IDEAS IN INK

NZ Truth, Issue 474, 18 July 1914, Page 12

IDEAS IN INK

/ THE. HEEL OF IRELAND'S ' ....... 'j[ ACHILLES.. Stewart Parnell: His Love v Story and Political Life." By Kath- ' arine O'Shea (Mrs. Charles Stewart Parnell). London: Cassells and Co. Wellington: S. and W. Maekay. There have been sensational mem<>irs of great, men before, 'but one •would, have to go back a long way to recall the menfoirs which gripped the imagination so much as Mrs. Parnell's , (Katharine Q'Shea's)' story of Charles Stewart ParneU's great but illicit passion. Here .was a' great Irishman, the greatest of his day, who, when the alternatives of-ldye for a married woman, 'and the continuance of a great political career were set before him, at, once chose the former, regardless of any consequences. For eleven years did C. S. Parnell and Katharine O'Shea carry on their secret intimacy, but it' is clear that exposure could have occurred years earlier. For years, the late Mr. Gladstone had no objection to discussing political affairs' with Katharine O'Shea, as the jilehjpbteiftiary of Parnell. The "G.0.M." must have guessed their relations, and- 'did hot the famous Joe Biggar iohce""refer'ih a'public speech, long before the -divorce, to "Parnell and his mistress"? ' ■"...■=■'■ In December 1880 Captain O'Shea left Eltham for Madrid, and > the correspondence between Mrs. O'Shea and Parnell at once gained m intensity. "My dearest wife," is the superscription now. She breaks the string of letters and reviews calmly what had happened:' — . AH these months, since my "first meeting with Mr. Parnell, Willie knew at least -.that I frequently met him at the House. He had invited him to Eltham himself, though wheii the first visit, was 1 first proposed I said my house ■was, too shabby, the children would ■worry so nervous a man, and we had better not break the routine, of .our (WiMp's and my) life {(which by then was tacitly accepted as a fornial separation of a friendly sort),' giving any and every excuse, because of the dan,.ger I knew I was not able to ' 'withstand.- But Willie was blind , »to the' fierce,, bewildering force • »-that was rising within me m anewcr to ,the call oi! those passionhaunted . eyes, that waking or sleeping never left me. ... So •Parnell came, having m hia gentle, , (insistent way urged his invita.tiori, andfrom Willie. , And now Willie and I were quarrelling because lie, my lawful Lhueband, had come down without % . Ithe invitation that was now (for some years) understood as due to 'the courtesies of frienda, and be•cause he had become vaguely suspicious. Flying rumors had perhaps reached his ears; 'and now fit was to 6" late, for he dared not •formulate them, they were too • vague; too late, for I had been * swept into the avalanche Qf Parnell's love; too late, for I possessed the husband of my heart for all . eternity. , v ' .. I had 'fought against our love; but Parnell would not flight, and I ■was alone. 1 had urged my chil- . drcn-and his t work; but he answered me, "For good or ill, I am •your husband, Jyour lover, your ■ children, your all. And I will give , my life to Ireland, . but to you I give my love, whether it be your heaven or your hell. It Is destiny. When 1 -first looked Into your eyes I knew. "'.*■■ In subsequent chapters there are revealed many curious traits of character of this singular man, who, an Knßlishm^p.^Vy ( birt,h, came ,to be, the trustisd-iloHdeT oiTihe Irish party. He; was a- man of~tHiftny Interests, including mechanics, astronomy, and assayIng, Ihoufch politics were the ahViorliIng themo of .his., thoughts. . The letr ters .durlng',thlfii period are, numerous, opening" with iJ the. i words, "My - own Wife," oi'V'My.< own • Loveliest," :;nd Bipncd m one instance nt least, "Your own King."' " '■■ Many writers have commented o.n tho fact thatTjSuch a great political louder as ftjirjnMl shoujd have written love fetters have disgraced tho rcpuUit§fi\,.-$f h humble clerk. Yet there is nothing extraordinary In ParncH'H ordinariness In the language of love. He never wrote his love letters for nfler-publlcatlon, as some wouldbo great men iU>. lie wrote his scrappy HncK for one person nlone. and no doubt she/went Into raptures of amorous enthusiasm over 'tlte most empty phrase A great passion need not produce great and pompous language. A man nVaklnf? love seriously Is hard- • ly coherent, much less Ktummatlc.a). Parnell called hla mistress "Qtieenic"' and "Wltlc." What of It? All the tlroo ho was slobbering over Kailrnrlno O'Shca, he was rousing thousand* of Irishmen, who little suspected that his pnsslonttte moments the Brent ■JLjulonullflt rhetorician, who made and; Lord Salisbury trcrnponulhx jerky little low *enH^^H^hal only a certain wutnuu H^^H^^^flßhbjj9*Unt last begins ISSI - Cap-' suddenly V"*-

