e proposal was
steadily rejected, though with a determination which brought even
members of the same Church into collision. Connexion with the State
might have procured temporal advantages, but they would have been in
truth a poor compensation for the loss of that perfect freedom of action
so essential to the spiritual advancement of the Church.

The Duke of Richmond came to Ireland in 1807, with Sir Arthur Wellesley
as Chief Secretary. The young man, whose fame was yet unattained, showed
himself as clearheaded in the cabinet as in the camp. He made every
attempt to suppress the party demonstrations which have been the curse
of Ireland, and induced the Wexford people to discontinue their annual
celebration of the battle of Vinegar Hill. If he could have suppressed a
few other anniversaries in the north, it would have been a blessing to
the United Kingdom. In 1806 Mr. Grattan was returned for Dublin, and
generously refused the sum of L4,000, which his constituents had
collected to pay his expenses. The Catholic question was now constantly
coming up, and more than one cabinet was formed and dissolved according
to the views of the different members on that matter. A new element of
vitality had been introduced by the relaxation of the penal laws. Men
were no longer afraid to ask for a grace which they wanted, lest they
should lose a grace which they had. The people found that they might
speak their real opinions without apprehensions of attempts at
conversion in the shape of pitchcaps and half-hangings; and when the
people were ready for a leader, the leader was ready for the people; and
Daniel O'Connell took the place in the guidance of the Irish nation,
which he will never lose in their memory and in their affections.

The history of Ireland and the life of O'Connell are convertible terms
for five-and-forty years. O'Connell represented Ireland, and Ireland was
represented by O'Connell. We have had our great men and our good men,
our brave men and our true men; but, to my poor thinking, the greatest
of our men was O'Connell--for who ever approached him in his mighty
power of ruling a nation by moral suasion only? the best of our men was
O'Connell, for who dare assert that he was ever unfaithful to his
country or to his country's faith? the bravest of our men was O'Connell,
equally fearless in every danger, moral or physical; and the truest of
our men was O'Connell, dying of a broken heart in a faraway land,
because he saw