The Irish standard., 1913-05-10
Tells How the Children of England
Have Been Taught to Regard
Irishmen as Savages.
In Her Latest Work, The Old Irish
World" Mrs. Alice Stopford
Green Gives
Some of the Reasons Why the Eng
lishman's History of Ireland
is so Far From Truth.

The following remarkable apology
from the pen OF an 'IInglish Cath
Ollie" appeared recently in the Cath
olic Times" 1t was occasioned by the
person reading Mrs. Grcene's latest
work The Old Irish World:
| can remember we'll when the Ens-
pie was that they were wild and
wrctchcd. that they We're not to be
trusted, and that history showed they
had never liked England, and. indeed,
had always been ready to mako the
English occupation OF ireland as diff
cult as they could. IT. never occurred
to me to ask why my countrymen
could not leave Ireland alone, what We
We're doing there ut all. and whether
our histories told truly what VIC had
done while we have been there.
Writing "History" for English Youths.
| supposed the historians state
mcnts contained the truth, rs doubt
less thousands of simple boys con-
tnue to suppose to this day; that is
how lads learn their history. How can
a growing youth suspect that Il his
torinn would take the trouble to write
solemn pages from u purely National
f-er pnrtisfsn- sts. ndpoilss that -serioYt
English OF Scots writer would say
things about Ireland which either he
! did not know to be true, or knew to
| he false? How could he suspect that
what lcnglsllmcn wrote of Ireland and
lrishmen was, OH all the probabilities,
| likely to be favorable to England. ow
| ing to the fact that VIC Englishmcn.
land of Ireland never took the trouble
| to understand the people who lived
on it?
Mrs. Alice Stopford Green, in the
opening chapter OF her most instruc-
tive volume. entitled "rhc Old Irish
| World" gives us some OF the reasons
| why the E.ngishman's history of Ire
land is so far from the truth. She
says: when the English arrived
| they. according to their constant in
sular tradition, refused to learn a
strange language. so that the only his
tory of ireland they could discern was
that part OF it which was written in
| English that is, the history Of the
English colonists told by themselves.
| n ~: ,tox1 1~I
worked with industry and self-con-
| graduation. They have laid down the
| lines of a story in which the histor-
ian's view Is constantly fixed on Dng-
land. ...
English Ignorance of Everything irish.
"Ail that the Irish had to tell OF
| themselves remained obscured in an
unknown tongue. The story of the
whole Irish population thus came to
| be looked on as merely IL murl1y pre-
lude to the civilzing work of England
no permanent interest, to be rapidly
passed over till we come to the Eng
lish pages Of the book. Thus, two
/ separate stories went on side by side.
The Irish did not know the language
which held the legend of English vir-
tue and consequent wealth. The Eng
! lish could not translate the subter-
ranean legend of Irish poetry, passion
and fidelity. Religion added new dis
tinctions. Virtues were Protestant,
the sins of the prodigal were Cath
olic. Finally class feeling had it's word
The upper class went to their uni
vcrsity and their manners and caste
instincts entitled them as of course to
] the entire credence of their own So
cial world; the lower class were al
| legged to be men whose manners were
common and their prejudices vulgar.
In this way there grew up an ortho-
dox history based on sources in the
English tongue alone"
would very respectfully and affec.
tionately submit to every reader the
advantage of keeping the truth Of the
above statement in his mind, whenever
he stops to lament the unfriendliness
J Of some English Cetholtc or other to
j. his noble countrys cause. and is
tempted. perhaps. to judge harshly the