The Irish standard., 1908-12-26

+. In February, 1880, Lord North, intro
duced his free trade measure. The
concessions whereby the people Of
lreland were allowed to, export woolen
manufacture, : and to trade with. the
British colonies, was received with joy
by the people,. But their joy was tenn
pered with a3Wise care for the future,
and the greater the conceded advant-
ages were. the more did they feel
themselves pressed by the insecurity
uf possession. The very magnitude Of
tie gift, taught them with greater
force the true principles Of freedom.
They reflected that the right which
jealous power had respected i'll. its
hour Of weakness, it would trample
on with recovered strength. What se-.
curity had they that at some. future
period. when they had possibly. estab-
lished q thriving trade, ana expended
much labor and nreney in creating a.
prospereus commerce, there might not
arise another William ready to grati-
fy the insolent avarice of England by
the destruction Of their trade and MAN.
ufactures? :: :.
The wisdom Of Swift, of Lucas, and
OF Molyneux, appealed to them in the
hour Of recovered trade, and pleaded
strongly for unrecovered liberty. They,
received a free trade then, not as" q
gift from bounty, but as a surrendered,
right from weakened power; and re-
Joicing at the extent of the benefit,
they We're neither fools nor .syeo-
lhants; nor did they compromise their.
cuty to their country by needless
excess of gratitude to their frightened
oppressor. Thus, in the resolutions
which record the peoples joy, we may
find the strongest expressions of their
determination to effect greater. things
than the emancipation Of their, trade.
Every County in Ireland addressed its
representatives; every corps Of. volun-
teers addressed it's officers; and the
spirit Of these effusions may be Judged
from one, selected from among many,
to which the spirit of the day gave.
birth. The members Of the grand jury
and freeholders Of the County of Mon
Afghan. addressing their representa-
tlves, amongst other things, said:
''While we rejoice in common with.
the rest Of our fellow-subjects at the
advantages which Ireland has latterly
obtained, and which we are fully con-
v'nced are attributable to the parental
attention of his Majesty, the virtue of
our Parliament. and the spirit Of our
people, yet, as these advantages are
confined to commerce, our satisfaction
must be limited, lest: our rights and
privileges should seem to be lost in
the joy which attends partial rcstor-
alton Of them. We DO affirm that no
Parliament had, has, or Of right ought
to have, any power or authority, what
scever, in this kingdom, except the
Parliament of Ireland; that no statute.
las the force Of law in this kingdom,
) unless enacted by the king with the
consent of the Lords and Commons Of
the land; on this principle the connec-.
tion between Great Britain and Ire
lend is to be founded, and on this prin-
ciple, we trust, not only that it may be
rendered secure and permanent, but
that the two kingdoms may become
strongly united and .advantageously
circumstanced, as to be enabled to op-
pose with success the common enemies
of the empire. What you have done.
we look on as a beginning; and trust.
that the termination Of the session
will be as beneficial to the Constitution
as the commencement has been to the
commerce Of the country"
These were the sentiments Of man
ly but conditional loyalty. Of generous
love Of freedom above even,the materi-
d benefits Of trade. which led to the
Rsyelution Of 's2. and whose diver