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| PARNELL'S GRAVE, GLASNEVIN CEMETERY, DUBLIN. - The final resting place of the renowned Irish leader is indicated by the tall, dark cross, which rises sole and solemn from a parterre of wreaths laid upon the green mound that covers the patriot, by loving Irish hearts and hands. Charles Stewart Parnell, born in Wicklow in 1846, of an American-Irish mother, and of a father who was the son of an Irish patriot, was educated in England. His maternal grandfather, after whom he was called, was Commodore Charles Stewart, of the American navy, one of the most brilliant sea warriors of the struggle of 1812. Parnell, himself, was educated in England and was a Protestant in creed, like Grattan, Emmet, and Smith O'Brien. He was first attracted to Irish politics by the persecution of the Fenian prisoners in British jails. He was elected to Parliament from Meath, in 1875 and, within four years, became the leader of the Irish people, displacing Isaac Butt. His obstructive tactics made him a power in the House of Commons, and he forced concession after concession from England. He finally compiled Gladstone to bring in the Home Rule bill of 1886, the greatest moral triumph achieved by any Irishman over English prejudice, except that gained by O'Connell in 1829. The moral lapse which caused his fall is too painfully remembered to need particular mention. He died of a broken heart on October 7, 1891. Ireland never had a truer champion. |
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