THE IRISH QUESTION UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN The person charging this material is responsible for its renewal or return to the library on or before the due date. The minimum fee for a lost item is $ 125 . 00 , $ 300.00 for bound journals. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. Please note: self-stick notes may result in torn pages and lift some inks. Renew via the Telephone Center at 217-333-8400, 846-262-1510 (toll-free) orcirclib@uiuc.edu. Renew online by choosing the My Account option at: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/catalog/ jgv 0 6 2006 T J5sE Y THE llSU QUESTION 4-^ AS VIEWED BY ONE 'NDRED EMINENT STATESMEN OF r.N. ND, IRELAND AND AMERICA. SKETCH " IRISH HISTORY. SPEECHES AND LE. 'S, IN FULL, OF GLADSTONE, . BLAINE, RANDALL, PARNELL, HENDRICK. SHERMAN, DAVITT, LOGAN, - AND MANY OTHERS. NEW YORK ; FORD’S NATIONAL LIBRARY, 17 Barclay Street. 1886. ADDRESS OF THE AMERICAN CONGRESS TO THE IRISH rEOPEE, ON THE EVE OF THE AMERICAN REVOITJTION. (See page THE' y I R I S H QU ESTrdNj’l AS VIEWED BY ONE HUNDRED EMINENT STATESMEN OF ENGLAND, IRELAND AND AMERICA. WITH A SKETCH OF IRISH HISTORY. THE SPEECHES AND LETTERS, IN FULL, GLADSTONE, PARNELL, DAVITT, OF BLAINE, HENDRICKl' LOGAN, RANDALL, SHERMAN, D/vvVES AND MANY OTHERS. "NEW YORK : FORD’S NATIONAL LIBRARY, 17 Barclay Street. 1886. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/irishquestionasvOOkill CONTENTS A Sketch Of Irish History. .... 3-44 The Story of the Anglo-Irish Union. . . 47-56 ^ Address of the Contineni al Congress to the Irish People. . . . . . • 57"59 Congratulatory Address of the Irish Nation. 60-71 .etters and Opinions of Eminent Americans ON the Irish Question. . . . . 75-185 Speech of Hon. James G. Blaine on the Irish Question. . ..... Impeachment of English Rule in Ireland, by Hon. W. E. Gladstone. Speech of Charles Stewart Parnell on Home Rule. ....... 189-199 203-259' 263-282 Speech of Hon. W. E. Gladstone. What Will Satisfy the Irish People, by Michael Davitt. ..... 285-308 311-316 i CONTENTS, A Sketch t5F Irish History. The Story of the Anglo-Irish Union. • ^-44 , • ^ 47-56: Address of the Contineni al Congress to the '1? Irish People. . . . . . . 57-59 Congratulatory Address, of the Irish Nation. "'60-71, Letters and Opinions of Eminent Americans ON THE Irish Question. . . . . 75-185 Speech of Hon. James G. Blaine on the Irish Question. 189-199 Impeachment of English Rule in Ireland, by Hon. W. E. Gladstone. . . . 203-259-^ Speech of Charles Stewart Parnell on Home Rule. . . . . . . . 263-282 Speech of Hon. W. E. Gladstone. . . . , ^5.3084 What Will Satisfy the Irish People, by ' Michael Davitt. . . ! . ^ . 3ii-3i6,v 101 I 47 B . .. \ SKETCH OF IRISH HISTORY BY JAMES BRYCE KILLEN, LL.D. A SKETCH OF IRISH HISTORY BY JAMES BRYCE KILLEN, LL.D. - . ■ •¥= tM'. , ■ ' • f ■-.'■v -A.-v- ■ v>- ’"*/V THE STORY OF IRELAND. HER TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. I RELAND and England have been more or less politically connected since the year 1169, yet Ireland and England are not united. So far from being united, the history of the relations between them up to the present has been, in some form or other, one of perpetual struggle — of unscrupu- lous aggression on the one hand, and of undeviating resist- ance on the other. After revolutions, social and political, which have taken away from Ireland everything distinctively Irish, her language, her laws, her native institutions, and r y repeated settlements of foreigners, have made her popu- 6: .ation more composite, perhaps, than that of any nation in Europe, Ireland and England are almost as little similar in sentiment, and perhaps, farther away from the chances of mutual friendship or confidence than they were when Strong- bow landed on the coast of Wexford more than 700 years ago. Spirit of English Government. History shows no indication that the feelings of England have materially changed towards the island which she loves to call “ sister,*' and history teaches us that it is a fixed idea in the British mind that Ireland was made for English pur- poses, and may be used as such altogether irrespective of Irish rights; in other words, to put it plainly, that the Irish- man has no rights which the Englishman is bound to respect, when those rights are supposed to interfere with his own interests, and that England is not bound to obey any obliga- V'lT r-.. -vl •;.> ..'flia !f * ^I3>i T ‘ Ma/^«»rs jrfj /-J.-' ■ • ■ '- :.i-: -',1^ ■ ■, :■.:»• > '::^'ivr.-U - V ' 1<> i l ■ •*' > ^ 4 ;^- ■■' ' ’ it- I ^ 'V {^aahv ' yi / ■fi; .'. '-V ^-' y i- - ■ ■ ■ ' ■■ ■-■>■' " aT.«^-;;.0'';t{/ t'H- .''ViliP liii ,.f. ' '' -'■ •'.i'^-iM ^ '*^4. ■.TiV y^<3,'.' ,c ;.;*;•'!»<■;“< * if '■■ '■ if . -;■ . c /'••- •- . ,3J‘ ■- mpO Ct"' h •'.-.<, ^,1 l'i< .1. \ ■ , , ^ _ ‘■.rji,’- •■I- .b'flrS iiit..; .' 'if " ^ -rr rfiVA V' - -Itt! ■ .uuliirt^‘''ri!i‘>4 ■■; ,•. I'ini ': '0 .(dl, .. V , ' ■, ‘ -fll / -*<^ r ;•■■•,...■«; r.'V-' -v ' 'i*'.; '■■: ■ '1 :■■' . •‘ '■ •'/-.‘j!..’ V: i'' ■* .'s »A ^ .„ ., ,•....- i. ',... . '■.' - ^ > ' i u '■..) -.-v ^ "<•■=< ■ ''l''^ . ., ,, ,••. .X-. -jj^Ujc. ii*; x:j:h(tsiou^iiiy^'^ I I i' ■ THE STORY OF IRELAND. HER TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. I RELAND and England have been more or less politically connected since the year 1169, Ireland and England are not united. So far from being united, the history of the relations between them up to the present has been, in some form or other, one of perpetual struggle — of unscrupu- lous aggression on the one hand, and of undeviating resist- ance on the other. After revolutions, social and political, which have taken away from Ireland everything distinctively Irish, her language, her laws, her native institutions, and |||py repeated settlements of foreigners, have made her popu- lation more composite, perhaps, than that of any nation in ■ Europe, Ireland and England are almost as little similar in I sentiment, and perhaps, farther away from the chances of mutual friendship or confidence than they were when Strong- bow landed on the coast of Wexford more than 700 years ago. Spirit of English Government. History shows no indication that the feelings of England have materially changed towards the island which she loves to call “ sister,’' and history teaches us that 'it is a fixed idea in the British mind that Ireland was made for English pur- poses, and may be used as such altogether irrespective of Irish rights; in other words, to put it plainly, that the Irish- man has no rights which the Englishman is bound to respect, when those rights are supposed to interfere with his own interests, and that England is not bound to obey any obliga- THE STORY OF IRELAND: ns, legal or moral, she may be under to Ireland. More- over, history informs us that fear, or a prudence very much^ resembling it, is the controlling force in English council where Ireland is concerned, and that no privilege has ever been conceded her except as the outcome of terror in some shape or other. Ireland, moreover, has been told over and over again, that she must be content with whatever England may be pleased to give her, and not only content but grate- ful; and as Ireland has been neither content nor grateful, force has been employed to make her so, and would still be employed so far as there is anything in recent history to convince us to the contrary, were it not that force, as an instrument of Government, has been found to be useless^or impossible. A recollection of these facts will furnish the key to many peculiarities of English policy in Ireland. "i A Chequered History. The reader who ventures upon the study of Irish History must prepare himself for many a shudder. It is difficult indeed, to go through some portions of Ireland’s melan 3 choly volume, without being at times arlmost ashamed of one’s humanity, or in danger of losing one’s faith in an overruling providence, so terrible are the horrors it records, and so unlike the men made in the image of God are the perpetrators. But out of evil comes good, as from the grave filled with corruption and death spring fairest flowers. The actors in the drama of the world’s wrongs have given some of its brightest pages to the Bible of Humanity. From the history of human misery and error, we pass on to the history of the benevolence which relieved them, and in the history of human oppression we read the thrilling records of the patriot and the hero. So in a special manner has it been in Ireland for the last 700 years. In no country has human nature played so many and diverse parts, divine and diabolical by turns, or showed so conspicuously its worse IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS, 5 and its better sides. There have raged passions that devils would disown, and there too have shone virtues which would have brightened the moral beauty of the angels. It is a pitiable history, a glorious history, a history of human strength and human weakness, of human wickedness and human devotedness, of noble virtues and of unequalled baseness, — a history for devils to gloat over and for gods to admire; for the world to wonder at, and for every one who would learn something of the incredible possibilities of human nature for good or evil, to study. Prejudice and Slander. People sit down to the history of other countries with minds unbiassed generally, prepared to accept or fairly weigh the statements of the historian, but the history of Ireland has seldom been so fortunate. To it they not unfrequently come with minds so loaded with prejudice and overrun with pre- possessions, or perverted with partisan feeling, that they are ■Usually inclined to qualify, if not quite repudiate, any state- rments, however well authenticated, which may conflict with their previous opinions. To American readers these remarks may seem superfluous, but the American mind has not quite escaped the operation of the malignant influences which have been so long at work in the endeavor to defame and disfigure everything Irish. Where England fails to conquer she never fails to malign, for she wishes to find an excuse for the cruelty and injustice with which she invariably treats those whom she assails, in the vileness and perversity of her victims. She has always acted in this way towards the Irish, and she acted similarly towards the Americans during the time of the Revolutionary war, when she trumpeted them through her press and parliament as a mob of disorderly ruffians, in terms very much the same as those which she is in the habit of using in her dealings with Ireland. People have been told, for instance, that the history of Ireland was 6 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND, only a history of barbarism and dissension, and the appre- ciative genius of the model Briton never failed to refer to the fable of the Kilkenny cats in corroboration of his state- ment. It has even been said that the destiny of Ireland was foreshadowed in its very name. It was truly a land of anger and fierce resentment. Moreover it should not be forgot, it was remarked, that its ancient name of “ Erin ” was syn- onymous with the Greek word for strife. And the prophetic spirit of the Romans called it “ Hibernia,*’ because they knew that men would never have rest there from the winter- like storms of war and the cruel gusts of domestic contention. By a continuance of these and other such silly and mali- cious slanders the world, or a great portion of it, was led to believe that England was really the benefactor she every- where claims to be, and that the Irish were an extremely obtuse and ungrateful people indeed, in not recognizing the benevolent wisdom which saved them from themselves, and prevented them, fools, savages, or madmen that they were, from cutting each other’s throats, or dashing out theM brains against the round towers. These were the libels nov simply of prejudice and vanity, but the libels of a calculating selfishness, which vilified those it victimized that it might the more easily effect its purposes and turn away the sym- pathy which the generosity of mankind seldom refuses to the oppressed. Not many years ago it was no uncommon thing to hear a certain class of Irishmen apologize when obliged to refer to the history of Ireland, as though the thing were too insig- nificant to be spoken of; or refer to it only for the purpose of getting off some flippant jest for the amusement of an anti-Irish audience. That the stolid and majestic English- man should sneer, as sneer he often did, at any allusion to what he called the petty annals of a conquered country, was not so remarkable, when we remember that the blun- ders of statesmen who undertook to govern Ireland, and %' § S’, ■• •• • ' ' ‘ * ' THE STOR Y OF IRELAND. ^[pniy a history of barbarism and dissension, and the appre- il^ciative genius of the model Briton never failed to refer to p^Cthe fable of the Kilkenny cats in corroboration of his state- lament, It has even been said that the destiny of Ireland was ^^foreshadowed in its very name. It was truly a land of anger and fierce resentment. Moreover it should not he forgot, ^^"it was remarked, that its ancient name of Erin ** was syn- onymous with the Greek word for strife. And the prophetic spirit of the Romans called it “ Hibernia,** because they knew that men would never have rest there from the winter- like storms of war and the cruel gusts of domestic contention. ^ By a continuance of these and other such silly and mali- cious slanders the world, or a great portion of it, was led to ' believe that England was really the benefactor she every- : where claims to be, and that the Irish were an extremely V obtuse and ungrateful people indeed, in not recognizing the benevolent wisdom which saved them from themselves, and prevented them, fools, savages, or madmen that they were, from cutting each other*s throats, or dashing out thei. ^ brains against the round towers. These were the libels not simply of prejudice and vanity, but the libels of a calculating selfishness, which vilified those it victimized that it might the more easily effect its purposes and turn away the sym- pathy which the generosity of mankind seldom refuses to the-oppressed. Not many years ago it was no uncommon thing to hear a : \ certain class of Irishmen apologize when oblige'd to refer to the history of Ireland, as though the thing were too insig- nificant to be spoken of; or refer to it only for the purpose of getting off some flippant jest for the amusement of an anti-Irish audience. That the stolid and majestic English- man should sneer, as sneer he often did, at any allusion to what he called the petty annals of a conquered country, was not so remarkable, when we remember that the blun- ders of statesmen who undertook to govern Ireland, and II^jSLAND^S trials and triumphs. who, perhaps, knew something of the history of Genghis,^ B Khan and the states of Barbary, when obliged to refer to the history of the people for whom they presumed to legi^;;^ late, formed one pf the prominent and most entertaining ^ features of Irish proceedings in the House of Commons, ; An Heroic History. Yet Ireland has a history — a history of which a people even more sensitively alive to all that concerns their coun- try's honor than those of Ireland might be proud, one that stretches far back towards the early limits of time, with its heroic age as wonderful as that of Greece, sung by bards almost Homeric in their grandeur; with its succeeding periods of peace, and progress, and literary eminence, and in the sorrowful latter days, during the long lapse of struggle and suffering and humiliation which followed the Anglo- Norman invasion, instances of patriotism and lofty patience, which for simple and unselfish nobleness the annals of no other nation can surpass. Sad though much of it be, the lessons which it teaches must be learned by every one who wishes to form a correct idea of the anomalies and difficul- ties which meet the observer in Irish society. History does not end with the events it records; the past lives in the present through the influences it has produced. This is especially the case in Ireland, for the Irish character is conservative to a romantic degree of the customs and recol- lections of the past, and the political events of her history have retarded that social advancement which is best able to eradicate such associations by the introduction of new habits and ideas. Moreover, in the record of its tragedies and trials and in the very presence almost of that triumph which is sure ultimately and soon to crown the efforts of the Irish people, it teaches a lesson to the tyrant as well as to those struggling to be free, for it tells the one that, however strong he may think himself to be, that the strength of human love i IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS, 1 who, perhaps, knew something of the history of Genghis Khan and the states of Barbary, when obliged to refer to the history of the people for whom they presumed to legis- late, formed one of the prominent and most entertaining features of Irish proceedings in the House of Commons. An Heroic History. Yet Ireland has a history — a history of which a people even more sensitively alive to all that concerns their coun- try's honor than those of Ireland might be proud, one that stretches far back towards the early limits of time, with its heroic age as wonderful as that of Greece, sung by bards almost Homeric in their grandeur; with its succeeding periods of peace, and progress, and literary eminence, and in the sorrowful latter days, during the long lapse of struggle and suffering and humiliation which followed the Anglo- Norman invasion, instances of patriotism and lofty patience, which for simple and unselfish nobleness the annals of no other nation can surpass. Sad though much of it be, the lessons which it teaches must be learned by every one who wishes to form a correct idea of the anomalies and difficul- ties which meet the observer in Irish society. History does not end with the events it records; the past lives in the present through the influences it has produced. This is especially the case in Ireland, for the Irish character is conservative to a romantic degree of the customs and recol- lections of the past, and the political events of her history have retarded that social advancement which is best able to eradicate such associations by the introduction of new habits and ideas. Moreover, in the record of its tragedies and trials and in the very presence almost of that triumph which is sure ultimately and soon to crown the efforts of the Irish people, it teaches a lesson to the tyrant as well as to those struggling to be free, for it tells the one that, however strong he may think himself to be, that the strength of human love 8 THE STORY OF IRELAND. and human hope is greater than he is; and it tells the other, that he who loves bravely and hopes boldly in a good cause, should never feel the humiliation of defeat until he has de- clared his unworthiness to maintain the struggle by his fear or by his desertion. Long indeed was it sought to teach Ireland the wisdom of acknowledging her weakness and the policy of sitting down in the ashes of a quiet self-abasement. With noble persistence, even in moments of deepest agony and prostration, Ireland has refused to do so. She has re- fused to bring the history of her long hopes to a conclusion so ignominious. Her heart, her voice, her hand still keep up the indignant war against the injustice of the past, and her pale brow, tinted with the flush of coming triumph still gleams with the hopes which crowned her of old. In the presence of God and before the world — the world which has at last come to know her, and listen to her voice — she still stands unconquered, with the scars of 700 years’ struggle upon her breast, the oldest nationality in Europe, the em- blem of love that cannot die, of hopes that cannot be broken. Who are the Irish People? The question may seem unnecessary, and so it would be, were it not for the attempts frequently made, with the malig- nant object of exciting the animosity of Englishmen against them, as against people of a race so entirely different from themselves as to justify any suspicion they might entertain of them, or excuse any treatment they might choose to in- flict upon them. Some years ago a writer in a leading London journal declared that the Fenian Brotherhood in- tended to establish in Ireland a “ purely Celtic Republic,” with a constitution modelled on that which prevailed in the days of ]>rian Boru. The statement is too ridiculous to re- quire refutation, but it is not more ridiculous or more un- founded than many made by “ enlightened ” English writers about Ireland. Speaking loosely, we call the Irish “ Celtic ” II^ELAND^S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS, 9 because the Celtic element lies at the foundation of their ex- istence, but they are perhaps, very little more Celtic than the English themselves. The Normans from time to time made a considerable settlement in the country, but even before the invasion of the Normans, there was a large Danish element in the island, which by degrees sank into the mass of the population. Since Strongbow's time there have been repeated immigrations from England, Wales, Scotland, and elsewhere, all of which, with the exception of a portion of the Scotch element in Ulster, rapidly coalesced with the existing population. It would be as impossible to find a pure Celt in Ireland as it would be to find a pure Frank in France. The people of Wexford are almost exclusively of Welsh or English extraction. Tipperary, the most Irish county in Ireland, has not a man among its population who is so much as one third a Celt. Testimony and tradition^ however, show that the Ancient Irish were of Phoenician origin; that they left their home in the East many centuries before Christ, and that trading relations were kept up be- tween Ireland and Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia, until the destruction of that city by Alexander the Great. The Phoenician theory, moreover, is strangely corroborated by the fact that a line in a play of the Roman dramatist, Plautus, supposed to be in the Carthaginian tongue, and indeed the only relic or trace of it remaining, is said to bear a strong resemblance to the Irish, if not actually to belong to that language. As Carthage was a Phoenician colony it of course spoke the language of the mother Country. Ancient Ireland. Be that as it may, however, we now know upon the best historical evidence that Ireland is a land of great antiquity, and of wonderful civilization at a time beyond which, to use the legal phrase, “the memory of man runneth not to the contrary.” Before Rome had ceased to be a village, even be- 10 THE STORY OF IRELAND. fore Greece had given any of her glory to the world, Ireland was a well-ordered state, with all the spirit and leading lineaments of civilization. No doubt much of what has been said and sung of these far-off times may be mythical, but there is a foundation for every myth, and the stories which have come down to us are not more mythical than those of ancient Greece, while the Irish myth is free from the moral deformities which spoil the beauty of so many of the Greek legends. But a few years ago such statements as these were almost sure to be met with a sneer. They were put down as the fanciful vagaries of a vain and morbidly imaginative people. What audacity to speak of Ireland as an inhabited island before Britain was ever heard of, and as having civilization when the predecessors of those who rule the waves were only painted savages ! Evidence, however, is now at hand which was long lost to the world to back up these assertions. By the noble labors of the late Professors O’Curry and O’Donovan some of the piles of Irish MSS. which lie mouldering on the shelves of Continental libraries, deposited there by loving hands when there was no place for them in Ireland, have been brought to light, and translated into English. What and how great the Ancient Irish were may be gathered from these records. Their system of Government and social institutions as described to us bear, not merely the marks of civilization but of refinement. The accomplishments of times long posterior were antici- pated. Chivalry in its purest aspects was an established institution, and literature was paid the honor for centtiries denied it in the east of Europe, in the fact that the filea or learned man was socially only second in rank to the sover- eign. "J'he wonderful relics dug up from bogs, and other such places, to be seen in the “gold-room” of the Irish Academy in Dublin, attest their proficiency in the higher kinds of artistic workmanship. But it is to their laws that we must look for the noblest evidences of their social and IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 11 political progress. A nation's laws are always the surest index to its mental and moral, more, perhaps, than to its material advancement. They represent its experience and wisdom, besides reflecting the condition of the society and the temper of its inhabitants. No people suddenly become legislators, and the existence of a code of laws in any nation is pretty good evidence of its antiquity. Besides proving the antiquity of the people by whom they were made, the laws of Ancient Ireland are instinct with a wis- dom and a fine sense of equity which indicate a highly- matured and discriminating as well as beneficent intelli- gence on the part of the legislators. The poor and those engaged in intellectual pursuits were generously provided for. Hospitality was enjoined as a duty, and institutions for the entertainment of strangers and travellers were supported at the public expense. Women, whether married or single, were protected in the enjoyment of their property and natural liberty to the fullest extent. It may seem very strange that the most recent reforms in England for the protection of the former from the avarice or extravagance of their husbands, — reforms which it took the Lord Chancellor and the legislature more than two centuries of agitation to accomplish, — are almost an exact reproduction of laws in force in Ireland 2000 years ago. There was no land ques- tion in those days, for there were no landlords. The land really belonged to the people by a system which prevented absolute or permanent individual ownership, and if Mr. Henry George had been living in the days of Ollam Fodhla, Ireland's great lawgiver, his scheme for land nationalization would never have been propounded, for in its essential ele- ments it was in existence already.* * Under the penal laws, passed in the reigns of William III. and Queen Anne, which Dr. Johnston characterized as worse than the ten Pagan persecutions. Catholics or “ Papists, ” as they are called in the Statutes, were prohibited : 12 THE STORY OF IRELAND. Christianity was introduced into Ireland in the latter part of the fifth century by St. Patrick, and the message was received with gladness and characteristic enthusiasm. With it came also literature, in a new and higher form, and the people who had been so easily made subject to religion be- came at once the captives of learning. For the next three centuries, Ireland, to use the sentiment, if not the precise words of Dr. Johnson, was the nursery of saints, of philoso- phers and of scholars. Nor did she keep her learning to herself. Her missionaries traversed the darkest parts of heathen Europe, planting the cross wherever they went, while her scholars were found and welcomed alike in the halls of universities and in the courts of princes. This was the true era of Ireland's glory. Of the Irish of this period it may be truly said that they left their mark on the history and institutions of the world, not by deeds of war, blood- shed, or plunder, but in the conquests of learning over ig- norance and of religion over spiritual darkness. 1. From acting as teachers or ushers in any school. 2. From sending their children, or any child, abroad to be educated in a Catholic school; and any one sending money for maintainence of said child or children was thereby prevented from bringing any action in a court of law; from being guardian, administrator, or executor of anyone; from being capable of receiving any legacy or deed of gift, besides for- feiting all his real and personal estates for life. 3. From joining any of the learned professions. 4. From being or voting for members of Parliament or members of municipal corporations. 5. From serving on grand juries, and in certain cases petty juries. 6. From carrying or keeping arms. 7. From succeeding to the property of Protestant relations. 8. From purchasing any landed estates, or rents, or profits arising out of land or any other lease for any term exceeding 31 years, in which the rent should be at least one-third of the improved annual value; and any lYotestant who “ discovered” a breach of this clause became enti- tled to the interest in the lease. 9. l^Vom being the owner of a horse, colt, or other such animal over the value of ;^5. IRELANDS TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 13 The Danish Scourge. The learning and civilization which had been for so many years the glory of Ireland, and the enlightener of Continental Europe, were almost entirely swept away by the invasion of the Danes, who loosed themselves like wolves upon the island in the early part of the ninth century. For 200 years they kept it in perpetual turmoil, robbing and spoiling wherever they went, and spoiling more than they robbed, sacking monasteries and turning towns into ruins, until, after innumerable conflicts with the Irish, they were finally overthrown by the combined forces of the latter under Brian Boru, at Clontarf, near Dublin, on the Good Friday of a.d. 1014. The Anglo-Normans. They were followed by what proved to be a greater scourge, the Norman English, who landed in Wexford in 1169. Henceforth in Ireland we have to write the history of two nations, the history of the Norman invader and that Further, Protestants were forbidden to marry Catholics, and any Pro- testant doing so was disabled from voting or sitting in either House of Parliament. Bribes were also given to such of the Catholic clergy as should conform to the Protestant religion — to a priest ;^30, and to others of higher de- gree accordingly. “ Priest-hunting” became quite a lucrative occupa- tion in the latter part of Queen Anne’s reign, and was largely followed, though it is admitted but to a small extent by Irish Protestants. The chief actors in this infamous business were Jews, or Jews who pretended to have been converted that they might the more readily secure the re- wards offered in each case. For discovering a bishop exercising ecclesi- astical functions, the informer received a reward of £^o\ for any secular clergyman, not duly registered, £10^ and for a monk or friar acting as tutor or school-teacher, ;^io. For the first offence by a bishop or priest the penalty was banishment, for the second, death. These laws continued in full force for nearly a century, and can hardly be said to have been finally abolished until the passing of the Act for the Dis-establishment of the Anglican Church in Ireland in 1866. 14 THE STORY OF IRELAND. of the Celt whom he long endeavored to conquer. The one was proud, domineering and unscrupulous; the other was equally proud, but was fonder of pleasure than of power, and was less practised in the artifices and cunning of the age. The one wanted to obtain authority and riches; the other wished to preserve his freedom and his hereditary possessions. The one had discipline, order, organization, on his side; the other had valor, and a nature well adapted for war, but his forces were scattered, his equipments were few, and the spirit of his nationality was jealous and provin- cial. The one was united by the common aim of plunder or dominion; the other, though often distracted by the mul- titude of his personal feuds, and seemingly unmindful that his political obligations extended bejond the bounds of his own principality, never for a moment forgot that he was one with the rest of Ireland, in similarity of race, and in the duty of allegiance to the Ardregh or supreme monarch of the country. Such were the two parties whose rivalry early began to deluge the fields of Ireland with blood, and to sow a harvest of bitterness throughout the ages. Centuries have passed away since Strongbow landed on the coast of Wexford — and has the contest ceased ? It is even now going on. Disguised under the forms and feelings of the age, the same dispute between Celt and Norman has been continually reappear- ing. There is still an Irish and an English party in Ire- land: an Irish party whose national and ruling ideas are Ireland; an English party, such as that party has always been in Ireland, which cares nothing for Ireland and little for England, except so far as she may assist them in main- taining a position of social and political ascendancy Origin of the Land Question. Strongbow was followed in 1171 by Henry II., who arrived with the ostensible object of introducing “ Civili- tie among the Irish, that is, of substituting English for IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS, 15 Irish customs, and of reforming the morals and manners of the people, which were alleged to be in a very deplora- ble condition. His method of doing so was princely in the extreme. With a view, it may be presumed, of re- moving from them the inducements to sin which the pos- session of property supplies, he made a sweeping confis- cation of their lands and goods, and generously bestowed them on his followers. Both people and chiefs very wick- edly objected to be converted in this manner; and for 400 years the sword of the English evangelizer was un- sparingly used to convince them of the error of their ways in refusing to accept uncomplainingly the condition of holy poverty which he sought to impose. What the sword had left undone was completed by the chicanery and legal scheming of James I., and his son Charles. Under the pretence of investigating titles, these royal freebooters con- fiscated nearly all the land that remained in the hands of the original inhabitants, and even robbed the descendants of many of the early English robbers as well. The old Irish law of popular proprietorship in land was abolished, feudal tenures were introduced instead, and the land which had belonged to the whole people was legally handed over to a small number of persons since known as “ landlords,’^ with power to impose any tax or other obligation upon those who occupied it they chose, to dispossess whom and whenever they pleased, and to turn the whole island into a deer park or a desert should it so suit their sovereign pleasure. This is landlordism, and the principle involved in the Land Question practically aims at nothing more than a return to the equitable system which preceded the usurpa- tion of feudalism when the land was held for the good of all, not for the gratification of a few. A New Trouble. The Reformation introduced another element of dis- turbance into Ireland. The English had easily adopted 16 THE SrOR Y OF IRELAND. the new religion, while the Irish remained faithful to the old; so that if there was an excuse for robbing them before there was good reason for exterminating them now. Beaten in the field, the spirit of Irish nationality made its camp in the church of the people, the old religion of the country. Under this guardian it rallied and appeared before the enemy in greater force than ever. Up till this time the Irish party had carried on the contest in an irregular guerilla-like manner, without union and almost without a common principle of action. The sphere of the war had widened: it was now for religion as well as country, for the altar as well as for the fireside. Similarity of religion was a new and more obtrusive bond of brotherhood to the de- fenders of Irish liberty. It drew a sharp and definite line between them and the opposing party. It enabled them to see their true position and danger as Irishmen; it gave them wider and nobler aims, and infused the spirit of a more generous patriotism into their sentiments by the dissipation of provincial jealousies. The Church sheltered the ark of the people’s hopes, and became itself a portion of the National Guard of Ireland. But the struggle was in no way a distinctively religious one. Dear amid all the difficulties of his church and above all, arose the love of country. The cause of Ireland and Catholicism became one in the people's hearts, as they were or seemed to be one in fact. The suf- ferings of his church met the Irish patriot at the very threshold, but the great dream of an Irish nationality lay over and beyond the circle of his religious sympathies. This is true of every Irish insurrection, even of those considered most remarkable for cruelty and religious fury. The re- bellion of 1641, so unfavorably known as the “Great Po- pish Massacre,” was no more a massacre, no more sectarian, than might be the insurrection of any people who saw them- selves deprived of their property and their liberty by men who were aliens in blood as well as in religion. Yet we IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS, 17 have historians who cannot think of it as anything else than as the “ Popish Massacre/’ and controversialists who dwell upon the details of its horrors and its madness with a kind of epicurean delight, because they believe they can extract from them arguments to prove the depravity of papists in general and of the Irish papist in particular. Cromwell. From the chicanery of Charles to the cruelties of Crom- well is but a step. Butcher and savage though he was, Cromwell was in one respect more honest than any of his predecessors in crime. The object of all was to rob, and for that purpose, if necessary, to slay, but none of them had the honest}^’ to confess it. Henry II. came under an assumed authority to promote good manners and reform religion, and began by parcelling out the Irishman’s property among his favorites without ceremony; others came with similarly beneficent objects, but all ended by doing the same thing. Cromwell, however, made no secret of his intentions. “ The earth,” said he and his fol- lowers, “ is the inheritance of the saints; resolved,” said he and his followers, “ that we are the saints.” In pursuance of the spirit of this resolution he proceeded to kill as many Irishmen as he could, believing that in every Irishman he killed he killed an idolater, and thereby extended the “Lord’s kingdom” by making room for another saint. The Irish to him were no better than the Canaanites of old were to the Israelites, and he had as little difficulty in find- ing a divine warrant for any disposal of them he might wish to make, as Mahomet had in getting a revelation for any new doctrine he wished to promulgate or any act he wanted to commit. The contest between James II., and his son-in-law Wil- liam of Orange was transferred to Ireland. The Irish es- poused the cause of the former^ and fell, though not until 2 18 THE STORY OF IRELAND, their king had fallen before them. The victory of William seemed to have extinguished the last embers of nationality in Ireland. The Celt was at last crushed, and helpless and without hope he lay at the feet of his successful rival. With the impulsiveness of his nature he had staked his all in the service of a prince whom he regarded with himself as the victim of English cruelty, and who, he believed, was destined to become the Messiah of a new era to his unfortunate country. The game was fatal, but the bitterness of defeat was nothing to the galling consciousness that he had spent his enthusiasm in the cause of a coward and a deceiver. Out of its misery and desolation the nation had sprung at the first beck of its sovereign, and the voice of old hopes had blended with that of loyalty in their response to the call of ^‘Seamus Righ agus Eire,*’ of king “James and Ireland ! ” The people had made an idol and had wor- shipped it with blindness and devotion, but it tumbled, Dagon-like, in all its clumsiness and imbecility, while the temple which it was supposed to sanctify stood brave and entire. But fortune seems to have made James a king that she might show his contempt for royalty; no cause could have withstood a vanity so stupid and obstinate as his; he lost the affection as well as the respect of his subjects, and he lives till this day in the traditions of the Irish people by the most contemptuous of epithets. The Penal Period. The last stand which the Irish made for James was at Limerick. By the articles of a treaty signed upon the capitulation of the city, the Irish were guaranteed full en- joyment of their civil and religious rights, and the soldiers of the Irish army were allowed to make their choice between the service of England and that of any foreign power. Most of them entered the armies of France, and formed under Sarsfield the nucleus of what afterwards became the famous IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 19 Irish Brigade. The Irish army had hardly disbanded when the treaty was openly and even exultingly broken. England keeps no faith with a disarmed foe. The period which fol- lowed was a bleak and miserable one for Ireland, Hope — the hope of assistance somehow or other from those who had gone from them to fight the battles of others in foreign fields — flickered for a while, then died out in the hearts of the people, and the iron of the persecutor entered into their very souls. No merciful recording angel will ever be able to blot that bleak chapter in the history of English tyranny from the memory or character of the Irish people. It has transmitted impressions which live and will continue to live to poison the path of the nation’s progress for centuries, perhaps forever. The people had fought for their sovereign, and they were rewarded with calumny and confiscation; they were faithful to their religion, and they found persecu- tion. Darkness and mourning had indeed overspread the land. The whole island was turned into one vast prison, where the ancient population of the country, hopeless and worn out by the struggle of ages, were fettered and confined at will by the “ most infamous penal code ever framed by the perverted ingenuity of man.” They suffered in peace, almost without a murmur, these fiery Celts, whose fathers had stood on the walls of Limerick, and whose brothers and sons had crowned so many of the battle-fields of Europe with glory ! What hope was there in Ireland? Was she not scarred with the marks of a thousand battles ? Was not ruin written upon her very forehead ? But beneath all the silence and sullen inactivity of those years, and heaving at times under the lethargy that lay upon the nation’s spirit, grew greater and more great the huge undercurrent of hatred against the English name. This was the time when the people, weighed down and weakened by oppressive laws, yet still preserving the feeble memory of what they had been, but without the power to make any united effort in 20 THE STORY OF IRELAND. the National cause, began to imitate the confusion of the far-away past and to split into small parties, without re- spectability or influence, with vague hopes of freedom, but with aims almost local or personal, with no systematic course of action, with no organization. They were the debris of the ruin which had been consummated by the great wars of William. Ireland was in her dotage. Her history seemed about to close forever in feebleness and ignominy; terror sat upon the seat of government, and on each side stood avarice and religious bigotry, inflamed with all the selfishness and all the cruelty of a timid and a selfish old age. And the people — they lay beneath, hurled as it were from a precipice, and hardly conscious of anything beyond the fierce agony which they endured. England’s Sinister Policy. The policy which directed the government of Ireland was pre-eminently a party and selfish one. It was the object of England to prevent the growth of any feeling of sympathy or interest between the rulers and those they ruled. With this view she centered all power in the hands of a party, and paid them liberally out of Irish revenues for using it in the English interest. She endowed their church, she gave them whatever power she did not keep to herself, she ignored the existence of four-fifths of the population on their account, for while the penal laws were in full force the Irish “ Papist ” had technically no legal existence in Ireland. She did not so much give them any real power to amuse them with a show of it, by making them a kind of overseers who might exercise their authority in whatever way they pleased over the people, provided they kept them insignificant, and remained themselves subservient. By using the Irish government as the paltry agent of her tyranny, England cunningly drew upon it much of the odium which properly belonged to herself, and effectually prevented any union IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS, 21 from arising between government and people, while she perpetuated religious jealousies by continuing a monopoly of privilege in the hands of one religious party. Thus Ire- land still continued to suffer, and from neither of the two great parties in the country could anything be hoped; for the one, the remains of the old Celtic and Irish party, she kept weak; the other, the English party, the result of suc- cessive invasions, she kept contemptible. How Grattan’s Parliament Arose. The great difficulty connected with this kind of policy was to prevent the party to whom the management of the country had been entrusted from becoming its masters. The Irish protestant was already the jailer of the prison; why should he not become owner and governor of it ? However restrained by feelings of affection or prudence, there is a period in the history of colonies, as in that of man, when they desire to be free, if only to test their capacity for independent action, and to gratify their vanity by a sense of irresponsibility to any other power. England foresaw the operation of this natural law among her colonists in Ireland, and had endeavored by the aid of social and re- ligious divisions, and by the grossest political bribery, to perpetuate their servility. But though her efforts were sufficient to prevent any union between the old population and the new, between the Catholic and the Protestant, she could neither restrain altogether the progress of thought in the mind of the latter, nor prudently limit the pride of her own paramount dominion. The Irish Protestant began by degrees to think of independence, but the independence which he learned to aim at was of a narrow and exclusive kind. He thought little of his Catholic fellow-countryman, or if he did it was only as one thinks of the beggar who sits in poverty and rags at his gate, and who should always be grateful no matter what he gets. He had 22 THE STORY OF IRELAND. lived long enough in the country not to have any fear of him; he had known him only as a serf, and he valued him as such. He was not fit to put on the wedding-garment, or sit down at the solemn festival of the marriage of liberty and Ireland. The mind of the Irish Protestant had, indeed, been abused by an education the most bigoted and secta- rian; but his prejudices had lost much of their asperity through intercourse with the proscribed sect, and his sym- pathies were insensibly becoming those of an Irishman. He had yet, indeed, to learn that liberty is no respecter of creeds or persons, but he had begun to feel the ignominy of national submission in his own case, and he remembered the maxims which had guided the English Revolution of 1688, and had begun to consider their applicability to Ire- land. Thus, at a time when England seemed most secure of her conquest, and after a series of misfortunes and miseries which seemed to have destroyed the hopes of Ire- land forever, among the descendants of those very men who had aided in the destruction of her ancient rights, and who, England hoped, would keep extinguished forever every spark of freedom in the country's heart, arose a spirit of in- dependence which inaugurated a new and more glorious era in the history of Irish liberty. The Protestants of Ireland had, indeed, been for a time sufficiently subservient to the interests of England. They had injured themselves, and destroyed a prosperous trade* to satisfy her vanity and avarice. But English haughtiness presumed too far. Those who had been commissioned to strangle the hopes of Ireland by a glorious treachery became their nurse, and * The woolen trade. The Irish woolen trade had attained to such di- mensions in the reign of William III. that it excited the jealousy of Eng- lish manufacturers, who petitioned the King for its suppression. The King graciously replied that he would “ do all in his power to discourage the woolen trade of Ireland,” and the partisan parliament in Dublin meanly assisted him in doing so by legislating against it. IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 23 the jingle of Wood’s halfpence* grew into the tocsin which sounded the triumph of the volunteers and the establish- ment of Irish independence. The Era of Freedom. In the year 1782 the independence of the Irish parlia- ment was declared. The movement which ended in this result began with Swift, the disappointed and satirical churchman, and terminated in the success which made the crowning glory in the life of the patriot-orator, Grattan. The success was a great and honorable one, but it was in- complete. It was the success more of a party than of the nation. The historian is accustomed to regard this as the most brilliant period in the Irish annals, and the Protestant Irishman may well look back to it with pardonable pride and triumph. But while it signalized the energy and free spirit of the race and‘ religion he belonged to, it was want- ing in that breadth of liberality and love which, in the furtherance of objects that concern the public welfare, generously overlooks the distinction of class and creed. Many of those who were most active in the establishment of Irish independence were violent opponents of the Catholic claims to equality of citizenship. The great mass of the people were still little more than serfs. They had no share in the redemption of the country which they loved, but the joyous paean of their countrymen reached them in the gloom of their captivity, and they felt the light of the new day * Wood’s halfpence were a spurious coinage issued by one Wm. Wood, of Dublin, who had received a patent through the influence of one of the King’s mistresses for the issuing of a certain amount of cop- per currency for Ireland. The material used in them was so base, and the fraud so transparent, that it drew forth the indignant satire of Swift in the celebrated “ Drapier’s Letters,” in which he also took the oppor- tunity of exposing the abuses of government generally and the evils of English interference in Irish affairs. 24 THE STORY OF IRELAND, streaming along the walls of their prison. The time had not yet come when the hearts of their countrymen, if not the door of the constitution, should be opened to them. The nationality of the two great religious sections of Irish society was not yet purged of the jealousy which the peculiarities of their past history had engendered. To a certain extent, the old Catholic native regarded the recent patriotism of the Protestants with suspicion; while the Protestant, in the haughtiness of his superior position and fortune, had something of contempt for the just claims of his weaker countrymen. Thus the victory by which the Irish parliament became independent was, in the peculiar position of Ireland, a victory more brilliant than solid, for it still left the government in the hands of a bigoted and exclusive party. Reform was asked for in vain; the timid trembled at the name of innovation, the selfish feared for the safety of their privileges. The loyalty of the Irish aristocracy to their country was neither deep-seated nor lasting. They did not care for the independence of Ire- land, unless that independence meant a goverment by them- selves and for their benefit and glory. With such limited views of policy, it was not wonderful that the era of liberty should soon change into one of corruption, and that place and pension should soon become more dear than duty and Ireland. Then began that bold and wonderful Conspiracy which, overleaping the feeble barriers of aristocratic and sectarian logic, and wearied with the failure of more moder- ate measures, sought to rescue freedom from the dangers which surrounded her by a union of Irishmen and the es- tablishment of a Republic. Such was the Revolutionary Society of ’98. It began with the Presbyterians of the North, and in their earnestness and energy acquired a force which soon extended it to all classes and creeds in Ireland. Unlike the great movement of 1782, it was essentially popu- lar and unsectarian. It was the first great society since the IRELAND'^S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 25 conquest of William which freely advocated the uni6n of all classes and creeds in the country, and knew no higher or more honorable name for a native of Ireland than the name of Irishman; and in the union which it taught, it proclaimed for the first time in Ireland, with honesty and success, the great doctrines of religious liberty and the civil equality of man. The Rising of ' 98 . The struggle again began, no longer a struggle between Celt and Norman, or between Protestant and Catholic, but one in which, with enlarged ideas of freedom and a more formidable union of sentiment than her history had ever shown before, Ireland confronted face to face the corrup- tions of English and oligarchic rule. Liberty had called to the world from Republican America, and startled into life by her example, from revolutionary France, and old thrones had trembled and grown pale with a feeling of coming danger. The triumph of the thirteen colonies and of the French Republic had given a new idea of the people’s power, and the glory of a new era seemed to have dawned upon the hopes of mankind, so blurred and trampled on by the selfishness and cruelty of aristocratic tyranny. Men ceased to calculate in the ordinary way, and reason for a time seemed dazzled by the brilliant illusiofts of the imagination. To the fervent eye of hope all the golden and glowing dreams of philosophy and poesy seemed about to be realized. Reason, relieved from the follies of superstition, was about to establish a serene and universal supremacy, and liberty, freed from the dungeons of centuries, had entered on a mission of brotherhood and love to all nations. Ever alive to the feeblest pulse of hope, and with an aspen-like sensibility ready to be stirred by every breath of freedom, Ireland, gathering new life from the Republican idea, and from the 26 THE STOR Y OF /RE LANE. popular triumph in France, perceived in her government all the corruptions and mockeries of justice symbolized by the court of France and the Bastille; and seeing in her connection with England a constant source of intrigue, which must in the end overthrow her ill-matured independence, girded herself for a new effort to break the last links of the chain which retarded her destiny. It was an effort in which were united the hopes of six centuries, enlarged and ele- vated by a theory of liberty universal in its sympathies and adaptability, and which, while inspired by the ardent faith of a religion-loving people, was yet free from the narrow- ness of religious or political prejudice. The contest of England was no longer with the “mere Irish.’' It was with the new Irish nation, — no longer Celtic, but composed of many different races, some of them planted on Irish soil by England herself, linked by the sentiment of nationality, and by a reverence for Republican freedom. It was the old fight renewed — the old idea in the robes of a youth more glorious than ever — the idea which through- out the pangs of her long slavery had never abandoned Ireland, the idea of independence, the crowning jewel in the treasury of the nation’s hopes, the idea which had marshalled the Brigade at Fontenoy, and was nursed like a beloved child in the hearts of so many exiles in distant lands; and foremost and most fearless among the revolu- tionists were the people of the North, the descendants of the planters of James I., who, burning with a new and sacred love, and eager as if to expiate the wrongs which their an- cestors had inflicted, rushed Curtius-like into every danger which seemed to cover a hope of salvation to Ireland. Who can tell how many kind hearts were broken, how many brave lives were lost, in the fearful Saturnalia carried on in those days under the joint presidency of the hangman and the informer? Many graveyards have been filled since then, but the memory of the ruined homestead, the brutal yeo- IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 27 man, the hireling jury, the perjured witness has not passed away. The memory, did I say ? The very fact has not ! We have still the price paid for blood, we have still the manipu- lated jury, we have still the ruined homestead — all carried on and completed in the name of English law and under the sanction of English government. ' The Union. Pass we over the attempt too long delayed which ended in the defeat and melancholy tragedies of '98. Another day was lost for Ireland, and all the brutalities and ingenui- ties of tyranny were employed to crush the conquered nation forever. The prisons were full, and the gibbet became a plaything to the “loyal’’ supporters 0/ “ law and order.” No voice was heard on behalf of the prostrate people. A still more fatal blow was determined on — a blow which it was fondly dreamed would forever secure the dominion of England and the impotency of Ireland. The Parliament of Dublin — the parliament merely of a party, yet still nominally independent of English control, and dangerous as keeping alive the idea of national independence, and as liable one day to interfere with English designs and the growth of English greatness — was the only obstacle to the long-coveted supremacy. The idea of the English minister was not quite recent. He had trouble with the Irish parliament on one occasion, which he never forgot, when the Irish parlia- ment ventured to differ with him on the question of ap- pointing a regent, during one of the crazy attacks of the periodically crazy George III. The time had now arrived for the consummation of his purpose. Ireland was again at the feet of her conqueror. Her noblest effort had failed, and the curse of failure had sunk in a load of feebleness and terror on her soul. It is now well known from the memoirs of the infamous Castlereagh, that the rebellion, which was no part of the original programme of the United 28 THE STORY OF IRELAND. Irishmen, but whose object was simply to obtain reform by constitutional methods, was nursed into disastrous maturity by English gold and English cruelty in order to render more easy the accomplishment of the abominable design of the Union. Such was the project of the English minister called. And now in the despair and agony of the nation, when fear had unsettled men’s minds and honor and public principle reeled amid the confusion of the times, the English minister came with his titles and his money, and with his delusive promises of peace, and those who sat in Ireland’s Senate- house, the trustees of the nation’s rights, forgot that they were Irishmen, forgot that they were men, and the Union was carried. The Union was carried — that is, the annihilation of Ire- land as an independent nation was complete. It was a forced marriage of the weak with the strong, of the shiver- ing captive with the betrayer, who reckons the wealth and the years of his victim while standing before the very altar. The two countries were now one, and England was that one. Irishmen were no longer Irishmen, they were West Britons, and Ireland was only a word of two English syllables. Such was the Union. But Ireland was not annihilated. Her name had not become an unmeaning word in the mouths of her children. They refused the Englishman’s name and the sound of West Briton was a loathing to them. The Union was no Union. It sounded as a declaration of war in the ears of every honest man. It sounded to Irishmen as the synonym of English treachery, English fraud, and Irish degradation. No honest man but blushed at the men- tion of it, for it told no less plainly the triumph of English knavery than the corruption of Irish hearts. Ireland had ])een beaten into insensibility, and dragged into slavish and ignominious alliance with a tyrant while Irishmen stood by. She had been cajoled and terrified by turns, and those to IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 29 whom she had entrusted the protection of her liberty and honor had handed her over a sacrifice to the lust of the despoiler. But the hearts of the people beat true, and in that moment of horror the fire of indignant shame burned fiercely in the breasts of millions, and broke forth in vehe- ment vows of vengeance for an insult so atrocious and so deadly, England's Mistake. England had overreached herself. Unscrupulously she had conquered Ireland, but obstinately ignorant of Irish- men and of human nature, she thought she had chained the soul by an artificial contract; she thought she could pre- serve a vulgar superiority obtained by brutality and fraud. England miserably failed. The day on which the Union was signed, planted an impassable barrier between the two countries. It armed every true son of Ireland against her in vindication of his people's honesty and of his people's dignity. They never consented to a contract so suicidal and so degrading. They never consented to the abnegation of national honor and national life. Irishmen might have been England's allies, but it was not in them to become her willing slaves, however bedizened by the lacquery of “imperial" tinsel. They could not perceive the honor. Their common sense may be blind enough, but they know what is due to their own dignity, the world's sense of de- cency, and to their affections. It is no exaggeration of the feelings of the time to say, that the flag which England planted upon their country's ruins seemed red with the blood of Ireland, and carried in its gaudy folds the blushes of her children's dishonor. The ruin seemed almost ir- remediable, but the people clung to it as the impassioned Israelite clings to the fragment of the ancient walls of Jerusalem, and it grew beautiful in their love and devoted- ness. Out of their affections Hope, wearing the smiles of 30 THE STORY OF IRELAND, Heaven, rose like a lovely vision, and a faith fervent and religious, in the holiness of the patriot’s cause and in the justice of God. Three years since the Union had scarce elapsed when, by a new sacrifice, the people of Ireland re- corded their fidelity to their ancient principles. The young and heroic Emmet, the brave- hearted, the tender, the pure of soul, gladly gave up his life, and ascended to tell in Heaven the tale of Ireland’s constancy and wrongs. And since then how many years have passed, and what is the case to-day ? Has no blood been shed, have no prisons been filled, have no exiles crossed the seas ? After the Union. Ireland was now totally disarmed and more helpless than ever. The measure of her ruin seemed complete. The men of property who could afford to do so abandoned her to her fate; the mansions of her capital city, once the abodes of statesmen and legislators, were turned into barracks or tenement houses, and such manufactures as had survived the persecutions of the past languished and died away. Burden after burden was imposed upon her, periodic famines grew into a national institution, and the passage of a new coercion act for Ireland, became one of the leading features in the business of the House of Commons every year. The soil no less than the soul of the country seemed blighted. But the soil was as fertile as ever, and the blight consisted only in the ever-increasing drain by which Ireland was being bled to death, that she might support her absentee lords in Ijondon. The blight was upon the spirit of the people, not the soil. Men who before the Union had been noted for public spirit and patriotism became selfish, or servile, or indifferent. The Bar of Ireland, that had once been one of the most high-minded and patriotic public bodies in the country, soon came to be as notorious for its meanness and lack of courage as it had been distinguished for its noble- IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 31 ness and political intrepidity. That Ireland did not alto- gether fall into a state of moral ruin, and, in the nerveless paralysis of the time, sink into as deep a slough of national debasement as her masters could have wished, was due per- haps to the spirit and action of one man, Daniel O'Connell. Early in the century O’Connell began to take an active part in public life as the leader of the Catholic association, which had for its object the removal of the penal restrictions on the liberty of Irish Catholics. The immediate abolition of these laws had been promised to the Catholics previous to the Union as a bait to procure their adherence to that measure, but the Act of Union once passed, the English government refused in the usual way to fulfil its promise. O’Connell and the Catholic Associa- tion labored for Catholic emancipation, and though the relief sought for was not granted until 1829, and then only under apprehensions of a civil war, the daily discussions on the subject had the effect in a measure of sustaining the vigor of the national spirit, or, at least, of preventing absolute national death. But the quarter of a century which followed the Union was, politically speaking, a dreary and dismally barren period. Ireland was in the condition of a man who had been stunned by a terrific blow, and who, slowly recover- ing his senses, can but dimly realize for a time the position in which he is situated. Famine and Flight. The period between 1829 and 1848 was occupied by O’Connell and his splendid, but fruitless, effort for Repeal of the Union. In the latter year O’Connell died, and in the same year occurred the emeute of the Young Irelanders under Smith O’Brien, which ended in their defeat and dis- persion. In the years ’46 and ’47 Ireland was stricken down by what, among similar calamities, is known pre-eminently as “the Famine/’ and those Who had loved her and had 32 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND. sought to help her in her desolation were obliged to leave her ‘Mike a corpse on the dissecting-table.’' Then began that tide of emigration which threatened at the time to depopulate the island, and which has ever since been flow- ing in volume more or less great across the Atlantic. An offended Providence, said the sanctimonious British press, had interfered in behalf of England, and had closed by a terrible and well-deserved visitation the history of Ireland’s profane and unholy struggle against England forever. The burly Briton seemed to have good reason for giving thanks to the Heaven whose special favorite he assumed to be. Ireland was at the nadir of her fortunes. Over- come by disasters such as had never darkened a people’s history before, what wonder if the spirit which had braved so many centuries of wrong wavered for a moment and its immortal energy seemed no more immortal ! Loud were the cries of triumph which rose over the broken hopes and followed in the track of the homeless multitudes who fled from before the face of the evil destinies which revelled in the ruin of Ireland. But in the hearts of those who fled, and cherished with the tenderness of the most tender fidelity, were carried, like the sacred ark of Israel, the hopes which had been the dearest, and almost the only legacy of ages. “They are going, they are going!’’ gleefully cried the London press, “going with a vengeance!” The savage heartlessness which gloated over the miseries of the fugi- tive Celts was premature in its exultations. The oracles which proclaimed the completed conquest lied once more. The Ireland which, after a series of unparalleled calamities, had sunk into the silence, not of despair, but of exhaus- tion, stands erect to-day, clad in the robes of renewed and invigorated youth, her heart strong in the strength of her people’s love, and her eye radiant with the glory which her soul has drunk from the fair fountains of Western liberty. IJ^£LANI)^S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS, 33 Stagnation. A period of less than fifteen years followed during which Ireland became the prey of pamphleteers, politicians, profli- gate lawyers, and egotistical experimentalists of all kinds, each with his panacea for Irish ills, and each of them add- ing fresh torture to the patient they proposed to cure. The land seemed dead, fit at last to be used for any purpose which England might please, without rebuke, remonstrance or objection — the only difficulty in the great British mind was how to make use of it in a manner most serviceable to British interests. But Ireland was not dead. “ Beauty’s ensign yet Was crimson on her cheeks and on her lips, And death’s pale flag had not advanced there.” The fire of patriotic life was burning hidden and suppressed within the hearts of her children, and while quack politicians and charlatan philosophers were flippantly discoursing over the body of their victim, and English hypocrisy was gloating over the supposed death of England’s rival and thanking God for this happy issue out of her difficulties, the mate- rials were preparing for a new outbreak. Fenianism. Lord Carlisle, a man of flocks and herds, whose ambition it was to make Ireland the fruitful mother of four-footed beasts, instead of the mother of men and women, and who had ruled with much unction as viceroy in Dublin Castle for many years, had just died. He was one of the most popu- lar of rulers, with a smile for every one, the most optimistic of men, the victim of an inveterate habit of endeavoring to deceive himself and the world by drawing such pictures of Ireland’s growing prosperity and happiness as would have charmed the heart of any political Salvator Rosa. While, however, the courtiers were smiling in the Castle, the Irish 3 34 THE STOR V OF IRELAND, difficulty had grown' into a strength more formidable than ever, and before the echo of the prayers which had been read with such complacent sanctimoniousness over his grave had died away, the skies which had shown no cloud were rent with thunder. Fenianism, the new Gorgon whose terri- ble features were now turned upon the rulers of Ireland, was but another expression of the old sentiment of disaffec- tion which the misgovernment of ages had done its best to foster. In vain, the dignity which sat in high places en- deavored to keep cool. In vain, honorable and learned gentlemen looked their loftiest upon the plebeian revolt. In vain, from their seats of purple and crimson the wealthy and noble chatted pleasantly of the creatures whose pre- sumption was furnishing another proof of the irreclaimable- ness of the Irish “ lower orders,” and a new excitement to enliven the monotony of the season. In vain, the dignity which nothing could ruffle was humiliated- — the contempt which nothing could penetrate was made ridiculous if not ashamed, and the luxurious worldliness of the selfish and self-complacent was turned into terror and trepidation. The danger of Fenianism was confessed. It was confessed in the efforts made to conceal its extent, in the libels with which it was covered, in the unfairness with which it was treated, in the attempts everywhere made by armed display and arbitrary acts to overawe the people, in the formidable pomp of special commissions, in the passionate zeal of the supporters of “ law and order,” and in the open avowal of a few honest men. But, not content with former hypocrisies, it was long before England acknowledged that the con- spiracy had any seat in the discontent of the Irish heart, or any nurse but in the turbulence and ambition of the dis- banded soldiers of the American Republic. Had the hy- pocrisy availed it would have been kept up in all its force. r>ut when the voice of three Irishmen, doomed by the ven- geance of the law to death, proclaimed from the very verge IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS. 35 of the scaffold their faith in the cause of Ireland’s indepen- dence, and when the prayer which their fortitude has made immortal had gone forth, and from out the surging sorrow of millions of hearts was met by a sea-like response, the state of Ireland could be no longer concealed, nor the wishes of the Irish heart any longer misinterpreted. The year 1867 closed while the soul of Ireland was still dark with the gloominess of the Manchester tragedy.* Few were the joys, yet not faint the hopes, which gathered round her heart in the Christmas of that baleful year. The dead who had died so nobly had not died in vain. The strong prayers of a nation’s love had borne them as upon eagle’s wings while they went to their death, and the holy sunshine of a nation’s hopes had gathered in a crown of glory over their dishonored graves. While the spirit which they exhibited remained to her children, why should Ireland feel ashamed ? With the fortitude which supported them to aid her, why should she be without hope to face the taunts or tyranny of her enemies ? The state of Ireland could be no longer bolstered by political trickery, nor could the world be any longer deceived by the fraudulent boasting of England. The cry of a nation’s indignant grief had gone up to heaven, and the firm utterances of a spirit which was neither entreaty nor despair, rose like the prophetic warnings of Samuel from almost every dungeon in the kingdom. Yet England was not satisfied. * In the year 1867 Captains Kelly and Deasy were arrested in Man- chester (England) on a charge of Fenianism. While being conveyed to prison an attempt was made to rescue them by some of their friends, led by Captain Edward O’ Meagher Condon. The policeman in charge in- side the van in which the prisoners were confined, refusing to open the door, the lock was broken by a pistol shot, and the policeman accidentally killed. For this “murder” three young men, named Allen, Larkin, and O’Brien, who were proved to have taken no active part in the trans- action, were tried, convicted, and executed, heroically dying with the now immortal words, “ God save Ireland !” on their lips. 36 THE STORY OF IRELAND. The work which had been signalized by an attack upon the lives of Irishmen in Manchester was not to be completed without an attack upon the liberties of Irishmen in Dublin, and the press, the last advocate of the prostrate people, was assailed. For comments upon the execution of Allen, Lar- kin, and O’Brien, the editors of the Dublin IrisJunmi and Weekly News were prosecuted and consigned for several months to prison. But the teeth of the dragon which had been sown by the injustice of the past were beginning to bite too severely. Government, it was seen, could no longer be carried on in the open daylight of the nineteenth century by fixed bayonets, and by the exclusive patronage of a few whose subservience was never secure as long as they remained not entirely selfish, nor entirely corrupted. The cry of “ Justice to Ireland ” found a response in the hearts of the more noble or more politic of Englishmen, a justice, in the English conception of the term, soulless and narrow indeed as com- pared with the breadth of vision which it embraces in the aspirations of Irishmen, yet manifesting a growing spirit of liberality and enlightened expediency. Everything in Ireland now wore a different aspect from what it had done in the reformer’s eye. The country in whose government but a few years before the sagacity of statesmen could find no flaw — whose ‘^growing prosperity ” was the theme of so many eloquent deliverances, whose people had nothing to complain of except the misfortune that they were not English — was discovered to be no longer the sunny Arcadia .of happiness and plenty which had stretched its green slopes in the glowing light of the Castle imagination, fruitful with flocks and herds, but a land of poverty and sorrow, a Niobe among the nations, a very Lazarus to the fervor of the new philanthropy, spurned by the wealthy master who oppressed her, and covered with the wounds, bruises and putrefying sores which his neglect and cruelty had engendered. The sudden change of opinion IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS, 37 seems laughable when one begins to think how it was brought about. For the sake of the honor and safety of England, for, in accordance with first principles, England’s welfare has always been the foremost thing to be considered in' dealing with Ireland, something should be done — so in an opportune moment, opportune for himself and for his pur- pose, Mr. Gladstone proposed his resolutions for the estab- lishment of religious equality. The explosions at Clerken- well prison had just occurred, and though Englishmen generally were not so loose-tongued as Mr. Gladstone in confessing that this was the real argument in favor of his proposals, yet after much howling and melancholy vaticina- tions on the part of the Orange lodges and their patrons, the Establishment, which for three centuries had trampled on the feelings, and rifled the pockets, of the Catholics and Dissenters of Ireland alike, was swept away. But the removal of the ecclesiastical incubus did little towards satisfying the wants or aspirations of the Irish people. A feeble attempt was made to renew the struggle for national rights when Mr. Butt, in 1871, founded an as- sociation for the establishment in Ireland of Home govern- ment on the basis of Federalism. This was what came to be known afterwards as the Home Rule League. It failed entirely in its object, but it educated the minds of the people for something more advanced. About this time oc- curred the amnesty of the Fenian prisoners, and one among them, Michael Davitt, the son of an evicted Mayo farmer, caught up the idea that was to re-enkindle the hopes of Ire- land. This one-armed “enthusiast” set sail for America, and there, in communion with the spirits who had kept the flag of Irish nationality flying through good and evil report, the “ irreconcilables ” who preached that “God made the land of Ireland for the people of Ireland,” the idea of a great agrarian movement as a means of overturning the for- eign garrison and of improving the material condition of 38 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND, the people was conceived. Davitt, returning, raised “the Land for the people “ cry at Irishtown in April, 1879, and, nobly seconded by Mr. Patrick Ford and his Irish World, and backed by the Democracy of Ireland, laid the foundations of the great Land League organization at Dublin under the presidency of Mr. Parnell the same year, with the immediate object of effecting a sweeping reform in the system of land tenures in Ireland. It had a higher object in view, how- ever, than this, and it differed from all previous Irish or- ganizations in that it professed, though not ostensibly, to settle the national, through absolution of the social prob- lem. Under prudent leadership it grew rapidly until, though opposed at first by the quasi-respectable people of the country, members of Parliament included, it became the foremost popular power in the land. It was small at first, so small, indeed, that it was pooh-poohed by many who afterwards became its loudest supporters, and the most demonstrative advocates of its doctrines. Certainly, no one looking, some five or six years ago, into the little office in Abbey Street, where it was nursed into sturdy vitality, could have imagined that it would ever have grown so great as to fill, not only Ireland, but two hemispheres, with its fame, and capture even the citadel of British preju- dice by the Thames itself. But there was a power behind it in the scattered forces of Ireland throughout the world, and on the day when Mr. Parnell from the platform in the square of Galway declared that he should “ never have taken off his coat to this work if he had not had some higher object than mere land re- form in view,” its success was assured. It did noL how- ever, achieve success without much sacrifice. In the year 1879 several members of the body were arrested, charged with conspiracy and seditious speaking. In the early part of the October of 1881, Mr. Parnell was arrested and confined in Kilmainham jail, under an Act of IRELAND'S TRIALS A ATE TRIUMPHS, 39 Parliament which had been passed expressly for the sup- pression of the League. A week after, on 19th October, the celebrated manifesto calling upon the tenants of Ireland to pay no rent, was issued, and in spite of every effort on the part of the authorities to prevent it, circulated through- out the length and breadth of the country. Between mingled indignation and alarm, the authorities lost all idea of re- spectable government and self-control, and struck wildly in every direction in the hope of somehow or other obstructing the operations of the League or intimidating its members. The people, however, stuck heroically to the instructions they had received, and sustained the manifesto in the face of unnumbered threats and formidable exhibitions of official power. In this they were nobly and generously supported by the people of America, without whose aid, it is not too much to say, the Land League if it had come into existence at all, would have speedily shared the fate of so many other Irish organizations, and have died of inanition or exhaus- tion. Besides the enthusiastic moral support which the League received, not only from the Irish in America, but from American sympathizers as well, enormous sums were transmitted to Ireland .in aid of the cause, more than $300,000 having been sent directly through the Irish World alone. It was America, not Ireland, that the land- lords and the Government feared, and it was the conscious- ness that America was with them, and would be true to them, as long as they were true to themselves, that upheld the hearts of the men in prison, and sustained in undimin- ished fortitude and patience the people in their struggle outside. Immediately on the issuing of the No Rent Manifesto began a real reign of terror in Ireland. The whole island was handed over to spies and policemen, and partisan magistrates who were worse than either. In the hotels, in the streets, in the railway cars, in every place of public 40 THE STORY OF IRELAND, resort, and even in private dwellings, the infamous agents of the government were at work, noting every act, and treasuring up every incautious word, in their eagerness to capture a fresh victim. Day and night the houses of quiet citizens were raided and ransacked by the police, under the pretence of searching for arms, or some other evidence of insubordination upon which to hang a suspicion that might consign the owners to prison. Nor were the arrests confined simply to men. Mere boys, children in fact, were seized in the streets and thrust into jail by the police, for no greater offence, perhaps, than whistling an air to which they had a personal objection, or which they were pleased to regard as an expression of sympathy with the leaders of the La7id League, Never was an organization so feared by those in authority. The heads of the Government in Dublin, urged on by magistrates and frantic landlords in the country, be- came fairly crazy in their efforts to crush it. They arrested indiscriminately every one who, they imagined, acted, spoke, wrote, or even thought, or might act, speak, write, or think, in favor of its projects. No one was safe. Even women did not escape. Immediately on the proclamation of the regular Land League, the ingenious mind of Michael Davitt conceived the idea of forming a Ladies’ League. The idea was an exceedingly happy one. The Ladies’ League did credit to its founder, and was eminently successful in spreading the light throughout the country, and in sustain- ing the spirits of the people when so many of their brethren were in prison, against the intrigues and insolent attacks of the authorities. But they did not do so with impunity. As they could not, for very shame’s sake, be arrested under any law in actual operation, the statute book was ransacked, and an Act of the reign of Edward III., which had been ob- solete for centuries, was unearthed by one of the Castle law- yers, and brought to bear upon them by the Attorney- General and his staff. Several ladies were arrested and im- IRELAND'S TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS, 41 prisoned, but coercion was becoming in the eyes of every one, not inflamed by bigotry or self-interest, more odious and more ridiculous every day. The administration of the law was being turned into a farce. Arrests became so fre- quent that even the policemen got ashamed of making them, and imprisonments were reduced to such a common- place, that people laughed at the idea of going to jail. They knew that the fight would be carried on whether they were in jail or not, for that when they were gone, there would be others to take their place. In the year i88i, there were over a thousand men in the several Irish prisons, upon suspicion alone, destined to remain there during the pleasure of the Lord Lieutenant, or until the expiration of the Act. No one of them had been tried in open court, or otherwise, or convicted of any offence, nor did any of them expect to be tried, or to be allowed any opportunity of meeting the vague and shadowy charges under which they had been de- prived of liberty. In such a plight was the “glorious’' British constitution in Ireland in the opening year of grace 1882 ! Still, the fight between the tenants on the one side, and the landlords and the government on the other, went on with unabated vigor. It soon became evident, how- ever, that the Irish tenant had as good an ally in America as the landlord had in the English government; and that the movement could neither be forcibly suppressed, nor broken down through want of resources. As the year advanced this truth seems to have dawned upon the minds of some of those in authority in Dublin castle, and to have convinced a few of the thinking men of England of the futility of coer- cion as an instrument of government — at least in Ireland; for before the end of the following May, though the Act had still some months to run, the prisoners were all released, and Mr. Forster, the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, a strenuous supporter of coercion, had resigned. Since that time, and from the date of the day when it was declared 42 THE STORY OF IRELAND, illegal, the Land League has never ceased to prosecute its programme in America and Ireland, though the old name has been abandoned and that of the Irish National League since used instead. Ireland of To-day. After a contest of over 700 years Ireland now stands face to face with her old foe, stronger and more determined than she was when the fight began, — no longer, as of old, an isolated island in the Atlantic, but a power which can command its allies in every part of the world. Victorious in her position, she is no less victorious in her feelings. Magnanimously, notwithstanding all she has suffered, she has offered her hand in peace to her hereditary oppressor. Should England refuse the offer, and allow her pride or her selfishness to obscure her judgment, then history will keep repeating itself with increasing emphasis from year to year, and the offer of peace will be changed into a new declaration of war. Ireland will make no further concessions and no further offers. She has made, perhaps, too many of both already. She will not have her claims as a nation trifled with any longer. Those claims are as well founded now, and have as strong a hold upon the popular heart, as in the more heroic days when Sarsfield fought and Emmet died. The sword may be drawn no more on their behalf — time may have changed the mode of warfare, but the sentiments re- main and the struggle will be continued. It is history speaks, not the tongue of the demagogue, — it is the voice of Nature that demands a settlement, not the cry of the politi- cian; and until such a settlement is made as will give to Ireland what Ireland is nationally and naturally entitled to, Ireland, in justice to herself, will be bound to continue England’s foe, as England, true to the spirit of the past, will continue to be, as far as she can, Ireland’s oppressor. The foregoing sketch of Irish History can hardly even IRELANDS TRIALS A HD TRIUMPHS. 43 be called a 'sketch'. It was not intended by the writer to give facts, so much as to strip the past of the dress of facts which envelopes it; to find as it were the soul by which it is animated, and to awaken an interest in it by indicating the nature, rather than by chronicling the details, of Ire- land’s melancholy yet glorious story. The spirit of Irish History — what is it ? Has it not been one of resistance — of resistance, unhappy truth compels us to say, against a power which has left nothing undone to destroy the energies and crush the spirit of the nation ? In the path of English liberty in its early struggles, stood the consecrated despotism of royalty, and the power of an aristocracy laden with wealth and exalted by traditions of ancient tyranny and privilege. In the path of Irish liberty have stood the same obstacles, and others of a nature more formidable still. On the brightest pages of the strange story of her fate are traces of every evil with which the unfortunate among nations are familiar. With one hand she has had to fight against an external foe, while with the other she has often been cajoled into fighting against herself. Yet even to Ireland — Ireland, the poorest and most wretched among the nations of Europe — Europe owes triumphs which will hereafter be numbered among the noblest in the history of human progress. What, for instance, gave to the cause of religious freedom some of its brightest victories, and cleared the way for its complete success ? The fortitude and perseverance of Ireland. And what is more likely to give the last blow to British Feudal- ism, in the enfranchisement of the land from the tyranny of laws which Feudalism imposed, than the persistence with which Ireland has struggled and is struggling still to give her own sons a permanent foothold on her own soil. “ This (the Irish) people,” says Thierry, “ have taught England — have taught the world, the power of mind, and of a morality which yields not to temptation, and the use of that new weapon of moral force which will yet be the supreme arbiter 44 THE STORY OF IRELAND, among nations. They have taught, moreover, the absurdity of endeavoring to pervert the natural progress of national development by turning it into strange and unaccustomed channels.^’ The history of Ireland is worthy the attention of the wisest as well as the most simple. She has fought the good fight of liberty and conscience patiently and well. Amid many evils, she has proved herself the true and faith- ful worshipper, whom no allurements of ambition or gain could draw away from the altar of pure and lofty principle. In a world where instability is proverbial, she is an emblem of the sublimest constancy, and in an age from which the genius and dignity of chivalry have departed, her children are devoted as sworn knights in defence of her honor. For Ireland, indeed, there is every hope, and looking at the spirit which has animated her in the past, in view of the prospects which open upon her in the present, we can easily believe with those who would apply to her the lines that were written of emancipated Greece — brighter Hellas rears its mountains, O’er waves serener far, A new Peneus rolls its fountains Against the morning star.” We stand at a solemn turning point in her eventful his- tory. In the light of a stormy past, crossed with many a bar of gloom, we can read the record of much folly, of much wickedness, and of many an instance of self-sacrifice and devotion which rose, with the brightness of a meteor, over the bewildered destinies of the nation. In the light of a milder future, when the confusion of temporary passions shall have passed away, — when the excitement of disappointed selfishness on the part of the few among Irishmen who would blindly oppose her claims on justice, shall have yielded to the spirit of an enlightened and generous patriotism, we can see, and at no distant day, the picture of another Ireland, crowned with the accomplished hopes of ages, and protected by the dignity and united loyalty of all her children. THE Story of the Anglo-Irish Union AS TOLD BY “THE LONDON PICTORIAL WORLD.” A CONFESSION OF THE MURDERS, CORRUPTION AND TERRIBLE MEANS EMPLOYED. AN ENGLISH STORY OF THE UNION. '"‘l^HE Londo 7 i Pictorial World is one of the great upper I class illustrated weeklies of England. No one can gainsay its standing. Never friendly to the Irish people, this article, which appeared in its issue of April 15, 1886, one week from the day on which Mr. Gladstone made his remarkable declaration on the Irish Question and in- troduced his Home Rule Bill, is all the stronger when the general course of animosity to Ireland of the journal that gives it place is considered. The plain truth of the matter is that the facts are so damning that the attempt to conceal or excuse the means by which the Act of Union was secured is utterly useless, and no matter who it is that undertakes to tell the story, unless he would deny the pub- lished confession of guilt on the part of the authors of the Bill, and treat the whole business as a myth, he must detail a series of horrors that have no equal in the pages of his- tory. Here is the view of it as given by the Pictorial World at date mentioned: The causes which led up to the legislative Union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1800 are so complex, they reach back so far in the history of both countries, and they have been written about with such strong partisan bias on both sides that to construct a sketch of them which shall have a fair claim to be just and impartial is a matter of extreme diffi- culty, if it be not, indeed, impossible. Histories, almost by the score, have been written of Irish events during the last twenty years of the eighteenth century, and it is no easy task, amid the mass of conflicting views of the same events, to gather with any degree of clearness what was the undercurrent of feeling in both countries which culminated 48 THE STORY OF IRELAND, ultimately in Ireland becoming, in 1800, instead of a separ- ate kingdom, an integral part of the United Kingdom. Some understanding of this is necessary, otherwise many of the events which marked that period of Irish history will appear disproportionate to their apparent causes. A convenient starting point may be found in the revolt of the American Colonies in 1775. The case of these colonies seemed to Irishmen to resemble in some respects that of their own country. They were subjected to the will of a country in the making of whose laws, by which they were themselves to be governed, they had no voice. Their trade suffered under grievous disabilities. Three fourths of the population of the country were disfranchised in the Catholics, who were excluded also from every office of honor and em- olument under the Crown. The example of America led to the formation of a patriot party in Ireland, whose objects at first were limited to the liberation of trade from the fet- ters under which it languished, and the abatement of other abuses. But under the leadership of the illustrious Henry Grattan they quickly began to agitate for the restoration of the ancient freedom of the Irish Parliament. The demand came at a moment when the Government of George III. was crippled by the effort to subdue Washington and his colonial levies. It had been necessary to withdraw the reg- ular troops from Ireland, which was now garrisoned and guarded by a national volunteer army of 150,000 men. This force was enthusiastic for Grattan, and the oppressed Catholics made now common cause with the long dominant Protestant colony. The surrender of the British forces at Saratoga and the recognition of American independence made it hopeless longer to resist the demand on the part of Ireland for a free Parliament. A solemn treaty in the form of a statute of the British Parliament, 22 George III., chap. 28, renounced “for ever” the usurpation of “ Poyning’s Law,“ which required the approval of the English Privy AJV ENGLISH STOR Y OF THE UNION. 49 Council to all measures to be submitted to the Irish Legis- lature and covenanted that the ancient constitutional right of Ireland, to be bound only by laws of a free Irish Parlia- ment, should henceforth be unquestioned and unquestion- able. There followed on this a remarkable effect upon national liberty. Irish trade and commerce, it is admitted by historians of both sides, flourished for the next ten years as they had never done before or since. Some of the most grievous of the penal laws were repealed, a happy symptom of the growing spirit of toleration in the island. The victory, however, had only been won in face of the most serious difficulties. One of the most conspicuous of these was the corrupt conditions under which members were returned to the Irish House of Commons. No less than one hundred and sixteen seats were owned by as few as twenty-five proprietors. One hundred and twenty-three members of the Lower House were nominees of fifty-three of the Upper. The Government reckoned on i86 votes, or a majority of thirty-six in the whole House. The regular Opposition consisted of only eighty-two. Reform was in- deed terribly necessary, and to this abuse, so fatal to public liberty, Grattan and his friends directed their attention. Pitt, however, and still less his bigoted and narrow-minded master, was by no means favorably disposed towards the progress of this new-born liberty on Irish soil. The Amer- ican war was over. The hands of the Government were comparatively free again, and the influence of English antagonism to Grattan and his party soon made itself felt in Ireland. For seven years the struggle progressed with varying success, when an event occurred in another land which was destined to blast the hopes of Irish patriots — at any rate, for a long period to come. In 1789 the French Revolution spread like a sea of molten lava over Europe. The governing classes were stunned with horror and dismay at the scenes of cruelty and terror which 4 50 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND. followed in its path. The friends of popular liberty were drunk with joy. In Ireland the classes who possessed lands or houses or money all cast in their lot with the Gov- ernment authority, which they regarded as the surest bul- wark against republican principles. The English Cabinet began to frown on the popular reformers in Ireland. They soon found themselves regarded at headquarters as danger- ous demagogues, whose fantastic gospel of freedom must be sternly repressed. In fact, they simply broke to pieces, and the leading spirit, Grattan himself, retired from the scene. But there remained a leaven of reckless men intoxicated with the gospel of liberty, equality, and fraternity who were driven to madness at the sudden collapse of their hopes, and at the design of the English Minister to bring them, as they believed, once more under the yoke of the English Privy Council, and take back all the freedom which had been wrung from them by Grattan’s patriotic efforts in 1782. These men enrolled themselves in a secret revolutionary conspiracy for the overthrow of British rule in Ireland. Though eventually the popular and Catholic element pre- dominated among them, it is remarkable that the original founders and first adherents of the enterprise were Protes- tants — chiefly Ulster Presbyterians. Their leader was Lord Edward Fitzgerald, son of the Duke of Leinster; and one of their ablest organizers one Wolfe Tone, who was stationed in Paris as their accredited agent to the French Directory. The British Government were quick to see that an abortive insurrection would be the surest means of inducing the propertied classes to draw closer to the Central Government in London, and so pave the "way for a consolidation of- the Parliaments. But towards the close of 1796 the Govern-^ ment of George IIL, heard with alarm and dismay that the JTench Directory had determined to give material aid to the disaffected Irish. A powerful flotilla was actually despatched AJ\r ENGLISH STOR Y OF THE UNION, 51 to the Irish coast under the command of Gen. Hoche; but a great storm dispersed the vessels, and but a few reached Bantry Bay on the southwest coast of Ireland. There can be little doubt that the Government now tried to force the hand of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and compel him, unpre- pared, to take the field, and before France could again come to his aid. For this purpose martial law was proclaimed, and the impartial student of history cannot deny that terri- ble means were employed by the British Government to goad the maddened populace into a rising which would give excuse for measures of stern repression, and accomplish what has been called ‘‘ The Fourth Conquest of Ireland.” The story of the insurrection of '98 would fill a volume, and, as it has been told by contemporary chroniclers, is one of the saddest examples of the infuriated passions which are let loose by the demon of Civil War. It was impossible for the Government, with the information they possessed of the plans and intentions of the United Irishmen, as they were called, to leave the country very much in the hands of a national militia so deeply affected, as it was known to be, with the patriotic spirit. They embodied, in anticipation of the struggle, a militia of thirty thousand men, consisting in great part of the recruits whom Orange magistrates recom- mended as free from the taint of patriotism. The plan was not altogether successful, for four of the Monaghan militia were shot for sympathy with the national cause. Suspected Irish regiments were exchanged for regiments from Scotland and Wales, and the regular army was greatly strengthened, till nearly a hundred thousand soldiers were assembled in the island. The enrolled members of the United Irishmen, however, numbered twice as many. But when their plans were almost ripe for action a colonel of the insurgent army, Thomas Reynolds by name, sold his associates in the Gov- ernment. On this information Lord Edward Fitzgerald was arrested. The central council, or directory, were surprised 53 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND. when actually deliberating on the question of immediate operation. Lord Edward was mortally wounded. The other leaders fell into the hands of the Government, and the insurrection hung fire. There was a rising in Ulster, when a handful of Presbyterian and Catholic farmers fought two battles with the king's troops, but they were completely routed. The United Irishmen had still strong hopes of a French invasion. It was rumored that young Gen. Bona- parte and Gen. Hoche, the leader of the abortive attempt which came to grief at Bantry Bay, would head it; and it was naturally of the utmost moment to force the disaffection to explode in the South also before help from France could reach the country. The United Irishmen had enrolled a few recruits in County Wexford, which was delivered over to a militia which was encouraged to live at free quarters. These miscreants, supposing they were doing good service to the Government in whose pay they were, proceeded to torture the unfortu- nate peasantry in a manner as ingenious as it was barbarous. The French Republicans had introduced the fashion of cropped hair, and the British soldiery invented the brutal pastime of dragging any peasant whose hair was not of the orthodox length into barracks, where a cap of coarse linen smeared with pitch was drawn over his head, on which he was turned out to be hunted by a loyal mob, the sport con- sisting in tearing off the cap and often scalping the unfortu- nate man in the act. Sometimes these soldiers hanged sus- pected persons to extort confession or flogged them to the point of death. Sometimes they hung them up by the arms with their feet resting on pointed stakes. If the peasant could not be found his house was set on fire. The Catholic chapels were sacked and burned to the number, it is said, of over sixty in this county alone. At last a Catholic priest, whose chapel had been burned, turned out with his flock and took the field. But he was quickly overpowered. A little A AT ENGLISH STORY OF THE UNION 53 later a French expedition headed by Wolfe Tone arrived, but it came too late. The contest was at an end. The Government hanged Presbyterian ministers in the North, the Catholic priests in the South; then came the court-mar- tial and the savage excesses of troops taught to regard the campaign as a holy war. Suspected peasants were sent on board tenders on a military order, and only released on un- dertaking to serve in the army or navy. Many were ex- changed for German soldiers, and sent to die in foreign wars. The picture, by whatever side it has been painted, is one of the darkest in the long and gloomy history of the English occupation of Ireland. One thing is certain, that the Government encouraged the formation of the Orange Society, the effect of which was to create a marked separation between Protestants and Cath- olics, so fatal to the peace and prosperity of the country. The party processions and the party badges of these Orange Lodges, which have kept alive the bitter memories of 1798 even to our own day, are one of the inheritances of those disastrous times. Yet more, a thoughtful study of their history, free from the mists of passion and prejudice which then blinded the judgment, makes us more than suspect that the Government fomented the excesses of Wexford in order to divide Protestants and Catholics, and so pave the way for the Union. This has, we know, been denounced in modern times as a base and groundless accusation; but Ireland was not then treated as the spoiled child of the Empire, as she is to-day, and an authority as high as Plunket makes no secret that he believed this to be fact. Speaking of Lord Castlereagh he says: “ I accuse him of fomenting the embers of a lingering rebellion, of hallooing the Prot- estant against the Catholic and the Catholic against the Protestant, of artfully keeping alive domestic discussions for the purpose of subjugation.*' There can be no question whatever that the moribund 54 THE STORY OF IRE LANE. Parliament which was so soon to be closed on College Green was but a venal tool of the English Ministry, a jury which they had packed to give any verdict which happened to suit them. When Grattan introduced his bill to emancipate the Catholics (as fully as they were afterwards emancipated in 1829) it was lost by a majority of three to one. In 1797 he made a final effort for Parliamentary reform, but he was fol- lowed into the lobby by only thirty members against a hun- dred and seventeen, when he seceded from the house in despair. During the insurrection he was in England in failing health, broken-hearted at the miseries of the country he had tried so nobly to serve. It was at this moment that George III. rewarded the services of one of the greatest and best statesmen of his reign by striking his name with his own hand off the list of the Privy Council ! It was amid the smouldering flames of an unsuccessful insurrection that Pitt determined on carrying the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland. That it was effected only by a lavish expenditure of money; that several meet- ings convened to protest against it were dispersed by force, and that it was petitioned against by over 700,000 people among a population of between three or four millions, are factors of history. O’Connell’s account of the matter, speaking before the Corporation of Dublin, has never met with any satisfactory denial, and the only excuse which can be made for Pitt was that he believed the end to justify the means. This is what he said: — “Within the (Irish) Parliament a majority was bought and paid for. Over a quarter of a million was spent in secret bribes and a quarter openly in buying the interest which patrons were supposed to possess in the right of boroughs to representation. In the army, in the navy, in the customs, patronage was distributed as bribes. Those who i)referred money down got a sum of ^S^ooo for a vote, but an offer of ^2,000 a year was not considered too high AJV ENGLISH STORY OF THE UNION 55 an equivalent. No less than twenty peerages, ten bishoprics, one Chief- Justiceship, and six puisne Judgeships were given to men who voted for the Union. It was a costly business to effect the union of Ireland with Great Britain. It will apparently be a hardly less costly one to dissolve it. Pitt’s excuse for his measure was that the Union was the only means to save Ireland from herself; Gladstone’s that the undoing of Pitt’s work is the only way again to save Ireland from herself. Irish history moves in cycles, and she is always, strangely enough, coming back to the same point from which she started. The problem before us is as complex, as anxious as it was in 1800, and it is much the same now. The Union was a leap in the dark. The dissolution of the Union is no less so. The Tories carried the Union. The successors of the Whigs propose to dissolve it. It is no part of the object of this article to enter on a political discussion of the merits of the burning question at issue. Few will deny that the Union was effected very much as a conqueror annexes a country in which his arms have been victorious. In the opinion of so impartial a critic as Mr. Froude, ‘‘ socially and internally the Union worked only mischief.” But under its shadow almost every abuse which made our government of Ireland a byword has been swept away. The Ireland of to-day is as un- like the Ireland of 1800 as Wales or Scotland is to a province of Polish Russia. And yet the disaffection is as deep, the enmity as bitter as in the days when Carhampton harassed the Peasantry of Wexford with unheard-of cruelties, and Ireland was represented by a Parliament gagged by the British Government. It is impossible to imagine any set of circumstances so totally diverse as those which marked the condition of Ireland in 1800 and in 1886. As we have seen, the clamor for a restoration of Grattan’s Parliament is a demand for what, in its later years at any fate, fell a prey to the basest corruption, and was a curse to the country it 56 THE STORY OF /RE LA HE, was created to govern. Whether a Parliament, born under more propitious skies, would be a blessing or a curse to Ireland no one will be bold enough to prophesy. At any rate, this brief glance at the causes which led up to the Union, and the knowledge of what has resulted from it in the last eighty-six years, will show how vast is the difficulty of the problem undertaken by Mr. Gladstone, and how almost equally full of danger seem the alternative courses of the rejection or adoption of his scheme for an Irish millen- nium AMERICA TO IRELAND IN 1776. ADDRESS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS TO THE IRISH PEOPLE ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION. dL.., ADDRESS OF THE AMERICAN CONGRESS TO THE IRISH PEOPLE ON THE EVE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. F RIENDS: — We are desirous of possessing the good opinion of the virtuous and humane. We are pecu- liarly desirous of furnishing the People of Ireland with a true statement of our motives and objects^ the better to enable you to judge of our conduct with accuracy, and deter- mine the merits of the controversy with impartiality and precision. ‘^Your Parliament had done us no wrong. You have been friendly to the rights of mankind, and we acknowledge with pleasure and gratitude that the Irish Nation has pro- duced patriots who have highly distinguished themselves in the cause of humanity and America. On the other hand, we are not ignorant that the labors and manufactures of Ireland, like those of the silk-worm, were of little moment to herself, but served only to give luxury to those who fieither toil nor spin. ‘‘Accept our most grateful acknowledgments for the friendly disposition you have already shown towards us. We know that you are not without your grievances. We sympathize with you in your distress, and are pleased to find that the design of subjugating us has persuaded the English Government to dispense to Ireland some vagrant rays of ministerial sunshine. The tender mercies of the British Government have long been cruel toward you. God grant that the iniquitous schemes of extirpating liberty may soon be defeated.” ERIN TO COLUMBIA. CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS OF / THE IRISH NATION TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA ON THE CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE REPUBLIC, JULY 4, 1876. IRELAND TO AMERICA. T he Address of the Irish Nation congratulating this Republic on the Centennial of its Declaration of In- dependence, 1876, — which was so cordially received by the House of Representatives at Washington, and to which Congressman Holman, the mover, referred with pride last week in his letter to The Irish Worlds — is herewith re- published according to promise The propriety of its re- appearance in this paper, and at this time, will be obvious. The address is brimful of historical interest both for Irish- men and Americans. It will be seen that Mr. Patrick Egan, the worthy President of the Irish National League of America, was then as now, as he has been all the years of his manhood, active in the service of Ireland. We quote: — \From the Irish World of July 29, 1876.] The Centennial anniversary of the Declaration of Ameri- can Independence brought together on the 4th of July on Harold' s-Cross Green, Dublin, an assemblage of Irishmen, large, enthusiastic, and bound in sympathy with their ocean- separated friends and compatriots. Batches had swelled into crowds, then bands, with accompanying ranks of men, came bearing all before them on the roads, and rapidly the area for the meeting became covered and packed. From the far end, where the platform was erected, the mass of people were seen stretched to the sides of the green, and extended back as far as the bridge, where the ground gradually became denser and darker, while fresh bands and more banners^ strove to crush up towards the platform. Green flags, American flags, French flags, and bannerets waved over the heads of the demonstrations, whilst here 64 THE STORY OF IRELAND. and there brass instruments and uniform caps indicated the presence of the city bands, whose melodies hardly rose above the roar of the crowd as they cheered some popular sentiment or recognized some popular leader. Early in the proceedings a large American flag was elevated on the plat- form, and hailed by a mighty cheer, which rolled away to the bridge, until it became faint from dist^ce, and not from lack of throats to support it. A small green banner, an humble follower of the great trans-Atlantic emblem, was then hoisted, and was as heartily welcomed. As darkness fell the vastness of the meeting was more impressive and then torches were lit, tar barrels set blazing, and fireworks and rockets sent sparkling in showers of fire across the heavens. Shortly after eight o’clock, Harold’s-Cross Green was occupied by fully 60,000 persons, the utmost order being observable throughout the proceedings. Mr. John O’Neill was the first speaker. He said the maxim at the present, and always had been throughout centuries of op- pression and wrong, ‘^Ireland for the Irish.” (Cheers.) And the 4th of July, 100 years ago, the battle of the American people freed them from the galling chains of England. (Cheers.)- At the conclusion of his speech a number of torches were lighted through the crowd, and a wagonette arrived at the foot of the platform, in which were seated Mr. Parnell, M. P., Mr. Fay, M. P., Mr. P. Egan, Mr. Kavanagh, Mr. Dunne, and a few other gentlemen. Mr. Egan was soon after moved to the Chair. The Chairman said they were assembled for a great and glorious purpose, to celebrate the Declaration of American Independence, to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the day on which the hardy colonists of America asserted their manhood, flung off the hated yoke of England, and sprang into life, li])erty, and nationhood. (Applause.) To that great Republic Irishmen, exiled from their own coun- try, were banished, in the words of the Times ^ with a ven- IRELAND TO AMERICA, 65 geance/’ and there were to-day in Ireland thousands upon thousands whose hearts beat for the day when their ban- ished kindred and their descendants would be coming back ^^with a vengeance/' (Applause.) Speech of Mr. Parnell. Mr. Parnell, M. P., in moving the adoption of an address to the American people, said that he had come that morn- ing from a British House of Commons after the rejection of the demand of the Irish nation, to assist his countrymen in celebrating the independence of the American people. (Applause.) It was a proud task, it was an important duty that they had before them to-night; they were celebrating the birthday of a nation; they were celebrating the free- dom of fifty millions of people, and they were not only celebrating the freedom of the American people, but they celebrated also those principles which had been introduced and laid before them by the great sacrifices which the American people made to obtain their independence, and which would fructify and bear fruit for all ages. (Loud applause.) But at the same time it was right that he should point out to them and denounce the attempt that had been made by the English governing classes (hisses) to congratu- late the Americans upon the freedom which they had won from the ancestors of those classes in years ago. (Applause.) When he saw such attempts he said that the spirit lives to- day in those classes which incited Cornwallis to let loose the Red Indians upon the defenceless wives, daughters, and children of the brave Americans who were struggling for liberty against British armed oppression. (Hisses.) The same spirit lives that incited Lord Percy, on the retreat of the English regiments from Concord to Boston, when they were driven and pelted by the brave irregulars of Massachusetts (applause), when the English soldiers ran away so fast that they ran fifteen miles in forty-five minutes 5 66 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND, (laughter); the same spirit exists to-day which prompted Lord Percy, the commander of those flying forces, to ravish every house he could reach, to kill every man, woman, and child within reach of his troops. (Applause.) What they did then was what they would do to-day to the Americans if they could get the chance. Ah, sir ! when a lying Prime Minister told the credulous House of Commons that Allen, Larkin, and O’Brien (cheers for the Manchester martyrs) were murderers, he told them then what would have been said to-day of W'ashington if he had fallen into the hands of the English troops. (Hear, hear.) The spirit which had oppressed every nation on the face of the earth with which England had come in contact lived to-day as strong as ever. Let us then congratulate America; let us bid her God-speed on her great task of civilization. Let us wish our American brothers that prosperity may attend on their independence, and let us hope for this poor isle of ours that independence and that practical power of legislating for ourselves, without which we cannot hope to be free. (Applause.) I have great pleasure in moving the adoption of the address, which will be forwarded to-night to President Grant for presentation to the American people. (Applause.) The following is the Address of the Irish Nation, Congratulating the American People on the Centennial of their Inde- pendence. To the President of the United States of America^ the People of Irela7id Greetmg, Sir — Whilst the mighty Republic over which you preside commemorates the Centenary of its deliverance, the Irish nation, universally moved by kindred sympathy, desires to mingle its accents of congratulation with the exultant jubi- lation of a victorious, a great, and a free people. America has now enjoyed one hundred years of freedom, preserving IRELAND TO AMERICA. 