THE IRISH CRISIS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 35, 11 February 1891, Page 5

THE IRISH CRISIS.

Gossip and Summary .of Events.

(From Our London Correspondent.)

London, Boxing Day. The' little difference between Mr Parnell and his Kitty must have been pabched up, for on Friday lasb the lady left for Paris, intending, 'tis said, to waylay Wm. O'Brien, and, if possible, convert him to his late chief's side. How Mrs O'Brien will relish her spouse colleaguing with bhe now notorious Kitty O'Shea remains to be seen. Mr Parnell's references to "bhab hound Davibb," suggested bhe following : Davitt is only a wretched hound. So says the Irish King discrowned. Hut w hen the race is run, 'tis lound ihe hound has run the fox to ground. The Eve of the. Election. Mr Parnell's conduct and speeches on the eve of bhe Kilkenny election were so wild and excited as bo deepen the impression (rapidly gaining ground) bhab worry and brouble have disturbed his mental balance. Only this supposition could excuse the brutality of his references bo. Jusbin McCarthy, an amiable, kindly old gen-! tleman, who has throughout tried to miti- j gate as far as possible the bitterness of bhe ' present struggle. Mr Parnell rather vulgarly called this ancient ally and alter ego a *' nice old gentleman for a small tea party," vowed he had nob "an ounce of steel in him," and predicted thab he was even then sitting ab the hotel over the way with his feeb in hot water and mustard. Of Parnell's final speech on Sunday the "Daily News" correspondent says: — "The {uncrowned " or "discrowned " king was pale, and instead of the small, neat bandage he wore in the morning, he now wore a big, heavy one covering half his face, but the sharp frosb necessitated precautions unneeded within doors. His head-covering was a grey hunting cap with peak before and behind, and its two flaps, one falling on either side of his face, were secured by a black tape tied beneath the chin. Dark trousers, woollen cardigan jacket, and a black frock coat completed his attire. A Cockney tradesman seeing the' uncrowned king" in hiscareless, almost untidy attire would have put him down for a very common fellow, but if I mistake not he would have changed his mind alter tho first few tones of tho refined, gentlemanly voice. The speech to which I listened was, saving a few sentences, the best and most dignified Mr Parnell has delivered sinco the beginning of the struggle. Ib began well— " I ask you to light your own battle, not mine." But he quickly forgot thisattitude of pelt-suppression, and he told his hearers— and the hillside men who were nob there— that they must fight that battle "with those weapons and according to those methods in which I have trained you, and which I order you nottolaydown until we havesecuredour ground beyond, ay or nay." There came out the autocrabic, the personal, the proudly self-assertive note thab runs through all Mr Parnell's speeches. Ib would have sounded ridiculously coming from any other man, bub in Mr Parnell's case it seems quite natural wore it only from the matter-of-fact, unembarrassed, stately manner of the deliverance as if of something beyond question. "Grattan," Mr Parnell continued, had nearly reached bhe goal when he forgot bhab he "had a wily and treacherous foe to deal with, a foe thab knows the use of the dagger and the poison bowl of diplomacy. He forgot that he had bo deal with English statecraft. The disbandment of the volunteers in 1782 cost Grattan bis victory and Ireland her freedom ; bub we of to day will nob lay down our arms unbil we have secured a Parliamenb worbhy of this nation. Stand by your leader who never betrayed you, and do not leave Ireland to the incapables who hope to step into his shoes." All bbis was uttered in a half-angry, halfreproachful