MANIFESTO OF THE IRISH MEMBERS.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3839, 19 April 1881, Page 1

MANIFESTO OF THE IRISH MEMBERS.

The moment Mr Parnell and his followers were suspended, a meeting was held at which an address to the Irish race at home and abroad was framed. The Freeman gives the following as the text of the address:— -

Fellow-countrymen—At a moment when too many acts of the Irish executive abrogate law and tend to drive you from the position of constitutional action, the reign of force has been inaugurated against us as your representatives here. A proposal has been made to depart from the ordinary and legitimate procedure"of^. Parliament, and to suppress at astrolcet--the liberties of our country; to impose- - upon us duties from which we ' could not shrink. Strictly confining ourselves within the rules and laws of Parliamentary action, we resisted »,.- this flagrant proceeding. Only by - a resort to open illegality could our 1 efforts be foiled. On Wednesday last, in violation of the laws and liberties of Parliament, the voice of the Irish representatives was arbitrarily silenced—not to facilitate any effort of beneficial legislation for the English people, which, has always received from us advocacy jtacj support, but in order that a Coercion Act for Ireland might be forcibly passed through the Legislative Assembly; Last evening we _3s of your representatives—for claiming our rights within the rules and precedents of this Assembly, wertr removed by force from the chamber, and a scene ( recalling the worst dnys of the Stuarts disgraced the records of Parliament. Advantage was taken in onr enforced absence, to rush through the house a resolution which, designecUgainst Ireland vests in an individual autocratic power and deprives us, as your representatives, of all guarantee of freedom of action or of speech. In the midst of such proceedings the news which reaches us from Ireland daily grows in gravity.. Meetings are .»■ illegally suppressed;- arrests abitrariljr. made.' Yesterday a man well known to . us and to many of you, daring tlwse . recent events, as a counsellor of tolerance, - restraint, and prudence, has been seized? • without warning, and flung back to the: horrors of penal servitude. Fellowcountrymen, we adjure you, in the midst of these trials and provocations, to maintain the noble attitude that has already assured your ultimate victory. Reject every temptation to conflict, disorder, ; or crime. Be not terrorised by a brief reign of despotism. If you be true to yourselves your triumph is certain. To, our countrymen in Great Britain we appeal to frustrate all endeavors to excite enmity between them and their English fellow-citizens, amongst whom many generous voices are even now raised in our bVhalf. Fellow-countrymen —In the discbarge our duties here, our attitudes jtnfLotir actions have be*h, and shall be, in every lnsfcaaeejjuided by consideration for your interests'. ~^Ww-««k-.yjm_by your self-restraint, your unshaken organisation your determined perseverance, to^-*----strengthen our hands in the struggle we maintain.