Northern Weekly Gazette. — 1914-04-25 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

HISTORY OF  HOME RULE.  I  When one hears the word "Ireland pron6unced. one's mind nearly always thinks of a "green isle," the hog, Pat and his pig. and the Irish fair. Such thoughts lead to the opinion that the Irishman must be a peaceable person; but if we look back into the history of Ireland Tr'e find it is a record of almos.t, continual arritation. Perhaps the root of all the trouble lay in the tolonisation of Ulster, in 1611. Then, the rebel  lords who took part in the Earl of Tyrone'!. rebellion were deprived of their lands, whici: were given to English and Scotch emigrants.  The wrongs of the dispossessed Irish sowed the seed of a wild revenge at a later day. Havini2 tired of English rule, and inspired by the success of the French Revolution, the "Society of United • Irishmen" was formed. The rebellion was unsuccessful, the French invasion was an utter failure, and most of the leaders *ere either killed or captured and hanged. As a remedy for the state of afiairs Pitt passed his Bill for the Union of England and Ireland. But in 1818, feeling was again manifested against the Union, and, under the leadership of O'Connell and then qmith O'Brien, the "Young Ireland " party was By means of their organ, "The United Irishman," of which Mitchell was editor, the people were incited to rebellion. The Government, however, caused Mitchell to be arrested, tried, and transported. This upset their plans, and the leaders were easily defeated and captured. Four of them were sentenced to death, but the sentence was afterwards commuted to one of transportation.  But trouble was secretly brooding. This time It was the Fenian Brotherhood, a secret society having the same objects as the United Irishmen. The outlook became VCIT serious when Irish soldiers, roturned from the American Civil War, joined their ranks. The Covernment deemed it fit to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act, and arrested 100 leading Fenians. Then the bubble burst. The conspirators tricd to seize the arms at Chester Castle. hut failed. In London, the rebels placed a largo barrel of gunpowder near the wall of the Clerkenwell Prison, in which some of the brothers were imprisoned. The gunpowder was fired, and as a result of the explosion many persons were killed and several houses and the prison walls were destroyed. At Manchester, the mob during an attack on a prison van to rescue some friends, fired through the keyhole to wrench the lock. The shot killed a sergeant named Brett who was guarding the prisoners in the van.  A Parliamentary party was formed, under the leadership of Mr Parnell. demanding Home Rule. For opposing the Government in the first Coercion Act, passed to suppress crime, Parnell and others were imprisoned. Previous to this the Land League was formed to oppose landlords Who continually evicted their tenants. The first victim a the League was Captain Boycott, and so all who would not observe the conditions of the Land League were declared "boycotted." The Government soon released Parnell, but their action caused the loss to them of Mr Forster. Secretary for Ireland, who resigned. His plarc was filled by Lord Cavendish. On the very first (lay of the arrival of the new Secretary at Dublin, he and his Under-Secretary (Mr Burke) were assassinated at Phcenix Park by some ruffians who styled themselves the "Invincibles."  This act threw the country into an uproar, and a second and more severe Coercion Act was passed. Some time later one of the assassinators (James Carey) betrayed the authors of the crime, who were hanged. Thinking that the only solution which could end all the trouble would be to give Ireland Home Rule, Mr Gladstone in 1886 introduced his first Home Rule Bill. but it was defeated. In 1888 consternation was aroused by the publication in the " Times " of an article accusing Mr Parnell and others of complicity in the Irish troubles, and of having written a letter about the Phenix Park murders. in which he expressed the opinion that the victims deserved their punishment. The result of the Special Commission appointed by the Government was that the letters were dcciared to he forgeries, and while the members were exonerated from the more serious charge, they were proved to have incited persons to do wrong. In 1893 Gladstone introduced his second Home Rule Bill, which' passed the Commons, but was thrown out by the Lords by 419 votes to 14. This was the end for some veal's of attempts made to give Ireland Home Rule. Now we are having it once again—the third time.—J. Borne. `.2 , Regent-street, New Brancepeth, Durham.