, where we shall gradually get some 
 knowledge of each other, and perhaps some little 
 mutual asperities may be softened down. 
 
 " The establishment of the Tories in power is of 
 course a blow to the Whigs, and a heavy dis- 
 couragement to the English Eadicals; but what 
 
SIR ROBERT PEEl's SPEECH. 133 
 
 do tliey suffer from it, comparable with what we 
 Irish are suffering, and must prepare ourselves to 
 suffer! The bench is being recruited with un- 
 scrupulous partisans, promoted for their partisan- 
 ship ; and in all cases touching political rights and 
 political liberty, they will decide for their party. 
 The jury-box is shut to fairness and honestj^, for 
 the sheriffs are of the right sort. Again, Tories 
 dismissed for misconduct have been restored to 
 the bench, fresh Tories added in crowds, and an 
 ill-feeling on the part of the Government towards 
 the stipendiaries, i. e. the really responsible magis- 
 trates, is declared." 
 
 The speech of Sir Eobert Peel commented 
 upon in the first of the foregoing extracts, was 
 one of the most tantalizing ever delivered in Par- 
 liament within the memory of that respectable and 
 often-quoted personage, "the oldest inhabitant!" 
 For two mortal hours did he go about his subject 
 and about it, without ever coming to it ; at least 
 to that part of his subject which in the heated and 
 fevered interest of the time was most looked for 
 and waited for by his auditory, viz. his long 
 rumoured and pompously heralded plan for the 
 
134 PxVRLlAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 amendment of the Corn-laws. Perhaps it is not 
 at all an exaggeration to say, that full twenty dif- 
 ferent times, if not oftener, men bristled up, fixed 
 themselves newly on their seats, uttered a short 
 impatient "Hush!" to their equally anxious and 
 impatient neighbours, and drew in their breaths 
 hard between their teeth, with the ejaculation, 
 " Now he comes to it ! " as the Minister seemed at 
 length to be winding up his protracted exordium, 
 and approaching the desired exposition. But no ! 
 he had not come to it, — they were totally mis- 
 taken, — never more mistaken in their lives ! Up 
 suddenly got a new hare, and away went Sir 
 Hobert Peel at a tangent in full chase of it, and 
 coursed it through all its doubles with most ex- 
 emplary industry and activity, while the assembled 
 members 
 
 " Conticuere omnes, intentique ora tenebant," 
 
 aghast and blank with disappointment after dis- 
 appointment. 
 
 This could not, however, last for ever. All hu- 
 man miseries, as well as human joys, are finite; and 
 the general law prevailed even with this speech. 
 Out came, sharp, distinct, and brief enough, when 
 
THE CORN LAWS. 135 
 
 at length it did come, the modification-proposal 
 described in the foregoing extract. 
 
 It came in time for post, and little more than in 
 time for post. Just one moment was given to draw 
 a long breath of relieved expectation, another to 
 interchange looks and comments of astonishment, 
 dissatisfaction, or otherwise, and then " the school 
 broke up," and members scurried away to our 
 small inconvenient library, to the writing-room in 
 the new lobby, to the smoking and nearest com- 
 mittee rooms, the vote office, waiting-room, and 
 even the crowded old lobby, seizing on and occu- 
 pying every square inch of surface that would give 
 support to even half a sheet of note-paper, as they 
 scribbled to friends, constituents, and others, the 
 chief points of the new thimhle-rig attempted with 
 the Corn-laws. 
 
 The prominent symptom was dissatisfaction. The 
 Corn-law advocates were vexed their favourite 
 legislation should be meddled or tampered with, at 
 all. The waverers and half-measure men did not 
 like tJiis half-measure, if it could be called even 
 a /^a^/'-measure. And we may remark in passing, 
 that there is none so intolerant of the modifications 
 and half-measures of others, as your professed 
 
136 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 modification and half-measure man himself. He 
 is ever sure to have, or at the least to fancy him- 
 self to have, some nice little pet expedient of his 
 own, calculated, according to his opinion, to do 
 wonders, if the prejudices and prepossessions of 
 others Avould only yield him the opportunity of 
 making a trial. In short, according to the Tery 
 old and thread-bare quotation, he freely 
 
 " Compounds for sldfis he is inclined to. 
 By damning those he has no mind to." 
 
 As to the Corn-law abolitionists— the Tee-total 
 men, they of course saw through Sir Robert 
 Peel's speech at once, and detected all its hollow- 
 ness and insufficiency ; but there was balm in 
 Gilead in the reflection, that " the Corn-laws were 
 assuredly doomed,^'* since Peel, borne into power 
 on the shoulders of their most uncompromising 
 and fiercest advocates, began his term of office 
 with a disturbance, under the name of a modifica- 
 tion, of those laws. From this and other symp- 
 toms of divided and wavering counsels among the 
 monopolist party, auguries of good hope and fresh 
 encouragement to ** Agitation" were plainly to be 
 deduced. 
 
M. soyer's dinners. 137 
 
 The House dinners mentioned in the second ex- 
 tract as having taken place at the Reform Club, 
 lasted some four or five weeks ; and most pre- 
 eminently stupid affairs they were, in so far as 
 regarded — 
 
 " The feast of reason and the flow of soul." 
 Very excellent dinners, most undoubtedly, 
 as dinners; doing abundant credit to Monsieur 
 Soyer's art and labours ; he having condescended 
 to put himself to trouble about them. 
 
 Beyond the opportunity thus given him for the 
 display of his culinary talents, and the incon- 
 veniencies of crowded dinner-parties, made up of 
 men scarcely acquainted with each other, and 
 belonging: to all the various shades, sections, and 
 subdivisions of what Avas called the Liberal party, 
 no other result followed this galvanized attempt at 
 sociality. 
 
 Referring again to the extracts from my rough 
 notes of passing events, feelings, opinions, &c., 
 it is scarcely to be described, the gloom that w^as 
 cast over the popular mind in Ireland by the in- 
 stallation into office of the Conservative party ; 
 and the depression of the popular party was 
 rivalled in intensity by the exultation of their 
 
138 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 opponents, who fairly " stopped at nothing" in the 
 first exuberance of their rejoicings. 
 
 The high-sheriff of the county Fermanagh, 
 when proceeding, according to the old custom, to 
 meet the Judges of Assize, bedecked his servants 
 and attendants in orange and blue — the colours of 
 the ascendancy and exclusion party in Ireland, 
 while they are the colours of the Liberal party at 
 English elections. The Judges most properly, 
 and with becoming dignity, refused to enter his 
 carriage, when they had noticed this display. It 
 was said afterwards, that the colours in question 
 were really those of his livery, and not adopted 
 for the occasion. But the conduct of the Judges 
 was considered to have done them infinite credit 
 under all and under any circumstances. 
 
 The same worthy, when sealing the returns to be 
 sent up to Dublin with the names of the two 
 Knights of the Shire chosen at the general elec- 
 tion of 1841, did so with a large seal, on which 
 was printed in conspicuous letters the following 
 elegant aspiration — being one of the standard 
 toasts of Orange orgies : — 
 
 '• The Pope in the Pillory, in Hell, 
 Pelted with Priests by the Devil !" 
 
HIGH SHERIFF OF FER3IANAGII. 139 
 
 and an exceedingly well cut device was encircled 
 by the inscription, representing the bearer of the 
 triple tiara at a stake amid flames ; while a re- 
 spectable gentleman with horns, hoofs, and a long 
 curly tail was taking dead aim at him with a 
 poor priest brandished high in the air over his 
 head. 
 
 These dlssfraceful absurdities were as the straws 
 upon the stream, denoting the strength and direc- 
 tion of the dark and bitter current below. I will 
 not go further into this disagreeable subject than 
 to say that the concluding part of the extract 
 referred to, does not upon recollection now, as it 
 did not when I wrote it, appear to have any ex- 
 aggeration about it. The poor stipendiaries there 
 mentioned were particularly obnoxious to the little 
 local despots among the unpaid magistracy, 
 where they refused to join cause with the latter ; 
 and four or five of them were at once dismissed, 
 not for any assigned or assignable fault, but 
 under the pretence that they were unnecessary ; 
 and such hard measui'e dealt out to them, that 
 they were required to start off at once, home by 
 the nearest and sJiortest routes otherwise they were 
 not to get the scant and limited maticum to be 
 
140 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 allowed to the more promptly obedient. This 
 order was indeed relaxed shortly after, but only 
 under the pressure of the general feeling of indig- 
 nation which it had excited. 
 
 Meantime your Whigs, good easy men, were 
 congratulating and complimenting Sir 'Robert 
 Peel across the table of the House of Commons, 
 upon the fairness and liberality of his government in 
 Ireland : and Sir Robert, looking virtue itself, sat 
 with meek and sober stateliness upon the Treasury 
 bench, listening to and accepting all the glorifica- 
 tion they chose to give him, as complacent and 
 self-contented as Sir Charles Grandison himself 
 
 The Parliament returned at the general election 
 of the year 1841, was declared upon all hands, 
 and with most edifying unanimity, to have been 
 returned by the most enormous amount of bribery 
 that had ever been known, even in England. 
 There was a Parliament of one of the Edwards, 
 or the Henrys, which is stigmatized in the legis- 
 lative annals of the country as the ignorant Par- 
 liament — Parliamentum indqctum — an epithet which 
 is said to have been earned for it by the pre- 
 eminent want of knowledge and intelligence of 
 those who were returned to serve in it. The 
 
BRIBERY AND INTIMIDATION. 141 
 
 Parliament of 1841 should have taken place in 
 English records as " Parliamentum impure:^'' the 
 Parliament sprung from the grossest and vilest 
 corruption, the grossest " treating," and the most 
 flasjrant intimidation. 
 
 Not less than two millions and a half was the 
 loicest estimate of the total of expenditure of both 
 parties, Whig and Conservative, at this crisis of 
 their contest. And both were said to be for 
 the time thoroughly " cleaned outP in consequence 
 of it. 
 
 Intimidation, too, w^as plentifully used chiefly 
 on the unfortunate 50/. voters in the English 
 counties, under the "Chandos" clause of the 
 Reform Bill. And since the days of the consular 
 elections at Rome there had never been seen such 
 wholesale feeding of voters ; and in all the days 
 of England's electioneering history, never such 
 mighty drinki7ig— such, potent swilling of ale, gin, and 
 beer, — at the expense, of course, of the plundered 
 candidates; to whom, by a most just retribution, 
 quite as little mercy w^as shown as they deserved. 
 They had gone with their eyes (and purses) open 
 into ihe discreditable conflict, and no one could 
 regret that they suflTered heavily for it, much as 
 
142 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 the corruption of the instruments of their chas- 
 tisement was to be detested and denounced. 
 Roebuck — then, and until tlie last general election, 
 member for Bath — had a fine field in the trans- 
 gressions of these parties for the exercise of his 
 peculiar fancy and talent for picking holes in his 
 neighbours' coats. And he did use his opportunity 
 most unmercifully. 
 
 Few men possess in so striking a degree, 
 the dangerous and unhappy gift of sarcastic 
 powers, as Mr. Koebuck. It is a dangerous 
 and unhappy gift to its possessor, as it robs him 
 of friends, while it procures for him plenty of 
 applauders and backers at the moment : each man 
 being glad to have the lash directed against his 
 neighbours, and averted from himself. The effect 
 of Mr. Roebuck's other talents — and they are not 
 in small measure either as to quantity or quality — 
 is grievously marred by this propensity to bitter- 
 ness, and the likelihood of his ever attaining the 
 position of a political leader rendered almost 
 naught. Men like to be led, indeed, and it is said 
 of political parties, at least in this country, that 
 they do not object to having what sailors call a 
 " taut hand " kept over them ; or if they grumble. 
 
MR. ROEBUCK. 143 
 
 still fire foimcl to submit to it far better than they 
 would to a guidance attempted in milder, and more 
 considerate fashion. But no man likes to be per- 
 petually in hot water ; and no man likes to be the 
 butt of his leader's sarcasms : and whoever follows 
 John Arthur Roebuck must make up his mind to 
 botb contingencies; for that gentleman is never 
 
 I will not say contented, for content and he 
 
 have nothing in common — but is never in his 
 glory, save when over the shoulders, and nearly 
 over head, in the hottest water ; and when he has 
 not an opponent to assail, will turn his fine-edged 
 and glittering steel upon a friend. 
 
 Mr. Roebuck's person, as well as manner and 
 delivery, are well known ; the former small and 
 spare, but well formed ; the head highly intel- 
 lectual, but the countenance telling tales of the 
 acrimony within. His voice is harsh, but clear ; 
 and his delivery a little too sharp and dogmatic to 
 be altogether pleasing ; while at the same time it 
 is undoubtedly impressive and telling. 
 
 I had jotted down the following notice of his 
 performances on the occasion of the bribery dis- 
 closures and confessions of the ^^ Parliamentum 
 impure " of 1841. 
 
144 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ^^ Monday i May 9, 1842. — A strange and novel 
 scene in the House of Commons last nlglit 
 of meeting (Friday). Roebuck, M.P. for Bath, 
 got up according to notice, and put questions 
 to several members, whom he accused, from com- 
 mon report, of having been parties in various 
 compromises that are said to have lately taken 
 j^lace Avith regard to election-petitions — as in 
 the case of Nottingham borough, where the 
 Wliig member, after having been declared by 
 the Committee to have been 'duly elected,' has 
 vacated his seat to leave an opening for ' the last 
 rose of summer,' — Walter of the Times ; and 
 other cases. 
 
 " Koebuck's proceeding seemed to take the 
 House completely by surprise. It was of a totally 
 imprecedented and unexpected character. The 
 members to whom he had put questions gave 
 various answers; generall}'', however, declining 
 to give him any information on the subject. The 
 Tories and Sir John Hobhouse, (M.P. for Notting- 
 ham, and who is, unfortunately, scarcely to be 
 excepted when Tories are spoken of,) refused the 
 gentle request with high indignation, and great 
 violence of bearing. Two Whigs, or Whig- 
 
MR. ROEBUCK. 145 
 
 Radicals^ confessed there had been bribery at their 
 respective elections, but declared that they had 
 nothing whatever to do with it, nor any cogni- 
 sance of it at the time ; and the most Whiggish of 
 the pair made the further confession, that there had 
 been a compromise entered into whereby he was to 
 resign his seat in a certain time in favour of a Tory. 
 
 But he added, that he had not known any 
 thing of it at the time, nor until it was entirely 
 arranged ; and that he did not at all like it,'''' The 
 House thoroughly believed this latter assertion ; at 
 the same time that there was no reason to dis- 
 credit the former, the fact being well known that 
 
 he had been put in by Lord , altogether at 
 
 the noble lord's expense. 
 
 " A good deal of discussion followed that even- 
 ing, with much inclination shown on the Whig as 
 well as Tory side to hurke the matter ; but Roe- 
 buck, for once in his life, sliows judgment as well 
 as talent and boldness, and seems likely to drive 
 them to the wall. The debate stands adjourned 
 to this night or to-morrow," 
 
 Notwithstanding the Peachum and Lockit agree- 
 ment of Whig and Tory, Roebuck succeeded in 
 
 VOL. II. H 
 
146 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 getting a Committee of Inquiry into these mat- 
 ters. The only tangible results were, that some 
 compromises were voided, including the one of 
 which its victim had declared his ignorance and 
 his disrelish ; and that fresh and still more distinct 
 evidence (and confession) than before was put on 
 record, of the gross, disgusting, and shocking ve- 
 nality which stained a large proportion of the Eng- 
 lish returns to the " fourth reformed Parliament." 
 
 '' Monday, March 14, 1842.— On Friday, Peel 
 brought forward his financial plans. An income 
 tax for England, with all its vexatious inquisi- 
 tions and annoyance. The wealthy middle classes, 
 who voted for the Tories, will now suffer for their 
 hostility to liberal principles. A stamp tax, or 
 increase of the existing tax, and an increase on 
 spirits, for Ireland, as an equivalent ; she being 
 unable to bear an income tax. 
 
 •X- -X- -K- ^ -^ 
 
 ^' Sir R. Peel took about three and a half hours 
 in making his speech ; beginning with a shorter 
 string of schoolboy sentences than usual, and 
 then going through details with great clearness 
 certainly — but still laboured clearness. At the 
 
CUSTOMS TARIFF. 147 
 
 end he lapsed into scJioolhoyism again : mouthing 
 and delivering 07'e rotundo long sentences " sig- 
 nifying nothing," or little else than nothing. 
 
 " If a ^ new member,' or even an old one not 
 of high rank or position, were to declaim in the 
 way that he sometimes does, the offender would be 
 very speedily and. very onercilessly coughed down. 
 
 " Monday, May 23, 1842. — It is amusing to 
 note the preparations for oj^position to Sir Kobert 
 Peel's proposed changes in the Customs Tariff. 
 Each and every interest affected, or thinking 
 itself likely to be affected, denounces the change 
 in its own case, but can see no objection to its 
 being tried in the case of others. Meantime 
 Peel is going on — secure of his majority, vary- 
 ing indeed in its composition, but still certain: 
 as Tories support him in the defective parts of 
 his measures, and Liberals in the better parts. 
 
 " Growlings there are, however, in plenty at Sir 
 Kobert Peel, from quarters whence he drew his 
 greatest strength ; and very valorous declarations, 
 somewhat to the tune of 
 
 " ' If 'twere to do again — but 'tis no matter I' 
 
 " All moonshine ! They would support him 
 again slavishly, were a dissolution to occur. 
 
 H 2 
 
148 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 "It is hard to say wlien that may be, and 
 when a change in affairs may come about. There 
 is little of energy amongst the Liberal party, a con- 
 siderable deal of mutual and miserable jealousy, 
 and no union at all. The high Whigs want to 
 advance as little as possible ; the Chartists want 
 to go very much too far and too fast ; the in- 
 termediate Liberals are disputing the value and 
 comparing the measure of their respective crotchets; 
 and no two sections, out of the many into which 
 they are split, agree with each other, or seem to 
 have any tolerance for each other. Meantime 
 that great body in the community, on whom the 
 real hopes of England ought to have a resting- 
 place, — THE PEOPLE, properly so called ; what are 
 they in England ? Slaves — perfect and entire slaves! 
 They have amongst them no principle of union, 
 no great principle of action, no high objects im- 
 planted in their minds, no virtuous and self-sacri- 
 iicing efforts at elections and other moments of 
 trial ; on the contrary, a sad and most deplorable 
 readiness to accept bribes — a depraved exultation 
 in having votes to sell. The bribery and cor- 
 ruption of the late elections in England, is now, 
 by the press, the Parliament, and the public, con- 
 
FRANCIS FIRES AT THE QUEEN. 149 
 
 fessed and declared to have been the most flagrant 
 that ever took place, even in England. 
 
 " In fact, the House of Commons stands self- 
 convicted and self-condemned ; and we in Ireland, 
 who have honestly and fairly returned a Liberal 
 majority, are bound down and trampled upon by 
 the representatives of bribery and corruption in 
 England and Scotland. * * * -Jf 
 
 ''Tuesday, May 31, 1842.— The poor little 
 Queen sliot at yesterday evening, being the second 
 time ! What a country ! 
 
 " The morning papers give scanty details, the 
 inquiry being, as yet, kept secret. All that is 
 known is, that he is one John Francis, a young 
 carpenter, and that he fired, or some say flashed a 
 pistol at her, at much about the same spot where 
 Oxford fired at her before — viz.. Constitution- 
 hill. He is in custody, and under examination. 
 Thank God ! she is safe, and uninjured, I believe, 
 even by fright. 
 
 " The Houses adjourned on hearing the news, 
 and so Peel's Income-Tax was put off for its third 
 reading to this day. 
 
 " The Tariff is getting on through the House. 
 Peel broaches the vno^i free-trade-isli doctrines — 
 
150 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 viz. that we should buy at the cheapest market, 
 &c. &c., but cannot be got to apply them to the 
 importation of foreign corn. His majovit j (jritmble 
 away in and out of doors, and occasionally give a 
 valiant kick ; but it means nothing. IMeantime, 
 the way is being smoothed for the Whigs, when 
 some lucky chance shall restore them to office. 
 The great monopolies are shaken ; the wedge has 
 entered, although only a little way. Still, entered 
 it has, and can ultimately be driven home. 
 
 *1^ k1* «i^ «j^ %X0 
 
 *!* ^1% *y» -y* ^» 
 
 ^^ Monday^ July 4, 1842. — Yesterday, another 
 attempt to fire upon the Queen ! A wretched 
 little hunchback, of the same class of life as the 
 two other scoundrels. The particulars of the 
 investigation are not very accurately known. 
 This third attempt naturally creates extreme 
 excitement and indignation, — as it was only tlie 
 evening before that the Queen had commuted 
 the death-sentence of Francis to transportation." 
 
 The total cessation of these infamous acts, after 
 the offence had, by a short Bill passed hastily 
 through both Houses by Sir Eobert Peel, after 
 the last attempt, been degraded from all the dig- 
 
THE POT-nOUSE PLOT. 151 
 
 nity of treason to that of a felonious misdemeanour, 
 punishable with bodily castigation, proved that 
 they originated in a depraved passion for notoriety. 
 It was the opinion of many, that had the first 
 occurrence of the kind — the attempt of the potboy, 
 Edward Oxford, in the year 1838 or 1839 — not been 
 so lightly treated as, for the party purpose of seek- 
 ing to damage by ridicule the Whig ministry of 
 the day, it had been by the Opposition, who 
 laughed at the noise made about what they jeer- 
 ingly called the " Pot-house Plot,'' the vagabonds 
 who imitated Oxford's achievement would not have 
 quite so confidently calculated upon impunity and 
 a comfortable provision for life. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OP NEW EFFORTS. — PROVINCIAL REPEAL INSPECTORS. — 
 REPEAL-ERRAND IN THE NORTH.— MR. RAY — HIS LABOURS IN THE 
 fiEPEAL ASSOCIATION. — HIS MEMORANDUM. 
 
 The jealous distrust and suspicion wliich centuries 
 of misgovernment, betrayal and disappointment 
 have ingrained into tlie minds of the Irish 
 people, operated even in tliis, the second year of 
 the revived agitation for the Repeal of the Union, 
 to limit the extension of that agitation and 
 restrain its efforts. 
 
 Mr. O'ConncU determined upon trying a new 
 plan, or a long disused one revived, for the pur- 
 pose of stimulating, if possible, the agitation, 
 during the autumn of 1842. Pie proposed to 
 poor Tom Steele, to T. M. Ray, to O'Neill Daunt 
 and to me, (we were his inmiediate aides-de-camp,) 
 to go out each upon a separate mission to preach 
 
PROVINCIAL REPEAL ASSOCIATION. 153 
 
 lip Repeal, and enrol members and " associates " 
 from the remotests districts of the country, in the 
 ranks of the Repeal Association. 
 
 It was arranged that O'Neill Daunt should 
 undertake what might be called the " Home- 
 circuit" of agitation, viz. Leinster; that Ray 
 should lighten the labours of agitating in Mun- 
 ster, for my father; and that I should go to 
 " the Land of the West," viz. Connaught. We 
 were respectively dubbed " Repeal Inspectors" 
 of the provinces that were to be the scene of our 
 labours ; and, besides the vote of the Association 
 giving us our titles and powers, and with true 
 political gratitude thanking us beforehand for 
 services we were ecrpected to render, were fur- 
 nished each with a small portmanteau, well 
 stuffed with political tracts, reports, &;c. &c., to 
 be distributed in such quantities, and to such 
 localities and parties, as, in our wisdom, we should 
 think most likely to forward our Repeal Pro- 
 pagandism. 
 
 The northern province, Ulster, was left oitt of 
 count. Thereat mightily did rejoice the Orange 
 organs of opinion in that province; and much 
 they laboured to impress upon England the 
 
 H 3 
 
154 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 importance of propitiating and remunerating them 
 by special favours, and by concessions to their 
 hankerings after that ascendancy Avhich, in 1829, 
 had seemed likely to be taken from them. If 
 there be disgrace in endeavouring to avoid what 
 woukl endanger the shedding of human blood, 
 then were we disgraced by not having attempted 
 to enter Ulster. If it were shameful cowardice 
 to dread the loss of many lives in sanguinary 
 brawls, without an object and without possible 
 result, save disaster of all kinds, then were we 
 guilty of that cowardice. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell always held that nothing worse 
 could possibly occur, — nothing more tending to 
 impede, and, perhaps, utterly to ruin the cause of 
 " Ivepeal," than that its advocacy should be made 
 the subject of violent contention, bloodshed, and 
 loss of life. So strongly was he impressed with this 
 feeling, that on many and repeated occasions he 
 forebore from pushing the agitation into parishes, 
 and on more than one occasion into counties of the 
 South and West of Ireland, where men's minds 
 were not prepared for it ; or, at any rate, where 
 there was anything like a large and respectable 
 minority arrayed against it. 
 
REPEAL ERRAND IN THE NORTH. 155 
 
 "I want to unite Irishmen for 'Repeal,'" he 
 was accustomed to say, upon such occasions, 
 " and not to set them fighting about it." 
 
 It is true, that at a later period of the same 
 year, 1842, he did himself adventure into the 
 northern province, upon a Repeal errand. But it 
 was sorely against his will, as against his judg- 
 ment and earnest counsel. He had put every 
 means in motion to wean the too ardent 
 Repealers of the north from their project of 
 inviting him up among them ; but they persisted, 
 and at length became so irritated at his arguing 
 the matter with them, that most reluctantly, and 
 entirely against his better judgment, as well as 
 against the spirit of the policy which had ruled 
 his whole political life, he had to yield, and 
 to consent to visit — 
 
 " The Douglas in his hall ! " 
 
 How he went, and what occurred before and 
 during his expedition, I shall presently have to 
 speak of, in due course; and, meantime, return 
 to the earlier ''going forth" of his three, or, 
 rather, of his two, immediate satellites; Tom 
 Steele not having set out till much later, and 
 
156 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Daunt and I being the first that "went upon 
 our way agitating^ 
 
 When the appointments I have mentioned, of 
 the Provincial Repeal Inspectors, were made, 
 Steele was held in reserve for the northern 
 mission. Mr. E.ay did not start upon his Munster 
 course for two or three weeks after O'Neill 
 Daunt and me. 
 
 Having alluded to T. M. Ray, I cannot avoid 
 saying a few words as to his services and 
 character, especially at this moment, when the 
 distress of the country, and the unmerited dis- 
 tress in which he has himself been plunged, have 
 united to deprive Ireland of a most faithful and 
 singularly efficient public servant. 
 
 It was in 1830 that he first came under the 
 notice of Mr. O'Connell, who, with that penetra- 
 tion and keen and almost intuitive appreciation 
 of others that he possessed, at once saw that 
 T. M. Kay was the man for his pm-poses. At that 
 time the latter was only a "Deputy-assistant under- 
 secretary," or some such thing, to the "Dublin 
 Trades Political Union;" but was, in fact, the 
 worker, and most practically efficient man of that 
 body, then of considerable importance and influ- 
 
MR. RAY. 157 
 
 ence in the electioneering and " agitating " affairs 
 of the Irish metropolis. He drew their reports ; 
 he finished off their resolutions; he suggested the 
 devices, &c. of their trade banners; and he not 
 only composed the matter and substance of their 
 documents, but displayed powers of penmanship 
 that might have established him comfortably in 
 London as a "Professor of the mighty art of 
 calligraphy^^ had his ambition leaned that way. 
 Some of the addresses to my father at this period 
 are extraordinary specimens of perfection in this 
 line, and fairly rival the finest and most decorated 
 specimens of copper-plate printing. 
 
 When the intermediate associations — interme- 
 diate between the Catholic and the Repeal Asso- 
 ciation — which we have noted in a former chapter, 
 began to be established, Mr. Ray was installed in 
 a subordinate office, at first, to poor Edward 
 Dwyer, the respected and admirable secretary of 
 the old Association ; and when that excellent 
 officer and good man had to retire from loss of 
 health and strength, Mr. Ray continued as assistant 
 to two or three " Honorary Secretaries," who got 
 the honoicr, while he had the labour of the office. 
 At length, in 1840, on the establishment of the 
 
158 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES- 
 
 Loyal National Repeal Association, he was made 
 in name, what he had long been in fact and in 
 labours, the secretary, and, as it were, ^^ stage- 
 manager'''' of the agitation. 
 
 In this office, the amount of work that he per- 
 sonally performed, the extraordinary and unremit- 
 ting vigilance and efficiency of his superintendence 
 over others, and the singularly clear, orderly, and 
 methodical arrangement of all the details of the 
 establishment, from the correspondence with Mr. 
 O'Connell when out of town, down to the pur- 
 chase of a box of wafers, astonished every one who 
 had the opportunity of judging of them. There 
 was not an occurrence, no matter how trivial, or 
 in what remote part of the country it took place, 
 that had any connexion with Repeal, during the 
 eight years and upwards that he was in the office 
 of secretary, which he had not recorded in one 
 way or other, and of which he could not furnish, 
 almost at a moment's notice, all the information 
 that could be desired. Cash-books, day-books, 
 ledgers, account books of all sorts and sizes, letter- 
 books, books of members, of associates, of collec- 
 tors, of Repeal wardens, Repeal inspectors, &c. ; 
 books with the names, &c., of American contri- 
 
REPEAL ASSOCIATION. 159 
 
 butors, who, as citizens of a foreign state, could 
 not be enrolled either as members, associates, or 
 under any other designation as belonging to the 
 Association ; minute-books, i-ongh and clean, of the 
 general weekly meetings, and of the meetings, 
 regular or irregular, of each and all the various 
 Committees; books of record of principal trans- 
 actions of the body ; scrap-boohs^ with the accounts 
 of every meeting or other incident connected with 
 " Repeal," cut from newspapers for years back, 
 and pasted carefully in, in order of dates, with clear 
 and accurate indexes to each volume ; Repeal re- 
 ports, tracts, speeches in pamphlet form, &c. &c. : — 
 all these he attended to, and all these he had ready 
 for inspection or reference at a moment's warning, 
 and without the slightest confusion or delay. 
 
 The "staff" under him varied in strength ac- 
 cording to the finances of the Association. At first 
 some three or four, it gradually and necessarily 
 became larger, until there were upon the books, 
 in 1844 and 1845, some fifty or sixty individuals, 
 all in full employment, all fully employed and 
 imperatively required by the enormous mass of 
 business the Association had in those years to 
 transact, and all superintended vigilantly and 
 
160 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 actively by Mr. Ha}^, in addition to the other 
 duties of his office. 
 
 Having written to Mr. Ray to refresh my 
 memory upon points connected with the details 
 of the establishment over which he presided at the 
 Corn Exchange, I have just received the following 
 hasty notes, which, although it may be scarcely 
 fair towards him to do so, I insert as I received 
 them, believing that they will thus have more 
 interest than otherwise : — 
 
 Memorandum regarding the establishment and mode 
 of conducting business of Repeal Association, — 
 Drawn up by T. 31. Ray. 
 
 Section I. — The Staff. 
 
 In Sept. 1841, the Repeal staff consisted of nine 
 persons; salaries 11. \0s. weekly. 
 
 The Registry staff, viz., that for the county 
 and city of Dublin, twelve persons; the salaries 
 2\L 4iS. weekly. 
 
 We were then establishing the Dublin Corpora- 
 tion under the new law, and had a staff for this, 
 while it lasted, of forty-three persons, salaries 551. 
 to 60/. weekly. 
 
