| Title: | Thomas Cather, U.S.A. to "My Dear Jane", Limavady. |
|---|---|
| ID | 599 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Cather, Thomas/139 |
| Year | 1840 |
| Sender | Cather, Thomas |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | unknown |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | USA |
| Destination | Limavady, Co. Derry, N.Ireland |
| Recipient | Jane |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | siblings |
| Source | D/3220/5/13: Deposited by the Late Lady Tyler, on Behalf of the Other Trustees of the Will of Sir Henry MacDonald Tyler. |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, Northern Ireland. |
| Doc. No. | 9809172 |
| Date | 01/01/1840 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by LT, 15:09:98. |
| Word Count | 703 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | 12 Blessington St My dear Jane I suppose that my letter to my father, after Shiel's speech and the newspapers which I sent have been received. The public interest with respect to the State Trials, which had died away during the examination of actualities and the reading of the documentary evidence has revived since the defence commenced, and the court has been crowded & then had thronged from morning till night, but there has been no unseemly excitement, no disturbance, not even an instance of discourtesy among the mob on the outside of the court there all was grave; calm hushed expectancy it was only within the court that any [intercourse?] did take place. You have heard of the fracas which took place between the attorney General and Mr Fitzgibbon, the latter made use of very coarse and unjustifiable language & Smith unfortunately had not patience to wait for the proper time to resent it. The Attorney General [indiscreet?] outheat was occassioned [occasioned?] I think not alone by a Fitzgibbons attack, but by the cutting sarcasm of Shiel, & the concentrated bitterness of Moore which he had previously endured, and which so galled & intiated [intimidated?] him, that he was put in the proper temper to turn savagely on anyone who might look at him. During the defence the degree of Eloquence & ability was displayed highly creditable to the Irish Bar. Shiel's speech was a master piece of brilliant declamation. In polished sarcasm he is unrivalled - he cuts with a keen & glittering edge, and seems to take no slight pleasure in the wounds which he inflicts. but to my mind he is too much of a [_--to-able?], the art of the orator appears though all he says, and although he always pleases the fancy, he seldom touches the heart. The speeches of Moore and Henn were marked by great ability and fully sustained their high reputation but the speech which I admired most, and which I consider the great speech of the occassion [occasion?] was Whitesides - it was worthy of the best days of Canan, refined, vehement & impassioned, speaking with not sound in reasoning and rising at times to the loftiest eloquence, it made a powerful impression, the bench seemed spell bound and the bar at the conclusion [rok?] in an uncontrolable [uncontrollable?] burst of applause, but you will say I am forgetting O Connell I heard him yesterday, & in common with everyone in Court. I was disap ointed it was the worst speech I ever heard him deliver. He had a noble opportunity of justifying his conduct to the present generation, and making an appeal to posterity & when I heard him set out by avowing every act. & almost every word that was imputed to him, that he stood then not for himself alone, but for his [-----?] Ireland. I thought he was going to justify the general expectation that he would make one of the greatest orations that had ever been heard in an Irish Court of Justice but he was tame & spineless, has the air of a man who was going through a weary task, never warmed with his subject, and never rose with eloquence, his thoughts seemed to come slow, his manner was laboured, his language [-in-pl-at?] and he often hesitated for a word, he showed none of the fire & might that used to distinguish him, his speech was entirely a repeal speech and the manner of which it was composed was merely a rechaffle [reshuffle?] of what he had a hundred times said much better before. he is not the man he was a few years ago, even his athletic frame and elastic spirits have begun to yield to the wear and tear of years. With respect to the result of the trials, many think there will be an acquittal, but the general impression seems to be that there will be no verdict. When I sat down I had no idea that my letter would move me to such a length, but having spent so much time latterly in an atmosphere of talk I suppose I have become [prosy?] Love to all, & believe the affet [affectionately?] yours Thomas Cather Thursday Morning |
