Morning journal and courier., 1891-07-11

Robert Peel in 1926 and later years contain
many references to The O'Gorman Mahou
as a notable and influential person who
| ought to be looked after. Peel strongly
advises the letting severely alone of all
minor personages, but is of opinion that
men like o'Gorman Mahon and o'COnnell
might perhaps be prosecuted. Peel has
been dead these forty years o'ConneQ
died some forty-three or forty-four years
ago. The O'Gorman Mahon died yester-
day Peel and O'COnnell have passed into
history, with Walpole and Pulteney and
Wilkes Friends were calling to inquire
after The O'GormAn Mahon yesterday
morning.
Until the sittings of last winter The
O'Gorman Hahon's was q familiar figure in
the house of commons No one quite
knew what his age was; men only knew
that he was a conspicuous public man in
1926. There he was to be seen in the
house of commons every night, tail, state
ly, white haired, carrying his six feet two
or three inches erect ss the mast of ship,
with face of statuesque outline, and the
broad shoulders OF an athlete. OF late he
had grown somewhat deaf-that Was the
one only warning out of the three de-
scribed in MIS-. Thrale's little poem that
Death had vouchsafed to him His man
ners were remarkable for sweet, gracious,
and, We regret to say, q somewhat old-fash-
ioned courtesy. He has been great duel
ist in his early days, An indiscreet per
son once asked him how often he had been
challenged. ''Sir," said The O'Gornan
Mahon, 81 never was challenged. j never
gave any gentleman the slightest reason TO
challenge me-" Those who knew him
could well believe il. He may have been
somewhat quick and sensitive occasionally
about offences, to himself, but il would be
impossible for any of his friends to believe
that he could have wAntOnly hurt the feel
ings of another man
During his many wanderings while he
was absent from parliament strange tales
were told about his adventures by land
and sea. There was a legend about his
having been commsrder-in-chisf and lord
high admiral at the same time of one of
the South American republics. Mr.. An
thony Trollope in one of his books of trav-
el speaks OF kindly service rendered to
him in some far-off region by the sudden
intervention of The O'GorInan Mahon.
Like most Irish gentlemen of his distant
date, he was from his earliest years very
familiar with France, and it is not very
long since he occasionally amused the
house of commons by introducing quite
unconsciously some French phrase to help
help him out with his sentence. The hum
with the least intention of dragging in a
French quotation, but because, suddenly
missing a word in the one language, he as
soon found it in the other. He returned
% parliament and public life in 1879, when
the Irish national cause seemed TO be wax
ing up again and to give reasonable chance
to Irishmen in constitutional agitation.
When he spoke, he spoke with a certain
kind of eloquence, earnest, very sincere,
impressive, and stately. He had a strong
voice, unworn by age and the rack of var
ious seas, and his picturesque appearance
lent additional force TO his words He new
er could quite realize the change in public
manners that had taken place since be was
young, or comparatively young. he still
thought that q man assailed by some oppo-
nent in q house of commons speech was
bound in honor to give the assailant
chance of making good his words, accord
ing to the laws of the duel Perhaps Sir
William Harcourt has never heard until
now how earnestly, how patheticslly, The
O'Gorman Mahon begged to be allowed TO
| take challenge to him from an influential
Irish national member who, in O'Gor-
mans opinion, had been insulted by some
sarcastic remark in a speech of the then
home secretary. Sir William Harcsurt
| will not, We may feel assured, think any
| the less of the gallant old hre-eater who
| has Just gone TO his rest.
The O'GormAn Mahon once handed his
| card to a conservative member, whose in
terruptions be believed to be offensive, but
| the honest conservative did not at the mo-
ment understand the meaning of the old
time ceremonial One of the earliest de-
bates in which, on his return to parlia-
ment in 1879. The O'Gornan Mahon took
part was that on the abolition of fogging
in the army. He had seen many battle
fields and many armies, he had taken ser
vice in many armies, and he detested the
flogging system. A military man, an En-
glish member, spoke up strongly in the
debate against the system Bravo, sol
| der" The O'Gorman Mshon called out
| with all the strength of his stentorian
voice, "you are true soldier"