THEIR BUILDERS.

Ed off to London by Captain O'Shea. A challenge followed, 'but no duel was fought. . A "bitter quarrel" between husband and wife occurred, and, she adds, henceforth "Parnell and I were oh 2 without further scruple, without fear, and without remorse." ' • So Katharine O'Shea does not seek to excuse either- Parnell or nerself. There is no apologia to a public prepared to be generous. There are no heroics. She simply says that she and Parnell loved each other. Most matter of fact is her statement of the position:— - Parnell contravened certain sp- ' cial laws, not regarding them as binding him m any way, and I joined him m this contravention, since his love made all else of no account to me. The "grande passion" made other things insignificant — obligations to millions, of devoted followers, the future of a great national cause, the rights of an unfortunate husband. It is a philosophy fortunately not held m great respect by any community. But think what we may of the conduct of Mrs. O'Shea towards a husband, who, it would appear," wf-s a -husband only m name, and m spite of the fact that her book is full of paradox and much both morally and politically nauseating, it is Also full of tragedy, and some of the reminiscences almost move to tears. Here surely is a heart throb. Parnell was arrested on October 13, 1881, and there is a whole batch of letter.* written to Mrs. O'Shea ft*om Kilmainham Gaol. While he^was m prison she bore him a child, which died two months afterwards. We have a poignant picture of this period: — My baby was born on February 16, 1882. I was very ill, but the joy of possessing Parnell'B child carried me through my trouble. She was a beautiful baby, apparently strong and healthy — for the first few weeks — and with the brown eyes of her father. This child of tragedy rnrely cried, but lay watching me with eyes thoughtful and searching beyond the possibility of her little life. I used to seek in -hers for the fires always smouldering "n the depths of her father's eyes, but could not get beyond that curious gravity and understanding m them, lightened only by the little smile she gave- me when I came near. . . '. When the child was dying, Parnell was released from Kilmaiuham Gaol m order to attend his nephew's funeral m Paris. On his return, .he visited the O'Shea's at , i Eltham, and the real and reputed fathers discussed the terms, of the famous "Kilmainham Treaty," which O'Shea negotiated with the Government, while the little one was dying upstuira! Parnell went back to prison that day — "my little one died as my lover stole In to kiss us both and say good-bye." But Parnell was not the first, nor was he the lost, to look at social ethics m the way, Mrs. Parnell makes all too plain, he did. But, unquestionably, his loose view damaged tho cause of Home Rule for a generation. Itmust have been an unconscious touch of irony that has made Katharine O'Khca reVeal the incidents of Parncll's misdeeds just when the cause which ho made famous all the world over is on the eve of attaining its goal. Eleven years Parnell and Mrs. O'Shea were secret lovers, but they wcro husband and wife for on'y nine inontnn. Black as Parnell may appear, and however despicable and dishonorable his conduct under the circumstances, the hypocrisy of Mr. Gladstone seems to the present writer as more heinous still. In this book Kitty O'Shea shows that she acted for yeurs us gobetween with Mr. Gladstone, and that great Liberal statesman was aware of the relationship m which she stood to the Irish leader. What will tnc English Non-Conformist conscience think when It reads this and then calls to mind the Grand Old Man solemnly enacting • that hypocritical farco of outraged virtue after the publication of lh« exposures of the O'Shea divorce? That, surely, is an 1 image of rottenness not easily surpassed m any age of decadence! Whether Mrs. Parnell has acted wisely In laying bare to the world this story of I'arnell's love and lapse may be open to duubt, but that- she has written ;i book packed with absorbing human interest there will be few to gainsay. • • • "Truth" hat received from Messrs. Ward, Lock and Co., Ltd., per Messrs. Sim pxp,n and Williams, booksellers, ChrlHlchurch, the current number of "Windsor Magazine." The publication i is, if anything, even more divers! fled j and Interesting than usu.nl, and feuj turow a clever article by S. L. Bcnsusan on the Russian movement In J Modern Music. Tho art of John Fettio. R.A.. Is treated with ably writton description matter and colored plat oh Illustrating some of the artist's j work. Among the remaining eontrl- ; butors are Hitler Haggard, Miles For- ! man, W. L. George. Haiti well KutclMfe. and a host of others, wliohc high-class work occupies a place on the pinnacle of prosi«;nt-day literature. •„ • • Another half dox«*n of "Th<- lvopjf's Hooka" has been issued >>>• tin; i»ui>-

