The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-06-19
in THE CITY ON THE TlBER..
The Liberat0r'S Career and the
Lessons 1t Teaches.
A MAGNIFICENT PANEGYRIC.
OCOnnell Was the Pr0yidential
Man of Ireland.

In accordance with the promise made
last week, the following extracts from
the Grafton of Archbishop Keane de-
livcrcd in Rome on the 50th anniversary
OF OConnell's death, are given to our
readers:
The Alpine scenery of his native
Kerry had laid the earliest and the
deepest impressions of his boyhood. In
the true Celtic mould of poetry and
tenderness and deep intensity of feel
ing, thus was his heart cast. He whose
sympatiiics were to be so broad and
SO quick, who was to suffer with a
high strung and Il suffering nation,
thus amid the rocks and rugged beauty
OF his native land, found his magina-
ton aroused and his emotions stirred.
God destined him to enter into the in
most lives of all the millions In Erin,
to mould their minds into his own
thoughts, to move their hearts with
his own emotions, to rouse their Wills
to the level of his own great purpose
and hurl their united energies in ono
irresistible assault against the citadel
of wrong. And as Il hoy he was led to
the ruins of the old Abbey of Dairy
name. All that Ireland once was and
WAS no longer, all the departed glory
of its saints and sagcs kindled his
youthful Imagination, and in the
fnlI A ,>cf
on her his mind rcvcllcd. That thought
became the inspiration of his life Ire
land that once was great had lost her
enrly greatness and awaited restora-
tion.
During the -four years that he spent
in the colleges of Licgc, I.ouv,in, St.
Omcr and Douay. while plodding faith
fully In the ordinary curriculum, his
mind and heart were ever intent on the
thoughts of his early boyhood. In '93
the revolution broke out A lover of
freedom his first sympnthies were with
the revolution, until he discovered that
1t was not freedom but license which
the followers of Vultairc desired. Then
forsccing the dircful end of ii all ho
shrlnk in terror from It, He was but
eighteen then, but the soul of the arch
agitator was great within him. The
violence of 93 taught him to fear the
havoc of any other weapon but that of
moral force.
Partial relaxation of the Penal laws
made it possible for him to study law
and be admitted to the bar. The stall
wnrt, handsome. eloquent, hnrtlwork-
ing young lawyer soon attracted general
attention and won esteem in the courts.
He was but twenty-five when the Irish
parliament fell, but the speech he made
against that iniquitOus scheme lifted
him into prominence he never after
wards lost. Little by little he pushed
on In his career, winning fame and fur
tune for himself, and what was more
dilllcultthc confidence of the Irish
people.
That was no easy task. They had
grown So used not only to tyranny but
to betrayal. 1t was no wonder they sus-
pccted every wOuld-bc leader. Tho
clergy surpassed the people in this far
better than others, they knew the mis-
cradle dupcs and traitors who had led
the people ustray. The men of means
suspected him as an insurgant, and the
hot blood of '9S which had not all been
shed on the scaffOld resented the assur-
ancc of a man who believed that Ireland
could ever get her due without pike
or mlskct. Ten weary years he spent
ere he won his people to him, but at
last they were his. and like Moses, he
bcsiegcd the court of the Pharaoh.
He sought for two things-reigious
and civil liberty for Ireland. He de-
mandcd religious liberty first. And
SO throughout the land the cry went
up for Catholic Emancipation. Meet
ings were held in every town and on
every hillside. to hear OConnell tell
them of their countrys rights and their
country's wrongs. Thousands and tens
of thousands hung upon his words, ex-
ulting and weeping by turns as he pic
tured to them Erin's Catholic glories
In the blessed days of yore and Erin's
plteous desolation now, as she sat wan
and wasted in her ruined home, wall
ing over the myriads Of her sons that
had been slain for loving her, weeping
over the down-trodden multitudes Of
her children that were treated as Helots
In their own land, despised by the Sas-
enach because, like their mother, they
loved the religion of Jesus crucifed, and
found their consolation with Mary and
John at the foot of the Cross. And
when, in tones of matchless eloQuence.
he thundered forth the demand for
Catholic Emancipation, startling force
to the ears Of King and Parliament.