“Faith, I will not: but I think you should go; you ought to do something for your country, for you’re a patriot. I never was a public man.”
“Well, when I can do any good for my country, I’ll go there. Talking of that, I saw O’Connell in town yesterday, and I never saw him looking so well. The verdict hasn’t disturbed him much. I wonder what steps the Government will take now? They must be fairly bothered. I don’t think they dare imprison him.”
“Not dare!” said Blake—‘and why not? When they had courage to indict him, you need not fear but what they’ll dare to go on with a strong hand, now they have a verdict.”
“I’ll tell you what, Dot; if they imprison the whole set,” said Mat, “and keep them in prison for twelve months, every Catholic in Ireland will be a Repealer by the end of that time.”
“And why shouldn’t they all be Repealers?” said Morris. “It seems to me that it’s just as natural for us to be Repealers, as it is for you to be the contrary.”
“I won’t say they don’t dare to put them in prison,” continued Mat; “but I will say they’ll be great fools to do it. The Government have so good an excuse for not doing so: they have such an easy path out of the hobble. There was just enough difference of opinion among the judges—just enough irregularity in the trial, such as the omissions of the names from the long panel—to enable them to pardon the whole set with a good grace.”
“If they did,” said Blake, “the whole high Tory party in this country—peers and parsons—would be furious. They’d lose one set of supporters, and wouldn’t gain another. My opinion is, they’ll lock the whole party up in the stone jug—for some time, at least.”
“Why,” said Tierney, “their own party could not quarrel with them for not taking an advantage of a verdict, as to the legality of which there is so much difference of opinion even among the judges. I don’t know much about these things, myself; but, as far as I can understand, they would have all been found guilty of high treason a few years back, and probably have been hung or beheaded; and if they could do that now, the country would be all the quieter. But they can’t: the people will have their own way; and if they want the people to go easy, they shouldn’t put O’Connell into prison. Rob them all of the glories of martyrdom, and you’d find you’ll cut their combs and stop their crowing.”
“It’s not so easy to do that now, Mat,” said Morris. “You’ll find that the country will stick to O’Connell, whether he’s in prison or out of it;—but Peel will never dare to put him there. They talk of the Penitentiary; but I’ll tell you what, if they put him there, the people of Dublin won’t leave one stone upon another; they’d have it all down in a night.”
“You forget, Morris, how near Richmond barracks are to the Penitentiary.”