CURRAN. 316 minister. Mr. Curran always adhered to the same politics which distinguished the political lives of the Ponsonby's, Mr. Grattan, and those numerous friends who formed the Whig club in Ireland, and he was a zealous supporter of all their measures; but able as that support was, circum- stances rendered the house of commons not the most favourable theatre for the display of his talents. His forensic labours occupied much the greater portion of his time, and daily demanded his presence in one or all of the four courts. His post in the senatorial ranks was usually allotted in the rear of the debates; for he seldom came into action till towards the close of the engagement; and this, after having previously toiled through the courts for the entire day: of course he brought to the house of com- mons a person enfeebled, and a mind exhausted. He was therefore compelled to speak late in the night, when the subject for discussion and the patience of the house were worn out, and he had frequently to devote the residue of the night, after the division, to reading his briefs, and pre- paring to meet the judges early the next morning. But even exhausted as he was on those occasions, and fatigued as were the attentions of his auditors, he never failed, by the brilliancy of his wit, the vivacity of his spirits, the vigour of his intellect, and the beauty of his eloquence, to rally the languor of the house, and reanimate the discus- sion, to its very close. It is to be lamented that ample justice was scarcely ever done to the most brilliant of his speeches in the printed reports of the day, and hence many of his finest orations are lost for ever. Much censure, and even abuse have been cast on the parliamentary reporters of the time for their negligence o inability on this and other like points, so injurious to national eloquence: but it may not be amiss, even here, to offer some apology for men thus severely and indiscri- minately blamed, and to throw some light upon a subject little understood by the public. The newspapers in Ireland were the only immediate vehicles for the details of parliamentary eloquence. The
