Mr. Smith O'Brien, the Irish rebel of 1848, died at
Bangor on Saturday, the 18th inst. A Protestantand a gentleman, with a good education and a better fortune, Mr. O'Brien was one of those men with whom conviction always implies action. Convinced of the necessity and justice of making Ireland a separate nationality, he rushed into rebellion without means, or organization, or even the assistance of the Catholic priesthood. His movement, which
began near B‘allingarry, on the borders of county Tipperary, was only supported by a few peasants, and was put down by the police, . Smith O'Brien escaping. He, however, was soon after arrested, and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted, and after eight years of exile 'he was pardoned. He recovered part of his property from the trustees to whom he had assigned it, but re- mained to the day of his death hostile to the English Government. Personally he was a gentleman of the best type, but wholly want- ing in judgment and with the vanity of Lafayette ; the ancient descent from a savage chief which gave him his influence over the peasantry turned his own head.
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