The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1876-07-23

L
] Ii In their fall they drew down upon Irelant
severjties worse than anything known
, since 1798, 1t is only fair, on the other hand
to credit In q large degree to the seDsationl
} aroused by their trials the great awakening
OF public opinion on the Irish question
which set IN all over England at the time
And now once more the board was clear
England had won the game not pawn
remained untaken on the Irish side. Not
an Irish association, Or society, or F." agita
britannla's peace of mind. Once more il
was spectacle of the lash and the triangle;
state trials, iDformers, and prosecutors
the convict ship, and the hulk the chain
ganRs at Portland and Chatham.
Who will show us any light Y" exclaims
| one OF the Young Ireland bards in we'll
known and beautiful poem. Such might
well have been the exclamation of Ireland
| in 1867. Was this to be the weary cycle of
Irish effots, for ever and for everf Was
| armed effort hopeless, and peaceful effort
vain Wac there no alternative for Irish
men but to become s.West Britons,"or else
| dash their brains out against dungeon
WALTZ Could no one devise a way whereby
to give scope and vent to the Irish passion
for national existence, to give field to
| Irish devotion and patriotism, which would
be consonant with the spirit of manhood,
without calling for these hecatombs of vic
tims2
Suddenly new element OF consideration
presented itself; new, indeed, and rather
startling.
1t was Irish Professionalism Offering the
hand of reconciliation to Ireland.
The Tory party had come into poYer in
the course of the Fenian prosecutions, and
had carried on the work in q spirit which
Cromwell himself would approve. phey
really held Office, not because they had an
effective majority in the House of Com
mons, but beceuse the liberals were broken
up and divided, unable to agree on q pol
icy. To turn to his own account the " Fe-
MAN scare" was Mr.. GladstOne's brilliant
idea. To make dash on the Irish Church
establishment would rally all the mutinous
fractions of liberalism, on the principle of
81 hit him, he has no friends" 1t would
crafty all England as sort of conscience
slave for the recent dragonnades and coer-
ciOn laws. Yes; this was the card with
which to beat Disraeli. True, Mr.. Glad
stone had only few years before put down
his foot and declared that never, emo,
neoer," could, would, should that Irish
Church be disestablished or interfered with
in any way. What WAS he to say now to
cover this flank movement, made for purely
party purposesP In all Britain there is no
brain more subtitle, none more fertile of
strategic resource, than that of w. E. Glad
stone. He put it all on Fenianism. He
had changed his mind, not because he was
out OF office with weak and broken party,
and wanted to get back with strong and
united one, but because he had opened his
eyes to Fenisnism He never hit on a |
more successful idea. On the cry of 80 Down |
with the Irish Church !" he was swept into |
Office at the head of the most powerful ma |
jorlty commanded by any minister since |
Peel IN lS4l. 1t must not be thought that |
Mr.. Gladstone was insrcere, or meant any |
thing but service to Ireland (while also |
serving his partly by this move. He has
the faculty of intensely persuading himself
into o fervid conscientIousness on any sub
ject he likes, whether it be Free Trade, |
Church Ests blishment, Church Disestab-
lishment, or Vaticanism.
The Irish Professionals had an unanswer
able case against England--that is, as be-
tween them and heron shis matter OF dis
1t was, on her part towards
them, an open, alpable, and hagitious
breach of falGh-breach of formal treaty ia
tact. The articles of the Uuion in 1900 ex,
pressly covenanted that the ma1nueuance
of the Irish Church establishment " az to
be one of the cardinal, fundamental, essen j
tial, aud everlasting conditions of the deed.
Mr.. Gladstone snapped his fingers at such
considerations. "Mind, you thereby re
peal and annual the Union" cried the Irish
We wnl kick another
crown into the Boyne," said PArson Fiana-
gan at an Orange meeting. 1--WE have
held by this bargain with you with uneasy
consciences," said aud wrote Dum bers OF
sincere Irish Professionals "bresk is, and
We break with you, and become Irishmen
first and before any thing"
1t was rightly judged by thoughtful OBJ
servers that, though noisy braggarts of the
Psrson Flanagan class would not only let
the crown alone, but would cringe all the
more closely by England's side even when
the church was swept away, there was
much of sober earnestness and honest re-
solve in what hundreds of Protestant lay
men land even clergy men) spoke upon this
Issue. Yes, though the bulk of Irish Pro
testants would prove unequal to SO rapid
political conversion, even under provoca-
ton go strong, there would still DO con-
siderable movement of their numbers to-
wards, if not into, the Irish camp. Time,
moreover, and prudent and conciliatory
action on the part of their Catholic coun-
trymen, would be always increasing that
7GpprochenIent.
And 30 in the very chaos aud disruption
and upheaval of political elements and
parties in Ireland from 1868 to 1870 there
was, as by a mysterious design of PrOvi-
dence, way made for events and transfer
matiDnR and combinations yVhich OfharUisa