UNKNOWN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXV, Issue 245, 15 October 1891, Page 4

UNKNOWN

S__lhe following fart-westing oharaoter sketch < ____i_ad_ia JhVhMfflW, o/,.^t««,ifor >' "a^__S3B9CTStw §«.* Mrfctead have '1 %ieamt wh_iner#srte hie highly sympathetic i : Bketsh CrHhe i" nnorowqea King of Ireland ' %U .. i. ore the end of 1891 Mr Parnell would _se : .i6_er a social b_n, the deposed leader of. fte Irish party, reviled by his former collogues, ana/'lßst of all, dead. isfc fconfe thirty 'years ago, aj Email boy, with .on .ions brown eyes and fair hair, might have observed on the coping of the roof of a >ifately. mansionihouße in Ireland. He was ,f wl ,>lohe, and was apparently too inteLt *Tipon wna.He ; was doing to spare a thought '___ the, perils cf his position. He had with SWsnTfon' the roof an iron pot, one of those usually employed for boiliog ootatoes, but .fee "-haft converted it into an improvised .jrakier, in which he was melting lead. It was little Oharlie Parnell, who, having heard that tha best, way of making spherioal bullets was "to dW molten lead Irom a g.eat height, bad mounted the roof of Avondale, dragging an taprovißedßi_el_ng.poUi_l o* &« nin 6 °°^ W two hish Jadderß-and aoross. the sloping JJ^J^hat stiooess, the boy had in casting ; bl«Adi«on Bayeth not,. nor does . it much matter. CThe niarvello^s thing wbb that the toy came down in. safety, The amtotw tepioal of Mr Parnell's subsequent career S?boywaß*iather ofthe man. The cool Jaring which led the lad to drag his burmng .WBHie-r to the oopestone of topmost roof of :;Avonaale without making any loss or phrase, the originality ana resource with whioh he oarned out hiß experiment, the calm security with whioh he aohievea his purpose, and the safety with whioh he aeßoended to earth, are all typioal of the Irish leader, who this ' month ia the most oonspionouß figure in the politioal arena. THE PARADOX CALLED PABNELL. Mr Parnell is an inoernale paradox. He, iB, to begin witb, a Protestant, and yet he is Jhe chosen ohief of the most passionately XJatnoiio population in the world, Although , the unorowned king of Ireland, he is of Eog- ' lish and Amerioan deßoent. He is a landlord, but he has led the tenants to a viotory without parallel in our history. He is obeyed as no one has ever been obeyed before by an Irißh party, but he began his oareer by a mutioy agaiMtitho authority of his leader. His name TuaS been the symbol of a revolutionary movement, against wbioh all the resources of civilisation were invoked. in vain, but he is at ■tbevaaine time the mainstay of conservatism 'among His .wn Jpeope. He is the Parliaa mentacy chief of the most voluble and eloquent of English-speaking nationalities. But when he made his debut as a Parliamentary « c6ididate»she,Btuols andtOQuld not get through even the perfutictionary maiden speeoh ol a politioal debutant, and down to thiß day he has never made a single speech that could by any Btretoh of charity be deßoribed as an elo r nnent oration.. Imagine every thiug that tha "stage Ir_hmah is supposed to be, and you have everything Mr Parnell is not. He is neither a conspirator nor a, demagogue. He baa neither fire nor fury nor paßsion, nor any of tteepieriaid vioes or the showy virtues of shifl.flountrymen. In the midßt ota loquacious 5 land _ervodsly restless generation, Mr Parnell * has aohiey'ed his nniqUe Buoeefis chiefly by the posseßei'qja'ol.a unique capacity of holding his tongue. ... . „ , - AN AUaLO-AMBEICAN IRISHMAN. '• ' .Mr. Parnell is a type of the amalgamation of races that is going, on under the old rooftrees of onr English speeoh. His forebears crossed oyer to Ireland after the Common- . .wealth from Oongleton, in Cheshire j one of the most'dißtinguished of predecessors, who -held high office in an English Cabinet, died -'--. eta Baron Oongleton in 1842. His mother is k= an American, the daughter of the first Ad- . vmit_l in .ha Amerioan navy,- He ;was'edu< oatedS as a - small boy in a Non-conformist darned sohool in .Somersetshire; He matriculated in Cainbridg-e' University. He has "vbeeh' the'- acknowledged leader ■of c the Irish C xrioe all over the world ever since 1889 ; -but the type of his politioal genius is more akin . to tlw. ~.oi the ' Scotch than to -that of any ot_er nationality under the British flag. - •>*, ■ ' .