The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-11-14
STRUGGLES OF TAY PAY.
He Tells in a Racy Way of the
Men and Women He Has Met
in His Career.
Further Interesting Stories Con-
cerning the Ways of John
Bright.

He S5IlClSsN dAN w ~dNASSS vA
the Late Lord Randolph
Churchill.
(Concluded.l
Before I leave MIR. Bright there Is one
passage in that famous Limerihs speech to
which I must allude-as It came to play q
part in NY. own life. At the moment when
Mr.. Bright was speaking the Home Rule
movement was practically non-existent;
indeed, it Was not really born Until some
years afterwards. OF course, there was
| Nationalist movements there always IS;
but it had turned aside from constitutional
agitation, and had l'eaorted 20 ten.anlsm
This fact nlllst be remembered IN c0nnec-
tion with what am going to say. In the
course of his observations, MI. Bright made
the statement that he believed with regard
to Ireland what every Lnglishman betleved
with regard to every country but Ireland
that the people had a rignt to choose thelr
own form Of government. lie added the
further and even more significant state
rnent that what one act OF parliament had
eracted another act of parliament could re
peal This was "A mere Srlllsnl. Blt there
are certain words which rave special mean
ing in the political struggle Of every coun-
try. and repeal is one Of those words IN
Ireland. Though Mr.. Bright declared aim
self in favor OF legislative union with Ens-
land, even in this speech, as the more really
independent form Of government, the use
OF the word repeal to an Irish ear was sig
nificant OF much. Especially a.d ir signify
to an Irishman that it the people OF Ire
land we're to declare themselves minis
jahably in favor of a change of the legls-
lat we relations between England and Ire
land Mr. Bright would not be among their
opponents.
These were the feelings with regard to
Mr.. Bright, which had when [ entered
the House of Commons for the first time,
and these feelings were shared by all my
colleagues. We had an impression that We
might be forced into antagonism to hi1n
I should say that MI. Parnell had no doubt
whatever that this would be the inevitable
consequence of the fundamental differences
between his objects and those OF the lib
| eraI government. Indeed, Mr.. Parnell, if
anyt hing. dss,iketl liberal inistrat ton
more than a Tory ii gIlt period OF his po~
litical career This feeling-whicl would
SO often appear unreasonable to English
Liberals--is due to The fact that all Liberal
Administrations; nearly always meant the
acceptance of Office emolunents, in some
way or other, by large number Of Irish
men who pIofessed to be on the Nationalist
side. and that. therefore, for Irish Nation
a!ists which are absent from Tory gov
ernment.
For some time after the parliament OF
1882 began, the relations between Mr..
Bright and the lrishnen continued to be
friendly. remember that one night when
we were struggling fast and furious, Mr..
Bright got up and made an appeal to US,
and the appeal produced an immediate ef~
feet But then came coercion and the
fierce struggle over it: and it was in.poss--
bit that there should not be fierce and open
| war between the lrishnlen and every nleni~
ber of the government, and especially with
the man who was held to have deserted the
| cause OF Ireland. 1t was during ore Of
those conflicts that Was called upon 20
make reply to a very bit1er attack which
Mr.. Bright made upon us. took the op~
portunity of telling him and the house Of
| that first occasion ON which I had listened
to his voice. l recalled tnat passage about
the power of parliament to repeal any act
which it had passed; told him, quite
truly, that the sentence formed a turning
point in my mental history and was, TO a
certain extent, the reason way was Gu the
Irish benches that moment advocating
the cause CT home, rule. l wound up a
speech which, on the whole, l think was
far, with some observations on the Ierce
attack on the old man which we're much
resented by the Liberal party, and which |
have never ceased to regret. 1 will not
GO into the other occasion on which there
| was painful collision between the Old
Tribune and his former friends. In the
end his attacks ceased to be Of much con-
sequence. The closing years Of his career
IN the house of commons were full Of sad
ness. It is a curious fact with regard to
him, as with regard to many another man
in the house OF commons, that his closing
years and the triumph OF so many OF his
ideas apparently brought him no special
happiness. I ceased to have any conversa-
tion with him for many years after the fight
of 1881; but often saw AIM in the sn1ok-
:ng-roon which he used to frequent reg
i4ularly. I car still recall him as he sat
down to drink cup OF coffee and have a
smoke with some friends. The voice, even
in private conversation, used to thrill me,
although there was a certain querulous
note in it, remember reading an art!cle
in the World about this time--a very clever
though a very biting article-in which It
was said that Mr.. Bright, when be was met
at dinner in those days. gave one the i'm
preston cf man who found little to
admire and much to gru,nble at in contenl-
perary events On the whole. [ should de-
scribe his old age as almost soured. He
had little sympathy with some Of the later
developments of the party to which he be-
lG1 ged. He remained a firm adhere1t Of
tie Manchester school; with labor repre-
sentat.or. with state interference, with all
the other nostrums to which his party was
ready to commit itself and in particular
his own colleague, Mr.. Chamberlain, Mi.
Bright had no sympathy whatever.
In addition, all his tri,lmphs did not
give him self-confidence OF the orator.
as Of the artist, it remains unhappily
true that nearly every e1ertion has the
"a me horror and terror as the first. The
self-confi Ience IS much more apparent
Ithan real The delight in the exercise
Of ones best faculties ceases at an early
period. n hen a speech of importance
! has to he made, there are usually The
Is;ame trembling at the knees and the
same uncertainty and lf-distrtlss
/ 81, si Cd are the tortures OF the orators
f(ifst appearances. ohm Bright, M be-
l1iaye, suffered IN alIs specially severe
form from thda nervousness nj III as