The Irish standard., 1899-11-25
AN IRISH MANIFESTO.
A Call 10 Arms to Irishmen in South
Africa. ~

Africa.
The following manifesto was issued in
Johannesburg 4 short time before the
breaking out OF hostilities between the
English and the Beers:
The government OF the Transvaal, be-
ing now threatened with extinction by
our ancient foe, England, it is the duty
OF all true Irisl,men to- throw in their
lot with the former. and be prepared by
force OF arms to maintain the indepcnd-
ence OF the country that has given them
home, at the same time Selling the
opportunity to strike good and effec-
tive blow at the merciless and tyrant
power that has SO long held our people
in bondage
The position OF affairs in the Trans
vaal to-day is exactly similar to what
it was in Ireland at the time OF the
Anglo-N Norman invasion. As soon as
the first English adventures had estab-
lished footing there, their liege lord.
Henry the Second. claimed the suze-
rainty, and from that day forward, the
story OF Ircland's wrongs and sufferngs
began. Under each succeeding British
sovereign tile deeds OF England in Ire
land are written in letters OF blood in
the history OF the nation. In the days
OF good Queen Bess the country was
given over to fire and sword, and the
old and young, men and women, were
murdered indiscriminately. The men,
DRY OF the massacre at Droghcda, by
order OF the infamous regicide, Crom-
we'll is still darkly remembered in Ire
land, and the England OF that day APP
alaudcd and justified the cold-bloodcd
E,itc}ery, as a righteous judgment exc
luted. In no country in the world has
the family tie always been held in
greater reverence than in ireland. To
outrage this noble feeling and to cause
bitter tears OF sorrow to flow from
heart broken parents in many lowly
cabin the itlhuman monster Cromwell
cat,sed sonc thousands OF the children
oi the poorer people (se;zed in raid
like licrod's( to be sold as slaves in the
West Indies. and the innocent Irish
girls to be sent to Jamaica, consigned
to Il tate oil degradation and shame
May his memory be forever accurscd.
The treaty stone OF Limerick remains
10 this day a mute but eloquent witness
ci Er&land's worthless promises and
broken faith In the reign OF Anne
The Irish people We're reduced to a CON
.iition closely resembling the bondage
Which black slaves endured i'll the
Southern states OF America. Under hcr
successors this dreadful state OF things
cc0tinucd, until 1903. chat year OF sad
though glorious memory, when the peo-
pie OF Ireland. goadcd nearly to mad
ness by al intolcrablc tyranny, made a
gallant bur unsuccessful attempt to
throw off the British, yoke Needless
10 recount with what cruelty the miscr-
able remnant OF the people were treated.
Hall strangillaticn, the pltcilcap and tri
angle. were some OF the m'dest Of the
lorturcs. which inflicted such agonies
that death i'll comparison would have
been mrrciiu The Act OF Union was
passed by the aid OF 10000 armed men.
and millions OF corruption money
Three years later the execu,ioner was
busy, and the scaffold was rocking with
the best blood OF the Irish nation. All
know the late OF the gallant men OF As
and 81. Some received the sentence
which was to cit short the thread OF
thcir existence, to consign them to a
bloody and i@nominious death, and to
leave their bodies mutilated corpses
from which the rights OF Christian bur
ial were to be withheld. Against others
a fate hardly less painful and appalling
was decrecd. Recent revelations have
thrown lurd light on the horrors en-
durcd by the Irish political prisoners
who have languished within English
prisons. but it needs far more than a
l,alistiflcd cry from the dungeon depths
to enable the outside world to realize
the misery, the wretchedncss and degra;
datior attached to the condition to
which England reduces her political
priscners. They are daily exposed to
the persecution OF brutal, minded
men, and restricted to a course OF disci-
plinc which blasts the v;gor OF the body
as IN the case of p. w. Nally, who
died Oh the very day of his release,
and under whose influence reason itself
tottcrs Upon her throne. us happened
to DR.. Gallagher, Whitehead and many
others.
The present reign, so much lauded as
the most prosperous for other portions
OF the British possessions, has been one