Meagher of the Sword - Speeches of Thomas Francis Meagher in Ireland, 1846-1848; His Narrative of Events in Ireland in July 1848, Personal Reminiscences of Waterford, Galway, and His Schooldays #265668

Hall quickly made him celebrated in the capital, and any announcement that Meagher would speak crowded the Hall; for his was an eloquence that before was not heard within its walls, where there was no lack of trained and accomplished speakers. Passion and poetry transfigured his words, and he evoked for the first time in many breasts a manly consciousness of national right and dignity. As handsome and chivalrous as he was eloquent, he became something of a popular idol and as eagerly sought after in the social circles of Dublin as his colleague, John Pigot. But he disliked Dublin society for, as he wrote afterwards, its pre tentious aping of English taste, ideas and fashions, for its utter want of all true nobility, all sound love of country, and all generous or elevated senti ment.