The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1859-09-22
A Roporter's Joke a hair Century ago

A Reporters Joke hair Century ago
Morgan O'Sulliyan, an lusLman, and d
celebrated p1rla menlay reporter, attached
10 the London Morning CSsaaIele, some dhy
years ago, was 90 remarkable for his humor
as his professional ability Whenever any
one offended Morgan, OF got out Of furor
With him, be- Invariably rctalialcd In the way
OF some practical joke that generally placed
his Antagonist IN very ridiculous position
and afforded the hug,ari.t satisfaction. ~
this WY hc once got e,,o' eiih two iudiyid,
uai' at the same time ell,, had excited his
irc-uomcly, the celebrated W.bcrforcc,thcu
o lending member Of the opposition 10 par
lament and one Jack FIunuty parinmcn-
mry reporter Of the Morning Herald, Fin
ucJty vas fresh from lipperary and qlite on
acquainted with the characteristics Of the
different members Of parliament, but he re-
cciycd O good deal Of generous professional
a'sI'aUcT az thr dUUTr6r- ri, career from
Morgan OSulliyan. On the occasion now
referred % fnucrty came 90 the reporters
gallery al S'pcrlod NJ the night when Lhc de-.
bates seemed 10 have slaokcncd be- couelu
ded 20 take dosc on one of the benches,
and requested his friend 10 wake him up II
anything lively came before the House, nnd
thercupon went of 20 sleep Presently Mr.
Wherefore got upon bis legs and addressed
a very thrilling speech before the House. A.
hc progressed q mischcvous idea seized Nor.
gan O'SuIlivan, which, O. soon as Wibcrforcc
sat down, hc proceeded to put in practice
thus;
Rousng Finuoriy from his slumbcr on the
benches, O'Sullivon exclaimed, Jack Wilber-
force has just made an extraordinary speech.
What about " returned Finucrty, rubbing
his eyes. About the potato the cdcc, Of It
on national ,,ncity, the great virtues Of it a.
am article Of popular diets proved that the
finest kind OF men were reared on il, far su.
,ha,, did he " exclaimed Finuerty come,
lct me take hi, remarks in full from your
notes With pleasure, my dear fellow IT,.
piled q sullivan, who commenced as II read.
ing from h.s notebook, whilst Fiuuerly ca-
eor.y wrote after him IN the following ycins
Mr.. Ni.hcrfurcc then cmphatically remark.
vi that itlways appeared 10 him beyond
question that the great cause why the Irish
hborcrs, as body, were so much stronger
and capable Of enduring SO much more "a
tgtc than the English, arose from the sur
passing virtue Of their potato That, what
call eloquencc' interrupted Jack FinncrN.
Morgan resumed And | have no doubt
continued Mr.. WilbcrCorccl that had it been
my lot To have been born and reared in Ire.
.Lll, where my food would have principally
consisted Ot that iucsumno,e root, instead of
hciug the poor, infrm, shrivcIlcd and STUNT cG
creature you, sir, and the honorable gentle
men behold me, would have been a stout
athletic, handsome man, able to carry an
enormous weight We'll done, Wilbcrforcc,'
exclaimed Jack, in high gcci 20 on, Nor
gan O'Sulli,an then proceeded in the same
vein Of pathos and absurdi,y, but adroity
keeping within the bounds that Fnncrty's
crcdulity would swallow, until he had placed
i most whimsical speech in the mouth of the
grave and earnest Nilbcrforcc. Fnncrv,
with many expressions Of thanks to his broth
cr reporter, started for the Herald Office. On
his way, turning :"io a tavern close by the
House Of Commons, where number of re-
porterS Of the different morning papers were
rcguiing Themselves, Jack furnished them all
with copies of WiIbcrrorce's speech and
the hoax found its way next morning into ey-
cry paper in London. with the exception Of
the Morning Chronicle, to which, as a saattcr
of course the correct report was furnished
10y O'Suiiyun.
The public were u,toundcd at the extraor-
dnary spcech'which according to all the pa
pcrs Mr.. Wilberforec had made, and the
general opinion was expressed that he was "
candidate tor Bedlams Thofollowing evening
on the speaker taking the the chair, Wilber-
force rose and claimed the indulgence of the
House. Every honorable member he ob.
served, has doubtless read the speech which
l am represented rs having made on the pre-
vous night. With the permission of the
House, | will real IT, (IIere the honorable
gentleman rec VI speech amidst the most
'N'''''''''N '''''' Va i'eEAsN4sl \ Nhn assure
honorable members that no one could have
read this speech with more surprise than
myself did this morning, when | found the
paper ON the breakfast table. For myself
personally, care but little ubou. it. though,
if / were capable of uttering such nonsense
as is here put rs my mouth, it isChgh time
THAI, instead of being member of this House,
were an inmate of come lunatc asylum.
1t is for the dignity Of this House that feel
concerned, for, if the honorable members
were capable Of listening to such nonsense,
supposing me capable of giving expression
to it, it we're much more appropriate to call
this a theater for tho performance Of farces
than place for the legislative deliberations
Of the representatives Of the people,