Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1872-10-21
FROUDE ON IRELAND.


HIS Flfht Lecture IN NNAA AoNANhI'
The first appearance of James anthony
Froude, In this country, as lecturer, at
tracted A large audience at Association hall,
New York, Wednesday evening. He intro
duced his subject by reading letter written
al the time OF the revolution Of lTD, con-
corning the seventy gentlemen who were
conhnedln the Castle prison. They bad Oeen
betrayed by their confedeTatcs. II was pro-
posed TO Danish them to tho United States,
and Mr.. Rufus KIM, the American minister
TO Epglaud wrote a letter Of remonstrance,
stating that there was no country In which
tho Irish leaders could work more mischief
than his own. The Temonstrance, however,
was UNDECIDED. 80 this land the ldshman
looks as q natural protector, and the men OIL
Munster aud Connaught consider this as their
true home. lfan American In gS could have
such Ideas Of lrlshmen, surely his country
men will pardon some English niBcOncCp-
lions Of Ireland too" England and ireland
arc married by nature, no said, and cannot
DO separated. He then compared The Efforts
Of the Irish with those of the Scotch. Ire
land In all her frenzed cries against England,
has always shrieked for others to come and
help her, never relying upon herself TO DO
the work that had to be done. Compare the
effoftB OF the Scotch when conquered by
Edward l. lie beat their armies 10 ho.fleld
and that was all. He could not kill an entire
people. SO the contest was like holding. u
MOlI Uy tue LuINhl+ luz Uthhl Nuulu lbb w
strangled, and the effort 10 hold II down was
too oxhaustlng. So the attempt failed, and
two countries when united met on equal
terms.
The Irish are not hess brave than the Scotch,
but tho latter are united, aud the Irish arc at
strife one against the other. In the American
contest the Irish PrOtUstants we're for the
North, and tho Catholics for England, not
because the latter loved the English, but be-
cause they hated the Protestauts OF Ulster.
The aspect Of England, the lecturer said,
may he summed up 10 this; Separation we
cannot grant, all else We are willing to Rccede
". You gentlemen who have so many Irish
men among you must wish well 70 the Irish
also. The Irlshman lies between us two.
America may, II she peases, form O cOmblna-
ton yet unlieard Of. She may pronounce 0
judgment which We shall be unable, and, ]
thlnk, unwilling 10 oppose. Cd the other
hand, when the voice of America tells the
Irlsbnfau that he has had justice done him,
and that II he wants Independence he must
conquer II, believe the Irlshmen win be sat
isied Let the verdict be pronounced, then,
/ by America; they may say 'go out OF II, " but
this is impossible, and will never be until
| ireland Is an extinct volcano. They may say,
| "Glvo them a separate national government. "
do not say no; do not say yes. You are
not unaware Of the Irish statement Of the case.
They have not been relicent Of their wrongs.
| | Will constitute myself an advocate On the
other side, and will await your opinion.
The lecturer then Proceeded 10 give the
| history OF the Norman conquest Of Ireland
| spoke Of the religious and social condition Of
| the Holy Isle, but the peaceful part Of the
| programme he considered mythical, since all
| the carly poems related to war, and war only.
| There were no martyrs In Ireland he said,
aud this proves that the clergy had managed
from tue very first to obtain q powerful con.
troll over the minds Of the carly Irish, aud
implanted superstiliOus reverence Within
their hearts which had not yet disappeared.
Ireland had civilization Of It's own, but not
Industries, as understood now. Beyond a
| few CyClOpain temples and dOzeu eCclesias.
| teal structures there wCro no houses, save
waited huts, before the arrival Of the Dan
ish fresbooters. They built Dublin aud other
cities, aud introduced some ideas into the
country for which II was the better. Pope
Adrian, therefore, sent the Normans, with
their iCudal system, which men consider ty,
rnuny now, but which In those days was held
| as the police Is now. When they entered
ireland half the Irish helped them to con
Quer the other half.
The lecturer proceeded to refer to the
Geraldlnes, Plunketts, the De Benzos, who
adopted Irish habits; they were not tied 10
any ideas Of .Chlvalry ana knlghtly courtesy
| Edward III. tried TO stem this tide OF deca
dOnce. Mankind, said the lecturer, are to b
| divided Into those who work aud those Nh,
steal, into those who deserve to live ant
those who deserve TO be hung. More thar
half of the Irish were In the latter category
and 1t Is Idle to say that such country dc
served Its freedom. The common folks werI
as miserable as men could 10 aud live. sucl
misery had been seen In latter times, In
deed, but ii was fair question then, no
whether the English had interfered too
much, but whether much Of this unhapplnes
might not have been spared II they had In
teIlored q little more.