67 with unremitting fidelity the sacred trust confided to her care; Ireland has borne seven centuries of oppression with- out having ever, for one single instant, forfeited her fervent love of liberty. This, we know, would afford ample and sufficient reason to authorize our addressing your august nation, for we are well aware that a century of happiness has but made freedom more dear to your hearts, quickened your sympathy with suffering, and rendered despotism more detestable. Yet other reasons also there are, which we venture to recall, because in reciting them it seems as though we were tracing out the mysterious design of Provi- dence which fashioned between us bands of mystic brother- hood, drew us closely together in heart, and mind, and soul, in order that the sunlight of liberty, which America enjoys, should also illuminate the sorrowing but uplifted and expectant brow of Ireland. Of old, when the most adventurous of the mighty Aryan race had penetrated even to this our island, they clomb our Western mountains and beheld the immensity of ocean which seemed to debar them from further daring. The material obstacles could control their bodies only; their eagle-minds planned far beyond the tossing billows, and, in imagination, they discovered a new and wondrous land. Clothing it in the golden glories of the sunset sky, they named it The Land of Youth,” and endowed it with mystic virtues, believing that it gave strength to the weak, hope to those who were faint of heart, and immortal joy and youth to sad old age. Standing on the uttermost verge of the Western World, gazing from the last pinnacle of the Known, they pierced, by a divine intuition, the mysteries of the Unknown. They imagined the existence of a new world which after-times made manifest. They believed it possessed a virtue which transfigures all it touches — and such is Freedom ! They beheld it in the propitious land, and who shall say them nay? where many, many of the 68 THE STORY OF IRELAND, ancient race of Erin were destined to renew their youth, like the eagle, and arise strong, prosperous, and invincible. ‘^The Greater Ireland.” Inspired by this prophetic vision, moved by the profound instinct which the Almighty Creator infused into the hearts of our forefathers, their souls have ever yearned toward the West. There was a time when Ireland, which, like Zion, has become tributary, was once great among the nations, a princess among the provinces.” Her country was the university of Europe, in whose open gates strangers coming from all quarters to its free lectures and hospitable board, met learned men going forth to instruct all peoples, from snowy Iceland to burning Araby. “Three centuries of European civilization belong exclusively to Ireland ” — such is the testimony of a foreign historian. During this long lapse of time, from the sixth to the ninth centuries, many voyagers went forth from our shores upon the Atlantic Ocean, and it is told that some — amongst them St. Brendan — reached the far, fair land which men now call America. The naturalized Norsemen of our ports, whose home was on the living waters of the sea, followed likewise in the golden path of the setting sun, and beheld the further limit of the multitudinous billows. To that discovered land, the bounteous territory which the ancient Irish had named the “Land of Youth,” the Saga of the Scandinavians gave the not less significant appellation of “ Irland it Mikla,” which, being translated, means “Greater Ireland.” Ireland Ever the Friend of America. When, in later times, the colonial assemblies of America resolved no longer to endure the heavy yoke laid on them by B>ritain, to what else can we assign their undoubting trust in Irish sympathy than to that instinctive community of sentiment between the two countries which appears, from IRELAND TO AMERICA, 69 what precedes, to have been fore-ordained of God ? The words addressed by America to Ireland do so much honor to our country that we cannot but recall them, not to re- mind Americans of them (for well we know they need no reminder), but to prove to the world that Ireland was America’s friend in the day of her fiery trial. Whilst the British Generals complained that the Irish refused to volun- teer for the American war, the Continental Congress wrote to the people of Ireland,” from Philadelphia, in 1774, these words: “You have ever been friendly to the rights of man- kind, and we acknowledge with pleasure and gratitude that your nation has produced patriots who have nobly distin- guished themselves in the cause of humanity and of America.” In 1775 the Congress wrote^ saying: “Accept our most grateful acknowledgments for the friendly disposi- tion you have always shown us,” and added the expression of its sympathy because of the grievances which Ireland endured. In 1778 Franklin, the first ambassador from America to France, wrote declaring the deep concern of Congress with respect to the wrongs of Ireland, owing to such “ a combination of rapine, treachery, and violence, as would have disgraced the name of Government in the most arbi- trary country in the world.” It is a needless, though it would be a proud task for us, to relate with what fervent loyalty to the principle of justice the Irish threw themselves into the contest, and made sacrifice of life to secure the triumph of liberty. “Americans! ” said a generous Ameri- can, himself the adopted son of Washington, “Americans, recall to your minds the recollections of that heroic time, when Irishmen were our friends, and when in the whole world we*had not a friend beside.” Thousands of Irish- men, he adds, had died for their cause, before the Flag of France was advanced to their assistance. Let us not forget it — beneath that broad bancier of France beat the gallant hearts of officers and men of that Irish Brigade, whose 70 THE STORY OF IRELAND, invincible front struck terror into the foe on the slopes of Fontenoy, and marched again to victory on the plains of America. Washington's Recognition. In recognition of the services of Irishmen, the General- in-Chief of the American forces became a member of the Irish Association, known as the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, twenty-seven of whom had contributed over ;^ioo,ooo to succor his army in Valley Forge. “ I accept," he said, ‘‘ with singular pleasure the ensign of so worthy a fraternity as that of the Sons of St. Patrick in this city— a society distinguished for the firm adherence of its members to the cause in which we are all embarked." It has been a consolation to our country in her darkest sufferings, it has been and it shall be, throughout all time, one of the greatest glories of our nation, that George Washington, who rejected the honors of Britain, repudiated her title, and cast down her yoke, accepted an Irish ensign, and became the first “ Adopted Citizen of Ireland." Since that auspicious day a century has elapsed, but in all those hundred years not one second has interrupted the fraternal amity of our nations. Trials which came to test the hearts of both have but served to call into being new proofs of their fidelity each to the other. When by foreign threat and internal violence a gigantic effort was made to overthrow the Republic of Washington, and Heaven secured its safety by your hand, the Irish race renewed the memory of our fathers’ deeds, and the testimony of its truth is in- scribed on the tombs of the battle-field. Amidst the noble oblivion with which America has veiled all the errors of the wayward past, this testimony will remain imperishable to ennoble our present and inspire our future. ‘Trklant) Joins in theTe Deum of Victorious America." Sir, we recall not these evidences of history in order to IRELAND TO AMERICA. 71 formulate a claim upon American sympathy. That is a free- will offering, too lofty to bear control, too bounding to evoke in our hearts one other feeling than that of manly gratitude. Throughout our sufferings its vivifying rays have never failed to fall upon our souls, quickening into speedier life the undying germs of hope. America has stood by us, like the Samaritan by the wounded man, not only during an artificial Famine of Food, but likewise during an equally artificial Famine of Freedom. If her intervention helped to preserve a fruitful land from that privation which destroys the body, her ministering hand also guarded a liberty-loving nation against that privation which would slay the spirit if the Providence of God were not superior to the malice of foes. Life and Liberty constitute the birthright of mankind, and both are consecrated by religion, which teaches justice in loving-kindness. Because you, who would not be tenants- at-will of your indefeasible rights, have declared liberty to be the fee-simple of all men — because you have generously shared your treasure with all who stood in need — because you have magnanimously ministered unto all who suffered — therefore the God of liberty has exalted your name, en- larged your inheritance, augmented your prosperity, and invoked upon your heads the benediction of the earth. Wherefore we approach the august presence of your majes- tic nation in order that the voice of suffering Ireland may re-echo the Te Deum of victorious America; and that the commingled anthem may ascend to the altar of the Father of mankind, the Lord and Giver of life and liberty. Mr. John Ferguson, of Glasgow, seconded the adoption of the Address, which was carried by acclamation. LETTERS AND OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS ON THE IRISH QUESTION. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. VIEWS OF SENATOR LOOAN “Ireland Should Have a Parliament in Fact and Not Merely in Name.” Calumet Place, Washington My Dear Sir: — Your favor inviting me to an expres- sion upon the subject of justice for Ireland reached me by the due course of mail. In complying with your request I have to premise the re- mark that neither the observance of the proprieties of offi- cial station, nor the careful guarding of official reserve, can under fair interpretation be held to conflict with the open expression of individual opinion upon any questions of a public nature. It may be said that the modern world is greatly indebted to the English people; that they have fostered and assisted to develop the arts and sciences; that they have led in the evolution of jurisprudence; that they have enacted wise laws and shone resplendently in the fields of literature; that they have quickened and promoted commerce throughout the globe; that their invention has added to the stock of useful appliances in every avenue of life, public and private; that they have sent their merchant marine to every sea. Can it not as well be said that unfortunately her merchant marine has often been preceded by her man-of-war, and her diffus- ing of peaceful commerce has frequently been accomplished behind wooden walls and iron-cased vessels ? The English nation has always been great; it has not as constantly been just. Both in its internal and external re- lations it has frequently committed the act and searched for 76 THE STORY OF IRELAND. the justification afterward. It has often been unjust to its own people and frequently oppressive to others. In its ad- ministration of its home affairs it has restricted within the narrowest limits the liberty of the masses and has show- ered the benefits of life upon a favored class. In the con- duct of its foreign relations the “ jingo ” has overshadowed the statesman, the jurist, and the humanitarian. It has ap- propriated States and absorbed peoples. It has disregarded affinities, and has swallowed populations in defiance of nat- ural laws. In the course of subsequent government it has frequently failed to rule either wisely or well. Its dealing with the Irish question has not been marked with broad statesmanship, wise administration, nor due re- gard to equity, justice, or common expediency. The world is familiar with this fact, however the English nation may seek to blind itself to the truth. The sentiment and sym- pathy of all liberty-loving people are opposed to English treatment of the Irish subject. Americans by all of their traditions, their professions, and all of their hopes, must be opposed to it. It will be in the interest of national justice, as well as to the direct advantage of the English people themselves, if they can only realize the general prevalence of this feeling among the people of this country. Without entering more extensively into the question than the scope of your letter will prescribe, I have to express the conviction that the least, and the very least, that the English Government can now do in reparation of the mistakes and wrongs of the past is to grant a Parliament to the Irish peo- ple. Let me not be misunderstood. They should have a Parliament in fact, and not merely in name. It should not be limited to the functions of a board of supervisors whose powers are exhausted in the repairs of roads, bridges, etc., but should be endowed with faculties of a legislative body, OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 77 with sufficient scope to legislate upon internal, economic, and other affairs of the State, so as to give vitality to its home interests, education to its children, prosperity and contentment to its people. It is time for the English nation, whose history is embel- lished with many brilliant pages, to purge itself of selfish- ness and to cultivate a strict regard for the rights of com- munities, peoples, and individuals. It has had some hard experiences in the past. By a continuous disregard of right and justice England once lost the territory of an Empire, though the nations gained an asylum of Freedom thereby. So the England of 1776 might send a message to the Eng- land of to-day, and suggest that the incident may not be forgotten. Very truly yours, John A. Logan, U, S. Senator from Illinois. Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. LETTER FROM SENATOR VAN WYCK. “Nine-tenths ofi America Cordially with Ireland as against England.” United States Senate, Washington, D.C. My Dear Mr. Ford: — Many thanks for your invitation, and many apologies for this tardy response, not, I assure you, from lack of interest or earnest desire for the success of the cause so dear to Americans and so absolutely neces- sary to the permanent peace and prosperity of Ireland. Ireland should be free to-day, at least to the enjoyment of those rights wrested from her years ago, and to the res- toration of the land stolen by a despotism [England] which tolerates no equals, has no true friends, always making vas- sals and slaves of the debtor nations of the world with whom she deals. Under the mask of civilization and Christianity she increases the degree of servitude in India and Egypt; 78 THE STORY OF IRELAND, she nowhere breaks the galling chains, only forcing them from the hands of native kings and taskmasters to hold them more tightly in her own sordid grasp. The hands on the dial of human progress and freedom move slowly, scarcely to be seen, yet they do move. I remember, in 1868, in the House of Representatives, I had occasion to make some remarks on the duty we owed, not so much to Ireland as to ourselves, by demanding that England should respect and recognize American citizen- ship, whether claimed by native-born or naturalized citizens. I spoke what I believed to be true then, what I know to be true to-day. From then the cause of Irish independence has moved forward. Nine-tenths of the people of America would urge that England shall no longer treat her as a subjugated prov- ince. Irishmen are united at home. Every day adds to the advocates of her cause on Irish soil. Every victory achieved there by her yeomanry and laborers — every ex- tension of suffrages — will prove an aid for Ireland. Truly, you can “ Bless the Lord and take courage,” and hope that Parnell may prove a Moses to lead to the deliver- ance of his people. When sturdy Englishmen break the bands of a wealthy aristocracy, and the people of the United States shall pre- vent wealthy corporations from controlling legislation to the injury of the masses by ignoring the rights of labor, by just so much will the cause of Ireland be promoted. Power, aggression, extortion, and wealth sympathize with each other, no matter whether in an empire or republic; so does the cause of the wronged appeal to the laborer, the yeoman, the toiler. On either hemisphere that mystic chord binds, and, true as the electric flash, it will carry the current of generous sympathy around the world. It is a continua- tion of the old struggle between capital and labor that the few may absorb the earnings of the many. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 79 This struggle will prevail. There may now and then be a truce, but no peace until something nearer universal jus- tice prevails on the earth You do right, Mr. Ford, in appealing to the intelligence, the heart and brain of America and the world. In the end the right must prevail. Truly yours, C. H. Van Wyck, U. S. Senator from Nebraska. Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. ENDORSES ‘‘THE IRISH WORLD.” “ Mr Ford, Consider me as Endorsing all you say for Ireland.” Senate Chamber, Washington. My Dear Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the re- ceipt of your favor of recent date in respect to the cause of Ireland. Mr. Ford, please consider me as endorsing and echoing all you say for Ireland .in your eloquent letter. Publish your letter and you will publish my sentiments better than I can write them. At some future day I will write you fully my views. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Yours very truly, J. R. McPherson, U. S. Se^iator from New fersey. Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World, LETTER FROM SENATOR HALE. “ Hopes for and Expects the Legislative Independence of Ireland.” Senate Chamber, Washington. My Dear Sir: — I have received your letter asking me for an expression of my views upon Ireland and the contest which is now being waged in her behalf. 80 THE STORY OF IRELAND. I hope and believe that out of the present crisis in British politics will come the legislative independence of Ireland. It is evident that many of the leaders in England look favorably upon this as a solution of - the Irish question, and I hope that at no distant day the world may see this accom- plished. Sincerely yours, Eugene Hale, U. S. Senator from Maine. Patrick Ford, Esq. PLAIN WOBDS FROM SENATOR FRYE. “ Home Rule Unfettered by Conditions or Limitations.” Senate Chamber, Washington. My Dear Sir: — America as a colony of England experi- enced to the full her power of repression in the interest of commercial and manufacturing supremacy. The same heavy hand was laid upon Ireland, and her growing industries were deliberately crushed. In our late civil war, controlled by the same spirit, England desired the dismemberment of the Republic; and, forgetting her hatred of slavery, became an ally of those who sought to make it perpetual, while the Irish were arrayed on the side of freedom and fought for the integrity of the Union and the rights of man. How, then, can an American witness Ireland’s long-continued and gallant struggle without earnest and sincere sympathy ? I assure you. Sir, that I shall rejoice and be glad in this New Year, if, before its close, Ireland shall enjoy Home Rule unfettered by conditions and limitations. I am, very truly, William P. Frye, U. S. Senator from Maine, Mr. Patrick Ford, New York. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 81 SENATOR SAWYER’S VISION. He Sees “the Opening of a New Era for the Irish People.” United States Senate, ) Washington, D. C. ) My Dear Sir: — I have watched the progress of the re- cent Parliamentary elections in England and Ireland with a good deal of interest, and I am gratified that the result is the opening up of a new era for the Irish people. My hope is that the wisdom of Ireland’s statesmen and the intelli- gence of her people may lead them on to a lasting prosperity as a reward for the centuries of British misrule and cruelty so long endured. Would that the patriot and martyr Emmet were alive to rejoice with you at this time. I am. Sir, yours truly, Philetus Sawyer, U. S. Senator from Wisconsin. Patrick Ford, Esq. SENATOR VEST’S OPINION. “ The Idea of Freedom Inseparably Connected with the Right of a People to Govern Themselves.” United States Senate. ) Washington, D. C. ) My Dear Sir: — The idea of freedom is inseparably con- nected with the right of a people to govern themselves, and the reverse of the proposition constitutes tyranny. I sincerely hope that the Irish people may become as great and prosperous as they have always shown themselves to be brave and generous. Very truly, etc., G. G. Vest, U. S. Senator from Missouri, Patrick Ford, Esq., New York City. 6 82 THE STORY OF IRELAND. THE SENIOR MEMBER SPEAKS. Judge Kelly Insists on a Parliament with Power to Revive Irish Industries. Washington, D. C. Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — England’s government of Ireland is a reproach to the age in which we live. Irishmen should revive the in- dustries which the infamous Union suppressed, and demand the right to convert the varied raw material with which their country is endowed into comforts and luxuries for themselves and for exportation. It is the greed of English trade that has starved or banished so many millions of people of the most enterprising and vigorous race of the Celtic stock. The agitation for Home Rule should be ceaseless. Yours very truly, William D. Kelley, M. C., of Pennsylvania, SENATOR BLAIR’S OPINIONS. “A Federal Union, on the American Principle, the Solution of the Anglo-Irish Difficulty.” United States Senate, ) Washington, D. C. j My Dear Sir: — Your note is received. I am not sure that I understand the Irish question so well as I ought in order to answer your inquiries; but it has long seemed to me that the only practical solution of the difficulties which exist between the Irish race, not only in Ireland alone, but everywhere, and the English Government, is a Federal Union in which Ireland shall be a State, like New York in the American system, and yet an integral part of the Empire. It cannot be reasonably expected that the British Empire will submit to dismemberment without a prolonged and terrible war. Neither do I see how Ireland can consent to OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 83 separate from that majestic organization, the most wonder- ful known to history, to whose existence and glory she has contributed for ages far more than her own due share of intellect, of blood, and of patriotic devotion in council and on the battle-field as well as in every department of indus- trial production and development and in every quarter of the globe. If Ireland herself should become wholly inde- pendent and isolated from the Empire, still the Empire would remain — an Irish Empire, I had almost said, as much as it is now an English Empire. Ireland has wrought largely in every great deed of the Empire. More than half the Irish race of pure blood now live elsewhere, and immense numbers never could separate from English rule even if the Mother Isle terminate the connection. A separation would reduce both Ireland and England to the condition of de- pendencies and result in the same evils to avoid the possi- bility of which the American civil war was fought to such a glorious termination by the armies of the nation. For the same reasons that the American States remained a nation, and that Canada and the United States must yet become the same nation, Ireland and England must become and must remain — One. But this condition can never be until, in all that concerns her internal affairs, each is a separate State and independent of the other. The remote provinces and colonies of the British Empire will in time become independent nations or will unite with contiguous peoples; but Ireland and England will remain one or become nothing, or worse than nothing. In case of war between them each can find allies enough to assist in the process of mutual destruction until it is complete. The arm of England in every great war the memory of which rankles in the hearts of continental powers has been the arm of Ireland also, and the continent will pursue but one real policy in case of war between the two islands — Divide and 84 THE STORY OF IRELAND, conquer; conquer, first in the remote portions of the earth, ultimately the rivals themselves. [Senator Blair looks upon the British Empire as a “ majestic organization; ” we regard it as a blighting and universal curse. It is indeed able to strike a grand and imposing attitude before the nations. So does Satan in Milton’s epic. When a good reason is offered why the Devil ought to be adored for his blazing throne the British Empire shall find us among its worshipers, but not before. True it is, “and pity ’tis ’tis true,” Irishr^en have aided England in extending her robber and murderous sway over the world. It was, however, their poverty and not their will that gave consent. In that shameful fact no honest Irishman glories, nor can an Irishman of patriotic instinct be found to-day to enroll himself under England’s piratical banner. Senator Blair is guilty of a misnomer when he speaks of England as the “ Mother Isle.” It would have been as correct to say that Rome was the mother of Greece or of Judea. Ireland’s nationality is older than that of England. This criticism is prompted by a spirit of candor which still wears respect close to its heart. Senator Blair is a most worthy gentleman. To him the friends of Labor, of Education, and of Temperance owe an immense debt of gratitude. He is, besides, a warm personal friend. He has in private letters been pleased to say kind things of us; and he has, in Congress and out of Congress, expressed his admiration for The Irish World. No personal friend- ship, however, nor no compliments for The Irish World., shall stand between us and a correct idea of England’s in- justice and Ireland’s right to self-government. Indeed Mr. Blair himself contends for this right within the lines of the present movement — a right which, in our opinion, England will not concede, although England’s friends and apologists will be pleased to read from distinguished Americans all that is eulogistic of her empire and her rule. — Ed. I. W.] Let England and Ireland recall the recollections of their mutual interest and glory; and then let England do justice to Ireland, cheerfully and completely, by giving to her and retaining for herself local autonomy. Then will the Anglo- Irish Federation become peaceful, prosperous, powerful. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 85 and perpetual. Any other policy is destruction near or re- mote — and, at furthest, not very remote. Truly yours, Henry tV. Blair, U, S. Senator froyn New Hampshire. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. SENATOR DAWES’ OPINION, “ Home Rule as Necessary for England to Give as for Ireland to Obtain.” Washington, D. C. My Dear Sir: — Home Rule is the great remedy for the evils which afflict Ireland. I pray that she may secure it. It is as necessary for England as for her that she obtains it. Yours, H. L. Dawes, U. S. Senator from Massachusetts. Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. FROM SENATOR GIBSON. “ I See No Reason Why Ireland Should not be as Free as New York in Self-Government. Senate Chamber, Washington Mr. Patrick Ford, New York. Dear Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 14th inst. and to say in reply that I deeply sympathize with the efforts of all Irishmen to secure redress for the centuries of wrong and injustice that Ireland has endured. I do not know what particular measures would be most efficacious to achieve this beneficent result. But I see no reason why Ireland should not be as free as New York or Virginia or Louisiana in all the essentials of self-government, nor any reason why all enlightened British statesmen should not help forward this good work. Yours faithfully, R. L. Gibson, U. S. Senator from Louisiana. 86 THE STORY OF IRELAND . SENATOR HOAR’S PRAYER For the Overthrow of England’s Iniquitous Dominion in Ireland. Washington, D. C. My Dear Sir: — My sympathies are with Ireland in her efforts to throw off a dominion which has crushed her for centuries and had never any lawful origin. Very truly yours, Geo. F. Hoar, U . S . Senator from Massachusetts . Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. FROM MR. JOHN V. L. FINDLAY. Every Honest Man, Especially Every American, Should he on the Side of Ireland. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — Every man familiar with the brutal treat- ment Ireland has received at the hands of England through centuries of oppression, following as the logical consequence of forcible conquest, must feel his heart warmed with the prospect of her final emancipation. Still more so will every American who believes in the fullest liberty applied by the most enlightened system of self-government. Very truly yours, John V. L. Findlay. M . C, of Maryland . [There are persons who pity “ poor Ireland,'’ as men pity a mendicant, or beggar, as if her misery were the result of a radical defect in the Irish character. Mr. Findlay, evi- dently, is not of these. He sees that Ireland’s wretched- ness is “the logical consequence” of her subjection to English rule. Until the cause is removed the effect will inevitably continue to manifest itself. — Ed. I. W.] OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 87 HOW MR. MORRISON LOOKS AT IT. “ Ireland’s Cause To-Day and America’s a Century Ago Essen- tially One.” Washington, D. C. Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir:^ — Y ou are correct in believing me in sympathy with the Irish race resisting conquest and extermination. The cause of Ireland to-day is very like ours of a century ago. So our people, the friends of political and religious liberty, regard it, and our sympathies go along with it. Respectfully yours. W. R. Morrison, M, C.yOf Illinois, SENATOR STANFORD SUGGESTS That the British Empire be Governed on a System Modeled after that of the United States. United States Senate, ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir: — The Irish question is too great a one to be discussed without careful preparation. I shall not attempt, therefore, to discuss it in this short letter, which is merely intended to convey my friendly feelings towards yourself and your people. The general principle upon which I should like to see Ireland and the whole British Empire governed is one based upon County, State, and National Government, after our own system, with such imperial representation as would make the different provinces and colonies of Great Britain integral parts of the whole. As to the immediate relief of the Irish people I cannot •see any but that which may be brought about by diversified 88 THE STORY OF IRELAND, labor. It seemed to me when I was in Ireland that the people were too much attached to agricultural pursuits. The extent of their territory is not sufficient to provide this kind of labor for all. In consequence of the improvement in transportation the agriculturist of Ireland is to-day in direct competition with the agriculturist in all portions of the civilized world. [Senator Stanford is right when he suggests “diversified labor” for Ireland, but he is wrong in leaving it to be in- ferred that the absence of this is the fault of the Irish people and not the jealousy and greed of England. Ireland now demands a Parliament that will develop her resources and protect her industries; but an Irish Parliament having this object in view England will not give while she has the power to withhold it. — Ed. I. W.] Should the change to more diversified labor be too slow to give the immediate relief that is needed, then I would suggest emigration. It would be an easy solution of the present difficulty for so many of the Irish people to emigrate to America as to leave no more at home than could obtain constant and profitable employment. [Irish emigration, or extermination in some form, is the remedy ever advised by the quack statesmen and rogues of England. The rooting out of this people has been going on for centuries. No country in the world in the same space of time has lost so large a proportion of its popula- tion; yet Ireland has not become prosperous. This game is “ played out.” The Irish must take firm possession of the land which the Lord God gave to them; and if there is to be any more emigration it is the land-thieves and the English garrison, with all their attendant evils, that should emigrate. — Ed. I. W]. Very truly yours, Lkland Stanford, U, S. Senator from California, OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 89 A TRUE AMERICAN. “Any Demand of the Irish Looking to Self-Government, or Ultimate Independence, has my best Wishes. House of Representatives U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World, My Dear Sir: — I feel now and have always felt a deep interest in the affairs of Ireland, and I rejoice to-day that the signs of the times indicate a change in public opinion in England toward that unfortunate country. Wherever a people is struggling for liberty, nationality, equal rights, or self-government in any possible form, I am unalterably on their side. The “ crimes of Ireland,’’ about which we heard some years ago so much, made no unfavorable impression upon my mind; for I think I see behind the desperate struggles of the last few years the cause of Irish discontent and such seeming disregard of law and order as has been occasionally manifested in that country. I place the responsibility for the misgovernment of Ireland at the door of the British nation. It has discriminated against Ireland in the matter of education. It has enacted laws which have destroyed the industries of Ireland. Its intolerable system of land tenure has placed upon the Irish people a load more in- tolerable than the decree of “ bricks without straw ” issued by the famous King of Egypt. Hence, the successes of Mr. Parnell, the election of eighty-six members of Parlia- ment favorable to him, the vacillating concessions of Mr. Gladstone, with the change of public opinion as manifested in the press of England and America, are all signs of the time which I hail with joy. I have no opinion in detail as to what should be done or not done for Ireland. But any demand which her patriotic people may make looking to self-government and, if possi- 90 THE STORY OF IRELAND. ble, ultimate independence will receive my best wishes for their success. I do not shut out from the present consideration of this subject the memory that I have of the dark days of our own war. Ireland was without a national government to make an expression of opinion, but her sons everywhere were our friends. England was not without a national government, and her national utterances, the voice of her press, and her influence among the nations was in favor of slavery, and her prayer was for the dismemberment of this Union. Thus she hypocritically turned her back upon her pretence of love of liberty for the slave and her record of protest against slavery among the American people, and sought by moral aid and by material strength, contributed in violation of in- ternational law and good faith, in every form to aid the Southern Confederacy to build up a nationality upon a struc- ture the corner-stone of which was to be African slavery. When that power and that influence struggles with any nation these thoughts come crowding upon me; and now, when she has a contest with liberty-loving Ireland, I can at least stand upon American soil, and under the American flag, made free in spite of England, and pray that the Green Isle may be rid of her despotism and her unequal legislation. Yours truly, C. H. Grosvenor, M. C., of Ohio. FROM CHARLES N. BRUMM. A Believer in the Declaration of Independence, He Must Sympathize With the Cause of Irish Independence. House of Representatives, ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick I^'ord, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — As I am a firm believer in the doctrine that men are created etpial ” and have “ certain inalienable OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 91 rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’' and believing that '‘'‘all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed,” I would not be true to myself if I did not heartily sympathize with the great and gallant Parnell and his coadjutors in their noble struggle in behalf of an oppressed and down- trodden people. May God speed them ! Yours truly, Charles N. Brumm, M, C., of Pennsylvania. FROM O’NEILL OF MISSOURI. “ The Son of an Irish Exile, I Join with the Men of My Race for Ireland’s Deliverance.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir: — The son of an Irish exile, I join with the men of my race in the hope that Ireland’s deliverance is near at hand. The marvelous unanimity and moderation of the Irish people in their appeal to England for legislative indepen- dence merits the active sympathy and support of every lover of human freedom. I believe the blind prejudice which has in the past con- trolled English statesmen in their dealings with Ireland is gradually disappearing, and that they have learnt the futility of a system which has made every man of Irish blood a bitter enemy of British rule, when the opposite policy of confidence and kindness would have gained their friendship. Appreciating your noble and untiring efforts on behalf of Ireland, I have the honor to remain, yours truly, John J. O’Neill, M, C.y of Missouri. 92 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND. FROM CONGRESSMAN SWINBURNE. “The American Who Refuses Sympathy to Ireland is but Little Better than a Selfish Ingrate.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish Wo^Id. Dear Sir: — The Irish people, in their great struggles to secure a voice in their government and to establish Ireland as a nation, challenge the admiration of all lovers of liberty, and should receive the warmest sympathies as well as the practical and moral support of all who enjoy the great bless- ings they are struggling to attain. I read of but one in- stance where a greater Sacrifice was offered than by this people — the memorable occasion where on Calvary the Sacrifice was made which offered liberty to the human race Of course, no such sacrifice as that can ever again be offered; yet history proves that all through life, whether of nations or of individuals, liberty among men is not a gift freely offered by human rulers, but can be secured only by greater or lesser sacrifices and self-denial. Aside from the inherited feelings towards the Irish race, and the knowledge that it was my good fortune to be born in a land where liberty sits exalted in the highest place and dispenses her blessings to all, I have other reasons for ex- tending my warmest sympathy to the Irish nation. The picture of this oppressed people, whose every impulse is generous, whose bravery is unquestioned, and from among whom the most brilliant orators and learned philosophers have sprung, contending for seven hundred years with an exacting oppressor and transmitting an intensifying love of nationality down through the centuries, from one generation to another, is a spectacle unsurpassed in the records of time. To me it seems remarkable and appears almost as a de- lusion that any people could be so forbearing as the Irish, and endure as they have endured. On every field and in OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 93 every clime where the British flag has waved Irish troops have been called to defend it, and in the four quarters of the globe everywhere are the graves of Irishmen whose lives were given that the British Empire might be built up and extended, and the avarice of their English rulers for territory and wealth be satisfied. [To the everlasting disgrace of the Irish name the statement here made is too true; yet it is true also to say that to the poverty and ignorance conse- quent on Ireland’s servitude, and not to any innate evil tendency of the Irish mind, is the humiliating fact trace- able. The folly of the Irish, however, does not excuse English ingratitude. The English have proved themselves to be thieves without honor. It is well ! Thank God it is so ! Had it been otherwise — had England divided with the Irish the loot of her piratical engagements — the Irish now might be a willing support of the wicked British Empire. — Ed. I. W.] But never in return has Ireland been offered or allowed to claim God’s free and great gift to man — Liberty. Reflecting on these things I would be less than human to withhold at this time a word of encouragement, or close my lips and refuse to give utterance to the promptings of my heart that God may bless and give liberty to Ireland. I see and admire in this conflict between the Irish patriots and their English rulers a grand picture in the great drama of life, and one that must end in a scene eclipsing all in the past, although it may not be achieved without a still greater sacrifice. Within the last century, and indeed since the tree of liberty was planted and took root on this continent and gave us the land of the free, there have been three great struggles be- tween Ireland and England. The first led by Henry Grattan, the second by Daniel O’Connell, and the third, perhaps the grandest, is now being fought by one of the greatest men of his day, Charles Stewart Parnell. In all these conflicts the weak and struggling nation has had the 94 THE STORY OF IRELAND. sympathy and endorsement of all who enjoyed freedom. When Grattan was the leader sympathy was limited because liberty was enjoyed by few, but the number steadily in- creased so that a greater moral force was given to O’Connell, and now at least one hundred millions of people enjoying liberty in America and France send to Parnell and the Irish people a sympathy that cannot but help them to the con- summation of the long-sought right to a part in forming their own government. You say the people of Ireland look for sympathy to the land of Washington. It is but natural, just, and right they should do so; and the American who would refuse that sympathy could scarcely be called less than a selfish ingrate. Wherever the tree of liberty has been planted throughout the world Irishmen have rendered noble service in culti- vating it, and helping to so thoroughly root it that no storms will ever be able to uproot it, at least on this continent. Liberty in America is now an established fact; but there was a time when it was but a tender plant, an untried ex- periment, and when desperate efforts were made by Ireland’s present oppressor to crush the tender life in its infancy. It was then the inborn and natural instinct of Irishmen’s love for liberty was so manifested that they were not to be trusted by their British rulers with the task of subjugating the men who were fighting for liberty of conscience and the es- tablishing of the free government we now enjoy. I feel that already this letter is much too long, and yet have said but a moiety of what I desire to express my feel- ings, and can only conclude by adding my earnest hope that I may live to see Ireland ruled by Irishmen in a united and free nation, enjoying the prosperity and happiness such an era would bring to the land of the shamrock. Yours truly, John Swinburne, M. C.y of Neiv York. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 95 RINGING CHEERS FROM McADOO. Gratitude to Ireland and Love of Republican Liberty Demand Our Sympathy for Her Cause. House of Representatives, U. S. ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor T/ie Irish World. My Dear Sir: — The Irish people throughout the world have achieved the greatest of victories. They have wrung from stolid, stubborn, selfish England the admission that all questions for her are absorbed in the all-pervading — and I hope all-prevailing — Irish question. After seven hundred years of open or smouldering war- fare, robbed, despoiled, and unarmed, they have by their phenomenal devotion and unparalleled and intelligent patri- otism compelled braggart and boastful England to admit at the bar of universal opinion her guilty conduct towards Ireland. From this admission neither Tory nor Whig can ever suc- cessfully recede. The Times may thunder and the London Post scream, but English tyranny and Irish landlordism are dead or dying in Ireland. I do not anticipate a sweeping and immediate victory. In fact, the real battle now begins. In this greatest contest of modern times the United States is from sentiment and political and national interest vitally concerned. We are in closer relations with Ireland than any other nation in Europe. Gratitude to Ireland and love of republican liberty place our undivided sympathies with her people and their cause. Our national interests are injured by every day of English misgovernment in Ireland. We are compelled to save alive, at enormous cost, the victims of her fettered industries and stolen land. Charles S. Parnell is the most interesting, successful. 96 THE SrOR Y OF IRE LA HE. statesman-like, and historic character of our age. In the dim recesses of futurity his story will seem mythical from the splendor of his achievements. All Ireland the world over should now rally as one man to his support. All Americans will watch eagerly every move in the coming conflict. Victory may not come for a few years, but the sun is rising now. Gladstone can see this and will admit it just as far as he dare, and yet hold the AVhigs. I want to be present at the opening of the coming Irish Parliament. What an occasion that will be, to be sure ! Of all men Patrick Ford should be there, and, if he were living, the late lamented Thomas A. Hendricks should be present and, if allowable, administer the oath of office to the Speaker of the Irish Commons. In the meantime let us work. Very truly yours, W. McAdoo, M. C.y of New Jersey. FROM SENATOR JOHN SHERMAN. \P resident of the United States Senate, \ ‘‘ The People of the United States Naturally Sympathize with Any Part of Our Kindred and Especially with the People of Ireland.” Vice President’s Chamber, ) Washington, Feb. 19, 1886. j Hr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — In response to your letter I can only ex- press the hope that the present condition of affairs in Great Britain will enable the Irish people, represented in Parlia- ment, as they are, by an almost unanimous delegation in favor of Home Rule, to secure from the British Government such substantial concessions as will lead to a peaceful solu- tion of the Irish problem. I assume that their great object is to have control of their OPimONS OP EMINENT AMERICANS 97 home affairs; that local laws affecting the disposition and sale of land, the rights of tenants and landlords, the per- sonal liberty of citizens, and the domestic relations of life, should be enacted by a Parliament elected by the people of Ireland. I hope that the Liberal party in England is able and will- ing to yield such concessions as will redress what appear to me well-founded complaints against local administration by non-residents and local laws by the British Parliament. The people of the United States are attached to a form of government which provides a strong government for national purposes and State governments for local purposes; and we naturally sympathize with any part of our kindred in the mother country in any effort to secure the blessings that we enjoy, and especially with the people of Ireland, who now make an earnest appeal for the rights of local self- government. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Parnell when he was in America some years since, and was strongly impressed with the sincerity of his convictions and the moderation of his demands, and earnestly hope that he and his associates may peacefully accomplish their desire. Very truly yours, John Sherman. [What is specially noteworthy about these letters is that the writers, without a single exception, are in favor of self ■ government for Ireland; some favoring federal arrangement between England and Ireland, whilst others declare boldly for absolute independence. Among the former is Senator Sherman. The similarity which the Senator seems to see between the United States and the United Kingdom, so- called, does not exist in fact. The thirteen colonies, which now constitute this country, grew into a common nationality, simultaneously. They were knit into one body, so to speak, in accordance with the laws of biology. Even anterior to the Revolution they used to come together to take counsel with a view to common action. In the war for Independence 7 98 THE STORY OF /RE LA HE. this unity of sentiment was intensified and assumed govern- mental form, which was improved under the Confederation and made perfect under the existing Constitution. These are the stages of our national development. No such parallel can be established between England and Ireland. Ireland was a nation two thousand years ago; three centuries of the history of Europe belongs to her golden epoch; and to-day, with sharply defined geographical boundary lines which individualize her on the physical map of the earth, with well-preserved traditions unknown to her enemy, and cherishing hopes and aspirations with which that enemy has no sympathy and which England would extinguish if it were in her power, Ireland is a distinct country as her population are a distinct people from England and the English. Brute force wrecked the fabric of Irish nationality, but the soul of that nationality still lives. Ireland is not striving to secede from a union of which she once was a voluntary member; she merely aspires to be what God made her, and to regain the place which God designed for her. The ele- ments of a common nationality and the bond of a true union never existed between England and Ireland. As Lord Lyndhurst truly remarked in the British House of Commons, the two peoples are alien each to the other. England herself, notwithstanding Castlereagh’s “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,” has ever treated Ireland as a distinct country and the Irish as a distinct people. So be it. What God has kept apart let not man try to join together. Yet though distinct and apart there ought not to be any natural antagonism between the two. England and Ireland as neighbors, each developing her own resources and enjoying her own rights, can live side by side in amity; in a forced union there will never be peace. — Ed. I. W.] FROM CONGRESSMAN STORM. How all True Americans Feel. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — The struggle of a brave and chivalrous people for independence must touch every true American heart. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 99 I feel a deep sympathy for the Irish people in their fight for liberty and independence. May God speed the cause and crown their efforts with success. Yours truly, John B. Storm. M. C , , of Pennsylvania. [Yes, let it go forth again, and yet again, that “every true American heart ” sympathizes with the cause of Ire- land. This cause is not merely the cause of “ liberty and independence.’' It is the cause of law and order, too. It is the cause of Right. It is the cause of God himself. Hence it is truly meet to say, “ May God speed the cause and crown the efforts of those laboring for it with success.” — Ed, I. W.] FROM CONGRESSMAN HALL. Doesn’t Feel Like Venturing an Opinion as to the Means, but is Willing to Trust Parnell and Archbishop Croke. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. f Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — My sympathies have always been with the people of Ireland in their struggles for liberty. I do not feel like venturing an opinion as to the best means for the attainment of that end; but the trusty leaders of Irish sentiment and opinion, such men as Parnell and Archbishop Croke, can be safely depended on. Truly yours, John B. Hall. M. C, 2nd Missouri District. [The influence wielded by Parnell and Archbishop Croke, great as it is, will be made stronger by the confidence ex- pressed in Mr. Hall’s letter and implied in all the others. — Ed. I. W.] 100 THE STORY OF IRE LA HD, FROM REPRESENTATIVE COOPER. “ I am Proud to Say that I am Kindred in Blood with the Irish.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — I assure you that the Irish people, with whom I am proud to say I am kindred in blood, have my profound sympathy in the gallant and I trust successful struggle they are making under the splendid leadership of Mr. Parnell for the restoration of their national rights. Yours very truly, W. C. Cooper, M. C.y of Ohio, [The struggle of the Irish people for the recovery of their rights is indeed a gallant struggle; and with God's blessing, and America’s help, material and moral, it will be a success- ful one.— Ed. I. W.] FROM REPRESENTATIVE HOUK. “ A Friend to the Cause of Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford. My Dear Sir: — On “The Irish Question” my sym- pathies have always heretofore been, and are now, with Mr. Parnell and his associates in favor of “Home Rule,” and all that the phrase logically implies. 1 am a friend to the cause of Ireland, L. C. Houk, Af. C.y of Tennessee. [One thing specially noteworthy of these letters is the intrinsic evidence of their sincerity. Congressman Houk, like Senator Logan, wants for Ireland a Parliament in fact and not merely in name. He is “ in favor of Home Rule and all tliat the phrase logically implies.” — Ed. I. W.] OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 101 EEPRESENTATIVE PETERS’ VIEW. The Sooner England Permits the Irish to Manage Their Own Affairs the Better for England Herself. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — My sympathies and my hopes are with Ire- land. She deserves and should have a government of her own, and the sooner England places her upon the same footing as Canada the better it will be for the security of “England’s throne.” My admiration for Mr, Parnell has been largely increased during the recent contest, and I be- lieve his judicious leadership will secure the result so long desired by the friends of the Irish race. Very respectfully yours, S. R. Peters, M, C. of Kansas. [English statesmen persuaded themselves that by exter- minating the Irish race they would solve the Irish problem to their satisfaction. Hence their policy of eviction and “assisted emigration.” There is a difference, however, between displace^nerit and a7mihilatio7i. There is a Greater Ireland on this side of the ocean, and this Greater Ireland is a greater danger to England’s empire than that beyond the water. Yes, Mr. Peters, the sooner E^iglafid permits the Irish to ma7iage their ow7i affairs the better it will be for E7igla7id herself. It looks as if this idea was beginning to dawn upon the English statesmen themselves. — Ed. I. W.] CONGRESSMAN WORTHINGTON. “ Every True American Sympathizes with Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ] Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — Every true American sympathizes with Ire- land in her struggle for Home Rule, and earnestly hopes 102 THE STORY OF IRELAND. that through just and speedy legislation her heroic efforts may be crowned with that full and ample success which her patriotism and perseverance so richly merit. Very truly yours, N. E. Worthington, M. C., of Illinois. [Important as is pecuniary aid to the Irish cause, the cheering declaration made by the representative men of the Republic, viz., that '‘'‘Every true American sympathizes with Ireland^'' again and again repeated in these letters from Congress, is, if possible, even of more value. This brave recognition is itself the cause of much of the material aid now afforded. — Ed. I. W.] FROM CONGRESSMAN COMPTON. Tenders His Earnest Sympathy, Lively Hope, and Best Wishes. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — Permit me to tender the expression to you, Mr. Ford, a champion of the rights and liberties of a long-oppressed people, of my earnest sympathy, lively hope, and best wishes for the early dawn of a day when Ireland and Irishmen shall enjoy the liberties and independence they have so long struggled for and so richly and justly merit. I am very respectfully yours, Barnes Compton, M. C, of Maryland. [Mr. Compton will please accept our thanks for his kindly personal compliment. The best years of our manhood have been given to the advancement of the Irish cause; yet at our best we feel we have done but our duty. Our special effort has been, and is, to base the claims of Ireland on American principles, as set forth in the Declaration of In- dependence; and it is from this point of view we have so- licited expressions of sympathy for Ireland from the repre- sentative men of the Republic. — E d. I. W.] OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 103 FROM NELSON DINGLEY, JR. If England is Wise She Will Grant Home Rule. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C j Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — I am heartily in sympathy with the move- ment for Home Rule, and regard it not only just and proper but as the true solution of the Irish question on the part of England. Very truly yours. Nelson Dingley, Jr., M. C, of Maine. [Yes, if England is wise she will grant the Home Rule that Parnell now demands in the accents of peace, and she will grant it without delay. — Ed. I. W.] REPRESENTATIVE CONGER’S FAITH. “ The Irish People have My Heartiest Sympathy.” House of Representatives, U. S. ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — The Irish people have my heartiest sympathy, and the brave men who are leading in their fight my sin- cere admiration. If Parnell and his lieutenants make no mistake in the work immediately before them, I believe the early emanci- pation of this long-suffering people will be assured. Very respectfully, E. H. Conger, M. C., of Iowa. [Parnell will make no mistake unless he permits himself to be enervated by the blandishments of England, who is now forced sternly to face a question which until now she has contemptuously refused even to consider. But Eng- land will make a mistake if she does not accede to Parnell’s 104 THE STORY OF IRELAND. terms. Failing in that, she will have to reckon with forces who have no faith whatever in her, and who believe the destruction of her empire would be a joy to the angels in heaven and a blessing to the world. — E d. I. W.] FROM REPRESENTATIVE HALSELL. “Hopes Ireland’s Flag will soon Float High in the Vanguard of Nations.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — God grant Ireland a safe deliverance from the tyranny of her masters. Her blood and genius have illustrated the annals of half the nations of the earth, and there is a sympathetic chord in every honest man’s heart which vibrates to the hope that Ireland may be free, and that her flag may again float high in the vanguard of liberty and the whole world. ■ Yours truly, . John E. Halsell, M. C.y of Kentucky. [The blood which Irishmen have shed in building up and extending the pirate empire of England had done better service in manuring turnips. It was worse than wasted. 7"he services which men of the Irish race have rendered to America are to their everlasting honor. The sacrifices which they have made for liberty in Ireland, “ though baffled oft,” have not been in vain. If Ireland’s flag shall ever “ float high in the vanguard of liberty and before the whole world,” it will be due not merely to the men who shall have the honor of closing the contest, but to those faithful ones as well whose labors in good report and in evil report have continued the struggle, and have rendered it possible for others after them to crown the work with glory. — Ed. I. W.] OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 105 FROM MR. MILO WHITE. “ The Long Night of Irish Oppression Seems Nearly Past.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — The long night of Irish oppression seems nearly past. Let all friends of human liberty, justice, and free government join in strengthening the hands of Mr. Parnell and aid in one of the greatest triumphs in modern times. Respectfully, Milo White, M, C.y of Minnesota. [Yes, not only all Irishmen, but all the friends of human liberty, should join in making the success of the Irish cause “one of the greatest triumphs of modern times.’' — Ed. I. W.] FROM CONGRESSMAN MILLER. Believes in the Irish People Governing Themselves.” I House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — I believe in the Irish people governing them- selves, and trust that the day is not far distant when we shall see Ireland free and independent, “A nation among the nations of the earth.” Faithfully yours, Jas. F. Miller. M. C, of Texas. [We believe not only in the Irish people but in every people governing themselves; but the present may be re- garded as Ireland’s Day, and, as Irishmen, we tender our grateful thanks to Mr. Miller and to the hundreds of repre- sentative Americans who express the hope of soon seeing Ireland “ free and independent, a Nation among the nations of the earth.” — Ed. I. W.] 106 THE STORY OF IRELAND. FROM REPRESENTATIVE HOLMES. “ The Darkness that Precedes the Morning of Liberty Almost Past.