nasty, or prejudice in favour of monarchy. The French would like a King well enough, if they could be persuaded that the kingly office was really of use to them. But the magistrate whom we call King, and whom we had forgotten during the Revolution, costs us now thirty-seven millions a-year. The French do not interest themselves much about their civil rights, or what, strictly speaking, may be called liberty; but they are enthusiasts for equality. It is well known, that they have a good share of vanity, and the King has the distribution of blue ribbons, which are in some esteem, and red ones, which are in much less reputation. Since 1814, the manner in which he has bestowed these ribbons has been very unpopular, especially with the land-owners. He has protected the Jesuits, who are abhorred. The administration of justice, the protection of individual liberty, and the organization of the army, are duties, the superintendence of which the French have been accustomed to attribute to the kingly office; but the execution of these duties is at once very imperfect and very expensive. If a criminal be a priest, like Mingrat, the law cannot be made to reach him. The army, which costs proportionally much more than under Napoleon, is composed of regiments only five or six hundred men strong. Our fortresses, as General Pajot has proved in the Constitutionnel, are dismantled and left without guns; while large sums are lavished on old ultra officers. General Lamarque, one of those men of talent whom Napoleon intended to raise to the rank of Marshal, demonstrated in the Courier of July, that out of four hundred Generals who are highly paid, nearly three hundred and fifty are men whom the King honours with his favour, but who have had no experience in war. Such, as may be gathered from M. Cottu's pamphlet, are the complaints of the nation against that regal Magistrate who is maintained at an expense of thirty-seven millions of francs per annum. If that Magistrate had imposed upon himself the task of offending the nation, he could not have succeeded better.

In the late elections M. de Villele resorted to all sorts of tricks to prevent popular sentiment from finding its way into the Chamber of Deputies. He did well, for the bulk of the nation, instead of giving thirty-seven millions to the first magistrate, wishes to have a government at a reasonable price. The Chamber of Deputies of 1828 approximates, however, very closely to the feelings of the nation, and M. Cottu observes that this approximation will increase more and more every year. M. Cottu proposes a change in the law of elections. His plan is, that the deputies should be nominated by electors chosen by the King from among the wealthiest landed proprietors of each department: the functions of elector to be transmissible from the father to his eldest son by the establishment of majorates. This would bring us to something like the English mode of election. If, in 1814, Louis XVIII. had put M. Cottu's idea into practice, the French monarchy would have been established on more solid bases than those on which it now stands. The journals of all parties seem to have leagued together to cry down M. Cottu's pamphlet. Some go so far as to say that it is not his writing. The fact is, it speaks the truth, though that truth is not agreeable to every one.

The popularity of the Memoires of Tilly is augmenting daily, and every one is buying the work to take it into the country. The author occasionally relates anecdotes of rather a loose description, but these are pardoned for the sake of the elegant style in which the work is written. In French, you know, there is an artful method of telling every thing. Many of the ladies mentioned by M. de Tilly, are still living, among others the Countess de who, alluding to the publication, lately said, "Truly, if people go on writing Mémoires in this way, we must take care how we play the fool." This remark has been much repeated, and it must be confessed it is exceedingly just.

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IRISH PROCEEDINGS.

The Clare Election.