MR. RAYS MEMORANDUM. 161 
 
 N.B. — There was no other body but the Asso- 
 ciation to undertake the task of encountering and 
 overcoming the innumerable difficulties designedly 
 left in the way of the enfranchised burgesses of 
 Dublin. 
 
 Sept. 1842. — Staff of the Association seven 
 persons; salaries 61. weekly. 
 
 Kegistry ten persons ; salaries 171. 15.9. 
 
 1843.— The Kegistry " Staff" was from twelve 
 to fifteen persons, being still the staff for the 
 city and county registry ; salaries about 201. 
 
 The Association assisted at other registries in 
 special cases, but had no staff ^ox them. 
 
 The working of the Association had increased 
 to forty-eight persons ; salaries about 40/. in the 
 total, varying from IO5. to 30^. each person, and 
 some one or two at 21. 
 
 The same rate continued nearly until the middle 
 of 1846, some reductions being made in 1845. 
 
 The above is exclusive of my \T. M. Ray^s] 
 salary, 300/. a-year, at the beginning of 1843,-^ 
 (I think it was 4/. a-week previous) — 400/. in 
 1843— reduced in 1847 — and June 24, 1848, all 
 hands were discharged, and I was solus — March 
 \M^,gone! 
 
162 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Section II. — Mode of conducting Business. 
 
 The mode of conducting the busmess was as 
 follows : — 
 
 Between eight and nine o'clock each morning 
 I got from the post-office our letter-box, with the 
 letters, &c., of the day's post. 
 
 There averaged at the busy time about fifty or 
 sixty daily, sometimes as many as two hundred, 
 or even upwards. 
 
 The entire number of communications received, 
 from first to last, including all upon general sub- 
 jects, as well as letters bringing money remittances, 
 was 59,115 recorded, besides innumerable others 
 not of importance. 14,891 were on general sub- 
 jects of local occurrence, grievance cases, &c., and 
 did not contain remittances. 
 
 Immediately on receiving the letters, I set about 
 opening and arranging them according to their 
 different subjects. 
 
 I was so familiar with this process, from habit, 
 that I could almost at a glance know to what class 
 a letter belonged. 
 
 Sometimes a single communication would com- 
 bine numerous heads — viz., money remittance. 
 
MR. ray's memorandum. 163 
 
 inquiry, or demand respecting newspapers; pro- 
 posal of persons to be wardens; application for 
 cards, either as members or associates, or as both ; 
 suggestions, inquiries, or statements, as to news- 
 rooms, and the Repeal news-room system gene- 
 rally ; detail of grievances, &c. &c. 
 
 I wrote upon each letter when necessary a brief 
 minute of instructions as to reply, &c. 
 
 Those of more intricate nature I answered my- 
 self: and it was my habit when the Liberator 
 was in town, to take to him such as involved legal 
 questions of nicety. He either instructed me 
 himself how to deal with these, or, if they referred 
 to documents too long for him to peruse, they 
 were referred to some legal members of the Asso- 
 ciation for opinion and advice, &c., and the result 
 duly communicated to the correspondents. 
 
 When the cashier had made his cash entries, 
 the letters were taken throuofh the other several 
 departments, to have the requisites discharged, 
 
 1st. To the Newspaper department, where all 
 orders, &c. regarding papers, were noted and 
 attended to. 
 
 N.B. — The newspapers in question were of 
 course those which were sent to districts contri- 
 
164 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 buting ten pounds, according to the special rule in 
 such cases. The contributors had their choice 
 of the Pilot, Freeman, Weekly Kegister, and 
 Nation. 
 
 2d. To the Warden, do. do. 
 
 3d. To the Card-filling ^ do. (That is, filling in 
 names, dates, &c. on the respective cards.) 
 
 4th. To the Keport and Document department, 
 for supply of any printed books, reports, or docu- 
 ments required. This was a heavy office ; and 
 the costs of postage and carriage of parcels was 
 occasionally very high indeed, under this item. 
 
 5th. To the Scrivenery departments, to have 
 letters, or extracts and documents copied for pub- 
 lication. 
 
 In connexion with this department there was an 
 arrangement of some interest, viz. the manifolding 
 process, whereby we were enabled in the periods 
 of the greatest influx of communications to supply 
 all the Irish and English journals by the same 
 post, (generally on the day of meeting,) with 
 separate copies of all documents read at the Asso- 
 ciation, and which it would otherwise have been 
 impossible with any amount of staff to accomplish. 
 We also supplied the Government reporter, who 
 
MR. ray's memorandum. 165 
 
 regularly attended our meetings, and took full 
 reports of our proceedings. 
 
 It was merely an extension of the process of 
 copying by means of hlach imper, which had pre- 
 viously been in general use, to the extent of pro- 
 bably two or three copies. By a variety of 
 experiments and contrivances, I succeeded in ob- 
 taining so many as seven or eight fac-similc copies 
 at the same tinier and very soon familiarized the 
 copyists with the method. 
 
 We had besides constant copying of documents, 
 reports, &c. in the usual manuscript, especially 
 during the existence of what was called the " Par- 
 liamentary" Committee of the Association. 
 
 It was the duty of another department to collect 
 together from the other sections the cards filled, 
 diplomas for wardens, printed documents, &c. to 
 be transmitted, together with the letters of ac- 
 knowledgment and advice thereof, and to forward 
 the same by post or other conveyance. 
 
 Our despatches at the height of our operations 
 filled two, sometimes three large baskets each 
 post. 
 
 I made each person write upon the letter-list or 
 other document, as it passed through his hands. 
 
166 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 a certificate or memorandum of liavino; discliarofed 
 the particular duty assigned to him regarding it, 
 so that any neglect could be at once traced ; but 
 indeed the whole system was so regular, that very 
 few complaints were ever made, as you yourself 
 know. 
 
 The following are specimens of the kind of cer- 
 tificate I speak of. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 200 Cards, filled 5th August, 1843. 
 
 viz. 180 Associates. 20 Members. 
 
 The " Associates " were the contributors of one 
 shilling ; the " Members " either contributed, or 
 collected, one pound. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 « 
 
 Freeman's 
 
 Jo 
 
 irnal and Weekly Eegiste'i 
 accordiiKjly. 
 
 J. Wallace. 5 Ai 
 
 ' ordered 
 igust, 1843. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Prize Essays, Priyited Reports, the. d;c. (mentioning the 
 numbers of each) sent accordingly. 
 
 R. O'Connor. 5 August, 1843. 
 
MR. ray's memorandum. 167 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 T. M. Rat wrote about this grievance case. 
 
 5 August, 1843. 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 Six " Volunteer" Cards filled. 5 August, 1843. 
 
 J. Smith. 
 
 N.B. A " Volunteer " was a, contributor, or a 
 collector, of ten pounds Repeal Rent. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 The several matters mentioned sent by post (or iiarcel). 
 6 August, 1843. E. O'Connor. 
 
 More or less of these certificates or memoranda 
 were endorsed on the various documents coming 
 to the Association, and not a few of them had the 
 entire six. 
 
 I required of every person employed in the 
 establishment that he should make a daily and 
 particular entry of the nature of the business upon 
 which he was employed. 
 
168 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 At first each wrote his name as they arrived 
 successively, in a day-book; but when the esta- 
 blishment increased largely, this could not be 
 done within time, so that the method I took was 
 to get each person to write his entry on a slip of 
 paper. 
 
 These slips were pasted daily into guard-books, 
 and formed the day-book of the business done. 
 
 There are thirty-three large volumes of these 
 day-books. 
 
 I also established a system of fines for non- 
 attendances, neglect, &c., unless excused by medi- 
 cal certificate. 
 
 I have before me a return of these fines for the 
 year 1845 ; they amount to 15L lis. Sd. In every 
 case at all deserving of it, these fines were sub- 
 sequently restored, or made up for by a special 
 donation. 
 
 THE LETTERS. 
 
 All letters sent were copied into letter-books, of 
 which there are now sixteen volumes quarto of 
 bank post paper. 
 
 When all requisites upon the documents were 
 finally discharged, they were taken to the Filing 
 department, and recorded in this manner : 
 
MR. ray's memorandum. 169 
 
 The letters, lists, and documents, with money 
 remittances, were pasted consecutively according 
 to order of date into a set of guard-hooJcs, and 
 the number corresponding with the number of the 
 entr}'^ in the cash-book put on eacli. 
 
 These documents now comprise fifty-eight large 
 folio volumes, each sixteen inches long, by ten 
 inches wide, and seven or eight inches thick, and 
 number from the first to the present 44,224 docu- 
 ments. They comprise also the original lists of 
 the subscribers to each remittance, and were thence 
 called the " Repealers' IIoll." 
 
 The letters received on general subjects were 
 filed or pasted into quarto guard-books (letter 
 size) in a similar way, and numbered consecutively 
 from first to last. Of these there are forty quarto 
 volumes, each six or seven inches thickj containing 
 14,891 letters. Of this class, were petty items of 
 small amount, but these also had to be certified 
 and vouched, and the vouchers preserved and pro- 
 duced to the auditors. No item, however small, 
 even of a few pence, would be allowed without its 
 due voucher. 
 
 All the vouchers of money-payments are in a 
 similar manner pasted into guard-books, of which 
 
 VOL. II. I 
 
170 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 there are now twenty-two similar folio volumes, 
 , each six inches thick ; each voucher is numbereth 
 corresponding with the number in the cash-book. 
 There are in these books now 33,807 receipts of 
 the payments from first to tlie present, varying in 
 amount from some hundred pounds, to two or three 
 pence each 
 
 There are sixteen folio cash-receipt books, and 
 twelve cash-payment books. 
 
 Two large ledgers of these accounts, separated 
 under the several heads of expenditure. 
 
 Tlie cash department was managed by a cashier 
 and book-keeper, with assistants when required. 
 
 The current accounts were furnished monthly, 
 and all matters of printing, stationery, &c. were 
 furnished upon contracts according to estimates 
 for, and selected by the Committee. Every item 
 in those accounts was checked carefully ; the ac- 
 counts were presented at one meeting of the Com- 
 mittee, and ordered to be paid at the next meeting 
 if found correct ; but if any question arose, a sub- 
 committee was appointed to investigate and report 
 upon it, in case the Finance Committee itself did 
 not specially undertake the matter at an adjourned 
 sitting appointed for the purpose. 
 
MR. ray's memorandum. I/l 
 
 Nothing could be paid without this check, and 
 process of examination before Committee, and an 
 order made by tliem and signed by the chairman, 
 and three members at least present : except in so 
 far as it pleased the Finance Committee occasion- 
 ally to allow a small margin of three or four 
 pounds, or thereabouts, for casual expenses, that 
 could not well be postponed until tlieir ordi- 
 nary day of meeting. These, however, were 
 accounted for in the same way as the rest. 
 In addition to the arrangements already men- 
 tioned, to ensure a record of the remittances, 
 &c., a statement of them was posted into county 
 and provincial ledgers; so that w^e could always 
 know how much came from any county, parish, 
 or district. 
 
 We had also a series of alphabetical j^arochial 
 ledgers, one for each county ; containing all par- 
 ticulars as to wardens, committees, reports, repeal 
 reading-rooms, &c. 
 
 There were volunteers, members, wardens, 
 alphabetical list-books, and books of American con- 
 tributors, as distinguished from British subjects; 
 none but the latter being enrolled either as mem- 
 bers or associates. 
 
 I 2 
 
172 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 And a variety of others kept constantly in 
 use. 
 
 Every thing was under such a state of arrange- 
 ment, that any letter, receipt, or other document 
 from first to last could be referred to in an 
 instant. 
 
 The Registries. 
 
 Besides the foregoing, there was an extensive 
 department to manage the registries. This was 
 under the superintendence of INIr. Crean, and 
 occupied a staff of fourteen or fifteen persons. 
 
 We also had occasional registry agents in several 
 provincial localities paid by the Association, 
 besides extensive voluntary assistance by profes- 
 sional gentlemen, locally and otherwise. 
 
 One important item must not be forgotten — the 
 Scrap-hooks — the Bepeal Scrap-booh — of which there 
 are some eight or ten volumes, containing news- 
 paper slips pasted in, with reports of every occur- 
 rence, remotely as well as intimately, connected 
 with the Kepeal movement. 
 
 These books are in fact a complete political 
 history of Ireland for the years from 1839 to 
 1849. 
 
 So far for the mechanism of the Association. 
 
MR. ray's memorandum. If'S 
 
 It was the result of mucli hard thinking, and of many 
 experiments ere I succeeded in getting it to work 
 to my own satisfaction. When I did so, it worked 
 silently and comfortably, without trouble to the 
 Committee ; and when we Avere attacked in 1843-4, 
 and thereafter, I had to tax my mind to devise 
 new adaptions of the existing system, for the exi- 
 gences of the instant; so as to conform to the 
 decisions upon the law at the previous prose- 
 cutions. All this was not done without laborious 
 attention and anxiety. 
 
 During the periods of the monster meetings we 
 managed all the details of arranging for them ; 
 corresponded with, and directed the local secre- 
 taries and committee-men ; revised the resolutions 
 in most cases ; got tlie placards, c^t. Sfc. printed, 
 and in every other way gave assistance. 
 
 In 1841 we carried out all the difficult details of 
 establishing the Dublin Corporation under the new 
 law. This was all under my superintendence, and 
 I got sundry votes of thanks, and some compli- 
 ments, for having accomplished this laborious and 
 difficult task. 
 
 I may say that all movements connected w^ith 
 the furtherance of the people's cause throughout 
 
174 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 the kingdom, were either originated and worked, 
 or assisted by the Association. 
 
 Now that the Association is reduced to inac- 
 tivity, everything else throughout the country has 
 lan2;uished and fallen. 
 
 The grants in " grievance " cases ran up to a 
 sum on the whole of between 30,000/. and 40,000/. ; 
 and a considerable amount of money besides was 
 disbursed in paying the fees of counsel and agent, 
 and travelling expenses, &c. where local cases of 
 persecution, oppression, and suffering, Avere con- 
 sidered to require the interposition of the popular 
 Association. 
 
 In this respect great service was rendered to the 
 people; many flagrant cases of injustice being 
 arrested in their course, or at any rate detected 
 and exposed, and their promoters made to feel 
 the censure of public opinion. And without 
 doubt, the occurrence of other cases was pre- 
 vented, by the wholesome fear which was pro- 
 duced in the minds of the projectors of evil, by 
 the activity of the Association in dragging such 
 iniquities to light. 
 
 Even upon the ruthless class of "Extermi- 
 nators," that is to say, landlords and landlords' 
 
MR. ray's memorandum. 175 
 
 agents, who remorselessly set about evicting by 
 wholesale the inhabitants of entire districts of land, 
 there was a check imposed by the consciousness 
 that a body existed who w^ere watching their 
 heartless proceedings, and would denounce them 
 to the execration of all humane minds. 
 
 It was to this efficiency of the Repeal Asso- 
 ciation for the j)rotection of the people, that the 
 extreme hostility is owing, which the taskmasters 
 and oppressors of the people of Ireland, whether 
 Whig or Tory, have always manifested towards 
 that Association ; and still, notwithstanding the 
 suspension of the latter's proceedings, continue 
 to declare on every possible occasion. 
 
 Mr. Bay's notes thus continue : — 
 
 " As to the Committees. 
 
 There was the General and Finance Committee, 
 consisting at the zenith of about 150 members. 
 Of these the great majority w^ere constantly 
 active in the cause, and constantly attended 
 the Committee when not absent from Dub- 
 lin on local duties, or in the cases of members 
 of Parliament, wdien not attending their duties 
 as such. 
 
 The Committee had one regular day of meet- 
 
176 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ing, (Thursday in each week); but hardly a week 
 passed without one or two additional meetings — 
 sometimes one daily, when there was a press of 
 business. 
 
 They investigated all matters of finance, 
 audited all the accounts every week. Tliese were 
 besides submitted to, and investigated by the 
 regular auditors about once a montli. 
 
 They dealt with the passing questions of the 
 day as tliose affecting the cause of Ireland. 
 
 I attended the meetings, and managed all 
 details arising. 
 
 There was next the Parliamentary Comynittee, 
 meetino- almost dailv durinf]^ the session, for the 
 purpose of examining, and reporting specially on 
 all parliamentary documents, proceedings, &c. A 
 member of this committee generally acted as secre- 
 tary pro iem. — sometimes I did whenever I could. 
 They had a committee-clerk, and one or two 
 assistants. Some of their reports were merely 
 read at the Association, and went through the 
 papers, but were not collected in volumes. 
 
 Then there were the Sub-committees on various 
 subjects, at various times. Among them were the 
 following, viz. 
 
 Committees on Manufactures — Grievances — Poor- 
 
MR. ray's memorandum. 177 
 
 law abuses — Extermination — Employment — 
 Finance, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 You know best about these, for you worked 
 most of them, and no man ever worked harder. 
 
 The operative departments of the office were 
 in requisition to transact all details of copying 
 work, &c. arising from these several Committees. 
 
 J. Brown, the printer, got a good deal to do by 
 the Parliamentary Committee. 
 
 Then there was the Musical Department; will 
 you say anything about that ? 
 
 And the '82 Club? 
 
 This was in its constitution a distinct bodv, 
 but our 'staif ' had to do all the detailed work 
 of it." 
 
 In answer to Mr. Eay's querj-, I will state that 
 the "musical department," as he styles it, origin- 
 ated, according to my recollection, with ]\Ir. 
 Davis, who was exceedingly desirous that tlie 
 Repeal Association should manifest a sympathy 
 with, and a desire to encourage native talent and 
 native art, in every branch and department. ]\Ir. 
 Smith O'Brien originated the idea of a band to be 
 raised, taught, and maintained at the expense of 
 the Association ; which was accordingly done, and 
 
 I 3 
 
178 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 a set of excellent instruments provided : the 
 same wliicli Avere disposed of at the Conciliation 
 Hall auction the other day, at prices averaging 
 about one-twentieth of their original cost. 
 
 The '82 Club, as Mr. Kay mentions in the fore- 
 going notes, was entirely a distinct body from 
 the Association ; but having no local hahltatlon, 
 though it had a " name," the arrangement of the 
 details of its working fell, like everything else, 
 upon Mr. Hay and a fev/ of his assistants. The 
 idea of this Club was started during my father's 
 absence at Darrynane Abbey, after our release 
 from imprisonment in September, 1844. It was 
 established to commemorate the great achieve- 
 ment of the year 1782; when by a unanimity of 
 purpose and determination on tlie part of all 
 classes in Ireland, unhappily too rare in our mise- 
 rable annals, the encroachments of England upon 
 the rights, powers, and privileges of the Irish 
 Parliament, were put an end to ; and the entire 
 legislative independence of the Irish nation was 
 asserted and vindicated ; and, as men thought at 
 the time, established finally and irreversibly. 
 
 The Club in question wore a uniform of much 
 the same pattern and decorations as that worn on 
 occasions of ceremony by the minor officials of 
 
MR. RAYS MEMORANDUM. 179 
 
 Government ; but of a green colour instead of blue, 
 and without a sword. This dress was also de- 
 signed by the parties who originated the Club, 
 and has since cut a figure in the unhappy State 
 prosecutions of last year ; some of the counsel for 
 the Crown having shown a disposition to consider 
 the mere fact of possessing such habiliments, as 
 *^ flat burglary," to say the least. 
 
 Tlie Club itself was an exotic in agitation. It 
 had a sickly, rickety existence for a year and a 
 half, and then disappeared from amongst the 
 things that are, leaving nothing but old coats and 
 tarnished embroidery behind. 
 
 I turn again to Mr. Hay's hasty memoranda : — 
 
 '' Now as to the Public Meetings. These were 
 held weekly, on Mondays. Seldom a special one, 
 but sometimes. 
 
 We had often to call in additional hands for 
 copying on meeting days. 
 
 The greatest press of letters was upon these 
 days, for the people held back their remittances 
 to the end of the week to make the display on 
 Mondays ; and no appeal we could frame — and we 
 tried it a hundred times — could 2:et them to alter 
 their practice in this respect. 
 
180 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 On the meeting days I was seldom or never 
 able to examine all the letters prior to the meet- 
 ing, but had to read and note many of them idtile 
 tli6 meeting proceeded, 
 
 I had two or three persons in attendance 
 going back and forward to the clerks' office 
 as documents were to be extracted, or copied 
 in manifold, and brought down — when so 
 done. 
 
 I never allowed any document to be read 
 without first examining it, to see if it contained 
 anything improper, or questionable ; and I am 
 so far fortunate, that in my hands nothing ever 
 escaped to the detriment of the Association, or 
 any of its members. It was not always, however, 
 easy to get individual members who had received 
 letters to be read in the hall, to adopt the same 
 precautions; and hence difficulties sometimes 
 arose, or were aggravated. 
 
 The business of next day after the meetings 
 was, to record the proceedings, to prepare returns 
 of cash received for publication, and discharge 
 any unanswered queries, &c. ; fill up and send off 
 by post the cards applied for from the country, 
 according to the amount of the several subscrip- 
 tions, &c. &c. 
 
MR. ray's memorandum. 181 
 
 The Minutes of the Proceedings of the Asso- 
 ciation now comprise ten volumes, containing also 
 printed copies of all reports, letters and documents 
 ordered to be entered on tlie Minutes. 
 
 Those of the Committee, eight volumes, exclu- 
 sive of Sub-committee Minutes, and some odd 
 scraps. 
 
 Then there were conferences, audiences, local 
 meetings, squabbles to be appeased, &c. &c. 
 daily occurring, which took plenty of your time 
 and the Liberator's. I, myself, lost a couple of 
 hours every day this way. 
 
 Then recollect all the reports we drew up and 
 issued, for long before as well as during and after 
 the existence of the Parliamentary Committee. 
 
 T. M. Pay, 
 Late Secretary of the Association.''^ 
 
 Having thus given Mr. Pay's summary sketch 
 of the machinery and working of the Association, 
 we shall append to it the account of the same as 
 given by a very different authority, the Irish 
 Attorney-General of Sir Pobert Peel's Govern- 
 ment, in January, 1844, when making his opening 
 speech at the State Prosecutions of that year, 
 
182 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 against my father, myself, and others. I omit the 
 comments which accompanied the statement, as 
 tliey were bnt of the usual description with which 
 a lawyer assails the conduct of the party opposed 
 to his client; and as they were proved to have 
 been utterly unwarranted, not a single point 
 which was attempted to be made against the 
 Association havino- been ultimatelv established. 
 
 O 4/ 
 
 The extract will serve the purpose of iilling up 
 any chinks in the statement contained in Mr. 
 Kay's hastily-written notes. 
 
 Extract from Speech of Atto7'ney- General Smithy 
 {at present the blaster of the Rolls in Ireland,) 
 in the case of the Crown against G'Connell and 
 others. — Hilary Term, 1844. 
 
 " It will now be necessary for me to bring 
 before you the general nature of tlie constitution 
 of this Association. It consists of associates, mem- 
 bers, and volunteers. The class of associates was 
 established with tliis view, to have some portion 
 of those who were connected with the Repeal 
 Association liable to pay but very small subscrip- 
 tions to extend the organization throughout the 
 
STATE PROSECTTTIONS. 183 
 
 country, and make it to include, as far as might 
 be, all the poorer classes. Accordingly, Gentle- 
 men of the Jury, the associate has only to pay 
 one shilling. A card is given to him (of which 
 I hold a specimen in my hand) which answers all 
 the purposes, wuthout coming within the express 
 language of the Act of Parliament against pass- 
 Avords and signs. It enables each person who 
 shall possess himself of one, to show it, and thus 
 to establish to his neighbour the fact, that he has 
 become connected with the Loyal National 
 Repeal Association. 
 
 There is nothing very particular upon this 
 card. There is a representation of a shamrock at 
 the top of it, with the words Catholic, Pro- 
 testant, and Dissenter with a motto under- 
 neath it, viz. — Quis separabit? Then, there is 
 the date of the year, '1782,' of which I shall 
 presently speak. Lower down, and near the 
 bottom of the card, is a view of what is now 
 the Bank of Ireland, in College Green, formerly 
 the Irish Parliament House, with the words or 
 motto, ' It teas, and shall he ! ' 
 
 Gentlemen, the next class in this Association 
 are what are called properly, members. 
 
184 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The 7nemhers are tliose avIio pay twenty 
 shillings a-year as their subscription to the funds 
 and purposes of the Association. Or, if an 
 ' associate,' who paid a shilling for himself, takes 
 the trouble of collecting twenty other shillings, 
 {nineteen with his own,) that, also, entitled him 
 to be styled a ' member,' as fully as if he had paid 
 the entire sum of twenty shillings out of his own 
 pocket. To these ^members,' (whether paying 
 the pound themselves, or merely collecting it,) 
 a card was issued as a bond of union between 
 them and the Kepeal Association; and to the 
 card in question, it is my duty now to direct your 
 particular attention. Gentlemen, in one part of 
 this card, you will find the words, in large letters 
 and figures — 
 
 ^Clontarf, 23d April, a.d. 1014;' 
 and in the opposite corner — 
 
 'Benburb, 5th of June, 1645.' 
 At the bottom, in one corner, an Irish name, 
 (Bialanathabuidhe) which, being interpreted, 
 signifies 
 
 ' The Month of the Yelloio Ford, \Oth Augmt, 1598,' 
 and in the other corner at the bottom — 
 
 'Limerick, 9th to the ^Ist of August, 1690.' 
 
attorney-general's speech. 185 
 
 Now, Gentlemen, on one of the pillars at tlie 
 side of tins card, there is a statement of the geo- 
 graphical size of Ireland, contrasting it respec- 
 tively with the kingdoms of Portugal, Norway, 
 Naples, Denmark, and several other states, such 
 as Greece, Switzerland, Holland, and Belgium, 
 &c. The comparative population is also given, 
 and the card then draws attention to the fact, that 
 Ireland has not a parliament; while all these 
 countries that are mentioned in comparison with 
 her, have more or less the management of their 
 own aftairs. The card then goes on to state the 
 yearly revenue, the exports and imports of Ireland: 
 the sums supplied by her during the last great 
 war with France. It states that the first and 
 greatest general, and two-thirds of the men and 
 officers of the English army and navy during that 
 struggle, were Irishmen; and then it reiterates 
 that ' Ireland has not a parliament.' 
 
 There are two flags upon the card— the one 
 with the shamrock, exhibiting the same inscrip- 
 tions and motto as that which I have already 
 described to you, as upon the associates' cards. 
 Upon the other flag is a device, which is described 
 as the sun bursting from behind a cloud, which 
 
186 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 I believe was the ancient banner of Ireland. In the 
 middle of the card is a map of tliis country ; and 
 I now pray your particular attention to what 
 appears upon the scroll which is drawn at top. 
 It is as follows: — 
 
 ^ Hesolved unanimously — 
 
 That a claim of any hody of men, other than the 
 King, Lords and Commons of Ireland, to make 
 laws to hind this kingdom) is illegal, unconsti- 
 tutional, and a grievance. 
 
 Mesolution of the Dimgannon Volunteers, 
 I5th February, 1782.' 
 
 This then is the card of the members of this 
 
 body : — 
 
 •5t -je- jjc -x- ^ 
 
 Gentlemen, there is in this Association another 
 class of persons of a higher rank than the mem- 
 bers ; they are such individuals as have subscribed, 
 or else have collected ten pounds Repeal rent; 
 and who thereby, according to a special rule of 
 the Association, are entitled to the denomination 
 of Volunteers. And I hold in my hand a card which 
 I shall exhibit to you, being one of the cards of 
 these volunteers. Upon it is engraved — 
 * Volunteers of 1782, ItevivedJ 
 
attorney-general's speech. 187 
 
 It is signed at foot, Thomas Matthew Kay, 
 Secretary, being one of the traversers in this 
 case. There is at the head of this engraving a 
 likeness of Mr. O'Connell. There is also one of 
 the late Mr. Grattan — one of the late Mr. Flood ; 
 also representations of the two O'Neills, Hugh 
 O'Neill and Owen Eoe O'Neill— of General 
 Sarsfield, and of Brien Borhormbc, monarch of 
 Ireland. 
 
 Such having been the three great classes of 
 persons connected with the Association, namely, 
 associates, members, and volunteers, it was con- 
 sidered advisable for the better organization of 
 the people of the country, that there should be 
 certain agents of the society to superintend and 
 keep them in communication with the central body. 
 And accordingly there were appointed provincial 
 liepeal inspectors, baronial inspectors, inspectors 
 of Repeal wardens in minor districts, Kepeal war- 
 dens and collectors. The Repeal Avardens, accord- 
 ing to the rule of the Association, were to be 
 appointed at the recommendation of the clergy- 
 man of their particular parish. They were to be 
 appointed upon his recommendation as I have said, 
 but only by the Repeal Association itself. And 
 
188 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 there were issued to each of those E-epeal wardens 
 thus nominated and appointed, a book of instruc- 
 tions as to the nature and extent of their duties. 
 This book is entitled — 
 
 'Instructions for the Appointment of Hepeal 
 Wardens, and of Collectors of the Hepeal Fund, and 
 the Duties of the same.' 
 
 In this book, the ninth duty of the Hepeal 
 wardens is set down to be — 
 
 ' To take care that there should be transmitted 
 from the Association to each locality a weekly 
 newspaper for every two hundred associates : or 
 a three-day paper for every four hundred asso- 
 ciates, enrolled in each locality as the case may be. 
 The sum of ten pounds collected and forwarded to 
 the Kepeal Association, entitles the Repealers of 
 the district sending that remittance to a weekly 
 paper for the entire year ; and the sum of twenty 
 pounds entitles them to the Pilot or Evening Free- 
 man (being three-day papers) for the same period, 
 if they prefer them to two weekly papers.' 
 
 And the tenth duty of the Hepeal wardens is — 
 
 ' To have the newspapers to which each parish 
 or district may be entitled put into the hands of 
 such persons as may give the greatest circulation 
 
STATE PROSECUTIONS. 189 
 
 to their contents : so that each paper may be read 
 by, and its contents communicated to as many 
 people as possible, for the purpose of circulating the 
 proceedings of tlie Ivepeal Association, and other 
 repeal news by access to the newspapers. And in 
 order to the better transacting of general business, 
 it is recommended that wherever there is a suf- 
 ficient number of Hepealcrs enrolled, the wardens 
 and collectors shall provide a convenient room to 
 meet in.' " 
 
 Such was the description given of the machinery 
 of the Kepeal Association by Mr. Attorney- 
 General Smith when prosecuting some of its 
 members in 1844. 
 
 The fanciful devices on the cards which he thus 
 described were nearly all put on them in 1843, at 
 the suggestion, and on the \ motion of the late 
 Mr. Davis, and the young gentlemen acting with 
 him. Up to that time Mr. O'Connell had taken 
 particular pains to keep the cards as i)lain in form 
 and style as possible ; to make them, in short, be 
 more in the nature of receipts for the money paid 
 in to the Repeal funds than as any thing else. 
 The reason will be inferred from the remark of the 
 
190 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Attorney-Generalj as to avoiding " tlie express 
 language of the Act of Parliament against pass- 
 words and signs." The additions made in 1843, 
 by the banners, engravings of Irish " worthies," 
 &c. did not make the cards transgress the boun- 
 dary here alluded to ; but they rendered them less 
 unimpeachable to a dexterous prosecutor. Mr. 
 O'Connell never relished them much, but as there 
 was no positive illegality, he did not like to offer 
 any opposition to the wishes of Mr. Davis and 
 his friends, and accordingly the additions were 
 made. 
 
