THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY ^Tipotion of +v>p coi J-^^ ^^ Lo ireiana... Drumcondra. ii Purchased, -J-^-^ ■'^-•.i'' r'v" - r ■ ■■"'' The person charging thi:> aaterial is re- sponsible for its return on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN FEB - MAR !-•; it ./ i FEB /' 6 \m mi L161— 0-1096 ^v.l-^ •"^V'-f^- ■-T.r; ,.- , ' .-r.-i "■^.^■' - ■^..■' '%: THE DIVIDED IRISH. A . .^i..— i..iiii£i THE DIVIDED IRISH AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. BY THE HON. ALBERT S. G. CANNING. Author of " Words on Existing Religions," etc., etc. "Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us ; It wad frae mony a blunder free us, And foolish notion." — Bums. LONDON W. H. ALLEN & CO., LIMITED. 13, WATERLOO PLACE, .S.W. 1894 \ WYMAN AND SONS, LIMITED, PRINTERS, LONDON AND REDHILL. 34-U5 C I6A PREFACE. I tHIS work is republished with additions, in the hope that it may be useful to general readers. When first published, in 1888, an able London Review stated that it laid too much stress on the clerical element in Irish politics. Recent history, however, apparently justifies the views then expressed. When the clergy of the Irish majority withdrew their support from Mr. Farnell he lost influence with a decisiveness that astonished even his shrewd and practical mind. Whether he lost it deservedly or not may be a matter of opinion. But of the fact and its result there can be no doubt, proving that in politics, clerical influence among the Irish masses re- mains the chief and ultimate guide. A. S. G. Canning. June, 1894. 486883 CONTENTS. •'5(r7: THE DIVIDED IRISH. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. Throughout Britain, for many years, party-spirit, allied with religious ani- mosity, has been little known, or at least produced few dangerous results. To a great extent this feeling has become within it almost a matter of history.* Thus the two greatest British novelists of the century, Walter Scott and Charles Dickens, describe it in historical tales with an impartiality unknown, or unex- pressed at any former time. Scott, alike de- lighted and instructed his readers by describing estimable or worthless characters among all po- * "Mere political changes leave the great body of the com- munity untouched, or touch them only feebly, indirectly or superficially, but changes, which affect religious belief, are felt in their full intensity in the meanest hovel. — Lecky's " England in the Eighteenth Century," Vol. II. B 2 The Divided Irish. litical and religious parties in Britain. Dickens, writing many years later, apparently saw little occasion to dwell upon this subject. His works chiefly address English readers, among whom hypocrisy, meanness, and selfish avarice, the usual accompaniments, perhaps, of a long period of domestic peace, wealth, luxury, and com- mercial competition, needed condemnation more than an almost extinct spirit of political and religious bigotry. In his chief historical novel, " Barnaby Rudge," Dickens describes the " No Popery" riots in London of the last century with a fairness which would never have been popular except in a community free from religious pre- judice. But in the midst of light, as Macaulay says, the thick darkness of the Middle Ages rested upon Ireland, and in some respects his remark still applies to that perplexing country. Many parts of it still cherish and recall the memory of remote civil wars with a vivid in- terest, and often a vindictiveness no longer manifested in other civilised lands. During the Reformation the cause of Roman Catholicism was steadily maintained by the native Irish, whiFe the English and Scottish colonists, chiefly in the north of Ireland, fol- , T/te Divided Irish. 3 lowed the example of their British fellow-coun- trymen in becoming Protestant. The wish of James the Second to establish the supremacy of the Irish Roman Catholics, and thus revoke the policy of his royal predecessors, changed Ire- land into the battle-field of Protestant or Ro- man Catholic rule over the British empire. The Irish Catholics for the first time in history aban- doned all lingering idea of restoring ancient national independence, and by the influence of their clergy became the champions of the de- posed James the Second, considering William the Third a heretic as well as a usurper.