HOME RULE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2497, 2 May 1893, Page 4

HOME RULE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I hope you will give this letter space in your valuable paper. You seem to know very little about the history of Orangemen, whose society you have been ridiculing lately. In 1789, when William Prince of Orange landed in Carrickfergus, a few short miles below Belfast, he called a meeting and formed a society. William being Prince of Orange, it was called the Orange Society. This society keeps in memory the persecutions the Protestants suffered by the Roman Catholics suffered in the reign of James II.; it also keeps in memory their bravery and self-devotion to their country 200 years ago. At that time Ireland was ruled by a Home Rule Government. The same Government would do as they did in those days—murder poor Protestants in cold blood. The Phcenix Park cut-throats showed what they would do. James 11. put out a proclamation to have all Protestants disarmed. Then on the 16th March, 1789, he landed in the harbor of Kiusale, in the south-west of Ireland. Then persecution and robbery was the order of the day. Of 1,500,000 Protestants only 500,000 were left in two years. Your paper also said that Home Rule was first invented by the Protestants in 1870. I beg to state Home Rule was invented twenty years before. Your paper also said our bishops were to hold special prayers in our English churches against Home Rule. Our bishops are too well learned to do anything of the kind. Tell your readers how the Roman Catholic bishops and priests acted in County Meath, Ireland, at the general election. If you don’t know how they acted I will let you know in another letter. I have a pamphlet written by Charles Stewart Parnell, who was the cause of the Phcenix Park' murders. He also got leave to the strangers gallery for a man named Daley, with strict orders to throw bombs between the Treasury benches and the Opposition. These are men likely to rule a nation. Your paper also said that one-third of the Protestants were in Ulster. For that I cannot tell. This I am perfect in—that is, there are 500,000 Orangemen in Ulster. So the two-thirds would make 1,500,000 ; not to mention our English and Scotch brethren, who would be bound to assist. Hoping 1 have not trespassed too far on your space, I am, etc., An Ulster Loyalist. Woodbury, April 22.

[lf you would kindly consult the first simple little school history you come across, you will find that W illiam Prince of Orange, fell from his horse on the road between Kensington and Hampton Court on February 21, 1702, and died fifteen days afterwards. Now if he died on March 8, 1702, could he possibly have lauded at Carrickfergus and formed a society in 1789, that is, 87 years after his death; James 11. died at St. Germain in September, 1701, and we ask you could he possibly have lauded at Kiusale in 1789, that is 88 years after his death ? The Globe Encyclopaedia and Chambers’ Encyclopaedia say that the first Orange Lodge was first formed in Armagh on the 21st September, 1795 ; that is, 105 •wears after the Battle of the Boyne, and O't wear? after William and James were trS to dw, tte kiUtag o£ Ptotestants in Ireland is an old story, winch the late John Mitchell 0 Neil Daunt, Lecky, and other Protestant historians have proved to be false. There were not 500,000 Protestants in all Ireland at the time, and of these a great many were on the side of James. We really thought the Times-Piggott exposure completely burst up the notion that Mr larnell caused the Phoenix Park murders. Daley did not drop the bomb in the House ot Commons, so it is possible that that is not true. Would it not be as well to let Mr Parnell rest in his grave now ? No Catholic occupied a seat in the Irish Parliament, and no Catholic had a vote to elect a member of it. Good or bad, it was exclusively Protestant. We shall be glad to publish anything in reason you like, but for goodness’ sake do not take your facts and your history from party pamphlets, because you can see now we do know a little about these subjects; perhaps more than you think. Get as many aa you can to support you, but be sure of your facts before you start. The Statesman’s Year Book says that in 1891, when the census was taken„ there were in Ireland 3,549,856 Catholics, and 1,130,880 Protestants and other made up as follows : English Church ... 602,000 Presbyterians 446,6 *7 Methodists Independents >Ol7 Baptists ... h'lll Quakers ...' ••• 3,032 Jews ••• 1,798 Total 1,130,870 Wo said that two-thirds of the Protestants of Ireland were in Ulster, and we were right. The Bight Honorable John Morley, in the House of Commons on tee 4th of last March, said that the total population of Ulster was 1,610,814, of whom 874,955 were Catholics and 744,859 Protestants. The Statesman’s Year Book gives the population in 1891 a* .’■’tdren, thg pjd, the feeble, and those in workiiou^ 3 ;??vlums, and so loft? Just think tlmt out now, may be 50,000 Orangemen ilici‘o, doubt it. You ;,ch you are laboring uiu. Ar

a delusion. It is 203 years ago since William and James fought the battle of the Boyne, and the whole world is laughing at Irishmen for continuing to light over it still. Neither William nor James were worth lighting for so far as the poor man was concerned, but of tlio two William was by far the better man. The English had their War of the Hoses, which lasted 39 years, but they do not keep up the memories of these battles ; the Scotch had their Highland and Lowland battles, but there are no annual celebrations. The Northern and Southern States of America fought a few years ago, but they fiavo now forgotten all about it. 'lhere is no country in the world where one section of the nation continues to celebrate a victory gained over another section, except in Ireland, and it is time it was given up. You have every reason to be proud of the defence of Derry, but it is not the only place where Irishmen fought bravely. On the Continent a mere handful of them rushed out in their nightshirts and defended a city against a whole brigade, but there are no celebrations. These celebrations are foolish and mischievous, and they make Irishmen ridiculous in the eyes of the wliole world. —Ed.]