In presenting for perusal a selection of private notes dealing with the
sometimes eccentric doings of my gallant friend and compatriot, Captain
the Hon. Bernard O’Hagan, V.C., D.S.O., I desire in the first place to
assure my reader that O’Hagan is in no degree related to anyone else of
the name.
Recent circumstances have led him to resume military duties; but the
splendid response of Democracy to the trumpet-call “Pro Patrià” has in
no way unsettled his singular opinions. In the face of evidence to the
contrary which many regard as conclusive, he maintains that the ideal
form of government is government by an absolute monarchy.
It forms no part of my plan either to support or to seek to disprove the
theories of Captain O’Hagan. In justice to my distinguished friend, I
must add that support and opposition alike are matters of indifference
to him. He stands alone—aloof—aloft. Neither as apologist nor as
eulogist do I pen these lines, but merely as the chronicler of
remarkable events in the career of a remarkable man.