The Irish standard., 1902-10-25


refinement as we'll as Of vigor.
To see this ordinarily quiet young
man addressing the whole house for
a quarter of an hour amid din which
was tempestuous and in violation Of
every rule of order, with the speaker.
ministers. and all shouting, and the
majority helpless, and then afterwards
to see him cross the floor of the house,
and, standing in frcnt of the prime
minister, who sat pallil With a sicSly
smile OH his face; 70 see this was one
of the most curious proofs Of how
honest passion and indignation created
by oppression can COW even the most
powerful of tyrannies.
Of all the points of that terrible
scene, for it was terrible, the mcst re-
markable was tine absolute helpless
ness. the cowed inacticn of tile union
ist majority, so divided and harassed
by the sense of the irresistible doom
coming hourly upn their leaders that
they cannot conceal their depression
and are made impotemt by panic. And
there was the other reason that tho
specter of Ireland, which was SUD-
posed to be laid, had risen again, more
menacing than ever.
And. finally. there was perhaps some
sense OF shame at the feeling that this
man, who was calling for the right to
be heard in the house of commons, had
been gagged in ireland by systematic
persecution worthy of Russia at her
worst. He has spent eighteen months
in Jail during the last three or four
years, and has been dragged from
platforms by the police before he
opened his lips and he was recently
subjected to a sentence which is an
example of deliberate ferocit.~, his last
sentence of six months, Oct. II, l1av-
Ing been so given by the magistrate
that O'Domnell has to spend six weeks
on plank bed and nine days on bread
and water.
All this suffering Of the past and to
ccme was written in legible letters on
tlse pale face and in the eyes of this
ordinarily quiet gentleman. This, per-
lnlps, was why the ministerialists sat
cowed, helpless, and abasled at the
scene. one cf tie signs of some great
coming change.
1t lis impossible to forsetell what this
change will be but flr good reason.
1rlshmen hope lit may take the shane
OF startling, gigantic surrender. One
OF the most important portents is the
eagea'ness Of mine out of ten of the
landlords to attend a conference
with the Irish leaders. The
movement lis only kept from triumph
bv the fact that the leaders Of the
landlords are wealthy, with estates in
England, and are therefore independ-
e1lt of Irish agitation, and because
they are, besides, politicians first and
landlords afterwand.
Every thinking man, whether land
lord or tenant, believes that two to
three years purchase and a small
grant from the imperial exchequer are
all now standing between Ireland and
final settlement Of the land question
and the reconquest Of the land by the
Celts from the English garrison.
Among those who think that gi-
gantic surrender is inevitable at an
early day is, have reason to believe,
the Irish chief secretary, Mr.. Wynd-
ham, himself. He urged the landl rds
to consent to a conference, even travel
ing long distances to their homes in
order to put personal pressure on
them. He has already announced that
there will be bigger land bill next
year, and I have heard he has said
privately that coercion might be over
in three weeks in case Ct certain
events, whereby understood he
meant that if the landlords and ten
ants agree on common basis of
settlement.
In the meantime pressure on the
government is coming frcm various
quarters. It Is doubtful IL the govern