The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1891-10-15
Death Of Charles Stewart Parnell.

ed Of suffering from chill On Friday
| following he was unable to leave his bee
| and his regular physician was summon
ed He seemed to have considered Par
nell's illness TO have been of a serious Ma
! ture, for he soon sent for another physi
clan, with whom he held a long consul
! tation over the sickness of the Irish
| leader.
The consultation Of physicians was re-
sumed Sunday, when Parnol was found
to be in great pain, and apparently grow
ing worse every hour. His sickness was
pronounced to be an attack of acute
rheumatism, and every attention and
care was paid TO the sufferer. He was
carefully and untiringly nursed by his
wife, who hardly left his bedside from
the moment her husbands illness was
pronounced to be of a serious nature
Parnel, in spite OF the care and atten-
ton which he received did not seem to
rally from the rheumatism, and grew
weaker and weaker,
Several hours before his death Parnell
became conscious and so remained until
| he died in intense agony.
Owing to the suddenness of the Irish
| leaders, illnesss and to the belief of his
wife and Of the attending physicians,
that he would recover, no friends or re-
| lations Ct his family Or that of Mrs. Par
nell were present at Parnell's bedside
| when he died.
Mrs Parnell and the physicians were
alone in attendance upon him when he
died.
Charles Stewart Parnell, the head of
He is the son OF the late John Henry
Parnell Of Avondale county, Wicklow,
who was at one time high sheriff for the
county of Meath. His grandfather was
the last Chancellor of the Exchequer of
the Irish Parliament, and a bitter oppo-
nent OF the Union. His mother was the
daughter of an Admiral of the United
States Navy. Soon after finishing his
education at Magdalene College, Cam
bridge he was elected 1875, at the> early
age OF twenty nine years. member of
Parliament for Meath, and lie represen-
ted this constituency until 1880 He was
elected as q candidate of the party of the
Home Rulers, and soon became proHiis
nent member of the party. In 1877 he
was one of the seven members OF the
party who tried to extort conceef ions
from the Government by systematically
obstructing the business of the House
and who were therefore called Obstruc-
tionists BY most of the leading men of
the party he was, however, greatly dis
| liked He was never on any but speak
ing terms with Mr.. Butt, and the rela-
tions between him and Mr.. Shaw, the
subsequent leader of the Home Rule par
ty were very similar. The breach be-
tween him and the party generally was
considerably widened by an incident
which took place in 1879. At a meeting
of the Home Rule Committee he urged
that, unless the Government granted a
substantial University bill to Ireland, the
whole of the votes for the Queens Col
/ lege should be opposed. The proposal
was rejected, and Mr. Parnell, who was a
| Protestant, is said, while smarting under
defeat, to have used the words You are
a cowareliy lot of Papist rats" A fierce
controversy on the subject ragged fol
some time in the Irish papers. 1t was as
serted by some members of Parliament
and denied by Others, that the words
! I, \ oil ave 70
gave rise to a great deal Of bad blood
and alienated great portion of the
4 Home Rulers from Mr.. Parnell and his
projects. An attempt made by Mr.. Par
nell in 1869 to call q National Conven
ton, in which he intended to recon
struct the Home Rule party, failec
through the opposition Of the more con
sentative members OF the party. On the
other hand he succeeded in October Of
the same year in organizing q "Nationa
Land League of which he was chosen
president. He was the principal anC
most popular speaker in the many meet
ings which preceded and followed the
organization Of the League. 1t was re-
I
longer ruled by the yiceroy but by Par
nell and the Land League. In January
1880, he paid visit to the United States
to collect contributions for the poor II
Ireland, and the House of Representa-
tives in Washington allowed him the ust
4 of its hall for holding a meeting. At thu
new elections ia 1880 he was simulta
neously returned for Meath, Mayo ant
Cork City, but elected to sit for the las
named The influence which he hat
shown during these elections was 81
great that ON May nth he was chosen
president OF the Home Rule party in tn
i place of Mr. Shaw. AS the law adviser
of the Irish Government conceived tina
Mr. Parnell and some other leaders Q
the Land League had brought them
selves by the incendiary speeches With
the grasp of the law, an information TO
seditious conspiracy was applied for b
the Crown against Mr.. Parnell some othe
Home Rule members Of Parliament, al
several of the officials of the Ian
League. The State trial began on d.
eember 90, 1880, and it ended on Januar
25, 1881, in a non agreement of the jur,
On December 9th, Mr.. Parnell was r.
elected as the leader of the Irish Parlia
mentary party.
, Parnell visited Virginia during his la
tour in the United States and the Hou
of Delegates suspended proceedings
his honor. Parnell acknowledged Il
compliment in brief speech.
No political episode in recent yea
caused anything like the excitemel
that the result of the Parnell-O'
!, trial did. When the criminal intima
of the Irish leader and the wife OF CaI
i O'Shea was established by legal e'
;, dence, a panic in the Home Rule par