---A CHIP OF THE OLD BLOCK. When Mr Parnell's grandfather was newly married, his honeymoon was interrupted by •" a summons to take the seas against the : Englißhi As he bade his bride farewell, he asked, " What present shall I bring you . I, when I oome back ?" " Bring me a British '"" frigate I " was her reply ; for she, too, was of the* sturdy English breed which has ever ''-'--„c& the'' boldest and deadliest foe ofthe „VB ritish Government when it is false to the V.; true principles of British liberty. "Bring .you, one Bdtish frigate?" Baid Charles ' ; iSWwa rt ; " you shall have two, and I shall •> "W-ear my Wedding uniform in battle." He was as good as his word, and his capture of "■ «the Cyane and the Levant is one of the most brilliant episodes in tbe naval annals of Amerioa. A remark attributed to him after the.battle waß over, when the British capVtains, as prisoners of war, were disputing ia : „is oahih as'to who was to blame for the" loss of the fight? might almost be uttered by his " grandson - ' as "lie listens tb the' recriminations of Liberals and Tories about the coming ' trinmph of Home Rule. " Gentlemen," said _ he, " there is no use getting warm about it ; ; .it wonld have been just the same whatever ' yoti might have done. If you doubt that, I ' : will put yon all on board again and you can ''■ try it over;" The laßt promise, however, Mr Darnell, wonld never have made. He is too oantions to risk the chances of a battle that is already gained. But it was natural that' a man with suoh ancestors should approaoh the struggle with the British Government in a spirit that could easily be mistaken for intense hatred of England and the English. ... \ - » VSTIXH THE HEAD OF AN ENCHNEEB. ' ■*' Hatred bf that sentimental kind is not Mr ParneU's foible. He is not sentimentalist enough to hate England. His mind is essentially that of a civil engineer. He has always had a great turn for mechanics, and one of the amusements of his youth was to . endeavour to solve the problem of perpetual motion/ He has always beeu interested in ■ chemicals and natural philosophy, and during part of the sittings of the Commission he appealed with his arm in a sling owing to some acoident in a laboratory. Rumour, said at the time that he had been testing VBome of the oreß of Avondale for gold, and the nitric acid had burnt hia hand. The > habit of Hind whioh he brought to politics was the same aB that whioh Sir John Parnell addressed himßelf to the making of '* canals in Ireland. When an engineer iB making a outting he [does not swear even at a quagmire, and Mr Parnell is too intent upon his end to waste force in unnecessary emotion. No man has caused more' stormy ebullitions of passion, but excepting on one , or two memorable occasions, he has been as cool bb a cucumber, as collected as a judge. His first recorded utterance in the House of Commons was characteristic. It was .- made in tho first great struggles by which the Home Rulers compelled the hostile par ties to admit their right of recognition In reply 1 to r fierce objurgations for both sides /of the. House Mr Parnell said that " they had deliberately adopted this course, and they would stick to it." Deliberation in ' selecting the means to be employed and re- ; solution as immovable as adamant when they .were adopted—these have distinguished Mr ..Parnell's policy from the first to the last. • AN IBISH ATHANASIIIS, ■ There are few men of whom the English - would be prouder if he had been on the other side. He at least has shown his ability to stand alone. Time and again iv the ' early days, when Mr Biggar and Major o'Gorman acted as tellers. Mr Parnell "walked alone into the lobby against a House raging witt impotent indignation. Atlianasus contra mundum is always a heroic figure . which, however, iB better .appreciated by the world when Athanasius is at a little distance WHeh the fight is on there is no one so un- " popular. Popular or unpopular it did not matter to Mr Parnell. He had a long row to hoe, and he went on with his work, " rain or shine." HOW HE LEAENT THE BULKS OF THE HOUSE. This devotion to his end, not the devotion of a fanatic who is sustained by the glow of passionate enthusiasm, but the practiaal business-like determination of an enginoer who has a certain amount of tunnelling to do,, has been one great secret of his power. He blundered often when he entered Parliament owing to his inacquaintance with the 7 forms' of the" House. •' How are you to ...learn the rules of the House V' said a young • and- impatient follower. .