Page:My Life in Two Hemispheres, volume 2.djvu/65

 House of Commons by Mr. Napier, the Irish Attorney-General. It was plain that the Irish Party, mustering more than fifty votes, were worth conciliating. When we reached London the new men were impatient to begin work, but Mr. Keogh was altogether opposed to hasty action—let them become familiar with the House and see a little of London, and then no doubt the time might be ripe for operations. But he was dealing with men who were in earnest, and these objections had to give way, and a consultation of the party was speedily summoned. They agreed to sit in opposition, to hold themselves perfectly free of all party organisations but their own, and it was strongly urged, though it was not made the subject of a motion, that they should decline official hospitalities from either side of the House. The time for introducing their Bill was considered, and sub-committees were appointed, charged with special duties on which men who took little part in debate might employ themselves. Parliamentary capacity does not mean exclusively the power of talking; Franklin and Jefferson rarely spoke in Congress, and Andrew Marvel never uttered a sentence in the House of Commons. But the Irish Party did not lack capacity of any sort for the duty with which they were charged. Sergeant Shee had acquired by long practice at the Bar an easy and fluent elocution and an imperturbable temper. The Sergeant was what is called a man of the world, determined before all to stand well with Sergeants' Inn and Westminster Hall; but his reputation was extremely useful to the party at the outset, and his massive head and stately carriage made him a notable figure in the House. Mr. Keogh had more political ability, but less weight. He was a man with a head and figure which, his admirers were accustomed to tell him, resembled those of the First Napoleon. His manners were so insinuating that it was hard to resist them if one did not start with a lively distrust, for he belonged to the gay, exuberant class of Irish adventurers who are fatal to weak women and credulous men. On some public occasion he declared that his aim in life was to raise himself and his country together. Practical people thought this a very sensible formula of political faith, but unhappily it represented imperfectly his intentions. He was determined to