At the adjourned meeting next day, the Secretary read a letter from Mr.
Charles Gavan Duffy, the proprietor of the _Nation_ newspaper. That
journal had been charged by several members of the Association with
inciting the people to overthrow English rule in Ireland by armed force.
Mr. Duffy's letter was written to explain and defend the articles of the
_Nation_, which were said to have such a tendency. It must be admitted
that, in his earlier days of agitation, O'Connell did not seem to hold
the single-drop-of-blood theory; on the contrary, he often threatened
England, at least indirectly, with the physical strength of the Irish
millions. The Young Ireland party, in defending themselves, referred to
this, but Mr. John O'Connell explained in his speech of the previous
day, that all those allusions to physical force pointed but to a single
case in which it could be used--"the resistance of aggression, and
defence of right." The Liberator himself, in the letter quoted above,
also fully admits this one case, when he says it is to be borne in mind
that those peaceable doctrines leave untouched the right of defence
against illegal attack, or unconstitutional violence.
Pages:
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260