William O'Brien

“ William O'Brien has for years, as a species of political outcast, been preaching the doctrine of conciliation, and has suffered in consequence, but his successful opponents have not gained the victory, for we are now rapidly drifting towards the total exclusion of several counties—the thing of all things they most wished to avoid. ”

“ Whatever may become of me, it is a consolation to remember that Ireland will not be without a friend such as William Smith O'Brien, who combining all the modern endowments of a highly-cultured mind, with intellectual gifts of the highest order, nervous eloquence, untiring energy, fervid love of country, and every other high qualification of a popular leader, is now where his friends would ever wish to see him—at the head of the Irish people. ”

“ O'Brien's attitude at the Council of War destroyed the last hope of the insurrection. He expected to get men to fight under his standard while he essayed no adequate provision for their support in the field, and interdicted them from interference with private property to supply them with the necessaries of the campaign. No nobler and braver man has appeared in modern Irish history than William Smith O'Brien, but at the head of an insurrectionary movement he was incompetent. There was none of his lieutenants who, in his position, could not have made the insurrection to some extent formidable. ”

“ Questions like these are very stimulating to inquisitive young souls, which usually become fired with an ambition to solve them; and as O’Brien pored over Sir William Jones and The Asiatic Researches—not to mention his beloved, though decried, Herodotus—it was only natural that he should draw certain conclusions from the undoubted affinity that exists between the languages, folk-lore, customs, superstitions, and modes of thought of his own country and those of the Orient. Similar conclusions had forced themselves upon older people who did not possess a tithe of his Eastern lore. ”

“ We communicated to O'Brien that some precautions were taken without specifying them. It was a secret relief to men who loved him, and made full allowance for the peculiar difficulty of his position, that they could take this risk wholly on themselves. Enough was said to keep good faith; not enough to create responsibility. Of the three agents chosen for America and France two are still living. One was chosen by Dillon, the other was Martin MacDermott, who went to Paris; the third was William Mitchel, brother of John Mitchel. ”

“ If nobility of soul, if earnestness of heart and singleness of purpose, if unflinching and self-sacrificing patriotism, allied to zeal, courage, and ability, could have redeemed the Irish cause, it would not be left to us to mourn for it to-day; and instead of the melancholy story we have now to relate, it might he given to us to chronicle the regeneration of the Irish nation.
William Smith O'Brien was born, at Dromoland, County Clare, on the 17th of October, 1803. ”

“ On the motion of Lord John Russell the House of Commons on 18 May ordered the speaker to issue a writ for a new election for the county of Limerick ‘in the room of William Smith O'Brien, adjudged guilty of high treason’ (Parl. Debates, 3rd ser. cv. 667–70) . On the intimation to O'Brien that the queen had been advised to commute the sentence of death into transportation for life, he declared that he preferred death to transportation, and insisted that the government had no power to force him to accept the commutation of the sentence. ”

“ O'Brien, William Smith, Irish patriot; entered Parliament in 1826; sat for Limerick from 1835 to 1843, when he joined the Repeal Association under O'Connell, but separated from it; joined the physical force Young Ireland party, and became the head; attempted an insurrection, which failed, and involved him in prosecution for treason and banishment for life; a free pardon was afterwards granted on promise of abstaining from all further disloyalty; he died at Bangor, in North Wales (1803-1864) . ”

“ O'Brien, "only [18] as I tell you, and you'ld better be attending to them that know more than yourself. If you did chance to give a meal to some poor dog, instead of to the Good People, there'ld be no great harm done, but it's the Good People that get what we put there. We always leave it for them and they always come and take it, and it's that makes them friendly, and so they would be to you, if you did the same. But you do nothing for them, because you say you don't believe in them, and you do worse than nothing. ”

“ When those eighteen years began, you know, Kathleen and Terence were not much more than born. So, if you have got as far as addition and can add eighteen to nothing and find that it makes eighteen, you will see that by this time they were about eighteen years old. John O'Brien and his mother and Kathleen did not live on the east side of Central Park any more. John had got on better and better with the work that he was doing. After a while, instead of having to do work of common kinds any more, he had been put in charge of other men who were doing it. ”

