The Irish standard., 1889-02-02


were the anxieties of empire ever more
fully charged than O'Connell was laden
with the thought Of Ireland and with
the supreme direction Of its concerns.
He was all along the missionary of an
idea. The idea was the restoration of
the public life Of his country, which he
believed. and too truly believed, to have
been not only enfeebled but exhausted
and paralJzsd By the Act Of Union. 1t
lay in his hearts core from the dawn of
his opening manhood: from the COM
mencement OF his full POLITICAL career
it became the handspring Of his acts,
his words, his movements, the absolute
mistress of his titne, ct his purse, and
Of whatever additions his credit could
make to his pecuniary resources. He
loved his country with all his heart, and
with all his mind, and with all his soul,
and with ali his strength.
published in the end of 1888 volume
on the relations OF Church and State
which was thought to SAVIOUR Of the
opinions Of the Oxford school. At the
beginning of the ensuing session I
chanced to fall in with O'Connell be-
hind the Speakers chair. He laid his
hand On my arm and said, 81 claim the
half of YOU" At all times he was most
kindly and genial to me, who had no
claim to his notice, and whose pre-
iudices were all against him. He had,
however, without doubt more religion
than theology, and was in truth
thoroughly, consistently, and affection
ately devout. l willnot inquire whether
his duel with D Esterre requires any
qualifications of this statement as ap-
plicable to the date of it's occurrence.
II may be said, however, that an Irish
man who either then or for some time
after was not a duellist M dst have been
either. more or less than man. And the
House of Commons is now familiar
with the stately figure OF an Irish gen
tleman advanced in life. who carried
with him the halo of all extraordinary
reputation in that particular, but who
is conspicuous among ali his contempo-
raries for his singularly beautiful and
gentle manners.
O'Connell is clearly to be regarded as
a man who desired to maintain peace,
property, and law. Yet his case ex-
hibits the difficulties which are certain
to arise when, as in Ireland, legality
and morality have been long pitted
against each other In those provinces Of
human existence which most concern
the vital interests of the people. Ac.
cordingly this friend of law. neverthe-
less, could upon occasion recommend
not only exclusive dealing, since known
as boycotting, but exclusive treatment
outside of dealings, and the carrying of
this treatment to point so extreme,
as, for example. the erection OF cribs in
the chapels, within which alone those
who had voted wrong were to be al
lowed to pray. One step further planted
men in the domain of sheer violence.
1t seems hard to deny that this step
was sometimes taken. The violence
must be condemned, and so must the
recommendation which was the i'm.
mediate incentive, but not so as to
blind us to the fact that a severe con.
demnation is due TO those who main
tanned abomlnable laws impossible to
be borne By human beings. except in a
state Of abject slavery.
1t would not be easy to name man
who has attained to equal aggregate OK
cellence with O'Connell in the three
fold oratory Of the bar, the platform,
and the Senate. AS a Parliamentary
speaker no one in matching him with
his contemporaries Of tho House of
Commons would have re]egated him to
the secOndcIass, but it might be ditli-
cult to find his exact place in the first.
he was greatest when answering to the
call OF the moment in extemporary
burst. and least ornate when charging
himself with extended and complex ex-
position. AS All advocate it may, ap-
prehend, be asked without creating sur
prise, whether the entire century has
produced any one more eminent,
though mot to speak of the liyingi
Folet had he been spared to run his |
whole career would have been form!d-
able rival, while Scarlett, probably,
never once missed the msrk in dealing
with Jury. 1t is here that Broughaln,
greatly his superior in parliamentary
eiuquence and IN general attainments,
tails SO far behind him. AS ali orator !
Of the platfrom he may challenge all
the world, for who ever in the same de- |
gree as O'Connell trained and dis. |
clplined, slirred and soothed people?
But I am convinced that we ought
also to accord to him the character of
an excellent statesman. The world
knows him chiefly in connection with
the proposal to Repeal the Act of Union
with ireland. Now WOULD venture to
PROFOUND as the criterion of statesman
ship properly So called, first, the capacity
to embrace broad principles and TO hold
them fast; secondly, the faculty which
Can distinguish between means and
ends, aud can treat the first in entire
subordination to the last. To both
these crileria the life of O'Connell fully
answers. He never for a moment
changed his end; he never hesitated to
change his means. His end was the
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