 In dwelling upon tlie " Instructions to Kepeal 
 Wardens," the Attorney- General took care not to 
 allude to the prominence given in them to the 
 point of keeping the peace and observing the lav::, 
 and of seeinfy that others did the same. Nothino; 
 was so strongly and strictly enjoined as this ; nor 
 more frequently repeated. He was in court, how- 
 ever, as the mere retained lawyer of the prosecu- 
 tion, and of course used counsel's privilege to 
 suppress everything that was at all favourable to 
 the opposite party ; and to exaggerate and aggra- 
 vate whatever was capable of being misinterpreted 
 or wrested to a damaging purpose. 
 
STATE PROSECUTIONS. 191 
 
 If the reader's patience will bear with a very 
 brief examination and discussion of the State Trials 
 themselves, which I shall presently approach, it 
 will not be difficult to show how utterly untenable 
 w^ere the charges made against the agitation and 
 against the chief mover of it, the Arch-agitator, 
 Daniel O'Connell. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 REPEAL MISSIONS. MULLINGAR. DR. CANTWELL. — NEW CATHOLIC 
 
 CATHEDRAL. CAKRICK-ON-SIIANNON. BOYLE. ROCKINGHAM, 
 
 SCENERY. — CASTLEREA — ITS CHURCH. — CASTLEBAR. — BALLINASLOE 
 PAIR. — PROPOSAL TO WAYLAY MR. O'CONNELL.— OTHER ATTEMPTS TO 
 
 DESTROY HIM. PEARGUS o'cONNOR. — MR. o'CONNELL's PRESENCE OP 
 
 jjIND, — THE DUBLIN PRESS. — MEETING AT THE ROYAL EXCHANGE 
 
 COMPELLED TO ESCAPE. THE "NATION." YOUNG IRELAND. 
 
 THOMAS DAVIS. SMITH o'bRIEN. GAVAN DUPPY. THE YOUNG 
 
 IRELANDERS.- -REPEAL DISCUSSION. — SPEECH OP MR. o'cONNELL. 
 
 Upon the 12tli of September, 1842, Daunt and 
 I set out upon our Repeal missions, and had 
 a weary eight hours drag of it in the Royal Canal 
 ily-hoat — so denominated because of its going at a 
 most snail-like pace. MuUingar was our resting- 
 place for the night, where his lordship, Dr. Cant- 
 well, the Catholic Bishop of Meath, most kindly 
 received us. Next day we jingled across the 
 country over a most villanous road, up one hill 
 and down another to Ballymahon, where we ar- 
 rived after only one break down on the way. The 
 Eight Reverend Dr. OTIiggins, Catholic Bishop 
 of Ardagh, here extended his hospitality to us ; 
 
REPEAL MISSIONS. — LONGFORD. 193 
 
 and we involuntarily gave him a very bad return 
 for his great kindness, by being the occasion of an 
 enormous crowd assembling in the evening outside 
 his door and on his lawn, with bonfires and a band 
 of music, 
 
 " Breathing most eloquent discord ! " 
 
 Speechifying from tlie window over the portico 
 became the order of the night ; and a very excel- 
 lent llcpeal meeting was thus improvised for us, 
 and carried out in every way most satisfactorily. 
 
 Next morning, we being near the bounds of our 
 respective provinces. Daunt and I parted, he re- 
 maining behind in not the best condition in the 
 world for agitating, inasmuch as he was suffering 
 under a very severe sore throat. At Longford, 
 breakfasted, and snatched a moment to see the 
 very fine and extensive Catholic Catliedral, then 
 about two or three years in progress of building, 
 and not yet near completed. It is of Grecian 
 architecture of the most chaste and correct taste, 
 and is in the form of a Greek cross, with at the 
 end a vestibule — whereby hangs a tale. A poor 
 old countrywoman who went to see the new build- 
 ing much about the time of my visit, was highly 
 deliglitcd with the vestibule, and passed the follow- 
 
 VOL. IL K 
 
104 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ing comment upon it, and upon the vast space 
 beyond, then enclosed by the yet roofless walls of 
 the intended Church raised about twenty feet 
 from the ground. 
 
 " Oh, what a darling little chapel, and what a 
 beautiful ber-rin' place (burying-phice) that is, 
 just hack ofitf^ 
 
 At the time I saw the rising cathedral, a pro- 
 phecy concerning it had just been fulfilled, greatly 
 to the disconcerting of the soothsayer. lie was a 
 Clergyman of the Established Church, of very 
 ultra-ascendency politics, and exceedingly wrath 
 with "the Papists" at their audacity in no longer 
 contenting themselves with the wretched mud 
 hovel in which the sacred mysteries of their 
 religion had from the time of the Penal Laws 
 been celebrated, but aspiring to build and possess 
 a church, larger than any the State religion could 
 boast of in the province. Unfortunately for him, 
 his way in and out of Longford town, lay directly 
 by the front of the " Papists' " new cathedral : and 
 it was a standing source of amusement with the 
 people, to watch the gesture of infinite disgust 
 which he invariably betrayed whenever he passed 
 the obnoxious structure. One day he took par- 
 
CARRICK-ON-SHANNON. 195 
 
 ticular notice of tlie observation to which he was 
 thus subjected ; and in the height of his anger the 
 spirit of propliecy came upon him. 
 
 " Ay," said he, " it 's all mighty fine. You 
 think you are great fellows to be building so big 
 a church: but I tell you that the first sermon 
 that is preached in it, will be by a Protestant 
 minister I " 
 
 His words came literally true ! A sermon for 
 a charitable purpose was preached in 1842 within 
 tlie roofless enclosure, and by a much-respected 
 gentleman in the Orders of the Church of 
 England — the Honourable and Reverend George 
 Spencer, brother of the late, and uncle to the 
 present. Earl Spencer. Unhappily for the prophet, 
 the Rev. Gentleman was then for some years a 
 convert to the Catholic Faith, and had recently 
 received Priest's orders In the Church of Pome ! 
 
 At Carrick-on-Shannon, where I arrived upon 
 the evening of the 13th of September, I was at 
 length on my oicn ground, and my labours were 
 to begin. On the next day there was a great 
 gathering of the people on the market-place, 
 around a hastily-constructed hustings ; and hence 
 several of the local orators and myself had to make 
 
 K 2 
 
196 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 speeches for three or four hours by Carrick-on- 
 Shannon clock. A public dinner in the market- 
 house appropriately wound up the proceedings of 
 the day ; and all went merry at it as a marriage 
 bell ! I had for the first time to unload my pack, 
 and commence distributing the Kepeal tracts, 
 pamphlets, &c. with which our Committee had 
 entrusted me for the purpose. And this and all 
 other occurring duties being most punctually dis- 
 charged, I got to bed early ne.vt morning, heartily 
 figged with the first day of the campaign. 
 
 Note-book resumed — 
 
 ^^ Friday, September 16, 1842.— Engaged all 
 the morning writing my first grand Report as 
 RejKile Inspector, and letters of various kinds. 
 Also in receiving; visits. Off at noon on Bianconi's 
 car to Boyle, greatly shouted at starting, by the 
 j)eople : not a little to the disgust and discomfiture 
 of a stiff and pinched-up sort of personage upon 
 the same side of the car with me — with the Boyne 
 water and William the Third in his very look. 
 We did not, however, come to scratching faces 
 
 during our drive. At Boyle, and I left the 
 
 high-road, hiring a car to take us a cross-route ; 
 and a cross-route it certainly was, through the 
 
ROCKINGHAM. 197 
 
 village of French Park to Ballaghaderreen, in the 
 county of Mayo. Passed Lord Lorton's beautiful 
 domain of llocldngham on this route, and some of 
 the most noted sheep-walks of the sheep-feeding 
 county of Poscommon, and arrived at our abiding 
 phice by 6 p.m. No fish for our dinner on this 
 fisli-day, so we had to make shift otherwise. 
 Fried eggs for first course, boiled eggs for second, 
 besides a running accompaniment of toast and 
 butter; and then (the people having gathered 
 under the windows), we had by way of dessert, 
 a little speechification with a bonfire of green wood 
 directly under our noses ! 
 
 " In the evening to the Parish priest's to tea, 
 (the Pev. Mr. Tighe,) escorted by our late audi- 
 tory. Peturned after a pleasant hour and got to 
 bed, where I had the serenade of a rusty sign-post 
 in a high wind, and was "lulled by soft zephyrs" 
 through the rickety window-frames. My com- 
 rade had pretty much the same experiences in his 
 room. But we did very well; and the poor 
 woman of the house left nothing untried to make 
 us comfortable. 
 
 ^^ Sunday, \Stli. — An extremely good parochial 
 Pepeal meeting on the outskirts of the village of 
 
198 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Carra Castle, County IMayo, Mr. Phillips of 
 Clonniore House, J. P. &c. in the chair. Great 
 spirit amongst the people, and most martyr-like 
 attention to our three or four hours speechifijing ! 
 A wild, dreary, desolate country, scrubhy fields, 
 loose stone fences, wretched cabins, and a very 
 l^oor looking population. About Carrick - on- 
 Shannon, and from thence on through Boyle on my 
 way here, and nearly as far as Ballaghaderreen, 
 there was a good deal of interesting and some fine 
 scenery, but I now seem to have gotten into the 
 wilds. The high-roads very good, where they are 
 above loater, several of them being flooded; but 
 let no unhappy wight adventure himself upon the 
 cross-roads, for they are truly oro^vs-roads ! And 
 above all, let him carefully eschew all short- cuU ; 
 no matter how fair seeming, or how strongly re- 
 commended by his driver. Otherwise sorely will 
 he rue, in his sides and all his bones, his unhappy 
 facility of disposition ! I speak avec connaisance de 
 cause. 
 
 " The next stage of my journey, after leaving 
 the very hospitable house of Mr. Phillips, where 
 two days passed merrily over, forming one of those 
 pleasant interludes that occasionally relieve the 
 
CASTLEREA ITS CHURCH. 199 
 
 hard, dry work of agitation, was Castlerea, in 
 the county of Koscommon, Avhere I expected to 
 receive answers to all the letters written respect- 
 ing further meetings, and so to be able to arrange 
 the plan of my campaign. 
 
 " With the single break of a short trip to the 
 town of Roscommon, not more than six or seven 
 miles distant, to arrange there for a Repeal meet- 
 ing at a later period, I had little to occupy me 
 after the first day in Castlerea, where I spent a 
 weary week. By a mistake I left it before the 
 preparations for the Tuam meeting were brought 
 to completion, and I had accordingly a further 
 delay in that town. The meeting, however, proved 
 well worthy of being icaited forT 
 
 The Catholic church of the town, the cathe- 
 dral of the Catholic archdiocese of Tuam, is a 
 small but very striking specimen of the florid 
 Gothic, — the work of a native architect, and one 
 who, I believe, was never out of the province of 
 Connaught in his life. It reflects infinite credit 
 upon him, and upon the zeal and piety of the 
 Catholic population of the archdiocese. It is not 
 for me to praise the admirable exertions in this as 
 in every other good work of the truly admirable 
 Archbishop, his Grace Dr. MacHale, without whose 
 
200 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 energy and judicious and enlightened superinten- 
 dence the sacred building never could have been 
 what it is. His personal kindness and conde- 
 scending attention to me Avhile in Tuam, I can 
 never forget. 
 
 After this I had a wild and toilsome and 
 lengthened day's journey to Castlebar, to attend a 
 great meeting there, and another to get back in 
 time for the Koscommon meeting. It is incon- 
 ceivable, save by actual experience, what bleak 
 desolation one sees on every side in the remote 
 regions of the Avest, and what poverty among the 
 people. The year 1842 was not a particularly bad 
 year in that district, and yet the misery was heart- 
 rending to witness. What it has been during the 
 last two years, and is unfortunately at this moment, 
 human lano;uao;e cannot describe ! 
 
 Tlie near approach of the celebrated * Ballina- 
 sloe Fair,' with all its pre-occupying arrangements, 
 warned me to cut short my mission, and accord- 
 ingly I arrived in Dublin early in October, to 
 make report in person to the Association. 
 
 "Repeal" lingered on during the rest of the 
 year 1842, not making much progress, but yet not 
 losing ground. The country missions, especially 
 those of my brother "Inspectors-General!" who 
 
PROPOSxVL TO WAYLAY MR. O CONNELL. 201 
 
 had better roads and means of travelling than 
 Connaught supplied, and no "Ballinasloe Fair" to 
 run away from, began to bear fruit towards the 
 end of the year; and one point at least was said 
 to have been gained, viz. the removing much of 
 the ingrained suspicion Avhich I have before 
 alluded to as existing in the popular mind, with 
 regard to our sincerity of purpose. 
 
 It was, I find, in the autumn of 1841, and not 
 of 1842, that my father made the expedition I have 
 previously ^alluded to, on '^Kepeal" agitation busi- 
 ness, to the city of Belfast. 
 
 The invitation came from the hearts of the 
 ardent Repealers of that city, and therefore the 
 faults of judgment might well be excused. But 
 the consequences were injurious to the intercsis 
 of the Repeal cause in the north, and narrowly 
 escaped being fatal to the man whom it was 
 sought to honour. A magistrate of the County 
 Down told the late Mr. Davis, by whom the cir- 
 cumstance was communicated to my father, that a 
 plan had been arranged among a party of Orange- 
 men, some of them in the rank of gentlemen, to 
 watch for the arrival of his carriage at a spot on 
 the Belfast road, where high earthen banks over- 
 
 K 3 
 
202 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 liung the way, and wlien it came within reach, to 
 hurl large stones down upon it, and kill and crush 
 all whom it might contain ! 
 
 There were also other devices in progress, of 
 various details, but with the same fell purpose. 
 J\lr. O'Connell disarranged them all by starting 
 two days earlier than he w^as expected, having 
 previously taken the precaution of getting one of 
 liis chosen travelling companions, (wlio were poor 
 Tom Steele, Charles O'Connell, Esq., of Ennis, and 
 Nicliolas Markey, of Louth — men whose devotion 
 to him was long known and proved,) to write on 
 beforeliand, under an assumed name, to order 
 horses to be ready at all the posting stages. 
 
 Twice before in his life had attempts at 
 destroying, or at least seriously injuring him, 
 been conceived and baffled. In the first, some- 
 where about the year 1825 or 1826, it had been 
 arranged, that as he changed horses in the town of 
 Castle wellan. County Down, on his way to attend 
 a northern assizes, in a case for Avhich he had 
 received a special retainer, the armed Orangemen 
 of tlie district should pour into the town, and, 
 taking occasion of some got-^tp riot Avith the 
 Catholic peasants who were known to intend 
 
ATTEMPT ON MR. o'cONNELl's LIFE. 203 
 
 meeting him there, to use their jirms, and in the 
 confusion to shoot him dead. This was hastily 
 whispered to him by a Catholic shopkeeper, just 
 as he drove up to the door of the inn where the 
 horses were to be changed. 
 
 " For God's sake, don't stop at all — don't stop 
 one moment, Mr. O'Connell. The Orangemen 
 are pouring in ; go on with the horses you have. " 
 
 A word to the postilions — poor Papists them- 
 selves — was enough; and away the carriage went, 
 with the jaded horses lashed into a gallop. " The 
 more haste the less speed," says the old adage, and 
 it held true on this critical occasion. Just as the 
 carriage left the town, and was rapidly descending 
 a steep hill, one of the horses fell, and the other 
 three tumbled in a heap over him, smashing pole 
 and harness all to fragments. Mr. O'Connell was 
 inclined to remain by the vehicle, while his ser- 
 vant should go back to the town to procure the 
 other horses and a pole ; but the servant literally 
 would not permit him. This was a man. of 
 singularly high feeling and devoted attachment to 
 my father, and of the purest character in every 
 respect. For upwards of twenty years, until his 
 death in 1834, he most faithfully served my father, 
 
204 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 and attended Iiim more with the care of a devoted 
 and affectionate clansman and fosterer of the oklen 
 time, than Avith that of a mere servant, however 
 zealous and attentive. Only twice in the year 
 was he ever known of himself to speak to my 
 father, and those occasions were on Christmas and 
 Easter days, when he saluted him in the morning 
 with the good wishes of the season. 
 
 This faithful creature literally msisted on being 
 left by himself. " They will do nothing to me. 
 Sir," said he, in answer to remonstrance : " I am a 
 servant. Do you take the pistols and go on ! — 
 Go ON, Str — 0?' / 2cill leave your sermce for ever /" 
 
 His master had to submit, and accordingly pro- 
 ceeded with Nicholas Markey through some plan- 
 tations which enabled them to cut off a large 
 angle of the road. Meantime the truth of the 
 stories they had been told was evidenced by the 
 signal shouts, whistles, &c. &c. that were beginning 
 to be heard on every side as the Orangemen 
 gathered from various quarters towards the spot 
 the travellers had so lately left; and when the 
 carriage overtook the latter about half-an-hour 
 afterwards, the valet reported that he had been 
 surrounded, and pretty closely questioned by 
 
ANOTHER ATTEMPT. 205 
 
 armed countrymen, wlio had then gone off towards 
 the town, conceiving that their intended victim 
 might have returned thither. Of course they had 
 not inflicted the slightest injury on the valet, 
 although sorely vexed at missing their mark. 
 
 The second attempt at doing Mr. O'Connell 
 bodily injury, occurred some few years previous 
 to his Belfast expedition. The first posting stage 
 out of Limerick, on the Dublin road, is that of 
 Birdhill, being about ten miles of an exceedingly 
 good road. On his return from one of liis annual 
 visits to Darrynane Abbey, Mr. O'Connell had, 
 as usual with him, slept in the city of Limerick, 
 and started early next morning, fortunately with 
 four good horses, who kept at an even gallop the 
 whole way to Birdhill. The good fortune of the 
 circumstance was not on account of the trifling 
 gain of time, but on the more serious account, 
 that on the carriage " bringing up" at the inn- 
 door at Birdhill, the discovery was made that the 
 pins of all four of the axletrees of the wheels had 
 been tampered with, apparently by filing tliem 
 half through. All but one of them had broken 
 across at the damaged part; and nothing but the 
 speed and straight driving of the postilions pre- 
 
206 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 vented two or three of the wheels from coining off 
 upon the way. AVho were the artificers of this 
 attempt there never have been any means of 
 knowing. 
 
 Stones were thrown in at the windows of 
 a room where Mr. O'Connell was received in 
 Belfast, at a kind of political soiree, and some ladies 
 of the party seriously injured. The front windows 
 of the hotel at which he was staying were also 
 demolished by the valiant and peaceable heroes of 
 the Boyne Water. Other violences were also 
 manifested ; and, on Mr. O'Connell's departure 
 for Donaghadee, where he was to take the mail- 
 steamer for Downpatrick, on his way to the north 
 of England, whither he had been invited to 
 attend some Keform demonstrations, he had to 
 be escorted by a considerable body of police, who 
 saw him safe on board. 
 
 In England, there was a new danger. Feargus 
 O'Connor, from the moment that the fact of an 
 invitation to Mr. O'Connell had become public, 
 employed his newspaper week after week, in 
 inviting the Chartists to meet the man who had 
 denounced their violence, and kept the Irish 
 people from making common cause with them ; 
 
FEARGUS o'cONNOR, 207 
 
 and to visit liim with some mark of their dis- 
 pleasure, when he should arrive at the scene 
 of the intended Reform gatlierings. 
 
 " Brother Chartists/' wrote the redoubtable 
 Feargus in his journal, number after number, 
 " I have given you many days ; do you now give 
 me one day. Meet O'Connell, who denounced 
 you," &c. &c. 
 
 Whether they fully obeyed these exhortations, 
 or what were to be the "marks of displeasure" with 
 which they were invited to visit the offending 
 individual thus pointed out to them, history 
 saycth not. A fortunate accident, or couple of acci- 
 dents, delayed Mr. O'Connell's arrival for nearly 
 forty-eight hours ; and so deranged all prepara- 
 tions, whether of a friendly or a hostile nature, 
 that may have been made to receive him. The 
 packet reached Port Patrick at dead low water of 
 a spring tide, and his carriage could not be landed 
 till after half-flood. And when at length he 
 had got in motion, and had made some forty 
 or fifty miles of his journey^ the vehicle broke 
 down, and occasioned a much longer delay. 
 
 Thus, both in Ireland and in England, from 
 Irish Orangemen, and their counterparts in 
 
208 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 violence and intolerance, the English physical- 
 force Chartists, lie had been tlireatened and 
 imperilled almost simultaneously, and had escaped 
 by Avhat appeared to his family little else than 
 an interposition of a merciful Providence. 
 
 On each of the occasions I have narrated, he 
 manifested the coolest, most collected and re- 
 solved courage, cheerfulness and presence of 
 mind. These qualities Avere, also, most strikingly 
 demonstrated on yet another difficult and still 
 more perilous occasion, a year or two before the 
 Repeal agitation was resumed. The unhappy 
 and disastrous combination - system, that has 
 worked such mischief and misery among the 
 artisan-population of England and Scotland, has 
 not failed to add its quota of ruin to the other 
 depressing causes that have crushed down in- 
 dustry in the towns and cities of Ireland. Some 
 very bad cases of violence and outrage have 
 occurred in Dublin under this unhappy system ; 
 but it is only justice to say, that they have been 
 rare, as compared with Avhat appears on the 
 criminal records of the seats of manufacturino; 
 industry in Great Britain. 
 
 At the time I am now alluding to, a sudden 
 
THE DUBLIN PRESS. 209 
 
 spring and stimulus appeared to have been given 
 to the Dublin trade-combinations; and very 
 alarming symptoms of misconduct and resolute 
 mischievousness had manifested themselves. A 
 large proportion of tlie Press of Dublin were 
 paralysed in their efforts to stay the evil, by 
 combinations among ' the operatives engaged in 
 some of the newspaper offices. One journal, an 
 ultra -Orange organ, actually sided with and took 
 the part of the comblnators. In this state of 
 things, alarm and confusion in every one's mind, 
 and the Avhole current of business impeded and 
 disturbed, Mr. O'Connell came forward, and, 
 although well aware that he was forfeiting much 
 of political support, the operative tradesmen of 
 Dublin having always been warmly in favour 
 of a Repeal of the Legislative Union, he strongly 
 and uncompromisingly denounced their conduct, 
 and warned them of the penalties and dangers 
 they were incurring. A large proportion of their 
 number, who had either never joined the combi-. 
 nators, or had been only temporarily misled by 
 them, approved his efforts, and attended to his 
 voice ; but the turbulent and the noisy in this, as 
 in other matters, made theirs appear the pre- 
 
210 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 vailing sentiment, and adopted active measures 
 of annoyance ; hooting him in the streets, and 
 interrupting and throwing into confusion and 
 violent disorder the meetings he attempted to 
 hold for the purpose of arguing the point with 
 them. It became necessary, in the opinion of 
 his family and friends, if not in his own, that he 
 should be attended when walking in the streets, and 
 particularly on the occasion of the last discussion 
 he attempted to have with the combinators. 
 
 This took place in a large upper room of the 
 Royal Exchange buildings in Dame Street, with 
 the Lord Mayor (of the then unreformed Dublin 
 Corporation) in the chair, supported by the two 
 Sheriffs. My fixther, and such of us as had come 
 with him, including my brother Daniel and my- 
 self, were at his lordship's right, and the rest of 
 the room was crowded with the combinators, 
 among whom it was ascertained that a number of 
 young college boys, boiling over with the extreme 
 Orangeism then sedulously spread among the 
 college boys by some of the Fellows of that esta- 
 blishment, had mixed themselves, Avith the amiable 
 object of instigating the already excited operatives 
 to make some attack on O'Connell. 
 
MEETING AT THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 211 
 
 We had two liours of a most stormy scene. 
 For near tliree-fourths of that time my father was 
 not only on his legs, but had actually mounted on 
 the table, to make himself the more conspicuous 
 to his assailants ; and there he stood, with his arms 
 folded, and a smile upon his countenance, under- 
 going an almost uninterrupted storm of bowlings, 
 revilings, and execrations. From time to time he 
 essayed to speak, and to argue calmly with them ; 
 but was seldom permitted to utter more than 
 three or four sentences, and occasionally not so 
 many words, ere the din of war recommenced 
 with tenfold fury and bitterness. 
 
 Two or three small shopkeepers, well known 
 as active partizans among the Orange party, 
 seemed to be the chosen spokesmen — if such a word 
 can be used in describing a scene where men yelled 
 and shouted rather than spoke. All efforts, how- 
 ever, in this way to daunt Mr. O'Connell, or even 
 to make him appear in the least angry, utterly 
 failed ; and then the last and potent argument was 
 brought into play — namely, a rush at him, with the 
 evident intention of committing some violence. 
 The poor Lord Mayor was tumbled over in the 
 charge ; but fortunately his lordship and the 
 
212 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Sheriffs were enabled, as well as ourselves, to 
 effect a retreat through a door behind the chair ; 
 protecting our rear as we did so, by the simple 
 and very serviceable expedient, which I strongly 
 recommend to parties in similar jeopardy, of cross- 
 ins; two benches behind us, over Avhich the leaders 
 of the pursuing host stumbled and fell ; and so 
 broke the rush of their followers. Some of our 
 party had arms about them, but had the good sense 
 to abstain from showing them, when it became 
 apparent that the stool-barricade had done its 
 business. 
 
 As we left the Hoyal Exchange, and walked 
 down Dame Street, the extraordinary spectacle 
 was presented — a spectacle extraordinary indeed 
 in Dublin — of Daniel O'Connell hissed, hooted, 
 and all but pelted by a crowd of his fellow-citi- 
 zens — most of them Catholics whom he had eman- 
 cipated, and for whose real interests he was still 
 labouring and contending. 
 
 The better-conditioned, that is to say, the far 
 larger proportion of the tradesmen, who had fallen 
 into this temporary error, speedily saw and con- 
 fessed how mistaken they had been ; and gave him 
 their confidence again with renewed and increased 
 
THE " NATION." 213 
 
 fervour. The small minority of evil-disposed, 
 idle, and dissolute, preserved their rancour against 
 him for the rest of his life ; and were prominent 
 amongst those whose efforts, and, unhappily, suc- 
 cessful efforts, at sowing and spreading division 
 among the Repeal party, and whose reckless and 
 persevering slanders and calumnies, embittered the 
 closingnnonths of his life. 
 
 It was about the month of October, or of 
 November, in the year 1842, that the "Nation" 
 newspaper was established, and that its talented 
 proprietor, together with several of the young 
 o-entlemcn Avho came afterwards to be known as 
 the " Young Ireland " party, began to identify 
 themselves with the Association. 
 
 From hence to the end of these " Experiences " 
 I shall have the difficult task of alluding pretty 
 frequently to those gentlemen, and to the unhappy 
 differences which occasioned their secession from 
 us four years later, and the schism in the popular 
 body. Writing at a period removed but by so 
 short an interval from some of the chief circum- 
 stances connected with that schism, and its ever 
 deplorable results, I am very conscious that I shall 
 be open to much suspicion ; and that my personal 
 
214 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 feelings will be considered to enter largely into 
 the opinions that I may express upon the matter. 
 Yet I will not be deterred by this peril, feeling 
 conscious that there is no wilful design on my part 
 to exaggerate, to misrepresent, or to do injustice 
 in any point, or in any way. 
 
 ** Nothing extenuate — nor set down aught in malice." 
 The gentlemen of the Young Ireland party 
 who first joined us, were, as I recollect, the late 
 much lamented and highly talented Thomas Davis, 
 Charles Gavan Daffy, at present, and for nine 
 months back, a prisoner under a charge of treason- 
 felony, for which he has already been tried, with- 
 out a verdict having been come to ; and for which 
 it is understood that he is to be tried again this 
 month ; Thomas M'Nevin, Esq., a young bar- 
 rister of much promise and ability, snatched away 
 by death just as he was bidding fair to become 
 distinguished in his profession ; and John Dillon, 
 Esq., also a young barrister of much ability, and 
 with many claims to respect. Mr. Dillon is at 
 this time, unhappily, a political refugee in the 
 United States, having been mixed up with the 
 insurrectionary movement of last July, greatly 
 against his judgment, as it is understood ; and 
 
THE " NATION." — THOMAS DAVIS. 215 
 
 through a feeling of honourable self-devotion, 
 which would not permit him to separate himself 
 from his less judicious friends. 
 
 The " Nation" newspaper requires no words of 
 mine to bear testimony to the talent and informa- 
 tion with which its pages were extensively marked. 
 It ranked among its contributors young men of 
 great and varied talent, especially poetic talent ; 
 and it is not unfair to say of it that the poetic 
 talent rather predominated; pervading even the 
 prose articles in their spirit, their sentiments, their 
 wording, and not a little too in their argumen- 
 tation. 
 
 I can give this praise without suspicion to the 
 contributors, because although I had the honour 
 of being mentioned in the programme of the news- 
 paper as one of its intended contributors, I never 
 was so beyond three articles, one of the most 
 veritable and tridy prosaic prose ; and two of rhyme, 
 doubtless still more prosaic and heavy. 
 
 Thomas Davis, it is needless for me to say, was 
 a man of no ordinary stamp. lie had much 
 genius, a fervid and at times a brilliant imagina- 
 tion, singular energy and earnestness, indomitable 
 industry, and a power of retaining all that he 
 
216 . PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 acquired ; and, if I may use the word, of utilizing 
 at the spur of the moment, and giving practical 
 and pungent application to liis information and 
 ideas, such as few men are found to possess. 
 
 The unhappy social circumstances of Ireland 
 had their reflection in his character. He was a 
 Protestant, and of a family, as has been generally 
 understood, rather tending to tiltraism in its poli- 
 tical and sectarian opinions. To those who know 
 with what unhappy sedulousness these tendencies 
 are instilled into the minds of the Protestant youth 
 of Ireland, and how carefully they are cultivated, 
 it is always a matter of surprise and rejoicing 
 when a young Protestant is found to separate 
 himself at all from the extreme ascendency party 
 in that countr}^, and to sliow a disposition to 
 range himself upon the side of the great mass of 
 the people in their struggle for political ameliora- 
 tions. This Davis did, and with all tlie more 
 credit to himself, tliat it was quite evident he 
 had a severe stru2;G;le to " screw liis courao;e to 
 the sticking-point," and tliat the struggle was by 
 no means terminated when he took the decisive 
 step of enrolling his name on the books of that 
 body most obnoxious to all true-blue Orangemen, 
 
THOMAS DAVIS. 217 
 
 the ^' Loyal National Eepeal Association of 
 Ireland." 
 
 There was evidently a continual contest going 
 on in his mind between an ardent and enthusiastic 
 love of country, and an inherited and educated 
 aversion to " Popery," and nothing could be more 
 creditable to him than the plain evidences dedu- 
 cible from his writings, that as time rolled on the 
 native goodness and purity of his mind was enabling 
 it to emancipate itself almost every day more and 
 more from the trammels of early prejudice. To 
 the last something of this remained to be done, as 
 was shown by one or two indications of a marked, 
 although not of a very important character : but 
 had he been spared to the country which he loved 
 so well, there can be little doubt that a cordiality 
 and identification of feeling would have resulted 
 between him and those whom the Orange papers 
 denominated the extreme Papist party among the 
 Kepealers. At any rate it w^as the conviction of 
 those who came under the latter denomination, 
 that he was of all the "Young Ireland" party, the 
 one most likely to be reconciled to " pull in har- 
 ness" with the " Old Irelanders." 
 
