American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-03-15

minority, he is willing to keep them down,
unless the popular breeze should blow in
that direction.
will not here discuss the point as to
whether or not the pope gave permission to
Henry to invade Ireland. | think he did
not One thing, however, is certain, that
if he did, he made very unfortunate
selection in Henry to " re-establish peace
and morality in Ireland" Henry was one
o: the bases, kings that England ever had.
He deuauched the be;rothed of his own SON.
Richard. He caused Thomas a Beckett to
be murdered in the temple of God he
oppressed the weak in fact, there is no
crime that he was not guilty of.
My friends, I do not desire to excite your
passions, and revive those feelings of pain.
sorrow and resentment which the su bsequent
history of Ireland must necessarily produce
in the minds of all who hate tyranny and
oppression.
A celebrated poet once asked, when
speaking of Ireland, d" Cur lyra percussa
funestos edidit sonores, yes, it may well be
asked, why the sound of our native music
shonld be of tie mournful melody, when a
race of people who Inherently love liberty
and hate tyranny, are themselves enslaved
race, though they have been under the
in spirit and buoyant in hope. as if they
were but yesterday deprived of their free
dom. How could the harp of my native
land be tuned to the song ofjoy and revelry
and how could it be expected that her music
should not be of the mournful melody No
wonder that More's great genius should
shine more brilliantly in his Irish melo dies
than in any of his other productions. No
wonder the heart of every genuine Irishman
should throb, AMI that his eyes should be
moistened on reading the plaintive strains
of the Celtic bard, second in merit to no
other poet that ever wrote in the English
language.
Some people may think that the persecu-
ton of the Irish by the English originated
from the difference of the religion of the
two countries. The Irish suffered terribly,
on account of their faith, but their perse-
cution began with Henry II. and was carried
on when both countries professed the same
faith, which was until the time of Henry
VIII. In proof of this, l will give my
authority the English historian, Sir John
Davis, and which history any person may
see this day among the English archives.
During the reign of Edward l., law was
enacted, " That the killing of an Irishman
by an Euglishman was not an indictabe
offence but if an Irishman killed an Eng
lishman, he should suffer death. The his
torian mentions case of this kind at
Waterford. An Englishman, named Robert
Welsh slew in cold blood poor Irishman.
He was arraigned and tried for murder, but
he acknowledged the commission of the
act, pleaded the statute of Edward II, and
the court was compelled to discharge him.
e. Not only" says the same author, ''were the
Irish considered aliens, but were considered
enemies, insomuch that though an Englshman
might settle upon an Irisbman's land, there
was no redress; but if an Irishman wished to
buy any land from an Englishman, he could
not do It. If a man made a will, and left
land to an Irishman, the land was forfeited to
the Crown of England, EVENT. it was only left
in trust to him.
In the year 1867, Edward the Third being
King, parliament enacted the following laws.
1t any man speaks the Irish language, or
keeps company with the Irish, adopts the
Irish customs, his lands shall be taken from
bin and forfeited to the Grown of England"
Again, IF an Englishman marry an Irish
woman, he shall be half hanged his heart cut
out before he dead, and his head struck
off, and all his estate passed to the crown"
Elizabeth began her reign in 1858, and in
the following year, she caused to be enacted
the most horrible penal laws, that ever dis
graced the records of any country. for the
benefit of her Irish subjects. The following
is the substance of some of those enactments.
"If any layman used any other prayer book
except the Book of Common Prayer" he
was sent to Jail for year. and for the second
offence, he was imprisoned with hard labor
for the rest of his life; but if he was a cler-
gyman, he suffered death. All who refused
to 20 to church were fined twenty-five pounds
a month of the money OF those times, which
equals obout three hundred pounds of the
money of the present day, or more than TWEEN
ty thousand dollars year of our American
money. This would be rather large tax for
poor man to pay for the privilege of not vio-
q
pie who could not pay these heavy fines were
whipped publicly and bI andedwith red-hot irons
in the forehead or ears, and all persons, under
severe penrlties, were commanded not to let
them enter their houses or harbor them.
These laws were rigdly enforced by THE
Court of High Commission" established by
Elizabeth to punish heresy; and the same
court defined heresy to be; "A difference OF
opinion religion and morals with the
queen" In the year 1898, Elizabeth in her
written instructions to Carew on his departure
to Ireland to take charge of the army there,
used this language:"' Put suspected Irish to
the rack and torture them when You find it con-
venient, and authorize all your officers to do
the same" Carew but too well carried out
the instructions of his royal mistress; and o, my
countrymen, it would rend your hearts, were l
to go into a recital of the horrible fortunes
which were inflicted ON our ancestors during
the terrible reign of this cruel woman who
exercised absolute power over ner unfortunate
subjects, for forty-iour years.
Many of you are, doubtless acquainted
with history of the siege of Drogheda. About
three thousand men, women and children sur
rendered to Cromwell, and of that number
only thirty lives were spared, and these were
transported to the Barbados where they we're
sold into slavery. Lingard, the English his
torian. describing this massacre, says No
distinction was made between the defenceless
inhabitant and the armed soldier; nor could
the shrieks of three hundred females, who
had gathered round the great cross, preserve
them from the swords of the ruthless barbara
ans" Cromwell sent the following blasphe-
nous dispatch to the English parliament. sit
has pleased God to bless our endeavers at
Drogheda, after battering, we stormed it,
The enemy were about three thousand strong
in the town. L believe we put to the sword
the whole number of the defendants. l do
not think that thirty escaped with their lives,
and those that did are in custody for the Bar
BADGES. This hath been a marvellous great
mercy. 1 wish all honest hearts may give
glory of this to God alone, to whom, indeed
the honor belongs''-Upon the receipt of this,
the parliament of England resolved October
I'd, 1919. 'For this important success of the
parliaments forces in Ireland, the house ap-
point a thanks giving day to be held Novem-
Der 1st., through the OatiOn; and further, a
letter of thanks be sent to Cromwell, and
that the house did approve of the execution
done at DrOgheda, as an act of justice to them
and mercy to others, who may be warned by
it." l have copied these extracts verbatim
ct literatm from the English parliamentary