The Irish standard., 1892-08-27

pies about taking the oath of allegianc
to the British Sovereign. But that wa
before Mr.. Gladstone had recognized tn
rights of the Irish people.
Mr. Davltt's abilities as a speaker ar
of a very high order indeed II.
is fluent. He is in deadly earnest. FL
is capable, when deeply moved, of genu
inc eloquence. In describing before tn
Special Commission the scenes of hard
ship and suffering which he had wit
messed as boy he drew sighs of rar'
emotion from the impassive countenanct
of Mr.. Parnell. Lord Harmon and hiG
colleagues we're delighted with Mr.. Da
witt. No doubt, being hostile tribunal
they relished his candid admissions
missions so candid as to raise the ques
| tion whether he would not have done
better to retire from the case with Si1
Charles Russell and the other counse
retained But there was something
about Mr.. Davitt's manly, straightfor
ward appearance in the witness-bo2
which favorably impressed even the
most bigoted Coercionists. It would prob
ably not be denied by Mr.. Davitt's warm
est admirers that he was anxious to vim.
dicate his position as the real founder
and originator of the Land League. A
man who has beeu three times impri.
soned for his political faith can afford tc
be self assertive without dreading the
charge of egoism, and certainly it would
be the height of absurdity, and the
depth of imbecility, to accuse Mr.. Davitt
of undue personal ambition. More than
almost any other Irishman, he has toiled
| fer the advancement and regeneration OF
the working classes. In pleading for the
farmers he did not forget the artisans,
and his relations with the labor party in
England are very close. AS editor OF the
Labor World he has acquired good deal
of power among the class which live by
weekly wages on this side St. Georges
| Channel, and his most recent speeches
have urged his countrymen to cooperate
| in obtaining social reforms for Great
Britain. Two of Mr.. Davitt's phrases
have become common places of the Irish
controversy. One contains the famous
image of the "wolf-dog of Irish venge-
ance bounding across the Atlantic, .
which was at the time he used it as accu-
rate as it was vivid. The other intro"
| duced the familiar eimile of breakfast,
dinner, and supper, which gave the
! Tories an occasion for saying that Mr..
Davitt at all events did not regard Home
Rule as final. But when the context
came to be examined, the disestabllsh-
| ment of the Irish Church appeared to be
MIR. Davitt's idea of breakfast and the
Land Acts had supplied his dinner, leav-
ing the programme to be completed by a
supper of Home Rule
Mr., Davitt's recollection goes back al
most to the great famine, aud probably
covers the cruel evictions which followed
it. He exemplifes the truth Of John
Bright's familiar saying that the people
OF Ireland were anxious TO cross the
three thousand miles of ocean and join
hands with the great Republic OF the
West. His parents emigrated to the
United States in his early youth, and his
own ways Of thought are in many rs-
spects more American than Irish. AS q
thorough Radical, however, he is quite
at home among the British democracy
and very popular speaker on English
platforms. Tt would be important that
MIR. Davitt should be in Parliament, ever
| if he did not succeed there. For he is 6
thoroughly representative man, and no
body else could exactly I'll his place It
is quite true, as Mr. Lecky says that in
the time of O'Connell, and ever since
Irish members have given valuable as
sistance to the cause of progress and re-
form. It is also true that closer inter.
course with America has made Ireland
more democratic than she used to be-
But still Mr.. Davitt does not belong tc
any ordinary type Of Irish Nationalist
He is more OF philosopher and theorist
less conventional and provincial, than
most of his colleagues. Ct is wonderfu]
thing, which may we'll make the com
Portable classes ashamed OF themselves
that man kept for years in what the
Lord Chief Justice of England has called
q state of slavery, should have employed
the years of his punishment and seclu:
sion, not in indulging bitterness and
planning vengeance, but in thinking out
schemes for the use and benefit of his
fellow w-countrymen. Mr. Davitts pub,
lished account of his life and experience
in prison is full of strange and painful
interest. The jury who found him guilty
were probably right on the evidence, and
Sir Alexander Cockburn. who sentenced
him, was by no means a vindictive Judge
When Sir William Harcourt as Home
Secretary, revoked Mr.. Davitt's license
in 1881, he very sensibly and humanely
directed that Mr.. Dsvitt should be
treated as first class misdemeanant. It
would have been thousand times bet
ter, though quite without precedent, il
either the Judge himself or Lord Aber-
dare, who was then at the Home Office
had given such direction in 1873 Coun.
tries far behind Great Britain in many
Of the things which make up civilization
treated political prisoners in different
fashion from other and more sordio
terminals. Society is justified in pro
/ tecting itself from armed attempts al
Erevolution. But the instance OF Mr.
Il Hewitt NTH wtonn men and women O