THE Catholics had passed a resolution, at one of their aggregate meetings, to oppose the election of every candidate who should not pledge himself against the Duke of Wellington's administration. This measure lay for some time a mere dead letter in the registry of the Association, and was gradually passing into oblivion, when an incident occurred which gave it an importance far greater than had originally belonged to it. Lord John Russell, flushed with the victory which had been achieved in the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, and grateful to the Duke of Wellington for the part which he had taken, wrote a letter to Mr. O'Connel, in which he suggested that the conduct of his Grace had been so fair and manly towards the Dissenters, as to entitle him to their gratitude; and that they would consider the reversal of the resolution which had been passed against his government, as evidence of the interest which was felt in Ireland, not only in the great question peculiarly applicable to that country, but in the assertion of religious freedom through the empire. The authority of Lord John Russell is considerable, and Mr. O'Connel, under the influence of his advice, proposed that the anti-Wellington resolution should be withdrawn. This motion was violently opposed, and Mr. O'Connel perceived that the antipathy to the Great Captain was more deeply rooted than he had originally imagined. After a long and tempestuous debate, he suggested an amendment, in which the principle of his original motion was given up, and the Catholics remained pledged to their hostility to the Duke of Wellington's administration. Mr. O'Connel has reason to rejoice at his failure in carrying this proposition; for if he had succeeded, no ground for opposing the return of Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald would have existed. The promotion of that gentleman to a seat in the Cabinet created a vacancy in the representation of the County of Clare; and an opportunity was afforded to the Roman Catholic body of proving, that the resolution which had been passed against the Duke of Wellington's government was not an idle vaunt, but that it could be carried in a striking instance into effect. It was determined that all the power of the people should be put forth. The Association looked round for a candidate, and without having previously consulted him, re-elected Major M'Namara. He is a Protestant in religion, a Catholic in politics, and a Milesian in descent. Although he is equally well-known in Dublin and in Clare, his provincial is distinct from his metropolitan reputation. In Dublin he may be seen at half-past four o'clock, strolling, with a lounge of easy importance, towards Kildare-street Club-house, and dressed in exact imitation of the King; to whose royal whiskers the Major's are considered to bear a profusely powdered, and highly frizzed affinity. Not contented with this single point of resemblance, he has, by the entertainment of "a score or two of tailors," and the profound study of the regal fashions, achieved a complete look of Majesty; and by the turn of his coat, the dilation of his chest, and an aspect of egregious dignity, succeeded in producing in his person a very fine effigy of his sovereign. With respect to his moral qualities, he belongs to the good old school of Irish gentlemen; and from the facility of his manners, and his graceful mode of arbitrating a difference, has acquired a very eminent character as "a friend." No man is better versed in the strategics of Irish honour. He chooses the ground with an O'Trigger eye, and by a glance over the fifteen acres," is able to select, with an instantaneous accuracy, the finest position for the settlement of a quarrel. In his calculation of distances, he displays a peculiarly scientific genius; and, whether it be expedient to bring down your antagonist at a long shot, or at a more embarrassing interval of feet, you may be sure of the Major's loading to a grain. In the county of Clare, he does not merely enact the part of a sovereign. He is the chief of the clan of the M'Namaras, and after rehearsing the royal character at Kildare-street, the moment he arrives on the coast of Clare, and visits the oyster-beds at Pooldoody, becomes “every inch a king." He possesses great influence with the people, which is

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founded upon far better grounds than their hereditary reverence for the Milesian nobility of Ireland. He is a most excellent magistrate. If a gentleman should endeavour to crush a poor peasant, Major M'Namara is ready to protect him, not only with the powers of his office, but at the risk of his life. This creditable solicitude for the rights and the interests of the lower orders had rendered him most deservedly popular; and in naming him as their representative, the Association could not have made a more judicious choice. He was publicly called upon to stand. Some days elapsed and no answer was returned by the Major. The public mind was thrown into suspense, and various conjectures went abroad as to the cause of this singular omission. Some alleged that he was gone to an island off the coast of Clare, where the proceedings of the Association had not reached him; while others suggested that he was only waiting until the clergy of the county should declare themselves more unequivocally favourable to him. The latter, it was said, had evinced much apathy; and it was rumoured that Dean O'Shaughnessy, who is a distant relative of Mr. Fitzgerald, had intimated a determination not to support any anti-ministerial candidate. The Major's silence, and the doubts which were entertained with regard to the allegiance of the priests, created a sort of panic at the Association. A meeting was called, and various opinions were delivered as to the propriety of engaging in a contest, the issue of which was considered exceedingly doubtful, and in which, failure would be attended with such disastrous consequences. Mr. O'Connel himself did not appear exceedingly sanguine ; and Mr. Purcell O'Gorman, a native of Clare, and who had a minute knowledge of the feelings of the people, expressed apprehensions. There were, however, two gentlemen, (Mr. O'Gorman Mahon and Mr. Steele,) who strongly insisted that the people might be roused, and that the priests were not as lukewarm as was imagined. Upon the zeal of Dean O'Shaughnessy, however, a good deal of question was thrown. By a singular coincidence, just as his name was uttered, a gentleman entered, who, but for the peculiar locality, might have been readily mistaken for a clergyman of the Established Church. Between the priesthood of the two religions there are, in aspect and demeanour, as well as in creed and discipline, several points of affinity, and the abstract sacerdotal character is readily perceptible in both. The parson, however, in his attitude and attire, presents the evidences of superiority, and carries the mannerism of ascendency upon him. A broad-brimmed hat, composed of the smoothest and blackest material, and drawn by two silken threads into a fire-shovel configuration, a felicitous adaptation of his jerkin to the symmetries of his chest and shoulder, stockings of glossy silk, which displayed the happy proportions of a finely swelling leg, a ruddy cheek, and a bright authoritative eye, suggested, at first view, that the gentleman who had entered the room while the merits of Dean O'Shaughnessy were under discussion, must be a minister of the prosperous Christianity of the Established Church. It was, however, no other than Dean O'Shaughnessy himself. He was received with a burst of applause, which indicated that, whatever surmises with respect to his fidelity had previously gone out, his appearance before that tribunal (for it is one) was considered by the assembly as a proof of his devotion to the public interest. The Dean, however, made a very scholastic sort of oration, the gist of which it was by no means easy to arrive at. He denied that he had enlisted himself under Mr. Fitzgerald's banners, but at the same time studiously avoided giving any sort of pledge. He did not state distinctly what his opinion was with respect to the cooperation of the priests with the Association; and when he was pressed, begged to be allowed to withhold his sentiments on the subject. The Association were not, however, dismayed; and it having been conjectured that the chief reason for Major M'Namara having omitted to return an answer was connected with pecuniary considerations, it was decided that so large a sum as five thousand pounds of the Catholic rent should be allocated to the expenses of his election. Mr. O'Gorman Mahon and Mr. Steele were directed to proceed at once to Clare, in order that they might have a personal interview with him; and they immediately set off.

