The Irish standard., 1896-09-26

magnitude and dramatic intensity Of a
great character at great moment.
Speaking of his position he said in ac-
! cents which were not Intentionally or,
except to ones inner ear, even markedly
emphatic, that he did not personally want
I the position of an Irish leader; but that
| he held the position and that he thought
| it his duty to Ireland to retain 1t. Il
have nc Intention he said, sof abandon
ing it. l would not do SO if''-and then
came this tremendous phrase-'I would
not do so # the people Of Galway today
were to kick me through the streets OF
Galway i have no hope of being able
to convey to any reader-above all, l
have no hope Of conveying to the English
reader-the tremendous and immediate
effect of this phrase on the men who
heard it. To understand their feelings
you must first remember their. sense of
1 the terrible issues involved in the fate of
this man at that moment, and you must
! add that they were all men almost broken
physically by nights OF sleeplessness and
anxiety; that they all had been for years
urder the spell Of this mau-had loved
him, feared him. believed in his power to
overcome all obstacles, to destroy all
enemies, to bring their people to the
Promised Land which had been the VS.
ion and the dream of centuries. At I'll
events, the effect of this phrase of Par
| nell was instan taneous. All opposition
| to him came to an end-except in the
case OF Biggar, vino, always smiling, easy,
and vet intlexible, refused to make any
definite abandonment of opposition.
! repeat here the reflection which has
often occurred to me in the years that
have lapsed since Parnell used this
language. never believed that ParnelIs
position gave him much personal salts
! faction. l have often been laughed at
since for the statement used constantly
| to make in the days when Parnelps
pow,er was still supreme, that he was a
man almost devoid Of personal ambition.
And the triumphant answer and refuta-
tion Of this opinion are supposed to be CIV
en- IN the desperate struggle ParneN made
to retain his leadership. In this case, as
! in nearly every other case, / hold that
the analysis Of a mans character must
recognize comp.ex and contradictory mo-
tives, and not mere mathematics
straig1lt-u up -and-down rigidity to motive
and impulse believe that ParIell
could have ieen very happy, even after
his days of triumph, in the life Of coun-
| try gentleman. He told me himself that
one of the happiest periods OF his life was
| the period of his Imprisonment in Kill
mainham. Il had no responsibility he
said; and this seemed to be his idea of
| what chiefly constituted happiness
/ What drove him into the desperate fight
! lie made for his leadership was, / have
always believed, the intensely combative
nature Of the man, aud the fierce and
deadly resentment which he felt towards
some OF those who assailed him, and the
grim determination not to be baten by
enemies AND the other factor is sug-
gested by the phrase I have recently quo
| ted 1t may we'll have been that ParneN
| did think the cause Of Ireland bound up
| with his personality; that he felt that in
| fighting for his leadership he was really
! fighting for Ireland as well. At all
events, at the moment to which l have
| now brought his career. he had no doubt
about the necessity Of his leadership for
| Ireland; not more than three or four men
among his followers oad the least doubt
! OF it either.
! While the meeting was going on in
! side the Railway Hotel, the passions Of
the people of Galway had not been either
! idle or silent. To the room in which this
historic and fateful interview was taking
place there penetrated the very loud
! echoes Of what people were saying and
! thinking OUTSIDE. It was-quite clear that
| the tide was flowing against Parnell
strongly, desperately, and even madly.
| The Nationalists who opposed such. g. can
didate as Captain O:Shea had nominated
| a Galway man named Michael Lynch as
the Nationalist candidates. very excel
lent fellow, honest, firm and courageous.
He gave full voice to the disgust and d4bor-
ror' of Galway for the O'Shsa csardidafnre;
and. as he had a bold and caustic tongue
his remarks were. not sparing either of
Parnell or Captain O'Shea. At the very
moment when we were holding our con-
ference Mr.. Lynch was making a speech
from the steps of the Railway Hotel--a
well known rostrum IN election times in
Galway; and amid the frenzied cheers Of
the crowd he declared that as the people
had made ParneM so they could unnake
him. All this we could distinctly hear
as we sat in the room trying to settle a
common plan Of campaign. Our difficult
ties were soon got over. When ParneN
stood face to face with those who were
opposing him, this singular man had such
power over them-partly through, GOf
course, his natural genius and force OF
character, and partly from the mighty
forces behind him-that the stron gest-
AtIVSA IlGE LII LIS va ~ F4AfI"hAN bS1OAS
him; and in .ess than haitian hour after
his arrival in the conference room all
opposition to Parnell ON the part Of his
colleagues was at an end.
| But the people Of Galway had still to
be won over and the events I have de-
scribed will give some faint idea Of what
la difficult task that was. But Parne1
did not shrink from the struggle for a
moment; Whatever he felt, he faced it
all with unfiinching resolution. We sM
walked to a small hall in which it had
been arranged that meeting of electors
would be held. Again I have to repeat
that Parnells greatness came out Oh this
occasion in a way that / never saw ,ex-
ceSled The hall, I have sad was small
It had about it. that SqualUr and decay
which are chara cteristic of 50 much IN
the West Of Irelandth that. land Of peren-
nial and steady depopulation and suffer
.1,gs. The platform on hich we stoDd
,Fas small and shaky, and the people srs-
|goresu were, many OF them, eloquent and
tragic testimonies to the depression 81, la
|ssoverty Of the beautiful but ,lnhappy
sascwn to which they belonged. A more
r .