, 1880-03-28
eome Forgotten Aspects Of the
Irish Question.
rhe Long-Continued Barbarous and
Stupid Policy OF England To.
wards Ireland.
a+temnted determinations Of the Irish
Race-Hideous Results Of Brit
ish Expressions.
RsShry Of the Peoples Lands Supplemented By
Prohibition Of Other hcans Of
Likelihood.
and YET the English Wonder that There Is
Nav Land Question in ireland!

and YET the English Wonder that There Is
Now Land Question in Ireland!
,,o,,sn, MaeCou In London Contemporary Eerieac.
1t7nay be pleaded, and generally is pleaded.
hehalf Of the British Parliament. that it has
-dna,,r undone the wrongs Of centuries, and
e.. a. 1ast placcd the people Of Ireland on
<ao+inp of perfect equality with the people Of
r,r1and. But the mere undoing Of wrong
1aes mt ALWAYS place the injured person on an
soualtty with those who have not been wronged-
ne soycreign's "pardon" does not necessarily
,,1ace the innocent convict where he Wts before.
Tia health may have been ruined meanwhile, or
t;e business, or both. In equity therefore, If not
- ~, etrict law. he has exceptional claims on the
consideration and sympathy OF the government
xh,ch did him wrong. The conducto OF En-
eland in the past
GOES FAR TO EXPLAIN
.,,o ,,rcsent condition of Ireland. II that con-
suc1 has heeu exceptional in the highest de-
<z,ae the Irish may be less unreasonable than
e oancral}y supposed in demanding so1nb ex-
= tis non,1larly supposed that tho special ILL.,
+reotment Of Ireland By England began at the
time Of the Rcformadon.iU 10 Undoubtedly the Ret-
ormat1on introduced new element OF d1scord
hv adding to the antipathy of rnce the more po-
tcnt and more bitter antipathy Of religion,-the
religion of q handful Of English officials in Dub
lin imposed upon the Irish nation by the Mussul-
man argument Of the sword. Before the
reformation the Irish nation was out
1awed for the crime of being Irish. At
tha Reformation it was outlawed anew for
the additional crime Of being Papist-
nut to say that the Irish were outlawed by
England may appear to some an exaggerated
statement II is, however,
THE LITERAL FACT.
THE truth is, that England found the conquest
of Ireland much more difficult matter than It
had bargaiued for. If the Irish had been united
politically under one head, one of two results
must have folowcd: either the English invad-
ers would have been driven out Of the country,
nr the Irish would have submitted after O few
decisive defeats. But tho ancient Irish we're
broken up into number Of separate tribes,
owing collectively no allegiance to any one sin
Gle chief. This made it impossible, without
military occupation Of the whole county, to
supduc and rule them In the mass; and mill
tary occupation Of the whole country was was
pasfioie II pt6is respect ike animal organizatiens
When they are highly developed you can deal
with them us individual entities, whose power OF
overcome the head. In low organizations, On the
other hand, to divide is simply to multiply tho
centres of life and Of resistance Ireland Wns
politically in this undcveloped condition ut the
ffme of Strongbow' s invasion. No victory, how
ever decisive on the spot, s'1fiiced u crush the
resistance of the population at large, because
head. Dispersed at one place. they suddenly az,
tucked at another. HarHssed and exaspernted
By this style OF warfare, the English seem 70
hare conceived the idea of e1terminatfng M me
larRe majority of the native population: Inc
atrocious laws decreed against them hardly nd
NIT Of any other Interpretation. The Irish were.
simply as Irish, placed outside the protecuon OF
the law, and
WE'RE TREATED AS yEnM1N.
Eubruission to English rule did not bring with It
tho correlative privileges of an Englisa sup1ecL.