* From the civil war between these princes, ending in the defeat of James at the battle of the Boyne, may be dated the extraordinary religious pre- judices which have ever since divided Ireland's population in hereditary determined enmity. During the wars of Cromwell, the hope of Ire- land's freedom from British rule was still dear to the Iri^ majority, but the subsequent con- test between James and William was, in' Ire- land, viewed as one of religion rather than of race. While the defence of Derry'ahd battle of the * See Macaulay's remarks, "Hist, of England," Vols. I. and II. B 2 4 The Divided Irish. Boyne are celebrated by the descendants of vic- torious Protestants, the descendants of defeated Roman Catholics often allude in party songs or political speeches to a future time of revenge on their fellow-countrymen. Thus a divided popu- lation, without real or alleged personal cause of quarrel, are still often inspired with a dangerous hatred, chiefly arising from the effects produced in their minds by one-sided historical traditions. These fragments of history, with an unfairness inconsistent alike with Christianity or common sense, usually represent opponents and partisans as entirely, and always in the right, or in the wrong. Errors are hardly acknowledged as pos- sible among religious and political partisans; nor are redeeming qualities often attributed to opponents. The latter are usually viewed as little better than the incarnations of sin and danger, while the common Creator each party confidently declares on its side, either blessing in victory, or sympathising in defeat. The cus- tom moreover of burning effigies of religious and political foes, whether living or dead, incurs neither the legal penalty nor the general cen- sure which might be expected among a civilised community. The denial of Divine mercy to The Divided Irish. 5 any religious denomination, or declaration of Divine wrath against any political party, past or present, produce their natural result in these revolting exhibitions. The insults offered, either to Roman Catholicism or to Protestantism by the comparatively uneducated, only prove their stubborn, trustful belief in the sermons and speeches of those who apparently think it more their duty to embitter than to reconcile the supposed descendants of historical enemies. This implacability, when animating the devout and conscientious, evidently arises from the extraordinary unreasonable aversion of Irish religious and political parties to each other's opinions, being often practically irrespective of personal character. The feelings, therefore, of many Irishmen to- wards religious and political opponents are of a nature now almost unknown in Britain. The idea of allowing, even in argument, what is called fair-play or an equal chance of success to oppo- nents, is often thought absurd or dangerous. When differing versions of Christianity are alter- nately described as soul-destroying, when igno- rant excitable men are told that belief in either is fatal to salvation, their conduct in reviling or 6 The Divided Irish. wishing to suppress each other's faith is the practical result of credulity. The law through- out the vast British Empire protects the weaker party in all countries from religious or political persecution. In Ireland, were British rule with- drawn, it may be doubted if much freedom of thought or speech would be allowed to any local minority. The unreasoning animosity still in- spiring many of the divided Irish about politics, land laws, and differing versions of the same faith, can only be understood by those living in Ireland. The most intimate acquaintance with English or Scottish people is scarcely a sufficient -guide, for men trying to rule or influence the Irish masses. Hence the successive difficulties, if not failures, of many Irish Chief Secretaries in dealing with the people they attempt to govern. Enlightened, fair-minded statesmen, of whom the late Lord Frederick Cavendish was a notable instance, full of civilised ideas and principles, have found them hopelessly opposed by religious or political animosities worthy of the Middle Ages, and which they apparently thought had disappeared with them. Yet they survive in full force among some most devout, energetic, and popular Irishmen. In fact, admiration for TJie Divided Irish. 7 real liberty in its practical sense is either less felt in Ireland than in Britain, or its popular in- terpretation is very different. Many who extol it show, and sometimes avow, little considera- tion, not only for opponents, but even for parti- sans less prejudiced than themselves. Freedom of thought and expression is often confounded with religious or political ascendancy. The strange uncivilised desire to recall past times of Catholic supremacy or Protestant triumph over fellow-countrymen is not enough discour- aged by Irish public opinion. To boast of the battle of Waterloo before Frenchmen, to exult over the defeated Sikhs or Mahrattas in India, or to celebrate in Scotland the CuUoden victory over the Highlanders, would be thought insult- ing, and impolitic, and generally censured by British enlightenment and good sense. In Ireland, unfortunately, public