THE IRISH ENVOY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10859, 31 December 1906, Page 4

THE IRISH ENVOY.

Referring* to the eloquence of Mr Devlin, M.P. for Belfast, who is shortly to visit Gisborne, the Melbourne Tribune writes : —

"The first impression made by this young Irish orator was deepened by his subsequent speeches, and we found ourselves trying, amidst the varied excellences of his oratory, to select the pifdominant virtue, the one that gave his eloquence its chief distinction. The flexibility and richness of his language, the ringing music of his voice, the note of kindly brotherhood, the lofty mural plane of his ideas, high above everything mean and revengeful, the power and penetration of his reasoning, Ins clear grasp of principles — there was greatness m the combination of those qualities. But the most distinguished note of his speaking, to our mind, was his sincerity. Whoever heard him will not soon forget that deep, convincing sincerity, that dignified, noble, almost pathetic earnestness — no simulated passion, but the very revelation of his being — which went right through the hearts of his audience. No man save a good man could speak as he spoke. His speaking was a realisation of the poet's wish for mankind :

'Heart and mind according well To make one music as before.' Listening to Joseph Devlin pleading his country's cause, one could understand the language addressed by Byron to a high king amongst that great nobility of oratory which adorned— and adorn*— the public life of Ireland : 'With the skill of an Orpheus to softenthe brute; With the fire of Prometheus to kindle mankind ; Even Tyranny listening sate melted and iiiutf, Aud Corruption shrank scorched from Mv glance of his mind..' "