After an absence of two days, Mr. O'Gorman Mahon returned, having left his colleague behind in order to arouse the people; and he at length conveyed certain intelligence with respect to the Major's determination. The obligations under which his family lay to Mr. Fitzgerald were such, that he was bound in honour not to oppose him. This information produced a feeling of deep disappointment among the Catholic body, while the Protestant party exulted in his apparent desertion of the cause, and boasted that no gentleman of the county would stoop so low as to accept of the patronage of the Association. In this emergency, and when it was universally regarded as an utterly hopeless attempt to oppose the Cabinet Minister, the public were astonished by an address from Mr. O'Connel to the freeholders of Clare, in which he offered himself as a candidate, and solicited their support.

Nothing but his subsequent success could exceed the sensation which was produced by this address, and all eyes were turned towards the field in which so remarkable a contest was to be waged. The two candidates entered the lists with signal advantages upon both sides. Mr. O'Connel had an unparal`leled popularity, which the services of thirty years had secured to him. Upon the other hand, Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald presented a combination of favourable circumstances, which rendered the issue exceedingly difficult to calculate. His father had held the office of Prime Sergeant at the Irish Bar; and, although indebted to the Government for his promotion, had the virtuous intrepidity to vote against the Union. This example of independence had rendered him a great favourite with the people. From the moment that his son had obtained access to power, he had employed his extensive influence in doing acts of kindness to the gentry of the County of Clare. He had inundated it with the overflowings of ministerial bounty. The eldest sons of the poorer gentlemen, and the younger branches of the aristocracy, had been provided for through his means; and in the army, the navy, the treasury, the Four Courts, and the Custom-House, the proofs of his political friendship were everywhere to be found. Independently of any act of his which could be referred to his personal interest, and his anxiety to keep up his influence in the county, Mr. Fitzgerald, who is a man of a very amiable disposition, had conferred many services upon his Clare acquaintances. Nor was it to Protestants that these manifestations of favour were confined. He had laid not only the Catholic proprietors, but the Catholic priesthood, under obligation. The Bishop of the diocese himself, (a respectable old gentleman who drives about in a gig with a mitre upon it,) is supposed not to have escaped from his bounties; and it is more than insinuated that some droppings of ministerial manna had fallen upon him. The consequence of this systematized and uniform plan of benefaction is obvious. The sense of obligation was heightened by the manners of this extensive distributor of the favours of the Crown, and converted the ordinary feeling of thankfulness into one of personal regard. To this array of very favourable circumstances, Mr. Fitzgerald brought the additional influence which arose from his recent promotion to the Cabinet; which, to those who had former benefits to return, afforded an opportunity for the exercise of that kind of prospective gratitude which has been described to consist of a lively sense of services to come. These were the comparative advantages with which the ministerial and the popular candidate engaged in this celebrated contest; and Ireland stood by to witness the encounter.

