IRELAND A NATION

Dunstan Times, Issue 1165, 27 June 1884, Page 3

IRELAND A NATION

.(From the London Dad? Telegraph, March 19.) “Do hot rely upon the great English democracy,” said Mr Parnell on St. Patrick’s Day to his countrymen. In this advice the Irish leader displavs his acmistome I shrewdness. \ Parli naent elected by household suffra eis no more likely to break np the United kingdom than the Parliaments which preceded the Reform of 1832. Pride in the Empire, and resolution ta defend it against its enemies, are cherished by Englishmen of all ranks. They are Simple sentiment", requiring no elaborate reasoning or complete eduction. Amongst the masses of the people such feelings ore frequently latent. Engag 'd in the battle of life, living' from hand to mouth, they seldom have lei-ure or meditation to give form or language lo their patriotism ; but it would bo a gross error to attribute to them on chat accuint apatli/ or indifference; The leaders of the Southern Stales of America made such a mistake in 1361. They, an anatomatio race, o oil.l not behove in the patriotism of artisans and labourers in ihe North ; they denied that • democracy could he her ic ; they held that daily wages sordid gains, and trade pr >ri s were the only things dear to millions oi m :n m the Free Stares. The issue proved thojr their miscalculations. The industrial Nm-to displayed from first to last the high st qualities of nationhood, The sentiment of patriotism was fested through an ordeal of tire and sword. Women sacrificed their sons to die fora country that hai been called “an abstraction.” In order to preserve a Constitution ‘neared at as “ a piece of parchment,” the busy traders ami humble craftsmen and labourers fought for four long years, and finally beat down the cuivalry of the Sou hj. To save their native land they heaped up a dossal debt, and cheerfu ly surren lered the S.ate rights and personal liberties they had almost suparsti tmusly adoted. Uur English democracy would be as resolute in its refusal of Parnfdlite demands,- In fad, there is some reason to believe that they may prove more autagonisric to’lrish ideas than the privilege 1 minorities of ele tors which preceded JSG7. Ten-pound householders were, as a mle, men who did not come into contact very closely with Irishmen in Englan I ; hut English artisans and labourers do, and the ci intiymen of St. Patrick are not in all cases welcomed, respsc-e I, and b -love I by thdr Eugli-h comrades In towns they are apt to ne disorderly and not over nice in their dome-tic arrangements, while in the rural districts thev un lerbidthe sons of the soil Eng ish demon acv, face to face with Irish se iition, is, therefore, not likely to err in 1 lie direction of sympa hv or so-tness.