 In nothing was the mental struggle just alluded 
 
 VOL. II. L 
 
218 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 to more visible than in lils dealings with my 
 father. Opposite feelings in this instance most 
 evidently contended for the mastery. O'Connell 
 had been the bngbear of his youth, as of that of 
 most of his class and creed, until he had insen- 
 sibly associated the idea of the great Papist Agi- 
 tator with every thing that Avas forbidding and 
 .to he avoided and detested. A noble sympathy, 
 a common love of country now brought these two 
 men together; and it may be permitted to a son 
 to say, that no one ever was long in intercourse 
 with Daniel O'Connell without being won over by 
 his genial kindliness of disposition, and his warm 
 open-heartedness. Davis was no exception to this 
 general rule ; and he early conceived, and I sin- 
 cerely believe retained to the moment of his sadly 
 premature and much lamented death, a warm ad- 
 miration of the once abhorred " Daniel O'Connell," 
 and a strong: and earnest reo'ard for him. These 
 sentiments were undoubtedly mixed up with rem- 
 nants of the old prejudices and preconceived opi- 
 nions ; but they were not the less warm and real. 
 
 William Smith O'Brien did not originally belong 
 to the party of which these and other young gen- 
 tlemen Avhose names I shall presently mention. 
 
GAVAN DUFFY. 219 
 
 were the leaders : nor did he join iis for nearly 
 nine months later. 
 
 To the abilities of Mr. Gavan DuiFy, his own 
 newspaper has borne the best and most sufficient 
 testimony. It is true that he received much 
 assistance from the other gentlemen named, as 
 well as from a crowd of less noted, but scarcely 
 less talented contributors. But his own lio-ht was 
 not obscured thereby ; and it would be the 
 rankest injustice as well as absurdity to advance 
 any thing calculated to induce the belief for a 
 moment that he did not personally contribute in a 
 very eminent degree to the success of his newspaper. 
 
 In fact, while he was remarkably liberal in 
 opening his columns to the literary attempts of 
 others, and in encouraging them to " try again" 
 and gallantly encounter 
 
 " the jaundiced eye 
 
 Of the cold Critic, — keen upon a fault, 
 But dull as stone to merit," 
 
 he fairly and readily entered into the lists with 
 them ; maintained a Avorthy rivalry with their best 
 efforts, and not seldom bore away the palm. 
 
 For reasons obvious in themselves and obviously 
 sufficient, I abstain from comment upon the par- 
 
 L 2 
 
220 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ticular part borne by Mr. Dufiy In the controver- 
 sies that divided and broke up the popular party 
 during the two unhappy years from June 1846 to 
 June 1848 ; and I do so the more readily, as well 
 as the more properly, from the fact that he is about 
 for the second time to be put upon his trial. And 
 from the circumstances attending the conduct of 
 the Irish Government towards him, especially in 
 the flagrant instance of the tampering with the 
 arrangement of the jury lists, he is entitled to the 
 sympathy and not to the criticism of every lover 
 of fair play and even-handed justice. 
 
 ^¥ith regard to many among the most active of 
 the Young Ireland party, there is a remark that 
 may be made without fear of its being taken as 
 aimed at individuals, however applicable to a class. 
 
 If Thomas Davis may be said to have been as 
 it were an illustration of one phase of the unhappy 
 social circumstances of Ireland, many of his young 
 Catholic cooperators exhibited a reflection of yet 
 another. Davis manifested the struggles of the 
 spirit of nationality seeking to free itself from its 
 old trammels, in a country where for many a year 
 the demon of sectarianism had been constantly 
 evoked by interests alien to the soil, in order, and 
 
tHE YOUNG IRELANDERS. 221 
 
 ^vitll a view to check the developments of that 
 nationality. The section of Catholics I allude to 
 displayed the workings of the same spirit under 
 other difficulties, quite as sedulously fostered and 
 encouraged for the same evil purpose, by the same 
 anti-Irish influences, — the difficulties arising from 
 impatience of the leading, and intolerance of the 
 counsels of a brother Catholic. 
 
 Unconsciously to themselves they were made 
 tools in the hands of enemies of their creed and 
 country ; Avhose only hope of successfully resist- 
 ing the mighty moral movement of the Irish 
 people Avas by sowing division among its chief 
 promoters and guides. The genius and ability of 
 several of the Young Irelanders only made them 
 the more useful tools of these deep designers and 
 abettors of mischief; — ever on the watch for an 
 opportunity to inflict a heavy blow and a great 
 discouragement upon tlie national cause. 
 
 The diffisrences which afterwards came to such 
 an unhappy head, showed themselves early in our 
 Committee, after the first accession of the Youncr 
 Irelanders. In the winter of 1842 we had three 
 or four disputes and divisions ; figuring forth upon 
 a small scale, what afterwards occurred upon a 
 
222 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 larjre We had more tlian one division in Com- 
 mittee on full-formed projects of the wildest 
 impracticability : we had several discussions upon 
 suggestions not savouring of a very profound 
 degree of wisdom, or acquaintance with the habits, 
 ways, and moving principles of the everyday 
 world around us. 
 
 In one of our gravest and longest prepared 
 conciliabidai it was solemnly propounded by two 
 young men of no insignificant mark among the 
 new accessions to our ranks, that the best way to 
 agitate for, and advance the Kepeal cause, would 
 be not to hold meetings — 7wt to hwite the people 
 to connect themselves loith any particular body — and 
 not to mention the icord Kepeal at all I! 
 
 " The name should ne'er he heard ; 
 Our lips should be forbid to speak 
 That once familiar word ! " 
 
 Naturally enough we stared not a little at the 
 
 originators of this deep policy ; but they were not 
 
 at all discomfited thereby; proceeding, on the 
 
 contrary, to debate their plan, and support it with 
 
 arguments most transcendently mystical, and most 
 
 mystically profound ! However, whether it was 
 
 owino; to mental obtuseness, or whatever the cause 
 
 may have been, Daniel O'Connell remained un- 
 
REPEAL DISCUSSION. 223 
 
 persuaded, and incHned to persevere in his unro- 
 mantic, if not unpliilosopliic practice of speaking 
 out plainly to the people, telling them in everyday 
 English what would be the real remedy for their 
 accumulated grievances, and for the distresses of 
 their country, and exhorting them to combine and 
 come together to labour for this great remedy. 
 
 Early in 1843 — the eventful year 1.843 — the 
 " Repeal discussion " took place in the Corporation 
 of Dublin. Mr. O'Connell gave notice of it at a 
 Tery early period in January ; and when he found 
 that public attention was not sufficiently excited 
 on the subject against the arrival of the date first 
 named by him for opening it, — he, with malice 
 prepe?2se, adjourned the matter again, and succeeded 
 beyond his utmost expectations, in thus causing 
 discussion and excitement with regard to it. The 
 able gentlemen representing the Conservative 
 party in the Corporation did not perceive his 
 object, and fell into the trap he had laid for them, 
 violently complaining of the postponement, and in 
 a manner triumphing over it as a (^wasZ-abandon- 
 ment of the long-talked of motion. Their simu- 
 lated anxiety for the discussion was at length 
 gratified by him upon Tuesday, February 28. 
 
224 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The following is the kind of descriptive intro- 
 duction given in the special report of the proceed- 
 ings of this and the following two days, when the 
 great question of the legislative independence of 
 Ireland was at last brought before them by Mr. 
 O'Connell, under the form of a proposition for a 
 petition to Parliament on that subject. 
 
 Repeal Discussion in the Dublin Corporation) 
 Tuesday, February 28, 1843. 
 
 '^ This being the day appointed for the bringing 
 forward of Alderman O'Connell's motion for the 
 discussion of the great question of the Repeal of 
 THE Union, the City Assembly House, in William 
 Street, was, from a very early hour in the morning, 
 surrounded by hundreds of the populace, who 
 testified by their presence, their earnest counte- 
 nances, and their frequent cheers, the deep interest 
 which they felt to ascertain what arguments could 
 possibly be urged against the Legislative Inde- 
 pendence of their native land. 
 
 " It was evident, from the day the honourable 
 and learned Alderman had put his notice of motion 
 on the books of the corporation^ that not only the 
 
REPEAL DISCUSSION. 225 
 
 inhabitants of the city of Dublin, but the universal 
 people of Ireland, felt that he had taken a course 
 more likely to forward the cause of ' Repeal,' than 
 any other which human wisdom or foresight could 
 have possibly suggested ; and the result w^as looked 
 to with an intensity of interest that it would be 
 perfectly impossible adequately to describe. 
 
 '^ The great champion of his country's liberty, 
 Daniel O'Connell, M.P., accompanied by several 
 members of the town-council, arrived in William 
 Street at half-past ten o'clock in the forenoon, and 
 was received with deafening peals of acclamation 
 by the people outside, which as soon as he entered 
 were renewed by those who had previously filled 
 the house. The other members of the council 
 arrived in quick succession, and before eleven 
 o'clock the gallery and body of the house were filled 
 to suffocation by those who had been fortunate 
 enough to obtain tickets of admission. The table 
 in the centre of the Council Chamber w^as appro- 
 priated to the use of the gentlemen of the press, 
 for whom every possible accommodation was made; 
 and on no occasion since the Union Avere there ever 
 known to be assembled together so many reporters 
 of the Dublin press, or correspondents of the lead- 
 
 L 3 
 
226 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Ing Engllsli journals, not only in London, but in 
 some of tlie provinces. 
 
 " The Lord Mayor arrived at eleven o'clock, 
 and was received with marked applause, as well 
 by the populace outside, as the members and 
 strangers who filled the house. 
 
 " Mr. Alderman Butt, the great Union advo- 
 cate, arrived immediately after, and was warmly 
 greeted by his friends and some of the members op- 
 posed to him, among whom was his great opponent 
 O'Connell, who warmly shook hands with him. 
 
 " After some routine business was disposed of, 
 
 *' Alderman O'Connell rose amidst great cheer- 
 ing, and proceeded to address the assembly. He 
 said, — I am an Irishman ; I am an ardent admirer 
 of the fair and fruitful land of my birth — my 
 fatherland. I am an Irishman, and I have full 
 faith and entire confidence in the noble and exalted 
 qualities of my countrymen the inhabitants of that 
 land — of all my countrymen (hear, hear) ; all par- 
 take of the generous, hospitable, and brave spirit, 
 so inherent in my countfymen ; and if there be 
 an exception, the number is so small, and their 
 motives are so obvious, that they are as nothing 
 acrainst the immense multitudes that I believe to 
 
SPEECH OF ALDERMAN O'CONNELL. 227 
 
 be deserving of national dignity, and dishonoured 
 by provincial degradation. (Hear, hear, and loud 
 cheers.) I am proud of the position that I now 
 occupy. (Loud clieers.) It is not merely as the 
 representative of the metropolis of my native land, 
 but standing forward as I do the advocate of 
 Ireland and Irishmen — standing forward for the 
 rights and liberties of Ireland — standing forward 
 to assert that she has a right to be reckoned 
 amongst the nations of the earth, and that the 
 Irish people are not so degraded and disqualified 
 as to be unfit to govern themselves. (Cheers.) 
 Oh ! it is pleasing to reflect that everything I can 
 possibly say with justice, that every description 
 I can give and put prominently forward, as to the 
 superior fertility, station, and natural qualities of 
 my country ; the more, in fact, I can truly praise 
 her, the more I can advance my own case in this 
 discussion. (Hear, hear, and loud cheers.) The 
 more I can pay a just tribute to the virtues of her 
 inhabitants, the more are the reasons and argu- 
 ments augmented and increased by which the 
 demand I make for national regeneration should 
 be irresistibly yielded to. (Loud cheers.) My 
 case consists in the importance of Ireland as a 
 
228 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 nation ; my case consists in the merits and virtues 
 of her inhabitants. (Loud cheers.) I feel, I trust, 
 not an ungenerous pity for tliose who are to be to- 
 day the advocates of the degradation and provin- 
 cialism of their native land. I unfeignedly pity 
 those who are this day to tell me that the Irish, of 
 all the people of tlie earth, are unfit for self- 
 government ; or to tell me that there is sometliing 
 so mean, low, and despicable in the Irish character, 
 that we are unfit to do, what every other nation 
 on the face of the earth is fit to do — namely, to 
 govern ourselves. (Hear.) 
 
 " I was not here when the house met on the last 
 day, but I saw through the medium of the news- 
 papers that something had been said that there 
 was an implicit understanding before your election, 
 my Lord, that we were not to discuss political 
 subjects during your year of office. (Hear, from 
 Tory members.) I utterly deny it. (Cheers from 
 the Liberal members.) There was no such un- 
 derstanding, and those who cheered were the first 
 to introduce political topics here. (Hear, from the 
 Liberal members.) Did they not introduce an 
 address to Earl de Grey, and divide on it? (Cries 
 of. They did.) Did they iiot introduce a discussion 
 
SPEECH OF ALDERMAN o'cONNELL. 229 
 
 on the wars in China and AfFghanistan ? Did 
 they not begin their rambles in Ireland, and go 
 to the borders of Pekin, to find political sub- 
 jects for discussion in this room, and by this 
 assembly ? And after all this I hear a cheer from 
 the very gentlemen who introduced political sub- 
 jects here, signifying, if that cheer means anything, 
 that political subjects were prohibited ; I, however, 
 defy contradiction, when I emphatically say there 
 was no treaty — no compact — express or implied, to 
 forbear the discussion of political subjects in this 
 assembly. (Cheers.) Would I — could I enter into 
 such a treaty? — I, who boasted in th^ House of 
 Commons that the Corporations of Ireland would 
 be Normal schools for peaceful agitation, a sentence 
 taken up against me — when I proclaimed that one 
 of my great objects in seeking for a Reform of the 
 Corporations was, that Irislmien of all parties 
 might meet together and discuss those questions 
 deliberately, openly, and manfully. (Hear, hear.) 
 Let it also be recollected that from that chair 
 I proclaimed the same thing. (Hear.) I said, no 
 person should know my politics by my judicial 
 conduct as Lord Mayor — but still that I was a 
 Repealer. (Cheers.) Implication there was none 
 
230 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 — I would scorn to be a party to any such impll-? 
 cation; if indeed one word had been said of any 
 such agreement, I shoukl have loudly and indig- 
 nantly disclaimed it, as I disclaim it now. (Hear.) 
 Why, the former Corporation petitioned upon 
 every political subject. (Hear.) There is not one 
 that they did not petition on. For a Repeal of 
 the Union, they petitioned three times. (Hear.) 
 And on another question that I took a deep 
 interest in, they petitioned, I suppose, fifty times. 
 (Hear.) It may be said, that it was a bad example 
 to follow ; their bad examples I would not follow, 
 but I would follow their good examples. (Hear.) 
 The Parliament has taken care to restrain us 
 within very narrow limits in our conduct as a 
 corporate body, and we should not add further 
 degradation to that by restraining ourselves from 
 the expression of political sentiments. (Hear.) 
 I say, then, what is good in the old Corporation 
 imitate, and that is, the attention they paid to 
 political affairs, and which was only bad so far as 
 they directed their political exertions to party 
 purposes. I disclaim all party purposes — I heartily 
 condemn them as ludicrous, as well as unwise. 
 (Hear, hear, and cheers.) 
 
SPEECH OF ALDERMAN o'cONNELL. 231 
 
 "Indeed, another thing struck me; while I was 
 absent the hon. and learned Alderman challenged 
 me in terms consistent with that courtesy which 
 he never violates, to a discussion of the question 
 of Repeal; yet now judge my astonishment when 
 I find he who so emphatically challenged this 
 discussion, has now given notice of an amendment 
 to my Repeal resolution, condemning in express 
 terms all discussion on that subject. (Laughter 
 and cheers.) 
 
 " However, I am glad he is here to discuss the 
 question ; and now I am ready to discuss it with 
 him, and to address the observations I have to 
 make to this assemblage, representing as it does 
 the city of Dublin, — a city which has suffered 
 such master grievances by the Union, that it 
 would be impossible, I take it, that there should 
 not be a majority of her Representatives in 
 favour of the petition. (Hear, hear.) It is not 
 to convince those who are by my side, whom 
 experience has already convinced by the irre- 
 sistible evidence of their senses — of their feelings 
 — of the destruction of their property — that I 
 address you. No ; I stand here to argue with 
 those out of this room, who are ignorant of. 
 
232 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 and many of whom are adverse to onr rights. 
 I, from this spot, address my arguments to the 
 entire Irish nation — to the British people — to the 
 civilized world — where this discussion will be 
 carried on the wings of the press. I stand here 
 to discuss the question in an assembly of Irish 
 Kepresentatives, where I cannot be cried down ; 
 and where, however unwilling gentlemen may be 
 to waste their time in listening to a subject on 
 which we differ, I am sure, at least, to receive 
 courtesy, (hear, hear,) and that attention will be 
 paid to the arguments proving the value to 
 Ireland of those measures which I propose, 
 (Hear, hear, and cheers.) In another assembly 
 I addressed before, I was foolish enough to take 
 the line of argument, showing Ireland would be 
 rendered prosperous by Kepeal ; but I might as 
 Avell have addressed the deaf adder. (Hear.) If 
 I showed that England would be rendered 
 prosperous by it, I would, no doubt, have had 
 a majority ; but as surely as it followed that it 
 would be of value to Ireland, that was a decided 
 reason for there being a majority against me. 
 (Hear.) 
 
 ^' I will now tell the hon. and learned gentle- 
 
SPEECH OF ALDERMAN O'CONNELL. 233 
 
 man the propositions I mean to establish. I am 
 here to assert these nine propositions : — 
 
 "First. The capability and capacity of the 
 Irish nation for an independent Legislature. 
 
 " Secondly. The perfect right of Ireland to 
 have a domestic Parliament. 
 
 " Thirdly. That that right was fully established 
 by the transactions of 1782. 
 
 " Fourthly. That the most beneficial effects to 
 Ireland resulted from her parliamentary inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 " Fiftlily. The utter Incompetence of the Irish 
 Parliament to annihilate the Irish constitution by 
 the Union. 
 
 " Sixthly. That the Union was no contract 
 or bargain ; that it was carried by the greatest 
 corruption and bribery, added to force, fraud and 
 terror. 
 
 ^^ Seventhly. That the Union produced the 
 most disastrous results to Ireland. 
 
 " Eighthly. That the Union can be abolished- 
 by peaceable and constitutional means, without 
 the violation of law, and without the destruction 
 of property or life. 
 
 " Ninthly. That the most salutary results, and 
 
234 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 none other, must arise from a Repeal of the 
 Union. 
 
 " These are the nine propositions, which I came 
 here to-clay to demonstrate, — I say to demon- 
 strate, not as relying on any intellectual power of 
 mine, or any force of talent ; but from the truth 
 and plainness of the propositions themselves. 
 (Cheers.)" 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 REPEAL DISCUSSION.— PUBLIC MEETINGS, WITH STATEMENT OP THE 
 NUMBERS ATTENDING THEM. — STATE TRIALS. — MONSTER INDICTMENT. 
 RUMOURS OF PERILS. — ALARM ON THE ROAD. — AMOUNT OP MILES 
 TRAVELLED. — POPULARITY OP MR. o'cONNELL. — PEACEABLE AGITA- 
 
 llOr;. — THE MAIL CONTRACTS. — BUILDING OF CONCILIATION HALL. 
 
 DONNTBROOK FAIR. — TUE MEETING. — FATHER DE SMET. — EXERTIONS 
 OF MR. o'cONNELL. 
 
 The length of the extracts from the "Repeal" 
 debate in the Corporation of Dublin, with which 
 the preceding chapter has terminated, may well 
 be excused in a record of " Agitation" Experi- 
 ences, from the interest that in Ireland has 
 attached even doAvn to the present day to the 
 *^ first move" in the great game that was played 
 in 1843; and that would have succeeded in that 
 year, had there not been disastrous interferences- 
 with its plan, on the part of the subordinate 
 players at the popular side. 
 
 Erom the occurrence of this debate may, in- 
 deed, be dated the commencement of the great 
 
236 PAKLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 popular movement of the year 1843. It operated 
 like the connecting of tlie wires in a voltaic battery ; 
 all parts of the country seeming to receive the 
 fiery impulse at the same moment. Indifference, 
 apathy, and suspicion, and all that had hitherto 
 appeared to oppose a sullen, impenetrable barrier 
 to the advance and spread of agitation, were flung 
 to the winds; and nearly the whole of Ireland 
 displayed for the time an unprecedented and 
 earnest unity of sentiment and of action. Alas ! 
 how changed are matters now. 
 
 " *Tis long to tell and sad to trace 
 Each step from splendour to disgrace : — 
 Enough : no foreign foe could quell 
 Our souls; — till from ourselves we fell ! 
 Yes ! — our divisions paved the way 
 To villain bonds and despot-sway 1" 
 
 There is much reason in rhyme sometimes ; and 
 never were there more reason and applicability 
 than in those lines of Byron, as applied to the 
 unhappy state of things in Ireland. 
 
 Never were hopes brighter — never more fair- 
 seemino;, than were ours durinor several months of 
 tliat, to tis, eventful year 1843. It is vain now to 
 calculate what might have been, under other 
 circumstances than those of the paltry counterr 
 
REPEAL DISCUSSION. 23/ 
 
 working and under-working of some of those who 
 loudest urged their claims to popular confidence, 
 the result of the great movement of that year. 
 This much may be said Avith confidence, that had 
 not advantages been given to the enemy by the 
 intrusive indiscretions — to use the mildest phrase 
 — of parties to whom it is now worse than useless 
 more particularly to refer, it was quite imjjossible 
 that such a demonstration of the will of a united 
 people, so calm, so grand, so majestic in its peace- 
 fulness even more than in its vastness and almost 
 uniy ersulity, cotdd have failed of making impres- 
 sion on the councils of the empire, and compelling 
 attention to the demands of the Irish nation. 
 
 But it is idle — most utterly vain and idle — to 
 speculate on what 7?ii^ht have been. The past 
 is past ; the dismal present, and the doubtful and 
 threatening future, require all the thought that 
 we can give to them ; and we can but cast a 
 glance behind, to renew and refresh the bitter but 
 wholesome lessons of experience, that may save 
 us from a repetition of disaster, if ever there shall 
 be again a repetition of popular effort. 
 
 The following lists of the chief public meetings 
 for ^' Repeal" that were held during the course of 
 
238 
 
 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 the year 1843, are copied from the " Monster 
 Indictment" and " Bill of Particulars/' as exhi- 
 bited at the noted " State-Trials" of the end of 
 that and beginning of the succeeding year. 
 
 DATES. 
 
 
 PLACES. 
 
 NUMBEKS ATTENDIN 
 
 19 March, 
 
 1843 
 
 , Trim . . 
 
 . . 30,000 
 
 li May, 
 
 j> 
 
 , Mullingar . 
 
 . . 100,000 
 
 21 Uay, 
 
 )} 
 
 . Cork . . 
 
 . 500,000 
 
 28 ]\Iay, 
 
 }> 
 
 . Longford . 
 
 . 200,000 
 
 5 June, 
 
 )j 
 
 Drogheda . 
 
 . 200,000 
 
 8 June, 
 
 »> 
 
 , Kilkenny 
 
 . 300,000 
 
 11 June, 
 
 >} 
 
 . Mallow . 
 
 . 400,000 
 
 29 June, 
 
 >> 
 
 Dundalk . . 
 
 . 300,000 
 
 3 July, 
 
 >r 
 
 Donnybrook . 
 
 . 200,000 
 
 6 August, 
 
 )) 
 
 Ballinglass . 
 
 . 300,000 
 
 15 August, 
 
 )) 
 
 Clontibret 
 
 . 30,000 
 
 ]5 August, 
 
 }> ' • 
 
 Tara . . . 
 
 . 800,000 
 
 10 Scptembei 
 
 » 
 
 Louglirea 
 
 . 100,000 
 
 17 Septembei 
 
 >> 
 
 Clifden . . 
 
 50,000 
 
 24 Septembei 
 
 !) 
 
 Lismore . . 
 
 . 100,000 
 
 1 October, 
 
 » 
 
 ]\tullaghmast 
 To 
 
 . 100,000 
 
 
 tal 3,710,000 
 
 19 April, 1843 . 
 
 . Limerick. 
 
 ^ 
 
 • 4 ifay. 
 
 >1 
 
 . Sligo. 
 
 
 18 May, 
 
 Jl • 
 
 . Charleville. 
 
 Numbers 
 
 23 May, 
 
 J> 
 
 . Cash el. 
 
 attending 
 
 15 June, 
 
 }) 
 
 Ennis. 
 
 not stated 
 
 18 June, 
 
 }> ' 
 
 Atlilone. 
 
 in Lidict- 
 
 22 June, 
 
 
 Skibbereen. 
 
 > ment, but 
 
 29 June, 
 
 
 Gal way. 
 
 they were 
 
 16 July, 
 
 
 Tullamore. 
 
 all vciyt 
 
 24 July, 
 
 
 Tuam. 
 
 meetings. 
 
 13 August, , 
 
 
 Maryborough. 
 
 
 20 August, , 
 
 
 Roscommon. , 
 
 
PUBLIC MEETINGS. 239 
 
 There is no doubt whatever that the numbers 
 here set down as those of the attendances at the 
 various meetings, were very much under the 
 reality. They were stated high enough for the 
 purposes of the trial ; but even to make a point 
 in that trumped-up and heterogeneous proceeding, 
 the paltry Government of the day did not con- 
 sider it advisable or prudent to allow the real 
 amount of the multitudes who attended the great 
 demonstrations in question, to be put upon legal 
 and official record. 
 
 And those mighty assemblages were so peace- 
 able, so orderly ! Not a blow struck — not an 
 offensive word spoken ! Every one cheerful, good- 
 humoured, disposed to convenience eacli other, 
 kind and careful to the women and little children 
 mixed up in the crowd ; and each and all burning 
 w^th ardour and the most earnest enthusiasm in 
 the cause. 
 
 It is right, however, for the sake of the credit 
 of the prosecution, and of Sir Robert Peel's 
 government that instituted it, to say, that there 
 were two facts of awful importance established 
 against the monster meetings, by the Govern- 
 ment witnesses at the trial. It was irreversibly 
 
240 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 proved on the most authentic and carefully prepared 
 testimony^ that at the great meeting at Longford, 
 on the 28th of May, 1843, the people had actually 
 and most irreverently laughed at a drunken 
 Orange policeman ! And again, at another of the 
 meetings, said to have been that at Athlone, on 
 the eighteenth of June, the very anniversary day of 
 the battle of Waterloo, a gingerbread stall was 
 overset by the pressure of the crowd, and its con- 
 tents trampled under foot ! 
 
 It may fairly be said that at least one-third 
 should be added to the Government calculations 
 in the foreG:oino; lists, in order to o-ct at something' 
 approaching the truth with regard to the actual 
 numbers that attended the meetings in question. 
 I was present at seven of those of which the num- 
 bers are given, viz. Trim, Drogheda, Kilkenny, 
 Dundalk, Donnybrook, Tara, and Mullaghmast, 
 and can certainly say, that the estimate for those 
 meetings was much below the fact ; esj)ecially as 
 regards Trim, Tara, and JNIullaghmast. 
 
 From the Trim meeting, which took place in 
 that town, on Sunday the lOtli of IMarch, we went 
 on to a meeting next day at Carrickmacross, in 
 the county of Monaghan. All sorts of reports had 
 
RUMOURS OF PERILS. 241 
 
 been in circulation for several da^'s, indeed for 
 weeks previous, as to the intentions of the County 
 Monaghan and County Cavan Orangemen to attack 
 my father's carriage on the road, either going or 
 returning, such was said to be their indignation at 
 his carrying his agitating campaign so near to their 
 strongliolds in the North. Friends insisted on our 
 carrying arms with us to repel the rumoured 
 assaults — and armed accordingly we went; but 
 happily had not the least necessity for using them. 
 As we approached the County Monaghan, indeed, 
 we were in a manner dogged by a well-dressed, 
 well- mounted, farmer-like young man, who would 
 occasionally quicken his horse's pace so as to get 
 alongside the carriage windows, and survey closely 
 the inside where my father and I were seated ; but 
 after thus accompanying us for several miles, and 
 several times repeating the same manoeuvre, in per- 
 fect silence all the time, he left us ; and, I think, I 
 heard afterwards, that his motive had been simple 
 curiosity. Had it been otherwise, there was not 
 much to fear from his single arm, as besides 
 pistols within our reach in each of the pockets of 
 the carriage, poor Tom Steele, and the servant 
 outside, were armed. 
 
 VOL. II. M 
 
242 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 After a good meeting, a little way from the 
 town of Carrickmacross, we had a public dinner 
 in an extensive store in the town itself. Leaving 
 it late at night, we had to drive a distance of two 
 or tliree miles, to the house of a gentleman who 
 resided in the neighbourhood, and who had in- 
 sisted upon our whole party taking up their quar- 
 ters with him. In this drive an instance occurred 
 of the slight chances that may sometimes cause 
 the most deplorable events. The stories that I have 
 alluded to, as having been so industriously propa- 
 gated, of the warlike intentions of the Orangemen, 
 being rather strengthened than otherwise by 
 some of the accounts we had received on our 
 route, poor Tom Steele and I, as we ascended the 
 front box of the carriage for the nocturnal drive, 
 took care to provide ourselves Avitli some of the 
 arms. It so happened, that just as we got about 
 half-way between the town and the gates of our 
 hospitable friend, and as the carriage was rolling 
 smoothly and noiselessly down into a deep hollow 
 of the road, where the trees from either side com- 
 pletely overhung, and excluded the faint light of 
 the stars, leaving us in nearly total darkness, we 
 were suddenly saluted with a hoarse shout from 
 
ALARM ON THE ROAD. 243 
 
 the pathway at the side. Then there was a rush, 
 and by the light of the carriage lamp we could 
 dimly discern a figure crossing in front of the 
 horses, as if about to seize the reins and stop 
 them. Steele's fingers and mine were simul- 
 taneously on the triggers of our respective wea- 
 pons, when the man suddenly reeled away again 
 from the middle of the road, and staggering back, 
 fell in upon the pathway. We found that it was 
 a drunken wretch, returning from the bonfire 
 and other rejoicings in the town, who had thus 
 narrowly escaped two forms of death. 
 
 It will be seen by the lists already given, that 
 my father attended three country meetings in the 
 month of March of the year 1843; one in April, 
 six in May, nine in June, three in July, five in 
 August, three in September, and one in October ; 
 making in all tliirty-one. Besides these there 
 were some minor meetings, which the journeymen 
 getters-up of the monster prosecution did not think 
 worthy of special note in the indictment. And 
 besides all these there were the thirteen meetino-s 
 of the Association, specially set down in the second 
 list, to say nothing of the many other meetings of 
 the same body which he attended in the course 
 
 M 2 
 
244 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 of the nine months embraced by the indictment ; 
 and in further addition there were the meetings of 
 the new Corporation of Dublin, then but a year in 
 office, and mucli requiring and obtaining liis pre- 
 sence and active participation in their affairs. 
 • Taking all these into account, and making yet 
 another addition still for casual meetings for chari- 
 table or other special purposes where he attended, 
 some estimate may be formed of the amount of 
 labour which my father underwent in the nine 
 months in question. On all these occasions he had 
 of course to make speeches, and people were not 
 satisfied without a long speech from him. And as 
 there was in almost every case of a country meet- 
 ing a public dinner afterwards, he had most com- 
 monly to make two, and sometimes three speeches. 
 The amount of travelUngy the number of miles 
 weekly gone over, is an item not to be neglected. 
 The following will be something like an approxi- 
 mation to the fact, counting the double and cross 
 journeys : — 
 
 Trim and Carrickmacross . . . 100 miles (statute). 
 
