The Irish standard., 1895-01-05
William e. Gladstone's Reoolleo
tions Of the Great Commoner,
Daniel o. 'Connen.
HIS COURTESY AND KINDNESS.
History Records No Greater Or
More Popular Leader, Says the
Grand Old Man.

QOuDL IL ne WOulQ nave maze e1nM8T
Acknowledgement as to any other Of
them.
his honor. The inquiry was Of the Mt
most consequence to him. It was in
tended to overawe the benchers Of ono Of
the inns and procure his admission to the
bar, for which he was Il iraagine) singn..
larly we'll qualified. With this view it
was material that the report should be
unanimous; broke that unanimity; he
never indicated the smallest resentment,
but always treated me with singular
courtesy and kindness. There was an
important witness of the name, / think,
OF Slingsby, who was disabled by age
from travelling. A sub committee was
appointed to go down into Essex, some
fifty miles, and examine him. 1t con:
sisted Of O'Connell, Sir George Sinclair,
and myself O'Connell, I think, asked
me whether I would mind going down on
Sunday, after his (early) Mass, but I de-
olined. We started Monday, at 5 9. m.,
in the summer, and the affair occupied
some fourteen hours, which ! spent with
him in an open carriage. and four. /
send you herewith, verbatim ct htera-
tim, note which I have sought and
found Of the things said BY him on that
day, July Id, 1884 It was made at the
time, rather think that on that day
he brought with him theological work
to prove to me that all baptized persons
were in certain sense in the Church. I
also recollect in 1889. shortly after had
pu bllshed a book called sThe Church in
It's Relation with the State he said to
me in the house Of commons, behind
the speakers chair i claim the halt Of
YOU z 49, ..,.- -.
''It was very kind on his part 20 enter
thus freely into conversation with q
young man opposed to him IN politics
and holly prejudiced against him. Ny
opinion Of him has undoubtedly been
sin CO modified Id various particulars; but
I remember to have held from the first
this opinion that as popular leader he
was not only the first of the day, but was
one who would we'll bear comparison
with any of the greatest popular leaders
recorded in history.
sThe following is the memorandum al
1,.l - 50 %1,o ohovo. ,5a.
"July 10th Went with q. Sinclair and
O'Connell, in'an open carriage, to Coggs-
hell to exam1ne Mr.. Slingsby. A good
deal of conversation. O'Connell said,
amongst many other things, that the
heathens were in a state Of repro5ation-
he believed necessarily while Of Protest.
ants, etc, he deemed it his duty to hope
that they we're internally united to the
tue Church; that absenteeism was the
great bane Of Ireland; that he could see
how every question could be adjusted
but that; that taking half of the Church
property placed rs in state of transition,
and was prelude to taking it all; that il
would compel Us to divide the church
property in England; that 1t would make
the Protestant Repealers; that the resi-
dent Protestant propriety would be able
to preserve their estates after the Re
peal; that there was no truth in the story
that the descendants Of the elected Ro-
manists looked to recovery Of the es.
tates lost by their ancestors; that the
rental Of Ireland was twelve millions, Of
whish Eve or six went to permanent ab.
sentees the land, fifteen millions Of
acres, Of which nine were cultivated, and
three moro might be that the sublet-
ting act had driven q, 600 to $4,000 Prot
estants out Of Sligo in q think) one year
that, however, being the vent for three
or four counties that Protestant1sm was
on the decline everywhere as we'll as in
ireland that resistance to the payment
81 impropriietary tithes was at least s
great as 70 clerical for the people 10,
tsined some notion of them - a. eccle
siastical imp poeition and, q the Same
tiane, saw there was no pretence. g 1nty
done; also, they were ID general slore
severely exacted till latterly, na -
of severity among the clergy olnally
that Lattleton had told him mn MN
ii conversation ID an heh had eyerr llssl
that Sir Robert Peel prepsrs III