The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-09-02
Insidious Methods Employed by
The English Invaders
TO DESTROY THE NATIVE LANGUAGE
History of Ireland Tabooed in
The National Schools.

At a recent meeting of the Ancient
Order of Hibernians at Kansas City,
Kan, Judge George MonaEan delivered
an instructive address on Ireland, which
he concluded as follows:
1t might now be just as we'll to sum
up the net results of all these years OF
strife and battle, of open agitation and
secret plotting. Ireland has gained
Catholic emancipation, or, you might
rather say, a partial emancipation, for
we are we'll aware that although the
mission of the priest hunter is gone,
Protestant ascendancy is just as ram
pant to-day in Ireland as it ever was.
It is also true that several land bills
have been passed to make the position
of the tenant more secure in his dealings
with the landlord, but so far as benefit
to ireland is concerned, it must be more
apparent than real, for the tide of emf
grafton still continues to flow with un-
restricted volume from that unhappy
land. 1t is also true that Gladstone
passed, in the house of commons, So
called home rule bill for Ireland, but it
was promptly defeated in the house OF
lords, and just as promptly repudiated
by the electorate of England. On the
other hand, from 100000 to 100000
of the Irish people died from hunger
and its consequent diseases in the ter
rible years of AZ and '4S by a famine
conceded by every unprejudiced writer
to have 'een the result OF English mis-
government and extortion. Her popu-
lation in the days of O'Connell was not
less than eight and one-half millions.
To-day it is scant four and one-lalf
millions.
But, far more deadly to national life,
her language, the most ancient and glo-
rious, the language of saint and scholar,
of Brehon and bard, the language of
her proudest and most glorious days, is
almost lost, substituted by that OF her
ancient and inveterate enemy
Therefore, my friends, while every un-
prejudiced student of Irish history must
be filled with enthusiastic admiration of
the undying courage ard dogged de-
termination of Ireland's sons, aye, and
her daughters, in their more than gal
liant defense of their national rights and
their country's freedom, we are COM
PEELED to admit that the most insidious,
the most deadly and the most fatal at
tack of England against Ireland's ma
tionality has seemingly received little
attention. Whilst physical force men
and constitutional agitators have each
been striving with vigor and determ-
ination born of whole-souled single
ness of purpose for their country's free
dom, England has been engaged in
quietly but persistently sapping the
very foundation of both movements by
Anglicising the people. Failing in her
attempts to destroy their religious faith,
she deprived them of education. She
was determined to sink them as low as
it is possible to degrade the human
mind.
With absolute command of every ave-
nue of information, she employed the
vast engine of English literature in the
task of defa1ning the Irish people, in
ridiculing their manners, habits and
customs, and last, but not least, their
language.
Education was dead. There was no
induce1nent to write, for the masses OF
the people were carefully prevented
from being able to read. The educated
lrishman of a literary turn OF mind had
to go to London publisher to sell his
wares, and had to write in the language
and cater to the tastes and prejudices of
the foreign foeman. The inevitable re-
suit followed. The Irish language be-
came the object of ridicule, even among
Irishmen. The poor fellow who was
able to speak the language in which
Brian addressed his warriors at Clon-
tart, the language of O'Neill and
O'Donnell, of Owen Roe and of Sars-
field, and of every saint and scholar dear
to the Irish heart, looked on it as
badge of degradation and bar to his
success in life, and to the best of his
ability he carefully excluded his children
from its knowledge. And the result is
that the great mass of the Irish people
to-day know nothing of the language of
their fathers.
But England didn't stop at that by
any means. When at last she, out of