The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-12-21

FAoooooAnBs' EaFiy IN tho GoOaees Southern
Catholic not remarkable for his good ssnse or
good feeling toward his Protestans oonntry-
men. said mol mol to o statement or Mr..
Butte that the Protestant Parliament Of Iro,
Land repealed the moro sevors Of tho penal
laws; and at once I saw Catholic olergymen
and leading lay Catholics, and in<sssd the,
whole assembly, leap to their feet and CRY ous
in most determined manner that ths inter-
xnpter should be put out, % he was erdeayor-
ing to disturb the harmony Of the meeting. As
for tho character Of the speaking, 1t was really
far above the average. There was splendid
speaking on each day; bat ON the second day
the eloquence displayed was such % had mot
been heard In ireland since Grattan Numbered
forth his invectives against tho Union and its
infamous authors. -.
The chief figures in the conferences deserve Q
brief notice. The chairman, Mr.. VIM. Shaw
On. p. for Bandon), would mako o model
speaker. His very faoe-whioh 10 not unlike
John Bright's-is indicative Of any amount Of
sound common sense aud inflexible determine.
ton, two qualities which he displayed to an
unexsmp1ed degree as President of the confer.
ence.. He delivered o short address at the b.
ginning Of each day-a business like, pitby
address; and here I may remark that all
through he had the tone of o thorough man of
business who knows what he is about and has
no time to be merely talking. He has a fine,
deep, rich, full voice and fluent utteranoe.
MIR. Shaw is chairman of the Munster Banks
prosperous concern-and was once Methodist
minister. His earnestness in the cause of Home
Rule is undoubted. At the close of the pro-
eeedings he subscribed e3Oo to the Special
Of W. ~
was, of course, the central figure of the con-
ference and its greatest orator, and that he is
now the accepted leader Of oil Irish national
lists. The next most impressive speaker was
Dean O'Brien, Of Limerick. Indeed, think
the Dean was the most truly oratoricsl, digni-
fed and impressive, though he spoke but once,
and that briefly. BE is an ugly man, physical
ly, but his perfect elocution was exquisitely
pleasing. man that made as great and
pleasing an impression as Dean O'Bsien, though
what he said had not as much in it as the
deans address, was Mr.. O'Connor Power-once
working man, now an extern student of St.
Jarlath's College, Tuam. Mr. Power has q
fine, deep, excel1ent1y moduIated voice knows
how to use his hands and speaks with de-
liberation, calculated force and passion, that
point him out as Q born orator. His first ad-
dress was decidedly the most brilliant piece of
defamation of which the conference can boast.
Mr. A. III. Sullivan was not at his best, but he
still showed himself to be inter prince, and his
drawing out of the equivocating O'Conor Don
was one of the beat things in the whole dis
cussion. Last, but not least, is the Rev. Isaac
Nelson, Presbyterian minister from Belfast,
whose speech excited the greatest burst of on
thusissm I witnessed. Mr.. Nelson's thorough
going patriotism, his humorous ssllies, his CO.
centric action, his large charity, the source
of the greatest delight and the most universal
admiration.
On the whole, the conference was q great
fact, and its decisions have been ratified by
the Irish people. JIG