3rd of November, and was allowed to pass off without disturbance.  Mr. M’Gee attended.  He had never appeared in the struggle in the hall, nor was he a member at the time.  His speech at the Rotunda was calm, forcible and conclusive on the points in issue; and the excitement it created was, in no small degree, enhanced by the fact that the speaker was a young man theretofore unknown.  The success of the meeting suggested the practicability and safety of an experiment upon a large scale preparatory to the formation of the Confederation.  The meeting was fixed for the 2nd of December.  The remonstrant committee offered to defend it against any assailants.  The main object was to reply to the calumnies which, for nearly six months, had been urged against the leading seceders.  The meeting was one of the most important ever held in the metropolis.  It was intelligent, numerous and fashionable.  The entire ability of the seceders was put forth; and such was the sensation created by the proceedings that two publishers, one in Dublin and one in Belfast, brought out reports, in pamphlet form, which were read all over the country with the greatest avidity.  It was that night stated, only casually, that the seceders would meet in January to announce to the nation the course of political action they would recommend.  On the 13th of January, the promise was redeemed.  The seceders met as before, and their deliberations were guarded by the same men, who thus a third time risked their lives—­the hazard was nothing less—­to secure to the seceders freedom of speech and of action.  On the 13th of January, the Confederation was fully established.  The bases, if the phrase be applicable, were freedom, tolerance and truth.  There was no avowal of war, and no pledge of peace.  The great object was the independence of the Irish nation; and no means to attain that end were abjured, save such as were inconsistent with honour, morality and reason.

During the intervening time, between the first and second meetings, overtures of peace were made by Mr. O’Connell.  A sudden and singular change was observable in his tone and language.  He said with chagrin, and acknowledged with reluctance, that the position and strength of the party defied alike his power and his address.  Every art and every effort to crush them had been exhausted in vain.  The question between them, he now loudly proclaimed, was one purely of law; and he referred to several barristers, by whose judgment he was ready to abide.  The question he was prepared to submit suggests the most mournful considerations.  If it were not painful, it would be amusing to see to what painful absurdities he was compelled to have recourse.  He would leave it to anyone at the bar, whether the “physical force principle” would not make the Association illegal; and then he would indulge in a hollow triumph over the certainty and security of his position.  But that was not the question in issue.  None of the seceders ever recommended