opinion, even among some well-meaning men, is often neither so judicious nor philanthropic. The celebration in songs or processions of former civil wars is maintained with an eager desire to preserve through successive generations a spirit of religious or political alienation among fellow-countrj'men owing to ancestral wrongs or triumphs. This 8 The Divided Iiish. selfish, narrow-minded policyof endangering the public peace and irritating fellow-subjects by recalling historical warfare between their sup- posed ancestors, is universally avoided and con- demned in every other part of the British Empire. That empire now comprises a greater variety of religions and races than any other of ancient and modern times, not excepting the Roman * British laws are not only obeyed but supported and enforced by Jews, Mohammedans, Parsces, Brahmins, and Buddhists. Persecution of Jews and warfare with Mohammedans and Brahmins have ceased ; Jewish and Parsee legis- lators and traders, Mohammedan and Brahmin lawyers and soldiers, are among the most loyal of British subjects.t Yet in Ireland to this day even educated men of talent work themselves and others into dangerous, sometimes fatal, ex- * " Ours is the most widely spread and the most penetrating of nationalities. The time, indeed, cannot be far remote when the British Empire must, if it remain united, by the growth of its population and its ubiquitous dominion, exercise a controlling authority in the world." — Lord Rosebery's Preface to "Round the Empire." t " Remember what India had been for countless ages before the establishment of British rule, and then consider what it is to have established, for so many years, over the vast space from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, a reign of perfect peace, to have conferred upon more than 250 millions of the human race perfect religious freedom, perfect security of life, liberty, and property." — Lecky's "Empire," p. 44. TJte Divided Irish. g / citement against Christian fellow-countrymen, owing to recollections of former civil wars. In that island *' the seventeenth century has left to the nineteenth a fatal heritage of malignant passions." * Thus wrote the ablest British his- torian of this century, and Ireland's history during its last quarter fully verifies the em- phatic statement. * Macaulay's " History of England/' Vol. II., chap. vi. 10 - CHAPTER II. URING a period of national peace it (!^^ might be expected that fair, impartial Irish histories would be written ; yet, it is still rare to find impartiality devoted to Ire- land. The island has always been, and still continues, more or less the scene of political and religious animosity between its divided in- habitants. This perpetual contention, though not re al wartare, presen ts much of its natur e. Yet, except in occasional riots, there has been no serious conflict with armed troops since the rebellion of '98. For many years there has been nothing to prevent the appearance of an impartial history of Ireland. The progress of general information during this century has been unprecedented, and has received encour- agement in almost every department. Authors of education, talent, and knowledge, have, in- deed, written upon this subject, but their views are generally so one-sided through political or The Divided Irish. ,^ 1 1 religious prejudices, that, while some truth may be found in most, yet few, if any, can be thoroughly trusted. British histories are usually impartially and carefully written. Alike before and since the Union of 1700, the details, as well as the leading facts in the histories of England and Scotland are often fairly examined and pre- sented to the study of an impartial public. Although these kingdoms had frequently warred against each other, their voluntary union under James the First of England and Sixth of Scotland effected their thorough pacification. The united British revolt against his son and successor, Charles the First, tended in its result rather to unite than separate the adjoining kingdoms. The King and the Commonwealth found friends and foes in both. English and Scottish royalists each resisted the Common- wealth, but were alike overcome by its vic- torious champion, Oliver Cromwell. The Scot- tish republicans, mostlj^ Lowlanders, cordially joined English partisans in deposing the King, who was finally delivered up by the former to the latter. The British republicans were thoroughly united in policy and sentiment against British royalists, who were equally 12 The Diviikd Irish. united in favour of the deposed Stuart dynasty. From this time, therefore, the national feuds between English and Scottish were completely merged in the changed political views prevalent in Great Britain for and against the monarchy. Most Scottish Highlanders were royalists, allied with the Engi'sh Cavaliers, while most Scottish Lowlanders, being avowed repub- licans, favoured the Commonwealth. During this civil war, however, the real spirit of re- publicanism had few supporters. Its nominal champion, Oliver Cromwell, was more like a shrewd military despot than a lover of re- publican principle.