The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-09-02


The priest OF penal days.
His incense rose from fowcrcts wild
His tcmplc-Naturc undcfilcd-
Ills acolytc-a pleasant child
The priest OF penal days."
The penal days comprise that period
OF time intervening between the treaty
OF Limerick in 1901, and the Emancipa-
ton Act OF 1920. 1t is true that penal
cnactmcnts were framed against the
Irish people previous to the above date,
but they were not executed with such
| rigor and determination, nor were they
SO continuous as during the penal pc
riod, writes M. c. Rowcll in the Cath
olic Transcript
From the day that Dermot MacMur-
rogh, king OF Lcinstcr, enlisted the
services OF Strongbow in 1903 to avenge
his grievances. Ireland suffered more or
less according to the wllims of her per-
sccutors. But their fcrocity was not
awakened in all its horrible intensity
|
when the fearful enactments began to
be systematic and continuous. The
| Cromwclian atrocities which seemed to
have for their object the determination
OF the race and the destruction OF the
Catholic faith, might plead the curse of
war rs the cause OF their existence,
though | doubt that the inlluman mon
stcr himself would urge even that slight
evidence i'll cNtcnuation OF his diabolical
work and subsequent gloating DER the
wreck OF the oppressed. Ircton, Essex
and others with the etching palm
might maintain the same plea, but the
trainers OF the penal code wrote their
cnactmcnts i'll cold blood and accom-
plisllcd their deeds in malice Their
motives, despite their attempts to con-
ccal them, were written on the wall so
clearly that the world could read, and
they were greed, fanaticism hatred The
greed Of the robbcr, Il natural and we'll
developed characteristic OF the Briton;
the ianaticism OF the ungodly which
would presumably show its fangs to-day
as OF ord il opportunity and scli-intcrest
pointed the way; the hatred OF demons,
SO we'll demonstrated, and witllal so
strange because OF the non-cxistence of
any occasion therefor
The Cromwcllian rule had its periods
OF respite such as the restoration and
compromises which followed the plan
tation period, but not SO with the period
OF the penal laws which was one vast,
continual frenzy OF persecution. 1t be-
gan with the parliamentary violation OF
the treaty OF Limerick That treaty
guaranteed to the Irish Catholics rclig-
ious freedom, the right to engage in
whatever profession they might choose,
such as medicine, law and the sacred
ministry, to enter the ranks OF the army,
to hold office, in fact it guaranteed to
them rights pertaining to citizens OF any
civilized nation. Their titles to prop
crty, too, were to be safcguardcd, and
the protection of the government was
to be extended in just and equitable
manner. The treaty was satisfactory to
the king who sanctioned it without
hesitation. He was avcrsc to war that
had already cost millions in money,
much destruction OF property and the
loss OF so many lives. But its terms
were not so satisfactory to the English
parliament whose ratification of some
OF its most important provisions was
withheld at the instgation, no doubt, of
Cromwcllian frcebootcrs and stranded
aristocrats clamoring for slice of the
plumber. The treaty was check to the
manifest purposes OF those miscreants
to extcrminatc the people that their
property might revert to themselves. In
this they were supported by the servile
ministers OF the new faith which they
cndcavored to force on the people.
They knew the determination of the
Catholics to adhere to their religion,
and to sacrifice all rather than abandon
it. This resolve of the Irish Catholics
to die rather than abandon the tradi-
tions of their fathers and the Divine in
hcritance of the faith was put to the test
in the days of Cromwell, and the result
was that the greater the persecution the
stronger became the peoples determin-
ation To resist if.