3 contract mt t with hin was no wrong. He could not
sue In the English courts. The slaughter OF the
Irish and the seizure Of their property were acts
restraint on the greed and cruelty Of the OPP
pressor except the fear Of retaliation. - = com
mon defense in charges OF murder Was , tnnt M inc ~
murdered man was Of the mere Irish. 10 eS-
cape from this cruel bondage, the Irish Tepeated-
II petiuoucd for admission TO the benefits OF En-
glIsh law: and were always refused Such was tne
condition of the Irish beyond the Pale. NOR was
the lot even uf those who lived within It IN env-
BILE one. The degree Of protection ~hicn supnls,
sion to English rule afforded them may may pe Iesteo
bya statute OF 1465 which decreed that ANY per-
son going to rob steal, having no faltn1ul nian
of sod name or fame In his company IN Engnsnn Q
might be lled t 3 q a5 rsh
and Irish woman within the Palo
AT THE DISPOSAL oF ANY ESGL1sHMAN
WHO might feel tempted to indulge his passions.
But it is right to record even small merces. ano
therefore hasten to add that the brutality OF
this law was somewhat mitignted by sunse-
ouent stutute which directed the Irish Wl1n1n
the Pale to wear English apparel
Irish character stimulated here and there, per-
haps, by sympathy with undcservcd wrongs or
love Of adventure and viz VIZ pdio te; as Ed-
et7ahie numbers These became proyerbially
amore Irish than the Irish" They learned the
language, adopted the costume t mGtoe t of the te
subject race. If this process of amaigamnuon
had been allowed to go on unchecked, lTclano
Rut It Ras arrested inside the Pale by the KeIo
nation: outside the Pale by the statutes OF nj!
kenny. By these statutes an lmpasssaple gull III.
dbs or ndeed form Of
nection with them.
WAS CAPITAL CRIME.
1twas also made highly penal to present an
lrishman to an ecclesiastical benencc. or 70 gram
the rites of hospitality to Irish bard or story
teller. Yet the result of it all was, that, when
Henry VIII. quarrclcd with the Pope, and thus
added the bitterness Of religious persec4uon;
the hatred already cngendered oy Engnsa
tyranny, the area Of English rule was contracted
within a compass OF twenty miles.
Till then the cxterminat1on Of the Irish, tnougn
aimed Mt in various acts, WAS never openly rec
commended by English officials. 1t was left to
Protestant zcnl to stain the English name with
Idl9 1nlaMY- lnc poet Spcneer calmly cCutcll-
plates the determination Of the Irish as the
eurcst method of making uu 'Hibernia Pacat,l- -
After describing in pathetic terms the desola-
ton Of Munster by the ruthless soldiers of Eliza-
beth, he observes: s. The end will assure mel
be very short, and much sooner than It can be
in 50 great trouble. as it seemcth. hoped for;
although there should be none Of them fall by
tho sword nor be slain by the soldier, yet, thus
being kept from mauurancc and their cattle
from running abroad, they would quickly con-
sumc themselves and dcvour one another"
This horrible anticipation was,
N FACT, LITERALLY FULFILLED,
both in Elizabeth's reign and on several subsc-
ouent occasions. In the reign of James J., fol
exunplc, Sir Arthur Chichester reported that he
had found Ulster Astounding with houses
corn. cattle, and people who had been bred uE
in arms and were highly prosperous: But they
were Roman Catholics, and must make room 1ot
Protcstants- Accordingly, this militant propa.
gandst left tho country !" dcsofate anu waste
and the people upon it enjoying nothing but t. a .
fuRitiyes, aud what they obtained By stehIln.
But the sword and torch were too $40" rs lnstru'
ments of destruction, or perhaps too expensive. e.
At all events, Chichester agrees with Spchser ID
putting his trust mainly in famine - nave o1ten
said and written, 1t is famine that must consume
the Irish, MS our swords and other cndcaEors Wort
not that speedy effect which is expected. Hun
ger would be better, because speedier,
weapon to employ against them than inc
sword" This barharols policy succeeded roc
well. Pestlcnce and fuulue committed tr1eht-
full havoc among those who had escaped the
sword and fire. Starving children were to De