* He was strenuously op- posed by nearly all the landed gentry through- out Great Britain, as well as by most of the wealthier classes. The Commonwealth now became the sole rule of its great hero, Crom- well. Even his republican admirer, Milton, the most learned, accomplished, and intellec- tual of all his English adherents, addressed him in language of admiring, implicit obedience, hardly consistent with republican sentiment.f ♦ Even Macaulay admits that, "beyond the limits of his camps and fortresses," Cromwell had no party.— "History of England." t See Milton's prose works. The Divided Irish. ^ 13 Though at this time literary study, if not taste, was confined to a few thoughtful minds, yet Scottish ballads and traditions, as well as English historical legends and records in their different ways, mostly favoured the monarchical principle. In England, Shakspere's historical plays seem at once the cause and effect of this feeling. The great author evidently felt and tried to inspire an attached loyal interest in his country's royal family, with an earnestness surprising in one who personally owed nothing to them. Although he wrote in the reign* of Elizabeth, his latest historical play comprised only the first years of her imperious father's rule. In Henry the Eighth's eventful reign began the first doctrinal contests between fellow- Christians throughout England of lasting con- sequence. Henry himself represented, as it were, the changing opinions of his subjects. He began his reign by vindicating Roman Catholicism againsfiall assailants, and obtained the Pope's thanks for so doing ; but ended his terrible career as the political champion of Protestantism, excommunicated by the same Church which he had previously defended. 14 TJie Divided Irish. The short reign of his son, Edward the Sixth, and the far more eventful ones of his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, witnessed the religious strife which in England replaced, and in some respects resembled in destructive fury, the poli- tical civil wars of former days. Scotland fully shared in this religious warfare ; and after Eliza- beth's death the first Protestant Scottish king peacefully occupied the throne of the United Kingdom. He also, like previous English kings, from Henry the Second's time, claimed exclu- sive rule over Ireland. This nominal union of the three kingdoms had been foreseen in Eliza- beth's reign. Shakspere alludes to it in Mac- beth, where he makes the Scottish usurper see in a vision shown by the witches several future British kings bearing treble sceptres. This poetical and political prophecy James the First lived to realise. He was al.vays designated King of Great Britain and Ireland, having no avowed opponent or legal rival. During his reign the divisions in the Christian Church throughout his dominions require careful ex- amination to fully explain the subsequent his- tory of Ireland. In all warfare between English and Irish J] TJie Divided IrhJi. i 5 \ since the reign of Henry the Second, the Pa-I pacy, together with the English monarchy, vvere\ allies in the political conquest and religious ( government of Ireland. No Irish or foreign king was recognised in Europe either by the I Pope or any temporal sovereign, as a rival to) English rule. The accession of James the First to the throne of the three united kingdoms brought apparent peace to all. Yet his authority was secretly disavowed by the Irish Catholic majority, and evaded often where it could not be resisted. Religion and race werejhe two special reasons for this opposition. The de- scendants of mingled Britons, Saxons, and Nor- mans, comprising the English nation and the Scottish Lowlandcrs, had always viewed the Scottish Celts, or Highlanders, with distrust ; but regarded the Irish Celts with a far greater hostility. The Scottish Highland .Celts, how- ever, took little part in the original English or subsequent British colonisation of Ireland. They had indeed long viewed English neigh- bours and Scottish fellow-countrymen with dis- like and apprehension, but, unlike the native Irish, they gradually became more friendly with both. 1 6 Tlu Divided Irish. Th^ success of the Scottish Reformation, and the union of England with Scotland, aroused no opposition among the Highlanders, though most of them remained Roman Catholics. Their Scottish King, by legally succeeding to the united kingdom, was free, therefore, in