The Irish standard., 1905-04-22
cere. Hypocrisy does not nouris

hypocrites in Ireland under forty.
These were much less than that and
there was no reason why they should
disguise their feelings.
But there were others who were
no longer young, notably members of
the Old Guard veterans in patriotism
and patriotic daring-men who had
once high hopes for ireland and lent
liberty through the heroic methods Of
their ancestors, and who had not
abandoned the hope, though the work
would not be done by them-their
day was over. They had fought the
good fight, and though they had
failed they had kept the faith" which
had given an Emmett and Wolfe
Tone to Ireland. There was q
pathetic history in their careworn
faces, their gray boards, and their
shrunken forms. But time, that had
thinned their ranks and bent their
bodies. could not bend their principles;
they would die as they had lived.
men Of no compromise, rebels to the
core against English wrong.
Among the many other young men
in the procession was a body of
hurlers, stalwart fellows, whom her
late lamented majesty would have
dearly loved to enlist for her internal
slaughter in South Africa, marching
with instructive regularity and preci-
naughty but manly-with their camans
thrown carelessly over their shoulders
-"most comely to be SEEN" The
sight thrilled me. AS they came in
front of the Ardcraobhe they paused
for moment, and waving their
camans above their heads they gave
a cheer which filled the stately
spaciousness of O'Connell street from
end to end, and must have made the
officials of the general postoffice
shiver, if any of them were break
ing the Sabbath" by being there on
that day. Was it an unholy or an
unworthy thought which made me, in
the enthusiasm of the moment, Wish
that those camans were swords, and
that l might take my place among
them with the enemy in view? Alas!
forgot, in the rush of feeling, that
my years were in the seer and yellow
leaf, that my day of action, like that
of the Old Guard, was over, and that
| should soon lie with them in the
narrow cell", and sleep the sleep in
which even Ireland would be forgot
ten.
The most interesting feature in the
procession was indeed the procession
lists themselves. 1t was, as l have
intimated, mainly procession of
youth. 1t was more than a mere
academic demonstration for the re-
surrection of a language. It was
young Ireland proclaiming to the
world it's intention of resurrecting not
only Ireland's language but Ireland
itself. And it was this conviction
which gave fresh and special inter-
est to the bright young faces and
muscular figures of the processionists.
In the Gaelic League, as it has been
in every other great Irish movement,
the idea of Ireland is really it's NOV
ing force. 1t is, SO to speak, the
power behind the throne. Her name
may not appear conspiciously on their
banners, but the master-passion of the
Irish heart, the sentiment which has
survived the ruin of almost all else,
the ruin of her prosperity and free
dom, the persecution and exile of her
people, plague and poverty in their
worst form, and what was not difficult
to combat the tricks and corrupting
allurements of her rulers, the senti
ment, might say the instinct of
nationality, is at work; it may be, un-
consciously, in the soul of every one
of it's members. stimulating their
enthusiasm and sustaining their ef-
forts.
That the patriotism of the Irishman
is as much more intense and pure
than that OF most other peoples is
owing. perhaps. not less to his history
and position than to the ardor of his
temperament. His mind is not dis
tracted nor his affections dissipated
Inv eternal considerations Ho boc
no dreams OF conquest, no imperial"
ambitions, no devouring greed to
satisfy; his aspirations lie within the
limits of his own land; his aims are
modest; he has no wish to assail the
rights of others.
Besides, with him patriotism is much
more than an ordinary human senti-
ment. 1t touches on, if it is not actu-
ally connected with, the spirit of re-
ligion. 1t is with linn the apothesis
of an idea. The idea is Ireland,
crowned not with a material crown
but with the nobler diadem of liberty.
The land that he loves is to him more
than a fertile island in the Atlantic
Ocean. the fruitful mother of flocks
and herds. and capable of producing
more than usual proportion of things
pleasant to the eye and good for
food" He does not think of it, or
speak of ii, as Il mere geographical
item. 1t is "Banba", or "Granuail",