The Irish standard., 1890-12-13
CHARLESSTEWART pARNEll,
The Great Leader Graphically sketehed
By an Englishman in the Re
view Of Reviews"

BY an EngllslMan III tne 1e'
i view Of Reviews"
IAN ANGLO-AMERlCAN FRESHMAN
He is the Grandson of Sir John Parnel]
/ the Inoorruptible, and Ohip Of
the Old Block.
VIM. II. Stead gave the f0llowin.
sketch of Parnell in the February mum
ber of his "Review OF Reviews:
Some thirty years ago small bO!
with curious brown eyes and fair hail
might have been observed on The
coping of the roof of stately naansion
house in Ireland. He was all alone
and was apparently TOO intent upor
what he was doing to spare thought
for the perils of his position. He haC
with him on the roof an iron pot, one Of
thoee usually employed for boiling
potatoes, but he had converted it into
an improvised brazier, IN which he was
melting lead. 1t was little Charlie
Parnell. who. having heard that the
best way of making spherical bullets
was to drop molten lead from great
height, had mounted the roof of Avon.
dale. dragging an improvised smelling
pot iull of burning Goals up two high
ladders and across the sloping roof.
What success The boy had in CASTING
bullets, tradition sayeth not, nor does il
much matter. The marvellous tbiup
was that te boy came down IN safety,
The incident was typical Of Mr. Par.
nell's subsequent career. The boy
was father of the man. The cool daring
which led the lad to drag his blazine
brazier to the c0pest0ne of the topmost
roof of Avondale without making any
fuss or phrase, the originality and re-
source with which he carried out his
experiment, the calm security with
which he achieved his purpose, and the
safety with which he descended to
earth, are all typical of the Irish leader,
who this month is the most conspicuous
figure in the political arena. Mr.. Par
nell is an incarnate paradox. He is, to
begin with, a Protestant, and yet he is
the chosen chief of the most passionate'
ly Catholic population iu the world.
Although the uncrOwned king Of Ire
land, he is of English and American
descent. He is landlord, but he has
led the tenants to victory without
parallel In our history. He is obeyed
as no one has ever been obeyed before
by an Irish party. but he began his
career by a mut1nv against the authority
Of his leader, His name has been the
symbol of q revolutionary movement,
against which all the resources of civil.
IL alton were invoked In vain, but he Is
at the same time the mainstas Of con-
servatlsm among his own people. He
is the parliamentary chief of the most
voluble and eloquent of English~speak-
ing nationallties. But when he made
his debut as a parliamentary candidate,
he stuck and could not tget through even
the perfunctorv maiden speech Of q
political debutant. and down to this
day he has never made single speech
that could by any stretch of charity be
described as an eloquent grafton. Ira.
agine everything that the stage Irish
man is supposed to be, and you have
everything Mr.. Parnell is not. He is
neither eonsplrator nor demagogue.
He has neither fire nor fury nor passion,
nor any of the splendid vices or the
snowy virtues Of his countrymen. In
the midst of a loqnacious and nerv0usly
restless generation, Mr.. Parnell has
achieved his unique success chiefly by
the possession of unique capacity of
holding his tongue.
Mr.. Parnell is type OF the amalga-
nation of races that is going On under
the rooftree of our English speech. His
forebears crossed over to Ireland after
the Commonwealth from Congleton. in
Cheshire; one Of the most. distinguished
of his predecessors. whoheld high Office
In an English cabinet. died as Baron
COngleton in 1912. His mother is an
American, the daughter of the first
admiral In the American navy. He was
educated as 9 small boY In Noncon-
f0rmist DANES school In Somersetshire.
He matrlculated In Cambridge Univer-
sity. He has been the acknowledged
leader OF the Irish race all over the
world ever since 1879; but the type Of
his political genius Is more akin to
that OF the Scotch than to that OF any
other nationality under the British dag.
Mr.. Galton NAV search far and wide
without finding q more signal instance
OF hereditary than in the Irish chief
tain. If Englishmen were NOT. as =
rule. even moro ignorant Of Irish history
than they are Of their own! they would
have recognized In Charles Stewart
Farnell the replies 0f tho famous John
Parnell: the .'incorruptlble, 2 who after
S,osn~ for A1ar1nn ue,ara nh aaarlci1nr ~ klan