The Irish standard., 1897-07-24
HON. JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN.
Ore OF the Greatest Irishmen of
the Last Century.
HIS ELOQUENCE AT THE BAR.
Speech in the Irish Parliament for
Religious Liberty.

II seems Strang" THAI one If the most
talented men that appeared in Ireland
during the eighteenth century was so
defective In his utt"l&nve that there
seemed no likrlihGod OF his ever sue
r"edlng III lh" bar or acquiring fame az
an orator. iut he ace ,lnplished both
| by patient and persistent effort study
| ing the bcs; authors and dcclaiming be-
fore II looking glass ~ Dcmosthenes did
on the scashorc, saws il writer in the
Irish World. John Pnilput Curran WIS
born nj Newmarket, Connty Cork, July
"A, 100. His father was scnrschal of
| the manor court of the town, and his
mother (whoSc maiden name WAS Phil
poo Is said to have been woman OF
| remarkable wit and rlr,lllcnrc. He grew
up Il country lad, sprltinS Irish rs well
rs English. both OF which he could
speak before he learned 20 write; fonder
| OF amuscmrnts than %. books. The
| village srhuol received him as an carly
pupil: and he atlcrwa,l was sent to Mr..
Carcy's school. in Mid ilctown. where he
| received a good classical education, One
of the first incentives to his cloQuence,
he relates himself. was his volunteer
performance of Punch; man in a stroll
ing show. The proprietor accepted
| young Clrran's offer tn talk wit. behind
the scenes. of all tn" village folks, IN
condition that he should be kept incog
The thing took admirably 'rhe barn
wa crowded nightly. rhc future judge
and orator enjoyed 'ln ecstasy of dis
CLOSING; every private armul.'. rallratur-
ing every remarkable charartcr ana
M'nIlrklnB AL the #cniin., wives in the
parish. He entered Trinity us a Hizar,
ANA obtained Il scholarship in l170 I he
| following year he entered he Law Frcm-
pie of London Here he had, like many
OF lis romntrymcn brf"r,. him, to sup
For: himself by his contributions - the
literature III the f'm of the periodicals
| or ,ndon. whl,l then. as now. we're
| enriched and chiefly .,u,;:in".i by Irish
ta,"l'. Ii address ald E.',':lncn at
| TINS tim" wrrr so G,lr,tir" that he VAS
known Il" "Stullcrin" lack Culrau''
l'lt he SuOh ovrrrnm" these o's.a, lcs,
ana %"oHt was the surprise Ii he mem
h"ra ~ /. debating club onn ,r'eG with
the Temple, that one rr"ning the stat
| l"ltt completely silence" an orator. wl.O
had heretofore carried IN h"iore him
| ThrnctiOrward he was i: constant
speaker in debating societies. wherr.
~. Fac,
rights. he was called "'rhc Little Jesuit
| of St Omcrs." In l775 he was called
to the bar. ana for a time attended the
sessions at Cork. but subsequently he
| removed to Dublin. 1t WAS at IL con-
tested election that Curran who was
employed for one of the candidates, first
gave evidence of his powers Of sarcasm
and cloqucncc. in reply to Il snccr upon
his poor dress from his opponent This
reply, 80 unexpected. and yet go power
fuI and whitening. fixed ,ubic attention
on the man. At the Cork Summer AS
Nzcs Of 1850 he sprang at once into fame
and popularity by acting as counsel for
an aged Catholic clergyman (a Father
Ncalc). who had been brutai!y horse.
whipped by Lord Dnnrraile. Every law
yer on the circuit had feared to take mp
the case, and Curran secured Il verdict
for his client At this trial Curran so
defended and luudnd the Catholics, with
such sincerity. that Capt ST. Ledger,
Il friend of the brutal lord, challenged
Curran to Il duel. They met, Clrran
received his fire out returned it not.
About this period wn find him prior of
tho "St. Patrick's s;orcty' convivial
club, numbering among its members
the most brilliant men in Dublin-Grat-
tan, Charcmont, James Barry, the
painter; DAILY, Temple, DIR. Arthur
O'Lcary. and others. The charter song
Of the society, written by Curran, is
to be found in most collections of Irish
ballad poetry. In 1883 he entered Parli-
ament as member from Kilbeggan;
three years afterwarl he was returned
for Rathcormack, which he represented ,
until 1897. In this year, with Grattan
and other members, he retired, hope-
less of being able to assuage revolution
or stem the current of ministerial ill.,
triguc. OF his speeches in parliament,
that on Catholic emancipation, in 1892,
will serve to give the readers of the
Irish World, the sentiments he ever
spoke and acted up to, and bore to his
grave. 1t was not till the British armies
had been driven out ct fthe United
States, and France began to conquer,
that the Catholics of ireland were af-.
forded relaxation of the infamous {
Penal Code. In 1902 Curran became
one Of the foremost champions Of tho,