The Irish standard., 1908-01-18
IAN to benefit the country"

Va SoufSe, nOtnlng more defoSatOry
to man could be suggested than this
last charge. 1t is impossible to exag-
serate the intensity of it's foulness
If it be true, or the black malignity
of it's calumny il it be false.
This every man must admit. Yet
you have so little notion of preserving
even the semblance of vcraciousness
that you actually say in the next par
agraph that you treat nc fairly. and
even indulgently!
Thanks for the fairness: ten thou
sand thanks for tho indulgencc!
And now-what will inevitably hap
pen? Why, this-that you, who have
accused me in express terms of want
of charity, of truth, and of Justice
you, who have accused me of virul-
encc, vituperation, and falsehood-
you, who have just accused me of the
paltry ,sordidness of sacrificing the
loved land of my birth to my own
grovcling pecuniary interests-Xpu,
who. having exhausted all the re-
sources OF your ranc"lr, have con-,
descended to resort to the hackneyed
virulence of mine encmy-you, who
have never received Injury from me.
and never heard my voice raised re-
spccting you except for praise-you
and your English friends, especially
your Tory press, will affect sanity
horror at the vulgarity and coarse
ness of my invective. You will prate
of my abusing" you. You will turn
up the white Of your eyes and thank
your stars that you arc not like this
publican!
Yes-I see it as clearly as if were
already reading the phrases of your
allies. You and they will forget that
you have volunteered to accuse me Of
all that is mean, base, seditious, aye,
and revolutionary. They will forget
that you yourself, in all the politeness
of your chivalry, used the very lam
guage in which the vulgar express
their bad passions. Ycs-this (and if
needful ten thousand times more)
would be forgotten in itself, and for
given to you! You will be set down
as the essence Of sweet courtesy, and
/, who merely defend myself, will be
not tried, but convicted Of all unchari-
tableness. {
BE it SO. consent. But l will not
consent that my claim to THE rent"
should be misunderstood That claim
may be rejected, but it is understood
in Ireland, and it shall not be mis-
stated anywhere without refutation.
My claim is this. For more than 20
years before .emancipa ton the burden
of the cause was thrown upon me. I
had to arrange the meetings, to prepare
the resolutions, to furnish replies to
the correspondence, TO examine the
case OF each person complaining of
practical grievances, to rouse the tor
pid, to animate the lukeWarm, to con-
troll the violent and the infiammatory,
to avoid the shoals and breakers Of
the law, to guard against multiplied
treachery, and .at all times to oppose,
at every peril. the powerful and multi
tudinous enemies Of the cause.
To descend to particulars. At a
period when my minutes counted by
the guinea, when my emoluments
were limited only by the extent of
my physical and waking powers, when
my meals were shortened to the mar
roWcst space and my sleep restricted
to the earliest hours before dawn-at
that period, and for more than twenty
years, there was no day that I did
not devote from one to two hours,
often much more, to the working out
Of the Catholic cause. And that with
out receiving or allowing the offer of
any remuneration, even for the per-
sonal expenditure incurred in the agi-
tation of the cause itself. For four
years DoIe the cntlrc expenses OF
Catholic agitation, without receiving
the contributions of others to a great
er amount than G74 in the whole
Who shall repay me for the years Of
my buoyant youth and cheerful man.
hood? Who shall repay me for the
lost opportunities of acquiring pro-
fessional celebrity, or for the wealth
which such distinctions would ensure :?
Other honors l could not then en-
joy.
Emancipation came. You admit
that it was I who brought it about.
The year before emancipation, though
wearing a stuff gown and belonging
to the outer Bar. my professional emol-
uments exceeded GS,OOO-an amount
never before realized in Ireland in the
same space of time by an outer bar
ristcr.
Had l adhered to my profession l
mllSt hnvn ro11c1 1,,ith l.,