MEMOIR OF O'CONNELL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 17, 15 August 1884, Page 25

MEMOIR OF O'CONNELL.

(Concluded.) To graphically describe O'Connell's professional abilities at the bar would require infinitely more eloquence than this humble pen of mine can command ; I can. do nothing better, therefore, than to quote, in ejjteiiso, from an anonymous writer, supposed to be a gentleman who had ample opportunities of knowing Mr. O'Oonnell well (the author of " Sketches of the Irish Bar ") the following interesting and lively view of his habits and appearance :— "If any one of you, my English readers, being a stranger in Dublin, should chance, as you return on a winter's morning from one of the small and early parties of that gay metropolis — that is to say, between the hours of five and six o'clock — to pass along the south side of Merrion Square, you will not fail to observe that, among those splendid mansions there is one evidently tenanted by a person whose habits differ materially from those of his fashionable neighbours. The half-opened parlor shutters, and the light within, announce that aome one dwells there whose time is too precious to permit him to regulate his rising with the sun's. Should your cariosity tempt you to ascend the steps, and under cover of the dark to reconnoitre the interior, you will see a tall, able-bodied man standing at a desk, and Jimmersed in solitary occupation. Upon the wall ia front of him "there hangs a crucifix. From this, and from the calm attitude of the person within, your first impression will be that he must be some pious dignitary of the Church of Borne, absorbed in his matins, But this conjecture will be rejected as soon as formed. No sooner can the eye take in the other furniture of the apartment — the bock-cases clogged with tomes in plain calf -skin bindings, the blue coloured octavos that lie about on the tables and floor, the reams of manuscript in oblong folds, and begirt with crimson tape, than it becomes - evident that the party meditating amid such objects must be a lawyer. He is, unequivocally, a barrister ; but apparently of that homely chamber-keeping, plodding cast, who labours hard to make up by assiduity what they want in wit ; who are tip and stirring before the bird of the morning has sounded his retreat to the wandering spectre, and are already brain deep in the dizzying vortex of mortgages and cross-re manders, and mergers and remitters, while his clients, still lapped in sweet oblivion of the law's delay, are fondly dreaming that their cause is peremptorily set down for a final hearing. Having come to this conclusion, you push on for hours, blessing your stars on the way that you are not a lawyer, and sincerely com* passionating the sedentary drudge whom you have just detected in the performance of bis toil. But should you happen, in the course of the Bame day, to stroll down to the Four Courts, you will not be a little surprised to find the object of your pity miraculously transformed from the severe recluse of the morning into one of the most bustling, important, and joyous personages in that busy scene. There you will be sure to see him, his countenance braced up and glistening with health and spirit, with a huge, plethoric bag, which his robust arms can scarcely contain, clasped with paternal fondness to his breast, and environed by a living palisade of clients and attorneys, with outstretched necks, and mouths and ears agape, to catch up any chance opinion that may be coaxed out of him in a coloquial way ; or listening to his bursts of jovial and familiar humour ; or when he touches on a sudden strain, his prophetic assurances that the hour of Ireland's redemption is at hand. You perceive at once tuat you have lighted on a great popular advocate, and if you take the trouble to follow his movements for a couple of hours through the several courts, you will not fail to discover the qualities that have made him so : hia legal competency, his business-like habits, hi* sanguine temperament, which renders him not merely theadvocate.butthe partisan of his client ; his acuteness, his fluency of thought and language, his unconquerable good humour, and, above all, his versatility, By the hour of three, when the judges usually rite, you will have seen him go through a great quantity of business, the preparation for and performance of which would break down any ordinary constitution ; and you very naturally suppose that the remaining portion of the day must of necessity be devoted to recreation or repose, but here again you will be mistaken ; for should you feel disposed as you return from the courts to drop into any of the public meetings that are almost daily held, for Borne purpose or to uo purpose, in Dublin, to a certainty you will find the Counsellor tuere before you, the presiding spirit of the scene, liding the whirlwind, ani directing the storm of popular debate with a strength of lungs, und a redundancy of animalion, as if he had at that moment started fresh for the labours of the day. There he remains, until, by dint of strength or dexterity, he haß carried every point ; and thence if you will see him to the close of the day's even',ful history, you will in all likelihood, have to follow f him to a public dinner, from which, after having acted a conspicuous part in the festivity of the evening, and thrown off have a dozen speeches in praise of Ireland, he retires at a late hour to repair the wear and tear of the day by a short interval of repose ; and is sure to be found before dawn- break next morning at his solitary post, recommencing the routine of his accustomed duties. Now, anyone who has once seen in the preceding situation the contemplative, active, able-bodied, able-minded individual 1 have been describing has no occasioa to inquire his name ; he may be assured that he is and can be no other than Kerry's pride and Ireland's glory, the far-famed and indefatigable Daniel O'Connell." Such is a glowiig sketch of O'Conneli's professional career, and well worthy of the brilliant mind that' conceived it, as of him whose stupendous and unsullied character it pourtrays. To those of my readers who wish to pursue the subject further I would strongly recommend the perusal of De Beaumont's " Character of O'Connell," quoted in detail in Luby'a great work — the national lifu, so to speak, of O'Connell," Having risen to the zenith of his professional career, and still desirous of rendering more signal service to his country he gave up the bar to enter the arena of politics. Imbued with a noble patriotism, aud an ardent deßire for freedom, his greatest ambition was to raise his conntry to that proud position anticipated by the historical bard : —

