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 an address to the catholics of Ireland on 1 Jan. 1821, he urged that it was impossible to expect emancipation from an unreformed parliament, and that consequently reform must and ought to precede emancipation. For this advice he was roundly censured by Sheil, and the consent of parliament to take the catholic claims into consideration confirmed, for the time, Sheil's argument. But the appearance of Plunket's bills soon justified O'Connell's apprehensions. He was at the time on circuit, but, without losing a moment, he addressed a letter to the catholics of Ireland denouncing the insidious nature of the measures. His warning was unheeded. The bills passed the commons, but were rejected, to O'Connell's entire satisfaction, by the lords.

The visit of George IV to Ireland in August 1821 threw Irishmen of all classes and creeds into a state of violent excitement. A wave of intense loyalty swept the country. For a moment Orangemen and catholics agreed to co-operate in offering an harmonious greeting to his majesty. No one was more profoundly affected by the spirit of conciliation than O'Connell. To him the prospect of a union between protestant and catholic seemed so desirable that no sacrifice was too great to promote it. He supported every motion for commemorating the king's visit, and even went as far as to present him on his departure with a crown of laurel. The whole affair ended in disappointment; but the futility of the king's visit was not immediately apparent. The appointment of Lord Wellesley as viceroy, and the substitution of Plunket for Saurin as attorney-general, seemed to indicate a more favourable attitude on the part of government towards the catholic claims, and O'Connell was strongly impressed with the advisability of again petitioning parliament. Accordingly, in his address to the catholics in January 1822, he urged that a fresh petition should be prepared; and, at the same time, submitted a proposal for the domestic nomination of catholic prelates, which, while not infringing the liberties of the church, offered all reasonable security to the state. His intention to bring the catholic claims under the notice of parliament was, however, defeated, owing to the revival of the old feud between the catholics and Orangemen, attended by a recrudescence in the south-western counties of agrarian outrage. The government of Lord Wellesley, in its anxiety to steer a neutral course, had succeeded in offending both parties. The Bottle riot, on 14 Dec. 1822, when a disgraceful attack was made on the viceroy, was distinctly traced to an Orange source, and reprobated by the more respectable men of the party; it afforded O'Connell an opportunity to point the moral that loyalty was not the peculiar prerogative of one section or another. But something more than mere advice, he felt, was needed if the peasantry were to be rescued from the malice of their enemies and the consequences of their own poverty and crime. Accordingly, at a general meeting of catholics on 12 May 1823, he gave practical expression to his views by proposing that an association should then be formed of such gentlemen as wished voluntarily to come forward for the purpose of conducting the affairs of the Irish catholics, the qualification for membership being the payment of an annual subscription of one guinea. The object of the association, he announced, was not to be to force on parliament the annual farce, or more properly a triennial interlude, of a debate on the catholic claims, but to deal with practical questions in a practical way. There were, he insisted, many grievances under which the poor and unprotected catholic peasant smarted which would not admit of waiting for redress until the day of emancipation arrived, and which might very properly be made the subject of separate applications to parliament and the laws.

In such fashion did the Catholic Association come into existence. But the enthusiasm which O'Connell's words aroused speedily evaporated, and on 31 May the meeting of the association stood adjourned owing to inability to form the necessary quorum of ten. O'Connell was not baffled. He was resolved to make ‘the people of England see that catholic millions felt a deep interest in the cause, and that the movement was not confined to those who were styled agitators.’ After several ineffectual efforts to get a meeting together, O'Connell succeeded on 4 Feb. 1824 in expounding his plan of ‘a catholic rent.’ In effect it amounted simply to this—that, in addition to members paying an annual subscription of a guinea, and the clergy, who were members ex officio, any one who paid a penny a month, or one shilling in the year, was, by virtue of that payment, a member of the association. It was not long before the usefulness of the new organisation was generally recognised. The rent, which in the first week of its collection amounted only to 8l., reached in the last week of the year the sum of 1,032l. It never, it is true, reached at any time the dimensions that O'Connell anticipated, but it did more than ever he dreamed of. It called a nation into existence. It infused a spirit of hope into the peasantry. It made them feel their importance, and gave an interest to the proceedings of the association which they had never before possessed. It was, so to speak, the first step in their political education; the first step out of servitude into nationality. The clergy, too, after a brief period of hesitation, threw themselves heart and soul into the movement; and, with their assistance, a branch of the association was established in almost every parish in Ireland. To O'Connell personally, although he modestly disclaimed the honour of having originated the scheme, the success of the undertaking was rightly ascribed. Hitherto he had been only one of their leaders, but the establishment of the rent lifted him in the imagination of his countrymen into a unique position. Wherever he went on circuit, he met with an ovation. Willing hands dragged his carriage, and banquets met him at every turn. He felt his power, and did all he could to augment it; but his object was entirely patriotic and unselfish.

Government, which at first had regarded the association with languid interest, was alarmed when it saw the dimensions it was assuming. Early in November 1824 a report that O'Connell, at a meeting of the association, had darkly hinted at the necessity there might be for a new Bolivar to arise in defence of Irish liberty, was regarded as sufficient grounds for prosecuting him on a charge of directly inciting to rebellion. The prosecution, however, broke down, owing to the refusal of the newspaper reporters to produce their notes or to swear to the accuracy of their report, and the grand jury accordingly ignored the bill. Alluding to his prosecution at the next meeting of the association, O'Connell indignantly disclaimed the construction that had been placed on his words. The notion of arraying a barefooted, turbulent, undisciplined peasantry against the mar-