The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1906-07-07

| land as Il pnnacca for all evils. When
i he formed these views. which he never
really abandoned, he came into con-
! tlic,. as think With the realities and
possibilities of Irish life, and also he
found himself in sharp collision with
many of his comrades. including some
who loved him most.
His warncst friend in the world was
John Dillon. but Dillon has no sympa-
| thy with Naturalization Purncll, GU
ri"usly enough, was at one time in
clincd toward natonaization: there
wnS in that curious ANA weird person.
ality Il certain dreamy socialism. as
there was in Napoleon ILL., and if it nau
not been for the fact that peasant pro-
prietary was plainly the one thing We
could fight for in Ireland. and for the
| pressure upon him of more conscrvn-
tive colleagues it is possible that Par
nell might have become II convert to
DavittS views. AS II was, the dissen-
sinns which were inside the Land
| League for some years was largely due
to the fact that Davitt was separated
in opinion from his colleagues on this
question He was an obstinate man.
and lie persisted IN these nationalizing
opinions to the ehd but time had soft
encd him as we'll as his opponents. ana
personally antagonistic.
| +" return to the influence of Lanca-
| shire on Davitt l have heard him re-
cite Il poem in the Lancashire dialect
with Il Lancashire tory in the smoke
room of the House of Commons ana
one could see how much of n Lanca-
shire man Davitt had remained, in
spite of his many wanderings and OF
his intense spirit of Irish nationality
| And from these Lancashire times he
retained some very kindly and some
very romantic memories of the English
| people.
| l believe the daughter of one of his
employers was in love with him when
he was Il youth, and remained in love
| with him ever afterward; and some Of
these English friends did their very
best to try and save him when he was
] being tried for treason and fighting to
escape the sentence of penal servitude
| which he got. He dwclt often on the
contrast there was between these faith
full and loyal English friends, and I
fear from his description they went
perilously near Il slight violation of the
sanctity of their oath, and the ruffian-
~ Irishman-Corydon. the inforlmer--
through whose betrayal Davitt was
ruined. 1t speaks greatly for the nat
ural refinement and splendid dignity
and self-control of Davitt that brought
up in the rough and sometimes even
vicious surroundings Of n Lancashire
small town, he remained to the end of
his days marvelously temperate in hab-
1t and refined in thought and in act.
He was n natural born gentleman in
everything-even in the small manners
and habits of social life.
| AS Il colleague he was often very
trying. There was a certain wayward-
ness in his character, and he was OF Il
great temperament rather than a great
intellect. He had the most character
istic weakness of the Celt; would some
times have gusts Of volcanic and devas.
tating rage; felt intensely and for the
moment hated an opponent, and he wa.
/ fnvnriSh RESTLESS often
But when you came to know him.
and to love him, you accepted all these
things as part of the man, and YOU
We're no more irritated than with a
lovable child or shall l say a fasci-
mating woman, whose amiability and ir-
resistible charms are slightly obscured
at intervals by the fretfulness of her
sex. You remembered that Davitt's
RACES were always of short duration,
and that he was SO true so honest, and
above all, so loving and lovable, that
1t would be impossible for him to con-
tinue long estranged, and If you
thought of doing SO yourself you laugh
ed yourself out of the absurdity Of se-
rious anger with this wayward, hot
tempered, lovable child.
And how lovable he was you never
knew entirely. He had knack of