exertions that the movement did not utterly | he failed in gaining his end, still he managed collapse. The first gleam of light through the to exercise great influence on public opinion, cloud was a meeting of Protestants in Dublin Lord Brougham and the Liberals giving him for the purpose of supporting the claims of their their support. Lord Liverpool and Mr. Peel, fellow-countrymen to emancipation, and again however, carried the bill by a majority of hope took the place of despair, and the cause 146. The act forbade holding meetings conbegan to make itself heard. The visit of tinuously for more than fourteen days, but George IV. to Ireland in 1821 was also hailed O'Connell had little difficulty, as he said, by some as an omen of success; they vainly in "driving a coach and six" through it. imagined that, now the king had come among The old association was dissolved, and a new them, their freedom was secured. O'Connell, one formed, which arranged to hold fourteen too, on this occasion proved himself singularly days' continuous meetings annually, and these short-sighted, and his flattery and deference were most successful. The greatest triumph to the monarch drew down upon him the of the cause in 1826 was the defeat of the stinging reproof of Lord Byron in his poem | Beresfords at Waterford, where the people "The Irish Avatar." ventured to assert themselves and vote contrary to the desire of their landlords. The same year the political power of the association was shown in a petition, got up at O'Connell's suggestion, praying for the relief of the Protestant Dissenters, who suffered severely from misgovernment, although to a lesser extent than their Catholic brethren. To this document 800,000 names were appended.

The year 1823 saw the formation of the "Irish Catholic Association." This was organized with great care to avoid infringing the convention act and other restrictions on the expression of public opinion in Ireland. On the 4th of February, 1824, the motion for establishing the "Catholic Rent" was carried at a meeting of the association. It is noteworthy that, to form the quorum of ten necessary to pass this resolution, O'Connell induced two Maynooth students, in whom he recognized ex-officio members of the association, to enter and make up the number. This fund being universal as well as modest in its demands, enabled the poorest peasant to feel himself a helper in the good cause. In 1828 the rent reached the sum of £21,425. The total amount collected amounted to £52,266. This money voluntarily contributed was set apart for parliamentary expenses, for the cost incident upon meetings, services of the press, legal defences of Catholics and rebels, and numerous other outlays connected with the organization of the vast movement. The discipline and regularity with which the association was conducted seemed military in its exactitude, and evidenced the wide grasp of O'Connell's master mind. There were three classes who contributed to the rent-members, volunteers, and associates. The collectors were called repeal wardens, and held office under the supervision of the priests. There were badges and other insignia of office, and repeal reading-rooms and places of meeting were established over the length and breadth of the country.

As might be expected the government took alarm, and Lord Liverpool brought a bill into parliament on February 10, 1825, for the suppression of the association. O'Connell at once set out for London, and attempted to obtain a hearing at the bar of the house. Although

In 1828 the former member for Clare, Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald, who had lost his seat for opposing the union, was appointed president of the Board of Brade, and again stood for the county. The association had pledged itself to oppose any member of the government, and consequently refused to assist at his re-election. They even made choice of Major Macnamara, a Protestant, but he refused to contest the county. Under these circumstances O'Connell himself determined to come forward as candidate, and the result of the contest showed that he had not overestimated his influence, the majority in his favour being over a thousand. The Duke of Wellington, one of the greatest opponents of emancipation, now openly declared that matters had come to such a point that the choice of the government lay between civil war or emancipation. Consequently, on the 5th of March, 1829, Sir Robert Peel brought in his bill for the removal of Roman Catholic disabilities. The bill passed the second reading in the Commons by a majority of 180, and in the Lords by a majority of 104. It comprises forty sections, and occupies eleven pages in the Statutes. Among other clauses it provides that Roman Catholics may sit in the Houses of Lords and Commons, on condition of their taking an oath not to subvert the sovereign, the constitution, the Protestant religion, or the settlement of property. They may hold all civil or military offices except lord-chancellor, lord-lieutenant of Ire