The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-04-18
Tuesday, April Is. 'S2
CURRAN, THE IRISH ORATOR.

The times, and even the lace OF our ClVlllZa
ton, are much changed since the days of Cur
ran. Yet Ireland's great struggle against he
ignorance and inadequacy within, and her po
htical despotism Without, goes on still-witi
fewer and less important signs Of real progress:
than the American people would like to see
If all the eloquence and genius of her giftet
sons in times past could be minted into money,
or forged into arms for her arsenals, the hymn
of her deliverance might be chanted any day
Bnt that imprisoned fervor in Irish character
which makes her people the most melodious
and eloquent of the human race where it is
luminous with the Promethean fire of intellect,
is an obdurate and impractcabe element to
leaven in the topulous spaces where that fire
is wanting.
1t is century since Curran and the great
Erskine passed, like winged centaurs, through
the Irish and English political skies. AT this
day the memory of the great lrishman has
more vitality in mems minds than that of his
great rival and contemporary. Not that Cur
ran was the superior man; in polish and ele-
qance of diction, and in erudtion Erskine
far excelled him. But the stirring events OF
Irish history, of which he was a part, the
character of his eloquence which detied all in
tellectual rules and struck straight for the hui
man heart; his fiery inveCtive, before which
men and measures alike went down; the pow
erfu pathos that, sudden as flash, would
melt an audience into tears; the perpetual
presence of his overriding national sentiment
his unrivalled wit, that would light with its
brlliance the object which it struck dead with
its lightning; and above or rather below all his
underground of coarse humanity-these were
the elements which gave Curran power and
renown while he lived, and to which the great
heart of the civilized world responds to-day
and will ever respond in pulsing vibrations
while memory and fame endure. To his per-
sonak endowmentS Curran was not indebted
for any part Of his success. He was short in
stature, not agreeable in look, timid and un
graceful in manner when not aroused, his per-
son slim and boyish in appearance, his voice
thin and shrill. But his powerful and sonor
Gus diction, his intense feeling and passionate
appeals to the heart, and his love of Ireland,
which changed the forum Of every forensic
argument and converted it into a national
ovation, left out of memory all deficiencies Of
person and voice. Even in the solemniy of
a court scene, in despite of the austere dig
nifty of despotic rule, he was often interrupted
by popular applause.
Curran was born in $780, in Cork, came to
the Irish Bar in I775, and was made Kings
counsel and seated in the Irish Parliament in
1882. His parliamentary record was less con-
spicuous for briliancy than his forensic one,
which has commonly been ascribed TO the
pressure Of his professional duties. This is
probably an error and has naturally arisen
from not comprehending justly the elements
of his character. Had Curran devoted himself
exclusively to his duties in the Irish House Of
Commons, he would probably not have at
tanned the full height Of his renown. The
loose conflicts Of debate reeking with the COM
mon passions of vulgar intellects then prevail
ent in both parliaments, would not have
brought out his strength. There was too
much expanse, too much license, too much
privilege common to all, instead Of the strict
rules of the professional forum which secured
him from disagreeable contact. These were,
besides, indispensable to him that, like the
circus rider through his paper hoop, he might
leap through them at full speed, mounted on
the bare! aCk his mighty user-t a genius
which finds so few rider, in the world arena
He loved the practice, not the law The pro-
fesSion was meanS-nOt an end, for his legal
erudition, through his own Indifference was
far from profound. 1t placed him upon
roStrum which parliament did not supply.
from which to make those grand appeals to
the feelings Of men in which he had no equal.
Then. too, the courts were more attractive to
the people than their parliaments. A given
number of pounds seated any upstart in par
lament, whose pinchback. glitter Of speech at
tracted no public attention, and awakened
among accidental hearers only disgust. His