The Irish standard., 1896-09-05
STRUGGLES 5 OF TAY PAY
He Tells In a Racy Way of the
Men and Women He Has Met
In His Career.
Thought the People of This Coun-
try Gave His Lectures a Cool
Reception. y

His Sad Feeling When He Hears
of the Death Of the Great
Irish Leader.
(Continued from Last Weekly
I turn from these scenes for awhile to
give some idea of what my experiences
were like in another and very different
f field of political action. Towards the end
of 1881 Parnell asked me to go on .ectur-
ing tour for the cause throughout the
United States. My own idea had been to
60 there and lecture on my own account
Soon after I entered Parliament, | had
: been appointed to write the nightly parlia-
mentary sketch for the Pail Mall Gazette,
then under the editorship of Mr.. John Nor
10y. The pay was good, and the work was
TO my liking. It is work upon which
look back with certain degree Of pleasure
and pride. I was then q very active par
l.amentarian. In both 1880 and 1881 we
were ii the fierce conflict with the Glad
store government which ragged over the
struggle between coercion and Land
League in ireland. In this conflict I took
a very prominent part In the House Of Com
mons. There was rarely nigat on which
L did not make two or three speeches.
When see now what nervousness /. feel
how unwilling am to speak-how rarely
& ] can lash myself to the effort; and when
4 I look back on those days, have some
thing Of the same feeling as an old member
Z OF the convention must have had when ne
had surveyed the days of the restoration.
inc
outside of things and of myself which /
owe to my Journalistic training and to-,
perhaps. certain calmneas of outlook,
was able to Immediately cease to be the
partisan when l sat down to describe the,
proceedings in Parliament; and for the
year and half during which did this
I work there never was certainty as to the
authorship, and very few people, indeed,
even suspected that it was one of the much
hated Irish Obstructives.
But thought that a lecturing tour II,
the United States would bring a welcome
addition to my income and I resolved upon
it. But ParneH represented to ME that in
the then circumstances of the movement
he did not think me entitled to lecture for
my OWE benefit j admitted the correct
ness of the reasoning, and so Went as rep
& resentatiye Of the organization At home.
9 Things worked to make my tour a. success.
While was on the Atlantic the Land
League had been proclaimed; Parnell sandI
. several of his colleagues had been sent to
K;!ma;nham; and so arrived in New
York at a moment when political passion
and interest were at fever neat. | was just
33 years of age the day sailed for America.
I3used to think that youth was the age of
shyness and self-distrust. AS to the shy
ness, my conviction remains the same; am
not quite so sure about the self-distrlst
certainly should feel a good deal more
trep:dation nowadays than I did on that
Sunday evening when, for the first time,
addressed an American audience. The
hall was large one; it was densely packed;
people naturally were most eager to hear
everything man had to say who had SO
recently been on the scene of action; but
/ LIDO not recollect that felt any particular
tremors; and certainly did not get time to
prepare more than very few rough notes
of what was going to say.
But before was week in America
! began to be very disappointed and nervous
indeed, and really thought that the best
thing to do was to pack up my traps and
20 back; for my speaking did not suit-at
least, I thought it did not suit-the Ameri-
/ can taste al all. The audiences were nearly
entirely Irish; but yet it is extraordinary
to see how quickly an Irishman transforms
his whole nature, hearing, and method of
thought in America. 1t was just the same
as If I,were addressing an American audi
ence when stood before those immense
gatherings Of my countvymen. You will,
Il therefore, he rather surprised to hear that
the first impression they made upon me
was their extraordinary frigidty. I used
to try and work them up to fever heat by
working myself up to something like fever
heat, with the result that my voice was con-
stant,y breaking down; that was nearly
always hoarse; and that almost in every
town visited had to go first to throat
specialist to get my throat patched up. Let
me pause for moment to give the hint to
the young speaker that there is no greater
mistake than to suppose that a speaker ex-
cites an audience in proportion to the
amount of excitement he creates in him
self. / should be inclined to lay down al
most the very opposite rule, and to say
that no orator IS able to deeply move others
unless he mas his own emotions strongly
ana sternly under control. / have heard
some Of the greatest orators Of my time;
4 I always found that the most potent were
these who were most self-cOntrolled, and
Of their self-control. Take John Bright,
Tor instance. The first thing that struck
YOU when you heard him was his massive
I self control; it gave you a feeling Of awe,
md a sense of infiexible and impregnable
strength. have heard Mr. Gladstone
speak In almost every mood, III passion and
/ IA piayful1ess, in hours Of a1versity and
\ ii times OF triumph. IS have never seen
him SO effective is in the moments when
! he seemed to be absolutely master Of him
ne, when his mood was simple, composed
and PLAYFUL. Then it was that he was dead
I liest, most thrilling, and almost entranc-
apg. t M
found that I cracked my. voice IN vain;
D that could not arouse the American audi:
,seE1t,( 1ss sto what I considered the proper de-
4 0i;ee pf excitement and nfhusiasm. This i
1 d NJ tae first Of the illusions about Ameri-
! III which had to Aed before 4 began 10
4 sIfiad stand the character OF the people. I.
\ Some of the ether ii lllsions AZ
tpns tesentl For the let
\ 13IsIsI mat pbably much
cl, the
! a
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