THE OLD HOUSE IN COLLEGE GREEN

New Zealand Tablet, 4 June 1914, Page 15

THE OLD HOUSE IN COLLEGE GREEN

A REMINDER OF IRELAND’S PAST.

We have it on the authority of Lecky that when the British Government disposed of the Irish Parliament House to the Bank of Ireland a secret clause was inserted in the lease to the effect, that the House of Commons should be so altered as to retain if possible nothing of its former appearance (says ‘ Eblana,' in the Dublin Freeman). They would have liked to raze the historic building to the ground. Indeed, it is somewhat strange they did not complete their scurvy work with this crowning act of vandalism. Unwise in all their procedure, they were unwise in this, too, that they left standing such ; a reminder to the generations of Irishmen to come as this glorious masterpiece of the age of Irish freedom—a reminder of the pride and glory that, was and of the duty to rededicate the temple at. the earliest possible moment.

Consecrated by so Many Memories.

But the Government could not leave the Old House without some marks of their spiteful malice and of their guilty forebodings. It was feared,’ says Lecky, ‘ that disquieting ghosts should haunt the scenes that were consecrated by so many memories.’ Partitions and divisions and ail manner of architectural artifices were therefore invoked to lay the ghosts that would have hovered in the great Chamber which has resounded with the highest flights of human eloquence. Barrington has left us a description of the scene to which that Hall of Liberty was accustomed.’

‘ln the gallery on every important discussion nearly seven hundred auditors heard the sentiments and learned the characters of their Irish representatives. The gallery was never cleared for a division. This rising generation acquired a love of eloquence and of liberty, the principles of a great and proud ambition, the details of public business, and the rudiments of constitutional legislation. The front rows of the gallery were generally occupied by families of the highest rank and fashion whose presence gave an animated and brilliant splendor to the entire scene, and in such a nation as Ireland then was, from which the gallant spirit of chivalry had not been altogether banished, contributed not a little to. the preservation of that decorum so inseparable to the dignity of deliberation.’

A Fitting Arena.

The Chamber was a fitting arena for the first intellectual spirits of a Nation. From the description of an English writer, we learn that ‘ the internal parts have many beauties, and the manner in which the building is lighted has been much admired. The House of Commons is an octagon covered with a dome, which it is to be, wished had been raised to a greater height, as it would have added to the magnificence of the building, and at the same time have improved the prospect of the city ; but it is so low at present that a person passing can scarcely perceive it. It is supported by columns of the lonic order, that rise from an amphitheatre gallery: elegantly balustraded with iron, where strangers hear the debates. Upon the whole, prejudice itself . must acknowledge that the British Empire —one might, have added, Europe itselfcannot boast fc so stately and'spacious a senatorial hall;’ The well-known pictures that have come down to as, and' particularly that most' familiar of them, in which Curran is seen addressing the house, fully confirm these spirited eulogiums. This was the arena in which Grattan pronounced the achievement of Irish legislative independence. ,On March 14, 1782, the great patriot had announced that, he would bring forward the question. Grattan had had three years of exciting political toil. He was in his thirty-sixt^'year; but his constant and strenuous 1 labors and . anxieties had told upon his ,health.,; His spirit and . resolution were sound and high, his minci at the zenith of its powers, but his body was feeble -and; debilitated. •* , '■ - . ••.-u-

A Memorable; Day in Irish-History.

The sixteenth of April—‘ the most memorable 'day in Irish history ’ —dawned. . Grattan'surprised both friend and foe by appearing in the House. It was known how ill he was, and indeed he presented a sublimely pathetic figure. There was suffering in his face. He was thin and careworn. All was excitement. To reach the House the matchless orator of Irish freedom had to pass through streets filled with enthusiasm and expectancy. The Volunteers, in their resplendent uniforms, kept the roadways clear. All the city’ thronged to the vicinity of the Senate House. Within the Common’s Chamber rank, fashion, and genius blended. At 4 o’clock the House sat ; the. members’ benches were filled ; the peerage, was present in strength more than four hundred ladies sat in the gallery.. HelyHutchinson and Ponsoriby spoke. / There was some danger and anxiety lest the great day should end in nothing. .' * c Suddenly Grattan, wearing the uniform of a Volunteer, rose to his feet. Little aid tile splendid assembly expect what was to come. They witnessed such a triumph of mind over bodily infirmity as has but seldom been achieved, and it did not seem a bit incongruous when the orator, in clarion tones, proclaimed himself ‘ the herald and oracle of his armed countrymen.’ The speech is one of the masterpieces of eloquence. , It was passed, into classrooms to be at once the delight and difficulty of thousands of budding elocutionists. The house was spellbound. ‘Fire, sublimity, and immense reach of thought,’ says an English critic, the oration.’ Lord Charlemont afterward observed: ‘ If every spirit could be said to act independent of body it was on that occasion.’

Grattan’s Memorable Speech.