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ] Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — I have watched with growing interest the gallant struggle of the Irish people against English oppres- sion. The darkness that precedes the morning of liberty has almost passed, I believe, for Ireland. Respectfully yours, A. J. Holmes, M. C., of Iowa. [No true man has ever watched the long and gallant struggle of the Irish people against English oppression without wishing them God -speed. With joy all true men now hail what seems to be the dawn of the day of the resur- rection of Ireland’s nationality. — Ed. I. W.] CONGRESSMAN A. M. DOCKERY. The Brave and Generous Nation will Yet Win the Day. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. f Patrick Ford, New York. My Dear Sir: — I am heartily in sympathy with the Irish people in their heroic efforts to establish Home Rule. If I do not mistake the signs of the times, that brave and generous nation will soon be accorded the rights for which they have so long and patiently struggled. With best wishes, I remain truly, your obedient servant, Alex. M. Dockery, M. C. of Missouri. [The Irish will be “ accorded ” their rights because they have not only long and patiently struggled in the past, but because they are dp/j'krmined to keep up the sHuggle. It is with nations as with individuals; they that persevere till the end will come out all right, — Ed. L W.] OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS , 107 REPRESENTATIVE MILLARD. Ireland Must Have Absolute Control of Her Judiciary and Finances. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — Unquestionably a crisis has come in the affairs of England and Ireland. The struggle for Home Rule must be successful, and its establishment cannot be long delayed. The Irish people are entitled to self-government, at least such a government or Home Rule as will give them absolute control of their judiciary and finances. Very truly yours, Stephen C. Millard, M , C, of Neiv Yoi ' k , [It is declared in what appears to be Gladstone's latest plan that the Imperial Parliament is to have absolute con- trol of the taxes in Ireland. In that case the Irish people * would have no more power over their finances than they have now. Mr. Gladstone, however, may not be accurately reported, or, if accurately reported, he may intend what he says only as a feeler. — Ed. I. W.] FROM CONGRESSMAN SADLER. “ Best Wishes for Parnell’s Success.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford. My Dear Sir: — The present relation of Ireland to the British Government, in view of her feeble and long-continued struggle for national freedom, is anomalous. Having never breathed other than the air of freedom (except for a short interval), my nature sympathizes fully with all who^struggle for the inestimable boon. With best wishes for Mr. ParneH's success, I am very truly yours, T. W. Sadler, M , C.y of Alabama , 108 THE STORY OF IRELAND, FROM CONGRESSMAN MATSON. “ Hopes Ireland Will Soon be Recognized as One of the Family of. Nations.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. f Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — Every thought, everj impulse, and every sympathy I have ever had has been with the people of Ire- land in their various struggles of recent years; and I hope and believe that the civilized world will soon recognize her in a proud and independent condition as one of the family of nations. Yours, very truly, C C. Matson, M. C.y of Indiana. [St. Paul says that if one member suffers the whole body suffers. Ireland is a wounded and dislocated member of the family of nations. Her restoration to sound health and her • rightful place in the world is essential not only to her own well- being but also to universal harmony; so that Mr. Matson, the civilized world, from an enlightened self-interest point of view, not to speak of the justice of the cause, should be glad at the prospect of recognizing Ireland reinstated among the family of nations. — Ed. I. W.] FROM REPRESENTATIVE OWEN. “ Only One Side of the Irish Question and That the Irishman’s Side.” House of Representatives, U. S. ) Washington, D. C. ] Mr. Patrick Ford. Sir: — You ask my views on the Irish cause. There is but one side to this Irish question for a true American, and that is the Irishman’s side. I believe our times will see Ireland with a restored Parliament, a resurrected industry, and a rebuilt commerce. Truly yours, W. D. Owen, M, C., of hidiana. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 109 [St. Paul says “We can do nothing against the Truth.” Men may obscure the Truth; they may deny or misstate facts, and so deceive many and cause mischief in the world. But the Truth stands, and when the clouds have passed away and the light has been spread it will be recognized by men. England had the ear of the world for a long time. The justice of the Irish cause, however, remains unchanged; and now it shines out so resplendently that men, vexed at the miserable sophistry by which they were deluded, hiss at England’s special plea, and cry out with Mr. Owen, “ There is but one side to the Irish question, and that is the Irish- man’s side.”’ — Ed. I. W.] TOWNSHEND VOTES AYE. The Legislative Independence of England and Ireland best for Both Countries. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — My sympathies are with Ireland in her strug- gle for land reform and Home Rule. With Home Rule will come relief from oppressive land laws and other evils. The outlook for the people in Ireland now seems more hopeful than ever in the past. The best means for securing permanent peace and pros- perity in both countries would be the establishment of such a government as exists in Canada — or better still, such as is enjoyed by the States under our National Union. The complete control by Ireland of her domestic affairs will be better for England as well as for Ireland. Very respectfully yours, R. W. Townshend, M. C.y of Illinois. [Yes, justice offers the only basis for the establishment of peace between England and Ireland. Cannons, buckshot, packed juries, and the scaffold have all been tried; and all have failed. — Ed. I. W.] 110 THE STORY OF IRELAND, FROM CONGRESSMAN STAHLNECKER. “An Unswerving Advocate of Ireland’s Freedom.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — A country which has exemplified her love for liberty so frequently by offering through successive generations so many of her noblest sons in its cause, and has never tamely submitted to the yoke of the oppressor, calls for the sympathy of every true American and must in the end be successful. Though not allied in any way by blood or descent with Ireland, I yet feel bound to assist a land many of whose children have brightened the pages of American history both in peace and war. I am, Sir, an unswerving advocate of Ireland’s freedom, as well as of every other nationality struggling to be free. The sky now seems brighiening in her favor, and no one rejoices more sincerely than I do. Yours truly, W. G. STAHLNECKER, M. C..^ of New York. [In the long, dark, and terrible history of Ireland’s op- pression the one bright reflection that relieves the gloom and gives hope to the future is the fact, which Congressman Stahlnecker notes, that she has “never tamely submitted to the yoke of the oppressor.” This we accept as an assur- ance of Ireland’s certain deliverance. — Ed. I. W.] SENATOR MILLER’S DECLARATION. “ All Liberty-Loving Americans Sympathize with Parnell.” Washington, D. C. Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — All liberty-loving Americans sympathize with Parnell in his heroic efforts to redress the wrongs of Ireland and secure Home Rule. Yours truly, Warner Miller, Senator frofti New York, OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 111 FROM MR. LEWIS HANBACK. “ Ireland Will Soon Take Her Place Among Nations.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — In reply to yours I hasten to say that I see in the present movement conclusive evidence that Ire- land will soon take her place among the nations. I pray God to hasten the resurrection. With very high respect, your obedient servant, Lewis Hanback, M. C., of Kansas. [The spirit of a nation never dies. Organization gives body to the spirit. Not in centuries have the elements of the Irish race been better organized than they are now, and hence not for centuries has the hope of Irish Nationality manifesting itself in the fruits of its glory and power been apparently nearer realization than it is to-day. — Ed. I. W.] FROM MR. D. B. HENDERSON. “ Rejoices in the Movement for Irish Independence.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ] Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish Word. Dear Sir: — No citizen of a republic and no lover of democratic ideas should find difficulty in answering your appeal. For one I note with great satisfaction the splendid victories lately achieved by the forces pressing for Irish independence. Very truly, D. B. Henderson, M. C.y of Iowa. [Ireland’s claims rest on self-evident truths, as set forth in the Declaration of Independence; and therefore, as Mr. Henderson observes, “ no citizen of a republic and no lover of democratic ideas should find difficulty in taking Ire- land’s side. — Ed. I. W.] 112 THE STORY OF /RE LA HI), CHARLES S. BAKER’S PRAYER. “May the God of Nations Speed the Day of Ireland’s Redemption.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C j Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — When in 1782 Ireland in arms had extorted — in part from the humiliation and necessities of England, in part from the justice of a new Administration — the inde- pendence of her Parliament and her Judiciary, and Mr. Grattan, rising slowly in her House of Commons, said: — “I am now to address a free people ! Ages have passed away, and this is the first moment in which you could be distinguished by that appellation. I found Ireland on her knees; I watched over her with an eternal solicitude; I have traced her progress from injuries to arms^ from arms to liberty. Spirit of Swift, spirit of Molyneux, your genius has prevailed ! Ireland is now a nation. In that character I hail her; and bowing to her august presence, I say, ‘ Live forever !’ — all friends of human liberty everywhere joined in glad acclaim. Now, after the lapse of more than a cen- tury, the friends of that oppressed and downtrodden people everywhere are anticipating the speedy coming of that glori- ous morning when Parnell will be able to repeat the words of Grattan in their broadest, widest, and best sense. May the God of Nations speed the day ! Chas. S. Baker, M, C. of New York. [Henry Grattan was a great man, and he could make a great speech; but he was not the man God Almighty in- tended to save Ireland. He was not a Moses. In our opinion Grattan was as much concerned for the integrity of the British Empire as for Irish autonomy. This may seem paradoxical, but certain facts in his political life justify the i)c]ief. When l^lood, supported by the Volunteer conven- tion, brought forward in the Irish Parliament his motion for repeal, Grattan in deference to hmglish sentime it moved its rejection. Grattan, i)erhaj)s, was a better man than OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 113 Flood; but Flood was sometimes right, and he was certainly right then. Grattan was fooled by the “grand old man of that day. The scene wherein Grattan is pictured rising out of his sick bed and carried to the Irish Parliament to vote against the Union is too theatrical to be altogether honest. His last words in the Irish Parliament were: — “I will remain anchored here with fidelity to the fortunes of my country, faithful to her freedom, faithful to her fall.’’ The “ fall” did not break his heart. Five years after he went over to England and became a member of the English Par- liament and a servant of the Whigs. In 1807 he voted foe COERCION FOR Ireland. By this act, says the Ericyclo- pcedia Britannica^ “ by voting with the Government on the Irish Insurrection Bill of 1807, he showed that his regard for the general welfare of the Empire was unaffected by the great political disappointment of his life.” Whatever be- came of Ireland and the Irish, the “ welfare of the Empire ” had to be looked after. English-made famine; ruined man- ufactures; commerce extinct; disfranchisement of four-fifths of the people; heartless landlords and an alien Church, sus- tained by a foreign soldiery, devouring the substance of the poor; eviction and wholesale emigration — such was the situation of Ireland when Grattan was aiding her English masters to rivet still tighter the chains on her bleeding limbs. At that time (1807) England was planning for the re-establishment of her empire in these United States. Despite repeated protests, she insolently persisted in in- sulting our flag and impressing our citizens on the high seas — this she did on the plea that the seamen she pirated from American ships were irishmen, and therefore (although naturalized) British subjects still; nor did her outrages cease till she had laid the Capitol in ashes and sent the President and his Cabinet fugitives from Washington. At that same time (1807) England impudently claimed it was her right to veto the appointment of Catholic bishops whose politics were Irish. That is to say, she wanted only priests who were favorites of the Castle to be bishops in Ireland. Every true Irishman instinctively opposed her claim. Grattan favored it. Thereupon the Catholic Board took the advocacy of their cause out of Grattan’s hands and declined to entrust it to him any more. Grattan died in London, and England gave him the honor of a public funeral and a grave in West- minster Abbey near the tombs of Pitt and Fox,— Ed. I. W.] 8 114 THE STORY OF IRELAND. REPRESENTATIVE LYMAN. “ Universal Freedom should be the Watchword of Every American.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. f Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — In regard to the heroic struggle now going on for the independence of Ireland I want to say that I am in hearty sympathy with the cause, and I cannot see how any citizen of the Land of Washington and Lincoln can be otherwise. Universal freedom should be the watchword of every American. I sincerely trust that the demands and desires of the people of the Emerald Isle may be fully met, and that the battle-cry, “Ireland a Nation,’* may soon ripen into reality. Yours, J. Lyman, M. C., of Iowa. [Yes, every man who honestly loves the institutions of the Land of Washington and Lincoln must be in sympathy with the aspiration of the Irish people, and the aspiration of the Irish people is, “Ireland a Nation.” — Ed. I. W.] VIEWS OF MR. CUTCHEON. “The Industrial and Commercial Interests of Ireland are Wholly Antagonistic to those of England. lousE OF Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — Every true friend of “ government of the peo- ple, by the people, and for the people” must rejoice at the dawn of Irish autonomy. It is contrary to the spirit of this age for people of one race, religion, and national interests to make laws for and administer the government of a people of a diverse race, religion, and national interests. The industrial and commercial interests of Ireland are wholly antagonistic OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 115 to those of England. While I am not certain that it would be wise to seek to sever the imperial tie that unites Ireland to the British Empire I am certain that she ought to be ac- corded, at least, the degree of independence granted to the Dominion of Canada. May the day speedily dawn when we shall see an Irish Parliament enacting laws for Ireland in the true spirit of government of the people.'* Sincerely yours, B. M. CUTCHEON, M. C., of Michigan. [Nationality is not a mere human arrangement, having its origin in and dependent on the caprice of men. It is a divine institution based on a divine idea. Now, in order that a nation may be able to do its work and fulfil its mis- sion it must have freedom. To war against the rights of a nation — as England has warred against those of Ireland — is to violate a law of God. Irishmen who are loyal to their country are branded as rebels." What is falsely charged against them is truly applicable to their enemies. The British Empire is in rebellion against the Lord of the Uni- verse. — Ed. I. W.] BARCLAY HENLEY’S ADVICE. “Nothing Short of Absolute Irish Independence.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — You should not stop at the concession of an Irish Parliament nor at anything short of absolute Irish in- dependence. Very truly yours, Barclay Henley, M. C.y of California. [Ireland's absolute independence is beyond doubt the ul- timate of Irish national aspiration. But we shall reach the point by stages; and the stages themselves we must reach sometimes by forced marches, and sometimes, as in the present, by oblique movements. — Ed. I. W.] 116 THE STORY OF IRELAND, FROM MR. DARWIN R. JAMES. “ Thoroughly in Sympathy with the Movement.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World, My Dear Sir: — I am thoroughly in sympathy with the movement which is now being pushed onward under the leadership of Mr. Parnell, believing, as I do, in the justice of the cause which he advocates. To my mind the denial to the Irish people of the right to manage their own affairs is in direct antagonism to the spirit of the times and a vio- lation of all the broader principles which involve the rights of independent manhood as we in this country understand them. Accept assurances of my hearty co-operation with the work now in progress, looking forward, as I do, with pleasure to the not-far-distant day when Ireland will be ruled by Irishmen and not by other people. With much respect, I am, my dear sir, Yours sincerely, Darwin R. James, M, C,, of New York, [That is the idea: “ Ireland should be ruled by Irishmen and not by other people.*' The same idea means England for the English, and, honestly carried out, involves the de- struction of English rule everywhere outside of England. — Ed. I. W.] FROM CONGRESSMAN HISCOCK. ‘'Self-Government for Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir: — I am decidedly in favor of Home Rule and self-government for Ireland. Yours truly, Frank Hiscock, M. C\ of Nfew York, OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 117 FROM CONGRESSMAN GIFFORD. “Dakota Wishes Success to Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — Dakota is with you in sympathy, and cordially wishes success to Ireland in her fight for self-government. O. S. Gifford, M, C, of Dakota, MR. PERKINS’ KIND WISHES. “Ireland Must Legislate for her Own Children and Protect her Own Industries.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir: — The fight of Parnell and his co-laborers for Irish nationality has been heroic and brilliant in the ex- treme, and it should be the wish of all who love justice and hate tyranny and wrong that his hands shall be upheld and strengthened for his patriotic work until the present unjust and oppressive system of land tenure shall be abrogated and until Ireland shall have a Parliament of her own seated in “ The Old House at Home’’ legislating for and giving pro- tection to her prostrated industries, and employment and happiness to her warm-hearted and devoted sons and daughters. With kind wishes, I am respectfully yours, B. W. Perkins, M. C., of Kansas, [Until Ireland shall have power to resuscitate and give pro- tection to her now prostrated industries — until her workers are given ample and diversified employment — prosperity will be unknown within her borders. Despite a Parliament in College Green, poverty will still be the badge of her people and emigration will continue to flow out. Irishmen will still continue to regard Ireland a fine country to get away from.— Ed. I. W.] 118 THE STORY OF IRELAND, FROM MR. JAMES N. BURNES. “ Ireland Should be as Free as America.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ] Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor TAe Irish World, My Dear Sir: — Thanking you sincerely for your several favors, and also for copies of your great paper. The Irish Worlds I beg to say that I would have replied sooner but for a prolonged absence at home, from which place I have just returned. While thousands of my constituents understand the vital questions affecting Irish independence and nationality better than myself, no one of them, and, perhaps, no man living, has a deeper, wider, or more sincere sympathy for the struggling people of Ireland. If I had the power to accomplish the result, Ireland should be as free and independent as our own glorious country. With great respect, I am. Faithfully your obedient servant, James N. Burnes, M, C,y of Missouri, [The right of Ireland to govern herself has been proved a thousand times. Further argument were a waste of words. The power that holds Ireland in subjection does so because she so wills. The same power — England — would never have permitted America to be “free and independent’' had she the ability to crush us. — Ed. I. W.] GENERAL VIELE SPEAKS OUT. His Sympathies with Ireland since his Boyhood. Washington, D. C. Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir: — My warmest sympathies have been with the Irish people from my early boyhood when I learned to de- claim the dying words of Robert Emmet to his judges; and OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 119 in the years that have passed since then, during which I have served through three wars by the side of Irish-American citizens, I have learned to know and appreciate their hero- ism, their bravery, and their fidelity. The best and truest friends of my life have been Irishmen, and through them I have known of the struggles and devotion of their race for a place among the nations of the earth. The years of suf- fering and martyrdom are now bearing their fruition. Yours faithfully, Egbert L. Viele, M. C.y of New York. [The tribute Gen. Viele pays to Irish character, which is but an echo of what Washington, Jefferson Franklin, and all the great men of America uttered before him, is most gratifying. England not only robbed us of our material possessions, but she has done her best to rob us of our good name. Her slaves in this country, the Tories of Harper's and the Hessians of Puck^ and that sort, are engaged in the same infamous business. She has tried to make the world believe the Irish are lawless — that they will be subject to no government. The passionate love men of Irish birth show for the Stars and Stripes and their loyalty to their adopted country gives the lie to the English slander. The testi- mony of such distinguished witnesses as Gen. Viele is as honorable to themselves as it is creditable to the Irish race. —Ed. I.W .] FROM CONGRESSMAN PINDAR. “ Sympathizes with The Irish World in Its Noble Work for Ireland. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq. My Dear Sir: — I take pleasure in assuring you of my hearty sympathy in your noble work trying to better the condition of a brave, noble, and generous people. Very truly yours, J. S. Pindar, M. C. of New York. 120 THE STORY OF IRELAND. PROM CONGRESSMAN WILTJS. The “ Irish Question” a Universal Question. House of Representatives, U. S., I Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — The heroic struggle in which the Irish people are now engaged has long since ceased to be an “ Irish Question.” Its object — freedom and self-government — ap- peals to the sympathies and demands the hearty support of the lovers of justice and of liberty in every land. No American can fail to wish success to Ireland unless he ig- nores or forgets his manhood. As a representative of the State which has been called the “ Ireland of America,” and which in her earlier history gave to your cause its most eloquent advocate — Henry Clay — I gladly greet the sunburst of Ireland’s freedom and rejoice in the dawning glory and prosperity of her noble people. Very truly yours, Albert S. Willis, M. C.y of Kentucky, [Mr. Willis is right. This Irish question is more than an Irish question. It is the universal question. And this is true whether it be regarded in its political or its social aspect. — Ed. I. W.] SPRINGER PUTS IT NEATLY. ‘‘ I am for Home Rule, Freedom, and Parnell.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — I take pleasure in complying with your re- quest for an expression of my views on the Irish question. Every lover of liberty throughout the world is in sympa- thy with Mr. Parnell and his compatriots in Parliament in their demand for Home Rule for Ireland. Americans, more perhaps than others, share this feeling. The London Times OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 121 and other Tory organs demand ‘‘the maintenance of the integrity of the Empire/’ which is but another name for English rule over the Irish people without their consent. This presents a vital issue: Home Rule against foreign Rule, freedom against slavery. I am for Home Rule, free- dom, and Parnell. Very truly yours, William M. Springer, M, C.y of Illinois. [The subject could not be stated more succinctly or clearly. The cry raised about the “ maintenance of the in- tegrity of the Empire ” is but another word for English rule over the Irish people without their consent. It is Home Rule against Foreign Rule, Freedom against Slavery. — Ed. I. W.] WILLIAM WALLACE BROWN. Hopes the Irish Problem will be Solved in Complete Inde- pendence. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — I glory in the present outlook for Ireland ! Under the plea of “ Free Commerce ” England has shed more blood than any two nations on the globe ! Tribute she will have — peaceably if she can, but at all hazards — tribute. She has beggared Ireland in pursuit of the same kind of tribute she extorted from America before the revolu- tion. To save the profits upon the few “ hats and hob-nails ” needed by the Colonists she lost the Colonies. If her ava- rice should work out the Irish problem in the same way no one would rejoice more than Yours truly, Wm. Wallace Brown, M. C.y of Pennsylvania, [There is one way to know England and to make her known to others — that is, to set her down as a pirate. Piracy is her vocation. But her apologists — who have changed the word to “ Free Commerce ” — allege it is no sin for one to steal in his vocation. — Ed. I. W.] 122 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND . THE CAUSE OF HUMANITY. “ The Cause of Ireland the Cause of Humanity.” House of Representatives, U. S.,I Washington, D. C., J Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — If any expression from me will add a feather's weight in the scales of justice, I am only too glad of the opportunity to say that I deem the cause of Ireland the cause of humanity, and believe the friends of liberty (the enemies of oppression) should earnestly espouse the cause of Ireland’s people, and in so far as our influence can be lawfully wielded, that every effort should be made to secure to them the rights and properties which belong to them and for which they have so long and so gallantly fought. I am, with great respect, Your obedient servant, W. D. Bynum, M . C., of Indiana , [George Washington, in acknowledging the congratula- tions of the “Yankee Club” of Tyrone, Ireland, on his election to the Presidency, stigmatized the English as “ foes to the rights of humanity.” The cause of America, which England sought to crush, was the cause of humanity. The cause of Ireland to-day, as Mr. Bynum observes, is the cause of humanity. It is only right, then, that Americans and the friends of liberty everywhere “should earnestly espouse the cause of Ireland’s people. — Ed. I. W.] POLK LAFFOON’S VOICE. The Irish Have Writ with Their Blood the Grandest History of Liberty Ever Published. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — Let me assure you of my fervent and cordial friendship and sympathy for Ireland and her noble people. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 12 They have written with their blood the grandest history of human liberty that has ever been published, and the fruits of their high resolve and unswerving determination for cen- turies is just now being seen in the present affairs of Ire- land, and her grand people deserve the veneration of all the liberty-loving portion of mankind. Yours very truly, Polk Laffoon, M, C., of Kentucky, [Notwithstanding the shameful blots Irish mercenaries in the service of the enemy have made on the pages of Irish history, it is true nevertheless, as Mr. Laffoon remarks, and it is a cause for genuine pride, that the Irish people in their seven centuries of struggles against England’s usurpa- tion “ have written with their blood the grandest history of human liberty that has ever been published.” — Ed. I. W.] FROM THOMAS J. HENDERSON. “ Looks Joyfully Forward to the Independence of Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford. My Dear Sir: — I deeply and heartily sympathize with the Irish people in the grand struggle which they are now making for National freedom. Liberty-loving people every- where must be watching with great anxiety the noble effort being made by Parnell and his compatriots to secure Irish freedom and make Ireland a Nation. I for one shall rejoice at every success achieved by the oppressed people of Ireland and shall greatly rejoice at the final ccmsummation of their dearest hopes: the Independence of Ireland. Very respectfully yours, etc., Thos. J. Henderson, M. of Illinois. [Yes, that is “ the fifial consummation of the Irish people’s dearest hopes — the Independence of Ireland.” — Ed. I. W.] 124 THE STORY OF IRELAND. A GREEN MOUNTAIN TOAST. “My Toast Shall Always Be — ‘ Ireland for the Irish.’” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — Yes; give Ireland to the Irish. Then wipe out the law of primogeniture and of entail, and give those who cultivate the soil a chance to own it. Remove the hand of the oppressor, and in less than one half the time it has taken to bring the Irish people to the depth of their present degradation and misery they shall again be prosperous and happy. Let them feel that they belong to themselves, that they have a future, and hope will come back to them, and with it self-respect, and industry, and the pride of success. My toast shall always be — ^‘Ireland for the Irish.’' Very truly yours, William W. Grout, M. C., of Vermont. [That's the toast. “Ireland for the Irish!” Every man has rights under Government of the People, and the law supreme over all, governors as well as the governed. — Ed. I. W.] SAWYER’S ADMIRATION. “ Parnell’s Course Coniinends Itself to the Judgment of Every Friend of Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — The love shown by the Irishman to his native land and his heroic and patriotic devotion to her interests, prosperity, and advancement have always awakened in my breast profound feelings of admiration. It matters not under what sky he may live or how pleasant or ])rosi)erons liis surroundings may be in the new home he OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 125 has chosen, his sweetest memories cluster around his old home in the Emerald Isle, and the richest legacy he can leave his children will be the intensest love and the most de- voted consecration to the land and the home of their fathers. I think such love and devotion are very rare, if not with- out a parallel, in human history, and, whatever may be one’s views of the objects and policy in the present contest, the story of Ireland’s wrongs, sufferings, and struggles must awaken feelings of profound sympathy and respect. So far as I understand the aims and methods of Mr. Parnell, I think his course commends itself to the judgment of every friend of Ireland, and I should be happy by every legitimate means in my power to contribute something to Irish freedom. I have the honor to remain. Your obedient servant, John G. Sawyer, M, C, of New York, [The love that the true Irishman feels for his native land is intensified by the outrages that are heaped upon her by her tiger-hearted oppressors in her physical helplessness. Wher- ever we may be this thought makes Ireland sacred to us. “ Wert thou all that I wish thee, great, glorious, and free, First flower of the earth and first gem of the sea, I might hail thee with prouder, with happier brow, But, oh! could I love thee more dearly than now ? jW, thy chains as they rankle , thy blood as it runs But make thee more painfully dear to thy sons — Whose hearts, like the young of the desert-bird’s nest, Drink love in each life-drop that flows from thy breast.” When Ireland is independent, rich, and powerful, she won’t require to go a-begging for sympathy; she will then be re- spected, as the great and free are always respected; she will then be well able to take care of herself; then we shall be proud of her, but then we shall not trouble ourselves or others so much about her. But until the7i — until Ireland has taken her rightful place among the nations — unreconstructed Irish- men the world over will stand up for her and make her cause their own. Till then, also, Anglicized Irishmen will deny their names and forswear their Mother.— Ed. I. W.] 126 THE STORY OF /RE LA HD. FROM WILLIAM WALTER PHELPS. “ Home Rule the Only Solution of the Irish Problem.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — It is the only solution. America has tried it and recommends it. Acquire local independence and an Irish Legislature; retain national dignity and power by re- taining Ireland’s place in Great Britain’s Parliament. Very truly yours, William Walter Phelps, M. C.y of New Jersey. RALPH PLUMB’S SUGGESTION. Home Rule and Land Reform Should Go Hand in Hand. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — I cannot withhold a brief expression of the great interest I feel in the deliverance of Ireland. The supreme moment is, doubtless, near at hand when in some way that for which Irish patriots ever since the times of Robert Emmet and Daniel O’Connell so persistently labored will, and ought to be, recorded in history as an ac- complished end. It is the duty of all who hate oppression to concede to those who are oppressed the right to choose from the various possible methods that which is best calculated to bring them relief; and it is in this spirit that I am bound to say that Home Rule is the thing for Ireland, and with all my heart I wish for Mr. Parnell’s complete success. In my opinion the chief source of misery and woe to the Irish people lies in the fact that the land on which they live, and which is as essential to them almost as the air they OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 127 breathe, is owned and controlled not by the man who tills it but by the landlord, to whom the laborer is necessarily reduced to the condition of a vassal. In my judgment even Home Rule will fail to remove Irish suffering, from which this reform has received its life and growth, unless it shall deal faithfully with the question of land reform. That this may be the purpose of those who have the re- sponsibility of acting for the Irish people, is the earnest wish of Yours very truly, Ralph Plumb, M. C.y of Illinois. [Yes, the two ideas — Self-Government and the Restora- tion of the Land to the People — should be married, and never be divorced. These two ideas, moreover, are his- torically Irish. Power always follows the possession of the soil. If the people own the land, then the people are free. They are politically and otherwise masters of the situation. —Ed. I. W.] FROM ARCHIBALD M. BLISS. “ God Speed the Movement to Make Ireland a Nation.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — Permit me to say that the hopes and prayers of every friend of humanity, and every lover of liberty in the world should, in my humble judgment, be in favor of Home Rulef or Ireland, and wish Parnell and his associates God-speed in their efforts towards the establish- ment of Ireland as a Nation. Wishing you all success, and thanking you for your kindly personal suggestions, I remain. Very truly your obedient servant, Arch’d. M. Bliss, M. C., of New York* 128 THE STOR V OF IRELAND, FROM MR. THOMAS M. BAYNE. “ I am a Believer in Home Rule.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — I am a believer in Home Rule, and, as it ap- pears to me, the signs of the times point to the ultimate achievement of these ends by Ireland. The leadership of Mr. Parnell seems to me to be in the right direction, and it is to be commended all the more because it is free from the bias of any influence except the one great aim of Home Rule. Very truly yours, Thomas M. Bayne, M. C. of Pennsylvania. [If Home Rule means that the Irish people shalPmanage their own affairs, under their own Government, with their own Legislature, their own judiciary, and their own militia and police force, then it means something worth working for. But if it means a Parliament in College Green, with Irish debaters inside and English soldiers outside, then it is a mockery. In that case it would not be Home Rule, but foreign rule still under an Irish mask. — Ed. I. W,] GOVERNOR LONG’S OPINION “ Ireland, like Our States, Should be Mistress of her Own Affairs.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — I have always had the opinion that Ireland should have the management of her own affairs as our States have of theirs, and I am glad she seems so likely now to obtain it. Respectfully yours, John D. Long, M. C. of A/assachnsetts. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 129 FKOM CONGRESSMAN PRICE. “ Wants to See Ireland a Free Republic.” House of Representatives, U. S. ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Sir: — I heartily endorse the sentiment of “Ireland a Nation.” Oppressed and abused for years as Ireland kas been, every patriotic heart would leap with joy to see h^v placed on the map of the world as a free republic. Respectfully yours, W. T. Price_, M. C.y of Wisconsin. [The political tendency of modern times is democratic. To this tendency the American Revolution gave an im- mense impulse. Mr. Price merely expresses a sentiment that was in the breasts of Washington, Jefferson, and Patrick Henry, as well as every true American since then and now, when he says, “ Every patriotic heart would leap for joy to see Ireland placed on the map of the world as a free repub- lic.”— Ed. I. W.] FROM REPRESENTATIVE ROMEIS. “ Ireland Coming to the Forefront.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — I have always taken an interest in the affairs of Ireland, and I am glad to see a nation which has been oppressed for centuries coming again to the forefront. “ Ireland a nation again ” shall now be the motto. Very truly yours, Jacob Romeis, M. C. of Ohio. [Ireland is a nation already. She has the spirit and the character of a nation. What Ireland needs is, not rights, but liberty to exercise her rights and to manifest her nation- ality.— Ed. I. W.] 9 130 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND, FROM REPRESENTATIVE McKENNA. “ Emmet’s Epitaph Will be Written.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — Received yours soliciting words of sympathy for Ireland. Does she need them ? At any rate they must be of sympathy in exultation. Pity is disappearing in triumph. You are right. Ireland’s course and efforts have attracted and deserve the admiration of the world. Vanquished but not subdued she commenced a struggle (if struggle ever was intermitted) in which she even had to conquer hope. To-day no one doubts the realization. Her nationality may not be accomplished this year, but its ultimate achieve- ment is sure. Emmet’s epitaph will be written. Very respectfully, J. McKenna, M, C.y of California, [Pity is something akin to contempt, for it is bestowed upon poor devils so low down as to be almost beyond hope. But in Ireland’s case “ pity is disappearing in triumph” — not at hand, perhaps, but assured. — Ed. I. W.] GEN. McCOOK CONFIDENT That the Present Movement Will Accomplish What the Most Sanguine Irishmen Desire. U. S. Senate Chamber, ) Washington, D. C. ) My Dear Sir: — In common, I think, with the majority of citizens, I have watched with great interest the struggle now in progress by which it is to be hoped Ireland may secure the just recognition to which she is entitled. It is perfectly ajiparent that Mr. Parnell and his followers hold the Parliamentary key to the position, and that by patience OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 131 and good judgment they will finally accomplish what even the most sanguine friends of Ireland desire. The recent change of ministry, in connection with the re- ported utterances of the Liberal leader, indicates very clearly that some decisive legislation must soon follow. That it may be in the interest of the peace, happiness, and renewed prosperity of the people of Ireland is certainly the wish of Yours very truly, Anson G. McCook, Secretary U, S. Senate. [It is not wise to count too much on Gladstone. During the recent general elections, it will be remembered, he ap- pealed strongly to the English and Scotch from an integrity- of-the-Empire platform; insinuating that the Tories, in league with the Parnellites, would give Ireland Home Rule as the price of the “ Irish alliance,’' and leaving it to be inferred that, although he himself was disposed to effect Irish reforms, he never would favor Irish legislative inde- pendence. It may be said in answer to this that that was a political campaign speech, and that the affirmations and negations of all such speeches should be taken with allow- ance. But this view of Gladstone does not strengthen con- fidence in him. The true policy of the Irish is to use all the English parties and to trust none. — Ed. I. W.] FROM REPRESENTATIVE HENDERSON. “His Hearty Sympathy is with Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S." ) Washington, D. C ) Patrick Ford, Esq. Sir: — I cordially sympathize with the people of Ireland in their struggle for national freedom. I hope they will succeed in accomplishing the dearest wishes of the Irish race. Very respectfully, John S. Henderson, M. C,y of North Carolina, 132 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND, CONGRESSMAN GEORGE FORD. “Ireland Should Take Her Place Among the Independent Nations.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir: — Ireland should be free. Her people should make and execute her laws. Her vassalage should end, in order that she may take her place among the free and inde- pendent nations of the earth. While not an Irishman myself I deeply sympathize with her devoted people, who witness her degradation while valiantly striving to break the chains which bind her. Respectfully, George Ford. M, C.y of Indiana, [Our namesake, though not an Irishman, is a true Ameri- can; and no better friend to the Irish race, or to the human race, exists than the man who is faithful to the genius of the American Republic. — ^Ed. I. W.] - FROM SERENO E. PAYNE. “Believes Independence Would be an Infinite Advantage to Ireland. ” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — In reply to yours I desire to say that it has long been my firm conviction that independence for Ireland would be better for England and of infinite advan- tage to Ireland. I hope to live to see the day when British pride shall bow to England’s best interests, and so yield to struggling Ireland in a peaceful, constitutional way the right of self-government. Yours respectfully, Sereno E. Payne, M. C, of New York. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 133 [If justice prevailed in the earth every one would have his own, and no one would have more or less than his own. England now has more than her own and Ireland has less. But that which England has over and above what is right- fully hers she is not permitted to enjoy in undisturbed pos- session. Thank God for that. She is haunted by the fears that always pursue the thief and the robber. There is but one remedy for this “ English trouble ” and that is for the Pirate'Empire to do justice to Ireland, and justice to Ireland means Ireland’s ‘‘right of self-government” — Ed. I. W.] CONGRESSMAN HARMER. He Will Let His Record Speak for Him. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. J Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — Referring to the “ Irish Question” and the efforts of that great champion of Ireland’s rights, Par- nell, I have to say that I can offer no better evidence of my sympathy for the Irish race than the record I have made in twelve years of Congressional service, demonstrating by my vote upon all occasions when the privilege has been ex- tended to me for justice and recognition to the men who were defending her rights. As a lover of liberty I would see the Irishman, under Home Rule, as free and happy as he is here under the free institutions of his adopted country. Faithfully yours, A. C. Harmer, M. C. of Pennsylvania. [Men whom the English enemy characterized as malefac- tors Mr. Harmer, as a Representative, deemed it not only his duty but his privilege to defend and honor in his place in the United States Congress. This kind of American tobacco England will not like to put in her pipe and smoke. —Ed. I. W.] 134 THE STORY OF IRELAND. FROM REPRESENTATIVE LOVE. Ireland’s Place is Among the Free and Self-GrOverning Nations of the Earth.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — Irish emancipation and nationality is in uni- son with human progress and liberty, and the noble men who have gathered about Mr. Parnell in achieving such grand results are, I trust, the chosen instruments of Provi- dence to place Ireland where she belongs, among the free and self-governing nations of the earth. Very respectfully yours, C. B. Love, M, C, of Delaware. [This world and all the worlds are under the government of Him who dwelleth on high. All are parts of one grand whole, and each has its own work to perform. Certain nations, however, seem to have been ordained for great and special missions. Such were the Jews. Such, too, but in a different way, were the Greeks. For a long time it has been a notion with us that Ireland will yet play, as she once did play, a leading part in the world's great drama; that a special Providence watches over her destinies, and that to this end He is shaping events and energizing them to bring Ireland, as Mr. Love says, ‘‘where she belongs, among the free and self-governing nations of the earth.” — Ed. 1. W.] MR. ANDERSON’S PRAYER. “God Bless the Irish People in Their Great Contest.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — In recalling the fact that all my grandparents were born in old Ireland I must join in the general sympa- thy expressed by my countrymen in wishing the people of Ireland success in their great struggle ' for personal and OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 135 political liberty, for Home Rule — in their struggle to es- tablish in their own land the rights of man. They will win, for their cause is right and just; and heaven will lead them on to a triumphant victory. God bless them in this great contest is the wish of your humble servant, C. M. Anderson, M. C.., of Ohio. [True Americans, of course, sympathize with every people struggling for liberty on the merits of their cause. But the sympathy of Americans with Ireland has nature as well as logic on its side. Fully one-half of them, like Mr. Ander- son, trace back their origin to Ireland as to the cradle-land of their stock. Blood will tell. — Ed. I. W.] FROM REPRESENTATIVE MAYBURY. “A Descendant of Irish Exiles, Sympathy for Ireland is with Him a Heritage.” Committee on Ways and Means, ) House of Representatives, U. S., >• Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor T/ie Irish World. I shall not be denied the privilege of expressing my hearty sympathy with the Irish people in their struggle for liberty. My ancestry is direct from this people, and sympathy with me is the heritage born of a knowledge of their wrongs and of the experience that made my kindred exiles. To every Irish heart there comes at this time the joyful salutation, “Lift up your heads, for the day of your re- demption is drawing nigh ! ” William C. Maybury, M. C.j of Michigan. [“ My ancestry is direct from the Irish people, and sym- pathy with me is the heritage born of a knowledge of their wrongs and of the experience that made my kindred exiles.” So writes Congressman Maybury. So feel millions of Americans of Mr. Maybury’ s race outside of Congress. — Ed. I. W.] 130 THE STORY OF IRELAND . COMSTOCK TALKS PLAIN ENGLISH. “England the Enemy of the Whole Human Race.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — Your postal received. I know of no one that would have any claim to humanity if he did. not sympathize with Ireland in her present struggle. The English seek to tyrannize over the whole world in the same way. If they cannot conquer by the sword their financial theories would produce the same result. Hypocritical in her pretensions, England would beggar the earth to enrich a few aristocrats. Most assuredly my sympathy is with Ireland. Respectfully yours, C. C. Comstock, M . C., of Michiga 7 t . [Yes, Mr. Comstock, “the English would tyrannize over the whole world ” if they had the power. Their oppression of Ireland is no exception. — Ed. I. W.] FROM CONGRESSMAN SYMES. “ Lovers of Freedom and Equality All with Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — The history of the wrongs of the Irish people ought to awaken the interest of all lovers of freedom and equality in this country. d"he condition of politics in England looks very favorable for the emancipation of Ireland. No one will be more pleased to hear of the successful issue evolved from this than Your obedient servant, G. G. Symes, M . C ., of Co lo 7 ' ado . OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 137 [The injuries which England inflicted upon America Froude himself, England's special pleader, admits were but as “flea-bites" compared with the outrages she has per- petrated on Ireland; yet the Declaration of Independence affirms that the Americans were not only justified, but it was their duty, to rise in armed revolt against British rule. To the sons of those Revolutionary sires- — “ to all lovers of freedom and equality in this country" — the history of the wrongs of the Irish people surely ought to awaken an in- terest hardly second to the history of America anterior to 1776.— Ed. I. W.] RANNEY OF MASSACHUSETTS. “I Trust the Day of Triumph is Not Far Distant.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ] Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor T/ie Irish World, Dear Sir: — You are right when you assume, as you do in your note of the 14th inst., that my sympathies are with Ireland and all of her struggling friends on the “ Irish ques- tion." I have watched with deep interest and with lively sensibilities the increasing strength of the cause and the encouraging success achieved in the late elections. The “almost persuaded " gives further hopeful promise for the near future, and I trust the day of triumph is not far distant. Truly yours, A. A. Ranney, M. C.y of Massachusetts, [We assumed, Mr. Ranney, that you and every other man worthy to be called an American in Congress were in sympathy with Ireland. It was not to dispel any doubt we felt on that score, but to make a demonstration in force for Ireland in sight of the enemy, that we solicited these expressions from the representative men of the Republic. The leaders of the American Revolution effected a similar demonstration against England and in favor of America a century ago. — Ed. I. W.] 138 THE STORY OF IRELAND. WHAT TARSNEY THINKS. “ The World Has Never Beheld a More Noble Spectacle.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. | Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — In my judgment the world has never beheld a more noble spectacle than the one now before it of an honest and determmed effort, by legal and constitutional methods to obtain for the Irish people their equality before the civilized world. Nothing short of Nationalization will meet the demand. The ultimate result may for a time be postponed, but the brave, persistent labors of Mr. Parnell and his party, aided by the sympathy and financial aid of all true lovers of liberty, must surely accomplish the purpose. With kind regards, I remain, yours, Timothy E. Tarsney, M. C.y of Michigan. [It is a question in some people^s minds whether the unaided efforts of the Irish Parliamentary party will make Ireland a Nation. There is no question, however, that, as Mr. Tarsney says, ‘‘ Nothing short of Nationalization will meet the demand ” of the Irish race; and toward the attain- ment of that object this country will play, and is playing, a very important part. — Ed. I. W.] REPRESENTATIVE GREEN’S VIEWS. “Promise of the Realization of O’Connell’s Hope and of Meagher’s Dream.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor llie Irish World. Dear Sir: — The controlling position of the Irish patriots in Parliament gladdens the heart of every one who admires the restless energy, the irrepressible determination, and the undying love of country which are the characteristics of the OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 139 Irish people. It gives promise of the fulfilment of O’Con- nell’s hope and the realization of Meagher’s dream. I sin- cerely trust that the end for which your countrymen have so long and so bravely contended is on the eve of attainment. Yours truly, Robert S. Green, M, C, of New Jersey. [The Irish cause, like Banquo’s ghost, will not down. “The restless energy, the irrepressible determination, and the undying love of country which are the characteristics of the Irish race” will not let it down. But to our mind there is a Providence in all this which is shaping things to His own wise ends. The Irish nation will yet play a leading part in the world’s great drama. — Ed. I. W.] FROM CONGRESSMAN STONE. “I Could not Be American and not Be for Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir — I could not be American and not be for Ire- land. I am American, and have the instinctive hatred of my countrymen for every form of tyranny, foreign or domestic. If “words of sympathy” were men in mail I’d write them until Ireland had an army big enough to sweep every vestige of tyranny from her borders. God bless the* “ Green Isle ” over the seas, and prosper every effort made by her heroic sons for independence. I believe day is about to break on her long night of bondage. I am sure I hope so. With much respect, I am, etc., W. J. Stone, M. C.y of Missouri. [“I could not be American and not be for Ireland.” That one short sentence is a speech in itself and strikes the keynote of American sentiment. — Ed. I. W.] 140 THE STORY OF IRE LA HD. JAMES BUCHANAN SPEAKS. “No Man Born Beneath the Stars and Stripes Can Fail to Sympathize With Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ] Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — No man born beneath the Stars and Stripes can fail to sympathize with any people struggling for free- dom. The progress of events is rapid, and, in my judg- ment, the day is not far distant when all Europe will have government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.’' Yours truly, James Buchanan, M. 6’., of New Jersey. [No American, Mr. Buchanan, can fail to sympathize with the Irish people in their struggle for liberty and nationality. There are, unfortunately, some Englishmen born under the Stars and Stripes who fail to sympathize with the Irish cause, even as the Tories of the Revolution failed to sym- pathize with the cause of America. But their tribe is be- coming small by degrees and beautifully less. — EcL I. W.] BUTTERWORTH S OPINION. “Ireland Should be Governed Only by Irishmen.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D, C. \ Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor T/te Irish World. J My Dear Sir: — Yes, I wish Ireland were free and inde- pendent, with a government of her own, based on universal suffrage, resting only on age and residence. Her destiny would then be in her own hands. Irishmen in Ireland should be governed only by Irishmen. God speed the clay when that shall be. Yours truly, Benj. Butterworth, M. C., of Ohio. [No remarks could adccjuately supplement this letter but OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 141 the repetition of Mr. Butterworth’s utterance. No fuller expression of Ireland’s aspirations could be put in fewer words. Ed. I.W.] FROM CONGRESSMAN HAYNES. Declares that the Pirate Empire Has No Claim to American Sympathy. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — I reiterate my opinion and belief, often ex- pressed, that at some time, in some manner, through some combination of circumstances, Ireland will be free. When the national spirit is unbroken national life is sure to come in the fullness of time. A nation that launched privateers to destroy our commerce when we were struggling for life [as England did], and which now seeks to make us her in- dustrial dependent, has no claim to sympathy from me — a Republican, an American, a Protectionist — in her shocking misrule of Ireland. Martin A. Haynes, M. C, of New Hampshire. [Our Anglomen refer to the war of Independence as “an unpleasantness ” between England and America, and with affected innocence they appeal to us to say no more on that subject. Plundering our seas, ravaging our coasts, subsidising Hessians and Indians to murder our people, and giving our towns and cities to the flames — these were the cause of the “ unpleasantness.” In 1812 England gave us another taste of these things. In 1861 England “ launched privateers to destroy our commerce,” as Mr. Haynes re- marks^, and that at a time “when we were struggling for life.” Our Anglomen conveniently ignore these latter facts. We might have forgotten the “unpleasantness” of a century ago; but England herself. Messieurs Anglomen, has not allowed us to forget it. There is an “ unpleasant- ness ” between England and Ireland too. When the op- pressor does justice to his victim we shall draw the curtain over the evil past and speak harshly of England no more. — Ed. I. W.] 142 THE STORY OF IRELAND, MR. MAHONEY FOR HOME RULE. “Not Only as an Irishman who Loves His Motherland, but as an American who Believes in Universal Liberty.” House of Representatives, U. S. Washington, D. C. ( Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World, My Dear Sir: — I must ask you to pardon my delay in answering your letter, which has reference to the proposed nationalization of the mother country and the efforts being made by Mr. Parnell and his supporters to secure this end. It seems hardly necessary that any word of mine should be added to the popular expression of sentiment regarding this great issue, and the only reason why I write these few lines is my desire to comply with your request. All the sympathies of my nature are enlisted in the cause of which Mr. Parnell is so conspicuous and so able an ad- vocate; and the time has never been when I have lost opportunity to add my voice to the demands of the Irish people and the lovers of liberty throughout the world for an Irish Parliament and the right of Irishmen to manage their own affairs. What little I can do at any and all times in furtherance of the end in question will be done most cheerfully; and that not only as an Irishman desirous of the welfare of his mother country, but as an American citi- zen who believes that equal rights and equal privileges should be extended to all mankind. Very respectfully, Peter P. Mahoney, M, C, of New York, [We are pleased to see Mr. Mahoney unite his Irish feel- mgs with his American principles. It is sometimes flippantly said that an Irishman when he comes to this country ought to forget Ireland. That would be unnatural, — and the true man is never false to nature. They are of the English Tory OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 143 element, themselves un-American in all things save the ac- cident of birth, who raise this cry. All that the require- ments of citizenship demand is that foreign-born persons forswear, not affection for their kith and kin, but their allegiance to other Governments, including the Government which hitherto has claimed them as subjects. If this is all that can be asked even of an Englishman, whose country as well as his Government has been ever the foe of this Republic, how can men born and reared in Ireland, which, as Mr. Randall says, “was the first as she has been the most constant friend of America,'' be expected to do more ? But no genuine American expects or desires more. —Ed. I. W.] WHAT E. B. TAYLOR FEARS. Home Rule, if Handicapped by English Free Trade, Will Prove a Delusion and a Snare. