Choice Anecdotes of Irish Bench and Bar. a brother Q. C. (Serjeant Armstrong); M'Donagh put up as a Conservative. He got the seat only on petition, for at the poll Armstrong beat him. In early life M'Donagh had been a Roman Catholic. He was the son of a small trader who kept a hardware shop in Sligo, where M'Donagh was born at the commencement of this century. There, however, the hand some, successful lawyer was almost forgotten when he sought to represent it. Amongst other voters there was a Mr. Madden, a merchant who had amassed a large fortune and resided in a pretty villa outside the city. Madden had been a re pealer and continued to be a strong Liberal. He had not turned from the religion in which he was brought up. To him, however, "Frank " presented himself without asking the support of a single voter, Conservative or otherwise. Madden's dinner was just being served when M'Donagh arrived. The servant, accustomed to his master's punctu ality, declared it was impossible to see him before next day, but the candidate was im portunate, and after a little parley he was led to the study, and his old schoolfellow came in, watch in hand. M'Donagh was effusive, Madden impatient and imperative. It wanted but three minutes of six, and what ever the visitor wanted he must despatch in these three minutes. Spake Mac, " My dear Martin, I cannot address you but by the name I used when we were innocent boys together. I am a candidate for Sligo. I want you to second my nomination. Stop! do not say a word till I have done. I want you to second me, but I know your honest con victions. I would not outrage them for a moment. I expect, nay, I am sure, that you will vote against me, speak against me, in all ways act against me, yet, for the sake of our dear boyhood, I hope you will fulfil the desire of my heart, and second me — of course quite formally. Vote, speak, act, but do second me." Madden declined, pro tested, sulked. M'Donagh expostulated and
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wheedled. The dinner bell rang. He gave in, and jubilant M'Donagh went off, while Madden swore, " Mind I'll vote and fight against you and beat you, though I don't know what you mean by tricking me into backing your nomination." The day came. A prominent Tory proposed Mr. M'Donagh as a fit and proper person to receive the suffrages of their ancient borough. Then Madden came forward. The sur prised mob was silent. He spoke the formal words, and was assailed by jeers, curses, and a shower of bad eggs and dead cats. "Traitor! Coward! Renegade! " roared the boys. Madden stood unmoved with uplifted hands. Even human throats tire. In a lull the seconder roared : " Vote against the black guard." A deeper silence fell. "Vote against and fight, aye, die fighting, against the trickster I have seconded." Hurrahs, yells, cheers from the dancing crowd. " I know the fellow; he came to my house and tried to humbug me, and would not go till I promised to second him because, when a barefooted gossoon, he went to school with me with a sod of turf under his arm. I told him I would fight against him, and I shall, but I did go to school with him, I did, many a morning long ago, aye, and many a morn ing I served mass with him. Good-day!" The biter was bit. Mac's forgotten change of faith was out. In honor bound, every Catholic voter plumped against him, and even Mac's suavity was unequal to the task of thanking his seconder. In bamboozling a jury, M'Donagh was supreme; as a cross-examiner, not so suc cessful as others in upsetting witnesses : but he had the art to make adverse evidence seem on his side. Besides, he was a sounder lawyer than most of the craft who do much at nisi prius. The plaintiff for whom he led in a ticklish case was a wine merchant. M'Donagh commenced to address the jury: "Gentlemen, amongst the greatly-to-be-re spected trading class of your city there is not one more distinguished for its severe and
