iate to resume here the
thread of Irish history. The affairs of that country, politically and
socially, became rapidly worse. From day to day the people of England
were startled with tidings of fierce conflicts which faction waged, the
disloyalty of the great majority of the people, the relentless cruelty
with which the Ribbon Society exacted its victims, and the continued
pressure of famine and sickness upon the physical life of the people.
Ireland, so long conversant with misery, was still to taste the cup in
all its bitterness. Everything meant for her good by the legislature
brought with it some new form of evil, or aggravated some that existed.
She had sought and obtained emancipation, but while her arms wore no
longer a manacle, she still clanked her broken chain, and with it smote
her benefactors or wounded herself. The removal of restrictions from
commerce, effected by Sir Robert Peel, she regarded as an injury; the
majority of Irishmen believed that the repeal of the corn laws was
designed to enrich England at the expense of Ireland, and that it
was the most fatal blow ever given to her agricultural and commercial
prosperity. There were many enlightened Irishmen who advocated the
repeal of the laws which made the food of the people dear;--of seven
men who met in Manchester to form the anti-corn-law association, out of
which sprang "the League," at least two were Irishmen. Perhaps the man
to whom that cause was originally indebted, more than to any other, was
Archibald Prentice of the city just named, a native of Scotland; but
among his earliest and most earnest coadjutors were Irishmen. The
merchants of the three principal cities in Ireland--Dublin, Cork,
and Belfast--favoured Sir Robert Peel's law, especially those of
the enlightened and enterprising town last named; but the Irish
agriculturists, and the inhabitants of the country generally, resented
it as a new Irish grievance! Lord George Bentinck did not misrepresent
the feeling of the Irish people towards the free-trade movement, when he
claimed the country, with some exceptions only, as on his side. Even the
educational boon, so recently accorded by parliament, was regarded as
a religious affront. "The Queen's colleges" were denounced by Mr.
O'Connell and the priests as "godless colleges." In parliament he
opposed, in Ireland he vituperated it.

A new phase of mischief gradually ripened during the year 1846.
O'Connell had taught the people habits of polit