England, Ireland, France

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 41, 12 October 1905, Page 2

England, Ireland, France

•' There will never be any firm friendship between England and France,' says Ilamcrton, in a work published some years ago ; ' and a momentary attachment would only cause me anxiety on account of the inevitable reaction ' The reason for his distrust of those ' momentary attachments ' is furnished by the intense and traditional bitterness of feeling displayed by convinced French Republicans towards England. 'These feeling©,' says lllamerton, ' are quite outside the domain of readonly.' Books, magazines, arid newspapers on both sides: of the Straits oi Dover have done

much to keep alive 'and intensify . the traidvfciani'ai spirit! iof jealousy between neighbors who (as recent English writer says) ' have known each other too long and met each other too often.' J

A 'few weeks ago the present ' entente ' or ' momentary attachment ' between the two oaumtries was celebrated ' by* a Parliamentary bsunq'uet in West/minster Hall. In that picturesque an>d historic social function the Members of the Irish Parliamentary Party ♦ did not take «v hanid. 1 ' Irish sentiment towards France,' says the London correspondent of a great English provincial daily paper, ' used to be very friendly. In the Franco-German war, for,' instance, the sympathies 1 of Ireland were certainly with France. But in recent years the friendly feelings of the Irish for the French seem to have grown cold. I suppose that as England draws closer to France it is almost inevitable that Ireland should ibecome more distant. But I am told that this was not the reason for the absence of the Irish members from the banquet. The real cause was the treatment of the religious Orders by the French Government. The Irish' Catholics bitterly resent the action of 'France in this matter, arod I was told that no Irishman cotuld be expected to express any friendliness towards "the infidel Government" that, ruled in France.' ' It is a very, rare thing,' says an Irish exchange, • for an Emglish paper to get so near the truth in connection with a matter concerning Ireland..'