The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1872-11-24

- - |ss.~sN.sS sSey A0fhasy NbNtue~the
ea itself according to its own ideas Of right
ana wrong, and acknowledged NO authori. |
W. he did not say thst at that tune in
ireland o family was q tribe that had the
same name. They owned counties and a
!aIee extent Of territory. The family
governed by one chieftain. There were
nve great families in Ireland, the O'Cen-
neils IN Connaught, the O'Neilis in Ulster,
tne McLaughlins in Meath, the O'Briens in
Munster, NJ, and the McMurrays, in Leinster.
The whole country Acknowledged the
sovereignty OF these five great houses, and
they again elected their monarchs, who
re'gned at Tara. Father Burke explained
the ancient Irish constitution which gov
erned the land before the Norman invasion.
There was no idea of slavery or serfdom
amongst them the Irish clansman was Of
the same blood as the cheftan the lead
er that sat In the saddle at the head of his
band was related of blood, to the gailow-
glass that stood in the ranks to fight for
his chiettain and his cause. There was no
such thing as slavery. We are told by
Gerald Barry-the lying historian, who
sometimes told the truth by mistake-that
when the English came to ireland nothing
astonished them more than tho good feel.
ing between the higher and the lower
classes and tho affection of the peasant for
his chief, and the respectful and even af-
fectionate manner in which tho chieftain
spoke of the humble members of his clan.
All this, the lecturer went on to say, did
not look like anarchy, yet Mr.. Froude says
there was, because the chieftaips were
fighting zach other; but he also said there
was fighting everywhere, and if there was
fighting everywhere what right had be to
come here and say that Ireland was in q
state of anarchy because the chieftains
quarrelled among themselves9 Father
Burke then went on to consider the reli-
glous aspect of the question. The Catho-
lie religion had hourished in Ireland for
600 years. For the first 800 years before
the Norman invasion tho country had been
peaceable and we'll governed and true to
| the precepts of the Catholic religion but
during the latter three centuries the people
had been harassed by incessant wars, and
| that they were deMoralized was not ut all
strange. What people would not be de-
moralized by over fifty years of war9
How much moro by three centuries of con.
the roses, which did not last fifty years.
left the people of that kingdom SO demoral-
lied that almost without a struggle they
changed their religion at the dictate of the
adulterous tyrant, Henry VIII. The
lecturer then spoke of the Danish wars in
Ireland and of the final expulsion OF the
Danes, and then said that no sooner were
the Danes gone than the Irish people sum
moned their Bishops and priests to coun-
Gil, which framed wise laws, which were
respected and obeyed by the people, and
for a brief period there was rest in the
land. The cardinal legate of the Pope
came and went at will, his authority re-
spected by every one, high aud low, and
the very year before the Norman invasion
this same cardinal legate presided at q
council of the Irish bishops, and the Irish
people obeyed all its laws without 8 muir
muir, showing the same respect that the
Irish people have always paid to the repre-.
oe hair fax
years elapsed tbetweea the last of the
! Danish wars a8d the Norman invasion
At this time the Irish Church was eminent
} for it's learning and its piety, its leading
priests famous not only in Ireland, bu
!, throughout the whole Church of God. Il
had been said that Mr.. Froude gave the
, history of Ireland from the outside, aut
, that of course Father Burke would give il
: fro NJ tho inside, but this was q mistaker
, idea he was not giving it from the inside
: but in all that he would urge he woult
quote from English authorities. Mr.
Froude had said that the Irish were with
out religion at the very time when the lrist
, Church was q model of sapctity. AS to thu
r charge that Ireland was without morality
? he had but little to say. He would answe
D it BY one fact. A king of Ireland stole an
= other mans wife. He was the King O
s Leinster, and all Ireland rose and banishe
8 him from Irish sell as unworthy to sta
= there. IL lEolhuu W do dS 90 ShOo
;, lyipg historians assert, why could not til
d King have tnrped round and said, "Wh
! do you mako war upon mo- have not q
6 good q right to be blaekguard as any {
I youfn/ And now comes Mr.. Froude to sa
d that the Norman was sent to Ireland
n teach the Ten Commandments to the 1risl
et He would quote the language of Shake
y speare to Mr.. Froade and say, "I than
h thee, Jew, for teaching me that word
of Among these important eoumsndmen
r. were the ones, 'Thou shalt not steal
l. "Thou shalt not covet thy peighbor
at wife, Now the Nornans had no right
< title to ono square inch Of the soil Of lrelan
Ii They came to take what was not their
IN what they had no right to. They came
n ro bbers aud thieves, and TO teach the Iri
~ people the Ten CoDmandments, among
,n them the command "rhou shalt not stea
he They came fresh from the murder Of t
to Archbishop of Canterbury; the blood
at the martyr was on their hands when th
r. came to teach tho Irish the comma
ey "Thou sbalt not kill" An sdulterer h
or been driven out of the country; no we
on over to Henry II. and got letter perm
no ting his subjects to embark for Ireland q
ng help to reinstate this adulterer, and til
on came to teach the Irish people the co