The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-12-05

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his sister, residing in Trenton. the other
! from f. Parnell, at Bordentown, whose sex
and degree of kinship are not stated. We
appreciate the natural sensitiveness oil
these no doubt estimable persons In
matter which touches the reputation OF a
member Of their family, and make allowance
for the misconceptions into which they
have fallen. They have misconstrued the
article on which they comment. They are
greatly in error if they suppose that Inc
HERALD is either Indifferent to irish suner-
ing or lacks sympathy with people who are
struggling against oppression. On all such
subjects we think the HERALD has never
failed to express the sentiment OF the Ameri-
can public, which is a sentiment of generous
and hearty encouragement for all strug-
Cling peoples Wherever in any quarter of
the world there has been popular upris-
ing founded on reasonable complaints or
real grievances the American people have
been forward to declare their sympathy and
To strengthen that public opinion in behalf
of justice which nations and governments
are bound to respect. When the South
American colonies of Spain threw off
the yoke; when Greece rose against
her Moslem oppressors in that noble strug-
gle in which Byron fell when Hungary
asserted her rights and Kossuth, after his
defeat, came to this country in one OF our
public vessels; even in behalf of Cuba, when
the leland tried to establish its indepen-
dsnce, the American people were never deaf
H. L. - h. ~f hn-
manity, and the HERALD has always been
among the foremost to give expression to
this manly and magnanimous American in
stinct We have thereby earned the privi-
leges of q constant friend, one of which is
to warn against errors and give faithful adj
vice.
No friend of Ireland should be insensible
ofthe damage inflicted upon the Irish cause
by the blind and headlong indiscretion of
some of its professed supporters, and by
the, sordid selfshness and passion for
notoriety of others. This is not Irish ma
ture, but human nature. There was never
a cause so sacred as to escape these barna-
cles. Even He who spake as never man
spake had occasion to reprove that part Of
the multitude which followed Him, not
for the greatness of His miracles, but for
the share that fell to them of the
loaves and fishes; and even one of
the twelve who carried the bag was
thief and professed to be andalized that
the precious ointment poured upon the
Master was not sold for the relief of the
poor. Every patriotic army is infested by
camp followers. Our glorious struggle for
the Union bred great swarm of leeches
and shoddyites. Irish effort in this coun-
try has been too fruitful of similar illus
trations. What became Of hll the profuse
ever resulted to Ireland from the abused
and misguided generosity the givers?
Because the HERALD thinks it its duty to
caution impulsive and warm-hearted Irish
Americans against like waste of money in
the present emergency it must not lightly
Be accused of indifference to Irish suffer-
ing. What we deprecate is misdirected
effort and the squandering upon spouters
of money which can be turned to better
uses.
The relations Of the Irish peasantry to
the land they cultivate is not an American
question, and we do not think it wise for
Americans to intermeddle with it. II is o
question which the English government
must settle on o basis Of justice, If it is
ever to have peace and tranquility. Irish
discomfort and agitation need no tanning
from this side of the Atlantic. Poverty
and misery will never lack voice
when the causes of complaint are
SO real. The English government must
at length be brought to see that
Irish distress would be cheaper than the
maintenance of military force to stife
agitation and keep down rebellion. But If
the English do not learn this lesson
| from the spontaneous discomfort of q
| people who are 80 little backward in pro-
| claiming their grievances they will never
learn it from agtators in America. Those
making all the necessary outcry, especially
when they are a people so impetuous and
demonstrative AZ the native Irish.
But the American people, and particu.
larly the Irish portion of them, have duties
of sympathy and humanity in this con.
| juncture which we should be sincerely
sorry to see them disregard. The coming
winter is to be q season of touching and
pitiable suffering in Ireland. The fac
that the failure of the harvest was not quite
so bad rs in England does not make the
poverty less deplorable. In Ireland the
margin between abundance and destitutior
The English tenants, as class, have prop
erty and credit which enable them to live
after the loss of q crop, while portion o
the Irish tenantry are SO poor that Their
part of the harvest of the year is all thai
stands between them and starvation
While majority of the Irish people will