The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1866-12-15 00:00:00

PADDY TO JOHN.
(Froze the Daily sews.

MT DEAR JOHN,--Yotl saw the Picture Punch made
of me last week ; and of you, too? lam represented
as a trembling coward. Did I quake beside you at
Waterloo? Did not the great Duke himself say, "In
that bloody tight they (the Irish) marched to death
with military glee!" You don't look well in a rage.
In the picture you are reminded of a fact you wish to
forget Firing human souls from your great gun was
not a Christian recreation !

Why do you bother your head about that sham
rebellion ? It's a Yankee trick —• prologue to the
plea of compensation for damages by the Alabama.
You'll grumble, and pay, and tuen the ghost of a re.
hellion will be no more.
_

You and I ought to be good friends ; we must stand
or fall together. The question of repeal was settled
by the stearmengine. As long as it was possib e to
hope for ;he resurrection of an Irish natlon I hoped.
In li4B I was a rebel in my heart. I didn't strike; I
calculated the chances deliberately, and saw that re-
bellion then was madness.

I am a Catholic, but I do not hate your coital-dished
church. To me it is not • grievance; the landlord
paw the coat, and the ',arson Imes at house, • good
neighbour and • gentleman. In the west of Ireland I
often give him a duty day, and cut Inv corn free of
charge. I am not loyal; I have nothing to
protect: the landlord may whenever he chooses make
my property his own. Some landlords never do
so, others do. No man should have the power to take
what is another's. Where such a power exists rebellion
must grow. You wi'l ask what is to be done? I
answer, buy up the Irish estate., and let Paddy be •
tenant to the crown, his loyalty • condition of the
lease. You cannot give Irish landlords common sense
by act of parliament; without it they can do no good.
It is time to tell these gentlemen that land is national
property. and that they shall ;hot dimmi-h the national
strength by depopulating the country and increasing
the wades.
. _

We have millions of acres waste and reclaimable;
millions of acres a swamp, and the people flying to
America! A sad sight in the sister c untry. The
fact is, the majority iif Irish landlords know nothing
of business, the majority of agente are captains or
attarceys, and all the bailiffs are land sharks ; they
know bow to drain tumblers and tenants, but that is
all they know of drainage. Shallow-pated fellows will
tell you that leases would not induce Irish tenants to
improve the land. I know something of drainage. A
townluad cannot be drained in patches. Suppose a
townland in need of thorough drainage leased to
twenty tenants; it can never he drained, because they
con never agree to form • joint-stock company for
drainage purview'. The Cockney sees the swamps and
the idiers, and he shakes his head, and cries, "lazy
rogues !" To be idle unoer such circumstances is a
sign of common sense. In Ireland idleness is created
by the carelessness and want of knowledge exhibited
by the landlords, and captains, and attorney!. Get
rid of them by Act of Parliament; you cannot give
them common sense. You cannot afford to lose ine.
In fact, it is a shame to see Ireland as it is. With
Ireland loyal you can map your finger in face of the
world, and defy the Yankee or the Frenchman. This
is no idle boast, it comes from a heart swelling with
loyalty, and ie in truth the expression of national
feeling. That waa an insolent piciure in Punch.
Give the young man that made it a month's notice;
tell him the rebellion is • sham. Tell the underling
to have manners, and say you will do justice to your
friend Pat. Do now, John, like a jolly fellow; and if
you do I'll make the Yankee remember it was a mis-
take to send his Fenian@ to create disunion between
you and me. Take my advice, and say, "Justice to
Ireland." I'll take your word, and act accordingly.
I tell you again that ghost of a rebellion has nothing
Irish in am yours truly, by order of your Brother
Paddy, C. A. K.