The Irish standard., 1891-01-31


UONDHENlNG PARNELL's COURSE,
Dr.. Bernard O'Reilly's Recent Artlole is
Quite Severe On The Trash Leader.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa, jan. 26. The
February number Of the American Cath
olio Quarterly Review, which is edited
by Archbishop Ryan Of this CITY, CON
tains trenchant article on 'lreland's
Cause and Ireland's Leader" from the
pen of the Rt. Rev. Bernard O'Re1lly.
D. D., the writer of the articles on Cath
olio subjects contained in the American
Encyclopedia. It is dead against Par
nell, and BY implication accuses him OF
treachery and falsehood. He says that
the moral constituencies Of . man so
stainless in his private life as Mr., Glad
stone and the high value set upon the
public morality of political leaders bY
the English, Scotch, and Welsh dissen-
tiers, who give so many representatives
to swell the ranks of the Liberal party,
felt certain that there could be no CO.
operation between the Gladstonian Lib
eral party and the Irish party led bY
MIR. Parnell after the disclosures Of the
divorce case in the O'Shea matter. he
accuses Mr.. Parnell Of lack of honor,
lack of political sagaclty, and lack OF
patriotism in not retiring voluntarily
from his position Of leader after his
virtual confession of guilt. He ridicules
the account which Mr.. Parnell gives OF
the Hawarden interview, but attributes
it charitablY to ill-health, worry, and
mental excitement.
In reference to the present opposi-
ton of MIR. Parnell to the Bishops and
priests. he recalls the following circuu~
stance which came under his observa-
ton:
The, Arch bishop of Cashel at mem
orabIe assembly held in Kildare about
mid October, 1885, in presence OF the
Archbishop Of Dublin, of several other
prelates. of Mr.. Parnell and others
members of parliament, clergymen, and
leading gentlemen from the surrounding
oounties-gave an historical account OF
the beginning OF the Land League
movement under Mr.. Parnell's direc~
ton. He affirmed that MIR. Parneli
came to him and declared, III view OF the
incalculable Importance which the. new
agitation seemed likely or certain to at
tain, that he was unwilling to take a
single step without securing the SYM
pathy and cooperation of the bishops
and priests of Ireland. This discourse
and MIR. Parnell's confrmatory reply
were made in the hearing of the author.
DR.. O'ReillY quotes with approval
Mr.. Sections remarks: eff the leader Is
retained, in my Judgment the cause Is
lost If the cause is to be won the
leader must retire." and adds:
That is the very soul of the Irish
question. The cause of Ireland must
be the supreme law for every national
leader, The leader must be guided by
the vital interests of that cause, nor
should these interests and that cause
ever be made secondary or subservlenS
to the interests of any one man or party.
And will freshmen and men CT
Irish race consent to bury forever out OF
sight and beneath the earth that cause
of Ireland 50 enthusiastically upheld
but yesterday? God Knows we Irish
men are clannish enough; and this very
olannishness, the devotion to Il name and
man, the narrow love of the tribe, and
the locality in preference to the county
and the nation, has been too often our
bane in the past. It dashed all the
hopes of our people and rendered useless
all the slaughters and sacrifices made
for religion and nationality for the last
two or three centuries.
That this clann1shness was not thing
Of the past, what has just happened Ill
Ireland. as we'll as in our own free
America, proves but too conclusively.
The name OF the man, not that of the
cause Or the country, is the spell our
speakers conjure with the wiil-o'~the-
w,sp which leads our countrymen astray
and lands their countrY's cause in quag-
mires from which there seems no escape.
We must learn to love Ireland for her
own sake, not for the sake of the men
who represent or misrepresent her. We
must be devoted to the cause through
good repute and evil repute, through
good and Ill fortune, because we believe
it to be cause fated never to be lost.
A leader will have to be chosen. COM