the money. One of the best, if not the very best of the batch, is V Miss Rosaline Masson's- "Robert Louis Stevensou." Miss Masson, we fancy, is a •daughter of Professor Masson, of the Edinburgh University, where Stevenson was educated. She is an enthusiastic Stevenspnian, an enthusiasm, happily, not confined to her countrymen and women. Those who are familiar with the life of Stevenson, and those who have der'ved pleasure from his -writings, will read this pathetic' story as told by Miss Masson, with sympathy and understanding-. . The book presents a most graphic, If pathetic, picture of an all too sadly brief, but splendid, career. ' ; • * • The next m importance is the volume by L: Winstanley, M.A/, m which he epitomises the life and work of Tolstoi. This is a most interesting volume, and brings before the reader m many new lights the most . notable product of the Russian school of writers and philosophers who became prominent during the last century. Books about bookmen have a charm all their own, and "Truth" -forecasts a large demand for both these, volumes. ■Of, quite a different type is the volume contributed to the scries by A. E. Manning Foster. It is devoted to a history of the Anglo-Catholic movement, and has an introduction by Dr. R. L. Langford- James, who recommends the book as a most careful and painstaking study of a movement which has somothing to bring as a contribution to the. perfection of the reunited Church of the future. Present scribe hasn't much hope if such ever being realised, nor does he think it worth striving for. The only Church that could havo any hope of universal acceptance is the Church that would divorce itself from doctrine and theology and when this is done it ceases to be a Church. An all embracing United Church may be beautiful as an ideal, but luckily for the progress of mankind, it is utterly impossible — now. • • • W. J. \V. Tallyard, M.A., lecturer m Greek at Edinburgh University, is responsible for the volume on "Greek Literature." Mr. Tallyard, as becomes a teacher of Greek, looks upon the study of that language and literature as a necessary element of a liberal education. Greek literature, he declares, is the true foundation of all European culture. In this number of "The Peoples Books" he claims that the Greeks founded philosophy, natural science, mathematics, medicine, music, and political ecor.omy — which, it will be admitted, is rather a tall order, and leaves little else of merit m educational sciences for the remainder of the world's nationalities. • • • "Bacteriology : Man's Microbe Friends and Foes." is by W. 15. Carnegie Dickson, another lecturer of Edinburgh University. This, despite its title, is very interenting and replete with fa ts that startle, as well as console, man, m that it makes clear that ani'd much that is evil there is, m most cases, a qualifying amount of good. Bacteriology, a highly complex and not wholly understood subject, is dealt with m a manner that makes cleur to the reader the llcrce combat being continually waged between the bacteria of health and the bacteria of disease. A more general reading of such works as Mr, .Carnegie Dickson has hero, provided, would be of telling benefit to the community, individually and collectively. • • • Last year, we understand, is the flret year m the history of "Our Lady of the Snows" — Canada — m which more more people left her shores than arrived tit' her ports. Whether Mr. Ford Fairford's book on the Great Dominion will help to stem the exodus we do not know, but, whether or not, it is a most useful volume. The author discusses, aa only an nrthor enn who knows his subject fully, Canada — historical, climatic, constitutional and educational. In this volume the facts nro stated as they exist, and there is none of that obvious extra color Lug which plays such a large part In publications whoso chief reason for existence is to boom the country, whethpr JsKiied by a shipping or immigration tout or by some writer m the pay of the Government. It will be seen that, m "The Peoplo's Books" series, variety is one of Its commendable characteristics, and that it is an undertaking which, In its conception, is intended to include the. whole range of human activities. • • • Exchanges announce the death of .1. Cuthbert- Madden, a noted journalist and author. Among his bewt-known works arc a life of Handel and a life of Mendelssohn, with books on "Thornmom, the 'Friend of Hurn.H," "Nelson," "Stories of the Great Operas," and "Charles Edward Stuart," while, at tho time of his death, h« was erijeaged on v popular llfo of "Wellington." The chapter dealing with tho old Scots psalters In Mr. Love's "Scottish church Muaic." was contributed by, Mr. JladOen. who wuj» also thfi writer of many musical and other notices In Mr. I^oji- ! lie Stephen's "Dictionary of Natlonnl Jftgrnphy." (."uthlx-rt Hnddrn who a tivc of lvlncrtrdfrvnhlrv, and wii* In I flfty.rourth yea ft

