Smyrna times. [volume] (Smyrna, Del.) 1854-1987, 1883-10-31
For the Smyrna Times.
Ireland a Republic.

society in Smyrna whose aim is the
liberation of Ireland from under the
rule of England and that the worst
monopoly in this country is nothing
compared with the servitude of the
Irish people to the English crown.
mat Ireland is all in state of
slavery is the opinion of more in this
community than the editor of the
Record, and when the name comes be-
fore their view they can associate with
IL nothing but ignorance, vice and the
lowest order of mankind; it is to con-
vince such as are of this opinion, at
least to part of that unhappy
island" that l use your columns at
present.
That there is trouble, agitation and
bloodshed i'll Ireland, no one can denv
but that this state of affairs is caused
by the severity OF the English govern
ment, do deny. Travel with me if
you please to the North of Ireland: let
us imagine we are entering the port of
Belfast, see all those ship carpenters at
work on the docks, we raise Z" hurrah
for Parnell and freedom" no response,
but every man grasps his axe and
makes for our landing place. We
made mistake; now we will hurrah
Tor the Queen and the English Govern
ment, and i'll an instant every hat goes
up with shouts of "God save the
Queen no freedom for the ship car
penters. There is meeting of the cit
liens in the public square tonight; we
must go and see what is being done
there. What mass meetinpl It
seems as if the whole population of the
island were gathered here, the laborer,
the mechanic, the farmer and the mer-
chant are all represented in this sway
ing mass of humanity. You say to
yourself, this must he meeting in the
interest of the Irish cause, but as you
look up and see the CniOn-Jack float
ing over the heads of the multitude.
you know not what to say, and as reso-
luton after resolution is made de-
nouncing Parnell and the cause he rep
resents, and rendering aid to the Gov
eminent and the Queen, and as cheer
after cheer resoundS through the air, |
think hear you whisper in my ear, this
cannot be Ireland, this must be England,
but it is Ireland and scenes like this have
not only been enacted in Belfast, but
throughout every village and every
hamlet of the North. But you tell me
the people are ignorant, uneducated,
they know not what freedom is. But
say without fear of contradiction,
that for intelligence, religion and edu-
cation the people Of Ulster stand on a
par with any part of any country in
the wOrld-Delaware or Massachusetts
not excepted. Standing upon the spot
which gave me birth and casting nav
mind's-eye for two miles all around |
can count seven school houses-in
many of which are two rooms, one
for boys and one for girls-and eight
churches, e Presbyterian, | Episcopal
and l Roman Catholic. The schools.
with one or two exceptions, are the
national schools supported by the Gov
eminent and taught by trained teach
ers who have passed a rigid examina-
ton at the training school in Dublin.
And what an influence those few
schools and churches situated in re-
mote farming district in the North of
Ireland must have upon the religious
world to day! Here it was that the
first Presbyterian missionary to China,
the Rev. John Byers, first saw the light
and here his brothers are occupying
the old homestead to-day, while he lies
Wondering in the dust of the "flowery
kingdom" About three-quarters of a
mile from the birth place of John
Byers stands the twO-stOry school
house he attended when bow, and be.
side this school house is a large farm
house; here lived the father and here
was spent the bOyhood days of George
Hay Stuart, of Philadelphia. one of the
Indian Commissioners appointed by
President Grant and man whom the
religious world delights to honor.
About a mile distant we come to
another school house of Gothic struc-
ture, a room for boys at one end and
one for girls at the other, with the
teachers residence between, To this
school house about forty years ago, trod
one of the foremost orators who adorns
American pulpits to-day-Dr. John
Hall, pastor of the Fifth Avenue Pres
byterian Church, of New York, a man
who is not ashamed of his nativity as
well as of his profession. And going
to the same school about the same time
was the Rev. James Scott, to whose
labor the Frankfort PRESBYTERIAN
Church of Philadelphia stands a mon
ument and whose bones are now lying
inferred near the site of those labors
far from his kindred and from the
land he loved so well.
And treading the same roads when a
boy, was the Rev. Robert Loudan, now
of Illinois. But space forbids me max
ing mention of all who have gone forth
from that circle in the present genera
ton as preachers of the Gospel. Suf-
hce 1T to say they are scattered over
the known world, some in Australia,
some in Asia, some in Africa and many
OF them are labOring among their own
people. And if l had extended nav
limits few miles farther would have
come to the birthplace of another man
famous in the land of his adoption-the
merchant prince of America, the late
A. L. Stewart, of New York.
Now | ask: Can the brothers and
sisters and companions of such men as
those l have mentioned, be the down.
trodden slaves of monopoly? | tell
you nay, for they are as happy, pros
porous and cOntented a people as there
is in any country to-day. They love
their country and they love their noble
sovereign, the Queen of England. Re-
member | am now writing of the North
of Ireland, of Loyal Ulster" a place
where Parnell or any of his ASSOCIATES
dare no more make an address than
dare Southern seoessionist in the
streets of Boston during the late war.
| have told you little about the
North. But what of the South? All.
here the picture blackens; ignorance,
superstition and bigotry, they are the
mOnopolists that put on the shackles
and binds the slaves in iron grasp.
Idleness and laziness make them feel
those bonds and the spirit of discomfort
and hatred that has descended from
generation to generation from the 18th
century down and manifested itself at
intervals all through these years, again
breaks out, exclaiming: "Ireland is
ours and We'll have herr The hatred
of the South of Ireland against the
English Government and against the
North is almost q mania and this
hatred stirred up by designing men
like Messrs, Parnell, Dillon & Co.,
whatever can be their motive, the
consequences are seen through the last
few years in the shed blood of peaceful.
law-abiding citizens and in the tears of
I FarNr L