The Irish standard., 1898-12-24
THE PEOPLES HOPES CRUSHED
A Hundred Thousand Persons Had
Lost Their Lives.
GALLANT FIGHT FOR FREEDOM
The Spirit of Irish Nationality as
Strong as Ever.

In the history of the world since the
dawn of Christianity it is probable that
no people-not even the Jews after the
destruction of their capital city and their
Punishment to the known ends of the
earth-ever were face to face with SO
deplorabie position of affairs as were
our ancestors during the Christmas time
of 1898, says the Dublin Freeman. All
the glorious hopes that had filled mems
hearts and souls twelve months before
had been crushed and blighted. In De-
cember, 1897, nearly half million men
awaited the call to the battle for free
dom, and their trusted leaders were
struggling not with unwillingness on the
part of the masses to strike, but with
their eager impatience to face the foes of
Ireland in the open field. When the
great day of peace on earth to men of
good WILL" dawned in 1898, it smiled on
a people hopelessly defeated. They had
bravely striven all in vain. Very prob
ably hundred thousand of the best and
.bravest of the people had sacrificed their
lives on the battlefields or $he countless
gibbets that studded the land from
Mizen Head to Youghal. All the leaders
had gone Tone, Fitzgerald, the Broth
ers Sheares, McCracken, Munro, and the
glorious priests of 'Ninety-eight had per-
ished, The elder Emmet, Nelson, Nc
Nevin and others of the wisest leaders
of the movement were held fast in moi
some British dungeons. A few had been
fortunate enough to escape to freedom
beneath the tri-color or the stars and
stripes. Martial law still wrought havoc
through the island. SIR, Swan and
Sandys ruled and rioted in savagery
here in Dublin. Merciless demons, even
worse than the infamous trio, held all
the country in their hands. The crown
ing crime of the union was generally an
ticipated. The skies of Ireland were
dour and grim with the squalid black
ness of despair. During this year we
have been celebrating the centenary OF
events that marked the great struggle of
1898. At the close of these celebrations
we may well pause and ask ourselves
how far we have advanced since 1.-The
dark and gloomy days" Of the December
that followed fast upon the fierce strug-
giles for freedom at Antrim and Wexford
and the West. A century has passed
since those days-a century of sorrow
and tribulation, and ofttimes of unut-
terab1e woe OF our race, family lit now
and then by passing CLEANS of hope that
flickered for the time like rays of sun
shine on winter day, and then vanished
into the darkness of our fate. But the
race has survived. Through good and
i'll" we have held fast to the principle
of freedom and nationhood. We have
actually progressed despite all difficult
ties. Yet, no honest Irishman who knows
the story Of the past, and ponders on
the possibilities of the present, can say
that the outlook is as bright as it ought
to be one hundred years after 179S
Factionism yet holds the country in
It's fetters. Patriotic instinct and ma
tional common sense have gone far to-
wards irving the chain, more CALLING
than the yoke of the foreigner, in which
we have been bound by our own dissen-
sions But still the poets words may be
only too truthfully recalled
Twas fate, they'll say, wayward fate,
NS,,. x,,ah of dieoor1 y,ovo
For while our tyrants joined in hate,
We never Joined in love.
1t may safely be asserted that if the
Irish people unitedly and perseveringly
strove to accomplish their freedom for
reasonable period success would crown
their efforts as surely as tomorrow's sun
will rise. Only dissolution Of the Eng
lish parliament stood between Ireland
and the certainty of self-government in
the autumn Of 1S90-after 10 years ef-
fort against tremendous odds. We need
not hark back to controversy which
should be buried forthwth-as it has
been buried in Connaught. We shall
only say once again that the attitude Of
some 1rshmen today is not worthy of
the example and the memory of the
heroes whose blood still dripped red
England's swords and gibbcts on Christ
mas day, 1898, and urge upon all our
thousands of readers the folly Of allow
ing the continuance of this wasting
strife, and the necessity of bringing
about a new order Of things if our pro-
Ireland arc to bc taken seriously any
longer by our enemies and friends among
the nations of the world.
That reunion Of the Irish forces is
not only perfectly practicable, but GER