" Great, glorious, and free, First flower of the earth and First gem of the sea." To accomplish this he saw that those obstacles to promotion, to position, to wealth, to honour, to fame, which hitherto beset his countrymen, must be removed, and with a herculean will and an indomitable perseverance he set to work to achieve this object of his heart. Hence he bent his whole energies towards the organization of his fellow-country men, without which, his penetrating mind, saw that nothing worthy of the cause could bo accomplished. Accordingly he-travelled through the length and breadth of Ireland, proclaiming liberty and toleration everywhere, exhorting obedience to the laws, founding associations which ultimately culminated in that powerful and influential organization — the Catholic Association, which was generously subscribed to by all classes of the community and which ultimately became a power in the land and a menace to the sister Isle. The enemies of Ireland and of O'Connell smiled contemptuously at his efforts and ridiculed the " Catholic rent '" ; but seeing its growing miguitude, the " powers tbat be " sought its early dissolution, and in 1825 a bill was pa=we 1 for the purpose of suppressing it. This bill,— the Algernine Act, as it was called, the object of which was to drive the people to revolt,-— O'Connell denounced during its passage through the House with all the vehemence of his soul, declaring that if the present association was suppressed another of far more formidable proportions would spring up phoenix-like from its ashes. So the new association went on and prospered, and made its influence strikingly felt in the general election of 1826, when the landlords' nominee (Beresford) was ignotninioußly defeated by Stewart, the people's choice. Tuw popular victory was only the prelude to the more significant ones of 1828 and 1829, which followed in rapid succession. In 1828, it was decided that O'Connell, then the most popular man in the country, on the Catholic side, should contest the election for the representation, of Clare, — A 15,000 being raised by voluntary contribution for defraying the expenses consequent thereon, and towards which some of the Protestant gentry contributed munificently — for, be it remembered, the Liberator, as he is now called, had friends and admirers amongst all denominations.^. It would be most interesting to give here a full description of the momentous issue of the Clare election, and of the distinguished characters who figured in it, did time and circumstances permit* Suffice it to say tnat tha " man of the pjople " — O'Connell, gained a' complete victory over the Government nominee, Fitzgerald, which paved the way to the regeneration of Ireland, and emancipated her from that religious and sectarian slavery in which she waß hitherto held. It would be difficult to describe the popular effect of this grand, glorious victory. The popular leader was received with triumphal arches, carried on the shoulders |of the people amid the plaudits of the assembled thousands, bonfires blazed from every hill-top, joybells rang out from every church steeple and the praises of O'Oonugll and the regeneration of his people became a theme of soul-stirring eloquence for every altar and every pulpit in the land, which was hailed with rapturous applause by the millions of his admiring and chivalrous countrymen. What followed this glorious, this signal victory, may be summed up in a few lines. O'Connell entered Parliament as the proud and enviable representative of seven millions of people. Roman Catholic Emancipation was granted, or rather wrung from the iron grasp of the unwilling ministers, Wellington and Peel, as the less of two evils, revolution or religious freedom; agitation for repeal of the Onioa was set on foot, monster meetings were held in support of Ireland's right to govern herself in common with other dependencies of England possessing similar prerogatives, at which the Irish Tribune set forth the matchless power of bia eloquence, his unswerving patriotism and his earnest and persistent determination to raise his down-trodden country to national independeuce. In this, however, he was doomed to disappointment. The Government had already granted more than they wurc prepared to concede to a people whom they looked apoa a* alien in language, alien in religion, in customs and manners, and, above all, alien in national aspirations ; and who, with chaiacteristie chivalry and unexampled bravery — ever yearning for freedom and independence — would be satisfied with nothing less than the disintegration of the British Empire. As a consequence the towns ware strongly garrisoned, troops were drafced into the country, the repeal meetings were suppressed, political gatherings were dispersed, the arch-agitator and his colleagues were pounced upon, tried and convicted of treason or disloyalty to the Crown, and, though afterwards the sentence was reversed by a committee of the House of Lords, it caused disunion and disaffection in the national party — the followers of O'Oonuell— the advocates of repeal. It would appear that O'Connell's enthusiasm on this question carried him so far as to declare from the hustings, or at some of the great public demonstrations then usually held, rashly, or to put it mildly, ill-judge lly, that repeal would be conceded within six months