The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-10-13

brieless barrister into the House OF Commons,
and finally to the judicial ermine and an earl
dom. There was Barry Yelverton, so long the
friend and boon companion of CurraD, and, in
deed. his townsman. He made his way TO the
bar through sClt-denial, poverty, and difficulty.
Naturally convivial, he never allowed pleasure
to unfit him for business.
He was laboTious and learned. and though not
master of the logical argument OF Flood, the
brilliant antithesis OF Grattan, the captivating
rhetoric of Burgh, the mathematical reasoning
OF PlUnket, or the fascinating imagery and
varied pathos of Currsn, he possessed a bold,
nervous, aflluent eloquence of his own-fery
and fervid, as well as weighty and distinct
which made him formidable opponent He
was fully forty years old before be entered Par
lament, ard at once became a powerful aid 10
Grat8n and Flood in their great battle for Irish
independence. In 1888 he listened to overtures
from the Government who desired to detach
him from the popular cause, and accepted the
Office of Chief Baron of The Exchequer, then
vacant by the death of Henry Burgh. He was
promised a peerage but had to wait several
As Judge he stands sans pe,t ct sans reproohe
his only fault being that he would sometimes
sreceive impressions too soon and too strongly
This arose from the quickness OF his perception
but he learned to discipline his judgment, and
was deservedly popular. OF his eloquence only
a few sentences have been preserved A lawyer
pleading before hum spoke slightingly of the
| Commentaries OF Blackstone and he impress
| sively corrected him. Blackstone he said,
| "frst gave to the law the air of science he
found it skeleton, and clothed it with flesh,
| color, and compleXion he embraced the cold
statue, and by his touch 1t grew into life sense,
| and beautyn
Curran, who, as as advocate, was surpassed
| only by O'Connell, who was one of the sounded
lawyers OF his time, also had a seat in Parlia-
| ment, aud invariably spoke and voted on the
| patriotic side; be did more-be followed the
| practice OF the time and place, and fought seve-
| raj duels. 1t was a fighting era-so much so
that once, during parliamentary election, when
| the rival candidates had a dispute on the hust-
| ings, the High Sheriff politely and obligingly
| adjourned the proceedings while the two gen
| temen proceeded to an adjacent field to eX
| change shots. Everywhere he was fearless and
uncomprOmising. As an orator, wit, and boon
companion his success has rarely, if ever been
| equalled: He had been six years in Parliament,
| and had not reached the age OF forty when the
Regency bill came before the House of Com.
mons. AT that period he was a struggling man,
| with expensive associates, and what he used to
| call "a large small family" He was offered the
| Chief Justiceship of Ireland, with peerage, if
| he would vote with the Government on that
| bill. He was not TO be bought he spurned the
bribe, and voted against the Government.
Flt2glbbon. who had been ostentatiously anti
ministerial up to that period, was also ap.
| pToacbed; he swallowed the bait with avidltY,
was made Lord Chancellor, with peerage, and
| thenceforth was deadly foe TO Irish liberty.
| Curran is grandly identified with the best and
the most sorrowlul years Of Ireland's short
lived nationality. He was known, tried, and
| trusted by his country men. He was the centre
of the flashing wits, the renowned orators, the
brilliant advocates, the true patriots of Ireland.
To use the words of Thomas Davis (who resem-
bled him in many points,, CuIran was "a COM
panion unrivaled in sympathy and wit; an ora
| tor, whose thought went forth like ministers of
nature, with robes of light and swords in their
hands; patriot, who battled best when the
| flag was tTampled down; and genuine, earnest
man, breathing of his climate, his country, and
| his time"
Saurin and Plunkett, Bellew and Goold, Egan
and Bushe, Langrlsh and Darlington, with many
9th N,hn oAn fhn Trich hor lnc cfrin hn
| tween seventy and eighty years ago, entered
keenly into political life, and rushed from the
| forum to the Senate, eager partisans on the side
of the country; and the two first of these
thought, joined with the subtlest logic and the
most fervid expression which happy union
made an eloquence scarcely inferior to that of
Burks in the British Parliament. Saurin, who
declined the ermine, was Attorney-General,
after the union, for many years, and was a
great lawyer. Plunkett, successfully Attorney
| General, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas,
and Lord Chancellor, entered the British House
of Commons some years after the union which
he so vehementy opposed, and was finally made
Lord Chansellor with peerage.
1t is much to his credit, that, while he was a
law officer of the Crown, he never would sane
ton the practice of packing jury" which
had previously been much INDUCED in on the
part of the Government. For many years he
was one OF the most eloquent arguers in the
British Parliament, and TO him, alter the death
of Grattan, was confded by the Irish Catholics
!
| other OF the men OF their time, when there
were giants in the land" was Charles Kendall
| Bushe one of the most accomplished and effect
i've speakers in the IRISH House of Commons,
endowed with lively and spontaneous wit, and
also great lawyer. He held the office of Chief
Justice from 1922 to l842, and died in the year
following. We need not proceed further with
this catalogue rdisOnne-OConnell, O'Loghliu,
Blackburne, LEROY, Meth, Doherty, Goold,
Wallace and Others who belong to that memo
rabe time She'll and Phillips have described
them with spirit and accuracy in their respec-
tive books, and they merit better than to be
crowded into paragraph at the close of an
article.
The general impression, not quite unfounded
is, that the members of the Irish bar are better
advocates than lawyers, more eloquent thar
argumentaive, and better skilled in cross-oX
animation then in applying the great principles
of jurisprudence. When the leaders OF the Irish
bar sat in Parliament, where ornamental rhetoric
was highly estimated, their oratory, thus chas
tened, was more rational and impressive thar
when they addressed a jury. There are nov
| many IIishmen in successful practice at thu
English bar; two are on the bench, Sir james
| Willes and Sir Samuel Martin; and the presen
| Attorney. General of England Sir Hugh Cairns
| may probably become Lord Chancellor, with
peerage, in the event of the present administra
| lion continuing in office. The consideration o
the interesting question, how does the presen
bar of Ireland compare in learning and elo
| quence with that o. the past, we leave to others
| Nnlx, hot tba honor aY1 ind