ctive of very
important consequences to the peace of the country. The obstinacy
of one man, who held out against the other eleven, in the second
batch of conspirators who were tried, obliged them at length to
dismiss the jury, and the prisoners will be tried at the next
assizes; the others were acquitted, though the evidence against
them was the same as that on which Leary, &c., were convicted.
The exertions of O'Connell, who appears to have acted with great
ability, produced this result. The Government say, of course,
that he has acted very ill, but as the Judge, at the conclusion
of the trial, said publicly that the defence had been conducted
with perfect regard to the due administration of the laws, we may
conclude that while he availed himself of every advantage, he did
not overstep the legitimate duty of an advocate to his client. It
is, however, agreed on all hands, notwithstanding these excesses,
that the state of the country is improving, and the Emancipation
Bill producing fresh benefits every day.

November 9th, 1829 {P.239}

Dined to-day with Byng and met Tom Moore, who was very agreeable;
he told us a great deal about his forthcoming 'Life of Byron.' He
is nervous about it; he is employed in conjunction with Scott and
Mackintosh to write a history of England for one of the new
publications like the Family Library.[10] Scott is to write
Scotland, Mackintosh England, and Moore Ireland; and they get
L1,000 apiece; but Scott could not compress his share into one
volume, so he is to have L1,500. The republication of Scott's
works will produce him an enormous fortune; he has already paid
off L30,000 of the Constable bankruptcy debt, and he is to pay
the remaining L30,000 very soon. A new class of readers is
produced by the Bell and Lancaster schools, and this is the cause
of the prodigious and extensive sale of cheap publications. Moore
had received a letter from Madame de Guiccioli to-day; he says
she is not handsome. Byron's exploits, especially at Venice, seem
to have been marvellous. Moore said he wrote with extraordinary
rapidity, but his corrections were frequent and laborious. When
he wrote the address for the opening of Drury Lane Theatre, he
corrected it repeatedly.

[10] Dr. Lardner's 'Cyclopaedia.' Moore told me that the
editor of one of the annuals offered him L600 to write
two articles for his work, but 'that he loathed the
task' and refused, though the money