The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland gave a great display of their wealth in Dublin, and once more the official party revelled in feastings, balls, and flamboyant levees and drawing-rooms. Some serious work was attempted, and in April, 1830, a proclamation was issued suppressing the Catholic Association. Agitation feeds on agitation, and O'Connell's league had replaced Emancipation by Repeal. He was demanding the severance of the Union between the two countries, and Northumberland determined on a vigorous campaign against the agitator. The Tithe War--arising out of the refusal of the Catholic peasantry to pay tribute to the ministers of an alien Church--had begun, and fierce encounters between the military and the country people were everyday occurrences. Northumberland had a large army at his disposal, and the Cabinet advised him to {234} make full use of it, but realizing the temper of the country better than his superiors, he declared that O'Connell's agitation for Repeal could be rendered abortive by reason, and not by force. Despite the friction with his official chiefs in London, Northumberland would have remained in Dublin had not the Tory ministry been replaced by Lord Grey's administration. The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland--the latter best known as one of the late Queen Victoria's governesses--left the country with the knowledge that they had been as successful as any viceregal pair before them. Sir Robert Peel described him as the very best governor of Ireland, and Wellington, never an easy man to please, growled out some compliments when he met the duke at a dinner-party. Lord Anglesey's second viceroyalty began in December, 1830, and ended in September, 1833. He had been popular during his brief reign of 1828-29, but he discovered speedily that patriots are susceptible, and the viceroy who earned popularity as an emancipationist in 1828 was disliked and distrusted by the O'Connellites, because he would not follow their lead and become equally as enthusiastic for Repeal. Daniel O'Connell derided the viceroy in almost every speech made, and no epithet was too strong to be applied to Lord Anglesey. O'Connell publicly prayed for his removal, and the viceroy, out of sympathy with all parties, lingered on at Dublin Castle, worried by the popularity of the Repealer, and disturbed by the havoc the Tithe War was playing with the progress of the country. {235} [Sidenote: The famous Doon auction]