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — Intensely hopeful of the early and substan- tial success of Ireland in her efforts to regain her liberties and nationality, I fear some compromise that will leave her labor interest bound to the chariot of English Free Trade. If it should so turn out, the sacrifices of her friends have been in vain, the sympathies of the world lost, and all her hopes will be turned to despair. Very sincerely yours, E. B. Taylor, M. C, of Ohio, [The English will not be likely to grant Ireland a Parlia- ment with power to set up a protective tariff. Already they begin to cry out that a Parliament having the power and the will to develop Ireland's resources would ruin English manufactures and beggar English artisans. — Ed. I. W.] 144 THE STORY OF IRELAND, MR. MURPHY FEELS HONORED “ To be Invited to Join in Cheering the Men who are Work- ing for Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. J Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — The writer esteems it a high compliment to be asked to add his humble voice in praise of the heroic men of the land of oratory, poetry, and song, and the land of a patriotism as elevated as that whmh fired the hearts and strengthened the arms of the men of our own Revolu- tion against the same insatiable power which oppresses Ire- land to-day. The peaceful and courageous methods adopted by Parnell and his associates to restore the rights of the Irish people will receive the warm approval and substantial aid of every son of the old land and his children in every clime, and all those of our own country who admire the men who bravely struggle for their God-given rights against a merciless and mighty power made great by the sacrifices and bravery of Irish soldiers. The prospect is indeed cheering. The poetry of Thomas Davis, so full of prophecy of his country’s glory, will soon be more inspiring than in his day because of the greater Hope which is dawning; and the speeches of Grattan, Cur- ran, Phillips, and the long line of eloquent men of the past will be revived and read to increase the patriotism and strengthen the heart of every friend of Irish liberty. Is not the time coming, and not far distant, when the epitaph of Robert Emmet will be written ? Very respectfully yours, Jerry H. Murphy, M. C. of Jo7va, [Yes, Mr, Murphy, it is a historical truth that the Irish people were rol)bed of “ their God-given rights by the merci- less jiower ” of England; and it is equally true, and not OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS^ 145 less sad, that that power was “ made great by the sacrifices and bravery of Irish soldiers.’' When England had made slaves and paupers of the Irish, Irishmen, to build up Eng- land’s empire, went over the world to make slaves and paupers of other peoples. That is the historical fact. And — “Oh, shame, where is thy blush!” — Irishmen cheered all that a thousand times over. How many Irish hurrahs went up over the English-bought cut-throats from “ magnifi- cent Tipperary” and the “Connaught Rangers?” It is not pleasant for us to recall these things or to remind others of them. The truth, nevertheless, should be told. We don’t believe in wholesale glorification of the Irish race any more than in wholesale and cynical criticism of them. There is much that is noble in the Irish character; it is right for us to manifest this nobility, and it is right for us to take honest pride in it too. But our people have had their share of folly, and this folly should be pointed out and censured. “We must be cruel in order to be kind.” But thank God a change for the better has taken place. The Light has been spread, and Irishmen now see the fool- ishness and the wickedness of aiding, or countenancing such as do aid, in any way, that accursed organization known as the British Empire. The marrow of slavery, however, is still in the bones of some of us. There are men who refer with pride to those wretched mercenaries who have only curses for the brave fellows who risk all to strike at the heart and cause that “ merciless power” to quake which is the curse of the world in general and of the Irish race in particular. — Ed. 1. W.] FROM REPRESENTATIVE SOWDEN. “ Ireland Deserves the Sympathy of all Who Love Liberty for Liberty’s Sake.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — I am in full sympathy with those Irish patriots who are now engaged on the other side of the water in an heroic and noble struggle for Home Rule in Ireland. I sincerely hope that they may be successful. 146 THE STORY OF IRELAND, The Irish people deserve the sympathy and support of every man who loves liberty for liberty’s sake in their brave and patriotic struggle for freedom. W. H. SOWDEN, M. C.^ of Pennsylva7ua. [“ The Irish people deserve the sympathy and support of every man who loves liberty for liberty’s sake.” That is, the Irish cause, in its last analysis, is the cause of true men the world over. — Ed. I. W.] MR. KLEINER’S NOTION. “ Down on the Whole Bad Brood of Ireland’s Oppressors.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor TJu Irish World. My Dear Sir: — You will see from my name that I am not Irish, but I am just as anxious to strike a blow for her liberation as if I were. I want to rid the earth of the sneak- ing despots of the East, one of whom drove my poor father to these shores as a rebel because he would not live a slave, having first confiscated all his earthly possessions. You can set me down as against the whole brood who oppresses good old Ireland. I am, yours truly, John J. Kleiner, M. C.y of Indiana. [The “brood wno oppresses Ireland” includes all the English parties, Whigs and Tories; the British aristocracy, commercial and titled; the Land-Robbers, with their allies; not counting those bastard Irishmen and mongrels known as “Royal Irish Constabulary ” and Orangemen. Could Ireland but once wrench herself free from the English grip all the domestic vermin would speedily disappear, as tradi- tion relates the venomous reptiles disappeared before the mitred front of St. Patrick. This is a consummation de- voutly to be wished. In the work now in hand of trying to effect a good riddance of this bad brood we welcome the co-operation of Mr. Kleiner and all other honest men — Ed. I. W.] OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 147 REAGAN TAKES A GLOOMY VIEW. “ It Will Be Seen in the End that British Love of Plunder is Superior to Party Ties.” House of Repj^esentatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — The Irish people have and have always had my sincerest sympathy. The English policy for Ireland is dictated and controlled by the selfishness and greed of the land monopolists, and as long as the House of Lords is constituted as it now is I see no hope for the relief of the Irish people. That body, even more than the House of Commons, represents prop- erty, money, wealth, not people. The wealth, so far as re- lates to this question, is composed of the profits on Irish farms and the ownership of Irish lands in the hands mainly of English land monopolists. They will never let go their hold 071 Irish property imtil it is brokefi by force. And an attempt by the Irish people alone to free themselves by force would only rivet more tightly the chains of the despotism with which they are now afflicted, and render more intense their wrongs and sufferings. It will be seen in the end that this British love of plunder is superior to party ties and that the land monopolists will maintain their grip on poor, suffering Ireland. Very respectfully, * John H. Reagan, M. C, of Texas. [Mr. Reagan expresses our opinion when he says that “ British love of plunder is superior to party ties,” and that, when it comes to it, the English will be all one as against Ireland. Nevertheless, the demands of the hour bid us hope against hope. But this wretched state of things, this living death, cannot and must not continue always. If Eng- land harden her heart and refuse to listen to reason, the plagues of Egypt ought to be, and, if the Irish are men, will be, visited upon her. — Ed. I.W.] 148 THE STORY OF IRELAND. SAM RANDALL’S UTTERANCES. ‘‘ Ireland the Earliest and Most Constant Friend of America. — America Naturally Symi)athize8.” House of Representatives, ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — My opinion is firm that Home Rule or self- government can no longer be denied to Ireland. It is in accordance with the enlightened spirit of the age. Besides, it has already been granted very freely by the British Empire to most of its provinces. It has gone too far to be recalled. Revolutions never go backward, and this one least of all; for it removes the burn- ing reproach of the gross injustice under which Ireland has suffered. No doubt party advocates, in the interest of the dominant class and in order that they might enjoy in the future as in the past the patronage of which Home Rule will deprive them, would be willing to juggle, to hold the word of promise to the ear and break It to the hope; but the men and the leader who have so successfully carried forward this movement of liberty for Ireland are not likely to allow themselves to be deceived. America naturally sympathizes with any nation that seeks to govern itself according to the republican form, and the people of the land of Washington, least of all, can withhold its encouragement to a people who h^e been its earliest and most constant friend when they come to apply the principles of self-government as taught by Thomas Jefferson in our Declaration of Independence. It is a grateful reflection to know that justice to Ireland is to be accomplished in a peaceful way, and that the fanatics who oppose it do so for reasons and upon grounds which make them the confessed enemies of all free govern- ment. Very truly yours, Sam. Randall, Af. C . , of 2\'niisylvania. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 149 [Mr. Randall, it will be recollected, was Speaker of the House when Mr. Parnell, by invitation, addressed the Representatives in 1880 on the claims of Ireland. The sentiments expressed in this letter are those which animated him then. In April '82, at our request, Mr. Randall ap- peared at the great Cooper Union demonstration, and in unmistakable language condemned England for her high- handed acts towards all she affected to regard as ‘‘ suspects ” (some of whom were subjects of this Republic), and vindi- cated the rights of our citizens abroad as a duty which the United States Government owed to itself, to its own dignity, not less than to the pledged faith upon which its citizens relied for protection. — Ed. I. W.] FROM WILLIAM S. HOLMAN. The ‘Great Objector’ Objects to English Rule in Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — Referring to your esteemed favor of the 14th inst., permit me to say that no American citizen can be indifferent to the great issue now pending between the people of Ireland and Great Britain. The legislative independence of Ireland, in the present state of the affairs of the Irish people in their relation to Great Britain, is, in the measure and magnitude of its im- portance, a question of interest to the whole civilized world. When, ten years ago, ^t the instance of a representative of the Irish people, I introduced into the House of Repre- sentatives in Congress an expression of the “ Congratula- tion of the Irish Nation’’ on the occurrence of the centen- nial anniversary of American Independence — a kindly and generous expression, which you, Mr. Ford, will remember, met an honorable and cordial reception in the House — I did not indulge the hope that at so early a moment as this the question of the legislative independence of Ireland — the right of a great people to control their home affairs (con- 150 THE STORY OF IRELAND, sidered with us inherent in human nature) would be able, in view of the history of the past, to demand and confidently expect such an early answer. I could not then have in- dulged that hope. But the world moves more rapidly than in former years, and to-day the American people confidently and joyfully hope and expect that a demand so reasonable and just, in the current judgment of mankind, will promptly receive the sanction of the British Parliament. I am yours truly, . W. S. Holman, M, C, of Indiana. [The address referred to we well remember. It was Ire- land’s congratulation to this Republic on the centennial of American Independence. It was presented by Mr. Parnell and Mr. John O’Connor Power. We remember the “ hon- orable and cordial reception ” it met in the House and the friendly part Mr. Holman performed in connection there- with. The address will be found elsewhere in this number of The Irish World.— I. W.] BLAND’S REPLY TO ENOLISH CANT. “ The Same English Arguments Advanced Against Irish Independence as Were Urged Against Americans a Century Ago.” House of Representatives, U. S. ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — In answer to yours of recent date I want to say that I see no reason why patriotic people of the civilized world who love national independence and indi- vidual liberty may not sympathize with the struggle the Irish are now and have been making to throw off the terri- ble tyranny and oppression that England has for centuries been foisting upon Ireland. When such sympathy is expressed the apologists for England taunt us by saying, “ Should Ireland be freed OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 151 chaos and anarchy would ensue, because the Irish are not capable of self-government.” So tyrants the world over have always said of all people. So it was said of our Revo- lutionary fathers and patriots. But that is not the ques- tion. The question is: Has not Ireland the right to self- government ? Whether that government be good or bad is for Irishmen to determine, and Irishmen alone. It is the prerogative of no one else. R. P. Bland, M. C,y of Missouri, [Yes, the arguments the English use against the Irish they have used against every people that sought to get rid of their evil rule. Dr. Johnson stigmatized the American Congress that met at Philadelphia as a “congress of anarchy.” “ Eng- lish writers,*' wrote Ben Franklin, “to justify the measures of the British Government, revile Americans as miscreants, rogues, dastards, rebels, etc. They say that manufactures in America are impossible, that almost all the people of prop- erty and importance are satisfied, etc.” — Ed. I. W.] WEAVER’S SALUTATION. “All Hail to Parnell and His Glorious Cause!” Washington, D. C. Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir: — All hail to Parnell and his glorious cause ! The hearts of the American people throb in unison with the demand of Ireland for legislative independence. This is the peaceful solution of the Irish problem. The civilized world will be content with nothing less. J. B. Weaver, M, C.y of Iowa, [The heart of Congressman Weaver, though not an Irish- man, beats responsive to Ireland's demand for liberty. We know him personally. He sat beside us at the Land League Convention in '8i and witnessed with admiration and ap- plauded enthusiastically the proceedings of that memorable Congress of the Irish race.' — E d. I. W.] 152 THE STORY OF IRELAND, THE LIGHT IS SPREADING. “ God Intends Ireland Shall Fill a Large, and an Honorable Chapter in the History of Men.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. f Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — I read The Irish World with great pleasure always. After a long series of years it now does seem its “ Light is breaking in the East for Ireland. That splendid island, so fertile, so blessed by all natural advan- tages, whose children have always and everywhere exhibited every quality of highest manhood, courage, faith, truth, honor, sympathy — God surely did intend to fill a large and honorable chapter in the history of men. It seems, somehow, that every people must, like Israel, wander awhile in the wilderness. Ireland has done so. In old time her children, it was said, could not agree. But I have read with delight the clear fact that Ireland is now united as never before. Ireland needs a leader of cool brain. I think she has such a leader in Parnell. Let every Irish-American give his prayers and his cash for the good cause now ! Whether Ireland shall be completely severed from the British Empire or not, she will at least be “ Tlie ruler of herself again.” And the land of Sarsfield, of Burke, of Robert Emmet, and of Daniel O’Connell will be worthy of the heart’s pride, as it is now of the heart’s love, of millions. I am always yours, A. H. Pettibone, M. G, of Tennessee, [The idea that Mr. Pettibone here apprehends, viz., Ire- land as a distinct and self-governing nation, with strong marked characteristics, and fulfilling a special mission in the world’s history, is precisely the point on which The OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 153 Irish World has tried to bring its light to bear. As an in- dependent and self-energizing nation Ireland would leave her impress for good on the human race. As an indepen- dent nation she was the great Light Spreader of Europe for three centuries. She blessed the world and benefited her- self. In servitude her losses, moral and material, have been altogether greater than her victories. — Ed. I. W.] GALLINGEE’S DISGUST FOR ENGLAND. “ If I Were an Irishman I Would Fight England to the Bitter End.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j My Dear Sir: — If I were an Irishman I would fight England to the bitter end, and never cease my warfare until either success, crowned my efforts or death interposed an insuperable barrier to the continuance of my work. As it is, I have the greatest possible admiration for Parnell and his followers, and a feeling of profound disgust for a great Government that deliberately and wickedly overthrew the liberties and destroyed the industries of a contented and happy people, and that now undertakes to govern them by a system of espionage and despotism unworthy of the Czar of Russia. As the battle is not always to the strong, Eng- land’s humiliation is sure to come, and Ireland will yet have her own Parliament, and enjoy the blessings of Home Rule. Heaven speed that day ! Truly and sincerely yours, J. H. Gallinger, M, C, of New Hampshire. Patrick Ford, Esq. [“If I were an Irishman I would fight England to the bitter end.*' The sentiment which Congressman Gallinger here expresses is a sentiment which every honest Irishman feels and encourages, the cant against “ dishonorable war- fare" to the contrary notwithstanding. — Ed. 1. W.] 154 THE STORY OF IRE LA HE. WHAT GEN. GLOVER THINKS. “ I Love the Irish Cause Because I Love Liberty — It is the Cause of Washington.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington^ D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford Dear Sir: — You request me to give you my views upon the condition of political affairs in Ireland. Though I have no Irish blood in my veins, this is a subject upon which I have felt intensely since my earliest youth, and that fact illustrates the hold which Ireland has upon the sympathies of Americans. I love the Irish cause because I love liberty. It is the cause of Tell, of Kosciusko, of Washington; and it is the memories of ’76 that stir in my heart when I think of her long and noble and most pathetic struggle for independence. An intervening ocean separated us from the greatest mili- tary power of the world. Who can say that, if it had been the English border, we could have gone as far by noble patience, fortitude, wisdom, constitutional and pacific means, and matchless diplomacy as has Mr. Parnell. Many a time has that brave and unhappy country a-hur- ried to the field and snatched the spear, but left the shield. The rising flame she kindled was quenched in the blood of her Emmets. She has been fortunate in her great men, — Swift, Flood, Grattan, O’Connell; but they all reached a point where it was abandonment or hopeless revolution. It was reserved for Parnell to avoid that fatal point, and after the failure of the sword to conquer liberty by diplomacy, while an over- powering military establishment rusted in outraged and enforced idleness. When I reflect on the operation of the cloture., the tyran- nies of the Coercion Acts, the I'jrutalities of martial law — all so recent — and willing away that scene as if it were a cloud from my eyes, 1 see the position of transcendent hope OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 155 which Parnell now occupies, the spectacle is one that would draw tears of admiration and pity from a heart not wholly dead to generous impulse. The world is so small, the forces of arbitrary power so banded together, that the cause of liberty knows no coun- try or clime, and its friends must stand together all over the world. We are the “refuge of the liberties of man- kind.’' We have a trust to perform towards all other peo- les struggling towards freedom. Happy, prosperous, smil- ing in assured peace and contentment, a few weeks ago, by a spontaneous outburst of the popular heart we erected a pedestal to the statue of Liberty presented by a sister Re- public merely to show that the cause of liberty is the same all over the world. Will the American people do more for a sentiment than they will for reality — more for a counter- feit presentiment than for liberty herself struggling to rend her chains ? Sir, I do not believe it. For myself, I believe that only a little of the pecuniary aid which our great and happy country is so well able to give, is needed now to ensure the future of constitutional government in Ireland. I have contributed according to my means. I hope never to be forgotten when more is needed for that cause, and I am proud to believe that the response of the American people will be worthy of the ob- ject in view, and of their traditions, their history, their abounding generosity, and love of liberty. John M. Glover, M, G, of Missouri. [“ I love the Irish because I love liberty. It is the cause of Tell, of Kosciusko, of Washington.” That is the kind of talk we like to hear. The Irish cause appeals to the world on its merits. It asks only justice. The supple- mentary remark which Mr. Glover appends — “I have con- tributed according to my means, and I hope never to be forgotten when more is needed for that cause ” — is thor- oughly practical and proves the honesty of his ardent pro- fessions. — Ed, I. W.] 156 THE STORY OF IRELAND, ELY’S INDICTMENT OF ENGLAND. “ An American’s Recollections of English Outrages in Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — I have received your letter of the 14th inst. expressing a desire to publish the views of Senators and Representatives on the Irish question and saying “would be pleased to have letter of sympathy from you.” Far more consonant with my sentiments would be a letter of admiration of that heroic constancy and devotion of the Irish people which has sustained them through famine and cold and nakedness and imprisonment and judicial murders for centuries, and which, never swerving from the rugged and often bloody path leading to freedom and equal rights in Ireland, has struggled onward and upward until to*day success seems to be near at hand. Who can be so wanting in the ordinary instinct of the human breast as not to feel a deeply sincere sympathy for the trials and sufferings of the Irish people, and abounding admiration for their love of country and their sacrifices for Ireland, and an earnest aspiration for the early and complete success of their unparalleled fortitude and endurance ? In the school-books of my youth I well remember a pic- ture showing an humble tenement in Ireland, the agent of an English landlord driving away the only cow, and on the street despairing father and a weeping mother and her little children clinging to her worn-out dress. Ejected from their dwelling house, their only remaining property dis- trained for rent, this family, thus situated, was the best illustration which American geographies of forty years ago could furnish of the condition of Ireland. The picture is not less apt to-day than thc 7 i. Remembering such scenes as these, and knowing full well that they have been and are OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 157 common in the rural life of Ireland, that this is but one of many oppressions which Ireland has endured at the hands of the government and of the people of England, that her industries have been crippled and often destroyed by unjust laws, and that her men, women, and children have been deprived of the necessaries of life, to the end that the Eng- lish nobility and aristocracy might live in splendor and lux- ury, I feel the warmest sympathy and interest in every effort of the Irish people towards the attainment of their just rights and the permanent establishment of their own affairs within their own control. I verily believe that that long- sought-for day will surely come; deservedly it ought to come. If “ Men who their duties know, But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain,” constitute a State, Irishmen have proved themselves worthy of self-government. . Very truly yours, Frederick D. Ely, M, of Massachusetts. [It is the old, old story, Mr. Ely. Plunder, Eviction, Ruin ! Such were the scenes a generation ago when you were a boy. As you truly say, “ The picture is not less apt to-day than then.*' Tens of thousands perished in the Black ’Forty-Seven. But there was no real famine. There was food enough in the country to keep the life in all the peo- ple, but the people were not allowed to touch that food — the product of their own hands ! Had Irishmen known their rights, and knowing dared maintain, they would not have been denied. Certain death was in sight. The Irish, then, should have sold their lives dearly. They should have died as men fighting for their homes and their little ones, not crawled into ditches to die without a struggle. A people who risked their lives fighting in England’s robber wars cer- tainly ought to have done as much for themselves. Mod- eration is a good doctrine to preach to Americans, because the Government here is just what we make it, and all evils can be removed by legal methods; but desperate cases 158 THE STORY OF IRELAND, require desperate remedies, and in Ireland desperation instead of being repressed should on occasions have been intensified and intelligently directed. Another Famine (so- called) now shows its horrid front in Ireland. It remains to be seen what the Irish people are going to do about it. Ed. I. W.] WHAT ABRAM S. HEWITT THINKS. “ The Adoption of the Federal Plan the Only Solution of the Anglo-Irish Difficulty. House of Representatives, U. S., | Washington, D. C. [ Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir: — I do not think it necessary to add anything to my repeated declarations of sympathy with the Irish peo- ple in their efforts to secure a redress of grievances. I be- lieve in the right of every people to govern themselves, sub- ject to such geographical limitations as are imposed by nature. I have never been able to see any reason why Ire- land should occupy towards Great Britain a relation differ- ent in any respect from one of the States of this Union in reference to the general government. I have never re- garded the separation of Ireland from England as a practi- cable measure of public policy. Nor do I believe that such a separation would be for the interest of Ireland. But Ireland should have control of its local affairs as each State in the Union legislates for its own people, subject only to the national will as limited by the Constitution of the United States. I think that much is to be learned from our ex- ample. Very truly yours, Abram S. Hewitt, M. C,, of New York, [What Mr. Hewitt says about “ the right of every peo- ple to govern themselves subject to such geographical limi- tations as are imposed by nature ” is so much for the right of Ireland to govern herself. Nature has made her a nation. England and Ireland are not one nation. They are two OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 159 distinct countries inhabited by two distinct peoples. They are neighbors; they are not and they cannot be one body politic. — Ed. I. W.] LETTER FROM MR. CAMPBELL. “Ireland While Hoping for the Best Should be Prepared for the Worst.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — Your appeal for the cause of Ireland and Irish liberty should strike a sympathetic chord in the heart of every patriotic American citizen, native or naturalized. America was once oppressed as Ireland now is, and with the justice of her cause to spur her on she cast off the tyrant's yoke and stood before the world free and independent, a nation among nations. So should it be with Ireland. It is too late to talk of the justice of the principles which Parnell and his coadjutors advocate. That injustice has been done Ireland no honest man will deny; that the in- justice and oppression are in a fair way to continue unless something be done, and that at once, no one will gainsay. Now is the time for Ireland to make a move for herself. While hoping for the best she must be prepared for the worst and act accordingly. I have always been a supporter of the Irish movement, and even before I arrived at the age of maturity I was en- gaged in it, and I am still in sympathy with the cause. Hoping to see the land of my birth on the same footing with grand America, and assuring you of my earnest sup- port in the noble work undertaken and its accomplishment, I am, very truly yours, T. J. Campbell, M. C.y of New York. [That is a shrewd observation of Mr. Campbell, and a sensible advice of Irishmen, to “ hope for the best ” but to “ be prepared for the worst a7id act accordingly.'" — Ed. I. W.] 160 THE STORY OF IRE LA HD. FREEDOM’S BATTLE EVER WON. “ I Trust the Day of Erin’s Deliverance is at Hand.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ] Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor T/ie Irish World. My Dear Sir: — My heart goes out toward the Irish peo- ple in their battle for liberty. I bid them God-speed and trust that the day of Erin's de- liverance is at hand. That day must come sooner or later, ‘ For freedom’s battle once begun, Bequeathed by bleeding sire to son, Though baffled oft, is ever ’won.” I am, truly yours, Wm. Warner, M. C, of Missouri. FROM GOVERNOR LARRABEE. There Can be but One Verdict Among Americans on the Eng- lish-Irish Question, and that in Favor of Ireland. State of Iowa, ) Executive Office, Des Moines. ) Mr. Patrick Ford, New York. Dear Sir: — In my opinion there can be but one verdict respecting the Irish Cause among a liberty-loving people like ours. Home Rule for Ireland should find an echo in every truly American heart. It is indeed gratifying to me to see that this just demand of the Irish people has become a vital issue on which for some time to come no English ministry can rise and none shall fall until the right finally prevails. I am, dear Sir, Yours very truly, Wm^ Larrabee, Governor of Iowa. [It is gratifying to think that if England refuse to let Ireland manage Irish affairs it is in Ireland’s power to pre- OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 161 vent England from managing English affairs in the good, old, placid way. This by playing off one party against the other. But it is not safe to repose too securely on this aspect. Hatred of Ireland is strong and deep-seated in the breasts of Englishmen of all parties to make them one party when the demand for Home Rule is pushed to the point when Englishmen must answer “Yes” or “No.’’ No honest dispositiofi exists in E7igla7id to do right by Irela7id, Every page of Anglo-Irish history teaches this. If England has at last experienced a “ change of heart” God knows, not we. We sincerely hope she has, and we shall with thankfulness recognize the fact — if fact it be — when reason- able evidence is submitted. — Ed. I. W.] FROM MR. WM. WOODBURN. He is “ in Perfect Harmony With the Views of The Irish World.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. f Mr. Patrick Ford. Dear Sir: — In answer to your letter asking for an ex- pression of opinion upon the grave questions now agitated by the Irish people I have only to say that I always have been and still am in perfect harmony with the views so long and ably expressed in your estimable paper. The IrishWorld. Born and reared in the shadows of the Wicklow Moun- tains, to me sanctified by the deeds of Byrne, Holt, Dwyer, and Parnell, I could entertain none other. Believing that Home Rule, in the strictest sense of that term, is a near certainty, and that its acquirement means complete Irish independence in the future, I am, very respectfully yours, Wm. Woodburn, M^ C, of Nevada, [We are not infallible, and hope we are not egotistical; but we cannot help respecting our own convictions, and any Irishman who is in perfect harmony with the views of The Irish World is a good enough Irishman for us. — Ed. I. W.] II 162 THE STORY OF /RE LA ATE. CONGRESSMAN MERRIMAN. “Wants to See Ireland an Independent Republic.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ] Patrick Ford, Editor T/ie Irish World. My Dear Sir: — You ask for my views on the struggle of the Irish people for the opportunity to govern themselves. I am, as every true American should be, heartily in sym- pathy with the people who are striving for that end. I trust that the victory of Mr. Parnell and his steadfast lieutenants in the recent elections will result in the establishment of a Parliament for Ireland, and that at no distant day the Irish people may be an independent nation with a republican form of government. Very truly yours, T. A. Merriman, M. C., of New York, [“ An independent nation with a republican form of gov- ernment.” That’s it. That is the ultimate of this move- ment of centuries. — Ed. I. W.] WEBER UTTERS A HISTORICAL TRUTH. “ England Never Gives Anything Save What Is Wrenched From Her by Force.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — Even a casual observer must see that your struggle in Ireland is but the “ irrepressible conflict ” be- tween the oppressed and the oppressor. The tendency everywhere is towards government by the people, and to the free institutions of America should be credited the spirit which is leavening the world. Our growth and prosperity are gradually undermining the monarchies of tlie old world, and we should examine OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 163 with a caution akin to suspicion the advice given by a peo- ple [the English] who are our commercial rivals, and in whose treatment of our interests their history fails to reveal concessions not wrung from them by force. J. B. Weber, M, C.f of New York. [Mr. Weber is a level-headed and clear-sighted man. He sees that America is responsible in large measure for the struggles of liberty witnessed in other countries, and that instead of being ashamed of the influence of our ex- ample we should glory in it. He has read Anglo-American history to advantage. He knows the crimes of England on this side of the ocean, he knows her treacheries and double-dealings, and he would not trust her. The history of the English people “reveal no concessions not wrung from them by force.'' — Ed. I. W.] FROM CONGRESSMAN BELFORB. ‘‘ When asked Why America’s Sympathy for Ireland, I answer because Ireland Helped to Achieve American Independence. ” Denver, Col., Feb 9, 1886. Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — I send you a portion of Judge Belford's speech for publication and I do hope that you will comply with our request, as a good many of our members take The Irish Worlds and would be glad to see it in the columns of your great paper. I suppose that you are informed of Mr. Belford's sympathy for the Irish people before now, I am desirous to have the pleasure of showing him that portion of his address in your journal. J. B. Dowling, M. C., of Colorado. Why America ought to have Sympathy for Ireland. When asked whence comes our sympathy for Ireland, I answer, because Irishmen helped us to achieve our National 164 THE STORY OF IRELAND. independence. It was after Gates had captured Burgoyne. It was after the battles on the heights of Charleston and Fort Moultrie had been fought. It was after Germantown and Brandywine and Trenton and Princetown and Mon- mouth, in which battles many an Irishman had laid down his life, that the Lilies of France floated into the field with the Star Spangled Banner. Nature had painted green the graves of many an Irishman who had died in defence of his adopted country before the fleet of De Grasse had touched the waters of the York River. Whence comes our sympa- thy for Ireland ? Have you ever read of the terrible days of that awful field of Valley Forge, when an army without food or clothing or shoes, amid the agonies of hunger and the pains of cold, kept watch over the liberties of this young Nation? Do you recollect the fact that an Irish regiment, shoeless, naked, unfed and unpaid, with a view to compel the Continental Congress to secure some money by which these ends and objects could be advanced and accomplished, mu- tinied for a day ? The English heard of this mutiny. Gen- eral Howe sent messengers to Washington’s army. He told the Irish: — “ If you will come back, if you are hungry, we will feed you; if you are naked, we will clothe you; if you are unpaid, we will advance you money; we will fill up the measure of your bounties; we will forgive your past offences, and our royal master will take you back to his bosom.” But what said the Irish ? They did not hesitate a moment in that critical period of the history of the nation. They sent those messengers to Washington’s tent, informed him that they were spies from the British camp, and Washington hung them all higher than Haman. American Suffering and Irish Sympathy at Valley Forge. Did you ever read the terrible history of that awful Win- ter at Valley Forge when the destinies of the Republic OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 165 seemed to be congealed by the snows that covered the earth, when the soldiers were without clothes, with ragged tents, with poor fires, with bleeding feet, without shoes to protect them ? Did you ever think of a man perishing with hunger and looking out in the distance and seeing a neighbor ap- proaching with a basket full of food ? Look to that moun- tain top. Over it comes a wagon covered with canvas. It is a strange spectacle, unseen but by the army of the Con- tinentals. The soldiers stare and glare at it. By and by another comes. A squad assembles and another comes, and then through the clear air and over the pure snow is heard the voice of a soldier in the hour of agony and dis- tress: “ Here come the wagons of relief’’ — and, bless God, it was a wagon-train of relief, filled with food, blankets, and shoes, and molasses, and crackers, and everything needful to administer to human comfort. But pause a moment. Who sent that wagon train there ? Thirty-four Irishmen from the city of Philadelphia, and with it they sent $103,000 of Pennsylvania gold and silver. Should we not sympathize with the Irish ? These are the occasions of our sympathies and the endearing foundations of our friendship. For 700 years England has been the enemy of Ireland and for 200 years the enemy of America. No man can read her legisla- tion touching either country without a feeling of horror. Her whole history towards Ireland has been but a continued chapter of horrors, first designed to depopulate the island that the profligate kings might reward truculent favorites and nobles with estates stolen from families that had held them for a thousand years. Whence our sympathy for the Irish ? We point with pride, as stimulating to us as it is to the civilized world, to Bunker Hill. Do you know that the name of that hill was derived from a little mountain in the north of Ireland ? 1G6 THE STORY OF IRELAND , LETTER FROM COLONEL BRADY. ‘‘A Brave Soldier Who Bore the Green Flag of Ireland in the War for the Republic.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. f Mr. Patrick Ford. My Dear Sir: — The proudest boast I make to my chil- dren is that they are of pure Irish lineage; and when I tell you this, and that during the war for the maintenance of the great American Union I had the honor of serving in “ Meagher’s Irish Brigade;” that for some time I was Ad- jutant General on the staff of that eloquent orator, gallant and brave soldier, noble-hearted Thomas Francis Meagher; that I commanded the 63rd N.Y. Volunteers of the Irish Brigade in the grand review given in honor of the Union Veterans in New York City, July 4th, 1865; that I still keep carefully the Green Flag of Erin presented by the American citizens of New York to my regiment on the bloody battle-field of Fredericksburg a few days after our Irish Brigade’s famous charge upon Mayre’s Heights, Dec. 13th, 1862; need I, can I, say more to assure you^ Mr. Ford, who have labored so hard and done so much for the cause, of my earnest sympathy for the movement to make Ireland a nation ! ” Liberty, truth, and justice have slept too long for the land of my fathers. Sad and weary, long and painful, has been the waiting of the noble and true sons of Ireland for the dawn of the glorious and happy day of freedom. God grant before the end of the present year that our brothers at home may be able to grasp the precious boon and keep it forever is the fervent hope and earnest prayer of one who loves her people and her cause. Very truly yours, Jas. D. Brady, M . C, of Virginia , OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMEPICANS. 167 [A man who admires Thomas Francis Meagher, and who has respect for and believes in the principles of The Irish Worlds will not wish to see the good work cease until he has hailed Ireland a Nation Such a man, we believe, is Colonel Brady.— Ed. I. W.] CONGRESSMAN RYAN AFFIRMS. “ Every True American Heart is in Sympathy With Ireland.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ] Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World, My Dear Sir: — You say you would be pleased to have an expression of sympathy from me for Ireland. Do you •know that every true American heart is in full sympathy with Ireland ? Think you there lives a man, of whatsoever race or clime, with heart and mind enough to hate oppres- sion, whose soul is not breathing a fervent hope for Ireland's freedom ? Liberty throughout the world bears the impress of her sons. In nearly every country on the earth their great achievements in war and in peace, in arts and science, in politics and pulpit, in law and literature, are acknowledged with admiration, but in their own unhappy Ireland they are the debased slaves of a wicked power, bent upon a policy of oppression as unwise as it is cruel. Very truly yours, Thos. Ryan. M, C, of Kansas. J. B. WAKEFIELD. ‘‘ Yours for Ireland’s Deliverance.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir: — In response to your letter I take pleasure in assuring you and through you the thousands of Irishmen who read The Irish World that the heroic struggle of your 168 THE STORY OF IRELAND. race for independence, under the leadership of the patriotic and able Parnell, has long enlisted my warmest sympa- thies. If a nation crushed to the earth by a heartless and brutal despotism has ever earned, by fortitude and patience and loyalty to birthland, the- right to that precious boon which is the aspiration of all intelligent patriotism, then surely has that fairest flower of the earth ” richly merited the fullest realization of her hopes. Through many years of discouragement and darkness her noble army of martyrs were sustained and comforted by their prophetic confidence in the ultimate triumph of justice and the right. Her orators and scholars, her statesmen and poets, gave freely of their best thoughts to the great cause they loved. At last they see before them the clouds and the pillar of fire that by day and night guide them through the wilderness to the goal of their earnest longings. Ireland and Irishmen command the sympathy and ad- miration of all peoples who love liberty and hate oppres- sion. The dawn approaches. Let us hope, as we are now justified in hoping, that ere long we may be permitted to behold a new and glorious nation, standing erect with free and uplifted head crowned with the laurels of victory, and under her feet a lion bound.” Very truly yours for Ireland's deliverance, J. B. Wakefield, M. C, of Minnesota. [The figure here sketched of Erin “standing erect with free and uplifted head, crowned with the laurels of victory, and under her feet a lion bound,” conceived as it is in a prophetic mood, is pleasing to gaze upon. It would not be a bad siil)ject for a cartoon in The Irish World. Mr. Wake- field evidently is not anxious to pass himself off for one of those “ Americans ” who are “loyal to England.” — Ed. I. W.J OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 169 CONGRESSMAN COLE. Ireland a Nation the Dream of My Youth and the Aspiration of My Riper Manhood.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford. My Dear Sir: — Your heart-inspiring letter is before me. I feel its truth and force, and I shall be glad for you to enroll my humble name as a friend of the Irish cause. “ Ireland as a Nation was one of the dreams of my youth and became the aspiration of my riper manhood. Though an American citizen I feel as devoted to the cause of the Independence of Ireland as the most devoted of her children. The names of her patriots Emmet, the Sheares brothers, Fitgzerald, and others, who gave their lives that liberty might live, are precious to me. Seated in the Wishing Chair at the Giant's Causeway I uttered to Heaven the wish that Ireland might soon be free. In the visitor’s book at the hotel in Queenstown I wrote the day I left Ireland, “ God Save Ireland but when I saw in that beautiful and fertile island the misery, famine, and pestilence caused by English misrule I determined that as long as I lived I would do all in my power to assist that unhappy people to- wards the attainment of that liberty and independence which is their birthright. Since then I have kept my word, and I have striven to the extent of my poor ability to serve this sacred cause. I have served as secretary of the State Council of the Land League in Maryland with all my ability until a recent date, and I now have the honor of being President of the East Baltimore Branch, I. N. L. I am also a member of St. Peter’s and Old Town branches in Balti- more. I have also been a delegate to every National Con- vention but one. I am delegate elect to the next Conven- tion, and have been appointed by the Land League in Mary- 170 THE STORY OF IRE LA HI). land to escort Mr. Parnell to Chicago. I feel this as a proud distinction. It is often charged that gentlemen in politics unite them- selves to such movements to advance their own interests. This may be true in many cases, but I do not feel any self- reproach of this kind. The cause of Irish liberty is a sacred one to me, and for what I have tried to do I ask for no man’s approval and care for no man’s disapproval. On that great Day of final judgment I will stand before my un- erring Judge and offer up what little I have been able to do for Ireland with confident reliance of some atonement for the evils and shortcomings of my life. No one has felt more gratification than myself at the on- ward course towards the goal of all our hopes made by Par- nell and his earnest followers. I have the honor of being his warm personal friend, and I have felt great pride in his success. His career is the sublimest picture of the nine- teenth century. Unarmed, he has proven himself mightier than the armies and navy of England; uncrowned, he is the acknowledged chieftain of an heroic race, and in the im- perial Parliament his foes themselves admit he has no peer. I join with you and with every other lover of liberty in the acclaim of justice for Ireland. Should opportunity occur in the Congress of the United States I shall not be backward in speaking an humble word in behalf of Ireland. The sentiment of sympathy for Ireland is universal in this great land. You do right in addressing me as a friend of Irish liberty. It is my proudest hope to find my name en- rolled among the humblest of her followers, and it is my constant prayer that the great God of nations, may bless that people with liberty, independence, and happiness. Very truly, W. H. Cole; M. C.^ of Maryland. [There is, as Mr. Cole hints, too much cant and too OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. I7l much uncharitable stricture on the acts of public men. Politicans are like other men — good, bad, and indifferent. Like other men they are actuated by various motives, and the motive that influences each is best known to his own soul. It is our sincere opinion, however, that “ politicians,'' flippantly as they are spoken of as a class, are more patri- otic, more generous, and more spirited than the average business man; and the wealthier the business man is the meaner and more sordid he is found to be, particularly when Ireland appeals for aid. The few honorable exceptions that can be cited only prove the rule. — Ed. I. W.] FRANK LAWLER’S OPINION. “Press Ever Onward Until Ireland Is, in Fact, a Nation.” House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir — As an American who learned the story of Ireland from an Irish father and imbibed a hatred of tryanny, hence a love for Irish song, music, and mirth, Irish nationality and Ireland from an Irish Celtic mother, I would be unworthy of being an American, a renegade to my race, and but a poor subject of this the cradle of liberty if I did not re-echo the demand of him I hope to see Ireland’s Washington, Charles Stewart Parnell, and add my voice to that of the universal Irish race, “ Ireland a nation." Not only do I see Ireland a nation in the near future blessing man, and with her spirit of toleration, hospitality, intelligence, and genius, but when I look down over the checkered panorama of Ireland’s history, steadfast to right, immovable from her determination to have liberty — Irish liberty and no half-way measures — I recognize in her the beacon-light of human liberty that will give to the world that government whose vital principle is expressed in the Golden Rule “ Do unto others as you would have others do 172 THE STORY OF /RE LA HD. unto you/' Let us continue, then, to aid Parnell and all who are enemies of the common foe, Expect not too much. Be ready to take every concession, and press to the front for more, until Ireland is, in fact, a nation. When that glorious day comes the Irish people will have much reason to thank The Irish World for its great aid in this much to-be wished-for boon to mankind. Yours in the cause, Frank Lawler, M. C.y of Illinois, [Mr. Lawler gives good advice to the Irish people. Careful not to dampen the ardor of their enthusiasm, he nevertheless offer this caution and this practical hint: “ Expect not too much; be ready to take every concession; and press to the front for more until Ireland is, in fact, a nation."— Ed. I. W.] FELIX CAMPBELL’S VIEWS. “ The Current for Irish Freedom too Strong to be Stemmed.” House of Representatives, U. S. ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — Here in Washington where the spirit of our institutions is most keenly felt, and where the senti- ment of the whole community may be said to be concen- trated in the persons of chosen representatives, the sym- pathy which goes out to the Irish leader is most general. This, in my judgment, speaks for much. It is not merely a feeling fostered by Irishmen and extended in justice to a worthy and generous race, it is a crystallization of the in- born sentiment in all true Americans which protests against oppression, strikes at tyranny, and stands for independent manhood and the right of a people to govern themselves the world over, whether as against England or the allied powers of the Eastern hemisphere. Certainly the agitation could receive no more loyal or devoted encouragement than OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS, 173 it does among our public men as a body, of whom, I am happy to say, a large proportion trace back their ancestry to the unhappy isle which is now so near deliverance. I think, my dear Sir, you will agree with me in saying that it is hardly necessary to speak for myself. Those who know me will avow that I have always been found anxious to further the cause in any way within my power, cherishing always the abiding conviction that, although long delayed, the nationalization of Ireland would be brought about when an enlightened civilization should have a true appreciation of the merits of the appeal. The current was and is too strong to be stemmed. It may carry with it a great deal more than is now” anticipated. With much respect, I am, my dear Sir, Your obedient servant, Felix Campbell, M, C., oj New York, [Petty concessions of some sort of local self-government, doubtless, will be granted; but no English party will give to Ireland a Parliament adequate to her wants. Of this we are morally certain. But Ireland will have her own again, though she has to reach it by stages. They may delay, but they cannot forever keep back. As Mr. Campbell says, “ the current was and is too strong to be stemmed. It fnay carry with it a great deal more thari is now anticipated ,'" — Ed. I. W.] VICE-PRESIDENT HENDRICKS. His last public utterance was at Indianapolis, Ind., on the 8th of Sept, under the auspices of the Irish National League. Mayor McMaster, Republican, introduced Mr.- Hendricks, and the Vice-President, whom we as a nation mourn to-day, said: Every Irishman here to-night, every Irishman in Amer- ica, is a protest against the governing of Ireland by England. How is it that you are here, having left almost the most 174 THE SrOR Y OF IRELAND. beautiful land in the world ? Perhaps no part of this globe is more attractive than Ireland, and yet you left Ireland. You’re here because you could not get good government in Ireland. Forty-five years ago the population of the ‘ Green Isle ’ was nine millions of people, a large population for a region of country only the size of Indiana. To-day, after the lapse of forty-five years, that population is only five millions, a loss in less than half a century of four millions of people, almost an entire half of the entire popu- lation gone from Ireland. I know the -famine of 1843 much to do with this, but bad government and cruelties by her landlords have done more than famine and pestilence to depopulate the beautiful isle. I would say it was a serious matter when a man or a woman chooses to leave the home that has been the home of ancestors for many cen- turies; and when, on acount of bad government, unjust laws, and a cruel system of tenantry, there has been driven away almost half of the population, the question, ‘ What is to be done ? ’ comes up. It cannot remain always this way. The landlord who draws the rent cannot always enjoy it in Paris and London. He must have part in the fortunes of the people of the country or quit. It cannot always be that the people of Ireland are to be oppressed. I think the day of tyranny in every form is to pass away, and that the day is soon to come when all men will be blessed with good government and just laws. tjc * * * He * “ The mission of the men sent from Ireland to Parliament is to have for Ireland what we Indianians enjoy — to claim the right to make her own laws, simply because we can regulate our own affairs better than any one else can regu- late them for us: so Irishmen on their own soil, for that simple reason, must be the legislators for Ireland. That was the great argument first asserted in this country. “One hundred years have established the fact that self- OPINIONS OP EMINENT AMERICANS, 175 government with respect to local affairs is the true system of government in this world. “ The great trouble in Ireland to-day is the land. Where there is trouble with the lands in, any country the trouble is exceedingly great. Much has been done in Ireland to make better the conditions of the tenant, but the land trouble still exists, and it must be regulated. It must be regulated as we regulate such matters in Indiana — by legis- lators from the soil. No question can arise between land- lord and tenant in Indiana that is not regulated by our Legislature. So Ireland must have local self-government. Who in Indiana would trust to any other State the legis- lation for her schools, the building up of her industries ? So, according to Mr. Parnell, not only the agricultural classes, but the mechanics, the people of the cities and towns, must live, and when Ireland becomes clothed with the right and power of local self-government, these matters will be cared for. This is a doctrine so plainly expressed and so pow.erful in its application to human interests that it will never stop. It will go on. It is not reasonable that in London the relation of the landlord and the tenant in Ire- land shall be fixed. It is against reason and justice that such a practice should permanently prevail. * * * * I think this cause will go further than has been yet men- tioned. It will result in just what we have — a written Con- stitution. Ah, that is what I hope to see, Ireland to be governed by a written Constitution. Will it not be a grand sight when, in the city of Dublin, there will meet a constitu- tional convention to form a constitution for Ireland ? I observe Mr. Parnell favors only one branch, one Parliamen- tary body. He is afraid of a House of Lords, perhaps, but he could have, as we have here, a Senate in its stead, and thus be saved from errors and faults of legislation. I do not know of anything that would give me greater pleasure than to attend that constitutional convention in Dublin. 176 THE STORY OF IRELAND, [Great cheering.] I want to live until that time. Let us come back to the great question which lies at the founda- tion of Government, the question of the right of the people to make their own laws, and that no other power has the right to make laws for them. You remember where we stood one hundred years back. You remember in the De- claration of Independence we asserted the right of men to govern themselves. That is the great foundation idea of America, and is now being applied in Ireland, a cause to which you are to give your sympathy and support — the right of man to govern himself and to abolish laws that are inimical to his welfare. In Hope that principle was as- serted AT Bunker Hill, and in glorious triumph it was PROCLAIMED AT Yorktown.'’ [Great applause.] MAYOR CRAWLEY OF ALEXANDRIA, LA. Mayor’s Office, ) Alexandria, j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir — I unhesitatingly and emphatically say that the heroic efforts now being made by Parnell and his faithful and able coadjutors receive my unqualified endorsement. I am in full sympathy with the present movement, or any other, that will secure, by the employment or through the agency of legitimate means, an improvement or amelioration of the present condition of that oppressed race. Being one of the innumerable host who has sought in the “ Land of Washing- ton ” that liberty and freedom which was denied him in the land of his birth, it is but natural that I should seize the opportunity now afforded me to go on record through the medium of your valuable journal as an uncompromising advocate of liberty for Ireland. Yours respectfully, Thos. Crawley, Mayor, OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 177 HON. U. A. WOODBURY. Mayor's Office, ) Burlington, Vt. ) Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir — I heartily reciprocate the sentiments expressed by you and the Irish World, and assure you that I feel an interest and sympathy for Ireland second only to one whose birthplace is upon the Green Isle. I have witnessed the heroic struggle of Parnell and his compatriots for Ireland's cause, and- the self-sacrificing support of their efforts by the Irish people of all classes and in all climes, with admiration and respect, and my conviction has deepened that such heroic and patriotic labors must ultimately be rewarded by success. Such a struggle for so long a period of time, by a comparatively small people, — though strong in intellect and conviction of the justice of their cause in the sight of heaven and in the eyes of all lovers of Liberty and haters of oppression,— against one of the most powerful nations of the world, and the success thus far accomplished argues a happy issue. Trusting that your efforts, and those of your countrymen, may be crowned with the success they so richly deserve, I remain, yours sincerely, U. A. Woodbury, Mayor of Burlington. MAYOR RICE OF JACKSONVILLE, FLA. Mayor’s Office, ) Jacksonville. [ Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir — Anent the present position of Irish affairs and the claims of the Irish people to justice and Nationhood I heartily join in the “world-wide cheer" of “Ireland a Nation," and as an American I deem it a duty as I esteem it a privilege to reciprocate, at least in part, the services of 12 178 THE STORY OF IRELAND. Irishmen in the upbuilding, upholding and sustaining our Republic. I believe in Ireland’s cause because I believe in Liberty, and so believing, cheerfully give my moral and material aid to the men who are leading the Irish people from their long night of slavery to the noonday light of freedom and pros- perity. M. C. Rice, Mayor of Jacksonville y Fla. MAYOR LONG OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. Mayor’s Office, ) St. Augustine, j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World Dear Sir — The recent statement attributed to Minister Phelps, and said to come from high and unquestionable authority, that American sympathy with Home Rule is con- fined wholly to Irish citizens, is without foundation in fact. Americans without regard to nationality or political dif- ferences, look with deep concern and sympathy upon the heroically wonderful attitude of Ireland to-day. Indeed, the world has never seen its equal. A people robbed of every right for centuries, successfully resisting conquest and extermination. The land of Washington and liberty can- not be otherwise than full of sympathy and encouragement for the struggling Irish in so just a cause. I sincerely hope and trust that advantage will be taken by the friends of Ireland of the present sentiment in England in favor of definitely settling the Irish question, and make all proper concessions to that end. Mr. Gladstone’s Irish land re- form measures and scheme for Home Rule should be con- sidered in a spirit of fairness. Mr. Parnell as a leader has proved himself worthy of the people and the great cause he represents, and may be trusted implicitly. I am sir, with great respect, your obt. svt. John G. Long. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. 179 FROM CONGRESSMAN WAIT. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. My Dear Sir: — I assure you that I warmly sympathise with Ireland, as every true American should, in the struggle which Parnell and his associate patriots are making to secure Home Rule and all the privileges and advantages which must inevitably flow from it. My sincere hopes that success will crown their heroic efforts and freedom and national prosperity be secured to the Irish people. Very truly yours, Jno. T. Wait. FROM CONGRESSMAN LOUTTIT. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir: — Your letter received. The struggle for freedom and independence in which the Irish people are engaged appeals irresistibly to the sympathies of all who appreciate the blessings of the free institutions of the United States. The past century has, under despotic and alien govern- ment, brought the Irish nation to ruin and reduced the Irish people to the verge of despair. The same century, under free government, a government “of the people by the people for the people,'' has made the United States a nation second in wealth, and prosperity and happiness to none on the face of the globe. What wonder American citizens should applaud the valiant yet peaceable battle waged by the Irish for the right of self-government. The result of the recent parliamentary elections in Great Britain would seem to indicate that the day of Ireland's 180 THE STOR^ OF IRELAND. deliverance is at hand. Various attempts will undoubtedly be made by the opponents of home rule to “ compromise the question; but Parnell, with his united following, seems to be complete master of the situation. I cannot one in- stant suppose that Irishmen will now be satisfied with any- thing less than legislative independence. Any scheme that involves the government of Ireland from Westminster, even though the Irish are allowed to elect the people to administer the laws is no less repugnant than would be a proposition for the National Legislature at Wash- ington to make laws for the government of the city of New York. You may rest assured that my warmest sympathies in this struggle rest with Parnell and his supporters, and in saying this I am sure I share the opinion of a vast majority of the citizens of the United States. Jas. a. Louttit, M, C.^ of California. GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA. Executive Department, } Sacramento, Cal. \ Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor T/ie Irish World. Dear Sir: — Your highly esteemed favour is received. Were I an Irishman, I can imagine how, after long centuries of anxious waiting, my heart would leap for joy at the near future prospect of the Irish People becoming an Irish Nation., and that too through peaceful measures, and in accordance with the spirit of the age, which devolves upon all civilized people the right of self-government. What a wonderful man must be your great leader Par- nell. He appears to have been born for and equal to the great and grand occasion. Let him however beware of the blandishments of office. The man “ Parnell will live in History long after Lords and Earls are dead, gone and forgotten. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERICANS. We in California have watched events transpiring in Ireland during the past few months, with the most intense interest and deepest concern. The long-continued, and sometimes apparently hopeless, struggle for liberty, of the Irish Race, has challenged the admiration of the whole civilized world, and the men who are engaged in this great struggle should receive the encouragement of all liberty- loving Patriots. Very truly yours, etc., George Stoneman. CLERK OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE. United States Senate, ) Office of the Chief Clerk, v Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir — I thank you for an invitation to express my sympathy with the Irish cause. I think the Irish people have a real grievance. I think our forefathers had, and their revolution against the mother country was justified by English oppression, and royal parliamentary disregard of their rights. The present peaceful revolution in Ireland which convulses Great Britain must work out some relief. I am glad to witness the dawning of a better day for that member of the United Kingdom which by encroaching legislation has been reduced to a mere colony, and which under the principles of coercion loses even the semblance of a locally organized Community. Ireland, in my opinion, needs self-government, at least so much of self-government as that her commerce and manufactures may be emancipated from the destructive inhibitions of British discrimination, and that her people may have an opportunity to achieve the beneficent results conferred by the ownership of their own soil. Yours very truly, Chas. W. Johnson. THE STORY OF IRELAND. FROM CONGRESSMAN STONE. House of Representatives, ) Washington, D. C. ) Mr. Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir — I bid you Godspeed in your noble effort to aid the Irish people to secure to themselves in their native land the blessings of a “ government of the people for the people by the people of Ireland. Besides being thoroughly imbued with the spirit of liberty and sovereignty of the peo- ple my heart goes out to the dwellers on the Emerald Isle because one line of my ancestry runs back to Ireland, while the other can be followed into the fastnesses of the Scottish chiefs. Thine for the right, W. J. Stone. FROM CONGRESSMAN LINDSLEY. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Editor of The Irish World. Dear Sir — In answer to your request I will say: Ire- land can never enjoy the progressive benefits of a diversified industry while she is chained to the car of English Free Trade. Any privilege of legislation she may acquire, leav- ing out the power to regulate trade and production, would be useless. Her land laws may be onerous and oppressive, and may need revision, but until she can become something more than an agricultural dependency of England their re- vision will be of little avail. I am for restoring Ireland's prosperity, regardless of union or disunion. If it cannot come without disunion let disunion precede it. I am pleased with the position taken by the Irish World in regard to protection. Would that the great mass of Irish Americans could see it in the same light. Hitherto they have not seemed to under- stand this question or give it the benefit of their suffrage. Yours truly, Jas. G. Lindsley, OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMEPICM^S^ ' FROM CONGRESSMAN McCOMAS. House of Representatives, U. S. ) Washington, D. C. ) Patrick Ford, Esq. Dear Sir: — I sincerely sympathize with the Irish people. From Swift, to Grattan, to O’Connell, to Parnell, to an en- during Parliament for Ireland. After a century of self- government an American may plead for self-government for the Land of Burke, who pled for liberty for our own. A people without a country demand their own. I hope the answer now may be an Irish Parliament, with powers of internal government, home legislation, the protection of their own industries. Very truly yours, Louis E. McComas. FROM THE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS. Executive Office, ) Austin, Texas. j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor Irish World. Dear Sir — I have your favor of 24th Jany. The condi- tion of no people has ever called for sympathy with more claim to it than do the people of Ireland to-day. The sterotyped excuse for a refusal to let Ireland go, is that she would not live in peace with her neighbors and especially England. How puerile ? The nation that oppresses her own people is despicable. The nation that makes war on a neighbor may have an excuse. Let her go, and then if she does wrong chastise her, but no excuse can be given for the parent mistreating a member of the family. Were I a native Irishman in Ireland I would fight England with all the means God placed at my command except that of making war on women and children. Yours truly, Jno. Ireland. 184 THE STORY OF IRELAND, FROM CONGRESSMAN COTCHINGS. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. j Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir. — The Irish have my heartiest sympathy in their heroic struggle to rid themselves of foreign domina- tion. No intelligent and high-spirited people, as the Irish are, can, or ought to, submit to such tyranny as that practiced by England. Their patriotic resistance to alien government should command the respect and co-operation of all who love liberty and justice. The landlords and carpet-baggers must go. Yours truly, T. C. COTCHINGS. FROM CONGRESSMAN LEFEVRE. House of Representatives, U. S., ) Washington, D. C. [ Patrick Ford, Editor The Irish World, Dear Sir: — In reply to your letter requesting my views on the situation in Ireland, I beg to say that I am in hearty sympathy with the people of that country in their great struggle for right and liberty, and against tyranny and wrong. Ireland has borne too long already the indignities and op- pressions of a Government having no sympathy with the people, seeking only to advance the wealth and power of the few by the degradation and enslavement of the masses, and should rise up in all the strength and dignity of her might, and hurl from her forever the cold and unfeeling hand of the tyrant. Ireland should be free. The lives of her dead heroes and statesmen speak forth, and call her to action. Let the peoi)le respond. Victory will surely come. OPINIONS OF EMINENT AMERIQiNS, / 185 The day is not far distant when she shall take on' the proud mantle of liberty, and shine forth a brilliant star in the diadem of nations. Very truly yours, Ben. LeFevre. FKOM THE GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA. Executive Office, ) St. Paul, Minn. ) Patrick Ford, Esq., Editor The Irish World. Dear Sir — I assure you that Mr. Parnell and his patrio- tic coadjutors have my most earnest sympathy in their efforts to secure for Ireland and her outraged people a proper recognition from the English government of those rights and humanities which have been denied them so long. Every American who has a proper appreciation of the liberty and protection he himself enjoys under a free govern- ment, must bid Godspeed to a people who are contending like the Irish for delivery from despotism. Yours very truly, L. F. Hubbard. / I'ki- . ' , ;:,ij)lies to tlie subject of coinage and legal GLADSTONE'S GREAT SPEECH, 235 tender, but we do not propose to use the term currency,'’ simply because there is an ambiguity about it. Ireland might think fit to pass a law providing for the extinction of private issues in Ireland, and that no bank notes should be issued in Ireland except under the authority and for the ad- vantage of the State. I own it is my opinion that Ireland would do an extremely sensible thing if she passed such a law. (Hear, hear.) It is my most strong and decided opinion that we ought to have the same law ourselves (cheers), but the block of business has prevented that and many othrer good things towards which I hope we are now going to open the door. I only use that as an illustration to show that I should be very sorry if we were needlessly to limit the free action of the Irish Legislature upon Irish matters. There are other subjects on which I will not dwell. One of them is the subject of weights and measures; an- other is the subject of copyright. These are not matters for discussion at the present moment. There is, however, one other important subject with regard to which we pro- pose to leave it entirely open to the judgment of Ireland — that subject is the Post Office. Our opinion is that it would be for the convenience of both countries if the Post Office were to remain under the control of the Postmaster-General. The Post Office requires an army of servants, and I think that Ireland might not wish to see all the regulations con- nected with that unarmed army left to an English authority. We have, therefore, placed the Post Office in the Bill under circumstances which would enable the legislative body in Ireland to claim for itself authority on this subject if it should see fit. There are some other matters, such as the census, the quarantine laws, and one or two others which stand in the same category. Now I believe I have given a sufficient description of the exceptions from the legislative action of the proposed Irish legislative body. I have dealt with the powers of the legislative body. I come next to TJIE STOR y OF IRELAND. 23 () the composition of the legislative body. We propose to provide for it as follows. I have referred to the protection of minorities. We might constitute a legislative body in Ireland by a very brief enactment if we were to say that the 103 members now representing Ireland, and 103 more mem- bers, perhaps elected by the same constituencies, should constitute the one and only House in Ireland without the introduction of what I may call the dual element. But, Sir, we are of opinion that if a proposition of that kind were made, in the first place it would be stated that it did not afford legitimate protection for minorities. And in the sec- ond place it might be thought by many of those who would be less sensitive on the subject of minorities that some greater provision was required for stability and consistency in the conduct of the complex work of legislation than could possi- bly be supplied by a single set of men elected under an absolutely single influence. Upon that account. Sir, we propose to introduce into this legislative body what we have termed two orders. These orders would sit and deliberate together. There would be a power on the demand of either order for separate voting. The effect of that separate voting would be that while the veto was in force, while it sufficed to bar the enactment of a Bill, there would be an absolute veto of one order upon the other. Such veto, in our view, might be salutary and useful for the purpose of insuring deliberation and consistency with adequate considertaion in the business of making laws. But it ought not to be per- petual. If it were perpetual a block would arise, as it might arise conceivably, and as really, we may almost say, we have seen it arise in certain cases in the colonies, particularly in one where there were two perfectly independent orders. What we therefore propose is that this veto can only be operative for a limited time, say until a dissolution, or for a period of three years, whichever might be the longer of the two. So much. Sir, for the relation of these two orders, GLADSTONE'S GEE AT SPEECH, 237 the one to the other. I may observe that that distinction of orders would be available and is almost necessary with a view to maintaining the only form of control over the judi- cial body known to us in this country — viz., the concurrence of two authorities chosen under somewhat different influ- ences in one common conclusion with regard to the pro- priety of removing a Judge from his office. Now, Sir, I will just describe very briefly the composition of these orders. It may not have occurred to many gentlemen that some day or other, if we succeed in the path we are now opening with respect to the 28 distinguished individuals who now occupy the place of representative peers of Ireland, it is not possi- ble, we think, for them to continue to hold their places in the House of Lords after the Irish representatives have been removed from attending the House of Commons. (Hear, hear.) I do not say that the precedent is an exact one, but the House may remember that in the case of the disestablishment of the Irish Church we did disable the bishops who were entitled to sit for life from continuing — I mean disabled them personally from continuing — to sit in the House of Lords after the disestablishment of the Irish Church. We do not wish. Sir, to entail this personal disa- bility. We propose that these 28 peers shall have the option of sitting, if they think fit, as a portion of the first order in the Irish legislative assembly. (Opposition laughter.) And that they shall have the power — that they shall personally have the power — of sitting there as they sit in the House of Lords for life. There may. Sir, be those who thmk this option will not be largely used. (Laughter.) I am not one of that number. (Home Rule cheers.) I believe that the Irish peers have an Irish as well as an Imperial patriotism. In the 1 8th century Irish peers were not ashamed of the part they played in the Irish Parliament. (Home Rule cheers.) It was, I think, the Duke of Leinster who moved the Address in the House of Lords, which he carried, ex- 238 THE STORY OF IRELAND, pressing the confidence of that House in Lord Fitzwilliam. I may be too sanguine (Home Rule cheers), but I say boldly that if this measure pass under happy circumstances, especially if it pass without political exasperation, one of its effects will be a great revival of the local as well as a great confirmation and extension of Imperial patriotism. At any rate it is our duty, I think, to provide that the Irish peers, the 28 representative Irish peers, may form part of the Irish legislative body. There will be no disability entailed upon any Irish peer from being at once a member of the Irish legislative body and likewise of the House of Lords. In the last century many distinguished men sat in both, and in the circumstances we certainly see no cause for putting an end to the double qualification which was thus enjoyed, and which, I think, worked beneficially. There is a diffi- culty, however, to which I will just advert for one moment in combining the connection or place of these 28 peers who are to sit for life with the rest of the first order of the Chamber. We propose as to the remainder of the first order that it shall consist of 75 members to be elected by the Irish people under conditions which we propose to specify in the schedules to the Act, not yet filled up as to its details. But I mention at once the two provisions which would apply to the election of 75 members. First of all, the constituency would be a constituency composed of persons occupying to the value of ^^25 and upwards, and secondly, they would be elected for a period, as a general rule, of ten years, with a little exception I need not now refer to. Thirdly they will be elected subject to a property qualification of realty to the extent of ^£200 a year, or of personalty to the extent of ;^2oo a year, or a capital value of ;3^4 ,ooo. The peers would ultimiitely be replaced by 28 members, elected under the same conditions, and we can- not ensure that all these 28 peers shall die at the same time. (Laughter) It would be extremely difficult to devise an GLADSTONE'S GEE AT SPEECH. 239 electoral machinery for the purpose of supplying their places by election. We therefore propose to grant to the Crown power, limited to a term which we think may fairly well exhaust the present generation, of filling their places by nomination, not for life, but down to the date to be fixed by the Act. After the system had ceased to operate and the representative peers had ceased to be in that first order, the first order of the legislative body would be elected entirely upon the basis I have described. With regard to the second order, its composition would be simple. Of course, it would be proposed to the 103 gentlemen who now represent Ireland in this House from county districts, from citizen towns, and from the University of Dublin, that they should take their places in the Irish Legislative Chamber in Dublin. (Home Rule cheers and laughter.) We should propose as nearly as possible to duplicate that body. Another loi members, not 103, we propose should be elected by the county districts and the citizen towns in ex- actly the same manner as that in which the present 10 1 mem- bers for counties and towns have been elected. We shall also propose that in the event of any refusal to sit, refusals to ac- cept the option given, the place shall be filled up by election under the machinery now existing. I ought to say a word about Dublin University. We do not propose to interfere by any action of ours with the existing arrangements of Dublin University in one way or another. But certainly we could not ask the House to adopt a plan at our suggestion which would double the representation of Dublin University. We propose to leave it as it is, but at the same time to empower the legislative body, if it should think fit, to appoint a cor- responding representation of two members in favor of the Royal University. There would be no compulsion to ex- ercise that power, but it would be left to the discretion of the legislative body. The effect of that would be to give to the first order of the proposed Legislative Chamber or 240 THE STORY OF IRELAND. body a number making 103; to give to the second order the number of 206 at the outside, or 204 if the power of the Royal University were not exercised, and to leave the rela- tions of the two orders upon the footing which I have de- scribed. I must now say a few words upon the subject of the Executive, and what we think most requisite with re- gard to the Executive is that our Act should be as elastic as possible. It is quite evident that though the legislative transition can be made, and ought to be made, per saltum., by a single stroke, the Executive transition must necessarily be gradual. (Hear, hear.) We propose, therefore. Sir, to leave everything as it is until it is altered in the regular course; so that there shall be no breach of continuity in the government of the coun- try, but that by degrees, as may be arranged by persons whom we feel convinced will meet together in a spirit of co-operation, and will find no great, much less insurmount- able difficulty in their way, that by degrees the old state of things be adjusted to the new. On the one hand, the representatives will remain on the ground; on the other hand, the principle of responsible government is freely and fully conceded. (“ Hear, hear from the Home Rule mem- bers.) That principle of responsible government will work itself out in every necessary detail. It has often, Sir, been proposed to abolish the Viceroyalty, and some gentlemen have even been sanguine enough to believe that to abolish the Viceroyalty was to solve the Irish question. (Laughter.) I must say that I think that that involves a faculty of belief far beyond any power either of the understanding or im- agination to which I have ever been able to aspire. (Renewed laughter.) We propose to leave the Viceroyalty without interference by the Act, except in the particulars which I am about to name. The office of the Viceroyalty will only be altered by statute. He would not be the representative of a pnrty. (Home Rule cheers) He would not quit office GLADSTONE'S GREAT SPEECH. 241 with the outgoing 'Government. He would have round him, as he has now, in a certain form, a Privy Council, to aid and to advise him. Within that Privy Council the executive body would form itself under the action of the principal responsible Government for the purpose of ad- ministering the various offices of the state. The Queen would be empowered to delegate to him in case his office should be permanently continued — which I am far from believing to be unlikely — any of the prerogatives which she now enjoys or which she would exercise under this Act, and finally, we have not forgotten that this office almost alone is still affected by one solitary outstanding religious disability — a kind of Lot’s wife, when everything else has been destroyed — and that religious disability we propose by our Bill to remove. (Cheers.) The next point is with regard to the Judges of the superior Courts, and here I draw a partial distinction between the present and the future Judges. As regards the Judges of the superior Courts now holding office, we desire to secure to them their position and their emoluments in the same absolute form as that in which they now exist. Although they would become chargeable upon the Consolidated Fund of Ireland, which we propose to constitute by the Act, still they would retain their lien — so to call it — on the Consolidated Fund of Great Britain. Under the peculiar circumstances of Ireland, we cannot forget that some of these Judges, by no fault of their own, have been placed in relation more or less uneasy with popular influences, and with what under the new Constitution will in all probability be the dominating influence in that coun- try. (Hear, hear) We cannot overlook the peculiarities of Irish history in framing the provisions of this Bill, and we therefore propose, both with regard to the Judges now holding office and with regard to the persons who in what they deemed loyal service to the Empire have been con- cerned in the administration and conduct of the criminal i6 242 THE STORY OF IRELAND, law in Ireland, that Her Majesty may, not lightly or whole- sale, but if she should see cause on any particular occasion, by order in Council antedate the pensions of these particu- lar persons. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the future Judges we hold the matter to be more simple. We propose to provide that they should hold office during good behavior, that their salaries — these are the superior Judges alone — should be charged on the Irish Consolidated Fund, that they shall be removable only on a joint address from the two orders of the legislative body, and that they should be appointed under the influ- ence, as a general rule, of the responsible Irish Government. (“ Hear, hear,” from the Home Rule members.) There is an exception which we propose to make in regard to the Court of Exchequer, which is a Court of Revenue Pleas. I will not enter into any details now, but the enormous finan- cial relations which will subsist between Great Britain and Ireland if our measure be carried, made us feel, for reasons which I shall perhaps on another occasion more fully ex- plain, that it is necessary for us to keep a certain amount of hold on the Court of Exchequer, or, at least, on two of its members; but the general rule of our measure will be that the action of the Judges will pass under the new Irish Executive, and will rest with them, just as it rested with the old Irish Executive. I must now say a few words on the important subject of the Irish Constabulary. (Hear, hear.) The substance of those words really amounts to this — that I think there remains much for consideration in order to devise the details of a good and prudent system; but we think it our first duty to give a distinct assurance to the present members of that distinguished and admirable force that their condition will not be put to prejudice by this Act, either in respect of their terms of office, of service, or with regard to the authority under which they are em- ployed. "I'he case of the Hiiblin police is not quite the GLADSTONE'S GREAl^ SPEECH, 243 same, but we propose the same conditions with regard to the Dublin police^ as far, at least, as the terms of service are concerned. With regard to the local police I will say nothing, because I do not want at present to anticipate what may be matter hereafter for free consideration or discussion, or for the action of the Irish legislative body. There will be no breach of continuity in the administration* with regard to the police. One thing I cannot omit to say. The constabu- lary, as I have said, is an admirable force, and I do not in- tend to qualify in the smallest degree what I have already said; but the constabulary on its present footing exhibits one of the most remarkable instances of waste of treasure and of enormous expense, not with good results, but with unhappy results (Home Rule cheers), with which and under which the civil government and the general government of Ireland have hitherto been carried on. The total charge of the constabulary amounts to a million and a half, including the Dublin police. Now, Ireland is a cheaper country than England, and if the service were founded on the same principle and organized in the same manner, it ought, per thousand of the population, to be cheaper in Ireland than in England, assuming Ireland to be in a normal condition; and our object is to bring it into normal condition. (Home Rule cheers.) Now the House will perhaps be sur- prised when I tell them this. The present constabulary of Ireland cost £1,500,000 a year, every penny of it now paid out of the British Exchequer. If the police of Ireland were organized upon the same principles and on the same terms as the police in England, instead of costing £1,500,000, it would cost £600,000 a year. That will convey to the House an idea, first, of the enormous charge at which we have been governing Ireland under our present system; and, secondly, of the vast field for judicious reductions which the system I am now proposing ought to offer to the 244 THE STOR y OF IRELAND, Irish people. (Home Rule cheers.) I anticipate a vast reduction, both in the force and in the expenditure. The charge is now a million and a half. We propose that the Consolidated Fund of Great Britain — this subject I shall revert to in the financial statement which I shall have to put before the House — shall for a time relieve the Irish legislative body of all expenditure in excess of a million. I am bound to say that I do not look upon a million as the proper charge to be imposed on Ireland. I am perfectly convinced, however, that the charge will be reduced to a much smaller sum, of which Ireland, of course, will reap the benefit. After two years the legislative body may fix the charge for the whole police and for the constabulary of Ireland, with a saving of existing rights. One thing I must say. We have no desire to exempt the police of Ireland in its final form from the ultimate control of the legislative body. (Home Rule cheers.) We have no jealousies on the subject; and I own I have a strong personal opinion that when once the recollection of the old antipathies has been effectually abated, the care of providing for the ordinary security of life and property of the citizens will be regarded as the very first duty of any good local Government. (Home Rule cheers.) Speaking of the Civil Service generally (The Chan- cellor of the Exchequer here whispered something to the right hon. gentleman.) I thought it would be understood from what I have stated that the constabulary would remain under the present terms of service and under the present authority, although I do not say that this is to be so for ever. Assuming control over the charge, that control will be prospective and will not import any injury to existing rights. With respect to the Civil Service, of course the future Civil Service of the country generally will be ab- solutely under the legislative body. With respect to the present Civil Service, their case was exactly analogous either GLADSTONE'S GREAT SPEECH, 245 to the constabulary or the judicial offices, and yet it is a great transition, and moreover it will without doubt be the desire of the legislative body of Ireland forthwith, or very early, to effect a great economy in the establishment. (Hear, hear.) We have, therefore, considered to some extent in what way we can at once provide what is just for the civil servants of Ireland, and at the same time set free the hands of the legislative body to proceed in this salutary work of economy and retrenchment. (Hear, hear.) Our opinion is that, upon the whole, it will be wise in the joint interests of both to authorize the civil servants now serving to claim the gratuity or pension which would be due to them upon the abolition of their offices, provided they shall serve not less than two years to prevent an inconvenient lapse in the practical business of the country, and at the close of those two years both parties would be free to negotiate afresh, the civil servants not being bound to remain and the legislative body not being in any way bound to continue to employ them. (Hear, hear.) That is all I have to say upon the subject of the new Irish Constitution. I am afraid I have still many subjects on which I have some details to show, and I fear I have detained the House. (Loud cheers.) I have now. Sir, to give a practical exposi- tion of the phrase which I have used that we looked upon it as on essential condition of our plan that there should be an equitable distribution of Imperial charges. The mean- ing of that is. What proportion shall Ireland pay ? I must remind gentlemen before I enter upon the next explanation that the proportion to be paid is not the only thing to be considered; you have to consider the basis upon which that proportionate payment is to be applied. Looking upon the proportionate payment we now stand thus. At the time of the Union it was intended that Ireland should pay 2-i7ths. or in the relation of i to 7^ out of the total charge of the United Kingdom. The actual true 246 THE STORY OF IRELAND. payment now made by the Irish taxpayer — and then there is an important statement I have to make — the actual and true payment now made by the Irish taxpayer is not i to 7^, but something under i to 12, or about i to ii^ — that is the total expenditure. The proposal I make is that the proportion chargeable to Ireland shall be i to 14, or i-i5th (a Home Rule Member. — Too much), but that will not be understood until I come to join it with other particulars. I will look, however, Sir, a little to the question what are the best tests of capacity to pay. Many of these tests have been suggested — one of them is the income-tax, which I conceive to be a very imperfect indication. (Hear, hear.) The income-tax, I believe, would give a proportion not of I to 14, but of I to 19. This is to be borne in mind if you have regard to the income-tax, that while, on the one hand, it is paid in Ireland upon a lower valuation than in England or in Scotland — because, as we all know, in England Schedule A is levied on the full rent — it is also unquestionable that many Irishmen also hold securities upon which dividends are received in London and pay the tax I hope (laughter) before the dividends come into the hands of the persons en- titled to them. Therefore it is almost a certainty that a considerable sum ought to be added to the Irish income-tax, which would raise it from the proportion of i to 19 to per- haps I to 17. But there are two other tests which I consider far superior to the income tax. One is the test afforded us by the death duties, not by the amount levied, because the amounts levied vary capriciously according to the consanguinity scale, but by the property passing under the death duties. The amount of property on which on an average of three years the death duties fell was in Great Britain £170,000,000, and for Ireland £12,908,000, or i to 13. I have taken three years, because they represent the period since we entered upon a somewhat new administration of the death duties — GLADSTONE'S GREAT SPEECH, 247 by far the best basis of comparison. It is when we come to the valuation, inasmuch as Ireland is valued much lower in proportion to the real value than England and Scotland — it is here that the valuation in the latest year for which we have returns is in Great Britain £166,000,000, and for Ireland £13,833,000, giving a proportion of i to 12, or i-i3th. Under these circumstances, what ought we to do? In my opinion we ought to make for Ireland an equitable arrangement, and I think that when you propose to assume the proportion of i-iqth, it will be seen that that is an equi- table or even generous arrangement, after I have mentioned three considerations. The first of these considerations is that if we start an Irish legislative body, we must start it with some balance to its credit. (Home Rule cheers and laughter). But if we are to start it with a balance to its credit, I know of no way except the solitary £20,000 a year which still remains to be worked out of the Church surplus (laughter), after all demands made upon it. I know of no way of honestly manufacturing that balance except by carv- ing it out of the Budget for the coming year, and providing for the sum at the expense, as it will then be, not of the Irish Exchequer exclusively, but at the expense of the British and Scotch taxpayers. (Home Rule cheers.) That is one consideration; the second consideration is this. I take this i to 14 or i-i5th for the purpose of ascertaining what share Ireland is to pay to the Imperial expenditure. But when I said that Ireland now pays i to ii^or i to 12-J- of the Imperial expenditure, I meant the amount of the whole gross Imperial expenditure; and when I say that we shall ask her to pay i-i5th of the Imperial expenditure in the future, that is an Imperial expenditure materially cut down. For, upon consideration, it has been thought right in computing the military expenditure to exclude from it altogether what ought strictly to be called war charges. We do not propose to assume, in fixing the future Imperial 248 THE STORY OF IRELAND. contribution of Ireland, to base that calculation on the sup- position of her sharing in charges analogous, for example, to the vote of credit for ii millions last year. Therefore, this proportion of i-i5th is to be applied to a scale of Imperial expenditure materially reduced. But, Sir, there is another consideration which I think it right to mention. It is this — that this Imperial contribu- tion would be paid by Ireland out of a fund composed in the first instance of the entire receipts paid into the Irish Exchequer; but that. Sir, is not a true test of the amount of taxation paid by Ireland. There are goods which pay duty in England, and which are exported, duty paid, to Ireland, which are consumed in Ireland, and upon which, therefore, the duty is really paid by Irishmen, while the receipts go into the Imperial Exchequer. But there is not only a corresponding movement the other way, but there is a movement very much larger and more important. More than one million of duty, I think £1,030,000, is paid upon spirits in Ireland that are exported to Great Britain. Every shilling of that duty is really paid by the Englishman and the Scotchman; but at the same time the whole receipts go into the Irish Exchequer. The same thing holds with respect to the porter brewed in Ireland. The same thing holds with regard to the very considerable manufacture of tobacco carried on in Ireland. We have made it the object of our J)est efforts to ascertain how much money Ireland loses to England by the process which I have described — and which I have no doubt is accurately understood by all members of the House — how much money Ireland loses to Great Britain by the flow of duty-paid commodities from Great Britain to Ireland; and how much Great Britain loses to Ireland from the flow of such commodities from Ireland to Great 1 Britain. The result of this investigation is — I state it with confid- ence, not actually as if it were to be demonstrated in every GLADSTONE' S GREAT SPEECH, 249 point by Parliamentary returns, but I state it as a matter of certainty with regard to a far greater portion of the sum and as a matter certainly subject to very little doubt — that the Irish receipt gains from Great Britain by the process I have described more than Great Britain gains from Ireland, and more to no less an amount than ^^1^400,000, paid by the British taxpayer and forming part of the Irish receipts. If you maintain the fiscal unity of the Empire, if you do not erect — which I trust you will not erect — Custom-houses between Great Britain and Ireland (cheers), if you let things take their natural course according to the ordinary and natu- ral movement of trade, ;^i,4oo,ooo will be paid to the benefit of Ireland as a charge upon the English and Scotch taxpayer, and will form a portion of the fund out of which Ireland will defray the Imperial contribution which we propose to levy upon her. If this amount of Imperial contribution to be paid by Ireland, which I have described as one-four- teenth, comes to be reduced by subtracting this sum of ;^i,4oo,ooo, the portion which Ireland will have to pay will be, not one-fourteenth, but a fraction under one twenty-sixth. That is a very great change. It is a benefit she gets, not only in the state of the law, but owing to the course of trade. We cannot take it away without breaking up the present absolute freedom between the two countries. I hope this will be borne in mind by those who think this charge of one-fourteenth is a heavy charge to be thrown upon Ireland; and by those who think, as I certainly do, that in a case of this kind after all that has occurred when two countries are very strong and very rich compared with a third of far more restricted means, the pecuniary arrange- ment ought to be equitable and even bountiful in some moderate degree. It will be interesting to the House to know what payment per capita the plan I have described will allot to the Irishmen and to the Briton respectively — I use the word “ Briton because I know that it will gratify my 250 THE STORY OF IRELAND, friends from Scotland. (Laughter.) The incidence of this plan per capita I will state as follows: In the first place, if I were to take the present contribution of Ireland to the entire expenditure of the country according to the receipts into the two Exchequers, the inhabitant in Great Britain pays J[^2 los. per capita and the inhabitant in Ireland 13s. yd. That is obviously and inequitably high for Ireland. (Home Rule cheers.) But if I take the real pay- ment of the Irish taxpayer and compare that with the real payment of the English taxpayer, it will follow that the English payment is ^2 los. iid., as against ;^i. 7s. lod. of Ireland, which is certainly a more equitable proportion. (Hear, hear.) Now I pass to the basis of one-fourteenth or one-fifteenth. This is not founded upon the total expenditure of the country, but upon what we are about to reckon as Imperial expendi- ture, and the respective contribution per capita will be for Great Britain los. iid., and for Ireland 13s. 5d., and I do not think that that is an inequitable arrangement. I wish to show exactly what alterations we propose to make. Under the proportion now proposed Ireland will pay 13s. 5d., while, if the present proportion were maintained, she would pay i6s. lod., which will be a very considerable diminution in the amount of her contribution per capita. I will state only one other striking fact with regard to the Irish ex- penditure. The House would like to know what an amount has been going on — and which at this moment is going on — of what I must call not only a waste of public money but a demoralizing waste of public money, demoralizing in its influence upon both countries. (Cheers.) The civil charges per capita at this moment are in Great Britain 8s. 2d. and in Ireland i6s. They have increased in Ireland in the last 15 years by 653 per cent., and my belief is that if the present legislative and administrative systems be maintained you must make up your minds to a continued never-ending GLADSTONE'S GREA T SPEECH. 251 and never-to-be-limited augmentation. The amount of the Irish contribution upon the basis I have described would be as follows: — One-fifteenth of the annual debt charge of ;^22, 000,000 would be ;;^i, 466,000, one-fifteenth of the Army and Navy charge, after excluding what we call war votes, and also excluding the charges for Volunteers and Yeomanry, would be ;^i,666,ooo, and the amount of the civil charges, which are properly considered Imperial, would entail upon Ireland 10,000, or a total charge properly Imperial of ;^3,242,ooo. I am now ready to present what I may call an Irish Bud- get (laughter), a debtor and creditor account of the Irish Exchequer. The customs produced in Ireland a gross sum of 880, 000, the excise ;^4,3oo,ooo, the stamps ;^6oo,ooo, the income-tax ;^SSo,ooo and non-taxed revenue including the Post Office, 020, 000. And, perhaps, here again I ought to mention as an instance of the de- moralizing waste which now attends the Irish administration, that which will perhaps surprise the House to know — namely, that while in England and Scotland we levy from the Post Office and Telegraph systems a large surplus income, in Ireland the Post Office and the Telegraph, just pay their expenses, or leave a surplus so small as not to be worth mentioning. I call that a very demoralizing way of spend- ing money. (Cheers.) Although I believe that there is no purer department in the country than the Post Office, yet the practical effect of our method of administering the Irish Post Office by influences known to be English and not Irish leads to a vast amount of unnecessary expenditure. The total receipts of the Irish Exchequer are thus shown to amount to ^2^8, 35 0,000, and against that I have to place an Imperial contribution which I may call permanent, because it will last for a great number of years, of ;^3, 242,000. I put down ;;^i,ooo,ooo for the constabulary, because that would be a first charge, although I hope that 252 THE STORY OF IRELAND, it will soon come under very effective reduction. I put down ^2,510,000 for the other civil charges in Ireland, and there, again, I have not the smallest doubt that charge will likewise be very effectually reduced by an Irish Government. Finally, the collection of revenue is ^834,000 making a total charge thus far of ^1,786,000. Then we have thought it essential to include in this arrangement, not only for our own sakes, but for the sake of Ireland also, a payment on account of the Sinking Fund against the Irish portion of the National Debt. The Sinking Fund is now paid for the whole National Debt. We have now got to allot a certain portion of that debt to Ireland. We think it necessary to maintain that Sinking Fund, and especially for the interest of Ireland. When Ireland gets the manage- ment of her own affairs, I venture to prophecy that she will want, for useful purposes, to borrow money. Hear, hear,’’ and laughter.) But the difficulty of that operation will be enormously higher or lower according to the condi- tion of her public credit. (Hear, hear.) Her public credit is not yet born. It has yet to lie like an infant in the cradle and it may require a good deal of nursing (laughter), but no nursing would be effectual unless it were plain and palpa- ble to the eye of the whole world that Ireland had provision in actual working order for discharging her old obligations, so as to make it safe for her to contract new obligations. (Hear, hear.) I therefore put down three-quarters of a million for sinking fund. That makes the total charge ;i^7, 946,000, against a total income of ;^8,35o,ooo, or a surplus of ;^404,ooo. The House has heard me with astonishing patience (loud and continued cheers) while I have endeavoured to perform what I knew must prove an almost interminable task. There is only one subject more on which I feel it still necessary to detain the House. It is commonly said in England and Scotland — and in the main it is, I think, truly said — that GLADSTONE'S GREA T SPEECH, 253 we have for a great number of years been struggling to pass good laws for Ireland. We have sacrificed our time, we have neglected our own business, we have advanced our money, which I do not think at all a great favor conferred on her, and all this in the endeavour to give Ireland good laws. That is quite true in regard to the general course of legislation since 1869. But many of those laws have been passed under influences which I can hardly describe otherwise than as influences of fear. (Hear, hear.) Some of our laws have been passed in a spirit of grudging and of jealousy. It is most painful for me to consider that after four or five years of Parliamentary battle, when a Municipal Corporation Act was passed for Ireland it was a very differ- ent measure to that which in England and Scotland created complete and absolute municipal life. (Hear, hear.) Were I to come to the history of the land question I could tell a still sadder tale. (Hear, hear.) Let no man assume that he fully knows that history until he has followed it from year to year, beginning with the Devon Commission or with the efforts of Mr. Sherman Crawford, the appointment of which Commission adds, in my opinion, higher honor to the memory of Sir Robert Peel. Then notice the mode in which the whole labours of that Commission were frustrated by the domination of selfish interests in the British Parlia- ment. (Hear, hear.) Our first effort at land legislation was delayed until so late a period as the year 1870. I take this opportunity of remarking that sound views on the land question were not always confined to Irish members nor to the Liberal side of this House. The late Mr. Napier, who became Lord Chancellor of Ireland, when he sat in this House for the academical constituency of Dublin, developed with greater earnestness tru(y liberal view5 on the subject of Irish land, and made generous efforts in that direction (hear, hear) — efforts which were, however, in- tercepted. But, Sir, I do not deny the general good inten- 254 THE STORY OF IRELAND. dons of Parliament on a variety of great and conspicuous occasions, and its desire to pass good laws for Ireland. But let me say that in order to work out the purposes of govern- ment there is something more in this world occasionally required than even the passing of good laws. (Hear, hear.) It is sometimes requisite not only that good laws should be passed, but also that they should be passed by the proper persons. (Hear, hear). The passing of many good laws is not enough in cases where the strong permanent instincts of the people, their distinctive marks of character, the situa- tion and character of the country require not only that these laws should be good, but that they should proceed from a congenial and native source, and besides being good laws should be their own laws. (Loud Home Rule cheers.) In former times it might have been doubted, I have my- self doubted whether this instinct had been thus developed in Ireland. If such doubts could be entertained before the last general election they cannot now. (Hear, hear.) The principle that I am laying down I am not laying down ex- ceptionally for Ireland. It is the very principle upon which, within my recollection, to the immense advantage of the country, we have not only altered but revolutionized our method of governing the colonies. (Hear, hear). I had the honour to hold office in the Colonial Department — perhaps I ought to be ashamed to confess it — 51 years ago. (Cheers.) At that time the colonies were governed from Downing- street. It is true that some of them had legislative assem- blies, but with these we were always in conflict. We were always fed with information by what was termed the British party in these colonies. (Home Rule cheers.) A clique of gentlemen constituted themselves the British party; and the non -British party, which was sometimes called the “dis- loyal party" was composed of the enormous majority of the population. (Home Rule cheers.) We had conflicts GLADSTONE'S GREAT SPEECH, 255 and debates All that has changed. (Hear, hear.) England tried to pass good laws for the colonies at that period, but the colonies said, ‘‘We do not want your good laws; we want our own.’' (Cheers.) We admitted the reasonableness of that principle, and it is now coming home to us from across the seas. We have to consider whether it is applicable to the case of Ireland. Do not let us disguise this from ourselves. We stand face to face with what is termed Irish nationality. (Home Rule cheers.) Irish nationality puts in a demand for separate and com- plete self-government in Ireland and not in Imperial affairs. Is this an evil in itself? Is it a thing that we should view with horror or apprehension ? Is it a thing which we ought to reject or accept, or ought we to wait until some painful and sad necessity is incumbent upon the country, like the necessity of 1780 or the necessity of 1793 ? Sir, I hold that it is not. (Cheers.) There is a saying of Mr. Grattan’s, who was indeed a fiery and fervid orator, but he was more than that, he was a statesman (Home Rule cheers) — his aphor- isms are in my opinion weighty, and even profound, and I commend them to the careful reflection and examination of the country — when he was deprecating the surrender of the Irish Parliament and pointing out that its existence did not prevent the perfect union of the two countries, he re- marked, “The Channel is your union, the ocean forbids separation.” (Cheers.) Is that channel nothing? Do what you will, can you make that channel to cease to exist, or as if it were not ? What influence have these few 60 miles of channel exercised upon the whole history, the whole development, and the whole national character? These, Sir, are great facts. I hold that there is such a thing as local patriotism, which in itself is not bad, but good. (Hear, hear) The Welshman is full of local patriotism — the Scotchman is full of local patriotism; the Scotch nationality is as strong as it 25G T^IE STORY OF IRELAND, ever was, and should the occasion arise — which I believe it never can — it will be as ready to assert itself as in the days of old. I do not believe that local patriotism is an evil. I believe it is stronger in Ireland even than in Scotland. Englishmen are eminently English, Scotchmen are pro- foundly Scotch, and, if I read Irish history aright, misfor- tune and calamity have wedded her sons to her soil. The Irishman is more profoundly Irish, but it does not follow that because his -local patriotism is keen he is incapable of Imperial patriotism. There are two modes of presenting the subject. The one is to present what we now recom- mend as good, and the other as a choice of evils. Well, Sir, I have argued the matter as if it were a choice of evils; have recognized as facts entitled to attention the jealousies which I do not share or feel, and I have argued it on that ground as the only ground on which it can be argued, not only in a mixed auditory, but in the public mind and in the country, which cannot give a minute investigation to the operations of that complicated question. But in my own heart I cherished the hope that this is not merely the choice of the lesser evil, but may prove to be rather a good in itself. (Home Rule cheers.) What is the answer to this ? It is only to be found in the view which rests upon the basis of despair and of absolute condemnation of Ireland and Irishmen as exceptions to the beneficent provisions which enable men in general, and Europeans in particular, and Americans, to be capable of performing civil duties, and which considers an Irishman either as a lusus 7iaturce. or one for whom justice, common sense, moderation, and national prosperity have no meaning, and who could only understand and appreciate perpetual strife and dissension. Well, Sir, I am not going to argue that view, which to my mind is founded on a monstrous misconception. (Hear, hear.) I say that the Irishman is as capable of loyalty as another man — I say that if his GLADSTONE ’ ^ GREA T SPEECH. 