IRELAND AND THE CORONATION[1]
(1902)
Born in 1851; entered Parliament in 1876; became an organizer of the Home Rule Movement; adhered to Parnell during the break in the Nationalist party; succeeded John Dillon as head of the party when reorganized in 1900.
Gentlemen, the event which is being celebrated to-day in London is one of great historic significance and importance. The monarch of this mighty Empire is being crowned, and there are assembled in London representatives from all parts of the Empire to acclaim Edward VII. as the constitutional monarch of these realms. There is only one absentee—Ireland. Gentlemen, in Ireland Edward VII. is not a constitutional monarch. No English sovereign has been a constitutional monarch of Ireland since the Union, and to-day the Nationalist representatives of Ireland renew the protest—which has never been allowed to die for one hundred years—against the destruction of our Constitution and the usurpation of the government of our country by England.
Now, we claim that Ireland is not bound, morally or legally, by any laws which are not
- ↑ From a speech delivered in the City Hall, Dublin, August 9, 1902, while Edward VII. was being crowned in London. From a copy furnished for this collection by Mr. Redmond.
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