‘I am now to address a free people,’ Grattan began. Years have passed away, and this is the first moment in which you could be distinguished by ’ that appellation. I have spoken on the subject of your liberty so often, that I have nothing to add, and I have only to admire by. what Heaven-directed steps you have, proceeded until the whole faculty of the Nation is bound up with the act of her own deliverance. I found Ireland on her knees, I watched over her with paternalsolicitude; I have traced her progress from injuries to arms,, and from arms to liberty. Spirit of Swift! Spirit of Molyneux ! Your genius has prevailed ! Ireland is now a Nation ! in that new character I hail her; and bowing to her august presence,'! say Esto 'perpetuaV - " ■ '. ;

No other orator that ever lived could have begun a speech in such a key, and with hope to sustain the lofty strain for long. But no part of Grattan’s oration was unworthy of the sublimity of its beginning, and it remains one of the most complete and perfect products of the human mind. He ended with the historic Declaration of Independence, and while he pronounced its terms and the House voted it , unanimously the crowds around the statue' of William 111. awakened the echoes of Dublin, and the cheers of a delighted populace ran from street to street.

After describing many historic incidents which took place in the old House, the writer goes on to tell of the last days of the Irish Parliament. Other memorable scenes (he says) might be described, that one, for instance, when Grattan rose from his bed of sickness, and, helped by'Ponsonby and,Moore, for he could not move without assistance, came down to the Old House to speak against the Union. The House,-we are told, was hushed to , awe as the great patriot, ghastly pale and -weak,' almos’t fell into . his ' seat, and ; with the permission of the assembly,, delivered his speech without trying- to rise to his ;feet.- But 1 must pass over this and many another historic incident to dwell for a few moments on the last sad scene of ■ all, in which Grattan’s Parliament was forcibly done to death. There is no scene in our history, so full of shame, humiliation, and disgrace. It is not mv - intention to -repeat the tale of bribery arid; corruption n Principals and subordinates all- soiled themselves, to, all intents arid pur-

poses, in the full gaze of the public. ‘ The virus of corruption, .extended,’ says 'Lecky, and distended through every fibre and artery of the political system.' Pitt was, .of course, the original instigator— the inventor of the conspiracy. Castlereagh was his head aglmt in Ireland. To these two belong a conjoint and inseparable infamy. They descended to every possible turpitude, treachery, truculence. Five of the corrupted alone were known to have received at least £140,000, perhaps more, flung broadcast. The whole viciousness of the affair, the part played in the hideous scheme by the goading of the people in the Rebellion period, will probably never be known. After the Union had been consummated, and the bribes paid, a deliberate, systematic, and wholesale destruction, of incriminating documents took place. It is the merest accident, one might .almost say, that more than the slightest outline of the transactions remained.

The Last Day of the Irish Parliament.

June 7, 1800, was the last day of the Parliament. The traitors had taken cowardly precautions. The approaches to the House were filled with soldiery. Corps of artillery were ready at the street corners. Popular demonstrations were rigorously suppressed. A small but indomitable band of patriots fought the odious measure to the end.~'*That day they saw the end, the defeat of their efforts, with hot feelings of bitter indignation. They had brought their honor and their fame scathless through the long and trying ordeal. An immortal glory covered them even on the day of the dire disgrace. But who can tell the agony of their minds and hearts as they watched the selling of their freedom? The horde to which they were opposed had by this time lost all sense of shame. It had now become the merest commercial transaction. They were avowed bargainers. The nature of their case was as thoroughly understood as if they had carried their prices stamped upon the forehead. But it is impossible not to believe that there must have been with even them some lurking sense of the ill-fame they were transmitting to their progeny. Barrington s description of the scene remains a classic to this hour. ‘ The Commons House of Parliament on the last evening/ he wrote, ‘ appeared the most melancholy example of a fine, independent people, betrayed, divided, sold, and as a State annihilated.’ Foster, the Speaker, was an ardent opponent of the Union. He had to preside over the squalid tragedy. His, alas! was to be the voice to proclaim the victory of the Bill he loathed with his whole soul! His expressive countenance bespoke the inquietude of his feeling ; solicitude was perceptible in every glance, and his embarrassment was obvious in every word he uttered.’ The public galleries were crowded. The historian notes that the members hardly spoke to each other. What a world of meaning there is in the short phrase. Then , came the order of the day— the third reading of the Bill for a Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland. 4 Fittingly enough, Castlereagh it was who moved; * Unvaried, tame, cold-blooded words seemed frozen as they issued from his lips.’ Foster held up the Bill for a moment. He asked the customary question. There was an ‘ unmistakable Aye.’ At length, with an eye averted from the object which he hated, he proclaimed, with a subdued voice, ‘The Ayes have it.’ For an instant he stood statue-like then, indignantly and in disgust, flung the Bill upon the table, and sunk into* his chair with an exhausted spirit.