Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-10-14
LIFE OF PARNELL.
THOMAS POWER O'CONNOR HAS
PUBLISHED ONE.
Parnell's Relations With Mrs. O'Shea.
How His Manifesto Affected HIS
Friends Then In America.
Mrs. Parnells Health.
Life of Parnell.

nor's life of Charles Stewart Parnell has
just appeared. II bears a few ira
ces of hurried preparation, but
yet it is book of 223 pages
and contains great deal in
small compass. After rapid resume of
the writer alludes to the charge leveled at
Parnel that he misled intimate
friends as TO the truth in regard to
his relations with Mrs. O'Shea.
He says: '.Parnel may have said that he
came out of the trial with his character IN
furnished. Certainly he so wrote to one
of his most affectionate and faithful
friends. What he probably meant was
indicated in the few words he spoke the
day after his reelection by his party, IN
which, lifting as he said, the corners
of the curtain, he denied en-
phatically that he had be-
trayed friendship, abused hospitality or
broken up happy 1united home. Circum-
stances seemed TO Parnell as in the case of
Launcelot. to make dishonor honorable and
fasehOod truth
The effect of Mr.. Parnell'S subsequent
manifesto on the Irish delegates then in
America is thus. described: Every
member of the delegation except Timothy
Harrington was indignant Disbelief, dis
gust and despair succeeded each other,
We rushed out at the first station possible
land that henceforth we were to be counted
amongst the opponents to ParnellS leader
ship. 1t has been represented that we
acted on the cablegrams of others This is
false and unjust to Parnell Our judgment
was reached on Parnell's own words.''
Proceeding to comment on the alteration
of his appearance and character after the
divorce disclosures, it is remarked that he
had been described as having been muir
dered The hand that struck him down
was his own. Strangely enough, the
idea that he would one day
ruin himself was familiar to his
colleages for many years. One instance of
the commission about deceiving the house.
He had been then a considerable
time looked upon by his friends as
so distant-minded that they instinctively
anticipated that he would say something
wrong i'll sheer observation-disclosures. When
he sat down he was quite surprised
on being told that he had committed
dreadful blunder A stranger visiting the
house of commons would find it hard TO I'M
derstand why he produced such an
effect there. He stumbled constantly.
He had very scant vocabulary and by no
means a large stock of ideas. He was also
very careless in preparing material which
work he put off to the last moment. It was
quite common to find him at 1ilvarY
blowing laboriously through figures of
which he had no mastery whatever at times
when he ought to have been at the house
ready to speak. On such occasions his col
leagues went through untold agonies. At
the last moment he would appear armed
with IA bundle of papers badly arranged and
digested, but the house, sensitive as ba-
rometer to his personal character, always
felt the full force Of his extraordinary
strength.
When he rose to address it he spoke in
low tones, often with an inattention to
the audience, which made the speech So
liloquy, but on rare occasions there were
outbursts of the fiery devastation
and passion raging within. Then
his voice changed to hoarse, sullen
sound and his mouth was almost cruel His
right arm was then held forth in denuncia-
ton. 1 have seen the house quail before
such an outburst of savage. though
seemingly cold, rage. In most par
liamentary gifts he was vastly inferior
to some of his colleagues, but he was a
seemed to know the right thing to do. I
never regarded him as a highly intellectual
man. He was essentially narrow, and to
this narrowness l attribute the final
mistake of his life. When MIR. Mccarthy,
before the meeting in the committee room,
told him what Gladstone had said,
his reply was to poohoO the whole
business as mere non-conformist
howl which would die out.
His strength was in his character. not in
his intellect, and to his bad end and de-
struction were the same terrible strength of
will and tenacity of purpose devoted
as were formerly given to noble |
and wise ends. Among his followers
were many with a stubborn will and
resolution. yet all were as clay in
the potter's hands when he chose to exer- |
else the power. His subjugation of his |
race from a restless, fissiparous, torn fac |
ton into great, united and absolutely |
obedient whole was one of the most re-
markable achievements in political leader |
ship in the history of mankind.