liverance, in the critical appositeness of its occurrence scarcely less marvellous than any which is recorded in the Holy Scriptures.

But how is Ireland to be governed without them? We will not stop at present to answer so very foolish a question. All that any government should require, is obedience to mild and merciful laws. If that obedience is given, the end of good government is obtained. If not we should hope that a British minister is not so utterly without resource as not to

be able to compel submission, if they 'cannot prevail that it be voluntarily accorded.

Having thus delivered ourselves of our weightiest convictions, upon what we believe to have been our author's principal object in the compilation of his book, we would not be doing him justice if we did, not enable our readers to enjoy some very pleasing writing, upon incidental topics, by which the graver matter of his pages is occasionally relieved. To the following sketch of O'Connell as a lawyer, those who know that man best will be likely to take the fewest exceptions:

He

"Caution in conducting a case was his most prominent characteristic. He affected to be careless, but a more wary advocate never stood in a court of justice. Perhaps no great advocate ever had the same relish for the legal profession. O'Connell hunted down a cause with the gusto of a Kerry foxhunter in pursuit of Reynard. keenly enjoined baffling the crown counsel, and bullying the witnesses against some trembling culprit in the dock. In those times counsel for prisoners were not allowed to address the jury, but O'Connell had a great art of putting illegal questions to a witness, and in arguing for their legality, made 'aside' short interjectional speeches to the jury.

"You see, my Lud, the reason why I put the question was because if the witness were to answer in the affirmative, it would then be a manifest impossibility that my client could have been present at the murder, whereas, on the other hand, if the answer be in the negative, then the credibility of the whole statement of the crown counsel would be impugned by that very answer: so then, my Lud, the jury would be obliged,' &c. He would then teaze the judge by putting his question in three or four different forms, and overwhelm

the crown counsel with derisive expo'Good sure of their legal ignorance. God! my Lud, did any one ever hear a crown lawyer propound such monstrous law?' He acted the part of an indignant lawyer to perfection; caught up his brief-bag in a seeming fury, and dashed it against the witness-tablefrowned-muttered fearfully to himself -sat down in a rage, with a horrid scowl on his face-bounced up again, in a fit of boiling passion, and solemnly protested in the face of heaven against such injustice-threw his brief awayswaggered out of the court-house-then swaggered back again, and wound up by brow-beating and abusing half a dozen more witnesses, and, without any real grounds whatever, finally succeeded in making half of the jury refuse to bring in a verdict of 'Guilty.'

"In civil cases he was equally successful. In will causes, disputed estates, and questions originating in family quarrels, he was unrivalled for his tact, presence of mind, and, above all, for his understanding the details of business. He was the best man of business that ever appeared at the Irish Bar, and was rather vain of his skill in arithmetical calculations. He had great knowledge of character, and directed the motives of a plaintiff or defendant with inimitable skill. His combination of worldly knowledge and professional information-his aptness and ingenuity -his exhaustless supply of humour-his torrents of caustic ridicule-his zeal for his client, and untiring physical energies, rendered him altogether matchless at the Irish Bar.

66

Perhaps his greatest quality in a court of justice was his oblivion of himself. When addressing a jury, he forgot every thing around him, and thought only of bringing off his client victorious. No lust for oratorical display ever tempted him to make a speech dangerous to the party by whom he was retained. Sooner than have made such a speech as Brougham delivered in the case of Ambrose Williams, O'Connell would have thrown up his brief. He was, par excellence, the safest advocate ever entrusted with a case. For the union of great general power he stands without a rival in the history_of_the legal profession. Curran and Erskine were finer orators, but they were shallower lawyers; Plunket had a more powerful understanding, and was superior to all contemporary advocates in sustained reasoning powers, but he had little of O'Connell's versatility. If Sir Thomas Wilde had pathos and humour, he would be a sort of English O'Connell. Redoubtable as was Garrow at crossexamination, he was inferior to the great

Irish advocate in the art of putting a prepared witness off his guard. Besides, Garrow had a set plan for approaching a witness, and seldom made those wonderful guesses at character, by which O'Connell gained many a verdict."

In alluding to the Doneraile conspiracy, which obtained such fearful notoriety from 1829 to 1832, Mr. George Bond Low, whose life was so frequently attempted, is thus described :

"Mr. Bond Low was fired at on three different occasions, and his escapes were really marvellous. He was a very active and zealous magistrate, and from his extraordinary determination, nay, his downright heroism, was a most formidable person to all who meditated deeds of violence. He was a very large and heavy figure, possessed a cool and daring spirit, and with the exception of the King of the French, no man was, probably, so often attacked by dastardly assassins; but all parallel ceases between Louis Philippe and Mr. Low, when the fact is noticed, that the latter, riding amongst his foes without guards, and by himself alone, more than once captured his assailants, and brought them to the gallows they deserved.