 Limerick 238 „ 
 
 Sliffo 270 ,. 
 
 Carried forward . . 608 
 
AMOUNT OF MILES TRAVELLED. 245 
 
 Brought forward . . 608 miles (statute) 
 
 Mullingar 96 „ 
 
 Charleville 292 „ 
 
 Cork 320 „ 
 
 Cashel 216 „ 
 
 Longford 146 „ 
 
 Drogheda 56 „ 
 
 Kilkenny 144 „ 
 
 Mallow 294 „ 
 
 Ennis 284 „ 
 
 Athlone 152 „ 
 
 Skibbereen 424 „ 
 
 Dundalk 100 „ 
 
 Galway ......... 266 „ 
 
 T^ , 1 f (in the suburbs of the 
 Donnybrookj^ city of Dublin). 
 
 Tullamore .126 „ 
 
 Tuam 252 „ 
 
 Baltinglass 74 „ 
 
 /-ii iM , UMr. O'ConncU did not 
 Clontibret j ^^^^^^^ ^j^jg meeting). 
 
 Tara 44 „ 
 
 Maryborough 100 „ 
 
 Roscommon 190 „ 
 
 Loughrea « • 218 „ 
 
 Clifden 356 „ 
 
 Lismore 280 ,, 
 
 Mullaghmast G6 „ 
 
 Total ... 5,104 
 
 This total, instead of being beyond, is really 
 helow the mark, as he frequently turned from the 
 nearest road to or from the places which he visited, 
 either to attend chance gatherings, or for some 
 other purpose connected with the agitation. 
 
 Clontibret was the meeting which brought the 
 
246 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 name of the Rev. Mr. Tierney, P.P. of that 
 parish, into the indictment at the monster trial of 
 1844. It is in the County Monaghan, and was 
 attended on behalf of the Association by Mr. 
 O'Neill Daunt. At this meeting, which was not 
 properly one of the " monster" assemblages, the 
 only disaster occurred that marked the whole 
 course of the popular movement in 1843. An 
 unfortunate man was stabbed, it is said, by one of 
 the police, if not by one of the armed mob Avhom 
 some magistrates of ultra Orange principles 
 encouraged to go into the town, to watch the 
 " agitating Papists.'''* 
 
 It is impossible to describe the enthusiastic 
 nature of the excitement among the people as 
 these meetings went on. At any moment that 
 Mr. O'Connell had chosen during that year, and, 
 indeed, for long afterwards, he could have raised 
 them in insurrection, as one man, throughout the 
 entire country ; and however bloody, wasting, and 
 desolating might have been the struggle, it is 
 utterly impossible but that the result would have 
 been a violent separation from England. There 
 was a spirit abroad amongst the people, which 
 would have made millions among them to prefer 
 death to submission again to England; and the 
 
PEACEABLE AGITATION. 247 
 
 whole force which the latter could by any possi- 
 bility have poured into Ireland, strengthened even 
 as it might be by arming the comparatively few 
 of the population who were hostile to their fellow- 
 countrymen, Avould have been unavailing, against 
 an insurrection in which not only the general mass 
 of the country would have been engaged, but in 
 which each parish, each hamlet, would have stoutly 
 borne its part. 
 
 This, however, was not my father's object, pur- 
 pose, or desire. The peace-policy, wdiich has of 
 late times been so much sneered at and reflected 
 upon, was with him no empty profession, no 
 passing abstraction, but a deep conviction, and 
 one to which he was immovably attached. Reason 
 and religion alike made him look to it, and to 
 it alone, as a means for the regeneration of Ireland. 
 And the experience of history, especially of the 
 history of times within his personal ken, in foreign 
 countries as well as in Ireland, warned him from 
 the opposite policy, as one which, unsuccessful, 
 ever produced a worse state of things than pre- 
 viously existed; and, if successful, seldom eventu- 
 ated in effecting any stable results of good. It is 
 needless to add, that the almost recent occurrence 
 that crowned his peaceful agitation in the year 
 
248 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 1829, was potent in confirming his adherence to 
 the principles on which that agitation had been 
 conducted to its successful issue. 
 
 The "getting up of the steam^' among the 
 people was indexed in 1843, as it had been in the 
 year preceding Catholic Emancipation, by the rapid 
 though gradual increase of the contributions to 
 the Repeal rent. During 1842 it had seldom risen 
 beyond 100/. and rarely attained even to that 
 amount. At the beginning of 1843, it made what 
 was thought a great jump to loO/.; but from the 
 period of the llepeal discussion in tlie Corporation, 
 followed as it was, and imitated by similar dis- 
 cussions in nearly all the other leading municipal 
 bodies throughout Ireland, the weekly Repeal 
 subscriptions took almost a geometrical rate of 
 increase; imtil at one period during the height 
 of the excitement, nearly 14,000/. was received 
 in one short month. 
 
 As if the Government had been of opinion that 
 there Avere not sufficient causes of excitement at 
 work, they, with singuhir maladroitness, contrived 
 to bungle an affair of " mail-coach contracts," in 
 a manner that supplied for the time a fertile 
 source of indignant oratory to the smaller fry, the 
 tritons of the minnows of aijitation in Dublin. 
 
THE MAIL CONTRACTS. 249 
 
 The matter took a ludicrous aspect from the ex- 
 treme heroism of patriotic indignation assumed by 
 the partizans of tlic individual particularly ag- 
 grieved, as contrasted with the manner in which 
 both he and they had used every previous oppor- 
 tunity of coming before the public to cry out 
 against nationality, and to chant the praises of 
 the Union and of English management. 
 
 Still, notwithstanding the ludicrous feature thus 
 given to it, there w\as a substantial grievance at 
 bottom. The gentleman in question, the late 
 most respectable Mr. Purcell, had had the mail- 
 coacli contract for several years, and had given 
 every satisfaction both to the authorities and to 
 the public ; as well as rendered a great service 
 to the poor operatives of Dublin, by giving them 
 considerable employment in his establishment. 
 
 When the usual period came round for renewing 
 the contract he sent in his tender as before, and 
 found that he had one competitor, a Scotch gentle- 
 man, of the euphonious and classical name of 
 Croat The rest of the history depends on the 
 uncontradicted and repeated statements of Mr. 
 Purcell's friends; and not even an explanation 
 was ever vouchsafed by the Government, or any 
 
 M 3 
 
250 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 one upon tlieir part. Mr. Croal was allowed to 
 amend his tender ; which, on being thus brought 
 below that of Mr. Purcell, was accepted by the 
 Post-office authorities ; and Mr. Purcell. although 
 his tender had been under his competitox-'s first 
 offer, and although he had a right to equal notice 
 with Mr. Croal, if only on account of the satisfac- 
 tion he had given in the execution up to that time 
 of the contracts in his hands, was informed that 
 his tender was rejected, and a direct refusal was 
 given to his application to be allowed the same 
 advantage as given in the other case — namely, 
 that of amending the terms that were considered 
 too high. 
 
 As the means of the Repeal Association in- 
 creased, and the old Agitation-room (the " Great- 
 room^^ as it was called, of the Corn Exchange 
 buildings) became each meeting-day more and 
 more thronged, until at length the passages out- 
 side and the staircases were crowded, and hun- 
 dreds had to go away disappointed, our Committee 
 began to conceive the idea of building a new place 
 of meeting. With some difficulty, and not a little 
 manoeuvring, to conceal the purpose for which the 
 ground was sought, the space now occupied by 
 
CONCILIATION HALL. 251 
 
 Conciliation Hall was taken on lease from a re- 
 spectable trader of very anti-repeal politics; and 
 a Special Committee appointed to decide on the 
 nature of the building there to be erected. It 
 may be said in passing, that, ardent as was the 
 patriotism of several of our young lovers of the 
 arts on this Committee, there was a very prudent 
 indisposition to involve themselves at all, by lease 
 or agreement, either with the owner of the ground 
 or the architect of the building ; and but for my 
 father's taking these responsibilities upon himself, 
 Conciliation Hall Avould not have seen the light. 
 
 At first, our funds being moderate, the new 
 building was to be but a mere shell, without 
 height, or extent of any kind beyond what might 
 allow between seven and eight hundred persons to 
 attend our meetings. The old room w^as over- 
 crowded with less than half that number. 
 
 As our funds rapidly increased, so did our ideas 
 grow ; and it was ordained at successive sittings 
 of the Committee, with little interval between 
 them, first, that the original plan of the new 
 building should be enlarged so as to accommodate 
 twelve hundred persons — then fifteen hundred — 
 .two thousand ; and, finally, as many as the ground- 
 
252 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 area would permit ; namely, between four and five 
 thousand persons. 
 
 Not less than the latter number were certainly 
 in the Hall — crowded and screwed in one way or 
 other — when the building was finally opened for 
 the meetings of the Association, somewhere about 
 the end of the month of October. 
 
 There was no attempt or pretence at architec- 
 tural beauty either inside or out ; if we except 
 the not very successful Koman-cement work on 
 the quay front. It is but justice to the builder, 
 a most excellent, respectable and skilful indi- 
 vidual, Mr. Peter Martin, to say, that he never 
 professed, or assumed to be an architect ; and 
 that the quay front was meant to be merely tem- 
 porary, and to give place to one of correct design 
 in more permanent material. Ilis own part he 
 discharged most satisfactorily, in giving us a 
 sound, strong, well-built, and most convenient 
 meeting-place ; decidedly the best for hearing 
 that is in Dublin, and, I believe, in any town of 
 the three kingdoms, and at a cost that left him 
 very little profit indeed, after paying for the 
 excellent materials that he supplied, and the 
 quantity of labour to which he gave employment. 
 
DONNYBROOK FAIR. 253 
 
 The "Donnybrook" Meeting — the only "mon- 
 ster " that took place in the county of Dublin, 
 occurred on the 3d of July. The locality Avas 
 the celebrated Fair-green, often told of in story 
 and in song, especially in that most outrageous 
 cockney attempt at Irish humour, the doggrel 
 beginning with — 
 
 " Whoe'er has the luck to see Donnyhrook Fair, 
 An Irishman all in his glory is there, 
 With his sprig of shillelagh and shamrock so green." 
 
 The man must be very green indeed, greener 
 than the shamrock itself, that would consider the 
 Irish people represented by the gamins and off- 
 scourings of a city, such as form the staple of 
 the attendance at Donnybrook fair. As for the 
 sprig of shillelagh, the expression is so redolent of 
 Cockney-land, as in itself to condemn the song, 
 and induce an ardent wish, that its author, and all 
 who sing or say it, were within the reach and 
 under the infliction of the shillelagh itself. 
 
 A very certain and irrefragable proof of the 
 degrading effect of our provincial position, is given 
 by the readiness with which Irishmen laugh at 
 and applaud every ridiculous representation of 
 Irish national character, whether in song, story. 
 
2o4 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 or in print. Mr. O'Connell used to say that we 
 are the only nation in the world that seem to 
 enjoy, and take a kind of pride in being made sub- 
 jects of mockery and buffoon ridicule. A squeam- 
 ishness, or captiousness, about an occasional jest, 
 would not indeed be creditable ; but most wi- 
 creditahU is the constant habit — constant, at least, 
 among the more educated classes in Ireland — of 
 chiming in with and fawning upon every scurrile 
 jester, in England or Scotland, that chooses to 
 launch his pointless arrow at us. 
 
 It is but justice to say, that although drawn, as 
 the attendances at this noted fair have always 
 been, from the very dregs of the population of a 
 great city, the effects of Father Mathew's bene- 
 ficent counsels have been very evident among 
 them upon all the recent celebrations of the Don- 
 nybrook saturnalia ; and that not only has drunk- 
 enness greatly diminished, but outrage is almost 
 unknown. 
 
 On the occasion of the Kepeal Meeting to be 
 held on the Green, as it is commonly designated 
 by the Dublin " carmen," the " trades" of Dublin 
 mustered in great force ; each under their several 
 banners, bearing the highly painted and gilded 
 
REPEAL MEETING. 255 
 
 insignia of their respective " crafts and mysteries.' 
 They passed, in a sort of review, before my father's 
 house in Merrion Square, and some idea may be 
 formed of their numbers, when it is mentioned 
 that, although they marched four, and in some 
 cases five abreast, tliey took two hours in passing. 
 An enormous crowd lined two sides of the square 
 while they w^ere passing ; and the effect was 
 striking of all the banners, some really very taste- 
 fully, and all very richly decorated, together with 
 the various coloured ribands streaming from the 
 long white wands borne by every man in the 
 ranks. Bands of music attended them, and the 
 chief men amongst them paraded on horseback. 
 
 The quotations I have made from my journal, 
 naturally appear trite and jejune to others as well 
 us to myself at this moment. But it has been well 
 said, that if the most indifferent observer narrated, 
 in the commonest language, the impressions of 
 the moment, they could not fail to have, after the 
 lapse of years, some interest attached to them 
 when read by others. The diary of Pepys, with 
 all its frivolities and minutiaB, and perhaps by 
 reason of these very minutiee, is a striking instance 
 of the truth of this saying. But Pepys had the 
 
256 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 advantage of coming doicn to posterity ; whereat 
 most modern journals and diaries are likely to be 
 subject to the same misfortune that (to use Sir 
 Walter Scott's notice of the disaster,) attended 
 the Frenchman's appeal to posterity — namely, the 
 misfortune of never reaching their address. 
 
 AYith regard to the Donnybrook Repeal meet- 
 ing, I find set down the following : — 
 
 '^ Monday, July 10, 1843, — Last Monday our 
 'Dublin Trades' made a magnificent demonstra- 
 tion at Donnybrook. They were two hours in 
 passing in review before my father's house, with 
 bands and splendid banners. My father, accom- 
 panied by four or five, of whom I was one, fell 
 into the procession after the Trades, and we 
 proceeded to Donnybrook, through Fitzwilliam 
 Street, Upper Leeson Street, &c. We were 
 escorted by thousands upon thousands before, be- 
 hind, at either side of the road, and in the fields, 
 as we went along. While yet among the streets 
 it was amusing to remark the Tory houses along 
 the line shut up — blinds drawn down in the par- 
 lour and drawing-room windows ; but their owners 
 peeping from the bed-rooms. In the Liberal houses, 
 every window was crowded — ladies waving handr 
 
REPEAL MEETING. 257 
 
 kerclilcfs and throwinor out flowers, o;entlemen 
 cheering, &c. &c. There were green arches across 
 the road, at three or four points, with patriotic 
 mottoes printed on large sheets of parchment. 
 
 " The Meeting itself w^as a magnificent sight, 
 and went off admirably. The trades stationed 
 themselves in most picturesque groups about the 
 platform. One valiant hero, in a tin hreast-plate 
 and helmet, with a battle-axe of the same mate- 
 rial, stationed himself nearly in front, and rather 
 discomposed our gravity occasionally. I did not 
 hear what particular handicraft he belonged to, 
 and was the representative of. 
 
 " A most impressive spectacle was the dispersion 
 of the immense assemblage after the meeting had 
 concluded. Each ^ trade' moved off the ground 
 in a dense but well-ordered phalanx, preceded 
 by a band, and looking exactly like so many regi- 
 ments marching from a review ground." 
 
 At the meeting were two persons to whom the 
 scene had a peculiar interest — to one of them 
 especially, who was little accustomed to the ways 
 and habits of civilized man. They were the 
 Right Rev. Doctor Hughes, Roman Catholic 
 Bishop of New York, and the Reverend Father 
 
258 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 De Smet, a Belgian by birth, and then, as at 
 present, a Jesuit Missionary to the wild tribes of 
 the Oregon territory in North America. 
 
 Both these reverend and most estimable per- 
 sonages had come a little out of their way, (on 
 their return from a short visit to Europe,) to visit 
 Daniel O'Connell ; and by a chance had come in 
 for a "Monster" IMeetino*. Dr. Hughes, an 
 Irishman by birth, and in heart and soul, did not 
 find the scene strange as did his reverend com- 
 panion ; for he had witnessed some of the earlier 
 struggles for Catholic Emancipation. Still, even 
 to him it was evidently and naturally of great 
 interest. But to the Belgian clergyman it was 
 altogether a novelty, of which he had not formed 
 any previous conception; and most utterly dif- 
 fering: from the scenes in which had hitherto lain 
 the ordinary track of his life, and amidst which 
 he has since been labouring, even up to the mo- 
 ment at which I write. 
 
 The Catholic publication, entitled the " Annals 
 of the Propagation of the Faith," has given most 
 interesting details of the great labours, wild and 
 strange adventures, and extraordinary success 
 of this devoted and admirable missionary, — a true 
 
FATHER DE SMET. 259 
 
 son of the noble Order of Ignatius of Loyola, — ■ 
 among the poor heathens of the far west. He 
 seems to have acquired influence almost un- 
 bounded with them — the just and natural result of 
 his generous and most unreserved self-devotion to 
 their spiritual necessities ; and also not a little the 
 result of the sage and useful counsels he has given 
 them in their necessities of a corporeal and tempo- 
 ral nature. The accounts of his successes — modest 
 and unaffected in tone, as entirely unexaggerated 
 and unimpeachable in their substance — recall 
 vividly to mind the history of the achievements of 
 the illustrious fathers of his order, who introduced 
 religion and civilization into Paraguay. 
 
 Let us hope that the similarity will not reach so 
 far as that the good fruit he has produced among 
 the children of the wilds in Northern America, 
 will be similarly crushed and destroyed by the 
 violence and reckless passions of what are called 
 civilized men ! 
 
 His personal appearance is well suited to his 
 sacred calling. There is a mild dignity blended 
 with high intelligence, and at the same time with 
 a most evident and beaming benevolence, in his 
 aspect, that at once attracts, captivates, and at the 
 
260 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 same time impresses with an involuntary, and even 
 an admiring respect. 
 
 The almost constant travelling, and the ac- 
 companying labour and excitement of making 
 speeches, receiving deputations, undergoing pub- 
 lic receptions, interviews, kc. &c. at every point 
 of his journeyings, during so many successive 
 months, gave, in the opinion of those who had 
 the best means of observing my fjither, the first 
 serious shock to his hitherto unbroken constitu- 
 tion. It was hopeless, however, to dream of re- 
 monstrating with him, so bent was he upon 
 pushing to the uttermost the great opportunity 
 for Ireland that appeared to be given him by the 
 awakening, as it were, of the Irish public mind 
 in the year 1843, after a comparative inaction of 
 nearly fourteen years — that is, from the period of 
 carrying Emancipation. And there is no doubt at 
 any rate of this, that his health suffered most 
 severely from his being compelled to witness the 
 utter loss to Ireland, and total wasting of the 
 great opportunity of that year : partly by reason 
 of the unworthy and most disastrous holding off 
 from the popular cause of the bulk of the richer 
 classes, and partly by the madness of a section of 
 
EXERTIONS OF MR. O'CONNELL. 261 
 
 the Eepealers themselves— that same madness 
 which, at a still more recent period, has again 
 crossed the fortunes, and given fresh intensity to 
 the degradation of Ireland. 
 
 But Mr. O'Connell would not admit, even to him- 
 self, that he felt any injurious consequences from 
 his exertions, extraordinary and continuous though 
 they were. And certainly it was very difficult for 
 those to avoid acquiescing at least for the time in 
 his opinion, who had opportunities of watching 
 him during liis frequent progresses. It was hard 
 to realize to the mind the idea of danger, wlicn 
 looking at him during those exciting scenes and 
 times, — joyous, high spirited and exulting, as he 
 addressed the delighted multitudes that surrounded 
 the platforms of the country meetings, and told 
 them of the ancient glories of Old Ireland — of all 
 her beauties, and the noble gifts with which she 
 has been endowed by nature; and of the bright 
 liopes that it was in the power of her children to 
 make still brighter realities for her and for them- 
 selves, did they but resolve to be up and doing. 
 
 And then all remnant of gloomy forebodings 
 that might have survived his speech was sure 
 to be lost and dissipated in air, by the wild, ring- 
 
262 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ing, far-reacliing cheer, that, bursting as it were 
 from the inmost souls of his auditors, gave back 
 at once an echo and an answer to the patriotic 
 invocation. 
 
 Who that witnessed and shared in those hio-h 
 and transporting excitements, coukl have thought 
 that the rashness and madness of a few was des- 
 tined to blast the hopes, and render fruitless the 
 labours and the deep and ardent devotion of the 
 many ; and that ere the lapse of four short years, 
 he Avho spoke would have died a broken-hearted 
 wanderer in a foreign land; and they who listened 
 and responded to his words, would be perishing 
 by thousands under the combined agencies of 
 pestilence and famine ! 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MR. WILLIAM CONNOR.— ENTREE OF MR. JAMES GORDON BENNETT. 
 
 *' GREAT room" OP THE CORN EXCHANGE. — MR. BENNETT's EXIT. — • 
 REV. TRESHAM GREGG. — THE COAL PORTERS. — GREAT MEETING AT 
 TARA HILL. — LEDRU ROLLIN. — RETURN HOME. — MR, o'cONNELL's 
 EXERTIONS AND ENCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 During one of the meetings of the Repeal Asso- 
 ciation in this year — sometime about the month 
 of May — we had a scene which, if the members of 
 that body had indeed the evil designs so liberally 
 imputed to them by their opponents, would have 
 afforded a great opportunity for making a demon- 
 stration of them. And unquestionably the report 
 of it would have made a conspicuous figure in the 
 " Monster Indictment" of the succeeding autumn ; 
 along with those of the meetings of the Associa- 
 tion, or of country Repealers, actually noted in 
 that formidable document. 
 
 The grievance of " insecurity of tenure," with 
 all its disastrous consequences to the industry and 
 
264 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Avelfare of the country, and the profits of all con- 
 nected Avith the land in Ireland, had been a con- 
 stant theme of our discussions in the Kepeal 
 Association from its beginning; and a thousand 
 different suggestions and propositions had been 
 brought forward from time to time, for the equi- 
 table settlement of this most difficult subject. A 
 Committee of the Association, specially appointed 
 for the purpose, was holding its sittings to con- 
 sider and report upon these various plans ; and it 
 was their published advertisement, inviting com- 
 munications from all who conceived themselves 
 competent to shape out a measure of relief or 
 remedy, that brought upon us the visitation I am 
 about to allude to. 
 
 My father was absent from town upon the day 
 in question, having to attend one of the great 
 country meetings many miles away. We had 
 just entered upon the ordinary routine of our 
 business, after reading and confirming the minutes, 
 and some short speeches had been made, and 
 remittances handed in, when it was announced to 
 us that Mr. William Connor, who had become 
 known by his public letters on the landlord and 
 tenant question, in the Repeal newspapers, was 
 
MR. WILLIA.M CONNOR. ,265 
 
 outside, and was desirous of being admitted, in 
 order to have an opportunity of laying before the 
 Association, and before the country, his particular 
 nostrum for a full, final, and, to all parties, satis- 
 factory arrangement. 
 
 He was of course admitted without delay " to 
 the honours of tlie sitting," as our French neigh- 
 bours phrase it ; and got a few cheers on entering 
 by way of an advance on the security of his grand 
 promised plan to take us out of the difficulty in 
 which we were, of satisfying the impatience of tlie 
 rural districts, and their appeals to us at head- 
 quarters, for the shaping out of a measure that 
 would remove the heavy grievance of which they 
 complained. 
 
 He commenced his speech with a proposition 
 that no one was inclined to contest or deny. It 
 was something as follows : — 
 
 " Mr. Chairman : I am of opinion that the 
 simpler the remedy can be that shall be applied to 
 the distracted state of the relations between land- 
 lord and tenant in Ireland, the better for all 
 parties." 
 
 So far there was general agreement ; and Peel 
 himself was never more vociferously cheered in 
 
 VOL. II. N 
 
266 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 the House of Commons for the dignified enun- 
 ciation of a truism, than was Mr. William 
 Connor on proclaiming this not very contestable 
 axiom in the Loyal National Repeal Asso- 
 ciation. 
 
 But Mr. Connor was not a man to stop at 
 theories and general propositions. lie had a 
 practical idea in his head, and was " short, sharp, 
 and decisive" in unfolding it. 
 
 " For this end. Sir," continued he, " the best 
 thinor that can or ouo;ht to be done is, to recofijnise 
 by law a right of ownership in his land, for each 
 tenant or small landholder at present in posses- 
 sion. And until the legislature shall have passed 
 a law for this purpose, it is my opinion that we 
 should exhort and instruct the people of Ireland 
 to paij neither rent, county cess, poor rate, nor 
 taxes! I r 
 
 We had quite enough of our volunteer instruc- 
 tor ; and got rid of him with all possible despatch ; 
 and neither he, nor any of his plans, treatises, or 
 pamphlets, were ever allowed afterwards to come 
 within our doors. 
 
 A similar repulse was encountered by another 
 worthy a few weeks earlier or later than that 
 
MB. JAMES GORDON BENNETTi 267 
 
 administered to the great projector of "simple" 
 remedies just mentioned. 
 
 Mr. James Gordon Bennett, of undesirable 
 notoriety, printer and "publiciste" of New York, 
 proprietor of the New York Herald newspaper,' 
 a fruitful repertory, according to all accounts, of 
 calumnies, personal attacks of all kinds, and scur- 
 rility of the most shameless description, had the 
 powers of face to present himself for admission to 
 one of the meetings of tlje Repeal Association at 
 which my father personally attended. 
 
 The card of this "distinguished stranger" was 
 handed in to Mr. O'Connell, accompanied by the 
 inforniation that it was that of " «„ A,nerkan 
 gentleman" desirous of witnessing the proceedings 
 of the great popular Association of Ireland, ami 
 making the personal acquaintance of its founder 
 and originator. Not looking with sufficient atten- 
 tion at the name, or in the hurry of the interrup- 
 tion not at once recollecting what he had heard 
 respecting tlie individual who bore it, Mr. O'Con- 
 nell desired him to be conducted in at once. To 
 understand the dramatic effect of the short scene 
 that followed, it is necessary to premise with a 
 short description of the manner in which admission 
 
 N 2 
 
268 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 to the reserved seats near the chairman, and there- 
 fore the posts of honour, Avas arranged. 
 
 The old " Great Room" of tlie Corn Exchange 
 Buildings is an oblong quadrangle, entered by 
 three doors, two of them at either corner of one 
 of the smaller sides of the quadrangle; and the 
 third a larn;e foldino; door in the centre of the 
 other and opposite smaller side. This latter door, 
 however, which opened ujoon a great staircase, 
 leading down to the corn merchants' hall on the 
 ground-floor, was not only entirely unused by the 
 Association, but was, in fact, barred by a mountain 
 of benches, rising from the floor to within a few 
 feet of the ceiling, and destined, of course, for the 
 accommodation of parties attending the meetings, 
 Of the two other doors at the other end, one 
 (the larger of the two) was appropriated for the 
 admission of the general crowd of the auditory; 
 the other (a small narrow closet-like door, leading 
 from the Committee and office rooms,) w^as re- 
 .served for the entry of the chief members, mem- 
 bers of the Committee, the usual speakers, strangers, 
 and reporters of the press. 
 
 As the Chair stood rather more than two-thirds 
 up the room, and away from the entrance doors. 
 
" GREAT room" OF THE CORN EXCHANGE. 269 
 
 the use of tlils small private door would have been 
 little, if some kind of private passage were not 
 also managed, whereby the j^rivileged could get to 
 their seats, without havins; to struorirle throuo-h 
 the crowd of the general attendants at the meet- 
 ings. This was accomplished by giving them 
 admission under the tiers of side benches, which 
 rose in a similar manner and for a similar purpose 
 as the end benches before mentioned, from the 
 floor to a good height on the side walls. A party 
 entering, then, through the little door in question, 
 advanced along the wall of the room fully two- 
 thirds of its length without being seen at all; ]iis 
 way leading him, as has been described, under the 
 side benches, the backs of which were all carefully 
 boarded up, to prevent any of the sitters on them 
 from dropping down into the passage below. 
 Arrived so far, a sharp turn brought the party out 
 into view, close by the seat of the chairman; 
 when, if it Avas a stranger, or any one to whom 
 the leaders of that body wished to show a par- 
 ticular mark of attention, he was invited to cross 
 the reporter's - table, (that occupied the space 
 between the side benches, for about fifteen 
 feet of the floor of the room, in a direct line 
 
270 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 from the Chair,) and to seat himself near ]\Ir. 
 O'Connell. 
 
 Poor Gordon Bennett liad " advanced thns far 
 into the enemy's country ;" had mounted the 
 reporter's table, full in the sight of the whole meet- 
 ing, and had not as yet descended from his most 
 conspicuous position ; when, unfortunately for him, 
 a friend, who had been for some time resident in 
 New York, and, perhaps, had personally suffered 
 from the assaults of the Herald, whispered a few 
 words in Mr. O'Connell's ear that at once brought 
 to his recollection all tliat he had heard respecting 
 that newspaper and its proprietor. At once the 
 " American gentleman'' s"" card Avas thrown back to 
 him, and a vehement disclaimer uttered of any 
 wish or disposition to make his acquaintance, or 
 be graced with his presence. ]\Ir. Bennett, con- 
 founded and dismayed, turned in his tracks, and 
 jumping off the table, disappeared back again 
 through the covered passage ; pursued by a hearty 
 groan from the auditory, to whom his offences had 
 been told in a few, not very ambiguous words. 
 Of course, he took his revenge afterwards in the 
 columns of his newspaper, both upon the Associa- 
 tion and upon its leader ; and of course, also, his 
 
MR. Bennett's exit. 271 
 
 having done so gave neither Mr. O'Connell, nor 
 any one of the members of the Association, the 
 slightest possible concern. 
 
 It is but fair towards the Americans to say, 
 that Gordon Bennett is by no means an indi- 
 genous product of their soil, but an importation 
 from Scotland. They would, however, have 
 more right to such an explanation if they did not 
 give the encouragement, which all Avriters, even 
 their own Cooper, declare to be given in their 
 cities to such men, whether natives or foreisfners. 
 
 The Kepeal Association not only rejected indi- 
 viduals whose conduct appeared to merit public 
 reprehension, but it also repudiated and rejected 
 all assistance in its efforts on the part of bodies 
 of men, who were known to be adverse, or to 
 have done anything contrary to the great prin- 
 ciples of the liberty of mankind in any part of 
 the world. Thus, at a time, and at more than 
 one time, when the finances of the body were at 
 a low ebb, and money was wanting to sustain the 
 operation of its machinery, or give protection to 
 poor men in various parts of Ireland, suffering 
 under the many and grievous forms of landlord 
 and magisterial oppression, sums of money. 
 
