John Mitchel - Early Politics

Early Politics

According to his biographer William Dillon, Banbridge at this time was in an Orange constituency, and the Orangemen liked to "walk" to their assemblies, to commemorate important historical anniversaries. On their return homeward in the evenings some of them would pass through Catholic neighbourhoods, and "stop at the doors of Catholic homes to play party tunes". This would lead to confrontation, and would often end in the wrecking of houses, beatings or even killings, on both sides. John Mitchel was often employed by the Catholics in the legal proceedings arising out of these affrays. Dillon suggests that it was having seen how these cases were dealt with by magistrates, many of whom were Orangemen themselves, that instilled in him a "hatred of injustice", at a time when he was taking a keen interest in politics. Until his marriage, John Mitchel had by and large taken his politics from his father, who according to Dillon states had "begun to comprehend the degradation of his countrymen". Soon after the granting of Catholic emancipation in 1829, it was decided by the "popular party" to run a Catholic candidate for Newry, then regarded as a stronghold of the ascendancy party, which resented "so insolent a proceeding on the part of the Catholics". Many members of the Rev. Mitchel's congregation took an active part in the elections on the side of the ascendancy, and pushed for the Rev. Mitchel to do same, which he resolutely refused to do. Because of this he was nicknamed "Papist Mitchel."

Further evidence of John's political development is found in a letter of October 1842, to his friend John Martin, responding to Martin's sending him a copy of The Nation: "I think The Nation will do very well"; and again in October, on the arrival of 20,000 additional troops in Ireland: "How do you think the country will take all this?" he asks, "I think I know how it ought to take it; but if I put it on paper, you might inform the Attorney-General, and get me arrested."

On Mitchel's frequent trips to Dublin, he came in contact with the Repeal members who gathered about the office of The Nation (later to be known as Young Ireland) and in the spring of 1843, Mitchel joined the Repeal Association and began to contribute to The Nation. He publicised a pamphlet by his uncle, Mr Haslet, Mayor of Derry, on the estates of the London Societies in Ulster, wrote a leading article entitled "Convicted Criminals", and contributed half of an article on "Anti-Irish Catholics", the first part of which was written by Thomas Davis. In "Convicted Criminals", published in The Nation on 2 March 1844, Mitchel, responding to a complaint by an English Member of Parliament, Busfield Ferrand, that a "convicted conspirator" (Daniel O'Connell) had been cheered in the House of Commons, wrote: "History has some examples of convicted 'conspirators' who were not altogether disreputable characters. Conspirators whose memory all good men revere, and whose conviction is the very thing that has advanced their principles and made their names immortal. Christ was a convicted conspirator… The Son of God was crucified between two thieves, and those who passed by, among whom was some progenitor of Busfield Ferrand, reviled Him, wagging their heads. His degradation and abasement were, in the eyes of those Ferrands, complete. He was a convicted conspirator… And now behold that criminal is the Saviour of the world. Ah! Mr Busfield Ferrand, those 'partial juries' and valiant Chief Justices' are powerful indeed, but not all-powerful. They positively cannot turn innocence into guilt; and irrespective of all the Sheriffs, Judges and special panels… the essence of crime and virtue is absolutely out of the jurisdiction of the courts of law." It was with Davis's encouragement that Mitchel wrote his first book, Life of Hugh O'Neill, which Davis never got to see published. Thomas Davis died on 16 September 1845, of scarlet fever. His death was entirely unexpected and caused dismay among his friends. William Dillon (Mitchel's biographer) believed that it was immediately after the publication of "Hugh O'Neill" that Duffy proposed that he join the staff of the The Nation, a proposal "which he said, had the effect of "changing the whole course" of John Mitchel's life. According to Dillon, from that time forward, John Mitchel's life was that of a public man, and the next two and a half years of his life formed "part of the history of Ireland."