New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-06-12
THE CosDIT1oN OF IRELAND:

those violent party and religious conten-
tons, which have go long disgraced and
agitated the country; and the second. an
inquiry into the causes of the extreme
poverty and wretchedness Of the people.
With regard to the first part, we shall
not enter, on this occasion, into any
heightened disqulsition respecting the an
cient state of Ireland. The radical defect
of its government has always consisted in
its being administered by and for the ex-
elusive benefit Of small portion of the
people. The broad and bloody line of
demarcation that was formerly drawn be-
tween the English settlers and the mere
Irish. has been effaced only to have its
place supplied by the equally well defined
distinction between Pedestrians and Cath
ollcs. The seven eenth century began
auspiciously under the enlightened admin
istration of Sir John Davies; but it was in
the sequel marked by incidents the most
fatal to the peace and prosperity of Ire
land. The entire surface of Ireland is
reckoned at about twelve millions Of Irish
acres, and the late Earl of Clare estimated
that eleven millions and half of this
number were confiscated in the
course of the century. The success
OF William III secured the ascendenc y of
the English interest; and the violence of
the treaty of Limerick, and the penal en-
actments of Queen Anne, threw the whole |
wealth and power of the country into the |
bands of the Protestants, and completed |
the debasement and prostration of the
Catholic population. 1t is unnecessary to
recapitulate all the disgustive provisions
of the penal code. 1t is enough to men
ton, that it debarred the Catholics from
the exercise of every political privilege;
that it prevented them from acquiring
property in land; from lending money on
mortgages; from teaching schools, and
even from acting as the guardians of their
own children!
1t is true, that the most severe enact
ments in the penal code are now repealed;
that Catholics are allowed to acquire and
transmit property; to exercise the elective
franchise, and that they may be nominated (
justices of the peace, and appointed to SUBJ I
ordinate positions in the army and navy.
But enough of exclusion still remains to {
destroy the good effect of the concessions t
slready made, by keeping alive all those c
ceilings of Subsequently, and insolent v
domination on the part of the Protestants, t
nd of degradation, hatred, and revenge P
N the part of the Catholics, which the penal b
ode had generated. n
The defective state of the magistracy o
nd the administration of the laws is an p
Their great cause of tine discomfort and W
existing in Ireland. Dr.. Bell tt
as observed, in his admirable tract on
The Manners and Condition of the Peas k
airy Of Ireland" that IF poor person is
injured by one in a higher STATEN be pl
ay as well apply to the Grand Seignior 81
r guard Of Janissarles as to the laws of is
8 country for redress" Mr.. Wakefield. nj
r. John Knight Mr.. Henry Parnell, pe
ord Kingston, and an endless list of hi
ngllsh legislators OF the highest charac- CO
r, and who enjoyed the best means of in
quiring information, have joined in rep Fe
batting, in the strongest terms, the gross VII
Eruption. neglect and Partially of the nil
sh magistrates. ;:
With reference to the exploded church wi
adjustment and tithes they may be con- an
cred as sources for discomfort and dis Fo
ection and of the poverty and misery of KIN
land. The last census gave the popu- ha
ION OF Ireland at about seven millions; to
we have the concurrent authority of tha
the writer's best acquainted with the the
to OF Ireland for stating that at the very dis
st sic millions are Catholics. Now, E
bout presuming 10 question the policy ma
making the religion of 80 small a G
,tion of the population the established v
gion Of the country, it is surely i'm rr -
sible to deny that the numbers of the "
.blished clergy, and the revenues Z
Oh were destined for their sup c
t. ought to have borne some "
'onable proportion to the number aav
heir focks, and the extent and labori- L
ness of theirs duties. The 500, 900 use
herans of that island had an establish kno
t which cost little less than the estsb- but
t for nine millions of Lutherans costs con
people of England In England there C.
twenty-six Protestant Archbishops and gave
lops, and in Ireland there are twenty q
Mr.. Wakefield has stated that, ex- VIVA
We of their other revenues, the estates W
We only Of these dignitaries would. if how
y let and properly managed, be worth did
e as much as the entire revenue of spec
English Bishops! q.
lth respect to the second branch of none
inquiry, or that which has for its Boul
ct to discover the causes of the ex- =.
g poverty and restitution of the Irish prac
antry, and the contingent "risings" ieG "a
hem or their descendants here as well licen
Ireland, we believe IL would ba cor abou
TO say that the oppression and mis- ~, ~
rnment to which they have been so ,o.h
subjected, have had, even in this r..
oct, a very powerful influence. Poli,i- ..~
egredatlon most frequently leads to - :.
me poverty. Oppression, like that :,
Il has