The Irish standard., 1886-08-07

MllN IN EAJ
ties, assembled in Dublin. The pro.
ceedings of this Parliament are not
known to history, but it declared that
the queen was the head Of the Church.
and it was in this Parliament that were
evolved the. principal restrictions On
Catholic worship, that met their death
at the hands of the first Irish leader in
a legislative sense, the great and illus
trious Daniel O'Connell. In 1853, on
the 18th of January, another Parlia-
ment, differently constituted, but with a
simil1 r intent, was held. 1t is needless
to state that wars were innumeraDle
during the periods of these anti-.lrish
Parliaments, which, until the Parlia-
ment held by Sir John Perrot in 1888,
had not a representative Irishmen as q
member. Perrot's Parliament, held on
the 26th of April, was memorable for
the great number of Irish lords and
heads of septs who attended; but few
Of them had the right to vote, and they
were summoned merely that their pres
ence might give sanction to the pro-
ceedings. AS was mentioned before,
the first Parliament that could be con-
sidered Irish from the time of the Eng.
lish invasion was that held in Kilkenny
in 1912. 1t was projected by a national
synod yf Catholic bishops, which was
attended by the archbishops Of Ar
magh, Cashel and Tuam. the bishops of
Ossory, Elphin, Waterford, Lismore,
Kildare, Clonfert and Down and Con-
nor, the proctors OF
THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN
and of the bishops Of Limerick, Emily
and .Killaloe, and the heads of the re-
ligious orders then in Ireland. The
general assembly projected by this
synod met in the following October.
Eleven spiritual and fourteen temporal
peers, with 226 commoners, met on this
occasion, all sitting i'll the one hall and
addressing the same speaker, Mi.
Nicholas Plunkett. The end of their
Parliament was amid scenes OF carnage
as dreadful as was ever witnessed by
ireland. The next Irish Parliament
met in May, 1861. Two hundred and
sixty members comprised 1t. There
were twenty~one Catholic and seventy
two Protestant peers. 1t was an abor-
tion, Sir Audley Mervln,
THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
of Commons, requiring Catholics to
take the oath OF supremacy, while
Bramhall, Protestant bishop Of Ar
magh, proposed that AL the peers
should receive the sacrament at his
hands. So it is not to be wondered at
that the Parliament effected nothing
beneficial to the masses. Its acts were
however, by the Parliament
of 1889, which was opened in person by
James IL, and which passed The first
law declaring liberty OF conscience" I"
We come now to that Parliament OF
which so much has been written--the
Parliament of Grattan After the sur
render of Limerick Ireland's hopes Wis
IDLY waned, but arose at the sounds OF
the American rebellion. Fearing then
q French invasion, the government con-
sented to the raising Of volunteers in
Ulster. Catholics rushed to join them,
but the government interfered. The
Protestant volunteers passed resolu-
tions against this act of the govern
nleut. Financial assistance from the
Catholics continued to pour in, and
for once saw her hold on the
Irish people-their religious prejudices
dying. Grattan saw that
THE TIME WAS RIPE.
and he drew up resolutions establish
ing Ireland's independence, affirming
that no one but the King, Commons
and Lords of Ireland could make laws
For the Irish people. Iasyese resolutions
received the sanction ashe King May
n. 1882. Truly did Grattan say: Il
found Ireland on her knees; watched
over her with paternal solicitude; l
have traced her progress from injury to
arms and from arms to liberty. 'Ss*
Ireland is now nation; in that new
hail her, and. bowlng to her
august presence. say Esto Perpetua."
But how vain were the hopes of Ire.
Republic.
God Save ireland