But other elements were secretly sapping the influences for which he made these sacrifices.  The storm of disaffection, a long while gathering among open foes and disappointed retainers, was about to burst on the devoted heads of the Whigs.  With their accustomed fickleness and treachery of character they prepared to sacrifice, for the sake of power, the man whom they conciliated and deceived in the same hope of retaining it.  If he foresaw that this would be the result of his experiment, never was augury more fully realised.  Whatever may be the exact engagements of the Whigs, he was able to allege that not one was fulfilled, while he was in a position to prove that he more than kept his own:  unless indeed, it could be assumed that for the few places obtained by his friends, and others, some of them honourable men, he surrendered the lofty and nearly impregnable position he occupied in 1834, and which, in one sense at least, he never afterwards attained.

From whatever cause, his influence over the Whigs visibly declined, and his counsels no longer swayed their Irish policy.  Once more they relied on the false expedient of yielding to their enemies and allowing them to wield the power, while they were themselves content with the spoils of the country.  Again the quarrel with Mr. O’Connell became bitter and personal, and again had he recourse to Repeal.

From the time of the first Repeal Association to that of the Precursor Society several other associations or societies were established, which have left behind them scarcely the memory of their very names—­that of the second association alone excepted.  Yet each had an ample treasury, and was composed of the same or nearly the same elements, and the same members.  There is many an honest man and many a fool, whose boast it is that they contributed a pound to each of them, and had their respective cards.

At last the late Repeal Association was formed.  Its birth was received with sneers.  Mr. O’Connell’s sincerity was questioned, and his motives canvassed with vindictive vigilance.  The warmest Nationalists looked on with doubt and coldness.  Not one man of rank, outside the members of the defunct society, joined its ranks.  The routine of business, the receipt of money, the resolutions, the speeches, were exactly identical with those of its predecessors.  The Government seemed neither to dread it nor care for it.  It lingered on, unsustained by the country and despised by its enslavers.  The contributions of the members did not suffice to pay half the ordinary expenses of its machinery.  Debts accumulated, and the revenue did not increase.  While the body was thus situated, Mr. O’Connell had recourse to an expedient at once singular and decisive.  It was to build Conciliation Hall.  The Association was at the time seriously in debt, and he proposed to multiply that debt four-fold by engaging in this costly undertaking.