ABSTRACT
Among many notices in the newspapers on John Gorst’s death, a full and perceptive obituary came from the pen of T. P. O’Connor, a conspicuous Irish Nationalist MP and journalist who had known him over a long period. In his piece in the Daily Telegraph on 5 April 1916 of no less than 36 column inches, O’Connor began by asking why Gorst’s career was
of promise rather than achievement, of great possibilities and of small results. And it was somewhat difficult to say why it should have been so. It was not for want of intellectual powers for Sir John Gorst was beyond question one of the really ablest Parliamentarians of his time, nor was it want of industry … nor was it lack of conviction … cool, brave, sure of his facts, pointed, deliberate and careful in delivery, he had the power of making attacks which drew blood and … of never apparently losing for a moment his own self control.
