The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1844-11-06
ireland.
LETTER FROM MR.. VCoNNELL.
DARRYNANs ABBEY, Cahercivesn, I
October 2, 1874. (

/ DARRYSANs ABBEY, Cahercivesn,
October 2, 1874.
To the acting Secretary of the
Loyal National Repeal association.
SR,-l am extremely anxious to bring the en-
deem the most important of all the duties which
they have 10 perform at the present auspicious
period. We have obtained the most valuable vio-
tory that ever was achieved by purely moral means.
The victory OF Waterloo was the mere triumph of
physic i force, G0mbiaed with military organza-
lion II was a brutal and bloody scene, and much
OF what are called Its Clones depended upon chance
| and accident
| Ours, on the contrary. was the triumph Of the
hrst principles OF civil liberty, and Of the judicial
merits OF our glorious cause. That which tri-
| umlh he'd was the great constitutional principle
which sanctions the right of free discussion to the
inhabitants Of thrss realms II was that princlple
which batted with, and triumphed over, the we'll
arranged conspiracy to extlnguish popular senti.
| men', and to limit and restrain the efficacy Of
peaoeable popular exertiOns
The object which we had in view was perfectly
legal and perfectly c0nslitutonal-th repeal Of an
act OF Northumberland the efficacy of our strns,
slo ought, III constitutions easOnng, to depend ON
| the numbers oil those who We're convinced Of the
necessity of such repeal The effort Of ministerial
despotism was, by the prosecution, to prevent the
exhibition Of that mIltitudlnous public sentiment,
which could alone require or obtain success. II
was a struggle, on the part OF governors, to
make the exhibition OF the extreme pressure Of a
grievance stimulating mutltudes to Call for redress
A conspiracy and crime. II was the manifest de-
sign OF the Irish government to introduce a new
doctrine into our aw--the doctrine that numbers
constituted crime-so that where the oppression OF
| tyrannical law affected the great majority OF the
nation, that very majority should be treated as es-
sentally criminal, and be used legal instru-
ment to prevent the redress OF the grievance-the
more universal the cry tor reie, the more impossl-
BILE would successful prosecution have made il to
obtain redress.
Our triumph the jury question was, if possible,
still more vitality important. If 1t were once esta-
blished that the jury list might, with safety, be
h. nd Iont Tod M nood m fhn
| that the fraud was not committed by the sheriff
himself then, indeed, the trial by jury would have
become "deluslop, mockery, and a snare ~
/ We have, in truth, gained great victory. Yet
there has been nothing of the insoence Of triumph
| in our demeanor We have borne our success
with meekness, and in the fullest spirit OF conclia-
| saOn.
But we should be guilty of criminal neglect Of
duty it we did not avail ourselves OF that success in
order to achieve the great object of desires
the restoration OF an Irish parliament
Our business IL not TO lrrtae provoke any pOr-
ton of our fellow subjects. Our duty-our sacred
duty-s to conciliate all classes and persuasions
and, it possible, to procure the entire Irish people
to join IN the struggle to obtain the right OF Irish
| men to legislate for themselves.
Upon the subject OF the repeal near nine-tenths
Of the Irish people are perfectly agreed They are
convinced OF its necessity. They have no doubt OF
its practicability. The monster meetings have
lOn Of the overwhelming majority OF the Irish to
obtain the restoration OF their own parliament
II that fact had not been demonstrated BY the meet
ngs Of last year, we should continue to hold similar
meetings, now that the Legality Of the largest poss
BILE peaceful assemblages IS fully established by the
unanimous opinions Of the English judges 1t in
| the 9th and Tn counts that the holding OF those
monster meetings was alleged to be a crime and
| all the English judges were unanimous that those
counts were essentially and radically bad. We
could, therefore, hold more monster meetings il it
were at all necessary but there is no such neces
sity. The opinion Of the Irish people was empha-
ically pronounced in the torty-one monster meet
ngs we had last year and as it is not necessary TO
hold any more such meetings, II would appear to
be an insulting braggadocio 10 revive them. We
will revive them only in the case that II should
with any pausbty be hereafter asserted that the
mass OF the people had changed their minds on the
subject OF repeal, and were no longer IN favor OF
the Irish making laws for Ireland.
Having thus in favor OF repeal, the overwhelming
| majority of the Catholic population, clergy and
| aity-and also being joined BY many, very many
Protestants-by large body OF Presby terians and
by some other enlightened Protestant Dlssenlers,
| 1t only remains for US to concilate and combine
the residue Of the Proestsnso OF every class and de-
| scripton. This, repeat, il our task, our duty
our pl -asing duty.
What 10 It which prevented The remainder of the
Protestants OF all descriptions from joining for the
repeal, NOT any dissemination to have Ireland
| egisated for by an Ifish parliament. Upon that
SUBJECT Mr.. Portef's letter is demonstration that
Ill the Irish OF every class are agreed. But the
combination OF all ID prevented by idle jealousies
| aud unfounded lears.
L
absurd fears. We should entreat, implore, conjure,
our Protestant fellow countrymen to listen to us
We should sOemnly assure them that the Catholics
desire no civil or ecclesiastical ascendancy- all
hey desire il equality that perfect equality which
the repeal OF the union alone produce.
We can most confidently assert that the Irish
Pr0testants ought to place unlimited confidence in
heir Catholic feow-counrvmen and, above all,
hat they oush, not to retain any jealousy or appre
hensOn. This Is our solemn, unequlvOcal, and
most console ntlous conviction and assertion, and
| we are entitled to be believed. But we will not
place the cause OF Cancellation upon mere a-scr-
ion we appeal to facts to prove that confidence
,hal be repO ed In the Catholic Repealers by Pro-
| t-stants OF all classes.
The & st proof is adduced from Protestant his
torians. Ii 10 the historic fact that the Irish Ca
thocs were, since the Reformation, three times in
possession Of political power-ln tact Of the 60
vernment Of the country vet they never passed
one single penal law, nor prosecuted sing lie
| Protestant. / have one thousand times challenged
the bellers of the Irish Catholics to give me the
name IT any one Protestant who prosecuted
oy the Catholics while IN power-no such Protes-
tant has ever been named, SIMPLY because none
such ever existed.
The second proof arises from the language ofthe
Catholics during the many years OF our struggle for
emancipation. We had tens of thousands OF meet
| Jugs, IN all 81 which our claims were placed upon
he principle, that conscience should be free-free
tor others well as tor And in not one Of
these meetings, although guilty Of many an nds-
erection, yet not single word oil a bigotted or
excluding nature was uttered, save upon one occa-
| sion when phrase considered to be Of bgotted
| nature having been ascd that phrase was emphati.
cally condemned by the all but unanimous vote Of
two public meetings there indeed but the
single negative Of the utterer Of the phrase hmself
he stood alone.
The third proof arises from the conduct-that is,
the acts OF the Catholic people during the agitation
| for emancipation. We had our tens and our
twenties Of thousands Of meetings. We had our
Catholic boards, and Catholic committee, and,
finally, our great Catholic Association. But there
was no riot, no violence, no tumult. No Protest.
ant was injured in person, nor in property by the
Catholics, in their struggle for emancipation. No
Catholic associator was ever accused Of any crime,
committed in the struggle for relief with the excsp
was 50 frivolous that the bill of indictment against
me was igaored by a grand jury, the foreman and
two-thlrds OF whom were Protestants, and several
Of them Orangemen. There was not one single