The Irish standard., 1888-11-17

co OeSCCOy lnC muUllaCo OOU $ GltdIs
to deface The noblest work of earl.
Christian days; and that f0e!s England
'Che nation boasting the highest clvilj
Zation has been to Ireland the mos
ruthless tyrant and desp0iler the Worls
ever saw.
For seven hundred years her treat
ment of Ireland has been long serie
of foul expressions, but only when diff
ferences of faith come to add bigotr,
and calumny to the catalogue Of infamy
could ireland be said to have reached
the bottom Of misery. Listen tc q few
Of the laws of England, made for a ma
ton never conquered. and trom thest
let every anti Catholic, whatever he may
be-. learn that persecutlun Tor religion
must always fail in its OBJECT, and Only
return to slnite the prosecutor. From
the Norman conquest, when Henry. IL
came over with his barons, the Irlst
people maybe said 70 have become out
casts, and remain sc to this day. Nc
sooner mad he taken the land than he
parcelled it out among his Yassals
The names given by the conquerers tc
the people tell the story Of this poor ma
ton. They were called S5he irish
enemy" or, "the wild Irish." 80 that
the adjective wild was coupled to ths
Irish as we'll rs it was to the wild wolf
Not here but in England the con
querors Of the (rish lived. Within
that pale was the government of Erin.
They formed the government cf Erin.
Montesquieu wrote, ''This code was
the most terrible that human ingenuity
syer invented for the destruction OF a
people," Burke says, ",The most in
ferua! genius aided by the most dia-
bolical powers could not have framed
nore dastart!ly set Of laws
To whom die Ireland belong : To
whom does it. belong now? In vain to
ask the Qusstien. The Irish people
froru the landing OF Henry III. to 1872
may be said to have owned not foot
Of their own ground. it was believed
that they were incapable Of governing
themselves. The English ha sing the
ear Of the world, had announced to the
world that the Irish were unciyillzed.
That it was impossible to civiliZe them.
They came ovsY to claim the land. Not
that they claimed ang right to teach
the people religion, for religion they
had none, but to exterminale and amel
icrate the Irish nation. 1t may be said
down 70 Henry VIII. that the Irish
people lived as the Israelites OF old are
said to have lived, with sta7es in their
hands and scrip upon their backs.
AND thus it was that che Irish people
were hunted all over tbs land; and
when il conleo down to the time OF
Cromwell there was added q new force
TO the persecution of this poor nation,
Their enemies proclaimed that the
Irish people should have no bishops,
That the monasteries aud schools
should be thrown down. Those that
were sent oyer to teach the Irish peo-
ple the new religion had 40 religion
themselves They were people VINO
never read ths Bible themselves, out
who sWore that religion consisted in
this-in hating papists.
In 1852 the Catholic Peers and Com
mons of Ireland, goaded to desperation
and mortified at the b]asphemous nature
of the oath presented to them by Eng
land. quit both Houses, and for two
centuries no Catholic Irishlnan sat In
either House. After that English law
did not suppose the existence ot an
Irish Catholic. Doping, the Protest
ant Bishop of Meath, publicly taught
that a Protestant was not bound to keep
faith with papists. Catholics coAld
not belong to a corporation, could not
take civil office nor enter the military
profession, were excluded from every
government office high or low, from
every duty and privilege of citizens,
could not vote, were debarred from all
juries, position of sheriff, constable or
ganekeeper, could not give or receive
education nor send their children to
any foreign land to be educated; and 1t
any parent were proved guilty OF this
latter offence he WAS fined el00 and the
child dlsinherited.
Here was enforced ignorance, and
here are the same people announcing
that the Irish are an ignorant people,
diacontented, idle, thriftless.
\ Catholic was fined $50 month
for not going to the Protestant church.
ANY two justices Of the peace could
summon a Catholic over is years old,
and if ne refused TO apostatize, thatis, to
become q Protestant, they could bestow
his property on the next OF kin. Any
four justices of the peace could Danish
for life Catholic refusing to go to the
Protestant church. Every Catholic
priest was subject to death. No Cath
Ollie could bus, inherit or receive as a
gift any land or hold life annuity.
The estate of Catholic not having a
Protestant heir was gayelled, i. g.