The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1907-04-27

the determination of an united people |
compelled the first installment Of the
repeal of the Penal Laws, and step
by step those disgraceful Penal Laws
were cancelled.
Again. when the great question of
Emancipation arose. the Sovereign de-
clared, with those Hanoverian oaths to
which the Empire was accustomed in
those days, that no such concessions
would be made by him or the Empire
to Irish Papists. But in 1929 the Duke
Of Wellington presented the alterna-
tive: Either civil war or the conces-
sion of Emancipation. Emancipation
was consummated through the unity
and determination of the Irish people.
Other laws had to be amended, and
one after another the wrongs Of Ireland
were redressed and her rights asserted.
All this was achieved by united peo-
pie. 1t was impossible that the unit
ed demand of a generous and energetic
people could be sighted. 1t was not
their province to intrude into the do
main of home politics. but it was their
determination to stand by the Irish
Parliamentary Party and whatever that
Party demanded. This was Australia's
attitude in regard to Home Rule. They
had the fullest confidence in those who
represented the Irish nation in the
House of Commons and in the leaders
chosen by that Party. They associated
themselves with the Executive of that
Party in every way. and they were
happy to find that in every part of the
Empire the same union and the same
determination prevailed. He had a vi
sion just now, and it was suggested by
the banner of their society, and espe-
cially by those three maidens so faith
fully represented on their escutecheon
This vision seemed 70 present the real-
ity of Ireland's demand at the present
day. ... ....
There was the central maiden ar
rayed in all her virginly grace, accom-
panied by her faithful wolf-hound, and
in her hands she held harp. Present.
ing herself to the British Parliament.
she said: This harp has been silent
for centuries, and it is my plea in the
name Of Ireland that once more it's
sweet melody would be heard through
out the length and breadth of the land"
Then she pleads that the wolf-hound
| which had been SO faithful in the
past, should be recognized in future,
and that he, too should have his po-
sition allotted to him. On either side
of her there stood a gentle maiden. one
| representing Australia and the other
Canada. In the vision he had. those
maidens accompanying Erin seemed to
have no weapons with them, but good
fresh brooms, the purpose of which ev-
eryone is familiar with.
In some of the departments of Irish
administration a. great many cobwebs
had to be swept away-and a broom
was a. most useful weapon in such a
crusade. Again, politicians would throw
many obstacles in the way, and the
purpose Of the Australian broom would
be to remove all such impediments. and
to clear the way for the full measure of
Home Rule. He was confident that be-
fore the end of the present year this
vision would have something of a. rel
ization.
| There was one feature of the unity
that happily prevailed among the peo-
pie Of Ireland, that was. at least, in a
certain measure unique in the history
of the world and contributed in nc
little way to their triumphs, and to the
grand results which accompanied them
Montalembert. in his younger years,
paid his first visit to Ireland. 1t was
i'll 1929. In one of his recently pub
lished letters giving an account of that
tour, he said he admired the scenery
and thought it unrivalled; he admired
the simplicity and the piety of the peo-
pie. who showed the fervor of their de-
votedness in those days when they had
only the rudest chapels and scarcely a
place to find shelter whilst assisting at
the Holy Sacrifice; he admired the
heroism and devotion which led the
faithful TO be true to the precepts Of
the Church under such conditions; but
the one thing that struck him as unique
was the sublime unions that bound the
clergy and the people.
He looked to his own France and said
there was no nobler people in the world
than the French. but their clergy were
salaried by the Government were re-
garded as agents of the Government
and in every question of patriotism
that arose they could not put their foot
outside the sacred temple where they
worshipped. In every political ques-
! ton that arise in Ireland in every