The Northwestern standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1885-1886, 1886-02-06
aA Univera,ty Student Portrays tho Mis-
cries and Sorrows Of the Emerald Isle.

ling in luxury and debauchery IN Tor
| eign cities, eating from the fesh-pots
sent them by their rack-rented tenants,
| She is sure that if her lands were in
! the possession Of her own children, as
the land Of any nation should belong to
the children Of that nation, she could
4 by her wonderful fertility, feed well and
clothe, not the five millions who now
suffer from hunger and cold but twenty
yes, twenty-five millions more. Her
Indignation rises as she turns to the
past and sees how, and for what reason,
the invader first set foot on her shores;
under what specious pretext he main
tained his authority; how the sword has
always been his argument. She sees
her lands confscated and parceled out
among her conquering foes, and hel
own children to go to He'll or Con
naught. Y She is wildly reminded Of
this because she knows that the land
lords to-day are the descendants and
theirs Of the original despoilers.
It is no balm to her wounded spirit,
as it moves over the past, to recall he1
experience under the awful penal codes
of the conquerer as he held his iron
heel upon her neck. She can testify to
the truth Of Edmud Burke's remark
that, '',These laws could have been de-
yised only by tends, they should be
written in blood and registered in He'll. =
| She sees all her institutions trampled
| in The dust by a race having no sympa-
thies in common with her. In her sOlil-
oquy she comes to the destruction OF
her language, the unifying principle OF
nationality. Her conqueror seemed to
study and to systematic the
means of national destruction, and saw
| a secret source of strength in her Ian
guage. SO effectively has he accom-
Iplished his purpose that we, the chill
dren Of her children. can lisp scarcely a
sound Of her classic tongue. She re-
members the time when she held the
proud place Of teacher Of the nations,
and when the scholars Of Europe
hocked thither to drink OF her pierian
springs; and, as she sees with what in
difference she is now regarded, she
wonders if in the eyes Of an intelligent
world, tiH,e can justify wrongs. In her
distraction she turns often to the past.
then contemplates her present, and
then casts a glance with hope and with
fear toward her future. The sun, in
lis his ssurff glare, parts king Vi the anger
OF the sea out Of which he rises, in
spires her with determination and
anger, if not with revenge; the moon
and stars look down in peace, and bid
her hope. Her nconquerable spirit
again kindles as she thinks Of the thou
sands who have been sent into exile,
sold as slaves in the West Indies, or
deprived of life only because they loved
her: !" Twas treason to love her, and
death to defend" She sees Torture,
Exile, and Death busy, till even The
King Of Terror, in surfeit, raised his
reeking hands, and cried enough! She
is the most signal example on earth OF
an outraged nation; she feels the shame
of having been humbled and disgraced
in the flesh, but knows that the spirit
never yielded. Her conqueror knows.
too, that she never consented to become
his. but that, on the contrary, she al
ways hated him. Snch union is de-
testable, and in It's contemplation she
grows sad; yes,
I. So oft has she echoed the deep sixh Of sad
That even In her mirth it win steal from her
stills
a prolific mother, she sees her chill
dren in all chimes, always fighting on
the side OF liberty and against oppres-
sion. When the pressure of centuries
is removed from them they rise to hon.
or and distinction. In her chains she
turns with revering eyes to Columbia,
the Goddess of Liberty. She saw here
the shackIes Of tyranny burst and cast
in the dust, the grandest nation on
earth springing into existence under
the release. A hundred years behind
the times, her master still begrudges
her taste Of like justice. She knows
that if America had to endure for a
single day what she has endured FOR
centuries, and still endnres, the next
sun would rise to be-
hold q sickening scene OF car
mage landlordism would 60, and To-
cal self governments come. For one who
has not experienced it, his eye hath not
seen, nor his ear heard, nor hath it en-
tered into his heart to conceive the con-
dition Of that people, gcaded at times
10 desperation, and then repnnished
for lack of fertitude. But new day
is dawning upon Erin. She has the
consolation Of having ever retained
the sacred emblem Of nationality the
harp and the shamrock are still en-i
twined with the laurel. a prisoner,
she still abaors all criminal measures
for her release. trusting that her chill
dren the world over, though bound in
duty to their own native or adopted T
land, win still think and plead for her.
She has had many Jeremias in la
mentation and prayer. Has she not
suffered enough? Surely she u fit
subject fora parliamentary issue. But
j few years ago she was expelled from
the f.nsrnrila ri the kinRdfnn. tO-daYf