"On one occasion, in the noon day, two strong and active peasants, armed with fire-arms, attacked him from behind a fence. Nothing daunted, although his mare was severely wounded, he jumped off and crossed the fence. The men fled before him, and he gave chase; but being rather unwieldy, had little chance of catching them. He had pistols, one of which he had ineffectually discharged -they had guns, which they re-loaded. He was afraid to fire, lest they were beyond his reach, and when the men halted to fire again at him, he calculated that by running in on them, even at the hazard of his life, he would still have a chance of capturing them. He did so; one of the men fired-missed-and ran away. On rushed Mr. Low, and when the second assassin had discharged his piece without effect, though he grazed the shoulder of his dauntless pursuer, Mr. Low having lessened his distance, fired his remaining pistol, and mortally wounded the peasant. With assistance he captured his other assailant, and brought him to trial at the next assizes, when he was capitally convicted and executed.

"Such was only one of Mr. Low's extraordinary escapes. Many a romance, greater than ever fiction invented, has been acted in Ireland,' exclaimed Sir Robert Peel, in his speech on the coercion

bill; and certainly if the adventures of the late George Bond Low, of the county of Cork, were duly chronicled, it would be seen that in defence of law and order, there have been performed more gallant exploits by a county of Cork magistrate, unknown to any but local fame, than have ever been achieved against the law by Mr. Harrison Ainsworth's exalted heroes, Messrs. Turpin, Sheppard, and Co.

"Mr. Low was not exactly an estated proprietor, but neither was he a middleman; his lands were laid out for pasture rather than tillage. His obnoxiousness arose simply from the determined manner with which he confronted all evil doers. He was a very strong Conservative, and took rather a prominent part in publishing his opinions; but his politics were, if any, only a slight ingredient in rendering him unpopular. He was an honest bigot, and there was nothing sour or cramped in his nature; on the contrary, his deportment was frank and amiable. There was a heartiness in his manners towards Catholics, as well as Protestants; and he had many a decided O'Connellite amongst his staunch private friends. He weighed some eighteen stone, kept most powerful horses, and rode very forward to the well-known Duhallow fox hounds, in following which it was always easy to recognize him amongst the most crowded field by his large person, and powerful charger. By the gentry and middle classes of all parties, he was deservedly respected as a frank, open-hearted, fearless country gentleman. But amongst the peasantry and lower classes he was considered the impersonation of legal power, and as he had (though in his own self-defence, and in obedience to the instincts of nature, as well as in discharge of his magisterial functions) been the cause of many a death, he was held in great odium. Such, alas! is the state of any country when the great mass of the people are in misery-when they know the law oftener by its terrors than by its mercies.

"And yet, mark! one of those sudden changes to which the Irish character is so liable. That very Mr. Low died some five years since amidst the heartfelt regret of all the poor, and the entire peasantry in his neighbourhood! Yet, in the years 1830, 1831, and 1832, he was such an object of popular odium, that when at a crowded meeting at an election, while the people were waiting for the poll to be declared, if any one cried out the well-known distich,

Three cheers for the man who gave the blow,
That broke the pate of George Bond Low,'

the lines were received with cheers

and laughter,' part of the laughter being undoubtedly at the poet's converting a possible future event, into the time of the positive past. It is only right to say, that though Mr. Low never ceased from his activity in upholding the law, he took special care to be distinguished by his anxiety to do justice to the poorest person, and he had recourse to every justifiable means of conciliating the affections of the peasantry, without abandoning his principles, or crouching to intimidation.'

The great agitator's triumph over the then solicitor-general, the present Chief Justice Doherty, upon the occasion of the trials to which this conspiracy gave rise, is very graphically detailed, as also the Roland for his Oliver which the latter delivered with such withering power, when he caught his adversary in the House of Commons. O'Connell, not satisfied with baffling the prosecution, vaunted of his victory, of which he might naturally not be a little proud, before multitudes whom he addressed out of court, and before whom he pledged himself to impeach Mr. Doherty, or as he called him, "long Jack Doherty of Borrisokane," as soon as he took his place in parliament. Of this empty gasconade he very soon had reason to repent. We fully agree with our author, when he says:

"The manly course for O'Connell would have been, to have retracted the charges publicly, as he was half inclined to do in private, but the solicitor-general, who, probably cared much less for the charges that O'Connell had made, than he thirsted for an opportunity of 'paying off the agitator, for having bullied and browbeat him at Cork, would on no account have any compromise, and week after week, during the session of 1830, the House of Commons witnessed Mr. Doherty rise, and with the most caustic bitterness dare O'Con nell to bring forward any charge against him. The latter staved off the evil day as long as he could. One time he fixed the motion for a Wednesday, when there was no house; another time he fixed it for the Easter holidays; but at length, goaded to the combat, he gave notice for the 12th of May; but alas! the impeachment which he had roared about in Ireland had dwindled to a motion for the judge's notes. The English members of parliament, of both sides of the house, felt that this was not fair to the solicitor-general; when they found

O'Connell shrinking from bringing forward the heavy charges he had made against that functionary in Ireland, while speaking to the populace. However, the discussion took place, when O'Connell artfully made a very quiet speech in bringing his motion forward, and abstained from making any open charge against the solicitor-general, whose long-deferred triumph was at hand.

