The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-11-27
NOT ALL WHEAT.
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 26, 1881. |
Editors Herald: - !

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 70, 1881
Editors Herald: ~
In speaking of the unhappy" con.
dition of Ireland and in expressing
the conviction that tn s''unhsppiness''
is largely the fault of the Irish them.
selves, 1 do it with knowledge that
many OF the Irish people, both at
home and elsewhere. are as good SUBJ
jects or citizens as any other people
are, and have deservedly attained to
eminent position and obtained high
consideration. But l am saying
nothing to the discredit OF such. On
the contrary. l reckon them upon
my list OF friends, as I do all respecters
of law, liberty, life, and property,
and all upholders and lovers OF peace
and good order. But there ia large
number of Irishmen who are not of
this worthy stamp, but who evidently
delight in turmoil and turbulence, in
disorder, illegality, violence, sedition,
revolution, and anarchy, and do it
under the specious pretence OF patri-
otism. Upon these my animsdvcr-
sions fall. At least fox such characters
are they intended.
If We we're TO believe some persons,
We must accept the idea that the
Irish in Ireland are the finest people
that God ever made, the beet people
under the snn; that for those mon
strous Ssxons Ireland would De q
veritsble paradise of peace, propriety,
and prosperity; that the Irish were
always we'll behaved; that they never
were guilty OF acts OF barbsrity; tina:
the Ulster massacre OF 1641 is simply
a legend; that Cromwell was a mon.
ster of cruelty towards the unoffending
Irish; that the English in Ireland
and towards Ireland have always
been of that character, and q great
deal more of that sort of stuE.
Now l do not accept all this kind
of talk by the panegyrists of Ireland
and the Irish, TOT many reasons, one
of which is thas it does not accord
with experience. Irish blood all the
world over is proVerbially hot and
nasty, and that is inconsistent win q
high degree of peace and good order.
Within my own personal experience
the Irish quarters of towns in En-
gland are known as the most quarrel
some and turbulent, the places for
rows and fghtings pre-euinent.
It is related that a traveller IN "a
western town or "city" in this country
asked a resident young woman if the
inhabitants of the place were q
cultivated people. and thatth young
woman promptly answered, "You bet
your boots they are cultivated
crowd" Just so if one were to ask
a lauder OF the Irish people if they
were very good people, the answer
might come back swiftly, "You bet
your boots they are sanity set. "
For my part I have been looking all
my lie for perfect people. perfect
community, a perfect nation. but [
have lot found such things yet. Ger
tainly net among the Irish IL Ireland
by any manner of means. Individ-
uala may have travelled through Ire.
land and have reported most favor
ably OF the irish people: If were to
travel in Ireland aud sympsthize with
and fstter the people, while abom-
mated the hateful Saxons to the
lowest degree, / have no doubt thai
the sons of Erin would give me a
very warm place in their hearts. But
il I were to candidly tell them that ]
did not think the Saxons were alto
getheE and alone 10 blame for the
"unhappy" condition OF Ireland, thai
in my humble opinion that condition
was 10 a great degree the fault OF the
I-lsh themselves, might be likely
to be shot from behind hsdge by
some patriotic and indignant peasant.
Judging from the past and the pres
ent, it is not unlikely that future
panegyrists of the Irish people will
deny that there ever was any Boycott
ting, or any landlord shooting, or any
"Do rent" cry in Ireland, and will
assert that the people of that country
were too pure and too peace loving
to do any such desperate deeds, tbs.
TIE reports of these things were all
lying Saxon inventions to cover up
their own tyrannical and wolfsh pro.
ceedings among the poor and op
pressed and lamb-like Irish.
As to the massaores In 164l and
the Cromwellian expedition few
years later, history says: FIFTY thou
eand Euglish people persisted in few
DAYS, and rumor doubled and trebled
the number. Tales of horror and
outrage, such as msddened our own
England when they reached Us from
Cawnpore, came day after day ever
the English Channel. Sworn depo-
sitions told how husbands were cut
TO pieces in the presence OF their
wives, their children's brains dashed
out before their faces, their daughters
brutally violated and driven out
naked to perish in the woods" The
horror of the Irish massacre re-
mained living in every Eoglish breast,
and the revolt lin l649) vas looked
upon as q continuance OF the mas
sacre." So Cromwell went to Ireland