so far as to replace the present by the late Government, Mr O’Connell’s intention was to have announced his determination to “give England ONE MORE trial”—­to place Repeal once more in abeyance—­in order to see whether England would really, at length, do “justice to Ireland;” in other words, restore the halcyon days of Lord Normanby’s nominal, and Mr O’Connell’s real, rule in Ireland, and enable him, by these means, to provide for himself, his family, and dependents; for old age is creeping rapidly upon him—­his physical powers are no longer equal to the task of vigorous agitation—­and he is known to be in utterly desperate circumstances.  The reckless character of his proceedings during the last fifteen months, is, in our opinion, fully accounted for, by his unexpected discovery, that the ministry were strong enough to defy any thing that he could do, and to continue calmly in their course of administering, not pseudo, but real “justice to Ireland,” supported in that course by the manifest favour and countenance of the Crown, overwhelming majorities in Parliament, and the decided and unequivocal expression of public opinion.  His personal position was, in truth, inexpressibly galling and most critical, and he must have agitated, or sunk at once into ignominious obscurity and submission to a Government whom, individually and collectively, he loathed and abhorred.  Vain were the hopes which, doubtless, he had entertained, that, as his agitation assumed a bolder form, it would provoke formidable demonstrations in England against Ministers and their policy; not a meeting could be got up to petition her Majesty for the dismissal of her Ministers!  But it is quite conceivable that Mr O’Connell, in the course he was pursuing, forgot to consider the possibility of developing a power which might be too great for him, which would not be wielded by him, but carry him along with it.  The following remarkable expressions fell from the perplexed and terrified agitator, at a great dinner at Lismore in the county of Waterford, in the month of September last:—­“Like the heavy school-boy on the ice, my pupils are overtaking me.  It is now my duty to regulate the vigour and temper the energy of the people—­to compress, as it were, the exuberance of both.”

We said that Mr O’Connell revived the Repeal agitation; and the fact was so.  He first raised it in 1829—­having, however, at various previous periods of his life, professed a desire to struggle for Repeal; but Mr Shiel, in his examination before the House of Commons in 1825, characterized such allusions as mere “rhetorical artifices.”  “What were his real motives,” observes the able and impartial author of Ireland and its Rulers[35], “when he announced his new agitation in 1829, can be left only to him to determine.”  It is probable that they were of so mixed a nature, that he himself could not accurately define them....  It is, however, quite possible, that, after having