Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-02-22
"a Citizen Of the United States
Attack TTuOn Mr.. ParneII.


Editor Morning Nes0s: OF your cour-
tesy ask your insertion of this commu-
nication, my last on the subject
1t is a somewhat cowardly act to strike
an enemy when he is down, but when he
throws himself down to avoid your blow
will you hold your hand or-strikef
I strike, blame me who may.
In his first article, ga Citizen of the
United States" quotes Mr.. Parnelfs Ian
guage word for word, makes that lam
guage his text. and assaults it You,
Mr.. Editor, and my insignificant SELL
note his distortion of the quoted words,
note his ascription of meaning which
the words will not bear, and explain, 10
what must be q muddled sense, the true
meaning of the language used. In TACT,
that language is so plain that 1t needs no
explanation save to mind wllfully per
verted.
Mr.. ParneIls language land Gsd
knows "a Citizen" Italicized his version
sufficiently, Mr.. Parnelrs language was
what he attacked, and that language
was what we defended. Your article
and mine dwelt upon that topic almost
entirely-Mr. Parnell's language. In his
article of oday, ga Citizen of the
United States takes the old, well known
refuge of every defeated school boy:
1--WE did not touch upon the point OF
his article" Mr.. Editor, the point OF
his article was his assault upon Mr.. Par
nell's language He claims now that
we should have attacked his conception
of the meaning of that language.
know you are laughing, Mr.. Editor, and
you are right. A huger old joke was
never perpetrated upon the readers of
public print. "a Citizen" throws Mr..
Parnell's language to the winds-nay, he
does worse; he distorts the meaning Of
1t and offers his construction as the
writer's meaning. "a Citizens" article in
your issue of to day is simply dishonest.
It is an assumption of premises which
do not exist, and it is full of what the
writer must have known to be misstate.
ments He says that he 'took up
Froude, but found him so full of preju-
dices and misrepresentation that he put
him down" 1 say, Mr.. Editor, that he
studied Froude long enough to become
thorough master of his methods. To
take the plain language of great
man, to distort it to your
own idea in order to hold him up to
public ignominy, to put false meanings
into the plain language which he uses,
and publish those meanings as has, this is
Froudism, and it is in the exercise of this
faculty only that "a Citizen" has shone.
ga Citizen" argues more weakly the
farther we read. He claims that be-
cause the military and naval power of
England are very great, and because
the geographical position of Ireland
makes the possession of that coun-
try advantageous to England, there
fore. Ireland's people are Grim.
inal in attempting to shake off the
English yoke. What "warm friend
of the Irish people" sees the force of
the argumentP Oh, shame upon the
warm friend of Ireland.
"A Citlze ~ of the United States" is
aware mat one of the ciergy-(Gark)
ore Of the cIergy-attends the meetings of
the Land League, and he asks: ''But
what can the clergy do when the people
become excited2" answer. Mr.. Editor:
The people will do as they have always
done, follow the lead of Soggarth
Aroon. In the struggles for liberty,
for right and justice the Irish
clergy have never waited for
any mans hand to point the way. 1t.
mattered not where Death grinned the
ghastliest, they were always first to meet
him, and they have met him so often,
and so shorn him of his grizzly terrors,
that they fear not to meet him again in
these latter days "a Citizen of the
United States" evidently knows nothing
of the Irish priesthood.
And now to the last count in the in
dictment: cit is reported that Mr.. Par
nell told Victor Hugo that though
lnsurrection would be justifable, the
League discouraged it, as the Irish are
unarmed."
Mr.. Editor, the citation of that
sentence proves conclusively that "a
Citizen of the United States" is not a
warm friend of the Irish people. 1t
proves that he is one who will stoop TO
anything to further English supremacy,
and that he is one who looks not to the
rights of kings, but to how much he can
make out of them Had his vision been
so clear as it was when he saw war in
Mr.. Parnells address, he would have
seen that the very sentence which
he here quotes upsets his whole
argument against Mr.. Parnell. If Mr..
Parnell is criminal in declaring insurrec-
ton justifable in Ireland, / too am
criminal, for believe instruction to
have been justifable any time since 1172,
and will SO believe until the people of
Ireland hold their own again. And it is
and will ever remain proud boast of
mine, and one which l shall teach my
children to boast of, and they their chill
dren's children after them, that l
took up arms and spent the best four
years of my life under arms for the
cause of a people whose wrongs, though
crying to Heaven for vengeance, were
but as the troubles of a little child beside
strong mans agony, when compared
with the sufferings of Ireland and her
people under English rule. With thanks,
am done. EMERALD.
Sa0onaal, February 81, 1881