The history of Ireland and the life of O’Connell are convertible terms for five-and-forty years.  O’Connell represented Ireland, and Ireland was represented by O’Connell.  We have had our great men and our good men, our brave men and our true men; but, to my poor thinking, the greatest of our men was O’Connell—­for who ever approached him in his mighty power of ruling a nation by moral suasion only? the best of our men was O’Connell, for who dare assert that he was ever unfaithful to his country or to his country’s faith? the bravest of our men was O’Connell, equally fearless in every danger, moral or physical; and the truest of our men was O’Connell, dying of a broken heart in a faraway land, because he saw his country’s cause all but ruined—­because he knew that with his failing breath one of his country’s surest helpers would pass from her for ever.  A thoughtfully written “History of the life and Times of O’Connell,” by some one really competent to do justice to the subject, is much wanted.  I believe that posterity will do justice to his memory as one of the best and noblest patriots which the world has ever seen—­a justice which as yet has been scarcely accorded to him as fully as he has merited.  Had O’Connell accomplished no other work for Ireland than this—­the giving of a tone of nationality and manliness to the people—­he had accomplished a most glorious work.  He taught Irishmen that chains do not make the slave, but rather the spirit in which the chains are worn.  He awoke, in the hearts of his countrymen, that love of freedom, which is the first step towards making a successful effort to obtain it.  He showed them how they might intimidate their oppressors without injuring themselves—­a lesson eminently necessary where the oppressors are incomparably more powerful than the oppressed.

The sept of O’Connell, from which this noble man was descended held a prominent position among the early Milesian clans.  Pure Celtic blood ran in his veins; the fire of Celtic wit sparkled in his utterances; the lighthearted happiness of a Celtic spirit guided his actions; and the undaunted bravery of a Celtic warrior’s courage looked out of his clear beaming eye.  A nobleman, in truth, was Daniel O’Connell—­a nobleman of whom any nation might justly be proud—­a nobleman to whom we must hope that Ireland will yet raise some monument of enduring fame.  The O’Connell sept were driven from their ancestral homes, in 1172, by Raymond, Strongbow’s son-in-law.  Their territory lay along the Shannon.  They were now compelled to take refuge in a wild and desolate part of Kerry, too wild and too desolate to attract English cupidity.  A MS. is still preserved in the British Museum, written by one of the O’Connell family; it is in the Irish language, and bears date 1245.  In this document mention is made of a Daniel O’Connell, who proceeded to the north of Ireland, at the head of a large body of men, to resist an invading force.  The Celts were successful; and when they had won the day, the chieftain and his vanquished foes feasted together.  In 1586 Richard O’Connell was High Sheriff of Kerry; but, from the accession of William III., until the illustrious Liberator obtained some degree of freedom for his country, all the O’Connells were prescribed from positions of emolument, for having held with unswerving fidelity to the old faith.