The Northwestern standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1885-1886, 1886-01-09
THE .F.UF'TU'Rl;|,.!E
College Green as II Was, and May b
Again At No Very Dis
tant Day.
Ihe Coming Parliament Changes During
the Parnellite Period Logic Nj.
vs.. Oratory.


vs.. Oratory.
The Parliament of Ireland that is to
be will occupy the house Of parliament
of Ireland that was. How Willthe new
men compare with the old2 How will
the social usages, the eloquance, aye,
the conflicting ambitions Of the new
compare with those of the old .58
The parliament house, occupies an
acre and a half in the heart of Dublin.
1T is a magnificent stone building whose!
majesty Of proportions and beauty Of
outline might have been sufficient, with
| its noble memories, to keep alive the
Esprit of nationality in ! he breasts OF a
brave people. The edifice is in nearly
semi circular form. The principal
front consists of a colorado Of the
| Ionic order, extending around three sides
lot a quadrangle. In the center is a
projecting portico on four columns.
On these restsa triangular pediment,i in
the tympannm Of which are the royal
arms. Rising above the apex Of tue
the pediment is "a statue Of Hiberaisi,
with one of Fidelity on the right and OF
Commerce on the LETT. The east front
has a portico of six Corinthian col
umns; on the apex of the pediment is
a statue of ForJitude, with Justice on
one side and Liberty on the other.
! This portico used to be the entrance to
/ the house Of lords. The west front
nas an Ionic portico of four columns,
with entabiatuae, cornice and pediment
| corresponding to that Of the principal
front. thin the central portico are
/ 5Wo great entrances communicating at
each end with wide corridors. This
was the portion occupied by the COM
mons. 1t is used now by the Bank of
Ireland. The old house Of lords re
mains in its original form. Tt is a
feclangle, with a semi-circular recess.
In this the throne was placed. The al
terations Of the interior of the building
for banking purposes have left but little
LOT the original arrangement Of the
house Of commons. It also was rect
angular, with a semi circle at one end.
There was the chair of the speaker,
and before him, arranged not unlike
the congregation in an Anglican chapel
sat the members. On the floor, during
the last half century of the parliament,
might have been seen the men who
made Irish oratory celebrated; the men,
too, who played representative govern
entsuch it was in Ireland --for the
ever-increasing benefit of English
| trade, the men who finally for money,
for place, for promises, sold even the
lsuryiying sham of Irish parliamentary
privileges to England. They were
elected by a fraction OF the people;
their function was to make laws. They
usnrped the prerogative Of the entire
| people and battered what it was not
| theirs to sell, but which they had the
power, under the protection Of an Eng
lish army, to deliver.
The classic period of the old parlia-
! mentary life consisted of the years i'm
mediately preceding the recovery OF
Legislative independence in 17S2 and
the fifteen years following it. Then
| there were patriots, orators, wits, and
half the brilliancy that has been pre-
served in jest, repartee, bon mot and
retort is gathered from the lips of those
who we're conspicuous in those exclt-
ling and inspiring days. Traitors were
there as well as patriots; traftickers,
office and tuft hunters, gormands,
drunkards, charlatans and frauds of all
orts. But those were also the grea,
days of intellect and of pure patriotism
when the spirit of the Irish race was
rising above all paltriness and striving
after a noble and practical ideal. The
style OF oratOry in the Commons when
Grattan and Flood, Burke and Curran
and SO many more were on The floor
was highly theatrical and passed away
IN half century, Shell being the last
exemplar of it. The gesticulation swept
the floor and described great curves in
the upper air; the body of the speaker
swayed from side to side and forward
and backward; his vocalIzation swept
the gamut from profound bass to
squeaking falsetto; he was an actor
rather than an advocate aud his object
was more to stir the quick emotion or
sway the momentary passions, than TO
convince. The diclion of Grattan is /
aorid and overstreWn with classical |
illusions and painted flowers; and the
belief in his sincerity must have been
ingincible, since it carried all before it I
in spite Of a style thick with the frag-
ments of mixed metaphor a fair
specimen of the inflated fashion Of ora
tory that prevailed even up to the
downfall of the Parliament is the per-
ora.ion of Thomas Goold, who opposed
the proposition to abolish the Irish
Parliament and send delegation TO
Westminster. 3 want not the assnr-
ance of divine inspiration to foretell, |
for am enabled by the visible and TIM
erring demonstration OF nature to as
a - u y n n