The Irish standard., 1909-01-16
THE ST0NEWALL JACKSON OF IRISH POL|T|C!
First Attracted Attention the British Parliament by Inter
rupting an English Member With a
Note of Defiance

longed to no particular land or class
but this other quality Of which h,
spoke, was essentially Irish. He couk
find no precise name for it in the Eng.
lish language, perhaps, because per,
sons Of peculiarly English race, SCENE:
to be little accustomed to use It; H.
was sympathy with suffering peoples
1t was rage and anger against injustice
(applause). 1t was something Of the
woman In man; 1t was a good deal O,
the God in man; 1t was tho uprising
Of the human heart and divine SOU
against mans inhumanity to man Gap
plause). 1t was that which was to win
him the service of SO many hearts, and
finally to break his own heart. Par
nell was born at Avondale, in Wick.
low, on June ~, 1846. At that moment
Ireland was about to enter on that
famine which had written in the his.
tory Of the world one of its most tragic
chapters. On the day which gave Par
nell to Ireland, nearly nine millionss.of
human beings were living within the
compass of the Irish seas; Fl years
later, when the child reached manhood.
the population had shrunk to S mil
lions. Parnell once said he did not
care for details. he wanted broad facts.
This famine fact, the first that met the
eyes Of his manhood, was broad
enough. Wicklow had borne it's full
share Of the terrible catastrophe, about
half its population had disappeared.
Wicklow epitomized all Ireland, with
It's mountains, valleys, forests, rivers,
moors, and meadows. The glens and
mountains seemed to have the essences
Of freedom in their sound. and last,
but not least, Aughavannagh, the
mountain home of the man whose life
he was dealing with (applause), and :
all these glens and hills were thick
with Irish history. In the Kerry and
Wicklow Mountains the Great Arch-s
itect formed, as it were, two sanctu.
aries, into which, in the far future time
the children of the prosecuted race
were destined to retire, as into q fora
tress, millions Of years later. And ID
was strange to note that it was in
these separate sanctuaries or resting
places that two men were to be born
after an enormous lapse of time-Dan.
lei O'Connell and Charles Stewart Par.
nell. cloud cheers). In each group Of
hill refugees the lesson of liberty had
been the same. You cannot tame the
mountain top (applause).. Men who
tread upon the rocks and breathed the
air that flowed over the heather must
grow freedom in their blood (cheers).
These mountain breasts sucked in
dark times the orphans Of liberty
without them these orphans had grown
up slaves; by and bye some Of them
will even emancipate their brethren in
the lowlands (hear, hear). Parnell did
not belong to the race Of unfortunates;
his blood was neither Celtic nor Cath
Ollie, it was English and Protestant; he
doubted, indeed If he had been differ-
emil ybred and thought it would have
been possible to have been exactly
what he was. He belonged to class
which had represented ascendancy FOR
SO many generations; he was born to
lead. He was a gentleman to the tips
Of his fingers. He was Of the coolest
courage, and Of a foresight which saw
further even than the range Of vision
which his mountain-top commanded.
He was Ireland on one side and Eng
land on the other, and he knew tho
depths Of the sea that lay between
them, and the strength and direction
Of the currents and cross currents
that swayed them. He fattereds no.
man (hear, hear); he never stopped
to conquer (applause). He did not
take off his coat for the farmers who
took Off their hats to him, or even for /
the people who had no hats to take on IS
1t was for Ireland (cheers). Hs did