The Irish standard., 1901-05-25
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.
Some Clever Irlshmen Not Widely
KnOwn-Abroad.

Some Clever Irishmen Not Widely
KnOwn-Abroad.
Now that we have a little breathing
space at Westminster, when 'silence,
like Il poultice, has come to heal the
blows of sound" it may be we'll to
examine some of the new recruits and
to attempt to describe What manner
of men they are. 1 make no excuse
for selecting my specimens from the
Irish benches, for l have more than
once explained that l regard that part
OF the House as far more interesting
than any other. l begin with Mr.
William ODoherty. He is i'll every
sense a coming man-keen, resourceful,
and pushing. 1 have seldom seen a
man who has so quickly learnt the art
and it is an art-of questioning mill
listers and of following up his original
inquiry by shrewd supplementaries.
Mr.. O'Doherty is, so am assured, a
brand plucked from the burning-that
is to say, he was once q UnioniSt, but
has far too much brains for the stupid
party. Nor is he the sort of man con-
tent to stop in Il back seat. He takes
Tim Uealy's corner when the redoubt-
able Tim is away, and he has the
knack of appearing like Il leader. An
other thing in his favor is that he is
about 32 years of age. Moreover. he
is highly educated, having obtained
the Incorporated Law Soclety's medal
ut his final examination before being
admitted as Il solicitor. Among his
other claims to fame is the fact that
he is the coroner for InnishOwen; and
all | can say is that if lie sits on the
departed with anything like the sue
cess he shows in sitting on ministers
and others in the House lie ought to be
Il remarkably good coroner.
Mr. Rcddy is what his name implies
he is all there. He seems to he OIL
the pounce all the time. He turned
Mr.. Bernard Molloy out of the House
much to that gentlemans surprise,
am told Now there is one gift, and
it is IL valuable one in the House,
which the Irish possess above their fel-
lows, and that is the gift Of cheering
They cheer all together and yet there
is no suggestion of the mechanical
claquc when they give tongue. The
reader may have noticed that in n the
ater when Il storm of applause bursts
out it generally rises and rises until
the final climax is reached and god
in the gallery treats the house to d
piercing whistle. Well, when the irish
"boys" applaud the volume of sound
rises in the same way and then on the
very top of the wave, Mr.. Reddy's
shrill voice is heard, clear as a bell
shouting. "Hee, hee, hee." l am con
scious. al! too conscious, of the i'm
possibility Of conveying the effect in
print. but there is something CHEEKY
and inspiring in the "go," the sugges
tion Of wigs on the green, coat-tails
trailing. shillelaghs twirling, and al
the rest of it when that voice breaks
in. 1t makes one feel better to hea,
him.
OF course ali Trishmen are orators
more or less, but Mr.. J. O'Donnell. the
member for Kerry. is the only one wht
has given the House a touch of thai
truest Irish oratory, that is to say
oratory in the Irish language. I re
member hearing his. superintendent
by the way, his remarks, which Were
cut all too short by Mr.. Speaker. ar
enshrined in Hansard printed in Irisl
characters. 1 am bound to say thelr
was a good deal Of difference of opin
ion, even among the Irish members
and the Irish journalists. as to wha
Mr. O'Donnell really said. All know
is that it sounded very nice, rathe
melancholy and pathetic, and just I
little like Welsh. Moreover, though
understood not one syllable, l an
bound to say that felt as If l agreed
with every word. For Mr.. O'Donnell
like many of his race, has ''such wa.
wild him." 1t is quite mistake t
suppose that the honorable member i
a man who can attract attention b.,
cccentricity. He can talk English, an,
eloquent English, too, rs well as hi
own language. Indeed. Mr.. O'Doll
nell is Il man of greater culture thai
most English members. That is no
saying much. l know, so l may adj
that he has been national schoo
teacher and has taken his degree il
the Royal University. 1t is one of tn
most cheering facts connected with tn
rcorganized Irish party that so man
Of it's young members are men o
brains and of education and MI
: O'Donnell is one of it's ornaments.
Mr.. Joyce. member for Limerick,
what is known as character. He ha
been a pilot. vet he comes straight t
the House. and is by no means unfi
for that assembly. He is one of na
ture's true humorists--and. like all res
humorists, he is geniality personified
His voice is rs resonant as that q
: John Burns, and after being in his con