The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-02-17
PRIESYLY INTIMIDATION.
The Judge Who Heard the Gal
way Election Suit.
SKETCH OF KEOGH.
The Man Chosen to Try the Ec-
g clesiastical Offenders.
MS NINE HOURS SPEECH IN JUDGMENT.

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MS NINE HOURS SPEECH IN JUDGMENT.
DUBLIN, Jan. %, 1873.
As the time approaches for the trial Of the Catho
nc Bishop Of Clonfert and twenty-one priests Tor
intimidation In the Galway election the excite- ,
mens In this excitabe country rises higher ever
day.
It must be admitted that every feature m this |
galway chapter OF the historY-of modern ireland Ia
remarkable. The |archiepscopal =. 1tation, the
tremendous and 'unexanlpled tuynlilt OF contest,
the ny-se dsy trial, with it, incidents and Jail
commttals AMI perjury, all, make the event his
tOrica. The Judge himself is perhaps the most
remarkable man in Eelayld But Tor the extra
ordinary Ve hemenceSnd. virulence and ferocty OF
ms Judgm ent the NgreaI hubbuh had perchance
been ferf ;otten,. But every passion was aroused
anew, ~ I'd nothing ever known in this courtry
stirreu the Catholic heart TO such wrathful pur-
pose - that fpompous decision which consumed
n'ne Iours and covers fifty pages of1arge octave.
~ urposes Ndeyoting some space to the man. the
P0'e ican The judge ana the judgment. William
kef Ugh was born in 1917. When eighteen years old
nc was entered student in Trinity College. He
W. on several honors. and was remarkable as .
" uent apeeker, vigorous in debate and pos
extraordinary selfpossess0n. should
mentAoA.as mere matter OF fact that there is but
dim confidence in his independence, and that
HIS PRIVATE ExIGENCIEs
have' induced doubts which have never been
heattAed against any other judge in the country.
HI, had no practice at the bar He is not
lear ned lawyer. His mind il not judicial He is
Nuack.sighted vehement and incapable of giving up
Dan 0niOn; and he is often right that vanity has
anaAe him believe In something like personal in
Variability. He was forward-going man from the
very FIRST Modesty he has none. When mere
boy he opposed Lord Charlemont for the Presidency
,ofthe Dublin Library Society, and, having got half
n dozen votes, acknowledged his defeat by saying
10 the members, Gentlemen, am sorry you don't
Axnow your own interest,"" With audacity not
at all unattractve and powers undoubtedly
brilliant, he was just the man for public life IN
ireland. He became an oratoriaI patriot by pro-
sessl0n, and when thirty years Old he contested
Athi0ne, the most corrupt borough IN Ireland, and
bers, with
INFAMOUS JOHN sADLIER AT THE HEAD.
He was Sadlier's intimate, his Jddus Aclates his
partner In weekly Journal the only one moth
that 1uttered round that awful torch and escaped
He was essentially peoples man, a priests
man als passionate appeals TO the one were only
hos spoken as much treason as perhaps any man in
re,and and he has sentenced more Fenia1s to
gether. From the very beginning ne had task
se gaming 1ls.n seat on the Bench and as this am
formidable to the constituted authorities, MIR.
keOgh became
DNR OF THE MOST POWERFUL AGITAToRs OF THE
His speeches. taken as speeches, were magnificent;
but the matter was delusve, the fact strained the
defamation unjust, the whole q performance. l
am-and ever have been-convinced that had for
tune enabled him to be an honest politician he
would have delighted in the position. But he bent
TO his necessity and he reached the goal how he
could. His language noticed IN the
House OF Commons, and he barely escaped. At a
public meeting in Athlone he affirned that,
GOD so HELPING HIM, He WOULD NEVER TAKE
In six months he was solicitor General; sue.
ceeded once more in bamboozling the conscience OF
AthlOne mot difficult NATTER, was made Attor-
ney General and finally Judge.
The uproar that followed that appontment-on
the one side every respectable man, on the other
every deceived patriot-can hardly be described
hosts OF friends there. His pleasant ways his Wit
and vicacty, his good fellowship and high social
and a was sne er 81 s
IN the height OF great debate. He is certainly
one Of the most effective speakers ever heard
once graceful and vigorous; his voice clear,
resonant and full OF music; his form is manly, and in
height lace and figure he Is as like Napoleon the I
Great as one shilling Is like Notwithstanding
which resemblance he is not little vain. Perhaps |!
to repetition; his intolerance OF an opponent |
is often insolent; his denunciation of an Infe-
there is nothing profound In him save his daring |
which many people call mpudence. But success |
success Is never without. In the face OF a private
repute-bad enough in patriot but intolerable in
pledges in the popular cause, in face OF reasonable
speeches and intmacies of the most dangerous
character, he cleared all difficulties and assumed
Inc ermlne with an easy Jauniness that righteous
man would shrink from.
At this point would like to say believe he in
his soul determined to become respectable His |
position saved him from importantly, and his pru-
dence or generosity suggested an arrangement |
which whitewashed him and made him somewhat
Tree. With fa, 700 year, with about one hundred |
and fifty days work In the 365, with dignlties which
greater lawyers and better men had sought in vain
Mr. ke0gh began life anew have said his mind !
IL not judicial, that he is vehement, ana so keen
witted as to induce obstnacy IN opinion. Shortly
AFTER he assembled the bench he went on the South.
ern Circuit and tried
TWO BROTHERS NAMED CoRMAc
1or q murder. He assumed their guilt, which, in
deed, looked probable. His charge to the Jury was
the address OF an advocate rather than the calm
exposition OF Judge. The jury found the brothers
guilty. and they were hanged In few months
their innocence was established beyond the shadow
OF doubt; the Judges impetuosity was remem-
has borne the brand OF that dark business. This
mental innrmity has weakened and disngured his
Judge Fitzgerald, at the state trials of the Fenan
prisoners his loud-yoiced interruption his head.
long fury to witnesses, his terrible demeanor when
sentencing the condemned all proved that the ''od
man" was not stilled. Perhaps more hu,niating
ordeal than that through which he passed when
O'DONovAN tRoSsA) WAS MAKING HIS LAST SPEECH
never was endured by man. O'Don0van, knowing
wei his fate, proceeded to take a last revenge by
descriptive of Mr.. Keoghs career from the col.
umns of the Irish People. To these articles which
fhem the Judge was compelled to listen Tor hours
together, In presence OF the Bar and the pubic. i
shall never forget that face so long as live.
Ever since he assembled the Bench he has fear
1cssly denounced the assumption OF clergymen
their interference in politics and secnlar affairs;
ard in lecture on "Miiton's Prose- he-the quon,
dam champion OF the priesthood-hailed william
I'LL as "our glorious dellverer,n scorDed the pre-
sumption Of the Church IN all ages laughed at the
'.fsitnfur all over the country.
SO say that the clerical party in Galway were ter