272 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 amounting to hundreds of pounds, have been 
 promptly and decisively rejected, and returned 
 by the first post to their donors in New Orleans 
 and other slave-holding cities of America, for the 
 sole, but amply sufficient reason, that these contri- 
 butions came tainted with the plague-spot of the 
 advocacy and sustainment of the accursed system 
 of negro-slavery. 
 
 In this, however, the Repeal Association only 
 imitated and repeated the conduct of the Catholic 
 Association, upon the occurrence of similar occa- 
 sions during the existence of the latter body. 
 
 The mention of the entrance of strangers and 
 visitors into the place of meeting of the Kepeal 
 Association, brings to mind two doughty achieve- 
 ments of the locally-famed Reverend Tresham 
 Gregg ; whilome chaplain and fxther-confessor to 
 the "Orange," or '* Brunswick," or "Conser- 
 vative-Registry and Protestant Operative Associ- 
 ation," of the city of Dublin. 
 
 Never physical-force Chartist laboured more 
 zealously and inveterately to disturb and nullify the 
 proceedings of meetings in England for rational 
 and peaceful Reform, than did this reverend indi- 
 vidual exert himself on all possible occasions, to 
 
REV. TRESHAM GREGG. 273 
 
 create, or attempt to crccate disturbances at the 
 popular gatherings in Dublin. In general, how- 
 ever, his efforts had the same fate as those of the 
 unhappy youth in classic story, in being made — ; 
 
 " Nee Diig, nee viribus aequis ;" 
 
 and ending in his total discomfiture and pro- 
 stration. 
 
 In 1837 or 1838, liis myrmidons, reinforced by 
 a band of 300 ^\)^Yim\-Orangemen from Wicldow 
 and Dublin counties, attempted to meddle with 
 a meeting at the Coburg Gardens in Dublin, 
 where a petition was being moved against Lord 
 Stanley's pet project of those times— his measure 
 for disfranchising the constituencies of Ireland. 
 The result of the attempt might be summed up 
 as briefly as Ca3sar's world-famous bulletin ; but 
 with a slight change of person, number and mood 
 in the verbs : — 
 
 " VeNIRUNT— ViSI SUNT — ViCTI SUNT ! " 
 
 " They came— they were seen— they were conquered ! "' 
 
 The head of the column of ''Protestant Ascen- 
 dency-hoys'' was no sooner descried, than the coal- 
 porters of Dublin, a formidable and furiously 
 patriotic race, who with many assistants had 
 
 N 3 
 
274 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 actually " camped out " the preceding niglit to 
 loatch the platform, broke up tlie rails of tlie latter, 
 having been deprived by some lover of peace of 
 all other weapons, and arming themselves with 
 the fragments, rushed upon the Orange phalanx, 
 (nearly every man of wliich had a pistol, or a 
 dagger, or hoth, along with a good stick,) and 
 knocked down or put to utter rout the luckless 
 invaders — whose chiefs were said to have set a 
 most prudent example, by running away the first. 
 On one occasion, when Mr. O'Connell was 
 absent from Dublin, and the proceedings of the 
 Association were not expected to be of much 
 interest, the Reverend Tresham Gregg, with a 
 chosen legion, suddenly appeared at the door of 
 the Corn Exchange, and forcing admission, 
 rushed up-stairs, and took possession of the 
 " Great Room," compelling the few that had yet 
 assembled there to consult their safety by flight. 
 Three sound and hearty Protestant cheers were 
 given when this feat was accomplished, and the 
 Reverend Leader installed into the Chair. Reso- 
 lutions, it is said, were then formally proposed 
 and passed, denouncing Popery, Repeal, Daniel 
 O'Connell, and all their aiders and abettors ; and 
 
THE COAL-PORTERS. 275 
 
 tlie Popish and "Repeal" echoes of the walls 
 were astonished by being called into requisition 
 to syllable the Shibboleths of Orangeism and 
 " Protestant Ascendency 1" 
 
 " And all "went merry as a marriage bell — 
 "When, hush ! hark ! — a deep sound strikes, like a rising 
 
 knell i 
 Did they not hear it? — no, 'twas but the wind, 
 Or the car, rattling o'er the stony street. 
 On with the speech — let spite be unconfin'd, 
 No stay, nor stop, when Orange spouters meet 
 In Popish agitators' wonted seat : — 
 
 When, hush ! hark ! that deep sound strikes in once more ! 
 And, nearer, clearer, deadlier than before ! 
 Run ! run ! ! "It is — it is the coal-porters' dread roar ! " 
 
 And so, in truth, and in an unlucky hour for 
 the poor invaders, it was ! Tresham Gregg and 
 liis comrades had, unfortunately for themselves, 
 entirely forgot that the Corn Exchange Rooms 
 were on the Coal-quay, and exactly at that part 
 of it where the coal-porters — always, as I have 
 said, very determined patriots — " most did con- 
 gregate." The entry of the Orangemen had not 
 been noticed ; but a fugitive Repealer from the 
 rooms up-stairs, having brought down the intel- 
 ligence of Gregg's onslaught and its temporary 
 success, the icar-cry spread; — drays, coals, and all 
 
276 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 AYcre abandoned in an instant, and the Black 
 Diamonds rnshed up to the rescue of the invaded 
 and polluted head-quarters of Agitation. 
 
 But for the undeserved compassion of some of 
 the clerks of the Association, Avho opened the 
 small door before mentioned to the retreat of the 
 Orangemen, they might have had sore cause to rue 
 that day ; and as it was, many of them bore away 
 not very honourable marks of their adventure. 
 
 The " Coal-porters" of Dublin have other 
 claims to remembrance for their services to the 
 popular cause. Mr. O'Connell used always to 
 say, that but for them he " could not have carried 
 Catholic Emancij)ation.''^ 
 
 The fact was, that during a part of the earlier 
 progress of the old Catholic Association, a number 
 of students of Trinity College (the University of 
 Dublin), aided by some of their brother Oraiigeists, 
 the low, drunken, and dissolute portion of the 
 '* freemen" of Dublin, had several times invaded 
 the popular meetings, and although outnumbered 
 and ousted on each occasion that they had thus 
 adventured, had succeeded so fiir as to disturb 
 considerably the proceedings, and deter quiet men 
 and ladies from attending. 
 
THE COAL-PORTERS. 277: 
 
 While yet exposed to this annoyance, and not 
 quite seeing how he could altogether prevent it, 
 mischievous and embarrassing as its consequences 
 were, Mr. O'Connell had taken the " Corn Ex- 
 change" premises for the infant Association ; and 
 that body had moved in and taken possession. To 
 his astonishment he all at once found the meetings 
 imdisturbed, not the slightest attempt being re- 
 newed to interfere with them; and he speedily 
 learned that this was owing to a wholesome and a 
 well grounded fear of a tlirasliing from the honest 
 coal-porters, whose protection he had quite un- 
 wittingly secured, by coming into their peculiar 
 territory. 
 
 He often said that the Catholic Association 
 should have had to give up its meetings If those 
 disturbances continued ; and that nothing stopped 
 tlie latter, or could have stopped them, but 
 the stout guardianship of " the hoys of the Coal 
 Quay." 
 
 Tresham Gregg made a final attempt when 
 Conciliation Hall was first opened in October 
 1843: but did not succeed on that occasion in 
 saying twenty sentences, when he had to be 
 rescued,, vi et armis, by poor Tom Steele and others. 
 
278 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 from the tender hands of his old antagonists, who 
 were shrewdly inclined to dip him in the river, or 
 at least to give him an exemplary dusting with 
 the coal-sacks. 
 
 The great occurrence of this year (1843), and 
 the culminating point of the " monster meeting " 
 agitation, was the assemblage at Tara Hill, upon 
 Tuesday, the 15tliof August. 
 
 To that meeting, which was announced and 
 advertised for several Aveeks previously, enormous 
 multitudes of people from all the counties within 
 two days' march and even upwards of the scene of 
 action, resolved to go, and carried their determina- 
 tion into effect; — from Dublin county, Kildare, 
 West Meath, Wicklow, Louth, and all parts of 
 the county Meath itself, it was not very wonder- 
 ful that, in those times of excitement and enthu- 
 siasm, there should have been large " contingents" 
 to swell the attendance at this great meeting. 
 But the counties of Longford, Cavan, Wexford, 
 Kilkenny, King's and Queen's, Monaghan, and 
 even Fermanagh, and Down, in the north; and 
 Tipperary and distant Clare, in the south, added 
 to the numbers who then came together. For 
 days and nights before the 15th of August, people 
 
TAR A niLL. 279 
 
 were on the move, bearing with them provisions 
 for the time of their absence from home, and 
 trusting to the fineness of the weather to enable 
 them to dispense with lodging-houses, and sleep 
 out — 
 
 " With nothing but the sky for a great coat." 
 
 The 15tli of August is a holiday of strict and 
 peculiar observance in the Catholic Church, being 
 one of the great festivals of the blessed Virgin ; 
 and the injunction to hear mass is as strictly 
 enjoined and obeyed as it is upon a Sunday. To 
 convenience the myriads that were on the ground 
 at Tara Hill on that morning, a number of clergy- 
 men volunteered, with the permission of the good 
 Bishop of the Diocese, the Eight Rev. Doctor 
 Cantwell, to say their masses in the open air, at 
 temporary altars constructed upon the sides and 
 summit of the hill. At the least thirty or forty 
 masses were thus celebrated durino^ the morninor, 
 and each had a congregation of many thousands. 
 
 It is described as having been a most strikingly 
 impressive sight. Within the compass of vision 
 five or six masses could be seen proceeding at the 
 same time, but at some hundreds of yards apart, 
 each with a vast multitude radiating around it^ 
 
280 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 bare-headedj on tlieir kneeSj deeply attentive and 
 apparently absorbed in tlieir devotions. Not a 
 sound was to be heard tliroughont that densely 
 peopled space, save the low murmur of the voices 
 of the officiating priests, or the tinkling of the 
 tiny mass-bells at the appointed periods of the 
 service. These borne upon the gentle breathings of 
 the summer-breeze were all that met the ear; 
 while to the eye, universal nature seemed stilled 
 and fixed in profoundest reverence and adoration 
 of its God. The glorious August sun shone down 
 in cloudless brilliancy upon tlie whole, and it 
 scarce seemed an idle and vain presumption to 
 fancy that its splendour typified the blessing of 
 Almighty Providence descending on the sinless 
 struggle of a nation to recover their long lost 
 liberties and rights. 
 
 A scene equally impressive, and partaking also 
 of a religious character, succeeded to the regular 
 service of the day. Tara Hill, it is well known, was 
 the scene of a sanguinary defeat of the insurgents 
 in the disastrous year 1798, by the royal army, 
 consisting of regular troops and yeomanry. The 
 unfortunate herd of undisciplined and nearly 
 unarmed peasants had been foolishly persuaded to 
 
TAR A HILL. 281' 
 
 make a stand against fully armed, well equipped, 
 and (in comparison to them) disciplined troops; 
 with scarcely a single advantage of position beyond 
 the mere fact of being on a hill, instead of down 
 in the plain. Tara Hill is in no way difficult of 
 ascent by nature, and the only artificial difficulties 
 consisted of a few ditches and low hedges, with 
 the walls of a ruined church of no great extent. 
 The consequence was, that after some sharp 
 fighting for a short time, the insurgents were 
 completely driven from their position with terrible 
 loss, and almost annihilated in their retreat. 
 
 The bodies of the soldiers, yeomanry, and 
 militia-men who had fallen in the brief but bloody 
 encounter among the inclosures, were given 
 decent and christian burial in the grave-yard of 
 the old church before-mentioned ; but the remains 
 of the unhappy insurgents were not deemed 
 w^orthy of similar treatment. A vast trench w^as 
 opened on the bleak exposed brow of the hill, 
 and into it were cast the mangled and gory 
 corpses ; collected not only from the scene of the 
 last desperate stand, but from everywhere along 
 the line of flight. The earth was then shovelled 
 hastily in upon them, leaving a huge ridge, long. 
 
282 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 irregular, and unsightly, even to ghastliness, to 
 mark where had been gathered in that terrible 
 harvest of death. The grass of many summers 
 had lono: J^so covered over and hidden all the 
 unsightliness, and the green ridge, with its luxu- 
 riant herbage waving in the passing breeze, was 
 pleasant and inviting to the eye of the chance 
 visitor, who might not know the fearful material 
 with which it had been mainly raised. 
 
 Ilitherwards a species of pilgrimage was made, 
 as if by common consent, of tlie vast crowds upon 
 the hill, after they had heard mass; and they 
 knelt in thousands by and near this wild grave, 
 offering up various prayers of the Catholic Church 
 for the eternal repose of the souls of the multitude 
 whose bones were mouldering beneath them. The 
 most indifferent or hostile observer — the man most 
 dissenting from these poor people in their senti- 
 ments, opinions, and tendencies, political and re- 
 ligious — could not fail to have been deeply struck 
 and impressed with the real sublimity of this 
 scene ; and it must ever be preserved in the 
 liveliest and most solemn remembrance by those 
 witnesses who were identified with the people in 
 feelings and convictions. 
 
TAR A HILL. 283 
 
 A trifling but singular circumstance connected 
 with the locality, and the scene itself, attracted 
 considerable attention and curiosity at the time ; 
 and was almost made a matter of accusation in the 
 State prosecutions of the end of the year, against 
 the "Agitators," who were the objects of those 
 prosecutions. 
 
 A small species of wild geranium, bearing a 
 flower closely resembling in shape a pike head, 
 with its usual ferocious adornments of an axe 
 blade at one side of the shoulder of the weapon, 
 and a crook at the other, (intended for cutting 
 the reins of cavalry,) is found in some abundance 
 growing on and near the '' Croppies Gr-ave,^'' — that 
 is, the ridge before-mentioned, where were buried 
 the slaughtered rebels, or " Croppies,^'' as they 
 were designated in 1798, in allusion to the then 
 revolutionary symbol of wearing the hair cut short 
 behind, and without powder. A further singu- 
 larity and point of rapprochement is, that this 
 little flower is streaked with crimson, just as its 
 formidable likeliness might be supposed to appear 
 after hard service in close engagement. The story 
 goes, that nowhere else in the vicinity are any 
 specimens to be met with beyond the limits of the 
 
284 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " Croppies Grave ;" and however the fact may be, 
 the popular belief being quite decided in that 
 respect, the people took especial and particular, 
 notice of this lusus naturw, and gathered It in 
 quantities to preserve as a memorial of the place 
 and the occasion. 
 
 As before said, this circumstance wanted very 
 little of being made a capital item of charge 
 against us, at a later period of the year ; and was 
 actually made a subject of some comment by tlie 
 Attorney-General, when unfolding and detailing 
 his " monster indictment." 
 
 Early in the morning, Mr. O'Connell, &c. 
 having heard mass, we repaired to a public break- 
 fast given to the Kepealers by one of the staunch- 
 est and most ardent of our party, among the truly 
 respectable and valuable middle classes of Dublin, 
 Mr. McGarry, of Baggot Street. From thence, 
 after a thorough " agitation hrealfast" and afear- 
 fal demolition of the good things provided for us, 
 we started for Tara Hill. The day was fine, the 
 streets and roads were crowded, the people seemed 
 everywhere exulting and enthusiastic ; and in short, 
 there was every thing to excite and to exhilarate 
 around us, and meet us at every yard of the way. 
 
TARA HILL. ' 285 
 
 For some hours the "pace" was good, and we 
 got along in great style. But we were yet miles 
 from the hill, though full in view, when the 
 thickening crowds, and the already evident symp- 
 toms of a regular encampment, reduced us first to 
 a broken jog-trot, and finally to a walk. I do not 
 at the moment remember the exact line of our 
 approach, but it was by a very circuitous and 
 winding route; at both sides of which there were, 
 during the last two or three miles, all kinds of 
 vehicles which had discharged their occupants, or 
 cargo, ranged along ; tlie carts and jaunting-cars 
 tilted up witli their shafts in the air, the carriages 
 with the poles unshipped, and stoAved away, and 
 the horses piqueted after a rude fashion in the 
 fields behind. Meantime those who had occupied 
 or brought them, had gone forward to the hill, 
 leaving in some cases a boy to watch their pro- 
 perty, but in many cases, no one at all : nor was 
 there an instance known, in which plunder had 
 occurred in consequence. 
 
 The same scene, we were informed, was to be 
 witnessed along all the other lines of the approach, 
 the only variations being where— under the bodies 
 of the carts, and within rude tents, constructed of 
 
286 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES 
 
 some old slieets and blankets — parties wlio dreaded 
 to encounter the crush on the hill, and whose 
 ambition was satisfied by being able to say that 
 they had gone to the Tara meeting, were snugly 
 ensconced, exchanging their comments on the 
 cavalcade going by them ; and occasionally 
 enofaainn; in shari) encounters of small wit and 
 mutual gibings, with the less prudent or more 
 daring among the passing throng. 
 
 From the moment that we reached the foot of 
 the hill, and commenced its ascent, our horses had 
 an easy time of it. The carriage, a heavy travel- 
 ling vehicle, well laden inside, with box-seats fore 
 and aft outside also filled, and one or two particu- 
 larly obliging friends on the roof, was literally and 
 absolutely home up the hill by the vast human 
 wave surging upward to its crest. Such a scene 
 as the hill itself presented has seldom been wit- 
 nessed. The whole of its surface, and a very 
 wide circle around its base, were hlack with dense 
 masses of human beino;s ; and lono; windino; lines 
 of black, radiating away to all points of the com- 
 pass, marked where yet were pouring along or 
 were encamped additional multitudes of people. 
 The vast human swarms at every point of the 
 
LEDRU ROLLIN. 287 
 
 elevation displayed in relief against the sky, or in 
 stronger and more striking relief against their 
 own dark masses, banners and insignia of all 
 kinds ; and the uniformity was further broken by 
 occasional mounds, as it were, of clustering human 
 beings raised above the general level by scaffold- 
 ing, or the grouping here and there of several 
 vehicles close together, so as to form a species of 
 rude hustings. 
 
 The monster mound of all was right in the 
 centre of the topmost level of the hill. There was 
 erected the platform for the chairman, secretary, 
 speakers, and reporters; and a perfect forest of 
 flags, streamers, bunches of gay ribands at the 
 heads of white wands, borne by the chief managers 
 of the meeting, waved over head ; while patriotic 
 mottos of all kinds, in English and in Irish, were 
 displayed on the bulwark that protected the whole 
 length of the front. 
 
 It was said, but I believe without truth, that 
 Ledm Eollin, who, within the last fourteen months, 
 has been playing so strange a part in French 
 politics, was present on this occasion. If he were 
 so, it certainly Avas entirely without the know- 
 ledge of Mr. O'Connell, or those who were gene- 
 
288 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 rally about him. Some of the evidence given at 
 the *^ State Trials/' a few months later, would 
 have inclined the general belief to accept the fact, 
 had it not come from a suspicious quarter ; namely, 
 an official, long known for his Orange principles 
 and tendency to ultra-zeal. To do him justice, 
 he did not positively declare it; but such was the 
 effect of his testimony ; and according to him the 
 people, at least in the outskirts of the crowd, were 
 full of the idea of seeing the " illustrious stranger," 
 and manifested their feelings by repeated cheers 
 for " Leathery Rolling /" — that being their version 
 of the name in which rejoices the great Brutus 
 manqut of Republican France. 
 
 A couple of months previously, Ledru Kollin 
 had made a tender of his sympathies and those of 
 the " extreme gauche^'' (or, as the French joke then 
 liad it, " extremement gauche ") party in France, to 
 the Repealers of Ireland. The offer was heralded 
 and announced with a great flourish of trumpets 
 in the newspapers of that party in Paris, particu- 
 larly in their chief organ, Le National; and a 
 letter was written by Ledru Rollin to Mr. O'Con- 
 nell on the subject. 
 
 The latter courteously but utterly and abso- 
 
TARA HILL. 289 
 
 lutely declined the offer ; and willingly accepted 
 all the attacks of the then party of the " National,'"' 
 rather than have the semblance of looking for, 
 or desiring foreign alliance in a constitutional 
 struggle. 
 
 With the speeches, &c. at the meeting this 
 record has nothing to do, and so any person 
 curious on that subject must refer himself to the 
 columns of the Irish newspapers of the time. It 
 was, of course, impossible that any but a very 
 small portion of that enormous assemblage could 
 have been at all cognizant of the matter of the 
 speeches delivered at the main hustings. But that 
 portion was very small only as compared with the 
 whole number congregated on and about the hill ; 
 and would have formed a very respectable-sized 
 meeting in itself: and the deepest and the stillest 
 attention was manifested to the proceedings by all 
 within the radius of the speakers' voices. And 
 even beyond that radius there were many circles, 
 the individuals composing which contented tliem- 
 selves with receiving at second-hand from their 
 more fortunate neighbours the sentiment, what- 
 ever it might be, tliat had just called forth the 
 bursts of cheering, in which they themselves had 
 
 VOL. II. o 
 
290 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 actually taken part on trust, and in anticipation of 
 its proving a rightful appeal to their sympathies 
 and feelings. 
 
 The only interruptions were when some gaily- 
 attired " teinperance-hand,'" placed out of earshot 
 of the proceedings on the platform, unluckily took 
 it into their heads to while away the time by dis- 
 coursing most eloquent music of their own; an 
 occurrence that ensured to them a volley of indig- 
 nant execrations and adjurations, quite sufficient, 
 one would have thought, to scare away the Muse 
 for ever, and nip their genius in the bud. 
 
 Some of the minor and more distant platforms, 
 or hustings, which were quite beyond the reach 
 even of telegraphic communication of what was 
 going on at the principal stand, became as it Avere 
 the suns of other systems, and had each their own 
 little blaze of oratory, and their own particular 
 concentrations. And beyond these, again, in the 
 outermost verge of the assembly, the older and 
 graver met and talked and nodded their heads 
 together, and exchanged their congratulations on 
 the '^ great day for Ireland that was in it, glory be 
 to Heaven ! " Avhile the younger and lighter-spi- 
 rited made a ring around some travelling bagpiper 
 
TAR A HILL. 291 
 
 or fiddler, and danced away heartily and merrily ; 
 witli every now and tlien a blithesome spring into 
 the air, and a ringing whoop for " Odd Ireland 
 and the Bepale.''^ 
 
 A pubHc dinner followed, which was held in a 
 large enclosure near Tara hall, the handsome 
 mansion of Mr. Lynch, a gentleman of fortune 
 and family in the neighbourhood. The enclosure 
 was for the greater part tented over with canvass, 
 but the night was so serene, and the weather so 
 beautiful, that the dinner might well have taken 
 place siMuna. An enormous number of persons 
 contrived to be present, every inch, not only of 
 sitting but of standing-room, being most fully 
 occupied, and the walls of the enclosure bearing 
 their burthen also. The usual patriotic toasts 
 and speeches, and more than usual excitement 
 and enthusiasm, marked the proceedings, which did 
 not terminate until nearly an hour after midnight. 
 
 Being anxious to get home, I availed myself of 
 the offer of a seat in the vehicle in which the 
 reporters were starting for Dubhn, with their 
 treasures of eloquence for the morning papers. 
 We had a drive of four or five hours, under a 
 most brilHant moon ; and along a road, both path- 
 
 o 2 
 
292 FAKLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ways of wlilch were strewed with human forms, 
 prostrate and inanimate as if dead. An army, 
 after a severe and harassing march under an 
 enemy's iire, could not have left greater appear- 
 ances of desolation and destruction alone; its track. 
 The poor fellows— men and boys, on their return 
 from Tara to their homes in Dublin and its vicinity, 
 had sunk down, one on top of the other in fre- 
 quent groups along the pathways; and here and 
 there broken cars or other vehicles, with the horses 
 loosed from the harness, and stretched and sleeping 
 like their masters, increased the resemblance I have 
 spoken of. The clear cold moon shone down brightly 
 upon all, chastening the more vulgar features of 
 the scene, and rendering it singularly impressive. 
 
 The thought has more than once occurred, that 
 this was the crowning day of my father's life. He 
 had had a substantial triumph before, in the suc- 
 cess of his weary and protracted labours for 
 Catholic Emancipation ; and a minor triumph in 
 the striking off subsequently of one of the few 
 remaining links of Catholic servitude, by the ac- 
 complishment of Municipal Reform. He had won 
 distinction at his profession, and his enemies had 
 been compelled to mark their acknowledgment of 
 
MR. o'connell's exertions. 293 
 
 it, and to confess, and endeavour to repair, the 
 injustice of the exclusions tliey had practised 
 against him. He had had many and abundant 
 proofs from numerous parts of Ireland of the love 
 and affection of his fellow-countrymen ; and the 
 title of "Liberator " had been conferred upon him 
 apparently with their general assent. But the 
 triumphs and honours of the year 1843 had come 
 thronging so thickly and rapidly upon each other, 
 and accompanied by sucli circumstances of high 
 and enthusiastic excitement, and deep and at times 
 really sublime Impressiveness, that all former 
 events seemed little in comparison, and all former 
 results likely to be outshone, surpassed, and 
 crowned by the great and final achievement 
 towards which the popular movement imder his 
 guidance appeared to be assuredly advancing. 
 
 The previous meetings, succeeding one another 
 at intervals of but a few days during the course 
 of four months, had gone on increasing in numbers 
 in almost a geometrical ratio ; but on the hill. of 
 Tara an assemblage had now come together, far 
 exceeding any of them, and almost equalling the 
 entire aggregate of tlieir respective numbers. 
 
 And the peace, good order, good humour, unity 
 
294 TARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 of purpose, high intelligence of tlie end sought 
 and entire devotion to the working of it out, 
 that had marked the demeanour of the people 
 before, manifested themselves upon this occasion 
 in redoubled quantity and intensity, as if to keep 
 in suitable proportion to the mere numerical 
 increase. 
 
 Tara, then, — with its million of human beings 
 congregated peaceably, and without any of the 
 weapons of physical strife, — to declare for, and 
 demand the restoration and full enjoyment of the 
 inalienable rights of the citizens of a free land, 
 may be considered to have been^ as it were, the 
 summing-up and climax of the mighty national 
 movement of 1843, and at the same time the most 
 sublime spectacle, because by far the largest de- 
 monstration of the will of a people using only the 
 force of argument and of opinion in the pursuit of 
 their ends, that ever the world has witnessed. 
 
 To be the leader and chief in such a scene — the 
 observed of all observers — the one upon the accents 
 of whose lips tens and hundreds of thousands hung 
 Avith implicit confidence, and confiding and admir- 
 ing affection — to be thus, as it were, solemnly 
 installed by a nation in the high position of its 
 
MR. OCONNELLS EXERTIONS. 295 
 
 fully accepted and entirely trusted representative, 
 — this was an honour and surpassing distinction, 
 such as well might warrant exultation in the heart 
 of its object, and make him feel repaid for many 
 and many a long year of labour and sacrifice 
 long apparently thankless, and of coldness, taunt, 
 calumny, treachery, and disappointment. 
 
 But Daniel O'Connell, though he would have 
 been more than man if he had not felt this exul- 
 tation, allowed it no farther influence on his mind 
 than served to brace anew and strengthen his 
 resolve to struggle onward to the last in the cause 
 of the people that thus trusted him and honoured 
 him, and of the country that he so fondly and 
 devotedly loved. 
 
 That day the star of his earthly destinies 
 touched its meridian — that day his fortunes cul- 
 minated, and the labours of his life met their 
 highest earthly reward. And even from that 
 very day commenced the decline, slow and imper- 
 ceptible at first, but soon to be sadly manifest in 
 its accelerated and still accelerating progress, till 
 the end was reached, of his hopes and those of 
 unhappy Ireland. 
 
 Rashness, jealousy, and treachery were at work 
 
296 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 even then and there. At the outskirts of the 
 meeting, and even upon the very hustings, where 
 sat Mr. O'Connell himself, these agencies were 
 busy; and feeble as their efforts then Avere, and 
 almost imperceptible in their results, yet the in- 
 testine war, in aid of the two great objects of 
 English policy, division and domination, was then 
 begun, and thenceforward steadily progressed 
 until our ruin was accomplished. 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 England's pride of domination. — campaign against repeal. — 
 
 EARL OF RODEN. — SIR JAMES GRAHAM. — MEETING AT ATHLONE. 
 
 MEETING IN DUNDALK, — MR. o'cONNELl's SPEECH. — VENEDT. 
 
 While these monster meetings were going on in 
 Ireland, there was much kindling of wrath, and 
 direful explosions of it at times in either House 
 o f Parliament. 
 
 The besetting sin of England and of English- 
 men is pride. 
 
 " By that sin fell the angels. How can man, then, 
 Though the image of his Jtaker, hope to win by it ] " 
 
 England has won by it as yet. Self-confidence 
 and a high opinion of one's self is not a more use- 
 ful quality for an ambitious individual than it is 
 for an ambitious nation ; and not a few of the 
 successes of En2:land are attributable to the hlo-h 
 
 o 3 
 
298 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 daring inspired by the quality in question. Some 
 time or other, however, the old condemnation 
 against pride Avill be vindicated, and carried out 
 in her case, as history, sacred and profane, records 
 it to have been in many a similar case throughout 
 the lono; reach of a^-es. 
 
 Her pride of domination — the worst and most 
 inveterate form of her besetting sin — was alarmed 
 at the Irish movement ; and when that occurs in 
 England there is an end of reason, of argument, 
 of all idea of justice, mercy, or any consideration 
 whatever. What is called the natural fairness of 
 Englishmen, at least of Englishmen in the aggre- 
 gate, practically amounts to this, that provided 
 you are doicn, and very down — utterly helpless and 
 submissive — they may good-humouredly let you 
 alone, or even extend assistance with a kind of 
 contemptuous good nature. But offend in any 
 way against John Bull's darling self-consequence 
 and self-adulation, and he will crush you if he can! 
 
 In 1843 the monster meetings sorely troubled 
 his digestion. It seemed as if Ireland — the vassal 
 Ireland! — tired of waiting for the fulfilment of 
 illusory promises, had resolved on trying to assist 
 herself, without reference to what might be the 
 
EARL OF RODEN. 299 
 
 good will and pleasure of her powerful and not 
 very scrupulous neighbour. It was of no conse- 
 quence what might be the extent of the real 
 grievances of which she complained — no matter 
 what justice and right might ordain as to them — 
 the sole and grand object of attention and effort 
 was to stop her, and to punish her for daring to 
 manifest the least disposition towards thinking and 
 actino; for herself! 
 
 The campaign against the Kepealers began with 
 flying notices of motion and " questions " to 
 ministers in the Commons, during the very ap- 
 propriate month of April. One notice on the 
 subject was abandoned for the very sapient reason 
 that its originator himself assigned in the House — 
 viz. that he " could not get Mr. O'Connell to come 
 over and meet it I " 
 
 On the 9th of May, liowever, something more 
 important than these a'cant-coureurs was essayed 
 as a demonstration against Repeal. The heavy 
 artillery were brought up and got into position ; 
 and the Earl of Koden, the great gun of the Irish 
 Orangemen, opened fire in the House of Lords. 
 Of his speech it is needless to say anything. It 
 was what from an Irish Orangeman of the present 
 
300 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 times might be expected — an abnegation of pride 
 of country — a willing acceptation of provincialism, 
 provided only that so much of the old " Orange 
 ascendency" in Ireland as had been left imtouched 
 by the Catholic Eelief Act of 1829 should be 
 favoured and still upheld. 
 