from the date of its promulgation by him in the House. But this was rather too much to expect from perjide Albion ; and as a consequence his declarations were blasted to the winds by the subsequent action of the Ministers, Wellington and Peel, which led to much contention among the leaders, and which afterwards gave rise to the organisation of that party known as the "Young Ireland"' or national party, amongst whom were such ehiniog lights as O'Brien, ifeagher, MiCcliel, Do&herty, Duffy, O'Gorman, Stevens, Mo Manns, Leonard, and a, host of other patriotic, educated and highly-accom-plished gentlemen, whose patriotism was never questioned, and who, while admiring O'Connell for the sacrifice he made towards the regeneration of lua country, did not or could not believe in the moral suasion method of liberating Ireland. But however patriotic, however chivalrout, however earnest, however ready they might be to achieve Ireland's independence by an appeal to the sword, and though prepared to lay dowa their lives in the accomplishment or attempted accomplishment of the grand desire of their hearts, O'Connell's polisy was the most practicable at the time, and under the thea existing circumstances, as was subsequently proved by the memorably

events of 48, and more fully demonstrated by the abortive attempts at insurrection since made. The fact is, Ireland was not prepared for insurrection, and the wisdom of the leaders, " Meagher of the sword," and his noble confreres, was overruled by the devastating and blighting influences of the famine scourge, which previously deluged the land with poverty and hunger, and almost decimated the inhabitants, while the Government looked on with apparent sang-froid, doing comparatively nothing towards the amelioration of their condition. No wonder that these appalling events should be co distressing to the great Emancipator, as to shatter his once powerful constitution, and damp his mighty intellect. As is now but too well known, he sank under their fell influence— the once robust frame was hastening towards its dissolution ; and on the 6th of August, 1847, the wit, the orator, the poet, the statesman, the great Tribune of the people was no more, having died at Genoa, in Italy, on his way to Rome, the Eternal City— bequeathing, in the true spirit of the Christiam patriot, his heart to Borne, his soul to heaven, and his body to Ireland. His body to Ireland J that country ever dear to him ; and in whose defence he was ready to do or die ; that country which he had so ardently loved, and wbich as religiously reciprocated his love ; that picturesque and romantic country whose generous sons have been as distinguished for honour and integrity, as her lovely and fascinating daughters for virtue and fortitude ; a country possessing one of the most fertile soils and genial climates, with inexhaustible resources, yet, strange contradiction, suffering from periodical famines; a country which has produced, in point of population, more emiuent scholars, poets, statesmen, orators, saints and doctors, soldiers and warriors (whose prowess and valour have been signally displayed on every battle-field in the history of modern warfare, and whose standards have been triumphantly borne, untarnished and unsullied, through all the glorious campaigns of the four quarters of the globe), than any other nation on the face of God's earth ; that country of which he, himself, so often sang : " Oh, Erin ! blessed shall be the bard, And sweet and soothing his reward, Should he but wake one patriot thrill, By foes denounced, remembered still ; Whate'er may be thy humble lot, By foes denounced, by friends forgot, Thine is the soul, the tear, the smile, Gem of the ocean, lovely Emerald Isle." His heart to his country I Such a tribute, such a legacy, was as well worthy of her to whom bequeathed as of him who left it ; and who, though now no more, is still living in the hearts of his fellowcountrymen, and the undying traditions of his country. &lc transit gloria mundi: — Thus passeth away the glory of the world. Thus passed away the immortal Daniel O'Conuell, the Christian patriot, the hero, the chief, the liberator, the emancipator, the "uncrowned king," the "Father of his country," the lawyer, the statesman, the scholar, the orator, the Demosthenes of Ireland ; he who was as gifted with the pen a<? with the tongue, and could handle his pistols with scientific precision, and who was ever ready to wield the one or the other in defence of right and justice, honour and principle ; he, who, unaided and alone, had for years marshalled the conflicting and dividing elements of party strife into one har. monious whole ; who had, by the power of his genius and eloquence, knit together the distracted and discontented members of the community into one grand organisation, whose moral effects are of lasting and universal obligation ; thus passed away one of tbe greatest Irishmen who have appeared in the political arena within the present, or, indeed, any previous century, and who now, though mouldering with his kindred earth, will be remembered as long as history is written by all lovers of freedom, but more especially by those for whom he lived and wrought, and in defence of whose rights he was ever ready to, and actually did. lay down his life. In paying this slight but imperfect tribute to the memory of O'Connell, the writer wishes it to be distinctly understood that in any remarks of his as to the merits or demerits of the great departed, he does not wish it to be inferred that he speaks disparagingly of any of the great men who, from the gifted Henry Grattoa down to ihe no less gifted and distinguished Parnell, have worked so earnestly and disinterestedly in the cause of Irish freedom and suffering humanity, whose efforts, when directed in the proper channels, he thoroughly admires and approves ; his aim beiti^ to keep before the minds of his readers that spirit of independence and love of country which was pre-eminently characteristic of the hero of this ahort memoir.