The Evening critic., 1882-05-09
The irish situation.


wonted patience and conservatism on the
part of the English public generally. We
say "unwonted," because hitherto the
people of England have been in the habit |
of meeting Irish outbreaks with swift |
resentment and blind wrath which to- |
tally excluded reason and deliberation. |
From the time of Cromwell down to very
recent period the unvarying answer of |
England to any violent demonstration of |
Irishmen has been a storm of reprossvc |
measures and an avalanche of regular sol |
diery. In other words, holding Ireland as
a conquered province, English public opin- |
ion has evidently been unable to conceive |
that any sort of policy could be efica-
ciously applied to that unhappy island
other than that of fierce reconquest at
every sign of discomfort.
At any time during the last two hun
dred and fifty years the assassination
of two high officers of the English regime
in Ireland would have been the instant
signal of marching orders for every dis
possible regiment in England and Scot.
land if not the embodiment of the militia;
and every parish in Ireland would have
been laid under the heel of an Army of
Occupation. The fact that these tradi-
tional measures were not instantly adopted
upon the receipt of the appalling news of
Il. t,r oh n ctriIa Of
English public opinion and English gov
erning policy in the direction of humanity
and peace.
1t is as yet, of course, too early to predict
with certainty the final decision of the
English Government. But all present ap-
pearances indicate that the counsels of
moderation, reason and justice will rule
the hour and that the fierce passions which
have so long and so often held sway in
similar emergencies will for once be held
in allegiance. Englishmen must bear in
mind that this is an age of comfy that,
thanks to free press and lightning
methods of accommodation, the foSces
of public opinion have been univcrsalized,
and that no nation, howsoever great or
strong, can afford to ignore the sincere
sentiments of her neiehbors candidly ex-
pressed. Perhaps it is a sense of this great
fact that stays the hitherto swift and still
heavy hand of English power. But more
probably it is the growth of new modes of
thought and new processes of reasoning in
the English mind ITSELF assimilating to its
own concerns the universal spirit of the age.
At all events, whether Englishmen see
it clearly or not, all the rest of the world
understands that Ireland can never again
be dealt with according to the maxims es-
tablished by Cromwell, Endorsed by William
the Third, and practiced without question
of better way from 16is down to 1882.
Thus we observe that the enormity OF
the crime itself fades out of sight by reason
of the vastly greater Importance and in
terest Of the political problems to which il
may prove the strange and unexpected
solution. No one-not even the most
feIocious of the Tory organs of London
seems inclined to view the murder as the
work of any political or social organization
of the Irish nation. All agree that il
must have been prompted by the
fanatical fury of individuals wholly
unadvised and uncontrolled by any re
sponsible party or section of the people
Upon this premise the English Government
can yet base successful policy. We ar
not among those who view tie total separa
tion of Ireland from the British Empire a
political possibility-at least not in on
time. Indeed, we do not understand tina
complete independence is the aim of tn
patriots who compose that grandest an
most effective organization that eve
existed among Irishmen-the Land Leagu
We take them at their word, that the
object is simply Land Reform and Hon
Rule as self-governing State within I'll
United Kingdom. Nothing short of tn
can answer the evident destiny of IL
times.
The sooner all classes of Englishmen r,
solve to accept this political truth as pa
of their own creed, the better, not only
Ireland, but for England. Mr.. Gladstone
Ministry may or may not prove equal
the crisis But if it does not prove equi
to the crisis, England must find one th
will, no matter from what party it has
be chosen. Force will not prove a remed
because there is now watching the COZ
duct of English affairs heghborly publ
opinion which had no existence when Il
history of the Boyne, Aehrim aud Vineg
Hill was made, and which would n
tolerate repetition of it. If England ey
reeonquers Ireland she must do it wi
moral forces. 1t can never be done vii
steel and gunpowder again.
~
THAT is very pretty letter Colonel |
gersoll sent the Lynch serenaders last nigl
But did il ever occur to the Colonel I'll
the "life Of the Republic" depended on t
cold, legal doctrine Of ''set OFF, instead Of
those nice things he says about it? Applied