The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-06-29

WAL FlSk6 ana what IdDOtS WlcF0 we're dS-
ISOLATED with his duty to his own people.
and was to be seen after a while in his
usual haunts,, "a little more silent, per-
make his genial and delightful criticisms
on, men and things. His heart Is not on
his sleeve; but the invisible cross still lies
across his shoulders. Just twelve months
ago he was with a friend In Liverpool
the scene of his early days Of marriage; as
the evening fell he went out to visit the
house where he had lived and loved
When he returned he looked ten years
Older; the closed wound had been opened,
and was bleeding as freshly as it did
twenty years before on the day when /
saw his saddened face pass me in the
mourning coach.
Mr.. McCarthy's literary life work are
known to the world, and there Is little
freshzto be said Of. them. Like all men
whose time and attention are divided
between thir own work and that Of other
people, much of what Justin Mccarthy
writes has to be done Ia brief, hsrried and
distracted intervals. And yet no scamped
work ever appears from his pen. There
is no man Of his time from sentences
smooth, graceful. and appropriate--pro-
coed with greater ease. Whenever there
is "a ceremonial occasion in the house Of
commons, 1t is the speech Of Mr.. Mccarthy
which is always the best 1t was SO when
he had to speak after the. death Of John
Fright 1t was so the other day when he
had to join In the valedictory address to
Mr.. Peel. And those exquisite little
speeches are all delivered without mo-
ment's preparation and without a pause.
/ remember. one positively astounding
Say 1a al M 10 ir,nr ricof
was during the great struggle with coer-
scion In those far-off days when the
Irishmen were fighting both political
parties. It occurred during the historic
Al hours sitting, when the small band
around Parnell kept the House at bay
during all that time Every Irishman
had to make the very longest speech he.
could possibly manage to drag out. Mr..
Mccarthy took his share of the work
with that loyalty which Is characteristic
of him. The speech was delivered in the
5ungodly hour when the first faint
streaks of day are still in conflict with
the flying night. Suddenly, In the midst
Of the speech caught the words, AS the
poet has said in lines Of striking power
and then heard several lines of stately
blank verse which It thought belonged to
some Elizabethan bard. he poet was
Mr.. Mccarthy himself, and the lines
were composed as, he went along. J. have
heard a shorthand writer, who was once
employed by Mr.. Mccarthy, say that he
spoke OFF his work as easily and as much
without effort as If he we're simply con-
versing. And there is no man sticks to
work like him. Once had to pay him
call on Christmas Day. I found him in
his study at his typewriter does
nearly all his work On the typewriter
tt1'1s' this how you are spending your
Christmas Day" I could not help re-
marking. yes" said the imperturable
optimist "and very good way. too /
Such are the life and character Of this
honest, high minded, brave, man. Ire
land has had leaders Of greater force or
character-nore made In the mould to
sway and control mem but in all her |
history she has never been led by one Of
purer, trler, more self-sacrifcfng spirit.
Fortune friends, leisure. himself, he has
laid willingly and without murmnr, and
almost without self-consciousness on
the consuming altar OF an unhappy ma
TONS service. {. .. There is some
compensation in the thought that ne has,
on the other hand, unquestioning respect
the warm and tender affection Of mil
lions Of men ana women to whom he is
only name and an abstract that in
all the anarchy and wreckage Of the |
last sad years, trust In his honor, cour- !
age and patriotism is the great remain |
Ing bond Of union among Irishmen-the |
anchor OF faith and Of hope against !
which tug impotently The forces of |
tTeachery and despair.