The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-05-11
AN ErHNoLoduCAL QUESTION.


AN PATHOLOGICAL QUESTION.
Our old friend, Judge Arthur Cough,
the editor Of the" Catholic Sentinel" Of
Chippewa Falls, Wis, whose thoughts
are always worth studying and remem-
bering, has this to say in recent is
sue: N1S
ancient Irish race appears to swallow up
all other races thai have been introduced
into that country It would be hard to
estimate the number Of English that have
been sent into Ireland since the days of
the Normans. Three times Ireland was said
to be depopulated, once under Elizabeth,
once under Oliver Cromwell and once
under William the Third, but in every
case it took but a few generations to give
Ireland to the Irish again. Like the Jews
in Egypt they multiplied beyond conception,
and pushed the new settlers on before them
until the land was theirs as of old.
Now were 1t not for these county cleo
tons English Tories would insist as they
have been doing. that all Ulster was Prot
estant and ought to be protected from the
tyranny of the other provinces. But now
when the elections show that Ulster is
Irish by large majorities, as we'll as Mum
ster and Connaught, what can the friends
was once theirs, by force and robbery, is
theirs no more. The prolific Celt has re-
covered 1t again, and who will deny him
the right to rule it?
While this is true, and while it is
fact that there is a tendency among all
peoples to return to certain standards,
set up by the Creator, it is nevertheless
true that the Irish people, like the rest
of the races of Europe, are composite
population, and retain among them
selves the traces of all the different ma
lions that have contributed to the set
Element of the island. The Phoenicians
entered Ireland two or three thousand
years ago; they were ethnologically
first cousins Of the Jews, and possessed
the same cast of features, and yet to this
day in Ireland, especially in the more
remote and mountainous parts, you will
see people with all the appearance of
Hebrews.
One day while riding in Philadelphia
street car, years ago, we noticed the
conductor; he looked for all the world
ed nose and the full lips, which appear
in the representatives of the Jewish
race upon the ancient monuments of
Egypt. We had not the slightest
doubt he was an Israelite. And as there
were no other passengers in the car we
said to him, "There are not many of
your race acting as street car conduc-
tors" ooh yes" he replied, more than
half the conductors ef this city belong to
the same race as myself What race
is that?" was asked. He answered
Irish" 1t was fortunate we framed
our question as we did, for the proba-
bilities are that if we had suggested to
him that he was a Jew he would have
knocked lis down.
We then asked him what part of Ire
land he came from, supposlng that he
was native of some of the coast towns,
and that his father, was Hebrew He
told us that he was from the most noun
famous parts Of the island, and that his
ancestors had dweft there for ages.
While we were in Ireland we saw a
number of persons who would readily
pass for Norwegians or Swedes. Dublin,
it is we'll known, was a Scandinavian
colony for 400 years, where nothing but
Norwegian was spoken; and the mixture
of Gothic and Celtic blood, found in
Dublin today, has produced very hand
some people, who claim that they speak
the purest English in the British island.
And yet Judge Cough is right in an
other respect. All these various races
are combined in one distinct race, known
as the Trish," which is separated by
striking characteristics from the Eng
lish, Scotch and Welsh, and con-
stitute brilliant, passionate, poetical.
eloquent, enterprising and generous
race.
The United States has been great God
send to this people; here they have ex-
banded to the full measure of their ma
tive capabilities, Notwithstanding the
fact that they have been handicapped
and weighted down by an awful load
of inherited prejudices, dating back to
the time when English soldiers used to
go cunning for Irish peasants, very
much as we hunt prairie chickens in this
country. One officer kept a diary,
which is still in existence, and recorded
each day how many he had bagged. And
these were not armed warriors, but poor
creatures who we're trying to wrest a
subsistence from the soil of their native
land, occ lpied by them and their ances
tors for 10000 years.
I. d.
Health for ten cents. Cascarets make