Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers Rare Books & Collectors' Sale December 9th & 10th, 2020

183 fonsiemealy.ie fm All contents and images are subject to copyright 1005 “The Party Procession Hero” [Political Interest] Belfast Elections Cartoons, [Johnston (Wm.)] a Portfolio of numerous satirical caricature Prints relating to the “Belfast Elections of 1868,” each of variant sizes, as a collection, w.a.f. (1) Note: The redoubtable William Johnston [1829-1902] of Ballykillben [near Downpatrick, Co. Down] was a legend in his own lifetime.. an Orange and Protestant folk hero second only to that other William of ‘glorious, pious and immortal memory’. He led the campaign against the Part Processions Act. It was his opposition to this legislation which was to make William Johnston of Ballykillbeg a folk hero, [see Bangor and No Surrender and references there.] Johnston was elected M.P. in 1868. The law was repealed in 1872. After some time away from Commons he was reelected in 1885 and remained until his death. He opposed Gladsonte’s Home Rule bills (source: Ian Mc Shane, “William Johnston of Ballykillbeg” on OrangeNet site) - BS. The radial streak in the Orange Society’s activity was represented by William Johnston of Ballykilbeg House, the Grand Master of County Down, who in March 1868, was sentenced to a month’s imprisonment for marching, in de fi ance of the Party Processions Act, from Newtownards to Bangor at the head of a crowd of twenty to thirty thousand with beating drums, orange fl ags and a band playing the “Protestant Boys” and other provocative tunes. € 400 - 500 1006 The Coercion Bill of 1846: A folio album of newscuttings, of Reports etc., mainly from the ‘Morning Chronicle,’ recording debates in the Lords and Commons on the Coercion (Ireland) Bill between 23 Feb. 1846 to May 5th, approx. 140pp + index. As an Album, w.a.f. Good. (1) * This Bill - one of many introduced to grant the government ‘Special Powers’ as a solution to Irish ‘unrest’ - was proposed by the Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel in response to the outbreak of the Great Famine. Put to a vote in the Commons on 15th May, it was defeated by 292 votes to 219. This, and the refusal of this own party to support Peel’s proposed repeal of the Corn Laws (passed by the Commons on the same day), led to Peel’s retirement as Prime Minister on 29 June, 1846. € 200 - 300 1007 Proceedings in the Libel Case that led to the Parnell Commission, 1888 Folio Volume (blue book) entitled: “Special Commission 1888. Pleadings and Proceedings in the Trial O’Donnell v Walter, together with the Times articles or reprints alluded to in the pleadings in the said action.” 256 pp. Frank Hugh O’Donnell (1846-1916) - writer, journalist and politician - was one of the most active and outspoken members of the Home Rule Party. He was brie fl y (1874) M.P. for Galway, then M.P. for Dungarvan from 1877 until the constituency was abolished in 1885. A pioneer of the tactic of obstruction in the House of Commons, he was also at loggerheads with Parnell. In 1888 he took a libel action against John Walter and George EdwardWright, proprietor and printer of the Times , over its series “Parnellism and Crime”. Although the case was lost, it resulted in the establishment of the Parnell Commission, which exonerated Parnell from having condoned the Phoenix Park Murders, ptd. blue wrappers, as is, w.a.f. (1) € 150 - 200 1008 The Uncrowned King of Ireland Parnell (Charles Stewart) a fi ne quality head and shoulders Cabinet Photograph, printed “Mr. Parnell M.P.,” mounted on card. As a photograph, w.a.f. (1) € 200 - 300 1009 Vanity Fair: Anti-Rent, A scarce coloured cartoon of Charles Stewart Parnell, M.P., for Sept. 11th, 1880, approx. 38cms x 26cms (15” x 10”) in hogarth frame. (1) € 150 - 200