, but he
is a good 'un to hang on the nose of the bull.

The Great Unknown said:

"You must admit that English Rule has not been a success. Home Rule is
admittedly an experiment--well, yes, I will accept the word risk--Home
Rule is admittedly, to some extent, a risk, but let us try it. And if
the worst comes to the worst we can go back again to the old
arrangement."

The speaker was a kindly gentleman of sixty or sixty-five years, and,
like Alderman Downing, spoke in a reasonable, moderate tone. Doubtless
both are excellent citizens, men of considerable position and
influence, certainly very pleasant companions, and, to all appearance,
well-read, well-informed men. And yet, in the presence of Unionist
Irishmen, the above-mentioned arguments were all they ventured to
offer. Arguments, quotha? Is the hope that the ignorant peasantry of
Ireland will return "the better class of men," who "do not believe in
Home Rule" an argument? Is the as-you-were assertion an argument? What
would the Irish say if Mr. Bull suggested this movement of
retrogression? We should have Father Hayes, the friend of Father
Humphreys, again calling for "dynamite, for the lightnings of heaven
and the fires of hell, to pulverise every British cur into
top-dressing for the soil." We should have Father Humphreys himself
writing ill-spelt letters to the press, and denouncing all liars as
poachers on his own preserves. We should have Dillon and O'Brien and
their crew again leading their ignorant countrymen to the treadmill,
while the true culprits stalked the streets wearing lemon-coloured kid
gloves purchased with the hard-earned and slowly-accumulated cents of
Irish-American slaveys. The Protestants would be denounced as the
blackest, cruellest, most callous slave-drivers on God's earth. And
this reminds me of something.

Doctor O'Shaughnessy, of Limerick, is the most wonderful man in
Ireland. His diploma was duly secured in 1826, and Daniel O'Connell
was his most intimate friend, and also his patient. The Doctor lived
long in London, and was a regular attendant at the House of Commons up
to 1832. Twice he fought Limerick for his son, and twice he won
easily. The city is now represented by Mr. O'Keefe, and Mr.
O'Shaughnessy is a Commissioner of the Board of Works in Dublin. The
Doctor has conferred with Earl Spencer on grave and weighty matters,
and doubtless his opinion on Irish questions is of greatest value. His
pupil and his fellow-student, Dr.