* By breaking them,'^ was t_9 laconic but sufficient answer. Thief is the way Mr Parnell learned L .Sis lesson, . ■ - . •:. . "•-.= PLOW AND STEADY WINS THE EACE, L. „Mr Parnell resembles Lord Hartington iiMid'iJilr Balf quris being constitutionally in- -^ diSpoised to very active exertion. "The ingrained laziness of his disposition," so his •/- impatient followers call it ; but there are times when slow and steady wins the race. V But Mr Parnell ia no longer the man he was.. Mr Biggar stood the storm and stress of that trying time better than his younger ,;• ally. .Mr Parnell, when a boy at sohool, _;Wf»s laid up with typhoid fever, and he has 'never quite been in robust health ever since. \ Three years ago he broke down utterly. •ixSanoe then he has taken it easy— too easy, .>. spme.think .- for-he-has hardly, kept himßelf ? .in v evidence Either in. Parliament or in But heiworked hard at the Com. yimmon in getting np his oase, and he has _. .Siept.hiß seat in. thei saddle as firmly as ever House and out of it. His will' *. ther? 'is. none to dispute. His authority is as fCgppfertte as iv the old days when he only got l^®^fe_no_ras sent to gaol. Kihtfainham, horribly dark dungeon walk, was B|aoK^fcl^the|_»t.saaatorinm for a poU p_Sopa .sawkgei up by the incessant , labours

jjSSlSSs£m*mmmmmmmmmm*m bt the Land League, bnt it was better than . nothing, and in other ways his imprisonment . did him good. Mr Parnell, in his relations > with hia fellow- men, is kind-hearted and Sympathetic. . His ipri^on -, experiences have fofc&cKim^veYy genial Mth all wno have suffered for the If Ish cause. It is a thousand pities .that all the occupants of the Front Opposition Bench could not bo passed through the same experience. He is cautious, and never did he say a truer word than when he said he never was a oonspirator. His experience of Irish conspirators did not tempt him to risk his life and liberty in their hands, HIS CHABACXEBISTIOS AS IiEADEB, As a leader he was not an originator. Mr Biggar invented Obstrnotion before Mr Parnell adopted it, It was Ronayne who first put him up to the idea of n>aking the Irish foroe a power in English politics. There is nothing original in the adoption of tbe method of the importunate widow in Parliamentary politics. Bat while Mr Parnell initiated nolhiog, he bettered all his instruations, and improved npon all his masters. Mr Parnell's oharaoter was often misunderstood, even by those who stood nearest to him. Nothing, for instance, is more oommon than to hear him spoken of as a rigid disciplinarian —a kind of Iriah Tzar. In reality he allows his followers to go as they please to an extent that, often lands him in considerable difficulties. It is an open seoret that the Plan of Campaign wonld never have been proclaimed if Mr Parnell had had hia own way. His constitutional lethargy) reinforced at that lime by acute illness, enabled his followers to foroa his hand. In Parliament he effaoes himself to an extent that few realise. But in one respect only is the popular conception well founded, When Mr Parnell speaks he is obeyed. But he speaks very seldom, and always to some purpose. The atmosphere of reserve in whioh he Bhrouds himself is natural to him. He iv an aristoorat born and bred, and if he were, like his predeoessor to become a peer of the realm, he would find himself muoh more at home in the House of Lords than with the rough and rude democracy. AN ESSENTIALLY CON SEBVATIYE FORCE. English people are only beginning to understand that Mr Parnell is the great conservative force in Ireland. He is a landlord and an Englishman. He has no consuming passion for the extirpation of landlordism. It was no doubt only in joke that he told Miohael Davitt that the first neoessity for maintaining order in a Home-Ruled Ireland would be to clap him (Davitt) into gaol. But the joke covered a truth. Davitt is a Celt. Landlordism is to him the devil