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FATHER LE RENNETEL ON O’CONNELL, A TRENCH PRIEST'S ELOQUENT TRIBUTE TO THE LIBERATOR. A few weeks back we briefly noticed the very successful lecture on the “ Wit and Humour of Daniel O'Connell,” delivered by the Very Rev. P. Le Rennetel, §.M., pastor of St. Patrick’s Church. Father Le Rennetel lectured under the auspices of the Shamrock Club, and the proceeds, which were handsome, have been devoted to the club’s library fund. The stage was draped with flags and national emblema, and over the lecturer were hanging the green banners of the Irish National League and the Hibernian Society. Mr. James Toohey, M.P., presided. Father Le Rennetel, who was received with great applause, said :—Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen—It is a bold attempt on my part to come here to-night, and speak on a subject you are better acquainted with than I am myself. (No!) Still, as we like to speak of our friends or to hear them spoken of, and praised, I venture to hope that you will, out of consideration for the subject of my lecture, and out of respect for a great man’s memory, extend to me during the time I detain you a good-natured attention, and an indulgent appreciation. (Applause.) I trust you will not consider me presumptuous in saying that I do not address myself to the subject of my lecture with the feelings of a foreigner or a stranger. (Hear, hear.) O'Connell was an Irishman, but the admiration of his noble and beautiful life, and the reverence for his sacrifices and services in the cause of humanity, belong to the world. (Applauce.) All true men, all brave, patriotic, and voted men regard as a model and a champion the great man who fought so well and so long for his native land—the sturdy champion of freedom and equality for all, the emancipator of the British Catholic world, the liberator of Ireland—the immortal Daniel O’Connell. (Cheers.) Who would not admire that noble-hearted hero, who his life long struggled to make the land of his birth what it should always be, and what it will I trust very soon be— “Great, glorious, and free Firat flower of the earth, and first gam of the sea.” Cheers. Gifted with a deep intellect, a pre igious memory, a rich imagination, a generous pearl and a vigorous frame, O’Connell seemed to ‘A combination and a form indead, Where every god did seem to vet his ear, To give the world assurance of a man.” Noble heart was served by a noble tongue! (Ap plause.) He was, as most of you know, endowed with such a wonderful voice, that he could send it in all its strength and mellow richness to the furthest limits of the vastest crowds that ever came together to hear him. Lord Lytton, assuredly an impartial judge in such matters, declares that he first learned What spalls of infinite choice To rouse or lull has the sweet Loman voice” when he heard O'Connell speak, and that in watching him governing with his genius and eloquence one of his great meetings, with his eye flashing intellectual fire, his mighty hand up lifted and quivering with honest indignation, and his voice thundering again at all injustice or dis honour, he learned “To seize the sudden clus ‘To the grand troublous tima antique, to view Under the rock stand of Demosthenes Unstable Athens heave her stormy seas,’’ O'Connell was born in the days of those accursed penal laws, when bigotry and intolerance of the narrowest and most malignant type held sove reign sway in Ireland—in those days when Catho lics, although they were to the Protestants as five to one, were excluded from every honourable walk in life; in those days when the British Par liament had enacted a law providing that no one should sit in the Irish Legislature, nor hold any Irish office, civil, military, or ecclesiastical, nor practise law or medicine till he had taken the oath of allegiance and supremacy, an oath con trary to his faith, because it denied the Transub stantiation ; in those days when by law priests and bishops were forbidden to say Masa and live in the country; in those days when any young man becoming a Protestant was by right the heir to his father’s estate; in those days when Catholics were forbidden to purchase or hold land as their own. Let me here remark that many Pro testants showed themselves most kind to Catho lica by lending their names for their estates. (Applause.) O’Connell lived, I say, in those days, in those days when every Protestant could seize the horse of any Catholic by offering five pounds. Days of persecution, of tyranny—how many tor rents of innocent blood you have shed, and how many bitter acts of downright injustice you have registered in your annals! But, ladies and gen tlemen, the destinies of nations are in the hands of God, and when the hour of His mercy comes, and a nation is to regain the first of its rights, the free exercise of its religion, God in His de signs ever provides for that hour a leader for his people. O'Connell was that providential leader, He was essentially the man of his age and time, the man for the special work which he was as signed to fulfil. When such a man’s work is done, he will quietly sleep the sleep of the brave. Others will come after him, they will rise at the hour of God, animated by the same love of Fatherland, inspired with a wisdom that will frighten their adversaries, calculating with cool ness, combining, preparing with the foresight of genius the moment of the attack, and the tactics to be followed in the struggle. You have named the