The Irish standard., 1907-04-27

and amazement at these government
omcials who are engaged in this work.
It gives one curious impression that
Ireland is not only one of the most
ancient nations in the world, but one
Of the newest and the youngest. You
hear Of some ancient landmark like
a castle and an aristocratic family
whose mansion has just been sold and
whose whole territory is now entirely
in. the hands of the peasants. whom,
In my own time, this same family
could rob or exile. 1t is almost as if
you were listening to some victorious
general who had invaded and con-
;quered country and was parceling
out the land among his retainers. 1t
is a resettlement, a new plantation
to use the word applied to that very
different form of land transfer under
which James l. gave to men from
Scotland the lands of the O'Donnells
and the C'Neills after their defeat in
battle
And If you want to realize further
what all this means, do not forget that
these people who are now brought into
full liberty are able to appreciate it
the more from the fact that the greater
part Of them were born into slavery.
and know all that slavery means. l
myself, though not a septuagenarian,
can remember the time when the Irish
farmers were driven to the polls to
vote for their landlords like so many
cattle. 1 remember the poor, wretched,
cringing slaves which they had to be
in those not very far off days; how
they bowed and cried. Eyer Honor
at every second word; and how, in
fact, they revealed by their outward
bearing the knowledge that when they
stood in the presence of the landlord
they were confronted by the master Of
their life or death.
The despair of the impossible situa-
ton in the Ireland of forty or fifty
years ago was worse almost than the
servitude. There was no room left for
hope in system which permitted the
landlord to rob the tenant Of every
addition the latter made to the wealth
Of the soil: and there could be no hope
or prospect in a system which kept
the tenant liable to eviction from his
holding whenever the landlord wished
to do so. And now realize that on
half the soil of Ireland the people
never see a landlord or a landlords
representative: that every year brings
them nearer the time when they will
be the absolute owners Of their hold
ings; that they know that their chill
dren will secure full possession and
complete ownership if they do not, and
you can understand what new strong
tide Of hope and exultation there must
be in the breasts of these people.
And in the same way. what lies be-
hind and inspires all these new move
ments in Ireland of which | have
spoken is the creation from day to day
of this new Ireland. where a. free peo-
pie till and own their own land. The
changes which this transformation of
ownership make are striking and i'm
mediate. I have had my dark and de-
spondent hours about the future of
Ireland in twenty seven years OF a
checkered parliamentary career: but
there is one fact borne in upon me dur
ing the last few years which is a con-
slant source Of hope and encourage
pie are one of the most teachable races
in the world.
One might we'll say to himself that
human nature changes very slowly and
very gradually; that the Irish people,
having spent centuries in slavery, in
poverty, and in despair, might also
take centuries before they realized the
bene1cient results of liberty. These
pessimistic views have been entirely
dissipated by the experiences since the
great Land Revolution. l will not re-
peat at lenSln Una experiences OF the
Dillon estate-they are we'll known to
many people-and during my visit to
America I repeated my story to sew
eeral large audiences. But let this
stand for the whole story.
A few years ago, there was no estate
in all ireland in which the conditions
were more hopeless from every point
sof view than the Dillon estate. There
were some hundreds of tenants hud-
died together on wretched plots of
three or four acres of bad land Most
Of them went to England or Scotland
every year for the harvest months.
and, enduring terrible hardships.--
sleeping in barns, living on potatoes
and herrings, denying themselves
everything,-manased to scrape to-
sgether a few pounds which enabled
them to pay the rent and keep their