The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-09-12

l VIII uOL Say tudL Tic 1IIou AACAl1OC1S :
were boycotted: but they were a race
apart, their hands equally against the
Liberal and the Tory; and the fierce cam
| paign in which they were engaged made
| them pust as little anxious to speak tc
! Englishmen as Englishmen We're tC
| speak to them.
| took lodgings Off the Kings road
Chelsea | drive down that thorough
fare two or three times every day now
for, after many wanderings, am once
more able to survey the thoroughfare
without any particular emotion one way
or the other. But can never forget the
impression which the Kings road pro
duced on me on the first evening spent
! FL it after my return from America. i
ffad not friend in London outside the
Amembers of my own party; and had as
| yeRseen none Of them. The rooms IN
| whicn> lived were small and comfort
less, and. above all things: they were
| lonely. I who had been in the midst
| of all those tens of thousands of friends
land compatriots, found myself once
more a poor, friendless, lonely item in
| the millions of London. used to have
| the habit for many years of taking long
walks through the streets of London
| half in self absorbed musings, half in
observation of the world going on
around me. There is always something
singularly soothing to my inner mind in
the presence of crowds--when I do not
| belong to them. Noise, tunlult, motion,
I multitudinousness- is something
in all this which brings to me q, sense OF
time went every boxing day To the
Crystal Palace-not only ali alone but
passing the whole day without meeting
a single person with whom I was ac
quainted or who knew me; and, in spite
of the oppressive sense of loneliness
which came to me ocasi ionally, those vast
masses of humanity always brought me
the same curious sense of peace.
This was the mood in which / felt as
I walked down the Kings road that
evening--so clearly craven on my mind
even how, after the lapse of so many
years. It was Saturday night-the night
when the poor are marketing and anus
ing themselves after their London fash
ion If you want to see the lives Of the
masses of people in London you can find
no better point of observation than a
public house. l am too busy man now
to frequent these places, standing in one
of those saddening places of joy, but III
old days, have often spent hours in
W1tCltl1lE L1lC 1IdAuCA dtA1N CuotOAlS, ctAu
in listening to the talk of these curious,
pathetic hopeless creatures There is no
use in getting angry with them; there is
no use in preaching at them; above all
in my opinion, there is no use in trying
to bully or coerce them; you must simply
be patient-hopeful, and make war not
so much on them as on the evil c;rcum-
sances and surroundings which produce
their vices and weaknesses. ! spent, the
first night in London in one OF those
brown studies half waking, half dream
ing-in observing those Londoners who,
from seven months Of separation and
from many scenes through which l
passed, had become strange and ulfa-
miliar to me agjn; and their looks, their
words, their absurdities, and their trag-
edies are fresh in my memory today. The
general impression I got was that all
London was drunk. There is plenty of
drunkenness in America; but it is kept
more out Of sight, and it is within mar
rover limits. But this multitude Of peo-
pie, shouting their delerious cries-cries
that alwitys have III their centre the sob
of despair--tae number OF women and
among thenl-all this produced a painful
and terrible impression upon my mind.
can see still one little group-it was
composed entirely Of women. Therewas
the grandmother-old, gaunt, silly and
sowrinkled, that her face was like the
back of leaf; her daughter-young, too,
stout, silly also; and then there was the
babe in arms. They were all drinking
gin. I forgot everything at that moment
but the overwhelming desire to fly from
England and to get back to a nation
where everybody has hope and selfsre-
spect, and women are rarely. If ever.
seen inside a drinking place.
A few weeks afterwards had another
experience, which brought home to me
by contrast the difference between the
land had left and the land ] had
reached. Atevery meeting almost which
I attended in the United States the pro-
scription, which was sent to the Land
League organization at home. In San
Francisco there were two meetings in
rapid succession; and the result was a
sum as large as FL 800. Atsas45ew meet
ing were less sums collected than a
couple of hundred or four II hundred
pounds. Iwent to meeting at Hudders-
field, for which there had been consider
able preparation, and which was in
tended to swell the funds Of the Irish
organization in Great Britain. The or.
ganizer OF the meeting came to me to
tell how great had been its. success; he
had taken f3 at the dooor! s5y il L
q / went to America for the second time
in 1890. I had just resigned the editor
ship of the Star. I badly wanted rest;
but, Mr.. Parnell and my old friends,
NJ. Dillon and Mr. William 0'Brien,
begged OF me to take my share Of the
work Of appealing to the United States
for aid to the evicted tenants. i found
myself unable. to refuse. i title antici-
.,,ated at the time how the nj iissionSwnul
end. Ills difficult to convey TO thesEng-
slish reader an idea of the enthusiasm
and the success with which this mission
was attended I'D sitsS first few weeks. Tie
Estor of New Tf Tfppera the fomantic
circumstances off the escape of Ioils
Elsns fr. O' 'Bfien rom Irelan .
sx atdn that the az general eIestio;a
rsat Britain won Had;
stDne ned sfo
7 u