·

"When he sat down, Mr. Doherty rose, and cautiously preserving a cool and gentlemanly demeanour, without using a single word or phrase for which he was liable to be called to order, delivered against the renowned agitator a speech of the most poignant bitterness. So much polite venom was, perhaps, never uttered in parliament. The harshness of the insinuations against O'Connell was carefully veiled in conventional phraseology; but the criminatory character of the whole speech, with its jeering, scoffing, jibing tone, and its contemptuous insolence have never been surpassed even by the most approved masters of parliamentary Billingsgate. It was certainly the greatest laceration O'Connell ever received. The stinging sarcasms of Lord Stanley, and the philippics of The Times,' were far surpassed in caustic personality by Solicitor-general Doherty. It was a speech under which O'Connell winced, and the laurels he had gained at the late special commission were considerably tarnished by Mr. Doherty's triumph over him in the House of Commons. Not one member of the bar supported him; and Mr. North, an Irish barrister, crowed over the prostrate agitator in a most amusing way: In Ireland, the honourable and learned gentleman had spoken with the stentorian voice of a full-grown Irish giant, but in that house he resembled the baby who lisped the name of Edward Morrogh! In one country he was like the monarch of the woods, but in the other he "aggravated his voice," and roared like any sucking dove.' To add to Mr. Doherty's triumph, Mr. Callaghan, the member for Cork, told the house that he had been on the second jury, and that he felt bound to bear his testimony to the propriety of the course pursued by the solicitor-general.' On all points he was beaten, not a single lawyer supported him, and the attorney and solicitor-general of England both defended Mr. Doherty's conduct.

"There can be no doubt that O'Connell's parliamentary reputation received a very heavy blow on that occasion. The reckless and unscrupulous manner in which he had assailed Mr. Doherty, and the evident anxiety to run away from a contest with that gentleman in

the House of Commons, made a very injurious impression against him, even amongst liberal politicians, many of whom were thereupon disposed to receive cum grano his assertions concerning the Irish government. It was well remarked at the time by Mr. Fonblanque, when commenting on Mr. Doherty's fierce invective, Idle and unbecoming as was this irrelevant countercharge, it should serve to show Mr. O'Connell how large a handle he furnishes his enemies by the length and looseness of his tongue. Nothing more impairs a public man's authority, than a character for unscrupulous exagge ration.''

Now for a very different portrait, that of the Apostle of Temperance, Father Mathew :

"There is a small Capuchin Friary in the city of Cork, in an obscure place called Blackamoors-lane. It possesses some historic interest from the fact that it was built by Arthur O'Leary, after whom it was for many years called 'Father O'Leary's Chapel.' It is a small building, exceedingly plain outside, though it is neat within, and fitted up with some taste. It is situated in a very poor and neglected neighbourhood, where poverty and wretchedness abound. Nearly thirty years since a young Capuchin joined the mission attached to this chapel. In appearance, as well as reality, he was very youthful, and he was strikingly handsome. About the middle stature, active and wellformed in his body, with a comely and ingratiating presence, his countenance, in which natural courtesy and religious feeling strove for predominance, was the index of his disposition. He had a manly complexion-eyes, large, bright, and sweet in expression-a slightly curved nose, and rounded cheeks, with black hair. In the words of Massin. ger

the fair outside

Was but the cover of a fairer mind.'

"To great suavity of manners, which was a prominent characteristic in his deportment, he joined dignity of carriage, and a composed serenity of mind. A steady self-control presided over all his acts and emotions. A cordial politeness, and unvarying affability distinguished him. To the higher classes, he was exceedingly respectful, and was always considered by them as one of their order; to the poor he was so gentle in his bearing, and so patient of their little requests and petitions-so earnest

in pleading their cause, and what was better than kind words or noble speeches, so practically useful and humane, that they also (the more Christian compliment) regarded him as one of themselves.

