"Altogether directed by an Irishman; a very valiant gentleman, i'
faith."
--Henry V.
One of O'Shanassy's oft-repeated jokes, told with the humorous twinkle
of his eye, was that "All men are born free and equal, AND MUST REMAIN
SO." He was wide as the poles asunder from the radical leveller, as this
joke of his might help to show. Indeed, he was decidedly conservative,
in a general socio-political sense of the word. While in strong sympathy
with the mass of his countrymen, he might have limped at times alongside
even of Parnell, to say nothing of Davitt and O'Donovan Rossa. He had
more than O'Connell's dread to pass irretrievably outside the law,
although he might not have scrupled to drive the proverbial carriage and
six through law's usual dubieties of expression, particularly in certain
sections of the Victorian Education Acts.
As one of the earliest Irish colonists from the old country, he soon
rose to the leading position amongst his fellow-colonist Irishmen. His
qualities, alike in physique and mind, easily gave him that position.
His tall, massive form, with the imperturbable good-humored smile that,
even when annoyed by an opponent, he could hardly dismiss from his face,
except, perchance, by a blend of the sarcastic; his deliberate manner in
speaking, and his sonorous voice, gave him this surpassing influence.
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