The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1904-02-06
Nature Never Put More 'Unconquerable
Spirit Into Frail Form Than When
She Created O'Brien.
Has Been Greater Source Of Trouble to Eng
lish Rule Than Any Other Irish
man of His Time.

than two years in prison under his
various convictions. Jail was new
thing to him, though, in September
1887. He took part in his own defense
in Mitchelstown and made a rattling
speech, which the court shut off sever,
al times when he switched into poll
tics. He got a chance, however, to
say that he preferred breaking the law
with John Hampden and George
Washington to obeying the law which
Capt. Plunkett and Stlndish O'Grady
administered. Personally he felt very
men who had made a prison cell a
glorious and holy place. 1t took five
weeks to get the sentence of three
months confirmed on appeal, and then
O'Brien had his first experience in ''the
glorious and holy place" which he had
described. His comrades took ad-
vantage 81 tie opportunity Which 6fs
conviction afforded for having a free
fight in the court room. AS he passed
through Cork on the way to Tullamor
Jail under a guard of llussars he re-
ceived an address from a devoted
throng of Home Rulers. When he
got to the Jail door he refused to so
in, so the law officers dragged him out
Of his car, and he got into Jail under
turmoil. He made some fuss over
wearing prison clothes and performing
prison work, but it wasn't a circum-
stance to the doings that were reported
when his benign government clapped
him into Clonmel Jail ON Jan. 81, 1885,
This time he had the satisfaction of
making prison cell GLORIOUS and
holy'' terror of place. He fought like
IL wildcat against the convict's garb,
so they seized him, stripped off his
clothing; took away his spectacles,
shaved his beard and cropped his hair
and flung him into a chilly cell with
only board to lie on and nothing but
shirt to his back. 1t was rather
dangerous business for man in
O'Brien's feeble health. Somebody in
the prison saw how done up he was
his friends said he lay speechless-
and sent for priest: but he wasn't
all in by any means, and he has lived
to beard the lion many time since.
You may be pretty sure that the incl
dent didn't lose anything in the telling.
All Ireland was aflame, and the Liber-
ais Of England shared their righteous
wrath, while America also rang with
denunciation of "Bloody Balfour," the
calm, languid gentleman who is now
Prime Minister Of England and was
then Chief Secretary for Ireland. Lord
Mayor Sexton of Dublin sent vigor-
GUS protest to Mr.. Balfour, in which
he painted picture of O'Briens
| wrongs and asked Mr.. Balfour what
he was going to do about it. Mr..
Balfour wasn't going to do anything
about it. He was stading pat. The
Governor Of Clonmel Jail had sent
word to O'Brien that if he didn't put
on the prison clothes somebody would
come down and jam him into them,
and if he didn't eat-as he had refused
to do-somebody would feed him by
artificial and forcible means, just as
a farmer forces sick horse to take
medicine. But O'Brien didn't eat and
he didn't put on the ignominous gar
ments. He just lay there in his shirt
till somehow or other a suit Of ordi-
nary clothes got into his cell and he
put them on. Then there was commo-
tion of another sort. How did he get
those clothes? Where did they come
from? demanded the jailer. Mr..
O'Brien suggested that perhaps they
had been introduced by way Of the
chimney. There wasn't any chimney
thereabouts, but never mind, while
you are supposing, one ''suppos'n" is
as good as another. Those breeches of
O'Brien became more or less Of a ma
tional question. Honorable gentlemen
in Parliament asked questions about
them which Right Honorable gentle
men solemnly answered. But the
mystery Of the breeches remained.
Meanwhile across the Irish Channel