The Irish standard., 1897-02-06
The Empire Upon Which tho
Sun Never Sets Rapidly
Decaying.
Native r1en Who Compose. Her
- Army are Week and
Worthless.
A New Zealander May Sooner Than
Expected Sketch the Ruins
of St. Paul'S.

Prince Bismarck, speaking Of Eng
land. on one Of the occasions when he
let himself go, gave it as his opinion
that the English were e. very fine peo-
pie, but too fat. The diagnosis was
=; true, and the accuracy of it is amply
displayed at the present moment The
days of the lusty manhood and gener-
Gus sympathies of the English people
have long since passed away, and we
have instead nation of music-hall
braggarts, who vociferously cheer the
actors in a piratical raid on a friendly
and peaceful state, and stink away
from the fulfllment of manifest obliga-
tions toward prosecuted race who were
foolish enough to believe that England's s
bond was their ark of safety, says writ
er in the New York Sun.
! The selishness generated of the love
eff ease and the possession of wealth
has eaten away all sense Of generous
self-sacrifice that might have prompted
the English people to go to the succor
OF the suffering Arnenians. Anything
more contemplate than the way in which
a certain portion Of the English press
has been inciting other countries and
! governments to go forward and per-
form England's duty, while England was
to stand out and reap the benefit Of their
intervention, it would be difficult to con-
ceive. Not less contemplate were the
suggestions of these same papers that
but for the intervention of the American
Government in the Venezuelan matter,
ENGLAND would have acted vigorously at
Constantinople in the early part Of the
iyear. Nothing was further from the
truth and the men who wrote it knew
they were penning what was false. It
was complete case Of "suggestio falsi"
and "suppressio veri," such as has be-
ONE habitual to the class of journals spe-
cially comprehend in the scope Of those
referred to. Lord Salisbury is an ad-
mirable type of modern England. He is
La product of the period of England's later
!decadence, moral and material. Still in
fated with the recollections of it's old re-
nown, certain portion Of the English
people continue to regard and talk Of
the world in everything and superior to
/ it in most They point to it's great
wealth and boast about their ability to
purchase defenders for the hour of need,
forgetful of every lesson of history that
the country was already lost the bulk of
whose citizens had nothing to defend,
and that had to rely on mercenaries for
safety.
| There is no question that whatever
the English may have been in the feu-
dal days, they have ceased to be fight
ling people, The records Of the nation
alities of the troops composing the az
mics that fought under Wellington in
Spain in the early years of the century
disclose the seventy-fve per cent. Of the
soldiery whose valor shed lustre on the
British flag were Irish and Scotch peas
ants. While districts of Scotland now
tenanted only by deer, and where the
smoke from hearth is unknown, were
in those days still covered with shiel-
ings from which thousands Of sturdy
peasant lads were drafted to fight in
the interest of the very classes who
have since turned their fields and
homes into. wilderness for sport. The
hillsides Of the West and North OF Ire
land gave thousands of impetuous Celts,
whose deeds made famous the names
and numbers of more than one Of the
most renowned regiments of the British
army. Under the double bane of Eng
lish landlord law and foreign competi-
ton those hillsides are depopulated, and
of the once proud regiments, only the
Ishadowy name survives. The British ar
my statistics for 1895 gave twelve per
cent. Irish, eight per cent. Scotch, the
rest English. The golden period of the
EuRllSu dEluy WdS uI1uouUISuAy IuO lille
of the war in Spain against Napolean
and his generals, and England and her
army have been living ever since on the
reputation then gained. In the Sikh
wars in India during the 40s in the Pun
jaub, the fanatical valor Of the Khalsas
pushed the better armed and handled
English regiments hard. More than one
battle was drawn fight, and more than
one English regiment earned reputa-
tion for discretion that was not effoced
for long years after. The deterioration
Econtinued, and though the first army sent
|sout to the Crimea in 1854 sustained the
REPUTATION and exhibited the tradition
al qualities Of the British soldier. the
lsubsequent leyiea that were made 20 fill