The great responsibility of causing disunion determined the supporters of the resolution to compromise with its opponents, and it was finally shaped thus:-- "Resolved, That having learned with deep regret, that by a resolution of the House of Commons the country has been deprived of the eminent services of Mr.William Smith O'Brien, and that illustrious member of this Association himself committed to prison, we cannot allow this opportunity to pass without conveying to him the assurance of our undiminished confidence in his integrity, patriotism and personal courage, and our admiration for the high sense of duty and purity of purpose which prompted him to risk his personal liberty in assertion of a principle which he believed to be inherent in the constitution of his country." It was again, in its modified form, transmitted to Mr.O'Connell, and returned with his disapprobation.

Captain Broderick read a letter from him, to that effect, at a meeting of the committee, suddenly summoned on Monday, the 4th of May, a few hours only previous to the public meeting of the Association, deprecating the passing of the resolution in any form.

The present writer was the proposer of the resolution, and, feeling that he had already made too great a compromise, he refused to accede to this last request of Mr.O'Connell.

The resolution was proposed and adopted with acclamation, and a letter was read from Mr.
O'Connell, by Mr.Ray, in which he stated that the resolution did not go far enough.
In the provinces, the timid policy of the Association was decried with bitterness, and the men who struggled, against great odds, to identify the whole island with Mr.O'Brien, and pledge it to sustain him to the last, were subjected to the most virulent denunciations.

Because the compromised resolution was moved, seconded, and spoken to by them, the whole country regarded them as the betrayers of their own avowed chief, and the violence with which they were attacked was unmeasured and unscrupulous.
They made no reply.