Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-07-14
fT7TIoKAsdF AN5 GREEN. !
A Great Religious Riot Anticipated
In New York = History of the
Orange Society" CrOppies Lie

society to such antiquity is disputed.
Irish 0rangeism, it is claimed by many,
lis not vet one hundred years old, and
was organized, not in connection with
the battle of the Boyne, but as fedora
ton of Irish Protestants to support the
authority of the British crown in ireland
Itoward the close Of the last century, when
4 the spirits Of the newborn American re-
public had found voice among the op-
pressed people of Europe, and caused
them to look forward TO the day Of their
liberation from foreign oppression.
Owing to the large number of Irish
Presbyterians who took part in the
struggle for independence, the sympathy
of the Northern or Protestant districts
/ of Ireland had been enlisted on the side
of American liberty, so that for the
first time since the plantation of Ulster
by King James the people of the North
and South found themselves Of accord
/ upon the e.eisa ~ ~ x - NF4ha /
GREAT PBINcIPLE, OF HUMAN FREEDOM. 1
Sympathy for liberty abroad soon be-
gat desire for independence at home,
4 and as a result the organization known
as Defenders, and afterward as the United
Irishmen, were organized all through
Ireland, combining men of all creeds
and classes, for the welfare of their ma
tive land. SO powerful did these associ-
ations become, and so great was their
influence in softening the hatreds and
divisions that had for so long a time ex-
listed among the Irish people, that the
government became seriously alarmed
land the higher gentry who held their
| land from crown grants, resolved, with
the approval OF. the English and Irish
governments, to organize a counter as
sociation of men who could be depended
on under all circumstances to be loyal
| TO the English government. In pursu-
ance of this resolve the Loyal Orange
Association was formed, based upon
UNswERviYG LOYALTY TO THE ENGLISH
| CROWN,
and entirely composed Of Protestants
of the true blue stamp. In order to
mark their superiority, and keep alive
the memory of the defeats which they
had inflicted on the Catholic population,
the anniversaries of the, battles OF the
Boyne and the Anghrim were adopted
as the fete days Of the Orange Associai
tion, when, under the protection of En-
glish bayonets, they marched out with
drums and fifes still beating the Bat
tie of the Boyne," and decked with
orange ribbons in honor of King VIII
liam who had saved them from wooden
shoes and peas in their brogues and
other horrors ofTpopery. fgTheg egresult
of these parades on quick and sensi-
tive people like the Irish canieasily be
imagined. In districts where the Or
angemen were in the overwhelming ma-
jority, the celebration passed off peacea-
bly, enough, but in the districts where
the parties were evenly balanced the
battle of the Boyne was regularly fought
over again, each succeeding year. and
| sometimes these fights took considerable
proportion and resulted in
SEVERE LOSS OF LIFE.
After the emancipation of the Roman
Catholics these displays were confined
to the northern parts of Ireland and cont
tinued without interference from the
Government until a. few years ago,
when the Catholics of Belfast resolved
to suppress them by force. Having api
pealed in vain to the government to inter-
pose its authority, gun clubs were
formed, and large preparations made
| for battle in the streets, when, at the
last moment, the government proclaimed
the town in a stage Of siege, and took
possession Of all the arms they could
ind. This action had the effect of exas-
peratihg both parties, and, though it de-
| nriyed them of the power to inhict injury,
IL increased the resolution of the one
party to have their usual procession, and
Of the other to suppress it at all hazards
Troops were poured into the town in an
ticipation of trouble, and the authorities
seemed prepared to deal summarily with
the law-breakers.l AT last arrived the
eventfal 18th Of July, and the Orange
men issued forth from Sandy Row dis.
trict, while the Catholic party assembled
| in the Pound. The Orangemen at
| tempted to force passage, and regui
lar battle was fought, in which arms OF
all descriptions that had escaped the
search of the police were freely used
with fatal result. For three days the
town was given up to the sIir /
HORRORS OF AN INTERNEcINE STRIFE,
during which the rival parties wrecked
the houses, churches, and schools OF
their opponents according as success
smiled upon their arms. At length the
public opinion of England forced the
Irish Government to put an end to this
disgraceful state Of affairs, and the
English Government soon after passed
an act of Parliament, entitled The
Party Procession Act" which made it
ILLEGAL FOR ANY BODY OF MEN
10 march in procession wearing party
eolors or playing party tunes. Among
the tunes prescribed by this act Of Par
| Lament are the old chants Of division,
"The Boyne Water" The Protestant
BOYS" and that expression Of exuber-
ant loyalty, "Croppies, Lie Down. II
may be necessary to state that Crop
DIV was name given TO the Irish reb-
els and applied generally to the Irish
Catholics. 1t had its rise in an order
issued by the Directory of the United
Irishmen TO their partisans some time
previous TO the breaking out Of the re-
belliou of 1888 TO cut their hair close, as
means Of recognition. The loyal
Orangemen who made themselves gar
rison for the support Of the English rule
in Ireland adopted CrOppies, Lie
Down as a song Of defiance and chal-
lenge 10 combat, and it is so regarded
in Ireland TO the present day