The Irish standard., 1897-03-20
dence prevented them from putting their
cherished hopes into execution.

CuSA ISAcU uOptS 1uLO 6ACCuIIOu.
England was shaken, nevertheless, tt
to her very foundations. and as conse.
quence chains and slavery were the lot od
ithe Irish people, with an army of 100000
men mobilized on her coast. England's
fleet, then the greatest In the world, was
also massed upon Ireland's coast. Irish
liberty was throttled and every right OF
liberty was seized. The press was muz-
|zled, and power was used, the tyranny OF
shame, while the leaders OF the people
were clapped into prison dungeons, and
hundreds of excellent men, Of pure
souled patriots and Ireland's dearest
and best friends were thus kept pining
away behind lock and key Thus they
died for the old country and for the old
cause, in the face of the greatest enemy
that their country ever had. England
may feel proud Of the murder Of Robert
Emmett on that gray September morn
ing, 50 years ago, and Irishmen have no
reason to feel ashamed. It is such a
hero as this that that they would have
stood ON Horatoe's right hand when he
called for one to help him keep the
bridge. It is such men who would have
done honor to the field of Thermopylae
or to Sarsf1eld at Fontenoy, or at the side
of the immortal Washington when he
made, his famous speech at Delaware, or
at Quebec, following the lead Of the
gallant Montgomery, Or by Lawrence a,
| the masthead for they would never
give up the ship" Yes, it is of such
stuff that heroes are made, and Robert
Emmet was a hero that knew how to
dare and was not afraid to die.
England may assassinate Irishmen
but she can never kill the Irish cause
The cause went on, and only few years
after this Infamous perpetration the
magnificent spectacle was proented of
united Irish race behind a peerless Irish
leader. The people of Ireland sent to
the British par lament eighty repre-
sentatives Of, the one hundred and five
who went there from the entire con-
stituency OF the county. They went
there for the purpose of battling for the
representation OF their down trodden
| country and for their rights, for 1t was
necessary to keep England perpetually
in hot water until her rights were rec
ognized. There in the British house of
commons pleaded these Irishmen, who
have never been surpassed for brilliancy
of intellect, and who gained sympathy
and encouragement for Ireland through
out the civilized world, until at last the
prime minister of England was COM
PEELED to recognize the force of Ireland's
plea and brought in bill into the
house to undo the dastardly work of Pitt
and Castlereragh and to rehabilitate that
charter that Henry Grattan and his vol
unteers had won for U.s. Thus again the
words of the poet were vividly por-
trayed:
The stranger shall hear thy lament on
his plains,
The sigh of thy harp shall he sent
the deep
Till thy masters themselves as they
rivet thy chains
Shall pause at the song of their captive
and weep.
1t was thought that poor Ireland would
then receive her rights, but just as her
hopes had risen to their meridian they
were again dashed upon the ground, thus
demonstrating the wisdom of not trust
ing to the promises of English parties,
But the Irish party in or out of Ireland
do not represent the aspirations of the
Irish race. They do not stand beside each
other; they should avail themselves Of
every parliamentary weapon to fight
both Whig and Tory, to obstruct all poll
cies until this great question is righted,
and when the party Is organized and
new leaders at the front, men Of Irish
blood throughout the civilized world will
rally in their might, and SO help in this
STduu COuSuIuudIlOll. All lIlLGuSS lEcl-
ing Of national independence pervades
the breast Of all true Irishmen and it is
! too late in the day for English states
men to imagine that by few hypocrit-
ica1 concessions, more apparent than
real, they can obliterate from the bleed
ing hearts of the Irish people the de-
grading despotism of centuries Of Eng
lish rule in Ireland, or make them fcf-
get the bloody traditions that linger
around their home and crimson the sor-
rowful annals of their native land. The
lessons of history teach that there Is too
much of the tigers claws concealed be-
meath the soothing sense Of an English
concession to lull the people of Ireland
into fancied security by accepting mess
of pottage In exchange for their ma
tional birthright.
This is the irish question, and the so
luton of the problem will be found only
when legislative independence shall give
to Ireland her place and her position
among tho family of nations.
This is .Ireland's proposition. She