“ He married in 1862 Lucy Josephine, the elder daughter of William Smith O'Brien [q.v.] , the Irish nationalist, and had six sons and two daughters. His portrait by S. Purser is in the common room of Trinity College. ”

“ Ormond to Cromwell: ibid. p. 93. ↑ Ormond to the Council: State Papers, vol. iii. p. 44 ↑ State Papers, vol. iii. p. 54, &c. ↑ 'For a certain reward which O'Brien gave to my Lord Deputy he is gone with the said O'Brien and James of Desmond to war upon Murrough O' Brien with all his host; and have promised, for a like reward, to go with Ulick Bourke upon Mac William.'—Ormond to Cowley: ibid. p. 48. ↑ 'The late O'Carroll being deceased, he preferred to his room Fergananym O'Carroll, son-in-law of the late Earl of Kildare, delivering the whole strengths and garrisons of the country into his hands ”

“ I’m a mighty monarch, and I must have a bodyguard.’
“To all this, and more besides, Bryan listened, but never a word did he say until he smoked nearly all the Czar’s tobacco, and burnt all his [23] matches; and then all of a sudden he ses, ‘Leave it to me,’ ses he. ‘I can get you a bodyguard.’
“‘I wouldn’t doubt you,’ ses the Czar, as he slipped him a guinea. ‘You can have this,’ ses he, ‘as you wouldn’t have any of my daughters and be made the Duke of Siberia. But we’ll none the less be friends,’ ses he. ”

“ In the early nineties, while still on the Sun staff, he made two tours for Harper’s Magazine and wrote “On Canada’s Frontier,” “Our Great West,” and “Chicago and the World’s Fair,” the last of which was the official book of the Columbian Exposition. After his experiences in the Boer War he wrote “Towards Pretoria,” “War’s Brighter Side” (with Conan Doyle) , and “An American with Lord Roberts.” His other books are “Alone in China,” “Dixie; or, Southern Scenes and Sketches,” “People We Pass,” and a novel, “The Millionairess.” ”

“ O’Brien has waged perpetual war against England, a war which has doubtless endeared him to his fellow-citizens, for having succeeded, in 1882, in wresting, by 161 votes against 89, the seat of Mallow from a Conservative; he has since that date always been re-elected without opposition.
No one can pass through a career like Mr. O’Brien’s without making many enemies; but he must possess [Pg 26] very fine qualities, for even his bitterest opponents acknowledge the perfect respectability of his life. In every one’s opinion he is a sincerely pious and exceedingly charitable man. ”

“ Over in the velvet depths of the sunken tennis courts, the fireflies flashed their lanterns incessantly. Somewhere in the distance a guitar sounded now and again, and a woman's voice rose and fell softly. It was very peaceful and pleasant, and Imrie, thinking of the hot city and the morrow, drew a deep sigh. No power on earth could prevent him from going back—but he did not pretend to think that he wanted to go.
"Don't you ever wonder what those crickets are saying?" asked Judith, conscious instinctively that her companion's eyes still burned with the same light. "Just listen to them." ”

“ The “front-room,” to the world denied, made snug for Father Pat.
We knew his distant hoof-beats; ay, and grief they could forebode;
So, when we heard a horse go by, clean-stepping down the road,
Round many a log-fire burning bright there passed the word along,
“There’s someone sick and sore the night; I’ll bet that’s Currajong.”
Whereat you’d hear the old men tell—perhaps a trifle add—
Of some sick-call remembered well, when “so-and-so took bad.”
“You couldn’t see your hand in front.” “ ’Twas rainin’ pitchforks, too.”
“The doctor jibbed, to put it blunt—but Father Pat went through.” ”

“ Ted Lancaster bowed gravely to her and with almost deeper gravity to Sheila Pat.
"That's another sister over there in the cupboard," Denis remarked. "Molly's fond of cupboards."
The two boys set to work and raised a fearful dust. Nell observed ruefully that the parts they were sweeping had been gone over once already.
Ted looked up earnestly, his brush pausing:—
"You must let us do it—O'Brien and me—every week, Miss O'Brien; our arms are stronger."
"I," said the Atom, weightily, "think you are a very nice boy." ”

