Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-03-17

Parliament. But there can be M
doubt that 1t was the part of wisdom
on the part of Irish Nationalist, lee
| by John Redmond, to accept the prin.
ciple of an Irish Parliament on Irisf
soil. And after they have demon
strated to Ulster that she will not bt
Disseminated against, reunited Ire
! land win demand and probably re.
ceive that which is her due"
Gladstone's Move in 1868.
THE parliament which was called
| together in 1868, with Gladstone as Its
dominating force, intended to try to
give Ireland the right to be governed
| by and according to Irish ideas. The
| first part of the program was the dis
establishment of the Irish Church. 1t
passed the House-the lords were, as
usual, reactionary. A member of the
ministry, in discussing the attitude of
the lords, characteristically said: II
the lords persist in throwing them
selves atl1wart the national course,
they might meet with accidents not
pleasant for them to think Of And
this led to rumors that new peers
sufficient to secure the passage of the
bill would be created.
"The lords capitulated in July, 1869;
the royal assent was given, the bill
passed and the reign of equality in
Ireland had begun. Gladstone next
took up the Irish land system; the
church system was considered purely
sentimental one. Ireland being an
agricultural country, the great ma
iority OF the people lived by and on
the land, but they did not own it
they were mere tenants at will.
mo matter how faithfully and
promptly a man paid his rent, or how
much he improved his place, his rent
was systematically raised; and if he
failed on rent day to produce 1t out
he went and his improvements were
confiscated, regardless of past record
or honesty and regardless of season or
condition of the family. No thought
as to his end was considerable
either paid his rent or he was evicted
to starve or go to the poorhouse If he
could get there. From 1847 to 1851 one
million and half of people persisted
from famine and the attendant fever,
though Ireland produced ample food
stuffs for four times her population.
Irish Always Defiant.
"Of course, you must understand"
continued Mr.. Ansberry. 1.-THE Irish
never acknowledge the English right
to invade their land, as the records
of century after century tells the
same story of repeated rebellions
among the Irish and their repeated
massacres by the English.
Finding such stubborn defiance to
her soldiers, England began enacting
regorour legislation to conquer the
Irish. This she made more and more
tyrannical during each successive
reign, taking away by degrees every
right of citizenship and making
native-born Irishmen little better than
slaves.
These laws were directed toward
the land, the manufactures, the
schools, the parliament, the religion
and the idea of nationality. Eng
lands paramount idea was to so re-
duce Ireland that she should simply
exist as market for English prod
ucts and manufactures. Her plan
was to utterly destroy ireland as a
nation, forcing upon her the necessity
of turning all of her revenues into
England. To accomplish this COM
plete subjugation the first radical
step was the confiscation of Irish
land.
"Then remember the massacres of
Wexford and Drogheda," he added.
land the confiscation in single day
of half the land In Ireland! The driv-
ing of her people into the ports to
be shipped to regions of pestilence
and death! The exile of the whole
nation beyond the Shannon and the
violated treaty of Limerick are but
episodes in the tragedy of centuries.
Add to these the penal codes, the
most hideous and inhuman laws ever
enacted by a Christian or pagan peo-
plel Under them the Irish Catholics
could not bear evidence or bring suit,
nor sit on a jury, nor teach school or
go to school, nor send their chill
dren to school, nor practise law or
medicine, nor travel five miles from
his own home. He could own nothing
which he could not be forced to give
up. His children were offered brides
tc betray him. He could neither hear
mass nor receive the sacraments; nor
could he send his children abroad for
any purpose unless he first obtained
the consent of the authorities. He
could not own horse valued over
g."
did this mean that children were
not permitted to have any schooling
at all?" Mr.. Ansberry was asked.
Exactly that" he replied, land
worse. But the Irish were determined
to hold on to their natural talent for
learning and pass 1t on to their
children. So for a long time schools
were held N caves, mountain glens
and behind hedges, where forbidden
knowledge was impaired by an out
law teacher to Illegal pupils with de-
termined young sentries on guard TO
warn them of the approach of off,
GERS of the law.
Education Was Forbidden.
This nation was forced into IL
literacy by law. Not only was edu-
cation forbidden in Ireland, but 1t
was not permitted for the children of
Catholic parents to be sent abroad
for education. Indeed, it was only a
little more than fifty years ago that
England permitted the masses of Ire
land to go to school. Even at that
the school privileges was beyond the
reach of many because of the extreme
poverty caused by the exorbitant
rent So great was this deprivation
that in 1882 four-fifths of the popu-
lation could neither read nor write.
1t was made penal offense to speak
in the native tongue.
'All that human enactment could
do to degrade the mind to a state of
brutal ignorance was done. At the
same time the English government
was doing everything to prevent Ire
land from obtaining education, the
English press was denouncing the
Irish as foes of learning and lovers of
ignorance.
'Montesquieu described this code as
being the fittest instrument ever
devised or invented by men to de-
grade and destroy a nation, but 1t
failed of its purpose The Irish peo-
pie proved themselves superior to
fate.
"These things made the Irishmen
wanderers on the face of the earth,
and l believe that England was
hoist by her own petard,' for many
Irish were forced to seek homes and