famed successor of O'Connell, the uncrowned King of Ireland, Charles Stewart Parnell, fo ught the battle of independence for the Green Isle of the sea. If he fights with more success, he could not fight with more patience and heroism. (Cheers.) But let me at once leave the burning ground of politics and come on the field we mean to survey this evening. Men, we say, have their character, and so have nations their own. The Scotch is cunning, the Saxon blunt and honest, the French gay, the Spaniard digni fied, the Irish witty, O'Connell was essentially an Irishman. Wonder not, therefore, if whilst he was the cleverest politician of his time, and the sharpest lawyer, he was also the wittiest of men. (Appues His wit helped his genius. Wit, I need hardly say, is a most useful gift of nature ; it is the adornment of conversation, the attraction of public discourses, and serves like a polished shield to the debater. There is nothing more tedious, more burthensome, than a debate between two men who have no humour, no wit. But if here and there a few sallies of wit are indulged in, it enlivens the speech, and relieves the mind stretched by listening to close argumenta tion. What is wit? is very often asked. The same question was put to a clergyman of th e Church of England by his Bishop. The clergyman replied, ‘' The Rectory, of Brighton is vacant: give it to me, and that will be wit.” “How so?” ‘ Because it will be a good thing well applied,” was the ready answer. But you will ask me ‘ What is wit?” Wit, according to th e Imperial Dictionary, in an association of ideas into manner natural, but unusual and striking, no as de. w ill to produce surprise joined with pleasure, Pope fines it— ‘What oft was thought, bot us'er so wall exproemel,”’ witty man in quick in retort, and lappy in ustration. Of course there is false wit, as there are false coins; evil will never call genuine wit that which never reaches beyond quibbles, puns, quolibeta, and conesits. Let us also remark that thi ab oo’ at ere is wit in deeda as well agin words, and we all see many instances of it in the Great Connell. We shall see how his wit served him the bar as well as before Parliament, and what inappreciable services it rendered him in chasing away the unfortunate crowd of visitors who were without any reason intruding on his time. O’Connell was a perfect advocate. A lawy er will never be perfect, except he be witty ; wit will do him in every good cause, and out of many a ba one. The jury will laugh, the wit nesses will be off their guard, and the work will be done. (Laughter.) Wit is an argument clear to all. O'Connell was once examining a wir cas whose inebriety at the time to which the evidence referred, it was necessary to his client's case to prove. He quickly discovered the man's character. He was a fellow who may be described as th much a rogue as 4 feel. Well, Darby, you tell a truth to those gentlemen.” “ Yea, your honor, Counsellor O'Connell.” ‘ How do you know my name?” “Ah sure everyone knows you are a patriot.” Well, I see you are a good hu moured honest fellow ; now tell me Darby did you take a drop of anything that day ? —* Why, your honor, [ took my share of a pint of whiskey.” © Your share of it. Now, by virtue of your oath, was not your share of it all but the pewter 7’ — * Why, that’s true for you, sir. oo” The court was con vulsed with laughter at both question and answer. Another day in the city of Cork he had to defend a man whom he sincerely believed to be innocent of the crime of murder for which he was im peached. Judge then of his tact, and of his infinite resource got to out of the difficulty. The principal witness swore that a hat found near the place of the murder belonged to the prisoner, whose name was James. “By virtue of your ath, are you sure this is the same hat?’ said O'Connell. “Yes.” ‘ Did you examine it care fully before you swore it was the prisoner's ?” “Tdid.” “Now, let meses.” O'Connell took the hat, and began to examine it carefully inside. “‘ By jingo’ I think you are right, J-a-m-e-s.”’ * Had the hat the name James written in it?” The witness, completely caught by this clever device, replied at once: “It had!” ‘ You see, my Lord,’ said O'Connell, holding the hat to the bench, there is no name at all written in this hat.” The result was an instant acquittal On another occasion, O’Connell was engaged in a will case. The plain tiffs alleged that the will was a forgery. ‘The witnesses swore that the will had been signed by the deceased whilst life won in him. Suddenly, O'Connell was atrack by the fellow’s persistency in clinging to the formula, whilst life was in him. “ By virtue of your oath, was the man alive?” roared O'Connell. “ By the virtue of my oath, the life was in him,” repeated the witness. Now, I call on you, in the presence of your Maker, who will one day pass a sentence on you for this evidence, I solemnly ask—and answer me at your peril—was there not a live fly in the dead man’s mouth when his hand was placed on the will?’ The witness trembled, shivered, tu t rned pale, and faltered out in abject confusion, at the counsellor was right—a fly had been introduced into the mouth of the de ceased to enable the witness to swear th at life was in him. The judges them selves had at times to feel the smart ing wounds of that wit. A young attorney was asked in his presence to admit a statement as evidence, or hand in some document he could legally detain. O’Connell stood up and told the attorney to make no admission. “ Have you a br ief in this case, Mr. O'Connell?” asked the judge with peculiar emphasis. ‘I have not, my lord ; but I shall have one when the case goes down to th e assizes.” ‘ When I was at the bar,” said the judge, “ it was not my habit to anticipate briefs.” “ When you were at the bar I never chose you for a model, and now that you are on the bench, I shall not submit to your dictation ,”’ and O’Con ne ll walked out of the room, leaving the judge to digest this retort. A gentleman who was on a visit to the the Liberator had ridden out to some distance one morning to shoot, and had taken four men with him to mark the game He fagged a good deal all day, and succeeded in shooting a jackanipe. In the evening O'Connell mercilessly qainszed him for his day’s exploits, “ Listen,’ ” he said to him, ‘to the fine article I'll send to the Morning Star tomorrow— ‘Sporting extraordinary.—Yesterday, John D. Esq., one of her Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the County of Kerry, left home at an early hour in the morning to enjoy the re creation of shooting, after his late severe magisterial duties. The worshipful gentleman was well provided with game bags, arms, and ammunition ; and after a l's indefatigable per severance, he, his four attendants, and a horse, returned laden with an entire jackanipe. (Laughter.) On another occasion a poyndien had been suborinaed as a witness, and Connell tessed the judge to order his expenses, “ because he has been kept away from his patients than five days, and if he is kept here much longer how do we know that they may get well ?” At times O’Connell’s wit and cleverness were asl sh own as well by action as by words. Mr. Hayden, editor of the Monninea Star, was devoting all his talents in the most insulting productions in reference to the Lord Lieutenant and O'Connell. The latter was patient, but the former had a criminal information for libel filed against Mr. Hayden. No sooner was Hayden in difficulty th an he ran to O Connell to retain him on his principal counsel. O'Connell accepted. When a cage came on the witty counsellor insisted, as it was his right, on certain articles in the newspaper being read—articles in which “ a cer tain person named O'Connell’ was made the subject of the most defamatory animalversions. Hayden was eliciting the most ardent wishes for the speedy hanging or transportation of the arch. agitator, the apostle of mischief, the firebrand, the rebel, the arch-mendicant, the liar, the impostor, the disgrace to his profession, the curse of his country. I need not say that the entire audi tory were convulsed with laughter. Then, when O'Connell's turn came to address the jury, he expressed his surprise at the Attorney-General condescending to notice the publication of a mere newspaper synth, which could not possibly affect the ilustrious Viceroy. ‘ In that same newspaper,” he said, “there are attacks upon some person named O'Connell, who had instituted no proceed ings against their publisher, although, perhaps, he was likely to be ofvered injuriously by them, especi ally if his livelihood depended upon his character and reputal icon. Now, gentlemen of the jury, regardless of the invectives directed against him, O'Connell, who has no desire to incarcerate his assailant, begs of you to terminate his anxieties, and send him home to his wife and five children.” O'Connell sat down after the pathetic appeal and asked someone near him,” Ford, I hope that I did not make a wrong cast in my closing sen tence, is the fellow married ?’ Hayden was not convicted. It was not always safe to try and take him in his words. Once he was conducting a case before Lord Norbury, and said: “ Pardon my Lord, I am afraid your Lordship does not apprehend me.” The Chief Justice (alluding to a report that O'Connell avoided a duel by sur rendering to the police) retorted: “ Pardon me also; no one is more easily apprehended than Mr. O'Connell whenever he wishes to be appre hended!” * Yes, your Lordship, when he has to deal with proper guardians of the law.” He did not even spare policemen. Once at a riot case, the principal witness was a constable, whose father had been a sheep-stealer. The constable could not be shaken in his evidence. Suddenly O'Connell asked him: Are you fond of mutton ?” Take a good piece well enough,” replied the unsuspicious witness. ‘ Did you ever know any any expert sheep-stealera?’* ‘The witness coloured crimson, but replied quietly ; 'I have met with a few in the discharge of my duty as a policeman.” ‘‘Just so, only in the discharge of your duty? Did you ever know a sheep-stealer before you entered the police ?” “Never,” replied the wit ness. O'Connell put the question again mildly, and received the same reply ; and then in tones of thunder, charged at the unhappy man, and obliged him to admit the truth, and to admit himself a perjurer. An alibi was proved for the prisoner, and hho was acquitted. It was little wonder, considering O’Connell's suc cess in gaining acquittals or convictions, that an old fellow who had escaped hanging several times exclaimed at the end of a case in which he had a narrow squeak, God spare you, Counsellor O'Connell, for the day you die to goo I go.” (Laughter.) Before we speak of his wit in Parliament let me give you one or two instances of his quick reply to importunate visitors. One day when he was much occupied, a civil booby came in, and apologised for not having previously visited him. “Say nothing about it,” said O'Con nell, ‘I look