incarnate, Mr Parnell has always been^for making compromises with the evil thing, Davitt has been hot for outting it up root and branch. Mr Davitt is the Revolution. Mr Parnell is the Counter -Revolution in Ireland. If Mr Paroell were in office at the head of a majority in a College Green Parliament tomorrow, he would soon be compelled to govern Ireland by the aid of Orangemen of the North and the support of the viceroy. HIS SERVICES TO THE EMPIRE, . . From an Imperial point of view, Mr Parnell is about the most valuable man in politics. He is the man who has forced f edera» tion within the pale of practical politics, and while securing the adoption of Home Rule by the Liberal party bas gone distinctly ahead of the Liberal leaders in his adhesion to the principle of a f ederalised Empire. Mr Rhodes, who is probably the most thoroughgoing Imperialist in the English-speaking world, would never havo lavished on the Parnellifce pause, his magnificent donation of £10,000, "haft he not "seen that Home Rule .uiider Mr Parnell made for the consolidation, not for the disintegration, ol the Empire. MB PABNEMi AB A MAN, Personally Mr Parnell iB regarded with suoh kindly feelings as ate compatible with respeot and awe. He is not a sociable creature. He has never been known to drink to exoese. He never haunts theatres or concert halls. No one has ever heard him swear, wherein he differs from some of his followers, who swear like troopers I have always fouud bim perfeotly truthful and Btraight: forward. I put the question reoently to two Irishmen, both of whom had known him intimately for years. One was an enemy, the other a friend. Said the friend :" I think Mr Parnell is a truthful man, aud I have never known bim to aot dishonourably to any of his colleagues or friends." His enemy said : " Mr Parnell is the most Bupreme liar the world ever saw." So widely do the opinions of men differ according to thoir standpoint. Thare iB the same wide difference of opinion upon the oharge that has just been brought against him by his quondam friend, Captain O.Shea. It is well, however, to remember Bismarck's Baying, that he waa always disbelieved because he always spoke the truth, Mr Parnell's conduct may be misjudged beoause of hia innooenoe. Certain it ia that when the tongue of eoacdal was buey with bis name three or four years ago, the very man who now brings the accusation against bim was then comp'etely satisfied that the current scandal had no foundation in faot. If that were the case down tb the spring of 1886, when Captain O'Shsa and Mr Parnell had a politioal difference, tbe intimaoy oan hardly have ohanged its character beoause Captain O'Shea changed his politics, If, however, it Bhould turn out that Mrs O'Shea, having contracted an unhappy marriage, had unfortunately justified tbe aotion of her husband, then Mr Parnell's course may be predioted with some confidence. As a truthful man, he will not deny on oath accusations tbat the Court may deolare to be true, and as an honourable man, if the dec'.ee is pronounced he will [A_ this interesting point there is a blank, owing to some lines of type having dropped out, Mr Stead, however, no doubt had written that Mr Parnell would marry the lady, and this is what he did.] AT HOME. On his estate at Wioklow, where Mr Parnell has an extensive quarray, and employs 250 men, he is very popular, I remember when I was at Lord Fitxwilliam'a beautiful seat close by, I was shown with almost reverential respeot, the place where Mr Parnell in hiß youth used to play erioket, Those who knew him in the privacy of his home are much, attaohed to him. No one can be more unassuming and single in his manners. He reads a good deal, especially about mechanics, biography, and history, Imaginative literature is not his strong point, nor oould he ever raajie muoh headway with poetry. Onoe, and once only, has he been known to quote poetry in a Bpeeoh. It was not of a nature to enoourage him to repeat the experiment. Working np towards hiß peroration, he deolared that they would never rest until they had made their oountry realise the poet's dream, — First flower of the earth, first jewel of the sea 1 " Gem, gem ! " said a friend at bis elbow. "Oh yes," replied Mr Parnell, " but jewel is a better word ! "