Shiel
does not oppose him. Lawless detests him too, and he does
everything he can to thwart and provoke him, and opposes him in
the Association[16] upon all occasions. Lately in the affair of
the 'exclusive dealing' he met with such opposition in the
Association that it required a great deal of time and management
to get rid of that proposition, although in the end he carried
the matter very triumphantly. But O'Connell, though opposed by a
numerous party in the Association, is all-powerful in the
country, and there is not one individual who has a chance of
supplanting him in the affections of the great mass of the
Catholics. For twenty-five years he has been continually
labouring to obtain that authority and consideration which he
possesses without a rival, and is now so great that they yield
unlimited obedience to his individual will. As an orator he would
probably fail in the English House of Commons; but to a mob,
especially an Irish mob, he is perfect, exactly the style and
manner which suits their tastes and comprehensions, and
consequently his success with them is unbounded. He has a large
landed property, is at the head of his profession, an admirable
lawyer and manager of a cause, and never for a moment diverted by
political or other considerations from the due discharge of his
professional duties. He is besides a man of high moral character
and great probity in private life, and has been for years in the
habit of affording his professional assistance gratis to those of
his own religion who cannot afford to pay for it. These are some
of the grounds of his popularity, to which may be added his
industry and devotion to the Roman Catholic cause; he rises at
three every morning and goes to bed at eight. He possesses a very
retentive memory, and is particularly strong in historical and
constitutional knowledge. The great object of his ambition is to
be at the head of his own profession, and his favourite project
to reform the laws, a task for which he fancies himself eminently
qualified. To accomplish any particular object he cares not to
what charges of partial inconsistency he exposes himself,
trusting to his own ingenuity to exonerate himself from them
afterwards. Neither O'Connell nor Shiel are supposed to be men of
courage, but Lawless is, and he is thought capable of the most
desperate adventures. Shiel is of opinion that the Association
might be suppressed by law; O'Connell thinks it could not, and
that if