voice, bub all ab once he became jocose and 'a fainb smile flickered over his counbenance while he described " my successor," Mr Justin McCarthy, as a quiet, "good-hearted soul, and an adornment to a quiet and early tay parby." He smiled again as he remarked bhat it, took " nine men " —namely, Mr McCarthy and his committee-men—to fill "my chair." But bhis tone of banter passed, and Mr Parnell's bitter words were again in full flow, when some one stopped him. Ib was Mr Tim Harrington. Mr Parnell turned round to him, listened resignedly for a moment or two, then faced the crowd. •?My friend, Mr Harrington,' said he, "asks me not to be too bitter." Then, after a pause, "Oh, I know these men— every one of them. About these men I could, if I would, a tale unfold; but this I will only say : If I could have felt for an instanb that I might safely entrust the guardianship of Ireland bo bhom, I would have cheerfully stepped down. Bub I foresaw bhab bhey would become torn into a hundred factions. These men were not elected to sit in judgment upon me. Until they show bhey have a warranb from the Irish people for my deposition, I will not budge an inch from my position. I will carry your sword, if necessary, to the death. If Kilkenny decides for us, we shall welcome bhe decision as the harbinger of future victories ; but if Kilkenny rejects me, I shall not be downhearted. I shall fight until every peasant in every constituency of Ireland shall have his opportunity of judging:me. I will still be your light, I will still be your champion, I will uphold your flag." Mr Parnell's speech sounded like the knell of a lost cause. Now and again in the course of its delivery the harsh, grating vengeful tone of the voice grew dominanb, bhe dry lips quivered and bbc bhin hands tightened until their knuckles grew white. Once or twico he turned round with an absent gaze, as if seeking for words in which to express the tumult of his emotion. Ib was the speech of a defeabed leader. As soon as Mr Parnell ceased ■peaking the crowd began to disperse. It felb no interest in the remaining speakers. After all the expectations of the groat rally ofthe " hillside men," the whole proceedings seemed palbry and futile, and as foolish as the doggerel verses inscribed on the green banner bhab floated in front of bhe platform. Here is the coupleb: Home Rule for Ireland will be the song When the people send Hennessy back to Hong Kong. The Election. In this Kilkenny election, the two figureheads, Hennessy and Scully, have counted for nothing. The priest who said " The candidate be damned " aptly expressed local as well as general feeling. Ib was the cause alone that the parties -were fighting for. Mr Parnell has had three candidates since bhe struggle began. He took up Barry O'Brien and dropped him. Then he made overtures to Jno. Kelly, the Land Leagueorabor, a very rough diamond, whom he would have had bo salary had he become M.P. ' Oh the appearance of Vincent Scully upon the scene, Parnell coolly ignored Kelly, instructing him with Royal magnificence to atbend all his successor's meebings, and work up popular enthusiasm for bhab genbleman. The stories of the uncrowned king's autocratic conduct towards his subservient followers are indeed innumerable. Fancying they dallied too much at breakfast in the mornings, he ordered none to be served after 9 a.no.; and woe betide any canvasser he discovered the worse for liquor in the evenings. The polling was conducted in a most orderly and sbricb manner, bub the general impression was bhab bho anti-Parnellibes were winning hands down. The nighb which preceded the counting of the votes, Parnell spent walking his sibbing-room like an infuriated tiger. He would speak to no one. Afterwards: Several days before the Kilkenny election -Mr Davdbbj who really organised all

