The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-09-04
JUSTIN MCCARTHY ON
HENRY GRA7TAN, MP.
Last Speech of the Great
Orator in the Irish House
of Commons and His Reply
to the Corrupt Chancellor
of theExchequer Who Had
Assailed His Character
The Venal Tool Awakened
a Sleeping Volcano.

In the January Of 1900 an Irish par
lament met for the last time for over
a century, says Justin Mccarthy. rs
assembling found the government pa:-
ty confident of victory the Opposi-
tion desperate and despairing. 1t
would seem that for a moment this
Opposition dreamed of making that
appeal to arms which they had re-
garded with such horror when it was
made by the United Irishmen. But
they made no such attempt. Tie
Government was far to we'll prepared,
and any effort Of the kind would have
been hopeless. Nothing was to lie
done but to discuss the merits of the
bill which was to deprive Ireland OF
her representative assembly, and to
hope against hope that they might be
able to defeat it. The tactics of the
Government was far too well prepared,
dress from the Crown contained no
allusion to the threatened and dreaded
union. The very omission alarmed
the Opposition, and a debate immedi-
ately sprang up upon motion direct
ly asserting the independence which
had been obtained for the parliament
by the Volunteers in 1852.
It was curiously appropriate that IN
the e-xery middle Of this debate tho
man who had done more than any
other to obtain the independence Of
the Irish parliament should make his
appearance, coming from his sick bed
to fight once more for the liberties
which were themselves in the throes
of death. Henry Grattan had faded
for some time out of public view. He
had no sympathy for the movement
which Wolfe Tone had begun, and
which ended with Wolfe Tones death
in Dublin prison. But when the
independence Of that parliament of
which he was the parent was threat
ened, he came out of his self chosen
obscurity to fight one last fight in its
favor. He came too late. The silver
voice which had so proudly hailed the
regenerated assembly, and wished it
a perpetual existence, had no power to
touch the hardened hearts or charm
the deafened ears Of the purchase ed
senate of CORVALLIS and Castlereagh.
Grattan himself was in some degree
the cause Of the disaster which was
about to fall upon his country. Ami
mated by too generous belief in the
fidelity of his opponents pledges, he
had counselled the disarmament ot
the Volunteers, and his counsels had
conquered the more prudent advice
and the more far-seeing statesman
ship of Flood. It was too late now tc
redress the mischief caused by this
misplaced confidence.
Secure although the Government be-
lieved themselves to be, and confident
as they were of victory, Grattan's ap
pearance was none the less disquiet.
ing, and even alarming. The Castl;
turned Cory, one Of the ablest O.
their tools, and one of the bitteres
enemies of Grattan, against the re
turned Tribune. Cory had once
played the part of patriot, and hat
10 afterwards transferred himself and hi!
services to the Government, for which
he had been but lately rewarded b!
the chancellorship of the exchequer
from which Parnell had been driven
Cory might have believed that ad
vancing years and i'll health had weak
ened the powers Of Grattan's mind.
He might for the moment have
fondly imagined that he was mattel
for the great orator, and that tn
fierceness and the brutality of his at
tack would discredit and possibly dis
com1t his adversary. Cory Wa
grievously mistaken. Grattan ha
once before assailed Flood in term
of almost lunsurpassable bitterness
That speech against Flood might hav
been regarded as almost the hiE
water mark of triumphant parliamen:
ary vituperation; but if no one saw
Grattan could have surpassed tina
effort, it was in Grattan's own powe
to surpass Grattan. The savage VIZ
hemence of the assault upon Floo
pales almost into compliment an
courtesy when contrasted with tn