 The Irish Orangemen in 1780, 1782, and 1800, 
 acted very differently indeed, and spoke in quite 
 another fashion. I have before me at this moment 
 the resolutions of upwards of thirty Orange lodges 
 in various parts of the kingdom against the plan, 
 and amj plan, of a Legislative Union, and declar- 
 ing, '^ as Orangemen and Irishmen^'* their utter 
 abhorrence of such a measure, and devotion to the 
 legislative independence of their native land. If 
 the rumour, now {August 1849) gaining strength, 
 of the destruction of the potato prove to be true, 
 a climax of ruin may speedily be attained in 
 Ireland, when the descendants of those who spoke 
 and wrote so honourably and manfully will have 
 the conviction forced upon them, by their own 
 urgent perils, that there is but one chance, one 
 hope, for the unhappy country in which their lot 
 is cast, and that is, in the return of her rich 
 absentees, and their takinj^ counsel with the 
 
SIR JAMES GRAHAM. 301 
 
 people on the common danger, in tlieir restored 
 native Parliament. 
 
 The interest of England, too, will be found 
 imperatively to demand this blessed change. 
 Otherwise, she will be as linked with a carcass 
 exhausted of all its vitality, and tainting to the 
 heart the vitality of the empire itself. 
 
 Strange to say, the parliamentary thunders 
 affrighted not the souls of the audacious Ke- 
 pealers. Notwithstanding the announcement of 
 the ministers, that they would prefer inflicting on 
 Ireland all the horrors of civil war, in preference 
 to conceding to us our constitutional and inalien- 
 able riglit of managing our own affairs — notwith- 
 standing the philippics of poor Lord Brougham, 
 seeking service, and ready to do any dirty work 
 for it — notwithstanding even the powerful and 
 commanding eloquence, adorned and rendered 
 more impressive by classic purity of taste, of 
 Lord Beaumont — still the Repealers persisted, 
 and still Repeal went ahead. 
 
 " Per darana, per c^dcs, ab ipso, 
 Duxit opes, animumque hello" 
 
 It was possibl}^ in the momentary ebullition of 
 disappointment at this, that Sir James Graham, 
 
302 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 then Secretary for the Home Department, uttered 
 his famous declaration against Ireland — a declara- 
 tion which, with its withdrawal, has been noticed 
 before. 
 
 In that notice there was the hope expressed 
 that the then coming — now the ^mst — session, 
 would see opportunities taken l)y him and Sir 
 Robert Peel to give practical eftect to their new- 
 born favourable dispositions towards Ireland, as 
 announced by them in 1845 and 1846. Sir Robert 
 Peel has in this session shadowed out a policy of 
 larger and broader dimensions than hitherto pro- 
 pounded ; and far as it might fall short of what 
 the Irish people believe to be the only real — the 
 only entire and permanent remedy of our thou- 
 sand ills, yet there cannot be a doubt that had it 
 been adopted, and were it now coming into opera- 
 tion, enormous and immediate relief would have 
 been given to a sinking country ; and the fearful 
 winter that is before us, if the report of the potato 
 fixilure prove correct, would be robbed of half its 
 terrors. But it has not been adopted, and now — 
 
 " The tempest-clouds close o'er us— which, Avhen rent. 
 The earth will be strcw'd thick with other earth, 
 Which her own clay will cover — heap'd and pent ; 
 Teasant and lord— friend, foe — in one vast ruin blent ! " 
 
SIR JAMES GRAHAM. 303 
 
 Sir James Graliam would have given Sir 
 Kobert Peel the aid of his singular business 
 habits, clear-headedness and efficiency, In carrying 
 out this really " large and comprehensive " scheme, 
 and thereby done much to ensure its success. So 
 far surmise may go as respects him ; notwithstand- 
 ing that there dwells in our minds rather unplea- 
 santly the memory of certain words of his this 
 session that would argue a cruel churlishness as 
 to temporary relief to the starving hordes of the 
 west of Ireland. In other respects he has main- 
 tained a dignified position this session, and dis- 
 played less of his old faults ; especially of that 
 caustic levity and pronencss to indulge in a tart- 
 ness often quite gratuitous, and always exceed- 
 ingly offensive, to which he formerly gave over 
 much indulgence. 
 
 It is in no spirit of fulsomeness, and in no for- 
 getfulness of the unworthy past, that I make 
 these allusions to the two leading men of the old 
 opposition. Neither is it in any very defined 
 hopefulness. Too many blank and bitter disap- 
 pointments have resulted from placing faith in 
 projects and declarations and manifestations of 
 intentions, proceeding from men out of office. 
 
304 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Too well have we seen tliat the iron yoke of the 
 prejudiced and unreasoning public opinion of the 
 potential middle classes of England — prejudiced 
 and unreasoning with regard to Irish aifairs — will 
 make any set or denomination of ministers to 
 wince like " galled jades," when once the harness 
 of office is upon them. But it is in the nature, 
 that is to say, in the feebleness, of man to be 
 ever seeking to exchange the contemplation of 
 the actual, real and instant, for the more pleasing 
 pictures that imagination draws of the possible 
 and the contingent. 
 
 The present ministers, or the powers that bear 
 upon and influence them, are afflicted with poli- 
 tical economy run mad, and most unjust in its 
 madness, as well as unwise and ungenerous. We 
 are neither to be allowed to help ourselves, by the 
 means of our restored parliament, and the circu- 
 lation at home of our absentee capital, nor are we 
 to receive any efficient assistance from the country 
 that has usurped the control and management of our 
 affiiirs. ^' Laissez faire'''' and ^'^ lalssez passer,'''' the 
 old dicta of Colbert's time, have been applied to our 
 unhappy case ; and as they so have been, we may be 
 permitted to supply the free translation, viz. — 
 
MEETING AT ATHLONE. 305 
 
 '' Laissez faire,^^ — let the visitation of Providence 
 have its full effect, unmitigated and uninterfered 
 Avitli ; '^ Laissez passer,^'' — let the Irish people pass 
 away, and give place to an English and Scotch 
 immicci'n.tion. 
 
 Being upon the chapter of " Monster Meetings,^'' 
 it may not be uninteresting to review some pas- 
 sages in an account of them by a foreigner, who 
 was an eyewitness. 
 
 " AtJilone Meeting, June 1843. — .... Those 
 on the platform were mainly of the middle 
 classes from the towns. Every third man at least 
 was a priest. About 100 yards off was a second 
 platform, raised for the ladles. By degrees the 
 multitude on foot collected round our platform, 
 and soon formed a body so firm and compact, 
 that they all seemed to have sprung from the 
 earth in one mass. The majority nearest to us were 
 stout full grown men and young lads. Further off 
 there was a circle of men on horseback, whose 
 number, like tliose on foot, was continually in- 
 creasing. Behind them lay on the ground, stood, 
 or walked about, the women, and the less strong or 
 the less curious. There were from forty to fifty 
 thousand persons gathered, together before that 
 
306 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 which may be properly termed * the meeting ' 
 commenced. It was a wondrous sight to behold 
 this mass of living beings, waiting thus patiently 
 for the things to come, or rather for The Coming 
 Man. There was something, too, very peculiar 
 in this sight, and the manner, order, or regulation 
 in which it involuntarily presented itself. 
 
 " The men wore a sort of uniform ; for grey 
 coats are the prevailing fashion as to dress in 
 Ireland. AYomen, on the contrary, prefer scarlet ; 
 and on the present occasion their dress constituted 
 a striking contrast to tliat in the foreground of 
 the picture. A good liour passed before Mr. 
 O'Connell, and the conductors of the festival, 
 with the bands of the teetotallers, arrived, and 
 during all that time the greatest peace and order 
 prevailed. There was much greater stillness than 
 I could have thouglit it possible. 
 
 " At last there was a movement in the rear of 
 the assembly, and all poured towards one common 
 centre. Now there rose a cry such as never before 
 had greeted my ears. Now all hats are raised in 
 the air, and there burst forth the unanimous shouts, 
 ' Hurrah I hurrah ! huri'ah ! Long live O'Connell ! 
 Lono; live the Liberator ! ' A hundred thousand 
 
MEETING AT ATHLONE. 307 
 
 voices sent forth these salutations to the man 
 
 whose necromantic power had circled them around 
 
 him. He sat on the box-seat of a carriage, drawn 
 
 by four horses, and he answered the salutation 
 
 with head, and hand, and cap. How he made his 
 
 way from the carriage to the tribune, I do not to 
 
 this day even comprehend ; for there was not room 
 
 for a person to fall, much less to walk. * Make 
 
 way for the Liberator,' was the charm word 
 
 Avliich accomplished that wonder that otherwise 
 
 had been an impossibility. , Arrived upon the 
 
 tribune, a seat was brought for him, on which he 
 
 sat doAvn, whilst Tom Steele, Avith one or two 
 
 more of his friends, held a standard over his head, 
 
 which served as a shade to protect him from the 
 
 rays of the sun. 
 
 Hi -H- * -x- -K- 
 
 " Our conversation was interrupted by the 
 breaking down of one of the steps of the platform. 
 All stood up and looked towards the quarter 
 from which danger was apprehended. O'Connell 
 stood up amongst the rest, and Tom Steele said to 
 him, ' It is nothing — you need not fear.' ' Fear, 
 fear !' answered O'Connell with so proud a glance, 
 and in such a rebuking tone, that whilst I felt 
 
308 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 deeply with his friend, it was also clear to me, 
 that nothino* could be more strano-e to the mind of 
 
 o o 
 
 the Irish Agitator, than the thought of fear. 
 
 " One after another did the different orators and 
 proposers of resolutions perform their respective 
 parts, and it seemed to me as if the great body of 
 the auditory paid as little attention to them as 
 I myself had done. Meanwhile O'Connell sat 
 calmly in his chair. At last his turn came, and 
 then the joy and exultation with which he was 
 received, was actually indescribable. Never did 
 I see any thing to be compared to it, or even 
 like it. 
 
 *. * Jtc ^ ¥r 
 
 " The orator retired amid cheers that were re- 
 peated over and over again. His friend, Tom 
 Steele, covered his shoulders with a cloak, whilst 
 a second handed him a peach, out of which he took 
 a hearty bite. He then, whilst stretching out his 
 hand for an orange which a third person was 
 presenting to him, said smilingly to one of the 
 by-standers : / To succeed with a multitude as 
 a speaker, you must always say something that 
 will excite their spirits and make them laugh.' 
 
 " In one passage, the Liberator presented himself 
 
MEETING AT ATULONE. 309 
 
 to my view in a perfectly different light. In the 
 midst of his speech, a portion of his hearers began 
 all at once to run— an unruly horse had broken 
 away. Those nearest to the furious animal gave 
 ground ; those who were pressed upon by them, in 
 turn pressed upon their neighbours, and in an 
 instant, a great portion of the congregated mass 
 was in flight— a panic terror seized them, and 
 drove them onward. There was the noise of 
 a hundred thousand men, all in a state of excite- 
 ment, rising up together, and a portion of them 
 flying away terrified! It was like the rapid 
 advance of a heavy body of cavalry ; and with 
 this noise there was the knowledge of the fact, 
 that the garrison at Athlone had been considerably 
 strengthened. Enough ! There were all the ele- 
 ments at hand to give wings to the aroused terrors 
 of the multitude, and all was rushing to inextrica- 
 ble confusion, and irremediable disorder — when 
 the calm, but thunder-like tones of O'Connell 
 came pealing over the multitude. He uttered but 
 the words, ' Stand still!' and those whose minds but 
 an instant before were confused by fear, appeared 
 as if each was chained to the spot on which that 
 voice reached them ! Never did I behold such a cir- 
 
310 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 cumstance. It was as if fate would put the 
 power of liis word to the proof, and wished to 
 demonstrate that it was omnipotent. 
 
 " Such a power, assuredly, no human being ever 
 exercised, who did not know how to touch the 
 finest chords of the human heart. 
 
 "With the speech of O'Connell was the popular 
 festival at an end. A few speeches were delivered 
 after this, but the people gradually dispersed, and 
 by the time that the last of the orators was 
 delivering himself of his sentiments, he had but as 
 his auditors a small train of Eepealers, who seemed 
 resolved to die martyrs in the cause. 
 
 " The road from the place of meeting to Athlone, 
 though but two English miles, still required an 
 hour's time to get over it; fur it was crammed 
 full of carriages of all sorts, wagons, cars, carts, 
 horsemen, and pedestrians. In the van, marched 
 almost in military order, and with colours flying 
 and music playing, the Temperance bands: these 
 were followed by the unorganized masses. 
 
 " The evening banquet took place beneath a 
 tent, the tables shot out in rays from a round 
 one in the midst, and at one side there was a 
 cross table for the Committee and the j^juests. 
 
MEETING IN DUNDALK. 311 
 
 At this sat Lord Ffrencli, as president, and beside 
 him O'Connell, with from twelve to fourteen 
 of the most distinguished personages. Oppo- 
 site there was a box for ladies, and not far 
 distant from them a band of music. The food and 
 music Avere equally bad, and the majority of the 
 guests at the grand table seemed to be convinced 
 of the fact, for even few amongst them made the 
 attempt to touch what was set before them ; and 
 I even remarked that the covers were not removed 
 from many of the dishes. O'Connell at first drank 
 only water, afterwards he added a little wine to it, 
 and if I had not seen him partake of a glass of 
 champagne, I should have regarded him as a half 
 teetotaller. 
 
 " The toasts of Hhe Queen,' of ^Prince Albert,' 
 and of Hhe Duchess of Kent,' were drank with 
 great joy. O'Connell himself gave the word of 
 command to every hurrah, with all the precision of 
 a toast-master. At last came the toast, ' O'Connell, 
 O'Connell and Repeal.' " 
 
 " The Meeting in Dundalk, 29th June, 1843.— 
 About five or six miles our stage coach overtook 
 * the Liberator ;' Ave found it exceedingly difficult 
 to proceed, for a multitude of carriages followed 
 
312 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 liis, and by its sides rode or ran young and old, on 
 horseback and on foot, and all shouting joy^^/'ly. 
 As we passed his carriage, which was drawn by four 
 horses, he nodded kindly towards me. I perceived 
 lie was accompanied by a member of the Dundalk 
 deputation, whilst a second member, with Tom 
 Steele, occupied the box-seat. 
 
 " Before him marched the different bands of the 
 teetotallers, some on foot, some in large vans ; 
 they made a most awful noise, for they all 
 played at the same time, and each of them a dif- 
 ferent tune. The first band played ' God save the 
 Queen' — the second, with respect be it mentioned, 
 ' the Garland of Love' — and the third rattled away, 
 with the force, the rapidity, and the monotony 
 of the clapper of a mill, the constantly-repeated 
 ' Patrick's day in the Morning.' The procession 
 stopped some time before my windoAV, and it may 
 Avell be fancied what a gratification it must have 
 been to have these three different pieces of music 
 commulated into one ! I heard the three pieces 
 afterwards played separately, but, alas ! I must 
 own, that so bad were they in detail, that I pre- 
 ferred the triplicated time of ^ God save the 
 Queen,' ^the Garland' and 'Patrick's day' to any 
 
MEETING IN DUNDALK. 313 
 
 ] ^ c i;pof them separated from the rest — i.e. as it was 
 gWlfen by the bands of Dimdalk. 
 
 " At length the procession moved on, and in a 
 few moments afterwards, O'Connell's carriage, 
 drawn by four horses, was seen turning into the 
 town. O'Connell stood erect in the carriage, and 
 saluted the people on all sides ; whilst in every 
 glance of his eye there Avas triumph, and the ex- 
 hilarating feelings of joy. And wherefore should 
 there not ? Who could, as he, this day say — ' I am 
 the man — Daniel O'Connell ?' 
 
 " I have often seen many princes and royal per- 
 sonages make their solemn entries into my own 
 old Cologne, and other places, but all was ' child's 
 play' to that which now presented itself to my 
 view. The streets were so full that there was 
 left no longer the possibility of w^alking in them ; 
 all were either borne, or pushed forward. I had 
 a bird's-eye view of the entire scene ; I looked 
 down upon it, and could behold nought but heads — 
 not even the shoulders of the men were visible. 
 Never did I see anything like to this ; and never 
 did I hear anything like to that prolonged — that 
 never-ending * Hurrah for O'Connell! — hurrah 
 for the Liberator !' He stopped before the house 
 
 VOL. II. p 
 
314 PAIILIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 where I was ; he descended from his carriage ; 
 and oh, miracle of miracles ! a large broad path- 
 way was instantly opened for him in that dense 
 crowd, which as instantly closed behind him, once 
 he had passed. 
 
 "Whilst I was engaged reflecting upon this won- 
 drous spectacle, I belield another, and one that 
 was still more beautiful. In the very centre of that 
 closely-pressed — that jammed-together throng, 
 I observed one small point unoccupied, which 
 always came nearer and nearer towards the house. 
 What, I asked, can that be ? or why is there that 
 little spot left free ? The riddle was soon ex- 
 plained — the mystery was soon unravelled ; for in 
 the centre of that little unoccupied space, I beheld 
 — a cripple I I love the Irish people ; but never 
 did I in my life see anything which so much 
 entitles them to the love, the admiration, and the 
 respect of every philanthropic, of every feeling, of 
 every honest heart, as this ; making a space, and 
 giving free room to the helpless, pithless cripple, 
 in a crowded multitude, through which the 
 strongest giant would in vain have struggled to 
 force his way. Oh ! yes ; they are a good, a truly 
 good people — these poor Irish ! 
 
MR. o'connell's speech. 315 
 
 * >!<: * t>- Hs 
 
 ** I have seldom shaken the hand of any one with 
 so cordial a feeling as that of Tom Steele. Yes — 
 a man of honour — a noble hearted being is 
 ' honest Tom Steele ! ' 
 
 " O'Connell's speech at the dinner was as fine as 
 any of his that I have ever read or heard. It was 
 more grave than usual, even though it occasionally 
 sparkled with humour. In their entirety, his 
 speeches are always the same; but this fact in 
 itself is the proof of the greatness of the orator. 
 There arc but few things that [)ossess the privilege 
 of constant repetition; to be always the same, and 
 yet for ever magnificent and beautiful. It is the 
 sea alone — the Alps alone — the finest, greatest 
 works of art of the mightiest masters alone, that 
 one can again and again gaze upon, and yet 
 never be tired looking at them. The speeches of 
 O'Connell have much of this original beauty in 
 them ; they are always like to one another, they . 
 are in their entirety ever the same. His first 
 Kepeal speech in Parliament in 1834, is no other 
 than his speech before the inhabitants of Dundalk, 
 and yet there is in it that which gives it a new 
 hue, an original form, and thus renders it at the 
 
 p2 
 
316 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 same time exquisitely beautiful, and enchantingly 
 captivating. These are the peculiarities that 
 always distinguish tlie works of a great master." * 
 
 This repetition and sameness of substance in 
 Mr. O'Connell's speeches ^vas, in fact, the result 
 of a deliberate purpose. His maxim was, that to 
 enunciate a political axiom, or argument, once or 
 twice, was of little avail ; that things so enun- 
 ciated scarcely struck the popular mind at all ; 
 and were, at any rate, speedily forgotten. To 
 make an impression — to sink the truth deep in 
 that mind, and cause it to fructify in popular 
 exertion — it was necessary to repeat and to repeat 
 again and again : varying the phrase, if possible, 
 but the matter substantially the same. Indeed, 
 in some points he considered it an advantage that 
 even the very wording should be repeated, till the 
 phrase should catch, and become a pojiular Shib- 
 boleth. 
 
 I believe that Cobbett and he were the only 
 two public men that preached and practised this 
 doctrine ; and both with success in their pecu- 
 liar line. 
 
 * " Ireland and the Irish, during the Repeal Year, 1843. By 
 ^, Yenedy, Dublin. Translated by A\\ B, M'Cabe, Esq. Loudon." 
 
VENEDY. 3jy 
 
 Venedy, tlie German, wliose descriptions I liave 
 quoted, was last year a member of that most 
 incongruous, imbecile, and yet mischievous ab- 
 surdity, the Frankfort Parliament. I am sorry to 
 say that I believe he showed no greater wisdom 
 than the bulk of his colleagues. Biernatski, whom 
 he mentions, was a Polish refugee of the Eevolu- 
 tion of 1831. He had been Minister of Finance 
 for a time during the Kevolution in Warsaw. He 
 was settled quietly in Paris when I knew him, 
 and his name has not appeared in any of the dis- 
 turbances of last year. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 MR. MACAULAT. — SECTARIAN BIGOTRY. — PERSECUTION IN SWITZER- 
 • LAND. INCREASE OP REPEAL COMMITTEE. REPEAL ASSOCIATION 
 
 REPORTS. MR. o'cONNELL's SUQQESTIONS. PROCEEDINGS OP REPEAL 
 
 COMMITTEE. 
 
 Among the denouncers of the Repeal Agitation 
 in parliament during the summer of the year 1843, 
 was Thomas Babington Macaulay, poet, orator, 
 liistorian, and quondam "Cabinet Minister!" 
 
 Mr. Macaulay, in the debates of ten years pre- 
 viously, on the Irish Coercion Bill of 1833, in his 
 first great display in a reformed (or, I believe, 
 a7iy) House of Commons, experienced the fate 
 •which genius most richly merits when it degrades 
 itself to ignoble purposes. He came out with an 
 elaborately prepared oration in favour of the new 
 measure of tyranny for Ireland ; and it proved a 
 most elaborate and utter failure. 
 
MR. MACAULAY. 319 
 
 On the occasion of the only time that the lyre 
 of the great Magician of the North was heard to 
 creak — that of his ^'carmen triumphale''' on the 
 victory of Waterloo — some such distich as the fol- 
 lowinof was addressed to him: — 
 
 "Then none by pistol or by shot 
 Fell half so i3at as Walter Scott !" 
 
 It might have been paraphrased with regard to 
 the brilliant Macaulay's assault upon Ireland and 
 defence of coercion, for he fell flat indeed, and 
 flat in the mud!* 
 
 How admirably he has since redeemed his fame 
 it is not at all needful here to detail. The sush- 
 ing richness and fulness of his eloquence absorbs, 
 fascinates, and carries away his auditory, making 
 them utterly oblivious, or, at least, disregardful of 
 the occasional too great evidences of art and 
 study. He never showed himself ready at an 
 impromptu speech ; but the sparkling brilliancy 
 of his prepared efforts excused, covered, and most 
 abundantly atoned for the attendant delays and 
 infrequencies of their exhibition. 
 
 * Might the paraphrase run thus ? 
 
 "Then none did show so shy and smalhj, 
 As Thomas Babington Macaulay !" 
 
320 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 There was, however, a repetition of the fall in 
 his declamation against Repeal in 1843. Sentence 
 after sentence came ont ore rotundo, stating alter- 
 native after alternative that he Avould prefer to 
 the measure demanded by the people of Ireland — 
 the restoration of their own parliament — each 
 sentence ending with a ^' no, never i^'' strongly sug- 
 gestive of the popular song, or burden of a song, 
 
 ^' Did you ever? No, I never!" djc. d-c. 
 
 In sober sadness, it was 7iot worthy of his 
 talents and character to set himself thus up in 
 petulant and puny opposition to a constitutional 
 demand of an aggrieved people. It ought not to 
 have been made an occasion for an oratorical dis- 
 pla}^, and for what might indeed be called an 
 empty oratorical bravado. No party in the State 
 has ever yet been impeded in its labours for its 
 object by frantic and unreasoning declamations 
 against it. The repeal of an act of parliament is 
 not a thing that can be proscribed or prevented by 
 a claptrap speech. And if Lords Brougham and 
 Beaumont, in the Lords, and Sir Robert Peel and 
 a few officials, in the Commons, found themselves 
 movedj — the two former from a love of mischief 
 
MR. MACAULAY. 321 
 
 and notoriety, the right honourable baronet for 
 some politic purpose of the passing moment, and 
 the others because lie did it, — to commit themselves 
 to the monstrous absurdity of declaring, that they 
 would prefer civil war, with all its inevitable evils 
 and horrors, to the possible, but yet only conjec- 
 tural, inconveniences of reverting to the old con- 
 stitutional system of separate parliaments, under 
 which a foreign war was successfully conducted, a 
 domestic rebellion crushed, and Ireland advanced 
 many steps towards permanent prosperity; such 
 conduct on their parts ought not to have been 
 held worthy of imitation by a man who could not 
 be uncertain of his own position in the eyes of the 
 public ; who had no passing interest of party or of 
 office to subserve ; and who, assuredly, can afford 
 to be original in his opinions and actions. 
 
 Of Mr. Macaulay's achievements in the world 
 of poesy, it would be difficult to speak in terms 
 of admiration such as they deserve. In fact, it 
 would need his own glowing language, and bril- 
 liancy of thought and expression, adequately to 
 praise them. 
 
 Of his History, any criticism here would be out 
 of place : but, as a Catholic, I enter protest against 
 
 p 3 
 
322 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 it for gross sectarian bigotry, undeniably visible, 
 under all the assumption of candour and historic 
 truthfulness. And the "-eneral reader lias a riMit 
 to complain, wlien he finds himself called upon to 
 accept, as accurate recitals of historic events, de- 
 tails and facts, warped and coloured by the party 
 feelings of the day. 
 
 But as far as regards the matter of the protest, 
 made in the preceding paragraph, it is only justice 
 to Mr. Macaulay to say, that he is not singular 
 among English writers of all ranks in the literary 
 hierarchy, in the voluntary, or (as I hope in his 
 case) «;^voluntary, s2ippressio xeriy and suggestio 
 falsi, where Catholicism is concerned. 
 
 It is surprising, to say the least, that in this 
 land of liberty — this England, where it is said 
 that the rights of individuals, and in especial the 
 freedom of private judgment, are most honoured 
 and acknowledged, — those sacred rights, Avhere 
 exercised l)y Catholics abroad, are looked upon 
 almost as crimes against mankind, and the invasions 
 of them hailed with general approbation. 
 
 The simple refusal of the Catholic Priests of 
 Prussia to bless certain mixed marriages, the 
 circumstances of which brought them within the 
 
SECTARIAN BIGOTRY. 323^ 
 
 scope of censures a long time recognised as the 
 standing law of the Catholic Church, was in this 
 country magnified into an act of Popish ecclesi- 
 astical tmirpation, to the utter neglect of the fact, 
 that tlie Priests in no way contested the validity 
 of the ciml marriage, nor refused to be present 
 at it, in the capacity of witnesses. All that they 
 refused to do was, to perform the ceremony of the 
 Catholic Church, a matter in which they were 
 assuredly justified, when the laws and injunctions 
 of that Church were flagrantly disregarded. In 
 all other respects they recognised the marriao-e. 
 
 AnotJicr form of this unfairness is manifest in 
 the treatment that Belgium has met witli from 
 the same parties. Protestant Holland, Protestant 
 Prussia, the Protestant States of Switzerland and 
 of Germany generally, will be quoted, for industry, 
 enterprise, prosperity, &c. ; but Belgium, teem- 
 ing with the fruits of industry and successful 
 enterprise, prosperous and peaceful as she is, finds 
 little favour with English publicists, because of 
 her inveterate Popery I 
 
 In fact she has disappointed them! For the 
 first three or four years of her separation from 
 Protestant Holland, there were the rifest rumours 
 
324 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 of her distress ; and the most confident propliecies 
 that she wouki certainly break down and become 
 bankrupt. Instead of doing so, she has most 
 provokingly insisted, not only on maintaining 
 her condition, but had the further audacity of very 
 much improving it. 
 
 The unhappy Catholic Cantons of Switzerland 
 have been denied all sympathy in their most cruel 
 persecutions, because of their being Catholic. The 
 assassination of Priests and of lay Catholics of 
 note, the phmder of religious houses, the expul- 
 sion, penniless and pitilessly, of Bishops, and of 
 the members of religious orders, including those of 
 females as well as of men, tlie wholesale plunder of 
 the Catholic laity, and plunder not of mere money 
 alone, nor of mere money and goods ; but also of 
 rights and franchises, civil and religious, — in 
 short, the red republicanism that is rampantin the 
 unhappy Helvetian Confederacy ; — upon all this 
 there is either a total silence, among the writers of 
 England, or else there is extenuation and apology 
 for the oppressors, because nominally Protestant; 
 and misrepresentation and censure for the op- 
 pressed, because they have the bad luck of being 
 Papists, 
 
INCREASE OF REPEAL COMMITTEE. 325 
 
 Toleration and religions liberty, as understood 
 and advocated by too many English writers, mean 
 the abrogation of every religious principle and 
 practice among Catliolics that is at all displeasing 
 or inconvenient to the licentious and atheistical 
 liberals of the Continent ; especially of Germany 
 much he-mused in heer ! 
 
 The Committee of the Association increased 
 enormously in number during the stirring spring 
 and summer of 1843. As I have before explained, 
 that Committee resembled in its duties and office 
 the " Council" of English public bodies, such as 
 the " National Political Union," when that body 
 flourished In Birmingham, the Chartist Association, 
 the Anti-Corn-Law League, &c. &c. A very large 
 number of young Barristers In particular joined 
 us at this juncture, and between them and the 
 accession of several country gentlemen, our num- 
 bers In the General Committee ran up to between 
 two and three hundred. Of these the average 
 attendance might be set down as about forty ; but 
 occasions were continually occurring when the 
 whole, or nearly the whole number on the list, 
 attended in the committee-room. 
 
 As the number of highly intelligent and ener- 
 
326 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 getic young patriots increased in our iip-stairs 
 assemblies, it was found necessary to cut out work 
 for them ; and an expedient was liit upon that 
 amply served this end, while also generally useful 
 to the agitation. From its earliest day, the 
 Committee of the Association was in the practice 
 of presenting reports from time to time, upon 
 subjects of immediate interest connected Avith the 
 cause ; but our numbers being comparatively few, 
 the labour had been heavy, and the reports only 
 occasional. Now, however, wlien we had such 
 extensive reinforcements, and when the plethoric 
 state of our exchequer justified tlic expenses of 
 printing, publishing, &c. to a large amount each 
 month, we set about the work in earnest. 
 
 I give a list of the various Keports, &c. pub- 
 lished from time to time by the Ivepeal Associa- 
 tion, to show that we were ready and able to give 
 reason for the faith that was in us ; and that our 
 demand for llepeal was not a mere unreasoning 
 cry, but the expression of a well-considered and 
 well-founded demand and desire. 
 
REPEAL ASSOCIATION REPORTS. 327 
 
 Reports of the Loyal National Repeal Association, 
 
 FIRST SERIES. PREPARED BY BATE. 
 
 lleporfc on the number 
 of Representatives to 
 •which Ireland is en- 
 titled D. O'Connell, Esq. M.P. Apr. 21, 1840. 
 
 Report. — Ecclesiastical 
 Revenues Ditto. Apr. 23,1840. 
 
 Report. — State of the 
 
 Franchise in Ireland . Ditto. Apr. 27, 1840. 
 
 Report. — Means by 
 ■which the Union "was 
 carried Ditto. Apr. 30,1840. 
 
 Report. — Suggesting a 
 proposal for the recon- 
 struction of the House 
 of Commons of Ire- 
 land Ditto. May 4, 1840. 
 
 Report. — Financial In- 
 justice inllicted on Ire- 
 land ...... Michael Staunton, Esq. May 12, 1840. 
 