matters on bhe patriot side, said that Hennessy's majority would be ab least a thousand, and as the evenbful day approached, he declared confidenbly it would be even more. These predictions have, as you know, been exacbly carried oub. Thousands of tag, rag, and bobtail were always ready bo cheer Parnell, bub as a priesb, who scrubinised several of the •• discrowned king's " meetings closely, said, " Barely a fifth of 'em have votes." The counting; of the ballot papers was a dramatic scene. The "Daily News" special wires :—" It was a pity there was nobody there to take an instantaneous photograph of the little scene in bhe Courb - house. When bhe subsheriff rose to announce bhe figures bhere were some sixby or seventy of U9 present. Ab the side of the long table sat Sir John P. Hennessy, a prim little man, with an expression of elevation on his thin sharp features, and as neat as if he had been carefully taken out of a bandbox for bhe occasion. By his side sab bhe organiser of bhis victory, Mr Michael Davibb, in a brown study, twiddling the corners of his black beard. The renowned Michael is the " magpie " of Mr Parnell's speeches. Dr. Tanner is the "gutter sparrow;" all the reab are "scum." Why Mr Parnell calls his chief opponenb the " magpie " is not quite easy to understand, unless it is bhat Mr Davitt is what Mr Whistler would call an "arrangement in black," black hair, black beard and moustache, dark eyes, black felb hab, and black Canadian overcoab adorned with black facings, and black wool of Astrachan. The " Magpie" was, as I have said, in a browp study, or, more properly speaking, up in the clouds. Not so the "Gutter Sparrow." He had a flower in his buttonhole. His neat brown hab was tilted jauntily on one side. He was in riding costume of baggy corduroys and bighb gaiters. Beneath his left arm was his brusby shillelagh, and wibh bobh hands stuck deep into his pockets, chest thrown oub, legs striding apart, and a smile on his jovial face, he leisurely surveyed his friend the enemy. Within arm's reach of the " gutter sparrow " stood " bhe cowardly little scoundrel" of Commibtee Room No. 15. " The cowardly little scoundrel" has had his revenge, if he cares for revenge, which I know he does nob. Mr Tim Healy's savage sarcasms have perhapß done more than anything else in this conbeab bo provoke personalibies from Mr Parnell. There bhe pair sbood face bo face : Mr Healy on one side of the room, Mr Parnell on the other, two embodiments of the tragic-comedy or comic-tragedy of Irish history. In the background with Mr Redmond and Mr Harrington close beside him stood Mr Parnell, with his bandage covering nearly half his face. Bandage or no bandago, and in spite of his commonplace, almost slovenly attire, you would have picked him out of a crowd of ten thousand men. He sbood proudly erecb. Nob bhe faintest shadow of emotion or feeling of any sorb passed over Mr Parnell's face when bhe figures were read out. The face was as calm and fixed as the face of a marble in the British Museum. Afber they wero made known the victorious candidate leaped to his feet and uttered a few prim and correct compliments to the presiding officer, and made a prim and correct little bow. Then ' Magpie' came down from the clouds. Then oub bhey wenb, brushing shoulders wibh Mr Parnell, bestowing nob even a glance upon him—bhe 1 Magpie' first, then the prim candidate, bhen Mr Healy, then Dr. Tanner with his sburdy stride and beaming face, and the " uncrowned king " wa3 left alone. I remained behind, but I could hear the howl and the yell of the five or six thousand outside, as Sir J. P. Hennessy and his friends appeared ab the doorway. Bub a wild roar of cheering broke forth when, a few minubes later, and after his opponents had gone, Mr Parnell came out. He stood in bhe middle of the balcony which runs along tho whole front of the Courthouse. This balcony was crowded with Mr Parnell's supporters. Down bolow in tho street, and in the space between it and the Courthouse, were the cheering multitudes. But I need hardly say that there were very few voters among them. There were hundreds and hundreds among them who nob only have no votes, but who are nob likely ever bo have any. They were roughs, loafers, corner boys from the back streets of Kilkenny and towns far and near. Some half-dozen long and denselypacked ranks of theso, one behind tbe other, occupied bhe fronb of bhe crowd. "So long as we have 1,400 men like our vobers in bhis election," said Mr Parnell, in a firm, clear voice, " we shall not despair." Cheers from bhe five or six bhousand, bub more especially from the mass of nonvoters. "Thisis only the first of a series of eighty-six babbles." They whoop and yell bheir approval. "We are face to face with a great conspiracy—a conspiracy bo sbrike me down, organized by Mr Michael Davibb." Curses for the "Magpie." Mr Parnell had jusb said that he was aboub to appeal to the people, when a familiar voice cried out swiftly and cruelly, " You have made your appeal, and you have been whipped." It was bhe "cowardly libble scoundrel " of Commitbee Room No. 15. Have you ever seen a pack of excited dogs springing up confusedly among each obher behind their iron bars, barking and yelping for a rush oub? Those I have menbioned in bhe crowd behaved very much in tbe same way. If they could have pulled down Mr Tim Healy from the balcony they would have torn him bo pieces. They leaped and swayed aboub and howled, while Mr Healy quiebly gazed ab bhem wibh a curl of contemptuous scorn on his lip. Mr Healy has his faults like the rest of us saints, bub cowardice is nob one of bhem. Ib is impossible bo overpraise bhe conducb of bhe constabulary bhroughoub all bhis struggle. At bhe niomenb which I have jusb been describing, in the bwinkling of an eye sbrong bodies of bhem came up ab the double, fully armed, and took up their position between bhe roughs and bhe balcony and at differenb stages strategic points along the sbreebs. In a quarter of an hour more the horses were taken out of Mr Parnell's car. Men took their places, and the " uncrowned king " was drawn bhrough the streets of Kilkenny. The car was stopped for a few moments amidsb the cheers of bhe accompanying crowd in front of Sir J. P. Hennesßy's hotel. Thus ended Mr Parnell's first brial of strengbh wibh bhe new Nationalists.