The Life Of Charles Stewart Parnell Vol - I

50 CHARLES STEWART PAHNELL [1869
by side in honour of the Manchester martyrs. < The Dublin procession,' says Mr. A. M. Sullivan, himself a persistent opponent of Fenianisni, ' was a marvellous display. The day was cold, wet, and gloomy, yet it was computed that 150,000 persons participated in the demonstration, 60,000 of them marching in a line over a route some three or four miles in length. As the three hearses, bearing the names of the executed men, passed through the streets, the multitudes that lined the streets fell on their knees, every head was bared, and not a sound was heard save the solemn notes of the "Dead March in Saul" from the bands, or the sobs that burst occasionally from the crowd. At the cemetery gate the procession formed into a vast assemblage, which was addressed by Mr. Martin in feeling and forcible language, expressive of the national sentiment on the Manchester executions. At the close once more all heads were bared, a prayer was offered, and the mourning thousands peacefully sought their homes.' To Englishmen these demonstrations were only a proof of Irish sympathy with crime. A policeman had been killed by a gang of Irish revolutionists, and Ireland went mad over the transaction. That was all that Englishmen saw in the Manchester celebrations. But Parnell, despite his English surroundings, caught the Irish feeling on the instant. ' It was no murder/ he said, then and afterwards. It was not the intention of Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien to kill Sergeant Brett. Their sole object was to rescue their comrades. And why not ? Was England to sit in judgment on Fenian-ism, or upon anything Irish ? The Irish were justified in overthrowing the English rule, if they could. The Fenians who rescued Kelly and Deasy had a better case than the English Government which punished them.