Ambrose Pratt has written a book, "The Real South Africa," with an introduction by the Rt. Hon. Andrew Fisher; P.O. The picture he draws is certainly a gloomy "one. Obviously, the supreme question of the day for South Africa is the black population — unaccustomed to control, fierce, warlike, aggressive and intelligent. They have a passion for education, and the author tells of a conversation he had with a representative' native, who told him that his people would certainly" demand their rights as soon as they were sufficiently educated and organised. He writes: — He was a University man, a per- . son of culture and refinement, fit .. to meet any white gentleman on his own ground;, yet the whole ..■white race shuhned him and despised him. Did he venture . t.o : stroll through the city he would have to march along the road like a horse^— the pavement being rigidly forbidden him. ".' He wound up : by assuring me. that I was the first white man m Africa who had condescended to shake him by the hand, and he warned me that I ■would be violently censured ■ and abused if the fact were made known. Subsequently, I tested these statements, and I cannot say that they were m any great wise - . exaggerations of the truth. All over South Africfi I found the •whites animated with an implacable determination to keep the blacks under foot — to treat them as sub-humans. Public opinion regards any white man who would' stoop to friendly intercourse with any black as something like a public enemy. Public opinion, however, is divided into two planes. The Boers look upon the blacks as unruly animals who must be kept m their . proper place by brute force and the sjambok. The British also look upon them as animals, but counsel mil-ler measures and eschew the -whip. The difference is really rather one of policy than one .of belief, and it arises from temperament. The Boer has a. cruel heart. H(j beats his horse 'ridifferentiy when he should and when he should not. • • * > Miss Marie Gorelli never reveals the title 1 b£" any of' her forthcoming .books, and the same are never announced until publication. However, this time the unwanted as well as the unexpect-

Who will make their Hist appearance m Now Zealand with J. C. Williamson's Dramatic Company In the .sensational detective drama "The Argyle j Case," to be staged at His Majesty's Theatre, Auckland, on Monday, July 20.

Ed has happened. The name of Marie's forthcoming volume now on the eve of publication und to arrive shortly m the Dominion is "Innocent." • • • A book called "Years of Forgetting." by Lindsay Russell, author of "Souls m Pawn" und "Smouldering Fires," reached Wellington Library last week, und, "Truth" is informed, was "turned down" on account of tho short objections to tho volume made by a certain powerful religious organisation. When the news leaked out the local supply of the volume was wiped up m a few minutes. Sweet are the uses of ud- ! versiiy.