The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prevalebit. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1886. The Be'fast Riots.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1318, 18 August 1886, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prevalebit. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1886. The Be ' fast Riots.

Full particulars of the first deplorable incidents of the recent riots at Belfast are reported in our last English exchanges. In Belfast itself the disturbances were, of course, the all absorbing topic of the day, and the press of that town is crowded with details of the terrible occuirences i hat marked the early part of June. The News Letter, of June 14, devotes ten closely-printed columns to an account of the “ reign of terror,” and from this source we have drawn the bulk of the information that follows. It is hardly ne essary to write anything with regard to the origin of the trouble; the political events which led up to this wild display of party feeling, riot and bloodshed, are already within the knowledge ot most of our readers; but to show that the feeling of resentment against the Home Rule proposals of Mr Gladstone was entertained by others than the lower classes of Protestant Irishmen, we may quote a brief extract from the report of a sermon delivered by a well-known Presbyterian divine. Preaching at St Enoch’s Church, Belfast, on June 13, the Rev Dr Hanna “referred to the abundant cause God had given them for gratitude and thankfulness in the decision of the House of Commons on last Tuesday morning in defeating the dangerous proposals for the government of Ireland, While thankful to the enlightened and patriotic men who achieved that victory, and saved this country from a great calamity, let God whoguidelhthe hearts of men supremely have the glory. To Him let us raise the voice of thanksgiving and praise. It was right and proper that the people saved by that decision should rejoice, and that loyalty should celebrate the victory. It is trueHhata great struggle has just begun ; but God has given us victory. Let us, therefore, gird up our at the veiyf >utfet the hope for ultimate loins for the great struggle on which we now enter, and resolve on nobly doing our duty to the country, to the I Church, and to the Lord. We stand I for right, and truth, and liberty, against the forces of error and tyranny, and are resolved to resist them in whatever form they may appear. Our safety for e\ery interest that is dear to us lies in the Union existing with the sister kingdoms—with our own kith and kin across the narrow sea that separates us from our Scotch and English brethren. We shall enter into no political partnership with the apostles of sedition and outrage in Ireland or anywhere, and we shall defend ourselves against all domination of such a kind. It was right that the loyalty of the land should celebrate as it did the victory that God had given us through men in the House of Commons faithful to their high trust as the conservators of a great empire.” Another part of the report of the same address is so very much to the point, deals so forcibly with the matte- at issue, that we are constrained to quote it, although this course will necessitate the present exclusion of some other | accounts we propose to re-produce, Having expressed a hope that the san

guinrry action of the Government might be thoroughly investigated, Dr Hanna said—“ The people of the North

have effective powers of resistance,

But the time has not come to employ them. It may please God to give us the victory in an easier way. We must work for this in continuing our appeals to ©unfriends in the sister kingdoms. We must pray for this. Our people must take advice, must reserve their strength, and must not recklessly fling themselves unprepared on disciplined

forces, however great the provocation. They must learn the virtues of prudence and self-restraint, and bide the time, if, when need be, they shall not contend in vain. Seven martyrs to loyalty have already fallen. Their names we shall devoutly cherish, 1 o their memory we shall raise a monument. The authority that superintended their massacre we shall inscribe

on the page that records the infamies of a Claverhouse; and the men of Ulster will remember in ftha day of strife—if it should come—the names of the first martyrs in this conflict, with a perfidious Government, and shall breathe their names with the prayer that invokes the help of their fathers’ God against the enemies of the faith and empire of Britain. The present Chief Secretary for Ireland is one of the most unfortunate appointments that was ever made. He cannot under stand honest men. His theory of religion, and morals, and politics, excludes conscience in any proper sense of the term. Faith to him is but a fancy; morals are the outcome of expediency ; and politics, whatever system of statecraft, will serve the interests of the hour. Such a person cannot appreciate the deep convictions of Ulster, and cannot believe that in the nineteenth century any man is so great a fool as to risk martyrdom for principle. The humblest of the seven victims that fell on Wednesday last under the murderous fire of Mr Morley's militia presents a higher and nobler type of character than the Chief Secretary for Ireland. He has sneered at the imperial province. He cannot refer to it, nor answer a question in regard to it, except in a spirit of ill-natured cynicism discreditable to a philosopher and a statesman, and betraying the narrowness of his views and the bitterness of his prejudices. Ulster is justly indignant. But its people will be calm. They now see the future that the present Government would provide for them. And to that provision they will not submit. The tragic events of the past week will prove to the people of Great Britain that Ireland is occupied by two peoples in race and religion, in principle and purpose, irreconcilably opposed. The people of Great Britain will not subject the Loyalists of Ireland to the mercies of rebel tyranny; the Queen will never authorise such employment of her troops. There is no force in Britain that would or could accomplish such a task. And any attempt at it would convulse the whole British Empire. Nevertheless, with trust in God, let wise and brave men prepare to meet the dangers that are before them, and prove themselves in some degree worthy heirs of a glorious past, transmitting to other days unimpaired the blessings they have enjoyed. God defends the right.” Other particulars which we intended to furnish in this notice must be held overt, but we may mention that the Coroner's jury appointed to inquire Into the circum stances attending fljfi death of or e of th > victims oi the riots returned a verdict to the following effec". ‘ That the said Mai y Reilly, on the 9th day of June, 1886, in the House, 141, Shankhill Road, Belfast, came by her, death from the effect of a gunshot, and that the said gunshot was fired by a policeman unknown to the said jurors; and the said jurors do luilher say that the said policeman wi'fuliy, feloniously; and of malice aforethought, did kill and slay the said Mary Reilly against the peace of our Sovereign Lady the Queen, her Crown, and dignhy,” One of thejuiyraen observed that in his opinion the verdict was not strong enough.