The Irish standard., 1910-10-22

man who had once tried-and failed
to get off even the most cryptic tele.
gram relating to the part played by
the Ultramontanes in the riots, was
thenceforth marked by the Intel
ligence department OF the Society of
Jesus, and if he continued his efforts
to communicate what he knew, he
not only found his kilograms sup
pressed after they had been accepted
and paid for, but stood a good chance
of having his personal liberty inter-
fered with" Pah! the Jesuits had no
more to do with his telegram than
they had to do with the cone of Azu-
GARLIC that he dissolved in his glass
of water to drink with his mornings S
"pan y chocolate" Does Mr.. Shaw
himself believe such rubbish?
We are of the opinion that Mr..
Shaw, before publishing his legends,
consulted the wandering Jew" of
Eugene Sue.
Mr. Shaw is as simple as two old
women. And he Is quite senile when
he has occasion to talk about arms
and the monks. He says: "The stories
related OF secret arming and drilling
in the churches at night are obviously
not capable of verification by lay
man and a foreigner, but that the
Jesuits in Barcelona were armed be-
fore the revolt began, and used their
weapons with skill, seems certain. A
near relative of one Of these warlike
men of religion told me that they had
twice driven back the mob by firing
from their balconies, so it seems fair
to assume that when the newspapers
talked of the shooting down of the
crowd by the Jesuits they had some
in Barcelona found in the possession
of arms were arrested even though
they had not used them, but it does
not appear that the Jesuits incurred
any penalty for using their weapons
on the mob" Possibly they never
did use them. Probably they had no
weapons. Oh, says Mr.. Shaw, in a
footnote, the Religious Orders had
weapons. Il hare been told by an
English friend that a Spanish &C.
quaintance of his has, to his knowl.
edge, lately made substantial sum
by selling arms to the Religious Or
ders." Now that is excellent. We
no longer deal with unknown old
women and unnamed young men; we
are in touch with real persons We
have an English friend and Spanish
acquaintance. If Mr.. Shaw will give
us the name and address of his Eng
lish friend, and if that gentleman will
give us the name and address OF his
Spanish acquaintance, and if that
Spaniard will give us the name and
address of a single Religious Order to
which he sold arms, we will hand over
$50 to any London hospital, at Mr.
Shaw's choice, should the story turn
out to be true. 1t is a challenge. Mr.
Shaw cannot refuse to meet it, if he
is to retain his credit as an honest
man. He has filled half book full
and nearly filled the other half, with
tales about monks and nuns that are
absolutely absurd. He has no claim
to feel hurt when his veracity is not
merely doubted, but openly contested
His personal feelings are not more
sacred to me than the feelings of the
monks and nuns. He gloats over his
stories in their disfavor. He does not
always profess to believe them him
self; but he tells them.
They are lies, am sure. He may
not be a liar, himself But he takes
little care to discover the truth. Nc
"hobo" in Spain is half as credulous
as he is. He takes in shoals Of lies and
lying reports as a whale does sprats
by mouthfuIs. He let's anybody hum
bug him. Here is an example of his
simplicity and credulity: During the
disturbances in Catalina it was said
that 'shiploads' of monks and nuns
were being landed in the middle Of
the night at sundry ports along the
coast, and that they so effectually
betrayed themselves by their nervous
ness of manner that the country peo
pie had not the slightest doubt as tc
who and what they were. But as the
people had no desire to injure them
notwithstanding a certain
amount of talk about cutting throats
and hanging-they were permitted tc
pass unmolested, though it is true
that there were occasional scowls al
ill-clad individuals who wore theil
trousers with a difference as though
| thev roiseed the flowing skirts Of thei1