The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-12-05
The Rnle of Ireland,

We reproduce here a carefully written ar
ticle on the subject Of the troubles now agi-
tatinc Ireland from the Philadelphia Times
of last Saturday:
The one blot that most deforms the annals Of
English rule is the oppressive policy ever enforc
ed upan the Irish people. 1t has been an ofense
to every enlightened and liberal civilization and
reproach upon the English government that i'll
bstts the great constitutional monarchy Of the
world For a period of nearly seven centuries,
there has been eeaseiess strife between ruling
England and ruled Ireland, save when the harsh
judgments OF might have smothersd resistance
The history OF Ireland IS but succession of rebel
lions and punisl. ments. When there has been
peace it was the peace Of death the sullen sub
mission Of hapIess, helpless people 10 mcrciless
power. Nearly seven hundred years aTo. the
Irish people we're fret wholly subdued and Eng
Iish laws forced upon them: and after four cen
turies of vain Insurrections, ave million acres OF
the lands of the people were forfeited to the Crown
the penalty of rebellion, and the English and
Scottish Protestants given the Irish homes. 1t
was not until American Independence was about
TO be achieved that liberal laws were gran ted to
dissenters from the Established Church it is just
half century since Catholic Eman cipation, and
the United States had chosen the third Presi-
lent before there was legislative union between
Great Britain and Ireland
The English rule Of Ireland has been as un-
profitable as il is disgraeefui to the English ma
tion. II has made the Emerald Isle waste OF
poverty and its people worse than slaves. The
chief monuments of English authority are in its
list Of treason trials, running through more than
a third of the Christian in its confiscatons
in its denas of civil and religious freedom in its
enforced contributions OF tens of millions 10 avert
starvation, and il the hatred of :he present gov
ernment that rankIes in every genuine Irish soul.
When O'ConneIl bequesthed his heart to the
ruler Of his faith to escape resting place in an
oppressed land. he voiced the profound sense OF
public wrongs that centuries had taught his peo-
pie; and when McManus sad Meagher landed in
the United States as fugitive convicts, the con
trast between freedom and tyrannyiwas impressed
upon every civilization of the earth The eman.
cipated Irish serf eomforted the English soldier
on the battlefelds of the revolution and each year
during century Of free government in the New
World has drawn from the productive industry
of ireland its vigor and its courage. Only tie
poor and the helpless remain tc fight the unequal
battle against the despotic rule of England, and
they struggle and starve and starve and struggle
repeating in nearly every decade the history o
the IawIessness that despair has bred for nearly
thousand years.
The fame OF rebellion that is In Ire
land IS simply the periodical outbreak of the
sufOiHSltl lfc LnaL mas DTCkcu out luuNreub o.
times in the past. Soldiers can quench 1t gain
as soldiers have quenched it time and again, and
/ the leaders of rebellion can be convicted and
punished as has been done throug hout a score o.
generations; but when Parnell. Dayitt and theil
associates shall have been made convicts there
will be no peace. The Irish people will be rebel
lIous ever before they will hate the govern
ment with increased hatred, If possible, and they
will be even more dangerous in the future,
positive element Of weakness IN the English Gov
ernmsnt. There will he peace in Ireland only
when En- yliSh statesmanship accepts justice 81
one OF its chief attributes in the government o
the Irish people; and the time has wheT
the enlightened civilization of the world has
right to demand that the exceptional desPotisn
displayed to Ireland. in contrast with the govern
ment OF all other English dependencies, shall b
modified by humane amt just recognition 0
some OF the inherent rights Of man. II EnxIan,
shan fail 70 do this the day cannot be far distan
when IrGiElI viii ieariuliy Gvenge herself an
the ,foG Of nations "an have attr butte tina
would take side with England in such sttife.