Great Names in Irish Politics.

Hastings Standard, Volume XI, Issue 5567, 27 July 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

Great Names in Irish Politics.

Looking do vu the vista of Irish politics for the last thirty years cm- _ is <tr-ivk by the strangely-contrasted .'inures which, conie to view —ali valiant lighters and wiiole-souUd patriots. but ot types as wide almost as humanity. in the dim distance we catch a glimpse «i Isaac Butt, the Aloees of Irish emancipation, who was lighting for Home Rule *hen Parnell was a Cambridge student. Never were two leaders ot a .cause more diametrically opposed. Ht. t was the typical Irishman, always Iv.ll!>' to bubble"over with mirth, with a joke on his lips and a "Hail, fellow. tor .every man—bland, genia". expan»i<v: Pari.eH v.a, cokl, unemotional, and iui ■seldom seen to smile. Butt loved h;s irfass almost as well as his fellow-men; farnell looked coldly even on a ooh.p an tenable cup of tea. And yet Butt, with all his amiable qualities. never inspired anything like the same entu isiasrn and" per.-tonal devotion among ins •oKowers as Itis grim, saturnine successor. and he never came within measurable distance of the promised land. When Parneit entered Parliament, " a .tall, pale, reticent, wholly un-In-h , %oung man," his political career seem-a lore joomt-il to failure. So poor a -speaker ivn he that, in his mau.en epeech in the House, he could only stammer out a few barely mtelhgioio sentences before collapsing impoteiulv into his seat. And yet, such was tue determination of the mail, within a few •vears lie -was recognised as one ot the most effective debaters in the Commons, whose rising was a signal for the House to fill. His hour of supreme triumph tame one day in 1889. when with paie. set face the Irish leader rose to address ilie House amid a scene of almost uii3>aralleled enthusiasm. The Irish rarahers first rose to their feet in a body jiud cheered frantically, and. infeetert i,y their example, members and Ministers of all political creeds followed suit, and resounding cheers filled the Hou-e. -whilst- Mr. Parnell. pale to the 1 ip-, stood waiting till the cheering subsid. i. A year or so later he was a crushed .and fallen man, without a friend even among his former followers. Sitting in their very midst, we read, no sign ot recognition passed between him and his old colleagues, who ignored his presence as it" he were, as in truth he looked, a figure of stone. - The story of his tragic downfall is too well known to call for more than a passing reference —how he was enslaved by the charms of Mrs. O'Shea, the wife -of an old political friend, and how the verdict of the law branded him as a guilty man. "'Yon may tell your friends in Ireland." he had said to Mr. Davitt. "that I shall come out of this matter -without a stain." But the brand of the law was placed on him. and he died discredited and disgraced a few months after he had made the sharer ot his •C»i't his wife. In striking contrast to Mr. Burt ami Mr. Parnell is Mr. Tim Healy. who, in his unregenerate days. was the "enfanr terrible" of Parliament and a scorner or conventionalities. It was Tim who <l. - tiontiy told the House that "he didu'r care two rows of pins whether he was in prison or whether he was in the Commons." When addressing the Speaker lie did not even take the trouble to remove his hands from his trousers "pockets. Willi both_ hands hidden away, with neck bent forward in si niching attitude, a scowl on his fare, ami rasping notes of hatred in his voice, he scolded at large. But this truculent phase did net last long, and Mr. Healy raifrj'd from it into one of the m:\st and inHuentlal debaters in the Hou=e. with a rare knowledge of the intricacies of procedure, and "a reputation for honrstv vhich earned for him the nirknu.ve *' Sea-green Incorruptible." Mr. Biegar represented quite anuth;-'-tvpe ef the Irish noli" vinn. " Wha< is that<b •■•Ah-d D:< •.•.< !i to Lord B - ' insjron irlten he first set eve« on the eti «t| :e lr.idd!ed-iip form of tV. • member for Count v Cavnn. whose ciniiVai anwaranw* was emphasized by a siur" 'arly raining voice, an accent yots co-ilt "en: with a knife," and n -linden- =':j;i ■ a is; cot t which rented to brittle with its ~ rer's indignation. Mr. Bihar's political c.iree- wis nalised bv manv st--i!: i'-tr erusodfs, .rett:>t the Prints of Wales rem-ve 1 'from the Callerv to a four hours' speech ■which wound np with the reading ef

(<vory line of an almost interminable Act of Parliament. I Bu it is not pos-sibie in a short I articii" to urite in any d>.".ail 01 tLe J iong array of notable Irishmen nho have pliiyed cjiispicnou.s part;, on the Parliamentary stage--.;! Mr. Sexton. the keen debater, maker of happy phrases, and the bcrn orate.-: of -»lr. \\". U'lirieu. driving homo his arguments bv bi-mging his fist- down on the skinv top-hat of the member sitting colore* him, and challenging Sir Patrick, of the same surname, to a duel; <,t Mr. Justin McC'arthv, Mr. \V. Kedmond, and inanv another great tiguter for Guld Irelan.l. , u ' And we mr.st even turn relnctaiuly ' awa»- from such fascinating hgin-es as Sir "Bov'.e lloche and Major 0 Gorman, with ;.";! the amusing stories they re- - call. We- must, however, find ro .m tor one of the major's happy repartees. -Whv" once asked a member, -arc- . Irishmen always laying bare the wrongs rf their country V" " B-.tause. thundered the O'Gorman. in a voice as t>ig as bis mountain of a body, ••bet-..use, Borr. they want them redressed.