“ It was generally supposed that his views of government were monarchical; and as he was the undoubted representative of the Irish monarchy, it was also believed that he had sufficient ambition to look forward to the time when independent Ireland would restore to him his family honours. The personal and moral influence of Mr. O’Brien were such as to qualify him to be a leader. He was much loved, and deserved to be so. As a man he was amiable, as a gentleman courteous, as a friend true. Intellectually, he was not fit to conduct a powerful party through great dangers. ”

“ He then came to Canada, to seek his fortune in the backwoods, where I found him in 1833.
Mr. O'Brien's relations with his neighbours in the backwoods were always kindly, and gratifying to both parties. One evening, some friends of his heard voices on the water, as a boat rowed past his grounds. One man asked "Who lives here?" "Mr. O'Brien," was the reply. "What is he like?" "He's a regular old tory." ”

“ Weis, a compact little man, with snapping black eyes and a combative mouth, listened attentively, never taking his half-smiling gaze from Imrie's face.
"The similarity is—remarkable," he said softly when the recital was finished. Then he added crisply: "Well, young man, what do you propose doing—next?"
"I came to ask you that question," said Imrie briefly.
The little rabbi pursed his lips thoughtfully. "So—you came to ask me. Well, I have answered it. I moved on—yes. But it is a hard answer—oh, quite hard." ”

“ Pull one side there, Pat O’Brien, with your Old Mass Shandrydan.”
Pull! Bedad, he’d pull the town down when His Reverence hove in sight,
Pulled his hat off with the left hand, and pipe out with the right;
Pulled his family in the gutter, pulled the horses off their feet,
And a shower of small O’Briens went skedaddling from the seat.
Then they rattled loudly past us, and a wild stampede began,
For they all had family reasons to outpace the other man.
There were buggies, traps, and turnouts there of every shape and rig;
There were Murphys in a spring-cart, and the Caseys in a gig ”

“ Imrie listened attentively, and as he caught the significance of the idea his manner changed from scepticism to something approaching enthusiasm. Then his face slowly hardened and a semblance of a sneer formed on his lips.
"Telling the truth may get you into trouble," he said half to himself.
"Of course," cried Good, "it not only may—it's certain to."
Imrie turned to Judith. "Are you as optimistic as Mr. Good?" ”

“ You see Weis has gone into politics rather more or less in his own city, and we're drifting that way, too. They want me to run for alderman. I live downtown now, you see. It's a bad ward. The decent people have never had a chance in it. Of course it sounds silly—but really—I think seriously of it."
"I don't think it sounds silly at all," she cried. "I think it's splendid. You can count on The Dispatch."
"But The Dispatch isn't partisan," he said with a smile. "It never takes sides."
"Well, it will this time," she declared truculently.
He laughed. "You're still a woman, Judith." ”

“ I'm glad he does, too. It shows he's grown up. The best thing about The Dispatch is what it's done for Roger."
"No, it isn't," said Imrie soberly. "That's a good thing, of course. I'm delighted. But it's not the best thing—not by a long way. Frankly I was sceptical about The Dispatch at first. I thought your friend Good was just a crank. But the paper's gone ahead so splendidly. It's done such a really wonderful work—and then, you see, when I waked up, I saw things differently. The people I've been in contact with lately have made me understand Good. ”

“ Then, while the others sat thunderstruck, he drew a cigarette from his case and lighted it, deliberately.
"I say, you know," he said between puffs, "business is the—greatest—game—in the world."
"I say, you know," he said, between puffs, "business is the—greatest—game—in the world."
CHAPTER IX BURNED BRIDGES
Imrie's impulsive resignation from St. Viateur's was not treated at all seriously by the vestry. "The natural impetuousness of youth," observed Mr. ”

“ To make things better, a party of twenty-five Canadians came to the tunnellers and we had some good old times together; but Mac and Skinny were still my best pals; many's the prank we played together. One of our favourite ones was to work the officer in charge for an extra ration of rum. The British Tommy was given his ration of rum as soon as he came up from the sap, but we Canadians had to wait for ours till we reached our rest billets, and it was served to us there by one of our own officers. The only exception made was in favour of those who had been working in a wet part of the sap ”