The Irish standard., 1907-03-23

owe him debt OF gratitude. tte mas
made us laugh, and laughter is good
both for soul and body.
The man who lightens by ar ounce
the weight Of the load Of human mis-
cry can be truly said to have served
purpose in life. The 1rishman las
lightened 1t, not by ounces, but by
hundredweights, so he has contributed
much to the happiness of mankind.
Carlyle says, HE who wants hulnor,
be his powers what they may, has only
half a mind.' Humor Is the golden
key which unlocks all hearts, the
magic wand which charms away dlll-
ness and melancholy, the talisman
which enables us to succeed where no
other quality would avail.
Wit deals with ideas. hunor with
emotions; wit is conscience, humor a
mere happening; the former is cold
sparkling, mercurial thing, ths latter
is genial, juicy. unconscious, irnper-
sonal.
It is in the alchemy of humor that
the Irishman turns misfortune into
good luck and from every bane ex-
tracts a blessing. Only death itself
can stem the current of his exuherant
spirit. and even then his humor buoys
him up on the very threshold Of eter-
nifty.
A peasant lay dying in Dublin his
pital and a clergyman was called III to
afford the consultations Of religion.
This minister had national reputc-
tion as a fox hunter, and was gener-
ally the first in the field when the
hounds seized upon their quarry. AS
soon as he entered the ward the dying
patient greeted him with, "Ah, your
reverence I knew you would come;
you were always sure to he in at the
DEATH"
Pat turns Sorrows into joys. crosses
into. crowns; no difficulty is too hari
for him to overcome, no question tco
intricate for him to solve.
But sorrow is evanescent with the
Irish, the sunniness of their temper
dispels it like morning mists and
cheertulness takes it's place. though no
people on earth have more cause for
complaining. Even hunger (and many
q time the peasantry are hungry can
not dampen the ardor Of their spirits
or dull the keen edge of their wit.
They never rspine, though the grim
spectre of want may pass the threshold
and take a seat by the cold firesde.
A countryman phiIosophically re-
marked, what the eye never sees the
heart never grieves for"
When the crops fail and the rent
becomes due the Irishman finds him.
self in tight place. Eviction stares
him and his family in the face and
There is left him one of two resources,
either America or the poorhouse. which
Is a choice between Scylla and Charyb-
dis. 1t requires money to reach the
former, and he can scarcely scrape
enough to keep body and soul to-
gether, while as to the latter, death
on the bleak hillsdes is. preferable.
What is he to do? His only hope lies
in the clemency of his landlord, so he
must sue for time even on bended
knees, though by nature the Irishman
is no sycophant, but necessity knows
mo law.
Perhaps the fun and lighthearted-
ness Of the Irish race is a heaven sent
attribute to Offset the prosecutions to
which they have been subjected sc
long. A less optimistic Or cheerful
people would have succumbed long
since before the cruelties and merci-
less tyrannies which have failed mis-
erably to break Irelands spirit, to sub
jugats her will or to bow her neck
to the foreigners yoke. The late w
e. H. Lecky, the eminent historian
who represented Trinity College III
,the Imperial Parliament, and himself
Union, says:-"The past treatment OF
Ireland by England has been a tissue
of brutality and hypocrisy scarcely, ii
ever. surpassed in history"
=: Yet what does the past Of ireland
show in fact Of all this brutality and
hypocrisy acknowledged by Mr.. Lecky:
1T tells Of a race that has never de.
'cayed, a people who have never lost
their love or abandoned their hope, 8
nation whose patriotism is as strong
and bright and pure today as in the
ages that are past and gone forever.
4, when Ireland's sun had sunk in din
eclipse behind the blood stained hills
1 .of misery and death; when famine ant
pestilence hand in hand stalked over
her green mountain sides and he,