 Report. — Determination 
 shown by the Irish 
 People to maintain 
 the free Constitution 
 of Ireland. Resolu- 
 tions of Volunteers of 
 1782 D. O'Connell, Esq. M.P. May, 1840. , 
 
 SECOND SERIES. 
 
 First Report. — Resolu- 
 tions passed at the 
 period of the Union 
 against that measure . Ditto. August, 1840. 
 
 Second Report on ditto . Ditto. August, 1840. 
 
328 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCEg. 
 
 REPOIITS. PREPAHED BY DATE. 
 
 Report. — Fisheries of 
 
 Ireland D. O'Connell, Esq. M.P. August, 1840, 
 
 Report. — Comparative 
 State of Crime iu 
 England and Ireland. W.J.O'Neill Daunt, Esq. August, 1840. 
 
 Report. — Disastrous Ef- 
 fects of the Union on 
 the Woollen, Silk and 
 Cotton Manufactures 
 
 of Ireland . . . . T. M. Ray, Esq. Secre- 
 tary to the Repeal As- 
 sociation August, 1840. 
 
 Repeal Catechism . . D. O'Connell, Esq. J\I.P. Feb. 1842. 
 
 Financial Management 
 
 of Ireland .... Michael Staunton, Esq. August, 1842. 
 
 Report. — Various Reme- 
 dies proposed for the 
 Evils complained of 
 under the existing 
 system of Poor Laws 
 in Ireland .... J. O'Connell, Esq. M.P. Jan. 1843. 
 
 Argument for Ireland . Ditto. Jan. 1843. 
 
 Commercial Injustices . Ditto. Jan. 1843. 
 
 First General Report 
 of the Parliamentary 
 Committee .... W. S. O'Brien, Esq. M.P. March, 1844. 
 
 First Report on Borough 
 
 Franchises .... Francis Brady, Esq. . . Mar.11,1844. 
 
 Two Reports on Removal 
 
 of Irish Poor from 
 
 England Robert Mullen, Esq. . Mar. 25,1844, 
 
 andMar.1845. 
 Petition to the House of 
 
 Commons for Inquiry 
 
 into the State Trials . W.S. O'Brien, Esq. M.P. Feb. 1844. 
 
EEPEAL ASSOCIATION REPORTS. 329 
 
 EEPORTS. PREPARED BY DATE. 
 
 Petition against Fran- 
 chise Bill . .' . . D. O'Connell, Esq. M.P. Apr.17,1844. 
 
 Eeport on Fiscal Eela- 
 tions between Great 
 Britain and Ireland . J. O'Connell, Esq. M.P. Apr. 17, 1844. 
 
 Eeport on the Ordnance 
 
 Memoir of Ireland . Thomas Davis, Esq. . . Apr. 17, 1844. 
 
 Eeport on the Irish Mu- 
 nicipal Amendment 
 Bill Michael Doheny, Esq. . Apr. 23, 1844. 
 
 Eeport on the County 
 
 Franchises of Ireland Francis Brady, Esq. . . Ap. 29,1844. 
 
 Eeport on the Papers 
 relating to Scinde . . M. J. Barry, Esq. . . May 13, 1844. 
 
 Eeport. — Commercial 
 Tariffs and Eegula- 
 tions of the several 
 States of Europe . . J. O'Connell, Esq. M.P. May 20, 1844. 
 
 Eeport. — Joint - stock 
 
 Banking in Ireland . John Eeynolds, Esq. . April, 1844. 
 
 Eeport. — Arms (Ireland) 
 
 Eeturns Thomas Davis, Esq. . . May 27, 1844. 
 
 Eeport.— Lord Elliott's 
 
 Eegistration Bill . . J. L. Fitzgerald, Esq. . June, 1844. 
 
 Eeport. — Industrial Ee- 
 
 sources of Ireland . . T. McNevin, Esq. . . August,1844. 
 
 Eeport.— Glass Duties . Martin Crean, Esq. . . Aug. 1844. . 
 
 Eeport. — Petit Juries, 
 
 county Tipperary . . J. C. Fitzpatrick, Esq. . Aug.l3, 1844. 
 
 Eeport. — HurryingBills 
 
 through Parliament . Thomas Davis, Esq. . . Aug.19,1844. 
 
 Eeport. — Opening Post- 
 
 Office Letters . . . Ditto. Aug.26,1844. 
 
330 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 REPORTS. PREPARED BY DATE. 
 
 Report, — Attendance of 
 
 Irish Members . . . Thomas Davis, Esq. . . Sept, 2, 1844. 
 
 Eeport.— Irish Fisheries M. 0'Connell,Esq. M.P. Sept, 2, 1844. 
 Address to the Queen on 
 
 incarceration of State 
 
 Prisoners W.S. O'Brien, Esq. M.P. June 2, 1844. 
 
 Second General lleporfe Ditto. Nov. 26, 1844. 
 
 Seven Reports on the 
 
 Estimates of 1844-5 . Thomas Davis, Esq. . . July to Nov. 
 
 Report on Regulation 
 of the Profession of 
 Physic, &c JolmGray, Esq. M.D. . March, 1845. 
 
 First Report on Land 
 
 Question D. 0'Connell,E3q. M.P. Apr. 14, 1845. 
 
 Appendix of Evidence 
 
 to ditto J, O'Connell, Esq. M.P. Apr. 14, 1845. 
 
 Observations on Report 
 of Chamber of Com- 
 merce Bryan A, Molloy, Esq. . March, 1845. 
 
 Report on a Bill to esta- 
 blish Museums of Art 
 in Corporate Towns . J. Kelly, Esq. M.P. . . Apr. 14, 1845. 
 
 Report. — Maynooth Col- 
 lege Endowment Bill D. O'Connell, Esq. M.P. Apr. 14,1845. 
 
 Second and third Re- 
 ports on Land Ques- 
 tion Ditto. April & May. 
 
 Three Reports on Repeal 
 
 Reading-room . . . T. M. Ray, Esq. . . April, 1845, 
 
 Report on Service of 
 Process Bill for Eng- 
 land and Scotland . . James O'Dowd, Esq. . May, 1845. 
 
 Report on issue of Bank- 
 notes in Ireland . . J. Reynolds, Esq. T.C. June 3, 1845. 
 
REPEAL ASSOCIATION REPORTS. 331 
 
 REPORTS. PREPARED BY DATE. 
 
 Three Reports on the 
 
 Budget of 1845 . . J. O'Connell, Esq. M.P. March, 1845. 
 
 Ileport on Poor - Law 
 
 Amendment Bill . . R. Mullen, Esq. . . . June 10, 1845. 
 
 Two Reports on Bill to 
 promote letting of 
 Field-Gardens. . . W. Mackey, Esq. . . , June 30, 1845. 
 
 Report. — Tenants' Com- 
 pensation Bill . . Thomas Davis, Esq. . . May 23, 1845. 
 
 Repeal Dictionary . . J. O'Connell, Esq. M.P. July, 1845. 
 
 Report — Charitable Do- 
 nations and Bequest 
 (Ireland) .... B. A. Molloy, Esq. . . July 21, 1845. 
 
 Report. — Circuit Regu- 
 lations (England)Com- 
 mission J. L. Fitzgerald, Esq. . July, 1845. 
 
 Report. — Progress of Le- 
 gislation for Ireland — • 
 Session 1845 . . . B. A. Molloy, Esq. . . Sept. 1845. 
 
 Report. — Valuation of 
 Ireland Bill . . . . M. Doheny, Esq. . . July, 1845. 
 
 Report. — General Grand 
 
 Jury Laws of Ireland . J. L. Fitzgerald, Esq. . Dec. 1, 1845. 
 
 Report. — Inquiries for 
 Irish Railway Legisla- 
 tion to be transacted 
 in Dublin . . . . Sir C. O'Loghlen, Bart. Dec. 22, 1845. 
 
 Report. — Lunatic Asy- 
 lums Charles Bianconi . . . Feb. 2, 1846. 
 
 Third General Report . W.S. O'Brien, Esq. M.P. Feb, 16, 1846. 
 
 Second Edition, " Argu- 
 ment for Ireland" . J. O'Connell, Esq. M.P. June 20, 1846. 
 
332 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Subsequent to tlie unhappy scliism and rupture 
 in the Kepeal Association, additional reports were 
 drawn up, in anticipation of a discussion In Par- 
 liament of the great question of Bepeal. Mr. 
 O'Connell had announced in the autumn of 1846, 
 his intention to bring the question forward the 
 next session — an intention frustrated by what 
 circumstances it is unnecessary to say. 
 
 To prepare the public mind for this, the " Eepeal 
 Discussion" Sub-committee then presented the 
 following Reports, viz. — 
 
 Two on the Fiscal and Financial Relations be- 
 tween Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 One on the State of Trade and Commerce in 
 Ireland, epitomized from former documents, by 
 T. M. Ray, the Secretary. 
 
 One upon the Evils of Absenteeism, and on the 
 Deportation of Irish Paupers from England and 
 Scotland; contrasting the inhuman readiness mani- 
 fested in various parts of those countries to throw 
 back on Ireland, at the risk of life, the worn-out 
 Irish artisans and labourers, who had spent their 
 best da3^s and the greater part of their lives in 
 adding to the wealth of Great Britain; with the 
 utter refusal of Parliament, and of successive 
 
REPEAL ASSOCIATION REPORTS. 333 
 
 ministries, to sanction or propose any legislative 
 measure that miglit tend to check the disastrous 
 drain of absentee rent, Avhich robs Ireland of so 
 much of her capital. 
 
 A report on Land-tenure, and the various 
 projects started by various parties for the ame- 
 lioration of the relations between landlord and 
 tenant. 
 
 Two or three reports on projects for the Employ- 
 ment of the People during tlie potato dearth, and 
 its concurrent and consequent disasters, by the 
 undertaking of an extensive system of waste-land 
 reclamation, &c. 
 
 Three or four reports, showing that the Catholic 
 Emancipation Act had been practically repealed 
 in so far as regarded not only the appointment to 
 the multitudinous minor offices in the executive ; 
 but in the far more grievous respect of the jury 
 panels in counties, and jury lists in political 
 trials. 
 
 The minor Committees and Sub-committees, In 
 which these reports were prepared and drawn up, 
 were orderly enough and generally unanimous in 
 their deliberations and decisions. But this was 
 by no means the case with the " General and 
 
334 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Finance Committee," the chief or managing Com- 
 mittee of the whole. 
 
 My father's experience in Agitation proved to 
 him that there should be the following incidents 
 to any and all forms of popular organization: — 
 
 1st. That all deliberations and proceedings should 
 be open. 
 
 He never permitted a secret or an exclusive 
 Committee to be formed, or to sit. Entire pub- 
 licity and above-board operations were always 
 insisted on by him. 
 
 2d. A regular record of proceedings : such 
 record to be also open to examination, wlienever 
 required. 
 
 3dly. Facility to any member of the general 
 body to get himself upon any Committee. It only 
 required that the individual so desiring admission 
 should be proposed and seconded; and lie was 
 almost certain of being instantly appointed. 
 
 4thly. The proceedings of Committees to be at all 
 times subject to revision, or to appeal from them 
 in the open Association itself; and none of its 
 acts, if questioned^ to be considered valid, unless 
 sanctioned and adopted in the open Association. 
 
 This was a necessity of the state of the law in 
 
MR. o'connell's suggestions. 335 
 
 Ireland respecting public assemblies ; which forbid 
 not only all manner of delegation to, but also all 
 delegation /rom, such assemblies. 
 
 The General Committee had thus to attend to 
 the every-day working of the cause under what 
 must at first sight appear considerable difficulties. 
 It could never play any hidden game; all its 
 counsels, designs, and acts were at all times open 
 and known to the public ; and even if a resolution 
 of importance by any chance happened not to get 
 wind on the day of its passing, (a very rare occur- 
 rence indeed, as we generally found that before 
 evening of the days of our sittings, the major part 
 of what had been done was known all over 
 Dublin,) there it was in black and white, on the 
 Committee minute-books, sure to be seen and 
 made public during the w^eek. And the great 
 number, and facile additions to that number, of 
 members of Committee, and the advantage given 
 to crotchety and troublesome men, by the know- 
 ledge that, however outvoted up stairs, they could 
 rip up past transactions again, and cause a re- 
 discussion in the Hall, must, prima faciei seem 
 calculated to obstruct all rational progress and 
 decision. 
 
336 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 But in practice these difficulties were found 
 comparatively trifling. As to numbers, as has 
 been already mentionedj an average attendance of 
 about forty was the rule, even when the total of 
 the names on the Committee list had exceeded 
 200. And the very knov/ledge that there was 
 little or no real difficulty in getting upon the 
 Committee actually operated as a check to the 
 desire of being upon it. 
 
 The openness and publicity of our counsels and 
 proceedings constituted no new feature in popular 
 agitation. Such had been the invariable practice 
 of the Catholic Association. Mr. O'Connell had 
 set out in political life with the determination to 
 avoid all concealments. He had seen how futile 
 had been the attempts of the Irish revolutionists 
 in 1798 and 1803 to cover themselves with the 
 cloak of secrecy — how treachery had waited upon 
 all their movements, and frustrated every hope. 
 He had noticed the mutual suspicions and frequent 
 betrayals that occurred among their colleagues in 
 the secret councils of those times, when the first 
 ill-success spread panic. And as his was a policy 
 that in itself had no need to shun the day, he 
 resolved to pursue it throughout with entire and 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF REPEAL COMMITTEE. 337 
 
 consistent openness; and rather to forego a col- 
 lateral advantage purchasable by secrecy, than in 
 any Avay depart from the line he had laid down 
 for himself, and put liis fairest hopes for Ireland 
 in the power and at tlie mercy of traitors, fools, 
 or cowards. 
 
 The liabihty of the Committee's resolves and 
 proceedings to be revised, and if need were, 
 annulled, by the Association in full meeting, 
 proved a difficulty as inconsiderable in practice as 
 that of tlie liability to inconvenient numbers in 
 the Committee. The appeal to the general meet- 
 ing was indeed pretty often threatened ; but most 
 rarely put in execution. Men were satisfied with 
 the impression they made by the threat of appeal, 
 and the minor concessions they extorted by its 
 aid; and partly influenced by the consciousness 
 that they would have but their trouble for their 
 ])ains, as the majority of the Committee usually 
 included the men of most influence in the Asso- 
 ciation ; and partly actuated by the better motive 
 of desiring to avoid all public squabbling, the 
 dissenting minority, in most cases, submitted and 
 pushed their opposition no further than the door 
 of the Committee-room, 
 
 VOL. II. Q 
 
338 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 In the records of Agitation there has been but 
 one man noted for carrying tlie Avar out of the 
 Committee-room. This gentleman, an active and 
 prominent member of the Catholic Association, 
 was usually to be found in opposition to the plans 
 in favour Avith the main body of the Committee. 
 Time after time he protracted the discussion of 
 particular matters during three or four days of 
 successive adjournmentSj before a decision could 
 be had upon them, and " even though vanquished, 
 he could (and did) argue still." Mr. O'Connell 
 upon several occasions put the question to him 
 whether he v/as satisfied to abide by the decision 
 to which the Ct; imlttee had come ; and even 
 offered to re-open the discussion again, and let lilm 
 try his chance \ '?e more, rather than that the 
 divisions in Con , iculd be repeated in the 
 
 o-eneral meetinf]f. Tlip. individual alluded to o-ene- 
 rally answered that he gave the matter up ; and 
 yet, on the next day of meeting of the Associa- 
 tion, ho was sure to be found broaching once 
 more the whole subject of the dispute, as if 
 nothing at all respecting it had been agreed upon 
 up stairs ! 
 
 It would be an endless task to endeavour to 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF REPEAL COMMITTEE. 339 
 
 recount tlie varieties of difficulties and distractions 
 tliat beset the current of business in the General 
 Committee. The labour of conducting that busi- 
 ness was great at all times, but particularly so 
 in our numerous and excited meetings of 1843. 
 Tlie anxieties at that time were excessive, as 
 scarcely a Committee day passed, w^ithout some 
 startling novelty being proposed and pressed Avith 
 most energetic earnestness upon us. We never 
 knew wdiat the day might bring forth, and were 
 compelled to be perpetually upon our guard 
 against surprises. 
 
 It was strange and sad to w^itness the conduct 
 of a few of the younger men who joined us in this 
 year. At an age wdien a disposition to confiding- 
 ness and generosity of s(*inf}j.\r^^Jj^jL,?iYds others 
 is most usually remarkea, < -^^ ^/emed to have 
 entered the Association imb(t^n with feellnirs of 
 the darkest, and yet the paltriest suspicion of 
 persons who had preceded them in the Agitation. 
 A constant expectation of making out something 
 very w^onderful ; some terrible oiFence against the 
 country, and against patriotism — a disposition to 
 resist everything that originated with an elder 
 member of Committee ; and almost to impute 
 
340 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 motives to that member and to his supporters, and 
 a rather intolerant tone in pressing on us their 
 own pecnliar propositions and phxns — such were 
 the characteristics of, as I have said, a few among 
 the crowd of active spirits that enrolled themselves 
 this ^ ear in the national struggle. Hence many 
 of our difficulties of the time and afterwards, 
 and nearly all our anxieties. For the open oj^po- 
 sition and hostility of the Anti-Eepealers, English 
 and Irish, was of small account in our eyes, as 
 compared with the dangers of internal dissension 
 and division. With union in the popular body 
 success had been achieved in 1829, in despite of 
 the will of the then Sovereign, and the prejudices 
 and hostility of the Ministry and the two Houses 
 of Parliament. The organization of the Eepeal 
 Association was infinitely more extensive and 
 general throughout the country; and if we could 
 only keep united, there was every rational pro- 
 bability of speedy and entire success. But 
 once divided, failure and ruin would be inevi- 
 table. 
 
 Unhappily those dissensions and divisions, and 
 that entire disunion we witli so much reason 
 dreaded and deprecated, were laboured for, and 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF REPEAL C03IMITTEE. 341 
 
 fostered even from the beginning of 1843 ; and 
 the propagators of them sedulously pursued their 
 disastrous ends, till they met their full accom- 
 plishment in that year of disgrace and dismay, the 
 year 1848. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MEETING AT HULLAGnJIAST. — RATIIMORE. — KILCULLEN. REPEAT. 
 
 SPEECHES.— THE BANQUET. — GOVERNJIIENT PROCLAMATION. — MEET- 
 ING AT CLONTARP FORBIDDEN- CONCLUSION. 
 
 It was late in the autumn of this year, (1843,) 
 that the great meeting was held at Mulhighmast, 
 in tlie County of Kildarc, which formed a very 
 prominent topic with our prosecutors at the sub- 
 sequent State Trials. 
 
 The locality of this meeting Avas famous, or 
 rather infamous, from the circumstance mentioned 
 in the following extract from writers on Irish 
 history : — 
 
 "After the 19th year of Queen Elizabetli, a 
 horrihU massacre icas committed hy tlie English at 
 the Rathmore of Mulloghmaston, on some hundreds 
 of the most peaceable of the Irish gentrij, invited 
 thither on the pullic faith and under the protection 
 of Government,''^ 
 
RATHMORE. 343 
 
 Tlie " Rathmore " mentioned in the foreo-oinff, 
 is one of those singular constructions common in 
 Ireland, generally designated by the people, 
 " Danish forts." They are too well-known to the 
 general reader from the many interesting works 
 upon the antiquities of these islands, to need any 
 detailed description here. The Rath at Mul- 
 laghmast is, like nearly all the others, a circular 
 enclosure on the top of an eminence, with a 
 descent from all sides of it close to the fort itself. 
 The walls are artificial mounds, rising to about 
 twice the height of a man, and clothed centuries 
 ago with the ordinary vegetation and verdure that 
 soon covers and almost obliterates the traces of 
 man, where he has ceased to dwell or to make 
 resort. 
 
 The space enclosed is of the largest, and quite 
 competent to have accommodated the multitude 
 of victims who are recorded to have been upon 
 it. Certainly, no place could be better fitted 
 for a trap for the unwary, the mound being so 
 high all around it, with the exception of one or 
 two narrow openings, which were well guarded, 
 doubtless ; while on the top of the mounds, the 
 
344 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 slangliterers may be supposed to have taken their 
 stations, at least during the first of the assault. 
 The doomed Janissaries at Constantinople, or the 
 Mamelukes in Alexandria, were scarcely more 
 securely trapped for wholesale slaughter and utter 
 destruction, than the crowds of the ancient no> 
 bility and gentry of Ireland within this fatal 
 enclosure, into which they were led and betrayed 
 by their disastrous reliance upon English honour. 
 
 We left Dublin on a Saturday afternoon, with 
 the intention of sleeping at Kilcullen, a large 
 villa£re town in Kildare. We were as merry a 
 coach full of Agitators, packed both inside and 
 out, upon and in a large mail hired for the pur- 
 pose, as ever yet started on an expedition ; and 
 my father, as usual, the liveliest and the merriest 
 of the party. He 
 
 " AVitli many a merry tale, and many a song, 
 Clieer'd the rough road, and made us wish it long !" 
 
 There is a sort of poetic licence in the last quo- 
 tation. He was guiltless of having, at any period 
 of his life, ever 8ung a song ; but was fond of 
 reciting the most touching and patriotic of the 
 
KILCULLEN. 345 
 
 sweet and stirring lays of Tommy Moore ; as well 
 as many of the older songs and ballads, having 
 reference to the melancholy history of Ireland. 
 His recitals were beautiful ; completely entrancing 
 and carrying away his auditory. I have witnessed 
 even phlegmatic Saxon blood aroused by them, 
 and warmed up to expressions of sympathy with 
 the fall of Ireland's fortunes, and horror at the 
 means of English conquest. 
 
 "We were received at Kilcu.llen by the good 
 and amiable parish priest, the llev. Dr. IMurtagli ; 
 who most hospitably insisted on our taking pos- 
 session of his domicile in every way. A merry 
 dinner followed, and then to bed early, to be ready 
 for the good work of the morrow. After mass 
 had been heard by the Catholics of the party, 
 and our Protestant colleagues had had the oppor- 
 tunity of attending their own service, we set out 
 for Mullaghmast, attended and preceded by car- 
 riages with deputations from the various muni- 
 cipal bodies of Leinster, all in their robes, bands 
 of music of various Temperance Societies, dressed 
 out in their uniforms, unknown at tlie Horse 
 Guards, gentry and others from Dublin and othet 
 
 Q 3 
 
346 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 towns, &c. &c. As usual, there was a guerilla 
 cavalry of stout, comfortable well-to-do farmers 
 and yeomen, on their own farm-horses ; many of 
 them, too, with their comely wives, snugly seated 
 en croupei and the younger men each Avith a wand 
 and ribbons of sky-blue and white, or green, to 
 mark their office as organizers and peace-Jceepers ; 
 while others bore the same insignia on foot, to 
 show they were also ready to act as a voluntary 
 police, and prevent the slightest infraction of 
 the law. 
 
 JMy father, of course, spoke from the centre 
 platform ; and, as a matter of course, the horrible 
 incident tliat has given a melancholy celebrity in 
 Ireland to the great "Kath" of Mullaghmast, 
 was referred to and dilated upon by him. The 
 subsecpient speakers made it the chief theme and 
 burden of their orations; some with considerable 
 effect and impression, and others with effect) too, 
 but not of a very flattering nature. 
 
 I was particularly struck with the speech of 
 one individual. He had arrived in the course of 
 his most fluent harangue at that period of the 
 tale, (already ten times told,) where the Irish 
 
REPEAL SPEECHES. 347 
 
 chieftains and their leading dependents were 
 entered into the enclosure they never again were 
 to repass with life; and thus he announced the 
 catastrophe : — 
 
 " And while they were expecting to be regaled 
 li'ith all the delicacies of the season, they had their 
 heads cut off ! /" 
 
 This, as to descriptive power and effect, ap- 
 peared to me quite worthy to be classed with the 
 following, in a description of an exhibition of 
 pictures about fifteen years ago. The subject 
 represented was a murder ; and the describer thus 
 wrote : — 
 
 " Behind him [scil. the victim), stands a ruffian, 
 evidently animated by no friendly intentions, about 
 to stab him in the back ! " 
 
 The presumption in the second limb of the 
 sentence was, to say the least of it, not at all 
 forced or unnatural. 
 
 The usual " Banquet " took place within the 
 Bath itself, which admitted of the construction of 
 an immense tent, beneath Avliich, not less cer- 
 tainly than 600 or 700 persons managed to 
 stow themselves. The immense tent was hand- 
 
348 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 somely adorned with festoons of laurel and of 
 flowerSj and patriotic mottoes and devices ; and 
 the brilliancy of tlie scene increased by three 
 or four rows of well-dressed ladies at either 
 end. 
 
 I had the honour of being appointed Chairman 
 on this occasion, and as T took my elevated post, 
 the following intimation was conveyed to me by 
 the stewards: — 
 
 ^' We must break up at nine for the sake of tlie 
 Press, and also to make sure that the remainder 
 of the i^eople go off the ground to their homes. 
 It is now six, and you have three hoiu-s to get 
 through the dinner and the twenty-two toasts. Do 
 what you can." 
 
 Thus informed and incited, I had to set to^, 
 and I have always made it my boast since, that I 
 "got over the ground," in spite even of the some- 
 what pertinacious melody of the Temperance 
 bands ; and " did the icork " a quarter of an hour 
 short of the stipulated time. Let me recommend 
 my example to others who may have similar 
 troublesome honours thrust upon them. I spoke 
 very briefly myself, and with the exception of one 
 
G0VERN3IENT PROCLAMATION. 349 
 
 or two speakers, I was up to propose the next toast 
 ■\vlthln a minute or a minute and a half, after the 
 last had been duly responded to. 
 
 Our descent from the Rath, after the termina- 
 tion of the proceedings, was exceedingly pictu- 
 resque. The night had fallen darkly, and the 
 voluntary police, or " O'Connell's Police," as 
 they had insisted upon designating themselves, 
 held each a huge torch, its murky and flickering 
 glare throwing a lurid light upon the grassy walls 
 of the moat, and upon the visages and forms of all 
 present. Fancy might almost have imaged us as 
 the shadowy and " blood boltered" forms of the 
 murdered multitude who had there fallen, revisit- 
 ino; the scene of their horrid fate in the dead 
 darkness and stillness of that autumn night. 
 
 The next week there were " rumours dire," 
 that a crisis was at hand — that the Government, 
 having hitherto displayed vigour only in empty 
 denunciations and bravadoes in Parliament, had 
 at length screwed their spirits up to actual inter- 
 ference with the popular demonstrations. 
 
 On Friday, 6tli of October, it was known that 
 an important Privy Council was being held in 
 
350 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Dublin, to receive a despatch from the English 
 Privy Council, having reference to an intended 
 great meeting on the strands of Clontarf near 
 Dublin, announced for Sunday. What result was 
 come to we possessed no possible means of divin- 
 ing, and had to wait in patience or impatience for 
 twenty-four hours, ere we learned it. In expecta- 
 tion of a coup cVetaty my father assembled the 
 Committee early on Saturday, and while waiting 
 intelligence, we occupied ourselves with the huge 
 heap of missives from various parts of the country, 
 and from Liverpool, Glasgow, &c., announcing the 
 contingents that Avere on their Avay to Dublin to 
 attend the meeting on Sunday. As the day wore 
 on, the Committee-room became densely crowded, 
 and the excitement rapidly increased. At a little 
 after three we were informed that an unexpected 
 channel of intelligence had been opened, and that 
 we might therefore expect to hear whatever was 
 to be heard ; and at length, at half-past three a 
 breathless messenger rushed in with a copy of a 
 proclamation, just wet from the press, against any 
 meeting at Clontarf. 
 
 What was to be done? The day was closing 
 
MEETING FORBIDDEN. 351 
 
 fust, and early next morning it was certain that 
 thousands would be on the ground, and multitudes 
 of others in full march towards it, from various 
 directions. How were all these to be warned, and 
 what could be done to avert the fearful chances of 
 collision and bloodshed upon the morrow ? chances 
 incurred with such startling recklessness by those, 
 whosoever they might be, that had delayed issuing 
 the proclamation. 
 
 My father instantly met the case. Instead of 
 wasting time in denunciations, he sent one of his 
 most faithful and trusty followers and adherents, 
 Mr. Peter Martin, a most highly respectable 
 builder, of Dublin, with full powers to cause the 
 platform to be taken down, and removed. Next, 
 there was an appeal for volunteers to offer them- 
 selves to go out and notice the country people 
 approaching the city. At once, twenty or thirty 
 gentlemen offered, and were despatched in pairs ; 
 while others were charged with the same com- 
 mission throughout the streets of Dublin. In 
 short, every thing conceivable in the hurry of 
 the moment was done by Mr. O'Connell, and the 
 General Committee, to prevent the spilling of 
 
352 PARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 hunican blood ; wliicli would have been the inevit- 
 able consequence, had the original intention been 
 adhered to, and the people been allowed to pro- 
 ceed unwarned, till they found themselves full 
 in front of the strong body of soldiery that had 
 been privately ordered to the ground. 
 
 It came to be known subsequently that the 
 proclamation was received from the English Privy 
 Council, and adopted here on Friday, the 6th ; 
 yet its publication was, as I have stated, delayed 
 till so late on Saturday, that the chances were 
 a hundred to one that it could not be made 
 known in sufficient time to prevent the immense 
 assemblage coming together. The present Earl 
 St. Germains, then Lord Eliot, and Secretary 
 for Ireland, actually put forward in the House 
 as a reason for this delay, which might have cost 
 thousands of lives, that " time Avas wanted to 
 arrange the icording of the proclamation ! ! ! " 
 
 I must mention here, that a rumour of a very 
 fearful character prevailed as to the real cause of 
 the delay ; — a rumour officially sneered at, indeed, 
 but never contradicted, or, at least, satisfactorily 
 contradicted. It was, that in the Irish Privy Coun- 
 
MEETING FORBIDDEN. 353 
 
 cil a disposition was manifested to urge the total 
 suppression of the proclamation, or, at least, its 
 delay until Sunday morning, so as the people 
 might assemble, and not be made aware till they 
 reached the ground that the meeting was for- 
 bidden. The soldiery were then to advance, the 
 proclamation and the riot act were to be read, 
 and the sequel — left to chance ! 
 
 Rumour added, that, but for the energetic and 
 most honourable, wdiile most natural and humane 
 remonstrances of tlie Irish Commander-in-Chief, 
 the gallant and good Sir Edward Blakeney, this 
 most monstrous and devilish proposition had some 
 chance of being adopted. 
 
 If these statements can be proved to have been 
 unfounded, — and for the honour of our common 
 humanity it is most desirable that they should 
 be so proved, — it deeply imports the character 
 and conscience of every man wdio had a seat at 
 that Council Board on those eventful days, — saving 
 always and excepting the good Sir Edward 
 Blakeney, — to have an official refutation of them 
 published even now. 
 
354 TARLIAMENTARY EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Mv limits here warn me to conclude, at least 
 for the present, these hasty memoranda. I have 
 endeavoured to jot down things exactly as I recol- 
 lected them, and to deal fairly and truthfully 
 with every incident and person I have noticed. 
 There has not, at any rate, been any wilful desire 
 to give offence, or to misrepresent: and all that 
 I have dealt with must be allowed to be fair 
 matter of public comment. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 I 
 
 R. CLAY, PBINXLn, BREAD STUEtT DILL. 
 
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