this
memorable agitation, we cannot but think that as the roll of possible
meetings is drawing nearer to exhaustion, as all other arts fail, and
mere _written_ addresses are renewed, (wanting the inflammatory
contagion of personal meetings, and not accessible to a scattered
peasantry;) but above all, as the day of instant action is once again
adjourned to a period both remote and indefinite, the agitation must
be drooping, and virtually we may repeat that the game is up. But the
last moves have been unusually interesting. Not unlike the fascination
exercised over birds by the eye of the rattlesnake, has been the
impression upon Mr O'Connell from the fixed attention turned upon him
by Government. What they _did_ was silent and unostentatious; more,
however, than perhaps the public is aware of in the way of preparation
for an outbreak. But the capital resource of their policy was, to make
Mr O'Connell deeply sensible that they were watching him. The eye that
watched over Waterloo was upon him: for six months that eagle glance
has searched him and nailed him: and the result, as it is now
revealing itself, may at length be expressed in the two lines of
Wordsworth otherwise applied--

"The vacillating bondsman of the Pope
Shrinks from the verdict of that steadfast eye."

_Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes, Paul's Work._

Transcriber's Note

Minor typographic errors have been corrected. Please note there is
some archaic spelling, which has been retained as printed. There are a
few snippets of Greek; this has been transliterated and is surrounded
by + signs. There are also a few instances of the letter a with macron
(straight line) over it. These are indicated by [=a]. The few oe
ligatures have not been retained in this version.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.
CCCXXXVI. October, 1843. Vol. LIV., by Various

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH ***

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