The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1847-06-21
The Death OF O'CennslI.

The death Of the Irish Lbeator has revealed the i'm
mensty of his fame. The friends of freedom in every
land look upon his decease great eventas nothing
less than catastrophen the progress and prospects OF
public liberty Yet no belonged in his whole
spirit and life, and character, exclusively and
intensely to a single nation. OConnell was Ireland in
canate
How, then. came his name to be power not in Ire
land only, but throughout the world Because for more
than an entire generation in all his great efforts in the
cause of Ireland he stood before the world the
prominent and powerful representative OF the nobest
political ideas which have been developed in the Euro
pean system of nations during this nineteenth century.
AS the Catholic Emancipations he represented the free
dom of from the expressions OF the civil pow
e AS the Irish Lberaor he represented political revo-
luton operating by moral force alone. and through the
forms of law In the first of these characters, 1879,
he the champion OF oppressed and dependent province
oyercame combination Wellington and Peelthe soldier
who had then wrested Europe from Napoleon,
and the statesman who has since encountered victorious
IL the most colossal monopoly in the world, and given to
England free trade food In his second characteras
peaceful revolutonist-O Cornell has left his mission
all unfinished. In his latter days, terrible dispensaton
Of Povidence-he refusal OF the soil of his country TO
bring forth food for manfor time paralyzed his arm in
its work of deliverance and he has died." when under
the pressure of such event, he could no longer do"
But revolutions so backwards and the Liberaor
Of Ireland vet works by the words which he has craven
on the hearts Of Irshmen. When OConnell said "Let
,very freshman remember that he arho commits crime
strengthens the enemy he summed up, in line. the
whole gospel OF peaceful revolution and uttered perhaps
as sublime warcry against oppression fell from
the lips of the leader of people in revolt Such words
are more than battles.
As an orator, OConnell must rank high among the
greatest of those who have mastered by the gift Of
speech More than any other Of his day-more than
Berye and as much as Mrabeau-he was the orator OF
great masses of men. The Monster Meeting" Tin the
use he made OF it, almost his venon) the true
element of his eoquence Such presence put into his
hands persuasion and power, and he opened at
will all the deepest fountains of rage, of laughter and of
And yet he very great in the seecter circle Of
Parliament He struck down to the very EARTH at a single
blow the rampant rhetoric of Dsrae, before which, at
later day, Peel himself was to retreat and quail
Neither the mpassioned ngenutes of Macauley, the
strong grasp and impetuous force of Stanley, match
for him in the debates the famous Irish coercion bill
And his pen was as powerful his speech His Z" Let
tiers to the people of England" published some years
in the Times, have always appeared TO among
the finest, if not the very finest specimens of popular APP
peal which age has produced They vivid and
eryen the best passages of OConnels speeches, and
they are as condensed and terse and strongly
their STYLE the best political pampheteering of Swift
The loss of OConnell is great loss to the cause Of
liberty, and, above ALL of revolution throughout the
world But in no other foreign nation will the men,
DRY of his greatness be so cherished in the United
States. Yet he was at times led to speak of our
Onion, and especially OF the southern portion of it,,
with great asperty and harshness. That he should
have spoken, is dsparagement at Of his wis
dom and his Gberality for it showed him ready to
sort to nvectye and denuncation in relation to great
and complicated social subject which he had fit oppor
tuny to examine understand In word it is at
part OF his glory Patriot, and part Of his mperfec
ton as Champion of Reform, that his political views
have been vigorously bounded by the horizon Of
his country Hewas raised up to fight the great moral
battle of oppressed Ieand and he put into that cause,
involving as did the of Catholicism under Protest
ant ascendency the whole power of his understanding and
Of his heart To find parallel to that power in its
terry the Irish people, must go back. as has well
been sad far beyond the statesmen of the present cenu
y 10 the OF great religious movemensto the days
of Luther and Of Mahomet