prejudices, and to remove the obstacles, that stood in
its way. The plan was finally adopted in April, 1849,
not merely in principle and as an experiment, but
under the conditions and with the means of execution
which Peel considered necessary to insure its success.
A year had scarcely elapsed before Sir Robert Peel had
ceased to live, and yet the success of his scheme already
surpassed his own expectations. He had entered public
life in Ireland, and in the service of the party most op-
posed to Irish reforms: Ireland had been, to use his own
expression, his chief difficulty; Ireland had twice, in
1835 and in 1846, cost him his position as head of the
Government. Yet to him Ireland owed the emanci-
pation of the Catholics; and the most effectual mea-
sure ever adopted for the social regeneration of Ireland
was the last great act of Sir Robert Peel's influence
on the internal government of his country. There
are times when God specially baffles the foresight of
men, and makes them execute His designs by leading
them from one inconsistency to another, in their
thoughts and combinations.

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