The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1871-07-16

Sail on, then. freighted with promise,
Hope by resd faanrs
And sdS p1sn5s saas 70 LIZ ssflssi lssa:s ocean
In the hollow of His strong hand.
English Communists on Clerkenwen- Green.
On Sunday morning Cler1enwe11-greel
was the scene of violent contention be
tween the English Republicans and Demo
Gratis who sympathiZe with the Paris Com
munists, and the Irish Fenians, and it wa
only the knowledge possessed by boil
parties that there was a large number O
police constables present, in plain clothes
which prevented riot. Shortly before Il
o'clock the numbers present had increased
to upwards OF 1000, when Mr.. Owen, an
English republican, mounted the steps OF
the drinking fountain, and read the follow
ing handful, printed copies of which were
afterwards freely distributed. among the
crowd: "To the workmen of London.-A
demonstration will be held in Trafalgar
Square, on Sunday afternoon next, at 4
perpetrated by the Versailles Government.
and to uphold the right of asylum to the
Communal refugees. Men of London, at
tend and protest against the massacre of
Jour fellow -workmen! Several well-known
Republicans will address the meeting.
Long live the Universal RepEblic, Fedora
tive and Social! BY order of the Universal
Republican League. Samuel Oliver and
John johnson, hon. SECS" Mr.. John john
son then assembled the steps and delivered
long address, eulogizing the acts of the
Paris Commune. which, he said, were noble
dissented from by the greater portion of
the Irish present, q number of whom, under
the leadership of q man called Mike" by
his companions, kept up a running fire Of
not very complimentary remarks against
the speaker during the whole time he was
affraaGInD ha Tr fNhr
however. did not appear at all disconnected
by the opposition from the Irish part of the
meeting, and spoke for about half an hour
IN praise of the Commune and in a strain
denunciatory of the Versailles Government,
whom he stigmatized as butchers aud as
sassins. He approved the destruction of
the buildings, but he regretted the shooting
of the hostages as uncalled for, although
the responsibility for that act rested upon
the monster, Thiers, who had refused to
exchange his hostages when asked to do so
by the Commune. He concluded by regret
tug the present attitude of the Irish, who
seemed to forget the sympathy the English
democrats had displayed towards them
during their Fenion movement. Mr.. Thos
Campbell, an IrisLmap. next addressed the
meeting in long and impassioned speech.
denouncing the Commune as bloodthirsty
scoandrels and assassins, without one re-
leeming quality. He was Il Republican,
out the Commune, by numbering the Arch
bishop of Paris and the priests whom they
held as hostages, had cast an indelible stain
upon the Republican cause. These and
other remarks of the same effect were re-
ceived with cheers by the Irish and with
strong expressions of dissent from the
great majority of the Euglish. He conclud
ed by reading an extract from the letter of
Mazzini denounciug the communists as as
sassins and wild beasts. Mr.. Hennessy, |
also an Irishman, and President of the
nd Nd To1n 7 f1,a
speaker. He justified the insurrection in |
Paris, as brought about by the attempt of
he Versailles Assembly to destroy the Re-
public, but he could not endorse the con-
luct of the Commune. The latter, by |
shooting down the people, as they had
lone, had placed themselves outside all
;ympathy. He regretted the reference of
he last speaker to Mazzini, who had no
light to denounce the Commune. He did
lot come into court with clean hands. An
.nglishman (name not givep) strongly |
Ipheld the conduct of the Commune on
very point. He said the Irish were now
.icting most inconsistently. On looking
around he saw numbers of Irishmen, who,
le knew, had taken part in the Fenian
movement, and who had supported the at
empt to blow up the prison at Clerken
yell, by which SO many innocent lives
Getting to be Mortified because the French
communists had destroyed some of the
buildings in Paris. They would have
reated London in the same way at the
ime of the Fenian movement if they had
/ lie opportunity. Their conduct was sheer
ypocrisy. He was afraid the Irish were
repaired to sacrifice their Republicanism
their theological principles, and the
ccTet of their opposition to the Commune
nd their sympathy with 4hieTs and his
ssasslns was their belief that the latter, as
Don as he could restore something like
'FdcT In France, would so to war, to break
taiian unity, aud re. establish the Tenn
ioral Power of the Pope Ivy another French
'ccupation OF Rome. lie warned them
''at TINS was most fallacious hope.
several other speakers addressed ihe
meeting, which broke up between l and Q |
rclock amid considerable excitemept.-i
ttOn30, Yynoc