the sight of his British subjects 'from all the odium of conquest. He thus represented the free and peaceful union of Great Britain. As a Protest- ant, he also represented the religion of the British majority. James, early taught to regard the religion of his unfortunate mother, Mary Queen of Scots, with no favour, viewed Irish Roman Catholics especially as most undesir- able subjects. Their faith was still represented in England by a few distinguished families, who, though subject in consequence to civil dis- abilities, retained their property in legal security. The Catholic Highlanders were thoroughly loyal to James, as lawful descendant of their long line of Kings, and though, doubtless, desiring his conversion to the faith of his ancestors, showed no wish to dispute his authority. In Ireland sincere, devoted Roman Catholicism always re- presented the religious conviction of the majority. They, generally speaking, viewed James with // The Divided Irish. 17 dread and hostility. He represented for the first time regal Protestantism without a rival. In the previous reigns of Henry the Eighth and Elizabeth there were either Catholic rivals or legal successors, The.English and Scottis h Queens, . MMJ^JTMOL-Sn^ Jlaiy_Stuart^^ suppor ted the hopes of British Roman Cathol ics, betvveenwhom and the Irish Catholic prelates there existed fe elings of political as well as re- ligious union. But these prelates were ap- parently not as influential in Irish political guidance as they afterwards became. The Irish chiefs, without caring much for clerical sanc- tion, had obstinately resisted English domina- tion either by open revolt or sullen opposition during and since the disastrous reign of King John. But hitherto the cause of their resist- ance was national, not religious. The warfare waged by them against the Protestant Queen Elizabeth was not entirely a religious contest. The Pr>pf> ^nA all frnf» PathniirQ rprtflinly dlS" liked this Que en ; but the severance of Ireland from England w as never co ntemplated^jexcept by some of the n ative Irish . On the contrary, the return o f England to the Catholi c Church was still expected by ma n j^j ^"'^ »'" t^''t "' i ^" nt C 1 8 The Divided Irish. Irish Catholics would have received no Papal syjnpathy in jresisting. English. rule. The suppression of the Irish revolt against Elizabeth, however, encouraged her successor, James the First, to settle a British Protestant colony in the north of Ireland. This colony viewed, and was viewed by the Irish, as heredi- tary foes in religion as well as in race. Yet,, despite the religious bigotry of the time, no- idea of treating Scottish Catholic Highlanders- like the Irish seems to have occurred to JameSr While the British government and colony con- sidered Irish Catholics dangerous, if not irrecon- cilable foes, the lives and property of their British co-religionists were legally safe. No confiscation on account of faith alone threatened British Catholic landowners. While a portion of Ulster was conferred upon British Protest- ants,,^l Catholic Ireland was regarded with appre hension by British Protestants in t he thr ee kyigdoms as -tEi~ ypf snore bitt er feeling of religious prejudice. The fallen Church was now all the more distrusted ^ 24 The Divided Irish. in England owing to the detection of the Gun- powder Plot. This design was the work of a few English Catholics of desperate character and broken fortune. Yet, despite the alarm it excited, British Catholics were never viewed or treated like their Irish co-religionists. They belonged to the same race as their rulers, and while enduring legal restrictions, retained their property free from spoliation. While the}^ de- plored their King's Protestantism, they acknow- ledged no rival to him or his dvnastv. But to Irish Catholics the British of Stuart merely represented a long line of invaders, whom their ancestry had steadily resisted, and never obeyed except when compelled. To banish or oppress them, was the tempting but unscru- pulous policy that James adopted. England was now aided by Scotland in invading and colonising Ireland. From this reign, inclusive, the t hree religio us-diyisions of English Prpla- tists, Scottish Presbyterians, and Irish Roman 'Catholics, made Ireland a sceneof either war- fare or political intrigue. British colonists,, by their King's special will and sanction, took possession of a large part of Ulster. The rest of Ireland also was under either his real or The Divided Ir^i. 25 nominal authority. This remarkable invasion, called the Plantation of Ulster, while resembling former invasions in political design, was inspired by a thoroughly new^litical partisanship. It will be read with profit.' — Scotsman, September nth, 1886. LITEBARY INFLUENCE IN BRITISH