257 loyalty has been checked in its development, why is it? Because the laws by which he is governed do not present themselves to him as they do to us in England and Scot- land, with a native and congenial aspect, and I think I can refer to two illustrations to support the doctrine I have advanced. Take the case of the Irish soldier and of the Irish constabulary. Have you a braver or more loyal man in your Army than the Irishman, who has shared every danger with his Scotch and English comrades, and who has never been behind them when confronted by peril at the word of his commander and for the sake of the honour and safety of his Empire Compare this case with that of an ordinary Irishman in Ireland. He has voluntarily placed himself under military law, which is to him a self-chosen law, and he is exempted from that difficulty which works upon the population in Ire- land — namely, that they are governed by a law which they do not feel has sprung from the soil. (Hear, hear.) Con- sider how common it is to hear the observation in discussing the circumstances of Ireland, that while the constabulary are largely taken from the Roman Catholic population, and from the very class most open to disaffection where disaffec- tion exists, they form a splendid model of obedience, dis- cipline, and devotion such as the world can hardly match. (Hear, hear.) How is this ? It is because they have under ^ taken a voluntary service which takes them completely out of the category of ordinary Irishmen. They are placed under an authority which is to them genial because freely accepted. Their loyalty is not checked by the causes that operate on the agricultural population of Ireland. It has grown as freely in the constabulary and in the army as if every man in the constabulary and every Irish soldier had been an Englishman or a Scotchman. (Hear, hear.) How- ever this may be, we are sensible that we have taken an important decision — our choice has been made. (Loud 17 258 THE STORY OF /RE LA HD. Home Rule cheers.) It has not been made without thought; it has been made in the full knowledge that trial and diffi- culty may confront us on our path. We have no right to say that Ireland through her constitutionally-chosen re- presentatives will accept the plan I offer. Whether it will be so I do not know — I have no title to assume it — but if Ireland does not cheerfully accept it it is impossible for us to attempt to force upon Ireland what is intended to be a boon; nor can we possibly press England and Scotland to accord to Ireland what she does not heartily welcome and embrace. There are difficulties, but I rely upon the patriot- ism and sagacity of this House; I rely on the effects of free and full discussion; and I rely more than all upon the just and generous sentiments of the two British nations. Looking forward, I ask the House to assist us in the work that we have undertaken, and to believe that no trivial motive can have driven us to it — to assist us in this work which we believe will restore Parliament to its dignity, and legislation to its free and unimpeded course. I ask you to stay that waste of public treasure which is involved in the present system of government and administration in Ireland; and which is not a waste only, but which demoral- izes what it exhausts. I ask you to show to Europe and to America that we too can face political problems which America 20 years ago faced, and which many countries in Europe have been called upon to face and have not feared to deal with. I ask that we should practice that we have so often preached (hear, hear) in our own case with firm and fearless hand, the doctrine which we have so often inculcated upon others — namely, that the concession of local self-government is not the way to sap or impair but the way to strengthen and consolidate unity. I ask that we should learn to rely less upon merely written stipulations, and more upon those better stipulations which are written on the heart and mind of man. I ask that we should apply to GLADSTONE 'S GREA T SPEECH, 259 Ireland that happy experience which we have gained in England and in Scotland, where the course of generations has now taught us, not as a dream or a theory but as practice and as life, that the best and surest foundation we can find to build upon is the foundation afforded by the affections, the convictions, and the will of the nation; and it is thus by the decree of the Almighty far more than by any other endeavour that we may be enabled to secure at once social peace, the fame, power, and permanence of the Empire. (Loud and prolonged cheers.) The right hon. gentleman resumed his seat at 8 o'clock, having spoken for three hours hours and a half. mm SPEECH OF CHARLES STEWART PARNELL, M.P., ON HOME RULE, MONDAY, JUNE 7, 1886. THE GREAT HOME RULE DEBATE. M r. GOSCHEN opened the debate on the second read- ing of the Gladstone Home Rule measure, Mon- day, with a speech which meant that the integrity of the Empire, threatened by Mr. Gladstone's policy, should be maintained by force. He admitted that he did not ex- pect any persecution of Protestants in Ireland, and he be- lieved in the sincerity of the Irish members on this point. MR. PARNELL'S SPEECH. Mr. Parnell, whose rising was received with prolonged cheers, said — Without intending to offer any disrespect to the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Goschen), I could not help thinking when listening to his speech that in all the lost causes which I have seen him attempt to defend (Home Rule and some Ministerial cheers) during many years past, he was never so little effective as when contending against the Bill which we hope to see read a second time to-night (Home Rule cheers). Sir, the right hon. gentleman has sought, I think very unfairly, to cast a lurid light upon the situation by an allusion to those unhappy outrages which have been occurring in Kerry (hear, hear from the Home Rulers). I join the right hon. gentleman in the expression of contempt for those cowardly and disgraceful practices (Home Rule cheers). I join him to the fullest extent. But, sir, neither do I say because evictions have been more numerous in Kerry than in all the rest of Munster added together (hear, hear, from the Home Rulers) during months past, that that fact is an excuse for these outrages, or is any excuse whatever for such occurrences, although it might 264 THE STORY OF IRELAND, supply US with the cause for them. But when I denounce outrages, I denounce them, sir, in all parts of Ireland, (Home Rule cheers), whether they occur in Ulster or in Kerry. Inflammatory Speeches, The right hon. gentleman himself is certainly free from reproach in respect of this matter. He has not joined the noble lord the member for South Paddington (Home Rule cheers), and the right hon. gentleman the member for AVest Birmingham (loud Home Rule cheers) in the use of reckless language with reference to the affairs of a country which is not their country — (renewed Home Rule cheers) — an interference for which they had not the paltry excuse that it was any business of theirs, or that they really felt any interest in it (hear, hear). My colleagues, some of them, have been reproached in times past because they had not been very careful in looking into what might be the effect of their language. The doctrine of indirect re- sponsibility has been employed against many of them to the extent of imprisonment (hear, hear). But if the doctrine of indirect responsibility had been employed against the noble lord the member for South Paddington and the right hon. gentleman the member for West Bir- mingham, the former might have pleaded for an excuse that as he believes in nobody and in nothing except himself (laughter), so he could not have expected any great impor- tance to be attached to his declaration (hear, hear); while the right hon. gentleman the member for West Birmingham might have said — and said very truly — that he was abso- lutely ignorant of all the circumstances of Ireland, his cele- brated projected visit to that country last autumn not having come off (laughter), and that consequently he did not know what would come of his language. 265 ' THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE. The Result of Incitements to Bigotry. However, sir, we have the result now in one murder which has been already committed in Belfast (“Hear, hear,’' from the Home Rulers), and I trust that in future right hon. gentlemen will remember that the importance and the gravity of occurrences which may follow in Ulster — and these occurrences cannot go further at the outside than out- rage and assassination — will depend very much upon what they say and upon the amount of importance that they give to the doings of Ulstermen in the minds of these people themselves (hear, hear). Certainly, sir, I do condemn these occurrences in Kerry, and the right hon. gentleman very properly said they must be put a stop to. Well, so say we all (loud Home Rule cheers). The right hon. gentle- man wants to put a stop to them by resorting to the old methods of coercion which he and his friends have been using for the last eighty-six years, but we say with the Prime Minister, “try the effect of self-government” (Home Rule cheers), and if Kerrymen then resort to outrage they will very soon find that the rest of Ireland will soon put a stop to these outrages (Home Rule cheers). How THE Quarrel Arose. Before I leave the terrible occurrences in Belfast *1 wish to give an explanation, because, as usual, the English news- papers have for their own purposes misrepresented what took place. I was very much pained on reading that it was alleged the disturbances rose out of an expression used by a Catholic workman to a Protestant workman, that “in a short time none of his religious persuasion would be allowed to earn a crust of bread in Ireland.” That does not repre- sent the correct state of facts as they are reported in the newspapers. What actually took place, according to these reports, was, a Catholic overseer of the works found fault 266 THE STORY OF IRELAND. with the way in which another workman, an Orangeman, I think — at all events a Protestant — was executing the digging out of a drain, and he said to him “ This is a nice way in which you are digging out this drain.’' The Orangeman said, in reply to his overseer, What does a Papist know about digging drains?” (laughter), and the overseer, ir- ritated, I will not say justly, because it would be absurd to be irritated by such an expression, said in reply, “You will never earn a crust at these works again,” meaning he should dismiss him (hear, hear). “That is all right — that is all I want,” replied the man, and he took up his shovel and left the works. I believe as he was leaving he was assaulted by one or more of the other workmen (some Opposition laughter). It is of great importance that the House should understand that this remark had not a general but had only an individual application (hear, hear). At the same time, I am not to be taken as justifying the occurrence on the part of those employed in the yard in the slightest degree. The Question of Supremacy. The right hon. gentleman the member for East Edinburgh spoke about the sovereignty of Parliament. Upon this point I entirely accept and agree with the definitions given by the hon. and learned gentleman the member for one of the divis- ions of Aberdeen (Under Secretary of State for Foreign Af- fairs). We have always perceived, since the introduction of this Bill, the difference between a co-ordinate Parliament and a subordin^^te Parliament. We have recognized that the legislature which the right hon. gentleman the Prime Minister proposes to constitute is a subordinate Parliament (hear, hear) — that it is not like Grattan’s Parliament, which was co-equal (hear, hear, from Mr. Gladstone), arising out of the same Constitution given to the Irish people by the Crown, just in the same way, though not by the same means, as Parliamentary institutions were given to Great Britain by THE GEE A T HOME RULE DEB A TE. 267 the Sovereign. We understand this perfectly well, and we should undoubtedly have preferred — as I stated in speeches which have been quoted against me as showing that I could not accept this proposed settlement as final — I should have preferred the restitution of Grattan's Parliament. It would have been more in accordance with the sentiments of the Irish people, and sentiment goes a long way in dealing with people like the Irish. Grattan’s Parliament and Statutory Body. But at the same time, in reference to the argument used against us that I am precluded from accepting this solution as final because I have claimed a restitution of Grattan’s Parliament, I would say that I consider there are practical advantages in a statutory body limited and subordinate to this Imperial Parliament, as it undoubtedly would be, which will render it much more useful and advantageous to the Irish people than Grattan’s Parliament (hear, hear), and that the statutory body which the right hon. gentleman the Prime Minister proposes to constitute is much more likely to be a final settlement than Grattan’s Parliament would be. Grattan’s Parliament had many disadvantages. In the first place it had a House of Lords (Home Rule and Radical cheers). We get rid of the House of Lords under the con- stitution of the right hon. gentleman. The Two Orders. It is true that in its place there is to be a7‘ first order,” a very salutary provision, although I do not agree with the extent of time the first order is allowed to hang up a Bill, or with some of the qualifications (hear, hear). These are subordinate matters. But I say the “ first order ” is a very salutary provision, which will tend to prevent rash legisla- tion and immoderate action on the part of the new body, and I would rather see a Bill hung up for ten years by a 268 THE STORY OF IRELAND. body such as the “ first order than -hung up for twenty- four hours by the superior Parliament (cheers). I venture to express that opinion regarding the effect and the irritation which constant meddling and overseeing, as suggested by the right hon. gentleman the member for West Birming- ham, on the part of this Imperial Parliament would have on the minds of the people of Ireland (hear, hear). It would be most mischievous, and dangerous, and sure to prevent such a settlement. But when we are all assembled in one chamber, different sections of Irishmen threshing out a subject, those causes and those effects which have always come into operation under similar circumstances will be also produced in Ireland, and discussion maybe relied upon to bring about the settlement of controverted points. Of course we, too, have controverted subjects. And the result of these two orders working together in the same chamber will be that great questions will be settled on the basis of compromise, and more or less to the satisfaction of both parties. We, therefore, understand perfectly well that this Parliament has the ultimate supremacy and sovereignty. The Power of the Imperial Parliament. I have spoken of the detail of the House of Lords in Grattan’s Parliament; another very important matter in Grattan’s Parliament was the defect alluded to by the right hon. gentleman the member for East Edinburgh — that the executive was divorced from the legislative body. Fox, I think, said there could be no perfect system of government in which the executive and legislative bodies are not joined together. I agree with that statement, and I think one of the most valuable parts of this Bill is that by which the Prime Minister throws responsibility on the legislature to maintain that order in Ireland without which no society can exist (hear, hear). I understand the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament to mean this. It is effective, as had THE GEE A T HOME RULE DEB A TE, 269 been pointed out, in the event of the Irish body exceeding its powers, but it might, under certain circumstances, be more effective. I can illustrate this by saying that in ac- cepting this Bill I think we come under an honourable obligation not to abuse our powers, and we pledge our- selves not to abuse those powers, and to devote our energies and any ability or influence we may have with our people to prevent them abusing those powers; but if this abuse should take place the Imperial Parliament is here in its full plenitude of power ready to intervene, but ready to intervene only in case of grave and urgent necessity (Home Rule and Ministerial cheers). Believe me this is far the best way you can deal with this question. You will have the power of force. Of course we know when abuses are committed and injustice is perpetrated force is the real power. But you will have also the power of this Imperial Parliament untouched and unimpaired just as if this bill had never been enacted. We recognize this, as I have said, and I say again. The Irish Race Accepts the Bill. I said on the first reading immediately after I heard the statement of the Prime Minister, and I say now, that I ac- cept this Bill as a final settlement of our national question, and I believe the Irish people will accept it (Home Rule cheers). Of course you may not believe my words, but I can say no more. I think my words in the connection have been signally justified by the result (Irish cheers). We have had this measure accepted in the sense I have indicated by the leaders of every section of national opinion in Ire- land and also outside Ireland — in the United States of America, with the vengeance of the Irish population of which some speakers against this Bill are so fond of threatening us (Irish laughter and cheers). We have not had a single syllable — a single voice — against this Bill by any Irishman 270 THE STORY OF /RE LA HD, (Tory cries of “Oh” ) — by any Irishman of Nationalist opinion. Of course there are sections among Irish National- ists just as there are sections in the great Conservative party (laughter), but so far as it was possible for a nation to accept a measure cheerfully, freely, gratefully, and without re- serve, I say that the Irish people have shown that they ac- cepted this measure (loud Home Rule cheers). Even the terrible Irish Worlds which has not been on my side for the last five or six years, says: — The Irish race at home and abroad have signified their willingness to accept the terms proposed by Mr. Gladstone (cheers). If a Coercion Bill be now passed by Parliament it will be equivalent to a declaration of war on the part of England. (Tory Ironical cheers.) We do not agree with Mr. Patrick Ford in his conclusion. During the last five or six years we thoroughly differ from him, and he has returned the compliment by using every opportunity to condemn us, so that the honours are pretty even (cheers and laughter). But so far as the Irish people could accept this Bill they have accepted it without any reserve whatever as one that will be a final settlement of this great question (Irish and Liberal cheers). Groundless Fears of Clerical Ascendancy. Now, sir, I will leave the question of the sovereignty of Parliament, and I will go to another point which has been touched upon by the hon. gentleman the member for Edin- burgh (Mr. Goschen). He has fairly told us of his fears with regard to abuses on the part of the Irish priesthood in reference to the question of education. The right hon. gentleman certainly has not followed the example of other illustrious persons (laughter) by indulging in extravagant language on the Protestant and Catholic question (hear, hear, from the Irish members), and I am quite sure that THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE. 271 his apprehension is genuine so far as it goes^ but he does not desire to fan the flames of religious bigotry amongst us (hear, hear). He has spoken very fairly, and I wish to say that, perhaps, as a Protestant, if I had not abundant experience of the feeling in Ireland, I might have shared these feelings myself. Certainly I have no such fears (cheers), but it is rather remarkable that this question of education is the only matter the right hon. gentleman has any fears about in dealing with the question of Protestant and Catholic in Ireland. It is rather remarkable that when the right hon. gentleman the member for Birmingham (Mr. Chamberlain) proposed to give us a central Council in Dublin, he proposed that it should have exclusive control over educa- tion without any reservation whatever with regard to Ulster Protestants or anybody else (cheers). I believe in that scheme; also there was to be a first and second order (hear, hear). Sir, it is very hard to please everybody (hear and laughter), and while we pleas-e the right hon. member for West Birmingham in regard to accepting the education scheme which the Prime Minister proposes to establish, we regret that we are unfortunate enough to run foul of the right hon. member for East Edinburgh (hear, hear). But I do assure the right hon. gentleman that we shall settle this question of education very well amongst ourselves (Irish cheers), and there are very many liberal Nationalists — I call them liberal Nationalists because I take the phrase in reference to this question of education — there are many liberal Nationalists that do not share those views of the Roman Catholic Church on the question of the control of education, and who are very much influenced in their desire to see Ulster remain a part of the legislative body, and sharing the responsible duties of governing Ireland by the feeling that they have with regard to this question; and I am sure that with Ulster in the Irish legislature, and with her representatives coming there as they come here, there 272 THE STORY OF IRELAND, would not be the slightest risk, if there was indeed any such idea, on the part of the Catholic hierarchy and priesthood to use their power unfairly against the Protestants (loud Irish and Liberal cheers). But, as I said, we shall be able to settle this and other questions together very satisfactorily, and to the satisfaction of everybody concerned (cheers). Denominational Education. There is one thing further I wish to say — that as things are going on in this House in reference to the education question, there is no doubt that denominational education would be established in Ireland in a very few years. That is a point that is already conceded even by the right hon. member for Birmingham. That right hon. gentleman agrees that denominational education is the right thing for Ireland, and I am sure that we might say that if Parliament remains as it is, and that if Ireland remains as it is, we should find denominational education established in Ireland in a very few years (hear, hear). The Linen Trade. The right hon. gentleman the member for Edinburgh spoke of the linen trade, and I think he was rather unfair to my right hon. friend the member for the Stephen’s-green Division of Dublin (Mr. Gray). I have not had time to look at the series of letters on the question to which he refers, but the part of the letters that he quoted to prove that the articles went to show that the linen trade was the curse of Ulster was one passage out of many letters intended to prove that the linen trade had been the curse of Ulster, not directly but indirectly, because it enabled the landlords to extract rack-rents from tenants on which the landlords otherwise would not have insisted (hear, hear), and I don’t think that in his argument the right hon. gentleman was fair in seeking to carry the matter further than that — in- deed, he did not attempt to carry it further. THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE, 273 The Wealth of Ulster. He observed a similar reticence on the financial ques- tion in regard to which he made so much on his speech on the first reading. Sir, the speech of the right hon. gentle- man on the occasion produced a very great sensation in the House and in the country. It was understood that the right hon. gentleman intended to show, and I believe the country understood him so to intend, that, first, Ulster was wealthier than any of the other three provinces; and, secondly, that the burden of the taxation would fall on Ulster, and that without Ulster it would be impossible to carry on the govern- ment of Ireland. The hon. gentleman did not pursue this financial question very far to-day (Irish cheers), but it is perhaps not improper that we should direct a little more attention to it since this question of the wealth of Ulster has been made a sort of war-cry by the Loyal and Patriotic Union (cheers). In his first speech the right hon. gentleman was not very fair in selecting schedule “ D ” of the income tax, that relating to trades and professions, as his standard of measure of the relative wealth of the four provinces (laughter). A fairer standard of relative wealth would have been the assessments for income tax on all the schedules, and also the rateable values of the property in the four provinces, and this would show that so far from Ulster being the wealthiest it was the third in relative amount of wealth (cheers). These assessments show conclusively, and the right hon. gentleman will not now deny that they show, that Ulster comes third in point of relative wealth — that she comes after Leinster, after Munster, and that she is only superior to unfortunate Connaught (cheers). The as- sessment of income tax per head in Leinster is 6s 9d, for Munster ^^6 os yd, for Ulster 14s 5d, and for Connaught ^^3 13s yd. The figures as to the relative values are the only fair tests, and they are — Leinster, 9*92; Munster^ S-?^; Ulster, 5.49; or only a little more than 18 274 THE STORY OF IRE LA AH). half of Leinster; and Connaught 3.53. If you take any other fair tests, similar results will be arrived at, and you will find that instead of being the first with regard to wealth Ulster comes a long way third (hear, hear). The right hon. gentleman argued that there was a great disparity between the Protestants of the north-eastern counties and the Cath- olics of the western counties in point of relative wealth, but the right hon. gentleman showed that disparity to be a great deal larger than actually exists by the system which he chose, and, of course, he was perfectly entitled to choose his own systen of calculating the relative wealth of the dif- ferent countries. The West and the East of Ireland. Of course to a considerable extent there is a dispropor- tion of wealth between the north-eastern and the other counties in Ulster, but the same disproportion- exists all through Ireland (hear, hear). The eastern counties all through Ireland are richer than the counties in the west. If you draw a meridian line down through the whole country you will find that on the eastern side of that line there is comparatively prosperity, and on the western side consider- able poverty (hear, hear). The reason of this is obvious. In the first place in the west the country is rocky and barren, and in the second place the trade of the country is with England; consequently all the great distributing centres and shipping are in the east, and men of business and men of wealth collect together and live on the eastern seaboard, and it is only natural, therefore, that the eastern portions of the provinces are richer than the western portions (laughter). What Loyal Minority ? Now, sir, we come to the question of the protection of the loyal minority.’' I have incidentally dealt with this (question in regard to the matter of education, but I would THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE, 275 your permission, sir, to say a few more words upon it, as great attention has been bestowed upon the question. One would think that the Protestants of Ireland were going to be handed over to the tender mercies of a lot of Thugs and bandits. Major Saunderson — Hear, hear. Mr. Parnell — The hon. and gallant member for North Armagh cheers that statement. I only wish that I was as safe in going to the North of Ireland as the hon. and gallant member would be in going to the South (Irish and Liberal cheers). What do these gentlemen mean by “ protection of the loyal minority? ’’ In the first place I would ask these gentlemen what ‘ 'loyal minority’' they mean. The right hon. gentleman the member for East Edinburgh does not seem yet to have made up his mind as to what “ loyal mi- nority ” he means. When asked he said he meant the same loyal Ulster as was referred to by the Prime Minister. Well I have examined the Prime ^dinister’s reference to Ulster, and I find that he referred to the whole province. He did not select the little bit of the province in the eastern corner, because the Opposition had not discovered that point at the time, and consequently I will assume that he refers to the whole province when he asked the House for special protec- tion for Ulster. He has not, however, told us how he will protect them. The Patchwork Plan Examined. Let us, therefore, take the plans of other gentlemen to supply the deficiency. It is very confusing dealing with these plans. In order to make even an outline of a plan, or a patchwork of a plan, you have to set together the propositions of several members (laughter). You have to take a little bit of a plan from one, and a little bit of a plan from another, and a little bit of a plan from a third, in order to make one coherent whole (loud laughter), and even in face of all these efforts, the results are very un- 276 THE STORY OF IRELAND, satisfactory (cheers and laughter). The right hon. gentle- man the member for Birmingham, and I suppose the right hon. gentleman the member for Edinburgh when the proper time comes would do the same, claimed for Ulster a separate legislature. Well, sir, you would not protect the Protestant minority in Ireland, even supposing you gave a separate legislature to Ulster, because there are outside the province of Ulster 400,000 Protestants (cheers) who would still be with- out that protection. Therefore by taking away Ulster from them you would make the position of those 400,000 Protes- tants infinitely less secure (cheers). How would you protect the Protestants of Ulster? (Irish cheers.) The Protes- tants according to the last census were in the proportion of 52 to 48 of the Catholics (hear, hear). We have now every reason to believe that the Protestants and Catholics in Ulster are about equal in number (hear, hear). At all events, however that maybe, the Nationalists have succeeded in re- turning the majority of the Ulster members (loud Irish cheers), and consequently we have the Nationalists in the majority in Ulster (renewed cheers). The main reason, apart from the increase of the Catholic forces, for this I believe to be that a large proportion of the Protestant Nationalists voted in the closely divided constituencies in favor of Ireland, and returned Nationalist members (cheers). So that you see you would still have Nationalists to deal with in Ulster, even supposing you had an Ulster Legisla- ture (hear, hear, and cheers), and the first thing an Ulster Legislature would do would be to unite herself with the Dublin Parliament and the rest of Ireland (loud Irish and Liberal cheers). Absurdity of Proposing a Parliament for Ulster. But, sir, driven away from the fiction of Protestant Ulster and the great majority, it was only recently discovered that there did not exist this Protestant Ulster (cheers). The THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE, 277 opponents of the Bill upon this point have been compelled to take refuge in the north-east corner of Ulster, consisting of three counties (cheers). Well, sir, there again comes in the difficulty that instead of protecting the majority of the Protestants of Ireland by constituting a Legislature in the north-east corner of Ulster, you would abandon the majority of the Protestants of Ireland to their fate or a Dublin Par- liament (loud Irish and Liberal cheers). Seven-twelfths of the Protestants of Ireland live ouside these three northern counties, and only five-twelfths of the Protestants live in- side these three counties, so that whatever way you put it you must give up this idea of protecting either a body or a majority of the Protestants of Ireland by the establishment of a separate Legislature either in Ulster or in portions of Ulster (cheers). The Union of all Creeds Required. No, sir, we cannot give up a single Irishman (cheers) — we want the energy, the patriotism, the talent, and work of every Irishman (cheers) to make this great experiment — to ensure that this great experiment shall be successful (hear, hear). The best form of government for a country I believe to be one that required that that government shall be the resultant of what forces are in that country (hear, hear). We cannot give away to a second Legislature for a section of Ireland any portion of that talent or influence of the Irish Protestants (cheers). This class — the Protestant class — will form the most valuable element in the Irish Legislature of the future, constituting as they will a strong minority^ and exercising, through the “first order,’’ a moderating influ- ence upon the making of the laws. We have heard of the danger of a first trial of untrained legislators in an Irish Parliament. I regard their presence as vitally necessary to the success of this trial (hear, hear). We want, sir, all creeds and all classes in Ireland. We cannot look upon a 278 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND. single Irishman as not belonging to us (cheers). However much we recognize their ability, we cannot admit that there is a single one of them too good to take part in this experi- ment (cheers). To Whom the Shame of Bigotry Belongs. We do not blame the small proportion of Protestants who feel any real fear. I admit that there is a small proportion who do (hear, hear). We have been doing our best of late to remove this fear, and we shall continue to do so (cheers). When this Bill becomes an Act we shall not cease to try to conciliate such Irishmen (cheers). No, sir, there is no shame or disgrace in th[s fear — that shame and disgrace be- long to right hon. gentlemen and noble lords belonging to English political parties, who, for the selfish interests of those political parties, try to stir up the almost expired em- bers of religious bigotry (loud Irish and Liberal cheers). Ireland has never injured the right hon. gentleman the member for West Birmingham, and I do not know why he laid the strength of his powerful arm against her — why, like another Brennus — although, I hope, not with the same re- sult — he has thrown his sword into the scale against Ireland. I do not think that either politically or otherwise she has attempted to injure him, and yet he and his kind seek to dash down the first cup of cold water that has been offered to our nation since the recall of Lord Fitzwilliam, as was said in those days, at the point of the dagger (hear, hear). A Final Settlement. This settlement, sir, I believe, will be a final settlement (hear, hear). I have been reproached — and it has been made an argument against the honesty of my declaration regard- ing the final character of the settlement — that in a speech at Wicklow I proclaimed a right to protect Irish manufactures THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE, 279 This Bill gives no such right. Undoubtedly I did claim that right; but it was when the Liberal party was in power (laughter and cheers). That speech about protection at Wick- low was made at a time when we had every reason to know that the Conservative party, if they should be successful at the polls, would have offered to Ireland a statutory Legis- lature with the right to protect her own affairs (loud Irish and Ministerial cheers, in which Mr. Gladstone warmly joined), and that this would have been coupled with a set- tlement of the Irish land question upon a process of pur- chase on a larger scale than that now proposed by the Prime Minister (prolonged Irish and Ministerial cheers). I should never have thought, I never did think, and I do not think now, of claiming a right of protection from the Liberal party (cheers). I never expected it (Liberal cheers). Therefore I recognize this settlement as final — a settlement Avithout protection. The Retention of the Irish Members. There is another argument stronger still. The Prime Minister has shown us when he introduced this Bill that without fiscal unity we should lose ;^i, 400,000 a year. That will still go to us in consequence of this unity and the absence of protection, and it is a very good quid pro quo for the loss of protection (hear, hear). The question of the re- tention of the Irish members is one which I will only touch upon very slightly. I may say with regard to this matter that I have always kept my mind thoroughly open upon it (hear, hear). It is not a vital question. I have seen diffi- culties in it, and difficulties that are rather from your point of view than from ours (Irish cheers). I think that when considered in committee it will present a difficulty which will be a growing one for Liberal members (hear, hear). I do not desire to prejudge this question. I admit a desire and a strong sentiment in the matter. When, however, I con- 280 THE STORY OF IRELAND, sider how many times my colleagues and myself have been forcibly ejected (laughter), and how often the necessity of suspending, and if not entirely abrogating the representa- tion of Ireland in this House has been eagerly canvassed by the London Press as the necessary solution of the question, perhaps, sir, I may not consider, under the present circum- stances, that this desire on the part of the Liberal members is a very reasonable one. I acknowledge, however, that it is an honest one. What Ireland will not Submit to. When the Prime Minister has produced his plan, without binding himself beforehand, I shall candidly examine it with the desire to see in it elements which shall not endanger its final acceptance (hear, hear). I shall deal with the pro- posals from that point of view. To the permanency of the settlement and the success of it my colleagues and I have pledged our political future (cheers). But I confess, sir, that if I had regard to the spirit with which the right hon. gentleman the member for West Birmingham has dealt with this question, I should have been hopelessly alienated from the plan. He has dealt with it in order to cast upon us an apparent stigma of inferiority in order he may have an ex- cuse for constantly meddling in our affairs, checking and thwarting us, keeping us under his thumb (hear, hear). That is not a state of things which the Irish people will sub- mit to (cheers). We should not agree to his claim in this respect — they would be fatal to the durability of the settle- ment. The Alternatives. Now, sir, what does it all come to? It comes to two alternatives when everything has been said and done — the alternative of coercion, which Lord Salisbury has put before the country (“No, no from the Tories, and loud Irish and THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE. 281 Ministerial cheers), and the alternative offered by the Prime Minister as a solution, carrying with it a lasting settlement and treaty of peace (loud cheers). If you reject this Bill, Lord Salisbury was right in what he said as to coercion (“ No, no ’'), and with respect to the cries of “ No '' by hon. gentlemen, I beg to say that you will have to resort to co- ercion (hear, hear). That is not a threat on my part. I would do much to prevent the necessity of a resort to co- ercion, but I see that it will be inevitable. The best inten- tioned Radical sitting on these benches, and who thinks that he will never be a party to coercion in Ireland, will be seen walking into the coercion lobby for drastic coercion, or, at the very outside, pitifully abstaining. We have gone through it all before, and know the sort of Ireland there has been for the past five years. We know that they have had coercion during these five years of a very severe and strin- gent character, and it will require severer and more drastic coercion now. You will require everything you have had during the last five years, and more besides. The Coercion that Failed. And what sort has the coercion been? You have had during these five years — I do not say it to inflame passion or awaken bitter memories — you have had during these five years suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, you have had one thousand of your fellow-subjects held in prison without specific charge, many of them for a long period of time, and some of them for very many months without trial, and without your placing them on trial, and I think all of these thousand persons arrested under the coercion of the late Mr. Forster, scarcely one dozen were put on their trial for any offence (hear, hear). You have had an Arms' Act, you have had the suspension of trial by jury. During these last five years you have authorized your police to enter the domiciles of your fellow-subjects in Ireland at any hour of the day or 282 THE STOR Y OF /RE LA HD, night, and to search every part of these domiciles — even the beds of the women — without warrant. You have fined the innocent for offences committed by the guilty; you have taken power to expel aliens from the country; you have re- vived the Curfew law and the blood-money of the Norman conquerors; you have gagged the Press, suppressed news- papers, manufactured new crimes and offences, and imposed fresh penalties. All this you have done, and much more, in the past five years — all this, and more, you have to do again. Either Freedom or Despotism. The provision in the Bill for terminating the representa- tion of the Irish members has been very vehemently objec- ted to, and the right hon. gentleman the member for the Border Burghs has said there is no half-way house between separation and the maintenance of law and order in Ireland by the Imperial authority. Well, sir, I say with just as much belief and just as much experience as the right hon. gentleman, that in my judgment there is no half-way house between the concession of legislative autonomy to Ireland and the disfranchisement of the country and her Government as a Crown colony (Irish cheers). But, sir, I refuse to be- lieve that those evil days must come. I am convinced that there are a sufficient number of wise and just men in this House to cause it to disregard the appeals made to passion and to pocket, and to choose the better way of the Prime Minister — a way of peace and good-will amongst nations — and that when the numbers in the division lobby have been told to-night it will also be told, for the admiration of all future generations, that England and her Parliament in this nineteenth century was wise enough, brave enough, and generous enough to end this strife of centuries and give peace, prosperity, and happiness to suffering Ireland (loud and prolonged Irish and Liberal' cheers). SPEECH OF HON. WM. EWART GLADSTONE, M.P., ON THE SECOND READING OF THE HOME RULE BILL, MONDAY, JUNE 7, 1886. MR. GLADSTONE'S SPEECH. M r. GLADSTONE, who rose amidst loud and long- continued cheers, said — ^Mr. Speaker, I shall ven- ture to make a few remarks on the speech of the right hon. gentleman, but I will just allow myself the satis- faction of saying that I believe I only express sentiments widely pervading this House when I state the pleasure with which 1 listened to two speeches we have heard this evening. The singularly eloquent speech of the senior member for Newcastle (Home Rule cheers), and the masterly exposition, for I cannot call it less, of the hon. member for Cork — (loud cheers and Opposition laughter) — sir, I feel a strong convic- tion that speeches couched in that tone, marked alike by sound statesmanship and a far-seeing moderation, will never fail to produce a lasting effect upon the minds and convic- tions of the people of England and Scotland (hear, hear). Sir, with respect to the personal question which has arisen between the hon. member for Cork and the right hon. gen- tleman I think it no part of my duty to interfere. Lord R. Churchill — Hear, hear. Mr. Gladstone — I presume that that subject will be car- ried further (Home Rule cheers), and I understand a dis- tinct allegation to be made by the hon. gentleman the mem- ber for Cork in regard to some person whose name he has not given, one of a limited body. In that limited body I conclude it will not be difficult to procure, if it can be given, a denial. I presume that a distinct allegation has been made with regard to some persons whose name he doesn’t give, and which if it can be given, and which if no interpo- sition prevent it, this will open out a matter of public interest. 286 THE STORY OF /RE LA HD. and the right hon. gentleman opposite will do me the justice that I have not sought before taking office to make an attack on the conduct which right hon. gentlemen pursue. The right hon. gentleman having refuted the statement that it was a one-man Bill, he hinted that he was prepared to fight a general election , He then explained that only the princi- ple of the Bill was involved in the second reading. Mr. Gladstone proceeded — Ulster. The right hon. gentleman opposite (Sir M. Hicks-Beach) said that the question of Ulster is a question of principle. I must say that with regard to the sentiments we have heard expressed on the subject I cannot say that any plan for the treatment of Ulster has made any serious or practical effect upon the hon. and gallant member for North Armagh (Major Saunderson), who is opposed to the separation of Ulster from the rest of Ireland (hear, hear). I must say that the hon. member for Cork entered into a careful and elaborate argument on the subject of Ulster, and dealing with her as a separate part of Ireland in the course of this evening’s debate, and I must say that that was a statement which requires an answer (hear, hear). Now, I want to say one word on the subject of the Irish Loyalists, and in debates of this kind we have at times to use words and expressions that it is well should be a little better understood than they are. When I hear a speech from the hon. member for Bel- fast (Mr. William Johnston) and some other gentlemen it always appears to me that he is under a pious conviction that loyalty is innate in an Irish Protestant, and that disloy- alty is innate in some other person (laughter). I do believe that the hon. member is under the impression that in all times in the long generations of Irish history that there has been this distinction between the persons who are Protestants and those who are not Protestants (hear, hear, and “ No.”) THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE, 28 ? Well, it is a charge which has been made and it ought to be met. Loyalty. Has the hon. gentleman inquired what was the state of loyalty in Ireland at the close of the eighteenth century. As regards the Catholics, they had then hardly been born into political life, and in his time Dean Swift spoke of their in- capacity for politics, and it would be absurd to speak of them as being either loyal or disloyal; but as to the condi- tion of the Roman Catholics at the close of the last century, I will read what Mr. Burke has said on the subject. The date of it is 1796, and it is taken from a letter to Mr.Wynd- ham. He speaks of the subject of disaffection, and he writes thus: “ It (disaffection) has cast deep roots in the principles and habits of the majority among the lower and middle classes of the whole Protestant part of Ireland (Parnellite laughter.) The Catholics who are intermingled with them are more or less tainted (laughter) in the other parts of Ireland, some in Dublin only excepted; the Catholics, who are in a manner the whole people, are as yet sound, but they may be pro- voked, as all men easily may be, out of their principles.” (Cheers.) What has happened since ? That the Protestants not having grievances to complain of, have become loyal, that in many cases the Roman Catholics have, as Mr. Burke said, been provoked, as all men may be easily, out of their principles (hear, hear). These are the words and these the ideas which show us what is the way in which we are to promote loyalty and what is the way in which we can destroy it. Federation. Another subject upon which I will dwell only for a moment is federation. Many gentlemen in this House are greatly enamoured of this idea, and the object they have in view is 288 THE STORY OF IRELAND, a noble one. I will not admit to the right hon. baronet the justice of the disparagement he cast upon the British Empire — I do not consider that this is a loosely compacted Empire (laughter); but I admit that if the means can be devised for establishing a more active connection with our distant pos- sessions, that is an object well worthy of every noble and enlightened man. It is a popular idea — I give no opinion upon it — I suspect it is beset with more difficulties than have as yet been examined and brought to light — but what I wish to observe, as far as this Bill is concerned, is this, that this Bill, whatever its rights or wrongs in other respects, is unquestionably a step, and an important step, in the direction of federation (cheers), because it rests essentially upon two things, and two things alone, as pre-conditions — one of them is a division of legislatures, and the other is a division of subjects, and both are among the vital objects of this Bill. Inalienable Supremacy. The right hon. gentleman has referred in some degree to the question of supremacy. I own my opinion is that this debate has in a considerable measure cleared the ground on the subject. It is most satisfactory to me to hear the state- ment of the hon. gentleman the member for Cork. I own I have heard some astounding doctrines, astounding to an ignorant layman, from eminent lawyers more than once on this subject (laughter). Well, here again the whole balance of authority seems to have established clearly the elementary proposition that whether this Parliament be the Imperial Parliament or not, the Imperial Parliament as long as it continues in its legal identity is possessed now as before the Union and before the time of Grattan’s Parliament, of a supremacy which is absolutely and in the nature of things inalienable. It could not part with it if it would, and it would not if it could. It is quite true that in constituting 7^ HE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE. 289 a legislature in Ireland we do, as when we constituted a legislature in Canada or Australia, devolve an important portion of power. We devolved it with a view in Canada, and I hope we shall do it in Ireland, not to establish a partial and a nominal, but a real and practically independent man- agement of her own affairs (cheers). That is what the right hon. gentleman objects to, and that is the thing we desire and hope and mean to do (cheers). Imperial Questions. It is obvious that the question may be raised, “ How do you propose to deal with questions that may arise when the Imperial Government, notwithstanding this general division of affairs, may be by the obligations of Imperial interests compelled to intervene?” Well, my answer is, that this question has received a far better solution from practical politics, from the experience of the last forty or fifty years, than would ever have been given to it by the definitions of lawyers, however eminent. When the Legislature of Canada was founded this difficulty arose. The question arose in regard to the Canadian rebellion. I myself for one, and Lord Brougham for another, were of opinion — I know not now whether we were ‘right or wrong — that the honor of the Crown had been invaded by a proposition to grant in Canada a vote for losses in the rebellion to those who had been rebels, and had incurred their losses as rebels. Lord Brougham made a motion in the House of Lords in 1849, and I made a motion in the House of Commons on the same subject. The important part of the debate consisted in the declaration drawn from the Ministers of the Crown. Lord John Russell then laid down what I conceive to be the true and the sound doctrine in terms which I believe may- be fairly described as classical and authoritative in the manner of dealing with this question. Speaking in this House on the 14th June, 1849, Lord John Russell said — 19 290 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND, “ I entirely agree with the right hon. gentleman, and it is indeed in conformity with the sentiments I expressed in a despatch which I wrote a few years ago, that there are cases which must be left to the decision of the responsible Ministers of the Crown — there are cases when the honour of the Crown and the safety of this country are concerned, and in such cases it requires the utmost temper in the col- onies, and the utmost temper and firmness in this country. I fully admit that there are such cases. When the right hon. gentleman goes on to say that the Earl of Elgin has received some instructions from the Government of this country by which he is debarred from asking the advice and direction of the Crown on questions that affect the imperial policy and the national honour, he is entirely mistaken in that assumption.” That passage justly and practically sets forth the practical mode in which this question, difficult in the abstract, will be settled as it has been settled. We have found it easy to reconcile the rights of Canada with the rights of the Imperial Parliament. It will be found not more difficult to reconcile the rights of Ireland with those of the Imperial Government. Vulgar Slang. Constantly I hear the words “Unionists” and “Separ- atists,” but what I want to know*is who are the Unionists ? (Cheers.) And I want to know who are the Separatists ? I see this Bill in newspapers of great circulation and else- where described as “ The Separation Bill ” (hear, hear). How members opposite adopt that style and make the de- scription their own — speaking of this description alone I say it is the merest slang of vulgar controversy (cheers). You think this Bill tends to separation. Your arguments, and even your prejudices, are worthy of all consideration and respect, but is it fair, is it a rational mode of conducting controversy, to attach these hard names to measures on which we differ — on which you argue, or desire to convince by argument ? (Hear, hear). I will illustrate what I mean. THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE. 291 I will go back to the time of the Reform Act of Lord Grey. When the Bill was introduced, it was conscientiously and honestly believed by great masses of men^ intelligent men, that the Bill absolutely involved the destruction of the monarchy. The Duke of Wellington propounded a doc- trine very much to that effect, but I do not think that any of these gentlemen or of the newspapers that supported them ever descended so low in the weapons of their warfare as to brand it “ The Monarchy Destruction Bill (hear, hear). Disunionists. Now, sir, we conscientiously think that there are Minis- terialists and Disunionists, but we conscientiously think that our conduct tends to union (cheers), and yours to disunion. This involves a very large and deep historical question. Let us try for a few minutes and look at it historically. The argument made from the other side appears to me to rest on principle in the main upon two suppositions — one of them the idea of the original depravity or incompetency of the Irish people. But there is another — it is the conscientious conviction of gentlemen opposite that when two countries associated but not incorporated with each other are in dis- turbed relations with each other the remedy is to create absolute legislative incorporation. That I believe is the doctrine on their side of the House, and they believe the dissolution of such an incorporation is clearly to bring about a dissolution of the political relations between these two countries (Opposition cheers). What I say is that the truth, as proved by history, is this — that when there are disturbed political relations between countries that are politically associated but not incorporated, the real remedy is to make provision for civil independence subject to Imperial unity (cheers). Union in Legislative Separation. Gentlemen spoke of tightening the tie between this * 292 THE STORY OF IRELAND, country and Ireland, but tightening is not always the way to make it binding; relaxing it is often the way to make it stronger and make it stand a stronger strain (cheers). It is true, as was said by the hon. member for Newcastle (Mr. Cowen), that the severance of legislatures has often been the union of countries, and the union of legislatures the severance of countries (cheers). Can you give me a single instance from all your historical inquiry — and I must say I wish they had been wider — where an acknowledgment of local self-government has been followed by the severance of countries ! (A Voice — Turkey.) I was just going to refer to Servia, and to admit that where a third power has intervened and has given liberty to the subordinate state in defiance of the superior power, I make no claim, and if you are to wait till some third power intervenes in the case of Ireland (Gov- ernment and Parnellite cheers) as intervened in the case of America Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett — We are not afraid. Mr. Gladstone — I never asked the hon. member whether he was afraid (laughter). It does not matter very much whether he is or not (renewed laughter). I should like him, however, to cultivate a little of that early and provident fear which, in the language of Burke, is the mother of safety (cheers). I admit that in cases such as when France and Spain interfered in the case of America, you can expect nothing but severance, and severance with hostile feelings on both sides (hear, hear). But that is not the case before us; and I ask you for an instance where, apart from the intervention by force by a third Power, the acknowledgment of local independence has been followed by severance ? (cheers). Cases of Separation. I will show where severance did follow. In the case of Belgium and Holland, the attempt to make the Belgians THE GEE A T HOME RULE DEB A TE, 293 conform to the ways and conditions and institutions of Hol- land led to the severance of the two countries. In the case of Denmark and the Duchies, the attempt to do what hon. gentlemen wish to do in Ireland — namely, to force Danish institutions and ideas on the Duchies, together with the in- sufficient acknowledgment of the ancient institutions of those Duchies, ended in the total loss of the Duchies to Denmark, and they are now severed and incorporated in another political connection. But let us not look simply at the negative side. Where local independence has been acknowledged, and legislative severance given in a number of cases it has been made practicable to hold countries together that otherwise would not have been so held. Arguments from History. The hon. member opposite imprudently interrupted me by calling out “ Turkey.” I will tell him that in the case of Turkey, with its imperfect organization, where there has not been violent interference, and the matter has not been driven to the point of foreign interference, local autonomy has been tried with the best effects. In the Island of Crete, which nearly twenty years ago appeared almost lost to Turkey, the lessening of the ties at Constantinople has im- mensely improved the relations between the two — there is no renewal of rebellion. Lord R. Churchill — Chronic revolution. Mr. Gladstone — Chronic revolution! Give me a test of chronic revolution. Has Crete paid its tributes ? Has it called for the armed forces of Turkey to put down revolu- tion ? Take the case of Lebanon. About twenty-three or twenty-four years ago the Lebanon was in a state of a chronic revolution, and was under the absolute sway of Constantinople. It was then placed under a system of practically local independence, and from that day to this it has never resumed its fornier condition. There is the still 294 THE STOR Y OF IRELAND, more remarkable case of the Island of Samos, which has enjoyed for a length of time complete autonomy, and is now in a state of attachment *to the Turkish Empire, while contentment with the political tie subsists and holds that country in tranquility (cheers). So that even Turkey bears testimony to the principle of which I speak (cheers). Remarkable Precedents. There is the case of Norway and Sweden — that is most remarkable, because those are two countries which are com- pletely separated, and yet a connection or union has been found practicable only by means of the largest autonomy and independence. The case of Denmark and Iceland — (Opposition laughter) — laughter is a very common weapon, and it is very difficult for me to contend with it. If it had been twenty or thirty or forty years ago I could have con- tended with this interruption more easily (loud cheers). It has been said that the Parliament of Iceland has been dis- solved. It has been dissolved. It has been said that there have been difficulties in Iceland. There have been difficul- ties between the Parliament of Iceland and the Crown of Denmark, but the Crown of Denmark is unhappily in difficul- ties with the legislative body of Denmark, but between the legislative body of Denmark and the legislative body of Iceland there have been no difficulties whatever. The Argument of Distance. But when my right hon. friend the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies in his admirable speech quoted the case of Iceland, gentlemen opposite, with their mode of rebuke, laughed, and some one, I think, endeavouring to dignify the laughter — to decorate the laughter with an idea (laughter and cheers) called out — Distance — Iceland is so distant ! ’' Well, if Iceland is so distant I apprehend that makes it a great deal more difficult for Denmark to hold THE GEE A T HOME RULE DEB A TE. 295 her down by force, and, consequently, much more necessary for Denmark to choose the method best in itself for secur- ing order. Finland. But if you object on account of distance, what do you say of the case of Finland? Is Finland distant from Russia? Are you aware of the social and political difficulties which have so often threatened the peace of Russia, and been fatal to the lives — to the life not many years ago of one of the worthiest and best of its sovereigns. Discontent has no place in Finland. And why ? Because Finland has a perfect legislative autonomy — the management of its own affairs, the preservation of its own institutions — which has given a contentment to Finland which might be envied in many nations and more famous parts of the world. Austria The case of Austria is the most remarkable, perhaps, of all. I will not speak now of Hungary and Austria, which were referred to by my hon. friend the member for East Edinburgh, further than to say, I believe he is entirely wrong as to the practical purpose in which he spoke of the mixture of Executive Governments. I may lay down this proposi- tion without fear of contradiction. I believe there is no mixture whatever of Executive Government, so far as local affairs are concerned. As far as general affairs are con- cerned it is a different matter, and that was referred to by the right hon. gentleman the member for Chelsea; but there is a perfect independence between Austria and Hungary so far as local affairs are concerned, and I should say the case is surrounded with difficulties infinitely transcending any of those before us. But it is not Austria and Hungary alone. It is not too much to say of Austria that that great empire, with the multitude of States ‘of which it is composed, is held together by local autonomy; she is held by that and by 296 THE STORY OF IRELAND. nothing else. Long may she flourish upon the basis of the acknowledgment of this enlightened principle, Gallicia. The most remarkable case of all is the case of Gallicia, for Gallicia is inhabited by Poles, and Austria has one of the fragments of that unhappy and dissevered country under her charge. Well, I need not speak of Russia and Poland. Even in Prussia the relations of Prussian Poland are at this moment the subject of the most serious difficulty. There is no difficulty between Gallicia and Austria. Why ? Because Gallicia, on the principle of trust and confidence, has been invested with the full practical power and management of her own affairs. Now, sir, there are four challenges. I have given a multitude of instances on the side of the pro- position we hold, which is, that the severance we propose to make for local purposes between the Irish legislative body and the Parliament meeting within these walls is not a mode of disunion, but a closer union — not a mode of separation, but a mode of obstructing and preventing the possibility of separation. Canada. I must say a word upon the case of Canada, because it is so remarkable, and notwithstanding the circumstantial differ- ences between Canada and Great Britain, yet still the re- semblances in principles are so profound and significant. Sir, my right hon. friend the member for West Birmingham has found that legislative councils were introduced into Canada for the purpose of protecting the minority. Where did he find that? (Cheers.) I have gone over the very lengthened debates in Parliament on the appointment of legislative councils in Canada in 1791, and from the beginn- ing to the end of those debates, while the cpiestion of the legislative councils was abundantly discussed, there was not a word of them being appointed for the protecting of the THE GEE A T HOME RULE DEB A TE. 297 minority. I do not rest merely on criticism of that kind. The case of Canada shows two things — in the first place that in the years between 1830 and 1840 Great Britain and Canada had most formidable differences. Those differences were completely cured and healed by the establishment of re- sponsible government, and those differences were absolutely cured by the very remedy that we now propose in the case of Ireland (cheers). But after that what happened ? All the provinces changed most fundamentally in relative importance and the stereotyped arrangements of the Union were totally inadequate to dealing with this altered condition of the pro- vinces themselves. Now recollect that those provinces were united provinces with one Legislature. Discord arose between them. What was the mode adopted of curing that discord, the mode that we propose — the severance of the legislative functions and the establishment of an extended Union under which at this moment with multiplied legisla- tures there is among the provinces substantial harmony (loud cheers). I have disinclination to go into history ap- plicable to this case. It will be unfolded more and more as the debates go forward, and when that is done the more and more it will be shown how sound and strong is the founda- tion on which we stand, and on which Fox stood eighty-six years ago (hear, hear). The Irish People not in Sympathy with the Present Law. Now, I am asked in this debate why have we gone to all this trouble and why have we put aside the business of Par- liament and thrown the country into agitation for the sake of the Irish people (hear, hear). That is exactly what I want (laughter). Well, sir, the reason is this — because in Ireland the primary purposes of Government are not at- tained. What asked the member for Newcastle in his elo- quent speech ? He said that in a considerable part of 298 THE STORY OF IRELAND, Ireland there is great distress, chronic destitution, and oc- casional insurrections. The dreadful murder, in Kerry, as well as the dreadful murder in Belfast, is equally as signifi- cant of the weakness of the ties that bind the people to the laws (hear, hear). Sir, it is that you have not got that respect for the law, that sympathy with the law on the part of the people, without which real civilization cannot exist. A Pious Belief. I come to another pious belief which is largely entertained on the other side of the House. We are told that from 1800 upwards England has been engaged in remedial legisla- tion and the repressing of grievances — as, for instance. Catholic Emancipation — which, however, was granted in order to avoid civil war (Home Rule cheers). Mr. O’Con- nell estimated the suffering population in this country at five millions out of seven millions. Sir James Graham, in debate with him, declined to admit the five millions, but admitted three and a half millions. In 1815 Parliament passed an Act declaring that from the state of the law in Ireland the old and intertangled usages of Irish law replaced in an imperfect manner the tribal usages on which landed tenures in Ireland were founded. Parliament swept them away, and exposed the tenant to the action of the landlord, but did nothing to relieve the terrible distress which was finally disclosed by the Devon Commission. In 1820 the sheriff of Dublin and the gentry of the county determined to have a county meeting to present an address to George IV. The trial of Queen Caroline was just over, and at the meeting a county address was moved warm in the expres- sions of loyalty, but setting out the grievances of the country and condemning the proceedings against the Queen. The High Sheriff refused to put the motion, and he left the meeting and sent the military, and the meeting was broken uj) by force, d’liat was the state of Ireland cis to freedom THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE. 299 of petition and remonstrance twenty years after the Union (cheers). Do you suppose that would have been the case if Ireland had retained her own Parliament (cheers). He Puts a Dilemma. It is impossible to stand upon the legislation of this House as a whole since the Union. I sometimes hear it said you had all kinds of remedial legislation, and what do you say of that ? The remedial legislation had for its chief items the disestablishment of the Church and the change of the Land laws. You say that the change of the Land laws was confication and that the disestablishment of the Church was sacrilege, but we cannot at the same time condemn these two measures as confiscation and sacrilege and likewise as proofs of what justice you are prepared to deal with Ireland (cheers). I say that we propose this measure because Ireland wants to make her own laws. It is not enough to say that you make good laws for her, and you were prepared to make good laws for the colonies according to your lights, but they were dissatisfied with them. Ireland, in our opin- ions, has a claim to this home Parfiament (hear, hear). Mr. Chamberlain's Sails. And now, sir, what is before us if we venture upon the rejection of this Bill ? Here I must comment upon the fertile imagination of my right hon. friend the member for West Birmingham (Mr. Chamberlain). He has prepared alternative plans and plenty of them (hear, hear, and laughter). He says that the dissolution has no terrors for him. Well, he cannot absolutely have any fear of a dis- solution, because he has so trimmed his sails and touched his rudder that no matter what winds of heaven blow they musl fill his sails (Irish cheers). I will illustrate my mean- ing. I will suppose that the general election — I mean the general election which, like Christmas, is always coming 300 7^ HE STOR Y OF IRELAND, (laughter) — supposing that then the public opinion should be very strongly for the Bill, my right hon. friend could turn round and say, “1 declared strongly for it, for I adopted the principle of the Bill.’