The Irish standard., 1897-09-11

statesmen CT Canada from Darcy Nc
Gee to Edward Blake have been Irish
men.
A glance at the Irish parliament dur
ing it's eighteen years Of legislative in
dependence, when such men as Grattan,
Plunkett, Flood. Bushe, Ponsonby and
others were at the helm, will convince
the Times that Irishmen showed great
capacity for craftsmanship. Lord Glare.
an enemy of Ireland, acknowledged that
during that brief period the country
made the most astonishing progress in
prosperity. When Ireland, at that time,
had national councils CT her own ''she
shone supremely in legislative wisdom
and Justice" and had not the parliament
been suppressed by force, fraud ansl
bribery the Irish OF today would be a
contented, happy, self-governing people.
II we go further back in the history Of
Ireland we find on the authority of Will
liam Fl. Seward. Lincoln's great secrc-
tary of state, that Ireland was an in
dependent nation. governed by king
and council or parliament. and was di-
rded into inferior kingdoms and sub
ordinate Se:,s or clans. 1t had popula-
ton and revenue equal to what were
generally possessed by other states in
the same age ireland then had court
in which Tearing was honored next to
royalty; a church that sent forth mis-
sionaries who converted a large portion
Of western Europe: laws that divided
the estates of the dead with equal JUS
ticc; that gave trial by jury-the Anglo
SaXon's beast: that ordained inns for
the entertainment CT travellers at the
public expense, and that knew only one
capital or objectionable crime.
There were trained bands which were
sworn to resist even a scven-fold foe;
knights who won renown for valor and
courtesy on the plains of Palestine, and
danes who were honorcd by admiring
bards and mnstres" Il speak no in
tcrestcd, no partial, no imaginative ell
logy," continues Seward; lit is the te:s-
tim0ny of general history as accredited
by modern learning" If what we have
quoted is true the Minneapolis Times
is wrong when it states that "the his
tory of Ireland (of the Irishman on his
native heath) from the earliest records
is a history of failure in the art of gov
eminent"
But the Times goes back into the
| twilight CT fable and smiles at the Irish
annalistS who trace the pedigree OF Irish
kings from the remotest times. They
trace the line OF Irish kings from the
time of the ilOcd although they de-
clare there were many Irish princes be-
fore that time says our erudite con-
temporary. And chen it facctlousy adds:
The record of these personages. how
ever, was no doubt lost in that awful
c,Itaclysm." Did not the Times read in
its historical researches that one CT the
the time of the deluge?
Every one knows that ireland, like
Greece, has Il fabulous history. One of
the sixteen names by which it is known
in history is Ogygia, which means very
ancient" That name was bestowed by
Plutarch No one is bound to accept the
NEUROLOGICAL history of Greece and Ire
land as being founded on fact. But
leaving the fabulous history aside, the
real history of Ireland antedates that of
any European country. according to Sir
James Macintosh, the Scotch historian,
who says that ireland had it's own his
tory written in its own language IN the
fourth century, and no nation of mod
ern Europe can make Il similar boast
If the Times only reads up on the sub
ject il will discover that Ireland had a
great law-hivcr named Ollavc-Fola prior
to the days of Lycllrgus, and that a tri
cnnial parliament was held at Tara
$500 years ago.
When the bcastful Anglo Saxons were
painted Savages like the Indians OF the
present day and lived in dugouts and
cabins built of wattles and mud the
Irish were in an advanced state of civ
!lization and had Il history and literature
va '''''t '"'i' '-oiN ny ehiStoti lhuL
the SaXons locked to ireland to be edu-
Gated and returned to enlghten their
Ignorant cOuntrymen."
The Times thinks the old Irish were
barbarous and bloodthirsty. The editor
must have been reading Dickens
Child's History Of England" for his in
formation. AS an instance of their fer
ocity the Times speaks OF thirty-five
Christian kings in Ireland who were
killed. assassinated and poisoned from
the birth of Christ up to the conquest
of Ireland by Henry II of England In
l172." st. Patrick arrived in Ireland in
1872. SO that only 740 years elapsed from
the introduction of Christianity to the
arrival of the Normans. Granting that
thirty-tive Irish monarchs were killed,
assassinated and poisoned during that
long period 1t would not average five
in hundred years. In this American
republic of the nineteenth century two
presidents have already been assassinat-
ell and the present ruleris being guard
ed by detectives. There was an inter
necine warfare among the kings and