MICHAEL DAVITT'S RETURN FROM PENAL SERVITUDE--PARNELL AND THE "ADVANCED"
ORGANISATION.
In the year following the Liverpool Home Rule Convention of 1877, I had
the pleasure of welcoming back to freedom my old friend, Michael Davitt,
after he had been in penal servitude close upon eight years. He had been
released, along with other Fenian prisoners, and, with Corporal
Chambers, came on April 28th, 1878, to a gathering we organised and held
in the Adelphi Theatre, Liverpool, for the benefit of the liberated men,
John O'Connor Power being the lecturer for the occasion, and Dr. Commins
our chairman.
Michael Davitt, on rising to speak, was received with a terrific
outburst of cheering, again and again repeated.
I was sitting immediately behind him on the platform, and I noticed,
while he was speaking, a constant nervous twitching of his hand, which
he held behind his back, and he was evidently in a state of
highly-strung excitement. I was not surprised when we had that day a
painful proof of how the prison treatment had undermined his
constitution. After the gathering we brought the released prisoners and
the principal speakers to be entertained at the house of Patrick Byrne,
a warm-hearted, patriotic Irishman, and were much alarmed when Davitt
fell into a deep faint, from which he only recovered through the
ministrations of one of our most respected Liverpool Nationalists, Dr.
Bligh, who fortunately was present. For a few moments it seemed as if he
never would revive.
There is no doubt but that their treatment during their long term of
penal servitude seriously affected the health of several of the Irish
political prisoners. It was only three months previous to his visit to
us in Liverpool that Davitt reached Dublin, with three others of the
released prisoners--Sergeant McCarthy, Corporal Chambers, and John
O'Brien. To the consternation of his friends, McCarthy died suddenly at
Morrison's Hotel, on January 15th, the cause, it was believed, being
heart disease. This caused such a shock to Chambers that his life, too,
was put in danger. I was pleased to see him restored to health after
this when he called on me in Liverpool with his brother, with whom I was
well acquainted. The shock of the sudden death of his friend McCarthy
must have affected Michael Davitt too, as we found from the report of
our friend, Dr. Bligh, in what a precarious state of health he must have
been at the time. It will be remembered that Rickard Burke became
insane, it was thought, and stated in Parliament, owing to his treatment
while in Chatham Prison.
Following our Liverpool gathering, we had on Sunday, May 5th, a meeting
in the St. Helens Theatre for the same object. At this Parnell as well
as Davitt was present. Speaking that day by desire of our St. Helens
friends, I called attention to the appropriateness of our addressing the
assembly from the boards of a theatre on which there had been the mimic
representation of many a stirring drama. But no play the audience had
ever witnessed on those boards could exceed in dramatic interest the
life of the released convict, Michael Davitt. Nay, more, the grudging
terms on which he had been released enabled him to appear that day in
the real living character of a "Ticket-of-Leave-Man," which, no doubt,
they had seen impersonated on those boards by some clever actor in the
play of the same name.
I am reminded of that St. Helens meeting by a passage in Michael
Davitt's book "The Fall of Feudalism in Ireland." I travelled from
Liverpool to St. Helens to attend the meeting in the same carriage with
Mr. Parnell. As I could always speak unreservedly to him I knew that
though he would not actually join the advanced organisation, he regarded
it as a useful force behind the constitutional movement. In the
carriage, which it so happened we had to ourselves, we discussed the
probabilities of the result of a resort to physical force for securing
Irish freedom, should circumstances justify such a course, for Parnell
would not have shrunk from taking the field if there had been a
reasonable hope of success. Singularly enough, I find in Michael
Davitt's book that he himself, on the day of that same St. Helens
meeting, made an advance to Parnell with a view to getting him to join
the revolutionary organisation, should the conditions be somewhat
modified. Up till then I had seen more of Parnell than Davitt had and
had enjoyed his full confidence. I had, therefore, come to the
conclusion, from my conversations with him, that he was of far more
service to the Irish cause as he was than if he had actually joined the
revolutionary movement. I am not surprised, therefore, at Parnell's
answer to Davitt: "No, I will never join any political secret society,
oath bound or otherwise. My belief is that useful things for our Cause
can be done in the British Parliament."
Nevertheless, I remember one public utterance of his which always struck
me as most statesmanlike. After a frank statement that he was in favour
of constitutional Home Rule, he, with equal frankness, declined to
subscribe to the entire finality of that solution of the Irish problem.
How, he asked, could he or any man put bounds to the progress of a
nation?
Seeing that Gladstone gave as one reason for the disestablishing of the
Irish Church "the intensity of Fenianism," so, in the same way, no one
recognised more than Parnell did that the existence of a physical force
movement was a strong argument for those engaged in the moral force
agitation. Therefore he was always anxious to conciliate and even
cultivate the advanced element. Of this I will here give one
illustration, out of many I could mention, and this in connection with
the custom of drinking what was called "the loyal toast," which at one
time used to be observed at some Home Rule celebrations. It is a matter
on which I have already explained my point of view.
On one occasion Mr. Parnell was invited by the Liverpool branches to a
St. Patrick's Day banquet at the Adelphi Hotel, where the drinking of
the "loyal" toast was part of the programme. With the rest of the
committee I met him at the railway station on his arrival, and came with
him to the hotel. After some conversation I was bidding him
"good-night!" when he asked, as he took my hand, "Where are you going,
Denvir? Are you not going to stay for the banquet?" I had not intended
mentioning it, but as he asked me so pointedly, I felt bound to tell him
my objection to being present. He did not attempt to controvert what I
said, but still asked where I was going. I then told him I had been
invited to a St. Patrick's celebration where the toast was _not_ to be
drunk, the gathering being one of our advanced Nationalist friends.