"At the period of his life when he first attracted attention in Cork, an observer might have classed him (except for his years) as one of that portion of the Irish clergy who were French by sympathy and education, and had imbibed their ideas of life under la vieille cour. The habitual polish of his manner (quite free from aristocratic morgue) indicated a man of refinement, accustomed to move in those circles where elegance is worshipped as a minor deity. To the polish of his address, his early intimacy with persons distinguished for manner may have contributed; but after all, politeness with Mr. Mathew was a dictate of his heart, and attention to his solemn duties was never weakened by the discharge of the trivial homages which the artificiality of society exacts from all its members. If he never shocked the social prejudices of the higher classes, neither did he ever cringe to them, nor dally with their vices, nor preach in glozing style, doctrines palatable to their ears. On the other hand, in his intercourse with the humble poor, he did not inflame their feelings of wrong to exasperation, or by bitter speeches add fuel to their animosities. Yet it would be difficult to say with which extreme of society he was most popular. It is a curious fact that both claimed him as a clergyman after their desires, in itself a satisfactory proof that, as he was not a courtier of the great, so neither was he an incendiary amongst the people. In a few years his friary became the fashionable resort. Thither the devout belle went to enjoy mass later by an hour than could be heard in any other chapel in Cork. The creme of the Catholic society might have been seen there. Mr. Mathew himself was always at the door to receive the visiters to his place of worship. But while his notice was eagerly sought by the rich and gay, no confessional was besieged by the poor with the same ardour as that where our own Father Mathew' sat to rebuke vice, assuage grief, and console misery.

those who asked for his consolations, was the character of those who sought him as a confessor."

It cannot be denied that the temperance movement, to which this excellent man has so materially contributed, has greatly subserved the purposes of repeal agitation. Its combination, its machinery, and its bands of instrumental music, although intended to answer very different ends, have been all pressed into the service of the agitator, whose career, as long as it was unchecked, seemed to threaten nothing less than the dismemberment of the

empire. But, how are the mighty fallen! One act of vigour, evincing a determination on the part of the government to grapple with the disturbers, has quailed the courage of the demagogue, who has become the very impersonation of fear, and

"Back recoils, he knows not why,

Even at the sound himself had made."

Where now is the agitation, which, for more than twelve months, had frighted the isle from its propriety? Echo answers-where ! The archmagician, whose powerful incantations had convoked so many fiendish forms, who only awaited the word "havoc,” to rend and shatter into huge convulsion the whole fabric of social order, is now only solicitous to remand, with as much speed as may be, his demon auxiliaries to the place from whence they came. In vain they grin and chatter, gnash their teeth, and lash their tails, for permission to enter upon the work of destruction, for which they have been so well prepared. The master of the spell is inexorable. Down they must go. The very idea of bloodshed makes him sick at heart, and he is only too glad of the opportunity of exhibiting the tenderness and compassion of his nature towards his most inveterate enemies. He will, even for the present, put the restraint upon himself of not calling names. He will no longer call the English "Saxons." He always, indeed, intended it as a compliment when he so named them. But, he understands it has given offence, and he will use the obnoxious phrase no more!

Was ever such magical effect produced by a proclamation? The nation was convulsed and agitated to its very

centre, by the working of open and secret treason. Government has only spoken in the spirit of the constitution, and there is a great calm! The agitator who defied them to the contest, who proclaimed himself prepared to meet them, either in the court-house, or the field, suddenly feels the hot fit in which he uttered his threats succeeded by a cold one, in which he mutters a miserable retractation. From an object of alarm he has become an object of contempt. He who, erst, invoked the "hereditary bondsmen" to strike a blow for their native land, now whines in the dolorous accents of trembling mendicancy

"Pity the sorrows of a poor old man;”

and has no lash upon his tongue for any one but the unruly curs who grumble at the restraint in which they are held, and would still fain grin and bark at those whom he so frequently taught them to consider as implacable enemies. Never was metamorphosis so sudden, or so amusing. It beats any thing that could be witnessed at Saddler's Wells. Every one has heard the story of the robber, who took his purse from a gentleman on the high way, and being suddenly pursued, contrived to doff his highwayman's garb, and assume that of a beggar, in which he calmly met the party in quest of him, and not only escaped detection, but received an alms. Verily, Daniel, such a piece of luck may be thine, unless you are known as an old fox, by those who are at present upon your track. And if you should thus baffle them, greater, we fully acknowledge, will be your triumph, than if you met and defeated them in the field. Loud and long be your io pœans for this complete and bloodless victory.

To the government we would say, go on. You have commenced well; but until agitation has been effectually put down, nothing worthy of commendation will have been accomplished. You have put your hands to the plough -look not back. Nothing short of imperial interests should have prompted the strong measure to which you have had recourse, and no merely technical difficulties, or quibbles of special pleading, should prevent your following up the blow that has been struck, until an agitation, the most wanton, the most pestilent, and, withal, the most profli