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approve, you instantly reject it; and is this the time for such high-plumed and haughty discontents? Is this the language of a man who professes himself the advocate of moderation? Truly, a strange kind of moderation which outrages and insults. I, my Lord, support a moderation of a different kind, though it does not preclude me from a true love of my country. I, too, can feel the miseries of Ireland; but it is because my heart is grieved, even to sadness, at the contemplation of her calamity, that I am resolved to make a sacrifice for her happiness. The end is freedom, and who will say that the means are ignoble? But, my Lord, there is not a man here who does not accord with me in one great principle. Divided as we are by those differences which are inseparable from all human transactions, there is one exalted sentiment, one sublime sensation, in which we all concur-the thirsting after, the ineffable desire of, freedom. The young are elevated by the aspirations of hope, and the old—I have read that an aged man who had been confined in a subterranean dungeon was liberated at his last gasp; he crawled to the gates of his prison, and, as he expired, thanked God that he had seen the sun before he died! And where is he who, before he descends into his grave, does not cherish the holy hope that he may behold the liberation of his country?" [Loud applause.]

When the applause had subsided, Mr. O'Connell rose to reply:"While the meeting was yet dazzled and warmed with the brilliant and glowing language of his young friend, he rashly offered himself to their consideration. He rashly interposed the cold, dull jargon of the courts the unanimated and rough dialect of the pleader; but the cause of freedom and of his country would enable him, even him, to unravel the flimsy web of sophistry which was hid beneath

the tinsel glare of meretricious ornament. He admired the splendid talents of his young friend. They were bestowed on him for the highest purposes-they were suited to the greatest and best purposes-to relieve and adorn his country. Let him raise his soul to the elevation of his talents, and not take the puny and pigmy ground of party or division. God and Nature have been bountiful to him. Let him, in recompense, as bountifully give, by consecrating to the service of liberty and Ireland all the fascinations of his fancy, and all the brilliant glories of his genius.

"The proposition goes to declare that, either as Irishmen or as Catholics, they never would consent to allow to the Crown, or the servants of the Crown, any interference in the appointment of their bishops. He (Mr. O'Connell) supported the motion upon both grounds: first, as an Irishman, that this interference would be injurious to public liberty; secondly, that, as a Catholic, it would be destructive of the Catholic religion. . . . . Let the servants of the Crown, then, be content with the patronage they had. It is sufficient for their purpose; and if this addition be but small, let them leave us this small independence, for this little is our all-and great it is, in fact." Mr.

O'Connell continued to argue on the demoralizing influence that would be exercised upon the priesthood and the people by ecclesiastical patronage in the hands of a Government professing a different creed. These sentiments prevailed, and Mr. Sheil's amendment was rejected by a great preponderance of opinion.

CHAPTER III.

1814-1817.

Called to the Bar-Play of Adelaide-Curran and GrattanPius VII. and the Veto-Political apathy-First marriage— Tragedy of The Apostate-The "Quarterly Review."

HAVING kept his terms at Lincoln's Inn, he returned to Ireland full of ambitious hopes connected with his future professional career. He was impatient to assume the privileged garb, yet he hesitated to draw upon the diminished resources of his family for the further expense attendant on being called to the bar. An expedient suggested itself to his mind of which, in secret, he prepared to avail himself. His fondness for the stage, and familiarity with ancient as well as modern drama, had often led him in hours of idleness to try whether he, too, did not possess the gift of tragic Many unfinished scenes lay amongst his papers, and many thoughts and images of a kindred

verse.

nature thronged his brain. He would write a play, and take it when finished to Miss O'Neil, and between its intrinsic merits and the witchery of her acting, he would make the money he wanted, and, possibly, fame too. During the winter months he was occupied in the execution of this project; but January came before it was completed. His father was as unwilling as himself to defer his initiation as one of the legal craft, and he was admitted a member of the Irish bar on the first day of Hilary term, 1814.

Soon afterwards he presented his play to the manager of Crow-street Theatre for his approval. It was accepted. Some few alterations and curtailments were made at the suggestion of Miss O'Neil, and to the young author's infinite delight she undertook to represent the character he had intended for her. "Adelaide; or, the Emigrants, written by a young gentleman of this city," was advertised for the 19th of February. The house was full, and in good humour. The celebrated actress played her part to perfection, and the other performers sustained theirs with credit. One or two passages, expressive of elevated feeling, and clothed in pure and eloquent language, caught the attention of the audience, and ere the third act closed, the success of the piece

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