He at once said "I should like to go there." I told him I was sure they
would be delighted to see him, and that, as theirs was a dance, and it
would be kept up pretty late, I would come back for him after the
banquet, and take him to the other celebration. Our friends were well
pleased at his wish to attend, and asked me to go back and bring him to
where a hearty _cead mile failte_ awaited him. In due time I brought him
over, and they gave him an enthusiastic reception, he being quite as
delighted to be present as they were to receive him, and they were
still more pleased when he addressed a few words to them.
But that was as far as Parnell would go, and his answer to Davitt that
day at St. Helens pretty well indicated the course he intended to pursue
in connection with the cause of Ireland.
Indeed, it is on record that in later years Michael Davitt altered his
own view to such an extent that he would no longer have made that
proposition to Parnell.
There was no man whose regard I more valued than that of Michael Davitt.
Amongst all the vicissitudes of Irish politics our friendship was an
unbroken one. He was little more than a boy when I first met him at a
small gathering to which none but the initiated were admitted. From the
first I was strongly drawn towards that tall, dark-complexioned,
bright-eyed, modest youth, with his typical Celtic face and figure. He
was in company with Arthur Forrester, who was a fluent speaker and
writer, and who on this occasion did most of the talking, Davitt only
throwing in some shrewd remark from time to time. We know since that he
had in him the natural gift of oratory, though it was not that so much
as other qualities which gave him the commanding position in Irish
politics which he afterwards reached.
He had then spent several of the best years of his life in penal
servitude for his connection with the physical force movement. Thinking
long and hard in the solitude of his prison cell, Davitt resolved that
the first vital need of Ireland was to plant firmly in the soil of
Ireland the people who were being uprooted--in other words, the land
system must be changed.
The result of his convictions was the formation of the Irish National
Land League, which dated its birth from the great meeting projected by
Davitt and held at Irishtown in April, 1879. Mr. Parnell was elected
President of the new organisation, Mr. Patrick Egan treasurer, and
Michael Davitt was one of the secretaries. He has been justly called the
"Father" of the Land League.
One of the earliest acts of the Land League was to endeavour to stop the
tide of emigration from Ireland. In this connection, as certain
emigration schemes had been set on foot in England, a branch of the
League was founded in Liverpool at my request by Parnell and Davitt.
In consequence of the prevailing distress and impending famine, Mr.
Parnell was asked by the Irish National League to go to America to get
the assistance of our people there, and Mr. John Dillon was asked to
accompany him.
Though there was little done by the Government to relieve the distress,
the Irish people could always get coercion without stint, and Messrs.
Davitt, Daly and Killen were arrested for "seditious" speeches in
connection with the Land League agitation.
To protest against this, Mr. Parnell, previous to his departure for
America, attended a great open-air demonstration in Liverpool. The
gathering was held in the open space in front of St. George's Hall, and
it was computed that about 50,000 people were present. When the meeting
was publicly announced, there was a proclamation from the Orange
Society, calling upon the brethren to put down the "Seditious
gathering." Upon this our committee took the precaution of enrolling
stalwart "stewards" to preserve order. Among those who offered their
services were a large number of the Irish Volunteer Corps, under the
command of Sergeant James MacDonnell, a County Down man of fine
proportions and shrewd brain. To him was entrusted the direction of the
whole body of our men on the day of the meeting. The advanced party also
gave their services, and non-commissioned officers and men of the other
volunteer corps besides the Irish, skilled in military movements, gave
valuable help. Round the platform were a select body of nearly a
thousand men, many of them carrying revolvers in their pockets, ready
for action.
The Orange body must have heard of our elaborate preparations, and
finding "discretion the better part of valour," they countermanded their
proclamation to break up the meeting.
The authorities of the town made full preparations to cope with possible
disturbances, and inside St. George's Hall they had, carefully kept out
of view, a large body of the town police, armed with revolvers in
addition to their batons. In a window of the North Western Hotel,
overlooking the meeting, was the chief constable, and with him were
magistrates, prepared to read the Riot Act if necessary.
It was arranged that as I was at that time probably the best known man
in the Irish body in Liverpool, I should be stationed on a prominent
part of the platform, which consisted of two lorries, in view of all,
and alongside me, our general, Sergeant MacDonnell. As showing how well
in hand was that immense body of people it was remarked that when the
carriage of Dr. John Bligh, whose guest Mr. Parnell was, drew up in the
street, facing the platform, and when I made a motion with both hands,
to show where a passage was to be made for Mr. Parnell from the street
to the platform, how quickly and accurately the opening was made in that
dense and apparently impenetrable body of people.
In Ireland, at this time, men were being prosecuted for what were termed
"seditious" speeches. When Mr. Parnell stood up to speak he stepped upon
a chair, that he might be the better seen, and said "I am going to make
a seditious speech." A strong motion was passed at this meeting
condemnatory of coercion in Ireland. On the same evening a great
demonstration was held in the League Hall.
The authorities must have considered the St. George's Hall meeting a
very serious business, and it was evidently made note of by the police
for use afterwards.
At the "_Times_ Forgeries Commission," Mr. Parnell was questioned about
this gathering, and about several on the platform who were mentioned by
name. Asked if this one or that one were connected with the Fenian
movement, he generally answered he did not think so. When my name was
put to him by the Attorney-General (now the Lord Chief Justice), who was
cross-examining him, he replied "He might have been."
In a short time after the Liverpool demonstration Messrs. Parnell and
Dillon went to America, as had been arranged. They were everywhere
received with enthusiasm, and obtained sympathy and substantial help as
the ambassadors of Ireland.