•* Ire mid a nation” wan the ideal held up on Monday as the aspiration of m . Irish at hj une and abroad. English apologists sometimes aff ot to helievo that this simply i.o pies ibe control of iheir own local ad.a.rs Siy Irishm n ; but the me on.eg of Mr Par ne)! njid his friends is made plainer by the pm ssion of ill the loyal foists at i lie recent Hni-ruiau banquet. A ful'er signiiieance Is given by the aims.on to “ the devotion of tho sea divide I Gaels.” The chief organisation of the dynamite party in America is Called “the Olau-nv-Gail”—a fact which gives point to Mr Par el's use of the work. Some of these “sun divide i” lii-dini n traverse the Atlantic, hanging with boxes of explosives to be placed on our railway sra- I tioiia. Olliers feed the Laud League with funds, increased as murder after murder i-reporr-d from ho old homo. The Irish in ■Vmerioa who subscribe for agitation in the island they have left are, as iheir news pipms and speeches show, not clam ants tor local rights o Home Kale, but avowo i enemies of all English connection of sovereignty. Therefore, “ [ eland a nation” means ihe island as oo nuletcly se .arated from E iglaort as the American colonies were in 1782 Some Englishmen say ; “ We wdl never gnu that; but let us conee le so.ne'hing. and a i conciliate ihese very ironblasonie fellow countrymen ” Yet does a iybo y sunpose that tiler i is in Ireland a party which simply desires iced righ s, aid would loyally stop ah >rt of separalio i ? A Parliament in Dublin would demand control of ibe Castle, the appo’ntmont of all the •lud.es, the command of the militia and the police, and the right, grai.te i in the last century, to raise volumei s. If we refuse these concessions, where would be the gratitude ami affection to secure which we granted a limited measure of Home Rule? We should find seditious Irishmen entrenched behind a native Parliament, and nat.ive juries defying our attempts to interfere with the >‘eti era e organisation of a rebel foioe. We should have to face after veins of weakness, the very evils our cni-ce-s o i wer intnndfd, to av it. • As to Mr Pan ed’s p otn e of [.eland’s oapabili ms for niitbmimii I. it errs on the si le of ex iggera turn The “ uutquailel c i .lat-” is no. particularly goo i ; it is moch too moist for the most profitable imps. The people are ‘•quick and inte ligenr.,” bur. not especially “ cuerge ic,’ ace. tain lack of enterprise. Ch irac eases the who e race ; they save money w hieh an Eiialislnn-n w mid invest in hnsincss, and are deficient in c nnn- rcial com age and iii.iniifuc’ining initiative. If they dn possess the qua ities which Mr Poiiell a trilm es to them, whv hive th y not made Ireland n« prosperous than she is? What, i er may he snd as regards ih I ist century, there has been since the [J don no statute unf ivnura de to Irish industry or trade. Englishmen who have riske i an i lost their capital ii every country and clime w uld have hren only too glad to invest their savings tie tier home if Ireland ha i been tranq ill ami Irishmen at once indas rous and law-abiding Perpetual agitations an i • sustained sedition, how. ver, have alienated the moneys which would have poured in from the overflowing reservoirs of England. How womd an Irelmd left to itself remedy this defect ? Do- s any sane man believe that Ulster could feel as aaf ■ in its toil and thrift, under the presidency of Mr Parnell as under .hosnepire of the Queen ? Would the most venturous English investors lend money to an Irish Republic! Would a people trained in lawlessness, and e lucated in agitation, become at once industrnus|uid law-abiding because English rule had disappeared ? With the landlords expelled, would the present tenants find their rights respected by the million of labourers who have uo farms ? Would the Prot-stants of the North submit without resistance to spoiliatiou ? Would the Protestants of E 'gland stand by neutral, and see them crurbed by force. Mr Parnell is so well kuown by his followers at home and abroad to aim at what tboy all desire -complete separation—that be has no need to use strong language, He

is cool and ei cunisne.it, li-can elio it. understood lo enver-am as riin. a lint e 1 of Englan i as aoy spe-ult .»'■ in •iyiiamus for the laudoin or.le ■of il,e Knglis nn n woo may happen to no wi, b n its reunii. His li-ruto nint, Mr Blgg-w. “unpacks iris heart” with m re candour ; nt Glasgow, on St. Patrick's Day. he denounced L r I Spencer as ‘ dishonest.” and Mr I'revelyan as “ a mean wretch ’’ r D asey. at Darling ton p eferred “ the sword of Cromwed” to the present government of Ireland, ..nd noGlared that Irishmen regarded the House of Commons as a machine f,r robbery, c nfiseation. and ooinoulsinn." Wo know wh it Lord Spe oer and Mr Trcvieyan have done : tney have spent “days of lanouraiid nights devoid of ease” in their ceaseless endeavour to extirpate crime, without saying a word or permitting an act tli.it would wound or injureanv Irishmiu not criminal. We believe ill it they have erred in their excess of ooncili itio i toward" enemies whose rancour no En dish poritenesa can assuage. Tuis is their reward ; to be denounced aa “ worse than Cromwell,” while the Parliament tli'ii-. passed tbe Laud Act 18SI is held np to I ish hatre I as “a machine for robbery an 1 co ifisca ion.’ I’nesa are tile thanks of the teuans .uni their leaders for the sacrifice inane oy our Legislature of police cal economy and Irish landlords at the shrine of a murderous agitation ! Such things wi.l bear fruit, some dav.