* On the other hand, if public opinion should be unfavourable to the Bill he will be in complete harmony with it, for he could say, “Yes, I voted against it” (loud laughter). Birmingham Tricks. This Bill of the Government is described by some as not a very large plan of Home Government for Ireland, but my right hon. friend can say to those who do not think it large enough that it was not large enough for him, because he proposed an extension of the Bill on the basis of federation, which would go beyond this Bill (loud laughter and cheers); and, last of all — and 1 have now very nearly boxed the com- pass (laughter) — if public opinion should take a different turn, and should demand a very small measure for Ireland, still the resources of my right hon. friend are not near ex- haustion, because he is able to point out that he had pro- posed the four provincial councils controlled from London (laughter and cheers). I should be tempted to ask for the secret of my right hon. friend’s preparations for all occa- sions; but I am too old to learn. But I cannot wonder why a dissolution has no terror for him, with such a series of expedients to meet the possibilities of the case (hear, hear, and laughter). Do the right hon. gentleman’s suggestions afford a practical alternative, or are they not rather the visonary creations of a vivid imagination born of the hour and perishing with the hour (Ministerial and Irish cheers) — totally and absolutely unavailable for the solution, of a great and difficult political problem, the weight and urgency of which my right hon. friend himself in other days has seemed to feel (cheers). THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE, 301 The Coercion Rival. Well, I do not say now that our plan is in possession of the field without a rival — Lord Salisbury has given us a rival (cheers). My first remark is that Lord Salisbury’s policy has not been disavowed. It is therefore adopted. What is it ? Great complaints are made because it is called a policy of coercion, and Lord Salisbury is stated to have ex- plained in another place that he is not favourable to coercion, but only to legislative provisions for preventing interference by one man with the liberty of another and for ensuring the regular execution of the law (Opposition cheers). Was that your view six months ago ? (Ministerial and Irish cheers.) What did the Liberal Government propose when they left office ? They proposed to enact clauses against boycotting. Lord R. Churchill — No, they did not. They never made that proposal to Parliament (cheers). Mr. Gladstone — Certainly not; but it was publicly stated in my letter to the right hon. gentleman opposite (Opposi- tion cries of ‘‘ No,” and Irish cries of “ Order ”)-^it was stated by me in a letter* I wrote in order to correct a gross error on the part of the right hon. gentleman as to what we had intended when we were going out of office (Opposition cries of “ No ”), and unless I am very much mistaken it had been publicly stated by me in this House (cheers). Sir William Harcourt — Certainly. Mr. Gladstone — ‘The right hon. gentleman’s memory is the same as mine. What were the proposals that we were about to make, or were supposed to be about to make ? Well, a proposal about boycotting — to prevent one man from interfering with the liberty of another, and a proposal for changing the venue to secure the regular execution of the ordinary law — and how were these proposals viewed ? Did not the Tories go to the elections putting upon their placards, “ Vote for the Tories and no coercion ? ” (Minis- terial and Irish cheers and laughter, and Opposition cries 302 THE STOI^Y OF IRELAND. of “ No, no.”) I do not say every Tory did it (laughter). The hon. and gallant baronet (Sir W. Barttelot) (cries of “ No ”). 1 have no doubt he did not do it. He had no Irish voters (Ministerial and Irish laughter and cheers). Sir Walter Barttelot — If I had had I would have done it. Mr. Gladstone — Would, or would not ? Sir W. Barttelot — Would have done it (laughter). Mr. Gladstone — But I say these are the proposals which were defined as coercion by the Tories at the election (cries of No,” and cheers), and which Lord Salisbury now denies to be coercion, and it has been presented with the loudest manifestations of displeasure when anyone on this side of the House says these proposals are coercion, and that he has recommended, as he says himself, twenty years of these proposals, which last year were denounced by the Tories (cheers). Salisbury’s Words. Very well, sir, I have no more to say on that point. What were Lord Salisbury’s words? They were these — “My alternate policy is that Parliament should enable the Govern- ment of England to govern Ireland.” What is the mean- ing of these words ? Their meaning is, in the first instance, this — The Government does not want the aid of Parliament to exercise the executive power. It wants the aid of Parlia- ment for fresh legislation. If it wants aid from Parliament to enable it to govern Ireland that implies a demand for fresh legislative powers (cheers). Lord Salisbury continued — “Apply the recipe honestly, consistently, and resolutely for twenty years, and at the end of that time he’ll find that Ireland will be fit to accept any gift in the way of local government or the repeal of the coercive laws (cheers), that you may wish to give.” THE GREA T HOME RULE DEB A TE. 303 And yet complaints of misrepresentation teem from that side of the House, because gentlemen on this side of the House say that Lord Salisbury recommended coercion, he having himself applied that term to the laws he proposed to pass (cheers). The Time. There is another question which was put to me by my hon. friend the member for Bermondsey (Mr. Thorold Rogers), in the course of an excellent and most instructive speech. My hon. friend, kindly as he was disposed to view the proceedings of the Government, yet had serious misgiv- ing on one point — that of time. He doubted whether we were right in introducing this measure and undertaking this responsibility now. He did not contest the principle, but intimated a doubt as to the moment chosen for applying it. No doubt a great controversy has been raised as to this, but I must ask my hon. friend to consider what would have taken place had we hesitated about the one before us — had we used the constant efforts that would have been necessary to keep the late Government in office, and allow them to persevere in their intentions. On the 26th January they proposed what we term a measure of coercion, and I think we are justified in so terming it, because any attempt to put down a political association can hardly have another name. I think it not to be denied that such legislation must have been accompanied by legislation against the Press and against public meetings and other legislation, without which it would have been totally ineffective (cheers). Now would it have been better if this controversy had been avoided ? I am sensible of its evils. It is better that parties should be matched on the question of giving a great boon to Ire- land rather than that they should — as they would if the policy of the 29th January had proceeded — matched in conflict, while the whole country would have each town in dispute on a policy of a great measure of coercion (hear). 304 THE STORY OF IRELAND. The Voice of Ireland. My second reason is this — my hon. friends recollect that this is the earliest moment in our Parliamentary history when we have had the voice of Ireland authentically expressed here. Majorities of Irish Home Rulers there have been in former times, but never have they been brought together for such a purpose; but now for the first time they can inform the House that for the first time they are able to deal with the House, and able to tell the House authentically, what are the wants and wishes of Ireland and what she will do (hear, hear). As we ourselves enter into the strongest moral obligations by the steps we are taking in this House, so we have practically Ireland under her representatives’ system able to give us equally authentic assurances, the breach and rupture of which would cover Ireland with disgrace (cheers). Another reason not unimportant, which on various accounts I will not dwell on at length, is that I feel that any attempt to palter with the demand of Ireland so conveyed in a form known to the constitution, any repetition of a conciliatory proposal, must have the effect that none of us can desire — the strengthening of that party which is behind the back of the Irish representatives which skulks in America, which skulks in Ireland, but which, I trust, is losing ground and losing force, and will lose ground and will lose force in pro- portion as this Bill makes way (cheers.) A Magnificent Peroration. I cannot dismiss from consideration the consequences that must follow on its rejection. What is the case of Ireland at this moment ? Have gentlemen considered that they are going into conflict with a nation? (Cheers.) Can anything stop a nation’s demand except its being proved immoderate and unsafe? P>ut here are multitudes of us, and I believe millions upon millions out of doors, who believe the demand is neither immoderate nor unsafe (cheers). In our opinion THE GEE A T HOME RULE DEB A TE. 305 there is but one opinion before us as to the demand — it is as to the time and circumstances of granting it. There is no question in our minds that it will be granted (cheers). We wish it to be granted in the mode described by Mr. Burke when he said in his speech at Bristol — I adhere to my old, standing, invariable principle that all things that come from Great Britain to Ireland should issue as the gift of her bounty and beneficence rather than as a claim recovered against a struggling litigant, as a provis- ion of your wisdom and foresight, not as wrung from you with your blood by the cruel grip of a rigid necessity. The difference between giving with freedom and dignity on the one side, and accepting with acknowledgment and gratitude on the other, and giving under compulsion — giving with disgrace, with resentment dogging you at every step of your path. The difference is in our eyes fundamental, and this is the main reason not only why we have acted, but why we have acted now (cheers). This, if I understand it, is one of the golden opportunities which come and go and rarely return — they return, if at all, at long intervals, and under circumstances which no man can forecast (hear, hear). There have been such golden moments, even in the politi- cal history of Ireland — even in the tragic history of Ireland. As her poet says — “ One time the harp of Innisfail was tuned to notes of gladness,” and then he goes on to say — “ But yet it oftener tells a tale of all-prevailing sadness.” But there was such a golden moment. It was in 1795. It was in the mission of Lord Fitzwilliam, and at that moment it is historically clear that the Parliament of Grattan was on the point of solving the Irish problem. The two great knots of that problem were, in the first place, Roman Catholic Emancipation, and in the second place, the reform 20 306 THE STORY OF IRELAND. of Parliament (hear, hear) The cup was at her lips, and she rose ready to drink it when the hand of England rudely and ruthlessly dashed it to the ground in obedience to the wild and dangerous intimidation of an Irish faction. There has been no great day of hope for Ireland — no day when we might hope completely and definitely to end the con- troversy, until now. After more than ninety years, the long periodic time has at last run out (cheers) and her star again mounted into the heavens. What Ireland was doing for herself in 1795 we at length have done. The Roman Catho- lics have been emancipated — emancipated after a woeful disregard of solemn promises through twenty-nine years — emancipated slowly, suddenly, not from good will, but from abject terror, and with all the fruits and consequences that will always follow that method of legislation (Parnellite cheers). The second problem has been also solved — the representation of Ireland has been thoroughly reformed, and I am thankful to say the franchise was given to Ireland on the readjustment of last year with a free heart, and the gift of that franchise was the last act required to make the suc- cess of Ireland in her final effort absolutely sure (loud cheers). We have given Ireland a voice — we must listen for a moment to what she says (cheers). We must all listen, both sides, both parties, as they are divided, I am afraid, by an almost unmeasurable distance. But we do not under- value the forces that are against us. I have described them as the forces of class and dependents, and that although a general description in slight and rude outline, is I believe a pretty accurate one (cheers). I do not deny that many are against us whom we should have expected to be with us; but on the other side what have you ? You have wealth, you have rank, you have station, you have organization, and you have power. What have we ? We think we have the people’s hearts (cheers). We believe and know that we have the promise of the harvest of the future (loud cheers). As THE GEE A T HOME RULE DEB A TE. 307 to the people’s hearts you may dispute it, and dispute it with perfect sincerity. It is a matter about which you may ask for proof. As to the harvest of the future, I doubt if you have so much confidence, and I believe that there is in the breast of many a man who means to vote against us to- night a profound misgiving approaching even in some places to a deep conviction (hear, hear) that the end will not be as we foresee it, and not as you foresee it, but that the ebb- ing tide is with you and the flowing tide is with us (loud cheers). There it stands. Ireland stands at your bar ex- pectant, hopeful, almost suppliant. Her words are the words of truth and soberness (cries of “Oh,” and cheers). She asks a blessed oblivion, and in that oblivion we have an in- terest deeper than hers (cheers). The right hon. gentleman the member for East Edinburgh (Mr. Goschen) has asked us not to abide by the traditions of which we are the heirs. By what traditions ? By the Irish traditions (cheers)? Go over the length and breadth of the world, ransack the litera- ture of all countries, and find if you can a single voice or so much as a newspaper article, unless it be the product of the day, in which the conduct of England towards Ireland is anywhere treated except with profound and bitter condemna- tion (cheers). Are these the traditions by which we are ex- horted to stand ? No, they are sad exceptions to the glory of our country — they are more than a dark blot upon the pages of its history, and what we wish to do is to stand by the traditions of which we are the heirs in all matters except our relations with Ireland, and to make our relations to Ire- land conform to the other traditions of our country (cheers). So we have treated our colonies. So I hail the demand of Ireland for what I call a blessed oblivion of the past. She asks also a boon for the future, and that boon for the future, unless we are much mistaken, will be a boon to us not less than to her of prosperity and peace. Think, I beseech you, next for the moment but for the years that are to come, be- 308 THE STORY OF IRELAND, fore you reject this Bill (loud and prolonged cheering, dur- ing which the right hon. gentleman resumed his seat). THE DIVISION. At ten minutes past one o'clock on Tuesday morning the question was put. When the Ayes were invited to give voice to their opinion they shouted loudly in response, and the Noes, when their turn came, endeavored to produce an equal volume of sound. The Speaker gave it as his opinion that the Ayes had it, but that was noisily challenged, and the House was cleared for the division. The numbers were — For the second reading .... 311 Against 341 Majority against the Bill .... 30 As soon as the handing of the paper to the Opposition teller showed which way the division had gone the members of the Opposition rose in their places and waved their hats, and when the numbers were announced by the tellers re- peated the cheering. WHAT WILL SATISFY THE IRISH PEOPLE BY MICHAEL DAVITT. WHAT WILL SATISFY THE IRISH PEOPLE? T he question is frequently asked, What will satisfy the Irish people ? ” And the answer is as frequently volunteered, Nothing. Nothing will satisfy them but total separation — and that they won’t get.” It an illogical way of answering a question, but pardonable in an Englishman; and the impatience which it manifests is also strikingly characteristic. Your ordinary Englishman enter- tains the pretty conceit that English rule is of such a benefi- cent character that any people who do not tamely submit to it are to be pitied and — dragooned. While in particular, the Irish people, for their obstinacy in refusing to see any virtue in English rule in Ireland, “must be clearly made to understand,” and “must be told once for all,” that England will maintain her hold upon Ireland at all costs. All this talk is indulged in really for the sake of concealing the chagrin which England experiences in consequence of the fact, revealed in recent years, that the people of Ireland have discovered how to make it more difficult for England to rule Ireland than to govern all the rest of her vast empire put together. English statesmen, even now, are devising a middle course between things as they are, and total separa- tion. They are casting about for a scheme which will com- bine the characteristics of modern statesmanship — a scheme, for example, which will involve as small a concession as possible to the demand of the people concerned, and have a fair chance of passing the House of Lords. Eminent statesmen have more than once challenged Irish public men to say what they want, but the required answer has not be forthcoming. There have been answers, but they have been too reasonable. English statesmen have not been 312 '/HR STORY OF IRELAND, able to oF^r upon them the comment, “We told you so! the thing demanded is utterly out of the range of practical politics, and, in point of fact, is absolutely out of the ques- tion.*' The answer really required is such a one as English statesmen can meet with a 7ion possuntus. And for this rea- son, English statesmen, I repeat, know that a substantial concession will have to made to the genius of Irish nation- ality within the next few years. The demand for it is too strong to be resisted; for the Irish race have to be dealt with now. If at home on Irish soil the people can hiake the ruling powers uneasy’* to such an extent as I have in- dicated, in Westminster their representatives can clog the wheels of legislation and endanger the very existence of Government by parliamentary methods; while abroad, in Great Britain, America, Australia, Canada, the exiled Irish have discovered how to operate on the flank, so to speak, by elevating the Irish question into the position of a national or colonial issue. Further, England’s guilt towards Ireland is known and commented on all over the world. Further still, the real people of England — the working men of Eng- land — have of late been asking for the reasons why Ireland should be perpetually discontented, and the answers they have received, to the credit of their common sense, be it said, do not appear to have satisfied them. Respectable England is very angry; and, to conceal their annoyance at the inevitable, and to pave the way for a concession, English statesmen ask the question of Irish public men — “What do you want ? ” and require an answer to which they may return an emphatic “Impossible.” But this is only diplomacy. They only desire us to say how much we want, in order to say in reply how little they will give. They ask us to “ formulate our demand,” that they, in formulating their concession, may assure their opponents of its comparative innocence. Responsible Irish public men have declined to fall into the trap. And they have acted very wisely. For WHAT WILL SATISFY THE IRISH PEOPLE? T he question is frequently asked, What will satisfy the Irish people ? ” And the answer is as frequently volunteered, Nothing. Nothing will satisfy them but total separation — and that they won’t get.” It :z an illogical way of answering a question, but pardonable in an Englishman; and the impatience which it manifests is also strikingly characteristic. Your ordinary Englishman enter- tains the pretty conceit that English rule is of such a benefi- cent character that any people who do not tamely submit^ to it are to be pitied and — dragooned. While in particular, the Irish people, for their obstinacy in refusing to see any virtue in English rule in Ireland, “must be clearly made to understand,” and “must be told once for all,” that England will maintain her hold upon Ireland at all costs. All this talk is indulged in really for the sake of concealing the chagrin which England experiences in consequence of the fact, revealed in recent years, that the people of Ireland have discovered how to make it more difficult for England to rule Ireland than to govern all the rest of her vast empire put together. English statesmen, even now, are devising a middle course between things as they are, and total separa- tion. They are casting about for a scheme which will com- bine the characteristics of modern statesmanship — a scheme, for example, which will involve as small a concession as possible to the demand of the people concerned, and have a fair chance of passing the House of Lords. Eminent statesmen have more than once challenged Irish public men to say what they want, but the required answer has not be forthcoming. There have been answers, but they have been too reasonable. English statesmen have not been s WHA T WILL SA TISFY THE IRISh i I. why should Irish public men show their hand r :h English Prime Ministers ? Apart altogether from considerations of this charav however, there are others of a distinctly Irish nature whu the leaders of the National movement in Ireland have to take into account. The varying shades of National sentiment may not be ignored. Let us therefore ana- lyze the degrees of intensity of Irish Nationalist aspira- tions. We have first, the Extremists, those who believe that total separation from England is the only thing that would satisfy Irish genius or develop it properly. These include the most self-sacrificing Irishmen. They represent, in their aspirations for Irish liberty, those who have made the most illustrious names in Ireland's history. They include many cultured men, especially among the expatriated por- tion of the race, but their main strength is in the working classes. Patriotism is purer among the industrial order be- cause less modified by mercenary motives and less liable to corrupting influences. But the Extremists or Separatists are divided among themselves upon the question of method. There are Separatists who advocate physical force, believ- ing moral force — that is, constitutional means, ineffectual and demoralizing. This section includes men who have never tried moral force, and who believe solely either in ‘‘honorable warfare’’ or “dynamite." It also includes those who have tried moral force, and given it up in despair. Then there are the Separatists, who, with the experiences of '48 and ’67 before their minds, rely upon constitutional action alone. Next in importance fo the Extremists come the Home Rulers, or Federalists, who may be divided into those who disbelieve in the possibility of Separation and those who do not see its necessity. This section of the National party includes some of the ablest and most earnest men in Ire- WJ \. X ND, > methods, I neea hardly say, are strictly con- .ish leader can afford to ignore either of these two ■ pal phases of Irish National sentiment. Were such a ^n to commit himself to a definite scheme, at the mere im itation of an English Minister, he would run the risk of alienating that section of his supporters whose views were not represented in his proposals. It is an obvious remark that such a contingency would not be unwelcome to English statesmen. From what I have just said, it will be readily perceived how difficult is the task to which Irish popular leaders are asked to address themselves. Nevertheless, I shall venture to outline a scheme of local and National self-government which, I believe, would com- mand the support of the majority of the Irish people at home and abroad, and which would probably receive a fair trial at the hands of the Extremists; though its operation would undoubtedly be watched with a jealous eye. In the first place, there should be established in Ireland a system of county government, by means of Elective Boards, to take the place of the existing unrepresentative and prac- tically irresponsible Grand Jury system. The functions of such Boards should be more comprehensive than those ex- ercised by the Grand Juries. For example, in addition to the duty of administering purely county business these Boards should be permitted to initiate measures of general application; such as schemes of arterial drainage, tramways, railways, canals, docks, harbors, and similar enterprises, which would be of more than local importance and charac- ter. Such schemes, after being fully discussed by these elective bodies, would be submitted to the National Assem- bly to be subsequently described. Then the County Boards should control the police within the county, and appoint the magistrates, and be entirely responsible for the preservation of law and order. THE STORY OF /RE LA N’T), able to of '",!* upon them the comment, “We told you so! the thing demanded is utterly out of the range of practical politics, and, in point of fact, is absolutely out of the ques- tion.*' The answer really required is such a one as English statesmen can meet with Si non possumus. And for this rea- son, English statesmen, I repeat, know that a substantial concession will have to made to the genius of Irish nation- ality within the next few years. The demand for it is too strong to be resisted; for the Irish race have to be dealt with now. If at home on Irish soil the people can make the ruling powers uneasy*’ to such an extent as I have in- dicated, in Westminster their representatives can clog the wheels of legislation and endanger the very existence of Government by parliamentary methods; while abroad, in ’Great Britain, America, Australia, Canada, the exiled Irish have discovered how to operate on the flank, so to speak, by elevating the Irish question into the position of a national or colonial issue. Further, England’s guilt towards Ireland is known and commented on all over the world. Further still, the real people of England — the working men of Eng- land— have of late been asking for the reasons why Ireland should be perpetually discontented, and the answers they have received, to the credit of their common sense, be it said, do not appear to have satisfied them. Respectable England is very angry; and, to conceal their annoyance at the inevitable, and to pave the way for a concession, English statesmen ask the question of Irish public men — “ What do you want ? ” and require an answer to which they may return an emphatic “ Impossible.’’ But this is only diplomacy. They only desire us to say how much we want, in order to say in reply how little they will give. They ask us to “formulate our demand,’’ that they, in formulating their concession, may assure their opponents of its comparative innocence. Responsible Irish public men have declined to fall into the trap. And they have acted very wisely. For 313 WHA T WILL SA TISFY THE IRISH PEOPLE. why should Irish public men show their hand rather than English Prime Ministers ? Apart altogether from considerations of this characteristic however, there are others of a distinctly Irish nature which the leaders of the National movement in Ireland have to take into account. The varying shades of National sentiment may not be ignored. Let us therefore ana- lyze the degrees of intensity of Irish Nationalist aspira- tions. We have first, the Extremists, those who believe that total separation from England is the only thing that would satisfy Irish genius or develop it properly. These include the most self-sacrificing Irishmen. They represent, in their aspirations for Irish liberty, those who have made the most illustrious names in Ireland’s history. They include many cultured men, especially among the expatriated por- tion of the race, but their main strength is in the working classes. Patriotism is purer among the industrial order be- cause less modified by mercenary motives and less liable to corrupting influences. But the Extremists or Separatists are divided among themselves upon the question of method. There are Separatists who advocate physical force, believ- ing moral force — that is, constitutional means, ineffectual' ,, and demoralizing. This section includes men who have never tried moral force, and who believe solely either in “honorable warfare*' or “dynamite." It also includes those who have tried moral force, and given it up in despair. Then there are the Separatists, who, with the experiences of ’48 and *67 before their minds, rely upon constitutional action alone. Next in importance io the Extremists come the Home ' " Rulers, or Federalists, who may be divided into those who disbelieve in the possibility of Separation and those who do not see its necessity. This section of the National party includes some of the ablest and most earnest men in Ire- 314 THE STORY OF IRELAND. land. Their methods, I need hardly say, are strictly con- situational. No Iri sh leader can afford to ignore either of these tw principal phases of Irish National sentiment. Were such..x man to commit himself to a definite scheme, at the mere invitation of an English Minister, he would run the risk of alienating that section of his supporters whose views were not represented in his proposals. It is an obvious remark that such a contingency would not be unwelcome to English statesmen. From what I have just said, it will be readily perceived how difficult is the task to which Irish popular leaders are asked to address themselves. Nevertheless, I shall venture to outline a scheme of local and National self-government which,.! believe, would com- mand the support of the majority of the Irish people at home and abroad, and which would probably receive a fair trial at the hands of the Extremists; though its operation would undoubtedly be watched with a jealous eye. In the first place, there should be established in Ireland a system of county government, by means of Elective Boards, to take the place of the existing unrepresentative and prac- tically irresponsible Grand Jury system. The functions of such Boards should be more comprehensive than those ex- ercised by the Grand Juries. For example, in addition to the duty of administering purely county business these Boards should be permitted to initiate measures of general application; such as schemes of arterial drainage, tramways, railways, canals, docks, harbors, and similar enterprises, which would be of more than local importance and charac- ter. Such schemes, after being fully discussed by these elective bodies, would be submitted to the National Assem- bly to be subsequently described. Then the County ]5oards should control the police within the county, and appoint the magistrates, and be entirely responsible for the preservation of law and order. IRISH PEOPLE. 315 WHAT WILL SATISFY THE Further, should the land problem be justly and satisfac- torily solved on the lines of national proprietary, the duty of assessing and collecting the land-tax would naturally de- volve upon the County Boards^ which, deducting what was necessary for the expenses of county government, would remit the balance to the National Exchequer. In fact, the object of such a system should be to constitute each county, as far as practicable, a self-governing community. Manifestly any system of local self-government for Ire- land involves a corresponding one of National self-goyern- * ment as its natural and inevitable complement. To extend the principle of local self-government at all in Ireland, with- out radically changing the system of Castle rule, would only have the effect of increasing the friction already existing be- tween the people and their rulers. Hence, it is absolutely ' necessary that legislation for National self-government should go hand in hand with any scheme for the creation of Elective County Boards. I am well aware that the hope is indulged, in some quarters, that the inclusion of Ireland in \ a general measure of county government, with the sop of an Irish Parliamentary Grand Committee thrown in, will suffice to choke off the demand for Irish legislative inde- pendence; but English statesmen need not delude them- selves with the idea that any such Westminster expedient will satisfy the genius of Irish Nationality. There could be established in Dublin a National Assem- bly composed of elected members from the constituencies of Ireland, who should proceed to the administration of all Irish affairs in the manner which obtains in colonial parlia- ments, excepting the substitution of one for two Chambers, here proposed. That is to say, the Representative of the Crown in Ireland would call upon some member of the National Assembly to form a government the different mem- bers of which should be constituted the heads of the various Boards, which at present are practically irresponsible bureau- WHAT WILL SATISFY THE Further, should the land problem be ju. torily solved on the lines of national proprie^ of assessing and collecting the land-tax would n. volve upon the County Boards, which, deducting \. necessary for the expenses of county government, > remit the balance to the National Exchequer. In fact, l. object of such a system should be to constitute each county, as far as practicable, a self-governing community. Manifestly any system of local self-government for Ire- land involves a corresponding one of National self-govern- ment as its natural and inevitable complement. To extend the principle of local self-government at all in Ireland, with- _ out radically changing the system of Castle rule, would only have the effect of increasing the friction already existing be- tween the people and their rulers. Hence, it is absolutely necessary that legislation for National self-government should go hand in hand with any scheme for the creation of Elective County Boards. I am well aware that the hope is indulged, in some quarters, that the inclusion of Ireland in a general measure of county government, with the sop of an Irish Parliamentary Grand Committee thrown in, will suffice to choke off the demand for Irish legislative inde- pendence; but English statesmen need not delude them- selves with the idea that any such Westminster expedient will satisfy the genius of Irish Nationality. There could be established in Dublin a National Assem- bly composed of elected members from the constituencies of Ireland, who should proceed to the administration of all Irish affairs in the manner which obtains in colonial parlia- ments, excepting the substitution of one for two Chambers, here proposed. That is to say, the Representative of the Crown in Ireland would call upon some member of the National Assembly to form a government the different mem- bers of which should be constituted the heads of the various Boards, which at present are practically irresponsible bureau- OJ^V OF IFF LAND. under the system here proposed, would ^nts of a popular government, and open to ii of the people through the National Assem- a government, subject to the control of the gov- . rough their elected representatives, would be the jal solution of the Anglo-Irish difficulty. It would be . the common definition of constitutional rule carried into practice. It would, as already remarked, be the application to misgoverned and unfortunate Ireland of a constitution kindred to that which British statesmanship has long since granted, wisely and well, to a consequently peaceful and contented Canada. Certainly if a similar act of political justice and sound . policy does not solve the Irish difficulty, nothing less will. What possible danger could England run from such an application of constitutional rule to a country much nearer to the centre of Imperial power than Canada ? But what a beneficent change for Ireland — nay, what a relief to England herself — would be involved in such an act of simple politi- cal justice ! INDEX Anderson, Hon. C. M., M. C. of Ohio ; p. 134. Blair, Hon. H. W., Senator from New Hampshire ; p. 82. Bliss, Hon; A. M., M. C. of New York ; p. 127. Blaine, Hon. Jas. G.; p. 189. Brown, Hon. Wm. Wallace, M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 121. Brumm, Hon. Chas. N., M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 90. Belford, Hon. J. B., M. C. of Colorado ; p. 163. Butterworth, Hon. B. B., M. C. of Ohio ; p. 140. Biichanan, Hon. Jas., M. C. of New Jersey; p. 140. A Bayne, Hon. Thos. M., M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 128. Bynum, Hon. W. D. , M. C. of Indiana ; p. 122. Burnes, Hon. Jas. N., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 118. Baker, Hon. Chas. S., M. C. of New York ; p. 112, Brady, Col. J. D., M. C. of Virginia ; p. 166. Bland, Hon. R. P., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 150. Campbell, Hon. T. J., M. C. of New York ; p. 159. Crawley, Thos., Mayor of Alexandria, La.; p. 176. Campbell, Hon. F., M. C. of New York ; p. 172. Cotchings, Hon. T. C., M. C.; p. 184. Cole, Hon. W. H., M. C. of Maryland; p. 170. Compton, Hon. Barnes, M. C. of Maryland; p. 102. Cooper, Hon. W. C., M. C. of Ohio ; p. 100. Conger, Hon. E. H., M. C. of Iowa ; p. 103. Comstock, Hon. C. C., M. C. of Michigan ; p. 186. Cutcheon, Hon. B. M., M. C, of Michigan ; p. 115. Davitt, Michael ; p. 311. Dawes, Hon. H. L. of Massachusetts ; p. 85. Dingley, Hon. Nelson Jr., M. C. of Maine; p. 103. Dockery, Hon. Alex. M., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 106. Ely, Hon. F. D., M. C. of Massachusetts ; 157. Frye, Hon. Wm. P., Senator from Maine ; p. 80. Ford, Hon. Geo., M. C. of Indiana; p. 132. Findlay, Hon. John V. L., M. C. of Maryland ; p. 86. V NDEX, .cor from Louisiana ; p. 85. M. P.; p. 203, 285. j£., M. C. of Ohio ; p. 89. jrt S., M. C. of New Jersey ; p. 138. j. S., Delegate to Congress from Dakota ; p. 117. . W. G., M. C. of Vermont ; p. 124. .r, Hon. J. H., M. C. of New Hampshire ; p. 153. Gen. J. M., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 154. Hendricks, Hon. T. A., Vice-President of the United States ; 173. Holman, Hon. W. S., M. C. of Indiana ; p. 149. 'ilewitt, Hon. A. S., M. C. of New York ; p. 158. Hale, Hon. Eugene, of Maine ; p. 79. Hall, Hon. John B., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 99. Hoar, Hon. Geo. F., Senator from Massachusetts ; p. 86. Houk, Hon. L. C. M. C. of Tennessee ; p. 100. Henderson, Hon. D. B., M. C. of Iowa ; p. 111. Hanback, Hon. Lewis., M. C. of Kansas ; p. 111. Halsell, Hon. Jno. E., M. O. of Kentucky ; p. 105. Holmes, Hon. A. J., M. C. of Iowa ; p. 106. Haynes, Hon. Martin A., M. C. of New Hampshire; p. 141. Harmer, Hon. A. C., M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 133. Henderson, Hon. T. J. , M. C. of Illinois ; p. 123. Henley, Hon. Barclay., M. C. of California; p. 115. Hisock, Hon. Frank., M. C. of New York ; p. 116. Henderson, Hon. J. S., M. C. of North Carolina ; p. 131. Hubbard, Hon. L. F., Governor of Minnesota ; p. 185. Ireland, Hon. J., Governor of Texas ; p. 183. James, Hon. Darwin R., M. C. of New York ; p. 116. Johnson, C. W., Clerk of the U. S. Senate ; p. 181. Kelley, Hon. Wm. D., Congressman of Pennsylvania ; p. 82. Kleiner, Hon. John J., M. C. of Indiana ; p. 146. Larrabee, Gov. Wm. of Iowa ; p. 160. Laffoon, Hon. Polk, M. C. of Kentucky ; p. 122. Lefevre, lion. Benj., M. C. ; p. 185. Long, lion. John D., M. C. of Massachusetts; p. 128. Love, Hon. C. B., M. C. of Delaware ; p. 134. Lyman, Hon. J., M. C. of Iowa; p. 114. Logan, Hon. John A., Senator from Illinois ; p. 76. 316 THE story of IRELAND, cracies; but which, under the system here proposed, would become departments of a popular government, and open to the supervision of the people through the National Assem- bly. Such a government, subject to the control of the gov- erned thr ough their elected representatives, would be the practical solution of the Anglo-Irish difficulty. It would be but the common definition of constitutional rule carried into practice. It would, as already remarked, be the application to misgoverned and unfortunate Ireland of a constitution kindred to that which British statesmanship has long since granted, wisely and well, to a consequently peaceful and contented Canada. Certainly if a similar act of political justice and sound policy does not solve the Irish difficulty, nothing less will. What possible danger could England run from such an application of constitutional rule to a country much nearer to the centre of Imperial power than Canada? lUit what a beneficent change for Ireland — nay, what a relief to England herself — would be involved in such an act of simple politi- cal justice ! Anderson, Hon. C, M., M. C. of Ohio ; p. 134. Blair, Hon. H. W., Senator from New Hampshire ; p. 82. Bliss, Hon; A. M., M. C. of New .York; p. 127. Blaine, Hon. Jas. G.; p. 189. Brown, Hon. Wm. Wallace^ M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 121. Brumm, Hon. Chas. N., M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 90. Belford, Hon. J. B,, M. C. of Colorado ; p. 163. Butterworth, Hon. B. B., M. C. of Ohio ; p. 140. Buchanan, Hon. Jas., M. C. of New Jersey; p. 140. 'V Bayne, Hon. Thos. M., M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 128. Bynum, Hon. W. D. , M. C. of Indiana ; p. 122. Burnes, Hon. Jas. N., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 118. Baker, Hon. Chas. S., M. C. of New York ; p. 112. Biudy, Col. J. D., M. C. of Virginia ; p. 166. Bland, Hon. R. P., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 150. Campbell, Hon. T. J., M. C. of New York ; p. 159. Crawley, Thos., Mayor of Alexandria, La.; p. 176. Campbell, Hon. F., M. C. of New York ; p. 172. Cotchings, Hon. T. C., M. C.; p. 184. Cole, Hon. W. H. , M. C. of Maryland ; p. 170. Compton, Hon. Barnes, M. C. of Maryland; p. 102. Cooper, Hon. W. C., M. C. of Ohio ; p. 100. Conger, Hon. E. H., M. C. of Iowa ; p. 103. Comstock, Hon. C. C., M. C. of Michigan ; p. 186. Cutcheon, Hon. B. M., M. C, of Michigan ; p. 115. Davitt, Michael ; p. 311. Dawes, Hon. H. L, of Massachusetts ; p. 85. Dingley, Hon. Nelson Jr., M. C. of Maine; p. 103. Dockery, Hon. Alex. M., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 106. Ely, Hon. F.'D., M. C. of Massachusetts; 157. Frye, Hon. Wm. P., Senator from Maine ; p. 80. Ford, Hon. Geo., M. C. of Indiana ; p. 132. Findlay, Hon. John V. L., M. C. of Maryland ; p. 86. “ Fa . '■ ‘ • 4' ^ if-' _ _ •Si. ^,; t-t«orf,Tt •■Jawf-’ ■ / , , V ■•' •' ., ^ 1 =4 vX ii.'i ■‘nMt^psm i , ^4 ""'■*-’..,,;',-tj Mir* a..?'* ^ < -/Si'. 4,4 i»- ^ . „. 4 . ..•'■■ •!. v .^,(' '■; -■ „;. H' ,.;> ,5r issrvic d: oa^vA •< ,)m.x rvi,Al ^J^'■ '{ ‘>i:'. ft ; 'rfdv>?,:P,0 V ■'>:,'% ' A?;;jii4':j| -*’•'/ ■« '.'•A^Hi vr -4^ M" ',, 3 Jl|f ;, 0 'i>.?Jv< '■* ' , ;i>’^ . •■' .r .•.. . W.^^ 4fS .»« ’ /. . h ., ^ i^' ,0 '-f .jw .»>i«.^t>«:toMassB5KaS^ INDEX, Gibson, Hon. R. L., Senator from Louisiana ; p. 85. Gladstone, Hon. W. E., M. P.; p. 203, 285. Grosvenor, Hon. C. H., M. C. of Ohio; p. 89. Green, Hon. Robert S., M. C. of New Jersey ; p. 138. Gifford, Hon. O. S., Delegate to Congress from Dakota; p. 117. Grout, Hon . W, Q-., M. C. of Vermont ; p. 124. GaUing^f, Hon. J. H., M. C. of New Hampshire; p. 153. Glover, Gen. J. M., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 154. Hendricks,’ Hon. T. A., Vice-President of the United States ; 173. .Holman, Hon. W. S., M. C. of Indiana ; p. 149. ^Mewitt, Hon. A. S., M. C. of New York ; p. 158. Hale, Hon. Eugene, of Maine ; p. 79. Hall, Hon. John B., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 99. Hoar, Hon. Geo. F., Senator from Massachusetts ; p. 86. Houk; Hon. L. C. M. C. of Tennessee ; p. 100. Henderson, Hon. D. B., M. C. of Iowa ; p. 111. Hanback, Hon. Lewis., M. C. of Kansas ; p. 111. Halsell, Hon. Jno. E., M. C. of Kentucky ; p. 105. Holmes, Hon. A. J., M. C. of Iowa ; p. 106. Haynes, Hon. Martin A., M. C. of New Hampshire ; p. 141. Harmer, Hon. A. C., M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 133. -Henderson, Hon. T. J. , M. C. of Illinois ; p. 123. Henley, Hon. Barclay., M. C. of California; p. 115. Hisock, Hon. Frank., M. C. of New York ; p. 116. Henderson, Hon. J. S., M. C. of North Carolina ; p. 131. Hubbard, Hon. L. F., Governor of Minnesota ; p. 185. Ireland, Hon. J., Governor of Texas ; p. 183. James, Hon. Darwin R., M. C. of New York ; p. 116. Johnson, 0. W., Clerk of the U. S. Sena^te ; p. 181. Kelley, Hon. Wm. D., Congressman of Pennsylvania ; p. 82. Kleiner, Hon. John J., M. 0. of Indiana ; p. 146. Larrabee, Gov. Wm. of Iowa ; p. 160. Laffoon, Hon. Polk, M. C. of Kentucky ; p. 122. Lefevre, Hon. Benj., M. C. ; p. 185. Long, Hon. John D., M. C. of Massachusetts; p. 128. Love, Hon. C. B., M. C. of Delaware ; p. 134. Lyman, Hon. J., M. C. of Iowa; p. 114. Logan, Hon. John A., Senator from Illinois ; p. 75. INDJiJL. Larsaey, Hon. T. E., M. C. of Michigan; p^^8: Lawler. Hon. L., M. 0. of Illinois ; Lindsley, Hon. J. Gi, M. C.;^.,162. Long, J, G.^ Mayor of Str'Augustine, Fla.,; p. 178. Louttit, Hon. C. of California ; p. 179. MeiTiifTanTHon. T. A. , M. C . of New York ; p. 163. ,^;,<^McComas, Hon. L. E., M. C.; p. 183. . McPherson, Hon. J. R., Senator from New Jersey ; p. 79. McAdoo, Hon. Wm., M. 0. of New Jersey ; p. 95. '^f..^'^Iiller, Hon. James F., M. C. of Texas ; p. 106. Miller, Hon. Warner, Senator from New York ; p. 110.. Millard, Hon. Stephen C., M. C. of New York; p. 107. Morrison, Hon. W m. R. , M. C. of Illinois ; p. 87. Ma,tson, Hon. C. C., M. C. of Indiana ; p. 108. Murphy, Hon. Jas. H., M. C. of Iowa ; p. 144. Mahoney, Hon. P. P., M. C. of New York; p. 143. I Maybury, Hon. W. C., M. C. of Michigan; p. 135. McCook, Gen. Anson G., Sec. U. S. Senate, p. 130. \ McKenna, Hon. J., M. C. of California; p. 130. O’Neill, Hon. John J., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 91. Owen, Hon. D. W., M. C. of Indiana ; p. 108. Parnell, Hon. Chas. S., M. P.; p. 363. Pettibone, Hon. A. H., M. C. of Tennessee; p. 153. Peters, Hon. S. R., M. C., of Kansas; p. 101._ Pindar, Hon. J. S., M. C. of New York ; p. 119. Phelps, Hon. Wm. Walter, M. C., of New Jersey; p. 136. Payne, Hon. Sereno, M. C. of New York ; p. 133. Price, Hon. W. T., M. C. of Wisconsin; p. 139. Perkins, Hon. B. W., M. C. of Kansas ; p. 117. Plumb, Hon. Ralph, M. C. of Illinois ; p. 136. Ranney, Hon. A. A., M. C. of Massachusetts ; p. 137. Ronieis, Hon. Jacob, M. C. of Ohio ; p. 139. Reagan, Hon. J. H., M. C. of Texas ; p. 147. Randal, Hon. S., M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 148. Ryan, Hon. T., M. C. of Kansas ; p. 167. Rice, M. C., Mayor of Jaclcsonville, Fla., p. 177. Sawyer, Hon. Philetus, Senator from Wisconsin ; p. 81. Sherman, Hon. John, Senator from Ohio ; p. 96 INVKX, Larsaey, Hon. T. E. , M. C. of Michigan ; p. 138. Lawler, Hon. L., M. C. of Illinois ; p. 172. Lindsley, Hon. J. G., M. C.; p. 182. Long, J. G., Mayor of SL Augustine, Fla. ; p. 178. Louttit, Hon. J. A., M. C. of California ; p. 179. Mevriman, Hon. T. A., M. C. of New York ; p. 162. McComas, Hon. L. E., M. C.; p. 183. McPherson, Hon. J. E., Senator from New Jersey ; p. 79. McAdoo, Hon. Wm., M. C. of New Jersey ; p. 95. lliller, Hon. James F., M. C. of Texas ; p. 105. Miller, Hon. Warner, Senator from New York ; p. 110. Millard, Hon. Stephen C., M. C. of New York; p. 107. Morrison, Hon. Wm. E., M. C. of Illinois ; p. 87. Matson, Hon. C. C., M. C. of Indiana ; p. 108. Murphy, Hon. Jas. H., M. C. of Iowa ; p. 144. Mahoney, Hon. P. P., M. C. of New York ; p. 142. Maybury, Hon. W. C., M. C. of Michigan; p. 135. McCook, Gen. Anson G., Sec. U. S. Senate, p. 130. McKenna, Hon. J., M. C. of California ; p. 130. O’Neill, Hon. John J., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 91. Owen, Hon. D. W., M. C. of Indiana ; p. 108. Parnell, Hon. Chas. S., M. P. ; p. 263. Pettibone, Hon. A. H., M. C. of Tennessee ; p. 152. Peters, Hon. S. E., M. C., of Kansas; p. 101. Pindar, Hon. J. S., M. C. of New York ; p. 119. Phelps, Hon. Wm. Walter, M. C., of New Jersey; p. 126. Payne, Hon. Sereno, M. C. of New York ; p. 132. Price, Hon. W. T., M. C. of Wisconsin; p. 129. Perkins, Hon. B. W., M. C. of Kansas ; p. 117. Plumb, Hon. Ealph, M. C. of Illinois ; p. 126. Eanney, Hon. A. A., M. C. of Massachusetts ; p. 137. Eomeis, Hon. Jacob, M. C. of Ohio ; p. 129. Eeagan, Hon. J. H., M. C. of Texas ; p. 147. Eandal, Hon. S., M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 148. Eyan, Hon. T., M. C. of Kansas ; p. 167. Eice, M. C., Mayor of Jacksonville, Fla., p. 177. Sawyer, Hon. Philetus, Senator from Wisconsin ; p. 81. '' Senator from California ; p. 88. vton. JoHix Pennsylvania ; p. 08. Stoneman, G., Governo* "^ia ; p. 180. Stone, Hon. W. J., M. C.; p. ^ Swinburne, Hon. John., M. C. of ]Ne». 03, Sadler, Hon. T. W. , M. C. of Alabama ; p. ^ Sawyer, Hon. John G., M. C. of New York ; p. Stahlnecker, Hon. W. G., of New York ; p. 110. Springer, Hon. Wm. M., M. C. of Illinois ; p. 120. Symes, Hon. G. G., M. C. of Colorado ; p. 136. Stone, Hon. W. J., M. C. of Missouri; p. 139. Sowden, Hon. W. H., M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 145. Storm, Hon. J. B., M. C. of Pennsylvania; p. 98. Taylor, Hon. E. B., M. C. of Ohio ; p. 143. Townshend, Hon. R. W., M. C. of Illinois ; p. 109. Van Wyck, Hon. C. H., M. C. of Nebraska ; p. 77. Vest, Hon. G. G., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 81. Viele, Hon. E. S., M. C. of New York ; p. 118. | Worthington, Hon. N. E., M. C. of Illinois ; p. 101. White, Hon. Milo, M. C. of Minnesota; p. 105. Willis, Hon. A. S., M. C. of Kentucky ; p. 120. Weaver, Hon. J. B., M. C. of Iowa ; p. 151. Warner, Hon. Wm., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 160. Woodburn, Hon. Wm., M. C. of Nevada ; p. 161. Weber, Hon. J. B., M. C. of New York ; p. 162. Wakefield, Hon. J. B., M. C. of Minnesota ; p. 167. Woodbury, U. A., Mayor of Burlington, Vermont; p. 177. Wait, Hon. J. T., M. C.; p. 179. , 320 INDEX. Stanford, Hon. Leland, Senator from California ; p. 88 Storm, Hon. John B., M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 98. Stoneman, G., Governor of California ; p. 180. Stone, Hon. W. J., M. C.; p. 182. Swinburne, Hon. John., M. C. of New York ; p. 92. Sadler, Hon. T. W., M. C. of Alabama ; p. 127. Sawyer, Hon. John G., M. C. of New York ; p. 125. Stahlnecker, Hon. W. G., of New York ; p. 110. Springer, Hon. Wm. M., M. C. of Illinois ; p. 120. Symes, Hon. G. G., M. C. of Colorado ; p. 136. Stone, Hon. W. J., M. C. of Missouri; p. 139. Sowden, Hon. W; H., M. C. of Pennsylvania ; p. 145. Storm, Hon. J. B., M. C. of Pennsylvania; p. 98. Taylor, Hon. E. B., M. C. of Ohio ; p. 143. Townshend, Hon. R. W., M. C. of Illinois ; p. 109. Van Wyck, Hon. C. II., M. C. of Nebraska ; p. 77. Vest, Hon. G. G., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 81. Viele, Hon. E. S., M. C. of New York ; p. 118. | Worthington, Hon. N. E., M. C. of Illinois ; p. 101. White, Hon. Milo, M. C. of Minnesota/, p. 105. Willis, Hon. A. S., M. C. of Kentucky ; p. 120. Weaver, Hon. J. B., M. C. of Iowa ; p. 151. Warner, Hon. Wm., M. C. of Missouri ; p. 160. Woodburn, Hon. Wm., M. C. of Nevada ; p. 161. Weber, Hon. J. B., M. C. of New York ; p. 162. Wakefield, Hon. J. B., M. C. of Minnesota ; p. 167. Woodbury, U. A., Mayor of Burlington, Vermont; p. 177. Wait, Hon. J. T., M. C.; p. 179. .