Mr. O'Connel did not immediately set off from Dublin, but before his departure several gentlemen were despatched from the Association in order to excite the minds of the people, and to prepare the way for him. The most active and useful of the persons who were employed upon this occasion, were the two gentlemen to whom I have already referred, Mr. Steele and Mr. O'Gorman. They are both deserving of special commendation. The former is a Protestant of a respectable fortune in the county of Clare, and who has all his life been devoted to the assertion of liberal principles. In Trinity College, he was amongst the foremost of the advocates of emancipation, and at that early period became the intimate associate of many

Roman Catholic gentlemen who have since distinguished themselves in the proceedings of their body. Being a man of independent circumstances, Mr. Steele did not devote himself to any profession, and having a zealous and active mind, he looked round for occupation. The Spanish war afforded him a field for the display of that generous enthusiasm by which he is distinguished. He joined the patriot army, and fought with a desperate valour upon the batteries of the Trocadero. It was only when Cadiz had surrendered, and the cause of Spain became utterly hopeless, that Mr. Steele relinquished this noble undertaking. He returned to England, surrounded by exiles from the unfortunate country for the liberation of which he had repeatedly exposed his life. It was impossible for a man of so much energy of character to remain in torpor; and on his arrival in Ireland, faithful to the principles by which he had been uniformly swayed, he joined the Catholic Association. There he delivered several powerful and enthusiastic declamations in favour of religious liberty. Such a man, however, was fitted for action as well as for harangue; and the moment the contest in Clare began, he threw himself into the combat with the same alacrity with which he had rushed upon the French bayonets at Cadiz. He was serviceable in various ways. He opened the political campaign by intimating his readiness to fight any landlord who should conceive himself to be aggrieved by an interference with his tenants. This was a very impressive exordium. He then proceeded to canvass for votes; and, assisted by his intimate friend Mr. O'Gorman Mahon, travelled through the country, and, both by day and night, addressed the people from the altars round which they were assembled to hear him. It is no exaggeration to say, that to him, and to his intrepid and indefatigable confederate, the success of Mr. O'Connel is greatly to be ascribed. Mr. O'Gorman Mahon is introduced into this article as one amongst many figures. He would deserve to stand apart in a portrait. Nature has been peculiarly favourable to him. He has a very striking physiognomy, of the Corsair character, which the Protestant Gulnares, and the Catholic Medoras, find it equally difficult to resist. His figure is tall, and he is peculiarly free and degagé in all his attitudes and movements. In any other his attire would appear singularly fantastical. His manners are exceedingly frank and natural, and have a character of kindliness as well as of self-reliance imprinted upon them. He is wholly free from embarrassment and mauvaise honte, and carries a well-founded consciousness of his personal merit; which is, however, so well united with urbanity, that it is not in the slightest degree offensive. His talents as a popular speaker are considerable. He derives from external qualifications an influence over the multitude, which men of diminutive stature are somewhat slow of obtaining. A little man is at first view regarded by the great body of spectators with disrelish; and it is only by force of phrase, and by the charm of speech, that he can at length succeed in inducing his auditors to overlook any infelicity of configuration; but when O'Gorman Mahon throws himself out before the people, and, touching his whiskers with one hand, brandishes the other, an enthusiasm is at once produced, to which the fair portion of the spectators lend their tender contribution. Such a man was exactly adapted to the excitement of the people of Clare; and it must be admitted that, by his indefatigable exertions, his unremitting activity, and his devoted zeal, he most materially assisted in the election of Mr. O'Connel. While Mr. Steele and Mr. O'Gorman Mahon harangued the people in one district, Mr. Lawless, who was also despatched upon a similar mission, applied his faculties of excitation in another. This gentleman has obtained deserved celebrity by his being almost the only individual among the Irish deputies who remonstrated against the sacrifice of the rights of the forty-shilling freeholders. Ever since that period he has been eminently popular; and although he may occasionally, by ebullitions of ill-regulated but generous enthusiasm, create a little merriment amongst those whose minds are not as susceptible of patriotic and disinterested emotion as his own, yet the conviction which is entertained of his honesty of purpose, confers upon him a considerable influence. "Honest Jack Lawless" is the designa