The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-04-11

| lead on his followers to arbitrate their
wrongs by the fortunes of bloody conflict,
| he stands chance of succeeding and if he
succeeds then he is hero, a patriot; per-
haps the founder of dynasty or of ma
ton. If he fails, then he goes down on the
field, and if he fights nobly, he may rest
assured that he will be held in fondest re
membrance by those who followed him,
and may also win even the respect of his
enemies Laws" said NAPOLEON, "are
of no weight except they have behind them
the power necessary to enforce them;'' and
so in like manner the words of agitators
and revolutionists, be they ever so elo-
quent, amount to nothing unless behind
those words there is character sufficient,
on occasion, to fight for their cause.
| A fine illustration of these suggestions is
found in the experience Of the great Irish
agitator DANIEL O'CoNNELL. Gifted be-
You'd all comparison with those qualities of
person and mind which make up the sue
cessful agitator-a splendid physique, a
stately presence, "a face It is said, ''capa-
BILE of expressing easily and effectively the
most rapid alterations of mood, and a voice
which all hearers admit to have been I'M
rivaled for strength and sweetness, its
| power, its pathos, its passion, its music
have been described in words of positive
rapture by men who detested O'CoNNELL"
he proposed to give absolute liberty to
his countrymen. Flushed with the victory
which crowned his agitation III behalf of
Catholic emancipation politically, he told
the Irish peasants that 1S43 would be the
great repeal year. BY that he meant the
union between England and Ireland should
be repealed. He threw himself with all his
strength into the agitation for that repeal.
He called immense mass meetings in the
open air, taking pains to have the gather
ing occur where it would be in the midst
Of historic scenery; and there he de-
nOunced Saxon cruelty and the heroism
of Celtic suffering until his hearers were
fired to the pitch of going to war with the
first, and their souls were melted into tears
over the fate of the latter. The excite
ment throughout ireland was intense. At
the Hill of Tara it was said by unsympa-
thetic observers that the number of people
present could not have been less than a
quarter of million. a meeting was an
nounced for Clontarf, near Dublin, which
was expected to outnumber the one at Tara.
But at this juncture the English govern
ment took a hand in the proceedings and
the day before the monster meeting was to
be held, the lord-ieutenant issued a procla-
nation prohibiting it because it was ''calcu-
lated to excite unreasonable and well
grounded apprehension, as its object was to
accomplish alterations in the laws and
constitution of the realm by intimida-
ton and the demonstration of physical
force At this first demonstration of au-
thority on the part of the government,
O'CONNELL recoiled. Though the people
from the country were gathering at Clon-
tart, he told them the orders of the lord
lieutenant must be obeyed, and the people
submitted to his orders. No meeting was
held. But that was the end of the great
agitators influence. The crowds which
had attended the monster meetings Sin
sort of military order and with a certain
parade of military dicipline' saw in a mo-
ment that the agitation was one of words
merely, and the younger portion of the pop
ulation lost interest in the matter; and the
'uncrowned King of Ireland, 'asO'CoNNELL
was sometimes called lost his power. His
Wanting words were not to be backed up
with valorous deeds, and he failed. On the
first vigorous demonstration of his oppo-
nents he drew back, and from that moment
he ceased to be dangerous.
General ROTIANGER in France today
stands where O'CoNNEL didin October 1912.
Not by his eloquence, but by a few success
full reforms in the war department while
secretary of war, an occasional dash down
the boulevards seated on fine charger,
and more than all else, by BISMARCK allud-
ing to him as the first soldier in France"
he has become the popular idol of the
French masses. But the government of
France is making a vigorous effort to over
throw him. and at its first determined as
sault he fees from France. 1t remains to
be seen whether he has the courage to fol
low his agitation to the last extremity and
place himself at the head of the people and
of the army, which, there are reasons to be
Heve. would receive him as its commander,
and overthrow the government, or whether
he will counsel peace and submission. lose
his influence with the masses, and be set
down in the annals of history as political
demagOgue who lacked the courage of his
convictions: one who raised his hand to
strike, but lacked the courage to let fall the
blow. A few months at most Will decide
the question.