The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1871-05-14

l79s-and the Union, as it was called, o
England and Ireland. by which even the
sembiance of nationality and independence
was torn away from the Sister Isle, and the
chasm between the two countries was made
wider than before. The remembrance Of
those days when the penal code was put in
and they deeply aud bitterly felt that
neither their independent Parliament, the
insurrection nor the Union had succeeded
| in raising them to their proper condition az
citizens and subjects. They were weary
and sick of broken promises and blasted
hopes. They had lost everything by the
Union and had gained nothing. Nine
tenths of the soil of Ireland still belonged
to absentees, and all the establishments
necessary to carry on the government, ex
except that of the Lord Lieutenant, were
managed and controlled by absentees. At
length, under the guidance of O'ConDell,
they ceased to court patronage or to hope
Tor relief from their rulers, unless it were
extorted from them by extraordinary pres
sure. They agitated for twenty six years.
and, at the end of his term, they compelled
their enemies-the most powerful as we'll
as the most fraudulent, the most daring as
we'll as the most skilful-to cencede Eman-
cipation. After long period of apathy
q period In which every one seemed des-
ponding, and reither speeches, remonstran-
Cos, nor petitions were heard of-Daniel
OConnsli and Shiel met accidentally at q
friend's house among the wicklow hills in
1873, and projected that Association which
afterwards assumed such large proportions.
O'COnneil had from the fret commanded
the trust and admit alton of his country
men. His birth was good, his frame pow
erful, and his stature massive his intellect
corresponded to the strength of his body,
and his eloquence was enriched by abuna-
ant facts drawn from the history of his
country. His native humOr also proved a
most effective weapon, for it rivetted the
attention Of countless hearers on whom
subtle arguments and refined diction would
have been lost. Every faculty of his mind
and speech had been sharpened by constant
exercise at the bar. He had from the first
protested against the Union, and every
year made him feel more keenly that it
must either be repealed or be supplement-
ed by large CONCESSIONS. Being Catholic
he constantly saw other men, his interiors,
preferred before him, and the impossibility
of rising duly in his profession made him
feel the more deeply the degradation of his !
people. The apathy of those whom he |
addressed was the most formidable difficult |
ty with which he had to contend. His
selves, and not merely the nobility, gentry,
and clergy. They had hitherto been over
looked as beng uneducated. and indiffer-
ent to the course of public affairs. O'Con-
nel's mission was to awaken them to a
sense of their rights and wrongs, the re-
sponsibiiities and their strength. He
taught them to obtain what they sought, |
by teaching them how much they possessed |
which no one could tear from them. He |
them to rely on themselves, |
and he constantly exhorted them in these |
terms:
Hereditary bondsmeni Know ye not, !
Who would be free themselves must strike the blow
The Catholic Association, which O'Con-
nell and Shiel founded, commenced in |
circular address sent by those gentlemen to |
most of the leading mem bers Of their body |
1t was feebly responded to, and the place |
of meeting appointed being the house of |
bookseller in Capel-street, the projectors
had the disappointment of finding that the
number of persons assembled was too small
to form quorum. The Dumber on which
they had fixed as a minimum for that pur-
pose was 10, and it was not till after sever
al unsuccessful attempts that they succeed |
day, the 23d of May, 1928. Only eight had |
arrived. The prospects of meeting were |
at zero, when O'Connell ran down to the |
booksellers shop, and laid little less than |
violent hands on two or three students |
from Maynooth, who were unwilling, and |
even refused, to follow him upstairs His |
will, however, to say nothing of his arm,
was stronger than theirs. Noleates .UOien-
ties they were hurried into the room. BY
this time thirteen persons were present,
the meeting proceeded, and that stream
began to gush which was to broaden into
a mighty and overwhelming river. Lord
kiileen was in the chair, and the Catholic
Association was established.-Iablet.
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY FLIRrERs.-I
A New York correspondent of the Chicago
Tribune tells the following story:
The Church of the Heavenly Rest" on
Fifth avenue, above Forty-fifth street,
standing quite back from the street, is a
little bDou of church, and, unlike most
other churches, has two additional names
=" The Church of the Broken Convenant''
and "The Church of the Holy Flirters"
It's pastor is widower, and his assistant a
bachelor, and both are devoted to society;
hence the last name. The rector who is
the widower, and consequently supposed to