* “England since the Accession of Queen Victoria,” by Edward H. Michellen, Ph.D.
It is obvious that the writer of this paragraph has neither studied O’Connell, his country, or the party which he led. One of the grand causes of O’Connell’s failure in many things was his rancorous hatred to England. Thomas Gaspey, Esq., in his “History of England,” views this matter correctly in writing of O’Connell’s death, and the feeling in England concerning him:—“In England his departure was regarded with indifference. The hostility and scorn he frequently expressed for the Saxons, and his disparaging remarks on English women, had precluded him from gaining any of the popularity he had enjoyed in Ireland.”
The hatred of O’Connell to England was threefold—that of race, of nation, and of creed. He regarded England as the chief abettor of heresy in the world, and therefore would have rejoiced over her downfall; this was the common feeling of his party. So far as his animosity was connected with race and nationality, it was not unprovoked. The English people cherished deep prejudices against Ireland and the whole Celtic race; and the English newspapers frequently discussed the universal claims of the Anglo-Saxon to dominancy, and every social and national virtue, thereby creating a feeling of resentment in all countries where these articles were reprinted. The chief invidiousness, however, was to the Celt, and among Celts to the Irishman. This circumstance made repealers of numbers of Irishmen who were neither Celtic in race nor Roman in creed.
MR. JOHN O’CONNELL ASSUMES THE PRESIDENCY OF THE REPEAL
ASSOCIATION—INFLUENCE OF THE REPEAL AGITATION UPON THE GENERAL ELECTIONS IN IRELAND.
The death of Mr. O’Connell, it was generally supposed in England, would allow agitation in Ireland to die of itself. Others supposed that it would now assume a worse form, in consequence of the absence of those restraints which the superior sagacity of the arch agitator laid upon the more fiery and imprudent ringleaders. The latter opinion was the correct one, and the people of England were astonished to find that Mr. O’Connell’s son John not only became the chairman at Conciliation Hall, but the recognised leader of the agitation. The priests gave him their confidence, and, at first, the people very generally; but he was not possessed of those qualities which enabled him to hold the reins of power. As Richard Cromwell to the deceased Oliver, so John O’Connell exhibited a contrast to his father, which soon caused the people to fall off from his leadership: his name, and the influence of the priests, were the means of retaining it for him for a time. After the death of his father, the temporary inheritor of his position indicated much energy and activity, although, even in this respect, none of the agitators approached their late chief: O’Connell’s powers of physical endurance and toil had been prodigious.
A general election, the policy of which will be noticed on another page, called out the leadership of John O’Connell, and the action of the committee at Conciliation Hall, in a manner to test whether the people were disposed to follow them. The general impression in England was, that the popular fervour had ebbed, and that the repeal members would not generally be returned: the English press made confident predictions to that effect. John O’Connell and the clique at Conciliation Hall accepted the ordeal, and were backed by priests and people in their policy. An extraordinary meeting was convened, and an address to the electors of Ireland resolved upon. It was a document which ought to be retained upon the page of history, for it discloses the spirit and temper of the repeal party, and of the Roman Catholic electors who responded practically to such an appeal. The repealers, as has been already shown, were not confined to Roman Catholics, nor were all that communion repealers; but, on the whole, the religious division of Protestant and Romanist defined the boundary between anti-repealers and repealers.
The following is copied from Saunders’ News Letter of the 12th of June:—
Address of the Loyal National Repeal Association to the Electors of Ireland.