THE HOME RULE CONFEDERATION OF GREAT BRITAIN.
In the previous chapter it will be seen that I have somewhat anticipated
the course of events described in this narrative in order to give brief
sketches of some of my friends who took part, in various capacities, in
the Franco-Prussian war, and incidents arising out of it. I have also,
for the sake of compactness, briefly touched on their subsequent
careers.
I shall here now resume my recollections of the Home Rule movement from
its inception in 1870.
From the first everything pointed to Isaac Butt as its leader. His
splendid abilities, even when ranged against us in the celebrated debate
in the Dublin Corporation with O'Connell, excited the admiration of his
fellow-countrymen; but now, when he had come over to the popular side,
he was welcomed with acclamation, the more so that his genial and
loveable nature was bound to win the hearts of a susceptible people like
ours. Moreover, his joining the popular side was due to the impression
made upon him by the Fenian leaders, so many of whom he defended in the
trials from '67 onward; and he has left on record a remarkable testimony
to the purity of their principles and the nobility of their ideals.
He was lacking in certain qualities, the want of which in his character
prevented him being such a strong leader as O'Connell or Parnell. But,
all the same, while he led he gave splendid services--which can never be
forgotten--to the cause.
As I have said, Alfred Crilly and I were generally expected to take the
initiative in any new Irish movement in Liverpool. Accordingly, towards
the end of 1871, we were asked to make a move in connection with the new
organisation in Ireland. We formed a small committee, and invited Isaac
Butt to our projected opening demonstration. He was not able to come to
our first gathering, but we had many opportunities during the years that
followed of making his acquaintance; and, personally, I received many
kindnesses at his hands. With Alfred Crilly I was sent to Dublin by the
Committee to find influential speakers for our public inaugural
Liverpool demonstration, to be held on the 3rd of January, 1872, our
association having been opened some months previously. We secured the
services of Mr. A.M. Sullivan and Professor Galbraith of Trinity
College.
When we returned to Liverpool it became our duty to find a chairman for
our meeting worthy of the occasion. Mr. Charles Russell, who was first
asked, suggested that we should get some one of more influence than
himself. "Why not ask Dr. Commins?" he said.
Dr. Commins was a barrister on the same circuit as Charles Russell. We
did ask him. He cheerfully consented, and from that hour he was for a
long time the leading figure in the struggle for Home Rule in Great
Britain, being for several years President of the organisation. There is
no more homely and unassuming man, ever accessible to the humblest of
his fellow-countrymen, than "the Doctor," as his friends affectionately
call him.
He had a brilliant university career, and was a man of such wide
attainments that I think there was a general belief amongst Liverpool
Irishmen that he knew _everything_. Accordingly, they used frequently to
go to him to settle some knotty point beyond the ordinary conception,
and they seldom came away unsatisfied.
Dr. Commins is an accomplished poet, and was for many years a
contributor to the columns of the "Nation" and the "United Irishman" (of
Liverpool). In 1876 he was elected as a Home Ruler to represent Vauxhall
Ward in the Liverpool Town Council. He has ever since been a member of
that body, being now an Alderman of the city. In due time he became a
member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, of which several other
Liverpool Irishmen have been members.
Liverpool was not alone in forming its Home Rule Association; most of
the large towns had them in due course, but for some time there was no
bond of union between them. This, however, was formed in due time, the
man to take the first step in bringing us together being John Barry,
then residing in Manchester, and the chief man in our organisation
there.
John was, therefore, practically the founder of the great organisation
which, under its various names--of the Home Rule Confederation of Great
Britain. Irish National Land League of Great Britain, Irish National
League of Great Britain, and United Irish League of Great Britain--has
been in existence since 1873, working in accordance with and taking the
name of whatever has been the recognised organisation for the time being
in Ireland.
John Barry, who had borne an active share in the struggle for
self-government--irrespective of the methods being constitutional or
unconstitutional--was a man of attractive personality and an
indefatigable worker and organiser. He was the Secretary of the
Manchester Home Rule Association, and, seeing the want of some body in
which the various associations in Great Britain would be represented,
he, in the name and with the authority of his branch, issued invitations
to the associations then known to exist to send delegates to a
Convention to be held in Manchester. To give importance to the occasion,
and the necessary authority, Isaac Butt was invited to preside, and to
attend a great demonstration in the Free Trade Hall, on the night of the
Convention, January 18th, 1873.
Although I bore an active part in the organising of that first Home Rule
Convention of Great Britain, it is only a short time since, after a
lapse of over thirty years, that I heard from John Barry himself the
difficulty he had in securing the presence of the Home Rule leader. It
was a long time since we had seen each other, but I found him the same
cheery, warm-hearted, generous, and patriotic John Barry as ever. It
was in the office of his firm in London we met, and took advantage of
the opportunity to fight our battles over again; and he reminded me of
the sort of inner circle of the I.R.B. to which he and I, and others who
have since been prominent in Irish politics, belonged.
