New-York tribune., 1867-09-05
THE FENT4NS AGAIN,


land. with closed doors, and there are rtlmors
of another warlike demonstration against
Canada That anything but misfortune Tor
Ireland can come of it we cannot bring our
selves to believe. Gentlemen" said Yelling
ton to his veterans at one of the annual Wa
terloo Banquets, ait must be admitted that
" ours is a damnable profession" Ihls, we
suspect, has always been the sentiment OF
every great soldier in whom the diabollcal ele-
ment was not predominant Gen. Wool, who
has been all his life a soldier-a good if not a
oroat one-not long ago wrote letter to the
Fepian voIunteersY of Troy who had invited
him 70 q nic-nic which he declined to attend;
and in this letter the General declares
that "Peace, with cOnciation and harmony
care the promoters of civilization and pros
"perity, and not war" Z" The people OF
"Ireland, Italy, France, and Hungary have
"each in turn struggled for liberty and inde-
"pendcnce. but what have they gained Nothing
"but increased OPPRESSION with the chains
"of despotsm drawn little tighter" Ihls
is partly true and partly otherwise; Italy ana
Hungary have unquestionably gained some
thing by fighting, if Ireland and France have
not Upon such a point it is hardly sale 10
generalze. Something depends upon fortune
and the fortune of war is governed by no rules
which have thus far been discovered and classl-
fed. So much the less reason, it may DO
argued. for relying upon it, even Ill the
best of causes To this conclusion we nave
nothing better to oppose than an auaec'
Nothing venture, nothing have" seemsto De the
wisdom of the world upon the subject There
may have been instances OF oppression so COM
nIete. of despotism so intoerable, OF exactions
so remorseless. that a war, however disastrous,
became a minor evil and national extinction
preferable to national misery. SO the clrcum-
stances of the late Rebellion left us no choice
but 10 fight. 1t is for those who call themselves
Fepians to determine, to the satisfaction OF
their own intcllects and consciences, whether
Ireland is i'm such predicament that nothing
but a bloody war with the British crown, with
ten chances to one of Irish defeat, can bring
happincss to the most unfortunate OF islands
IndispOscd as we are harshly TO crlt-
ciSe and with no feelings for lrishmen except
those of sympathy, we are Obliged reluctantly
enough to believe that some at least OF those
who have undertaken to guide the chances OF
Erin have not always been unmindiul of
their own profit or promotion. In estinat-
ing the force of an nsurrectlon, passion,
hatred, personal necessities and the mere love
of fighting need not be cast out of the account; !;
but. on the other hand, they must be rated nj
their true value, which after all, IL not very
great. Our own Rebellion has afforded US an
opportuuity of computing the genuine force OF
spleen. of rage, of passion, and OF class
t,V nf M
Ill these supply the want of material resources
While we do not pretend to prescribe for the
further future, we think we are safe in saying,
with Gen. Wool, that military operations. how
ever inviting they may appear to the OPP
pressed, are not the wisest, the most hopeful,
the surest resources of Ireland. A patriot may
he perfectly honest in swearing to fight to tho
death for his native land, and have all the
poets and most of the orators upon ms side,
while at the same time he may be entertaining
a foolish resolution. Mr.. O'COnnell had great
faults as well as considerable virtues, and al
though he has, since his death, fallen into
something like historical disreputc, no.
body can deny that, while living, he
thoroughly understood the woes and the
wants of Ireland. 1t is "a remarkable fact that
he never pretended to be seeking the inde-
pendence of his country. With Parliament
in Dublin, and Catholic Emancipation com
pleted, he would have been content, although
Ireland had remained an integral pOr
ton of the British Empire. Indeed, it is safe
to say that if the island had been honestly
governed, with a decent regard for the com
monest humanity, there would have been no
more ouestion of its severance than there has
been of that of Scotland. The day of its de
liverance from the thralldom Of the British
crown will undoubtedly come No Empire is
eternal, and nobody can say that the next cen
tury may not witness the dissolution of
that great political power, the posses
sions of which now grdle the globe. The
story of Assyra, of Greece, of Rome,
of Carthage, will be repeated, while
Ireland may emerge from that mighty cOnvul-
sion, to occupy a position prouder than any
which her bards have harped upon, unless,
indeed, her energies are now wasted, her ma
tlonal identity endangered, and her native pop
ulation exterminated by an engagement in un
timely and ill-omened military enterprises.
The bravery of her children requires no demon
stration, and she has done enough for honor
and for fame. The wrongs under which she
still suffers whether civil or ecclesiastical, must
ere long be ameliorated by the good sense and
good feeling of the English people,; and sho
may, by a continued period of "peace, concil-
alton and harmony" prepare herself for the
great era of imperial dismemberment and gen.
eral reconstruction.