The Irish standard., 1899-09-23
The Noble Traits and Qualities
Of the Inhabitants.
THE ACCOMMODATION FOR TOURISTS
To Know Erin and Her People is
To Love Them Both.

In letter from Killarney to the
Church News, Rev. Joseph f. McGee,
OF Washington, D. c.. gives the follow
ing eloquent description OF the beauty OF
the Emerald Isle:
! have been in ireland for two weeks,
and SO pleasantly has the time passed
that these two weeks seem but few
days, and leave with the regret that |
did not give more time to this famed
spot. iccl that have not done it jus
tice. The beauty upon which my eyes
have fcastcd has only given me an ap-
petite for more. To sec ireland and its
people is to love it and them. They
have such face and such micn as to
be loved they need only to be SEEN If
the statesmen OF our own and other
countries were to visit ireland and to
spend few days here feel confident
that they would be captivatcd by it and
would return to their respective homes
with the determination OF doing all in
their power to help the martyr ma
ton" | have visited many countries,
and nowhere have seen more beauti-
ful one. When l was travelling in
Switzerland and France l thought that
no other countries we're SO beautiful;
when came to England and Scotland
thought the sclf-samc thing; but after
doing ireland, found that this West
crn Isle is equal to il not superior to
them all. The beauty OF Ireland is
beauty OF its own. As there arc no two
| landscapes, no two countries are exactly
similar.
Bcauty-no matter where it finds
lodgncnt and home, let it be in the
most perfect human face and form, let it
be in the masterpieces OF painting and
sculpture, such as the Apollo Bclvidcre,
the Venus OF Milo, and the Madonnas
Of Raphael, let it be in some cnchant-
ing landscape OF which there are so
many scattered here and there in every
| land under the sun-is OF such an
ethereal nature that it is difficult to
analyzc and describe it. And if this is
true of the beauty OF human form or
face, OF piece of painting or sculpture,
of local landscape, it is especially true
OF the beauty Of an entire country
The beauty of Ireland is the beauty OF
youth. In appearance Ireland is the
most youthful of all the nations No
where do you find the grass so fresh, so
bright, and so green, the vegetation
more luxuriant, the sun so bright, and
the air SO pure and invigorating Ire
land is as new and as fresh as the day St.
| Patrick landed on its shores, as the
hour when man first walked forth over
its fair acres, aye, as the moment it first
took its present shape and form.
Again, the beauty OF ireland is the
beauty of innocence, of purity, Of vir-
ginity. 1t suggests the garden OF Eden,
the home Of Our first parents before the
fall, the cloistcr Of convent where con-
sccratcd virgins fit to and fro in the
service Of the Master, or the sanctuary
Of church where whitc-robcd priests
and lcvitcs sing the praises OF their
Creator and Rcdccmer.
The beauty Of Ireland is likewise the
beauty OF solitude and silence. There
is here calm, serenity, peaccfulness
that is almost heavenly. 1t is so palp-
able that you can almost touch and
handle it. This is one OF the first things
that attract the attention of stranger,
it is one OF the first things that attracted
my attention, and it is one Of those
things that makes stay in Ireland so
delightful. This calm, this serenity,
and this peacefulness lead to thought,
reflection, to poctical ideas, to prayer
and meditation, and it is due to these,
no doubt, that the Irish, as race, are
given to speculation, to theorizing, to
poetry, to prayer, and to religion. Ire
land, in fine, is beautiful with the beauty
of JOY and sadness. For perfect pict-
ure you must have both lights and
shadows. A picture that would be all
light or all shadow would be picture
without interest, without beauty. But
ireland furnishes no such picture. Ire
land is beautiful with the beauty of joy.
Nature, man, and the animal creation
in Ireland are all instinct with life and
redolent with joy. The average Irish
man is light-hearted, gay, always ready
for joke, and always prepared for