fact which helps to account for the extraordinary confusion of his biographers on this point). ‘I have now,’ he wrote in 1795 to his uncle Maurice, ‘two objects to pursue—the one, the attainment of knowledge; the other, the acquisition of those qualities which constitute the polite gentleman … I have indeed a glowing and, if I may use the expression, an enthusiastic ambition, which converts every toil into a pleasure, and every study into an amusement … If I do not rise at the bar, I will not have to meet the reproaches of my own conscience.’
Having completed his terms he returned to Ireland in 1796, and was called to the Irish bar on 19 May 1798, being one of the first Irish catholics to reap the benefit of the Catholic Relief Act of 1793. His first brief is dated 24 May 1798. During this time he lodged at 14 Trinity Place, Dublin, studying moderately, occasionally attending the debates in the House of Commons and the meetings of the Historical Society, but living on the whole convivially, as became a member of the lawyers' artillery corps and a freemason. He took no active interest in the revolutionary politics of the United Irishmen, of which he always spoke contemptuously. The arrival of the French fleet in Bantry Bay in December 1796 drew from him the expression of opinion: ‘The Irish are not yet sufficiently enlightened to bear the sun of Freedom. Freedom would soon dwindle into licentiousness; they would rob, they would murder. The liberty which I look for is that which would increase the happiness of mankind’ (Irish Monthly Magazine, x. 455). Still, after the outbreak of the rebellion, Dublin was no safe place even for a man of O'Connell's moderate views, and he took the first opportunity to return to Carhen. He was passionately fond of hunting, and, while indulging in his favourite pastime, he contracted a severe illness from exposure, so that his life was for a time despaired of. On his recovery he joined the Munster circuit. His natural good humour and wit made him from the first a universal favourite. His fee-book shows an income of 60l. for the first year, rising to 420l. 17s. 6d. in the second, to 1,077l. 4s. 3d. in 1806, and to 3,808l. 7s. in 1814. In 1828, though wearing a stuff gown and belonging to the outer bar, his professional emoluments exceeded 8,000l. (ib. p. 591). He continued to go circuit for twenty-three years, but subsequently only went for a special fee, when his visits were made the occasion of public rejoicings.
On 13 Jan. 1800 O'Connell made his first public speech at a meeting of catholics in the Royal Exchange, Dublin, convened to protest against the Act of Union, and to repudiate the insinuation that the catholics regarded it with favour. He argued in favour of subordinating purely religious questions to those of national importance; and in after years, when agitating for the repeal of the union, he regarded it as a curious fact that all the principles of his subsequent political life were contained in his first speech. His intervention in politics was not pleasing to his uncle, who was naturally anxious that he should not endanger his success in his profession by active opposition to government. But there is no reason to suppose that O'Connell at this time felt any particular predilection for politics. On 23 June 1802 he married at Dublin his cousin Mary, daughter of Dr. O'Connell of Tralee. It was a love-match. His wife had no fortune, and O'Connell was for some time apprehensive that his uncle, who was opposed to the match, would disinherit him. Fortunately his fears in this respect were not realised, and O'Connell had every reason to congratulate himself on the happy choice he made. During the time of Emmet's insurrection he assisted personally in the preservation of the peace of Dublin, and the experience he thus acquired strongly impressed him with the danger of entrusting civilians with arms. He continued to apply himself assiduously to his profession, and his reputation for legal ability, especially in criminal cases, where his unrivalled power of cross-examination was brought into play, steadily increased.
As time went on he began to take, so far as the general apathy and the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act would permit him, a more active interest in politics. At a meeting of the catholic committee in February 1805 he successfully opposed the procrastinating and timid policy of the catholic leaders, and his name appears as the seventeenth among the subscribers to the first catholic petition in behalf of emancipation presented to the imperial parliament. He was even at this time strongly in favour of sessional petitions, but was compelled to acquiesce in the general desire not to embarrass the government of Fox. After Fox's death bolder counsels began to prevail. At an aggregate meeting of catholics on 7 Feb. 1807 it was resolved to petition parliament. The petition was actually printed; but, in consequence of the dismissal of Lord Grenville and the accession of the tories to power, it was thought wiser by Grattan and the friends of the catholics not to present it. O'Connell reluctantly acquiesced in this policy; but at a meeting of catholics on 19 Jan. 1808 he succeeded in carrying the meeting with
