About Merrion Square, Another Park, The Houses
Have Scarcely A Less Stately Appearance, And One Of These With A Strong
Broad Balcony, From Which To Address The People In The Street, Is
Inhabited By O'Connell.
The park of the University, in the midst of the
city, is of great extent, and the beautiful public grounds called Phenix
Park, have a circumference of eight miles.
"Do not suppose," said a friend
to me, "that these spacious houses which you see about you, are always
furnished with a magnificence corresponding to that of their exterior. It
is often the case that a few rooms only of these great ranges of
apartments are provided with furniture, and the rest left empty and
unoccupied. The Irishman of the higher class, as well as of the humbler,
is naturally improvident, generous, fond of enjoying the moment, and does
not allow his income to accumulate, either for the purpose of hoarding or
the purpose of display."
I went into Conciliation Hall, which resembles a New York lecture-room,
and was shown the chair where the autocrat of Ireland, the Liberator, as
they call him, sits near the chairman at the repeal meetings. Conciliation
Hall was at that time silent, for O'Connell was making a journey through
several of the western counties, I think, of Ireland, for the purpose of
addressing and encouraging his followers. I inquired of an intelligent
dissenter what was the state of the public feeling in Ireland, with regard
to the repeal question, and whether the popularity of O'Connell was still
as great as ever.
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