HISTORY. W. II. Allen & Co. " This is a useful compendium on an interesting subject. Mr. Canning's brief summary will be found exceedingly con- venient." — PubHshers Circular, November 15th, 1889. "The soundness of Mr. Canning's judgment, his nice sen.se of historical perspective, and his neat literary style, make his work enjoyable in no common degree." — Scotsman. August 9th, 1889. •' The writer's modest hope that his book may be useful to readers not familiar with larger works on the subject is not per- haps unreasonable. There are passages in it which such a reader may read with profit." — The Spectator, 'So\<:mhtx nth, 1889. "No page of this book is open to anything but praise." — Glasgow Herald, August 1 2th, 1889. Works h}' the Hon. A. S. G. Canning. •'This volume will be found eminently useful, and it is certainly written in a pleasant and lucid style." — PiMic Opinion, January loth, 1890. " The tone of the book is very impartial, and the literary judgments seem to us remarkably sound." — The Tablet, Augu>t 31st, 1889. " We find page after page of suggestive remarks and biographical touches, which stimulate thought and contribute to genuine literary enjoyment." — Belfast Nor. hern H'hig, October 7th, 1889. "The author reviews in bright, entertaining style repre- sentative literature of every period of English history." — Liver- fool Courier, February 8th, 1890. THOUGHTS ON RELIGIOUS HISTORY. Eden, Remington, & Co., King Street, Covent Garden, London. " Mr. Canning is always a thoughtful and instructive writer. The passages that he collects from the works of great writers on the position of the Jews in history are full of interest. " — The Observer, August 2nd, 189 1. "Mr. Canning is evidently a fair-minded man and writes in a spirit of charity. He strives to deal even-handed justice to each party as it passes under review." — The Scotsman, August 3rd, 1 89 1. " Mr. Canning's workmanship is eminently scholarly and thoughtful." — The People, August 2nd, 1 89 1. "The work is characterised by a rare impartiality and an obvious desire to take wide views, and paint both the sunshine and shadow of religious history." — The Jewish Chronicle, October 2nd, 1891. "The picturesque and entertaining style of this scholarly work is the more striking because of the dispassionate com- parison of conflicting authorities, and the painstaking research, the actual hard study and reflection that have necessarily been bestowed on its production." — IVhitehall Revie-jj, September 26th, 1891. " A sensible and evenly balanced summary of the world's religions. It shows with much clearness and judgment the Wii.'- IVorks by the Hon. A. S. G. Canning. relations in which Paganism, Christianity, and Mohammedan- ism, stood to each other in the past, and the place of Judaism in the march of religious progress. Mr. Canning is certainly sincere, honest, and Uioughtful in his appreciations of the faiths of the past and present." — The Graphic, October, 1891. " There is really a good deal of information to be derived from this little book." — 7'he Worlds August, 1891. "The evils of intolerant dogmatism are dispassionately criti- cised, while the writer is singularly free from the extravagance and captiousness so commonly associated with the criticism of religion." — Manchester Guardian, July 28th, 1891. WORDS ON EXISTING RELIGIONS: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. W. II. Allen & Co. Limited. " Full of sincere appreciation of the many elements of truth in various ancient and modern religious systems." — The Guardian, May 24th, 1893. " Mr. Canning, a most fair-minded and impartial writer, has evidently read widely and has collected in his pages many im- portant and useful facts." — Record, July 28th, 1893. " The book is evidently the result of much labour and wide reading, and the Author shows considerable skill and discrimi- nation in drawing from his somewhat numerous authorities. Though writing from a professedly Christian standpoint, he deals fairly and sympathetically with the other religions that he touches upon. The attention which has latterly been devoted to the comparative study of religion is one of the most remark- able features of the thought of the century, and those who are curious to know what the results of that study of them are, will find them admirably summarised in Mr. Canning's book." — Scotitnan, March 20th, 1893. ' ' Gives a very just and sympathetic survey of the world's religions." — Daily Chronicle, April 8th, 1893. '* These thoughtful and instructive essays will do something to popularize this wider and nobler view." — Bradford Observer, May Sth, 1893. "An interesting and instructive volume, characterized by profound thought and great research." — Belfast News Letter, April I2th, 1893. ^\ V