made great moral way in the opinion of the house.’ Certainly the debate seems to have created a more conciliatory disposition towards Ireland. Littleton on behalf of the Irish government went so far as to promise O'Connell that when the Coercion Act came up for renewal the political clauses in it should be abandoned, if he in turn would promise a cessation of agitation. O'Connell readily consented. Unfortunately Earl Grey, who had not been consulted in the matter, insisted on the re-enactment of the measure in its entirety, and his colleagues eventually yielded to his wish. Believing himself to have been purposely misled, O'Connell made the whole transaction public. Dissensions in the cabinet were the outcome of this incident. Grey resigned office, and the ministry of Lord Melbourne came into power (17 July 1834).
The change of administration and the ultimate omission of the obnoxious clauses from the Coercion Act inspired O'Connell with the hope that something at last would be done to place the government of Ireland on a more impartial basis. On his return to Ireland he announced himself a ministerialist and a repealer. But something more than good intentions was necessary to cleanse the Augean stable of Castle corruption. ‘You are now,’ O'Connell wrote to Lord Duncannon on 11 Oct. 1834, ‘three months in office, and you have done nothing for Ireland; you have not in any, even in the slightest, degree altered the old system. The people are as ground down by Orange functionaries as ever they were in the most palmy days of toryism.’ Still, in any case, the whigs were infinitely to be preferred to the tories, and though he affected unconcern at the announcement of the dismissal of Melbourne (15 Nov. 1834) and the formation of an administration under Peel in December, he endeavoured by the establishment of an ‘antitory association’ to promote the success of the whigs at the general elections. Of this association, which met almost every other day, O'Connell was, of course, the moving spirit.
In the new parliament whigs and tories were almost equal; the balance of power lay in O'Connell's hands. It was this state of affairs that in March 1835 led to the famous ‘Lichfield House compact,’ which, whether compact or simple understanding between the whigs and O'Connell, was productive of the greatest blessing for Ireland—the impartial government of Thomas Drummond [q. v.] From the first O'Connell, though always hankering after office, refrained from embarrassing the ministry in its relations to the king by urging any recognition of his services. But his friendly relations with the ministry excited in many quarters suspicions which O'Connell hotly resented. When Lord Alvanley asked Lord Melbourne what was the price paid for O'Connell's support, O'Connell at a public meeting referred to Alvanley as a ‘bloated buffoon.’ O'Connell's son, Morgan, took up the cudgels in his father's defence, and shots were exchanged on Wimbledon Common. Later in the year O'Connell fell foul of Benjamin Disraeli, who had some time previously solicited his assistance as radical candidate for Wickham, but who afterwards, as conservative candidate for Taunton, spoke of him as an ‘incendiary.’ O'Connell retorted by calling Disraeli ‘a disgrace to his species,’ and ‘heir-at-law of the blasphemous thief who died upon the cross.’ Failing to obtain satisfaction from O'Connell, Disraeli sent a challenge to Morgan, which the latter repudiated. Meanwhile, owing to the valuable assistance which he in this session rendered to the English Municipal Corporations Bill, O'Connell became very popular with a large section of the English public. Taking advantage of his popularity, he in the autumn visited Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, in order to stimulate agitation against the House of Lords owing to their refusal to concede a similar reform of municipal corporations to Ireland, and their rejection of the principle of appropriation contained in the church bill.
After his return to Ireland he became involved in a more disagreeable controversy with a Mr. Raphael, who, on his recommendation, had been elected M.P. for Carlow, but was subsequently unseated on petition. Raphael had consented to pay O'Connell 1,000l. on nomination, and another 1,000l. on being returned. This he did, but he subsequently charged O'Connell not merely with a breach of promise in exacting the payment of the second 1,000l., but with misappropriating a portion of the money for his own benefit. O'Connell indignantly denied the charge; but the papers learned of the affair, and censured him for having corruptly sold a seat in parliament. Eventually the matter was brought before parliament. A special committee was appointed to investigate the charge, which, however, fully exonerated him from anything like corruption. Speaking in his defence, O'Connell admitted that his influence in Ireland was too great for any man to possess, but urged that it was the natural result of the misgovernment of his country. The Raphael calumny was only one of several charges of corruption with which he was assailed at the time.
In January 1836 he addressed large audi-