on it as a very great kindness when people don’t visit me.” On another day of in cessant political occupations, the servant an nounced —* Mr. Crossby,” ‘ Who is Mr. Crossby ?” demanded O'Connell, “I know many men of that name.” ‘The servant descended to the hall to inquire, and satisfied O'Connell as to the peculiar identity of the visitor. “Go, ask him what’s his business,” said the Liberator, giving himself another short reprieve. “ He says his business is to make his bow to your Lordship,” said the envoy, ‘Pray tell him I am quite satisfied to accept his bow when he is.” Let us come now to his political life, a career of struggles, of unremitting labours. No doubt he had Ire land at his back, but Ireland did not follow him to Parliament, but by its encouragements and applauses. There, he had to go in the arena single-handed, and fight ‘the British Lion in his deen. ‘To his surprise the lion roared and got in a fury at sight of his daring agitator. O’Con nell fought him, and he fought him well, and he won the day. But if he had the resources of a powerful mind for the fight, if he had right on his side, alas! others had might, and it is true in Parliament as elsewhere that might is right. But O'Connell had a powerful auxiliary, a fidus Achates that never left him, in his wit, which often frightened his adversaries before the fray,and never failed to give them smarting blows ever to be re membered. See how he made use of that double-eyed weapon. In April 1835,a discussion took place on the budget in which the Conservative Government was most fiercely attacked by the ex-Lord of the Admiralty and by Sergeant Spankey. To the sur prise of all, O'Connell arose and expressed his opinion that the estimates had been judiciously framed. He proceeded to say he was not astonished at the hostility of the noble Lord of the Admiralty towards an administration by which he had been deprived of power and of the sweets concomitant to power; but he was unable to comprehend the reasons for the asperity and unmitigated hostility of the honorable and learned member from whom the government had not taken any power or official advantages, and to whom it was believed they had offered his full value. “Sir,” exclaimed Spankey, “they offered me nothing.” “Sir,” said O'Connell, “that is exactly what I surmised.’ Laugh ter, loud and long continued, followed this humorous definition of Spankey’s worth, and I believe that ‘Spankey’s price” was for some time adapted as a term to signify a total deficiency of value. Mr. Shaw, the Recorder of Dublin, anxious to exalt himself at the expense of his own nation, once moved in Parliament for a return of the outragea committed in Ireland. O'Connell answered him in no measured language. ‘Speeches have been made,” he said, “by four gentlemen, natives of Ireland, who, it would appear, come here for the core purpose of vilifying their native land, and endeavouring to prove that it is the worst and most criminal country on the face of the earth. They come here to calumniate the country that gave them birth. It is said that there are some soils which produce venomous and crawling creatures—things odious and disgusting. (Loud cheers from the Tories.) Yes, you who cheer, there you are—can you deny it, are you not calumniatora ? (Cries of ci! and hisses.) Oh! you hiss, but you cannot sting.” That word are enough, it nailed to the ground,his adversaries. (Appoise, owies and gentlemen, I have done my work. I have given you a side of the character of O'Connell, the hero of so many bloodless battles ; the great man, whose uppermost thought and deeply-rooted passion was the welfare of his coun try. He found Ireland downtrodden, in the blood stained dust, and bound in chains. Her voice was silent, her heart was broken. Henry Grattan, with a patriot’s despair, used words which happily have not proved to be true; he used to say: ‘He had watched over her cradle, and had followed her hearse to the grave.” If the hearse went to the grave, the hearse was empty. (Cheers.) A nation like the Irish nation never dies. (Great applause.) Daniel O'Connell came and told her he would burst her bonds, remove her winding sheet, and sound the trumpet of her resurrection. Away,’ he said, “ with unavailing sorrow! God helps those who helps themselves. (Applause.) Let us agitate, train our people, warshal our forces, till we storm the fortress of bigotry and plant the flag of liberty on its ruin.’ All honour to him who overcame by the weight of his wening and the justice of his cause (applause) the most numerous and powerful enemies! Honour to him who struck off the shackles which for centuries fettered the Catholics of his noble and suffering race! All honour to him who enabled Catholics to walk forth with their Protestant fellow-country- men, in all the majesty of freedom! (Applause.) All honour to the children of old Ireland, who day and night heeded neither trial, nor pain, nor sacrifice, until they iigured to themselves and their children the blessing of civil and religious liberty! (Prolonged cheering.) _ . Mr. Philip Stapleton, President of the Shamrock Club, in highly eulogistic terms proposed a vote of thanks to the lecturer. Mr. Charles O'Neill seconded the vote. Dr. O'Doherty, M.P., also spoke, and eloquently complimented Father Le Rennetel on his lecture.
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Sydney Freemans Journal
Sydney, New South Wales, AU
Sat, Feb 20, 1886
Page 9
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