IRELAND, AT LAST.

New Zealand Tablet, 19 June 1919, Page 42

IRELAND, AT LAST.

(By Michael Williams, in the May Catholic World.) |"' The most remarkable of the numerous utterances of Franklin is taken ; by Mr. ,O'Brien^from a document which, strangely enough, -is' not printed in; any of the editions of Franklin's works, and which apparently has escaped the attention of American historians, though the original printed copies thereof are on file .in the Records of the Public Record Office in London. It is i An Address to the J Good People of Ireland on Behalf of America," .written in Versailles,; where soon the new Treaty of Peace will be signed, October 4, 1778. The address begins with these^ words, which ~ are as exactly applicable to-day as when the' philosopher penned them: — ' / . * „ v .f% .„ ,-i.v j I "The misery, and distress- which', your ill-fated ' country has been so; frequently exposed to, and has

so often experienced by* such a combination of. rapine* treachery, and violence, as would have disgraced the name of government in - the most arbitrary ;country in the world, has most sincerely affected your friends in America, and has engaged the most serious attention of Congress. ” After explaining fully that the colonies were fighting not only for constitutional liberty,' but commercial liberty as well, and drawing attention to the analogy between the cause of Ireland and that of America, he says : — , ,’’ v • V ‘.‘But as for you, our dear and good friends of Ireland, we must cordially recommend to you to continue peaceable and quiet in every possible situation of your affairs, and endeavor by mutual good-will to supply the defects of administration. But if the Government, whom you at this time acknowledge, does not, in conformity to her own true interest, take off and remove every restraint on your trade, commerce, and manufacture, I am charged to assure you, that means will be found to establish your freedom in this respect, in the fullest and amplest manner. And as it is the ardent wish of America to promote, as far as her other engagements will permit, a reciprocal commercial interest with you, I am to assure you, they will seek every means to establish and extend it; and it has given the most sensible pleasure to have those instructions committed to my care, as I have ever retained the most perfect good-will, and esteem for the people of Ireland." Not only by Franklin, speaking for the new American nation, but by the Congress of that nation itself, was thanks given to Ireland and acknowledgment made of America’s debt to Erin, in the famous ‘‘Address to the People of Ireland," adopted by the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, July 28, 1775. There are those that say —it would be hard to believe that they really are convinced of the truth of what they say, were it not for the fact that prejudice often lends more force to opinions— more violent and destructive force, than calm truth may dothere are those who say that a free Ireland means an open gate for the enemies of England to enter that island, and that it would constitute a standing menace to the peace and safety of the English people. For those who. hold that view, the great war has been waged and won in vain. If the opinion holds and prevails that the peace and safety of any nation depend primarily upon the subjection of weaker peoples, and armed dominance over the lesser in favor of the material interests of the greater, then has the great war been waged—and lost ; lost for all lost for every nation Under the sun; and the future holds nothing but warfare, or the miserable troubles and intrigues and festering rebellions which lead up to war. Unless, on the contrary, justice, which is based, and can only be safely based, upon the religious, the Christian knowledge of what justice based upon the law of God, and not the selfish interpretations of imperialists, and materialistsunless, Isay, justice become the . basic principle of the treaty at Paris, America’s participation in the war will become the most saddeningly ironical failure of all history.