Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-11-02

taking Of the Bastiley Are not Mr..
Parnell and his friends justified in ad-
vance in any and every measure they
may take TO secure his freedom What
said stern old Philips when he was ar
rested by the arbitrary act of King
| Charles IL "po have my liberty, which
is the soul of my life taken from me
by power, and to have my body pent
up in gaol, without remedy by law,
and to be so adjudged If this be
law, why do we talk Of liberty ? Why
do we trouble our ourselves to dispute
about purchases, property of goods,
and the like? What may a man call
his own, if not the liberty Of his per-
son?'
In fact it is now evident that the first
question before the Irish people is not
the land laws at ALL but the coercion
act. 1t is not the readiustment of
rents but the restitution Of personal
liberty. The situation resembles in
many respeclsthatci'isis in the English
revolution of 1910, when the King, to
enforce respect to his arbitrary meas
ures, began to arrest and imprison all
who opposed them, and the Star Cham
Der took the place of the courts and Of
Justice. Threatening was succeeded
by acts, and at once the Parliament
ceased to argue and demonstrate and
prepared for resistance which should
be commensurate with the power
which sought to oppress them. All
other issues were put aside until this,
the main issue, was settled and de.
termlned. The question Of existence
and liberty takes precedence OF that
of law and order and of tenant right.
Not the Senate, but the home is in.
vaded not privilege, but personal
liberty is denied, When Sir John
Eliot, member of Parliament was ar.
rested in 1927 for the memorable
speech in which he arraigned the
premier OF the day, the Duke Of Buck
ingham, whom he likened to Sejanus,
the House Of Commons resolved that
they would "pass to no other business
until righted in their liberties" This
manly action conquered then, and it
will conquer now if the Irish nation
resolve that they will pass to no other
business until the "suspects" are re-
stored to their freedom and the obnox.
ious coercion act repealed. Such a
position as that will be understood and
respected. 1t will open the eyes Of
the British people to what their gov
ernment is doing. 1t will unite prop.
erty, reputation and learning on the
side of individual personal rights and
give TO Mr.. Parnell the invincible sup
port OF constitutional party untainted
with any suspicious of dlsloyalty. Mr..
Parnell, in his present situation, may
comfort himself with the assur.
ance that he stands not only with
Daniel O'Connell but where John
Hampton and SirJohn Eliot also stood.
Said the latter, knowing himself to be
in peril of arrest "May |, as free.
man, use the just liberty of our ances-
tors to expostulate our rights; or must
!, in sorrow, complain Of the unhappi.
ness of tho times which left us, it might
SEEM unworthy to enjoy the privileges
of those older!' In those days Of the
violent exercise of arbitrary power and
strained prerogative precedents were
diligently sought after by the learned
lawyers of the parliamentary party,
and Seldom found one in Glanvllle, cit
ing the dictum of a Judge in the reign
of Henry VI: "lf the King command
me to arrest man, and | arrest him,
he shall have an action of false i'm.
prisonmcnt against me, though il were
done in the Kings presence In spite
Of these warnings Eliot was again i'm.
prsoned, and died in the Tower, as
Hallam says, "the most ilustrious con-
fessor in the cause of liberty which
that time produced" He did not lay
down bis life in vain. The day Of retri
button came. Mr.. Gladstone knows
English history too well not to profit
by the warning
Our sympathy for Mr., Parnell is the
more active since the people Of Mary.
land know full well the meaning Of
arbitrary arrests, without warrant and
without law. They learned, under the
Republican regime, to understand what
it means TO be deprived Of the protec-
ton of the writ OF babeas corpus, to be
denied the right of suffrage, TO have
their Legislature dissolved by the
sword and the bayonet, and to languish
in foreign prisons, hopeless Of release.
They know the hardship and the
iniquity of these things, and sympa.
thzc with Mr. Parnell because OF them.
They recognize the similarity Of his
case with that Of Sin John Eliot, and
wish him the same sort Of consolation
which that noble aud enlightened pa.
triot found when, writing to his chill.
dren of his trials, he said "l will not
be 80 stoical as not TO think them evils T;
| will not do that prejudice to virtue
by detrnclion of her adversary, They
are evils !, so | do confess them !;
but of that nature, and followed, so
neighboring upon good, as they are no
cause Of sorrow but Of Joy" 1t was
while in the Tower that this large.
hearted man wrote his APOLOGY Tor
Socrates" a death song, in which he
felt himselfin his image Of the Grecian
philosopher, and thus painted his own
portrait in colors which are imperisba-
BILE: "To be made poor and naked !;
to be imprisoned and restrained nay,
not 10 be at all MOTTO have the proper
use OF anything not to have knowl.
edge Of society not to have being and
existence; his faculties confscate, his
friends debarred bis presence himself
deprived the world. ! will not tell
you all this suffered by your Socrates,
and all suffered in your service; for
you, most excellent Athenians, for
your children, your posierity; TO pre-
serve your rights and liberties, that as
thoy were the inheritance Of your
fathers, from you they might descend
TO your sons. - Baltimore Gazette.
alt.l. 4. ..l... l,lxn