The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-02-10

VII III SlSdtilSSS vi lliol otiuSSle. II
Ireland is to pass through troublous
times without any concession to her ma
tionality, then indeed events may arise
which no man can attempt to control.
Wars will come. 'England's difficulty
will be one day or other Irelands op-
portunity.'" Mr.. Butt was not a revo-
lutionist, but he saw that while the
Irish question remains unsettled Eng
land is not secure When he wrote,
France and Prussia were at war and the
former lost two of her fairest pro-
vinces. Is it beyond the possibilities
that before the present war ends Eng
land may lose Ireland? At any rate,
all those who seek separation as the
only hope for Ireland's rejuvenaton are
counting on some such turn to take
place and they are as we'll as they can
preparing for the hour.
AS still more relevant, because more
modern, to this long wished for relation
between England and Ireland, here is
forecast of Mr.. Lecky, the unionist his
torian and M. P. for Trinity college,
Dublin: "Wc should not omit" he
writes in his book, Leaders OF Public
Opinion" from our calculations the
possibility OF future rebellion in Ire
land. There is a tendency i'll nations
that are guided chiefly by daily press
that overlook such distant cvcntualities
and that concentrate attention exclu-
sively on the present. In time OF pros
perity and peace the existence OF a
deep-seated discomfort in Ireland may
not seriously affect the interests OF
England, but who can fail to perceive
how different it might be ii calamity
were goading that discomfort into dcs-
peration and an invading army direct
ing and sustaining it? The suprem
acy OF great nation rests on the most
precarious basis. There was time
when the naval strength of England en-
abled her to defy the entire world, but
that time has passed forever. A coali-
ton Of great powers, a single unsuc-
cessfu1 battle a scientific discovery
monopolized by her opponcnts-night
destroy her empire of the seas and leave
her coasts open to invasion. If this
was to occur it would not be forgotten
that the greatest military genius the
world has ever known, when reviewing
his career at St. Helena declared that
the capital mistake of his life had been
the omission of all expedition to Ire
land" Had he listened to Wolfe Tone
he would never have met with a Water
loo. 1t is hopes like these that the
Irish people at present are cherishing
and England need not be told that
earnest work is being done to bring
about the conditions described by Butt
and Lecky.
Volunteering for the war has not
been as brisk as reported in the scnsa-
tional papers, and the feverish anxiety
attributed to tens Of thousands to get
to the front has been, SO to say, merely
patriotic exaggeration We have been
told that in London and elsewhere ell
tire corps volunteered, and that the
only difficulty their officers encountered
was to keep within bounds the enthusi-
asm of their men. They all were wild
to become Tommics and don the khaki.
The outcome of it all, however, in Lon
don appeared to be that when the first
contingent was marched forth to be
sworn i'll by the lord mayor, in presence
OF great dignitaries, and to receive the
freedom of "tlle city, only 376 volun
teers all told turned up OF these about
forty belonged to the London Irish ri
hcs, but OF that number there was only
one man who bore a distinctivcly Irish
name Hc called himself Moore. For
that matter the organization to which
they belonged is. only Irish in name.
Probably not more than 200 OF the I, 200
men composing the London Irish rifles
ever saw ireland unless on a holiday
trip 1t is also becoming evident to the
military authorities that the men who
mainly compose the volunteers are not
OF the type to undertake serious cam
paign in torrid cline, and that most
likely they would break down before
they could do much damage to the
Bocrs There is good soldierly mate
rial, no doubt, in majority OF them,
but they have not been trained to fight,
and they have never suspected it would
be their business to do so. But what
astonishcs people in this country most
is the utter absence oi military iervor
in Ulster, the home OF the rampant 10y
aist and Orangcman The worshipper
OF King William of pious and blessed
memory knows there is threatening
imperial crisis and yet he is silent.
1t may be mentioned, however, that
one Ulster Orange lodge has offered its
services as SOLDIERS OF the queen" not,
however, to go abroad and face
burgher bullets, but to form valiant
home guard to see that the pope does
not destroy the solidarity Of his be-
loved empire. AS with the volunteers,
SO to some extent with the imperial
ycomanry movement. And of those
who have volunteered one paper says:
Forty per cent can ride, but can't
shoot. oc nor cent ran shoot h,,t can't