He was always, however, a practical patriot, and would use every
legitimate method to serve Ireland. That was why he threw himself with
such ardour into the Home Rule movement.
He told me of how he went over to Dublin to secure the promise of Isaac
Butt to preside at the projected Convention, and to attend the
demonstration in the evening. He got the requisite promise, and the
announcement was made in all good faith in Manchester. So far all looked
promising; but what was his alarm to hear, within three days of the
event, that Isaac Butt's professional engagements would prevent his
being able to attend. Added to this he had heard that Butt, who was of a
somewhat irresolute temperament, was being warned that he was falling
into the hands of a "Fenian gang."
Barry spent all the money he had in sending to the Irish leader a
telegram as earnest, hot, and forcible as he was capable of, beseeching
him to come, and pointing out to him the serious consequences to the
Cause in Great Britain of his failure to do so. This telegraphic budget
reached Butt in Court; and, as he turned over leaf after leaf of the
message, he said to a friend sitting alongside of him--"This man's in
earnest, at any rate," and immediately wired back--"Will go, if alive."
Apart from the offensiveness of styling us a "gang," those who had
warned Butt of the hands into which he was falling may not, probably,
have been far astray as regards some of those from whom he had received
the invitation; seeing that when the organisation for Great Britain was
duly formed, John Barry, John Ryan, John Walsh, and myself were elected
on the Executive; but, at all events, Isaac Butt turned up.
Some twenty Home Rule Associations responded to the invitation by
sending delegates to the Convention. There is a remarkable contrast
between this, the first of these Conventions, and those held every year
since; for, at some of those, several hundreds of branches have been
represented--showing the growth of the organisation since 1873.
At this Manchester Convention, at which Mr. Butt presided, it was
resolved to form a central body from the existing local associations, to
be called the Home Rule Confederation of Great Britain. Isaac Butt
himself was elected the first President. I was elected the first General
Secretary, and it became my duty to find out the existing associations
which had not sent delegates to Manchester, and to invite them, as well
as those who had been represented at the present gathering, to a
supplementary convention. It was decided to hold this in Birmingham, to
complete the arrangements made in Manchester for the future working of
the organisation.
On the night of the Manchester Convention Mr. Butt was the chief speaker
at the public demonstration. Mr. John Ferguson, of Glasgow, was our
Chairman. He was a sterling Ulster Protestant Nationalist. Many used to
think he was a Scot. Indeed, I thought at one time myself he must be of
Scottish extraction at all events, there being, I thought, more Scottish
Fergusons than Irish. Speaking to him on the subject, I was reminded by
him of the Irish king, Fergus, the founder of the Scottish monarchy; and
he claimed to be of genuine Irish descent.
He often used to call on me when I was conducting the "Catholic Times."
At that time he was travelling for his firm of Cameron & Ferguson, who
published a good many popular works on Irish subjects. We were both
pleased to hear of the initiative John Barry had taken towards the
formation of the Irish organisation of Great Britain. If I remember
rightly, John Ferguson was in Liverpool at the time, and we went to
Manchester together to attend this our first Annual Convention.
After the Manchester Convention, I found there were considerably more
Home Rule Associations in existence than had been represented at our
first gathering. As a consequence we had a much larger and more
representative attendance at our adjourned Convention in Birmingham. Mr.
Butt presided in the morning and Mr. A.M. Sullivan in the afternoon.
The Chairman at the public demonstration at night was Father Sherlock,
one of the finest specimens of the good old "soggarth aroon" type it has
ever been my privilege to meet. Several years afterwards, when I was
organiser for the League in the Birmingham district, I was right glad
to have the opportunity of renewing my acquaintance with him. The very
contact with Father John Sherlock was elevating and inspiring, so
transparent were the simplicity and purity of his life. Here was a
saint, I thought, if ever there was one on earth.
In my experience I have generally found that the men who have taken the
lead in most places have been professional men rather than traders. This
was true of Birmingham as well as elsewhere. There were no men who did
better service than Hugh Heinrick, an able journalist (who afterwards
became editor of the "United Irishman," the organ of our Confederation),
and Professor Bertram Windle. I was glad to see in the newspapers the
announcement of such a genuine Irishman as Dr. Windle being appointed
President of the University College, Cork.
Professor Windle is an honour to his new position, and is as devoted to
the cause of creed and country as he was when one of the Professors of
the Queen's University, Birmingham.
During the years when I was organiser for the League in Birmingham; I
became intimately acquainted with him. I found him not only a man of
great learning, but an earnest Catholic and devoted Irish Nationalist.
No man in our organisation did better service, and he was always ready
to go at a moment's notice to speak or lecture wherever required.
As a further illustration of what I have said about the aid given to the
cause by professional men, I ought to mention Dr. James Mullin, of
Cardiff. He was a leading and active man in his district when I
travelled in South Wales as an organiser. His talent as a poet has made
him well known in Wales, and his accounts of travels in many lands have
found many admiring readers. His heart is as warm as his brain is
active, which is saying much.