The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-03-10


father and raised a barrier between
them that lasted until the day Of his
death.
The old man had laughed coarsely
at the remembrance Of his speech on
the previous night and licked his lips
at the thought Of It
Monica, who was visiting her father
for a few days. smiled in agreeable
sympathy. Nathaniel nodded cheer
fully.
From her fathers side Angela asked
quietly:
Have you ever been In Ireland. IA
ther?"
mo. I have not" answered the old
man sharply. "And, what Is more. l
never intend to 60 there"
do you know. anything about the
Irish?" persisted Angela. 49,.
do 1? More than the English gov
ernment does. Don't I own land
there"
II mean do you know anything about
the people?" insisted Angela.
II know them to be lot Of thlev.
ing. rascally '>acoundrels. too lazy to
work and too dishonest to pay their
way even when they have the money"
"Is that all you know"
Isn't 1t enoughT' Els voice rose
shrilly. 1t was the first time for years
any one had dared use those two hated
words ireland" and Irish" at his Ia
BILE. Angela must be checked and at
once.
1T wouldn't be enough for me II
had the responsibilities and duties of
q landlord. To be the owner Of an
estate should be to act as the peoples
friend. their father, their adviser in
times Of plenty and their comrade In
times Of SORROW"
Indeed! And pray where did you
learn all that, miss?' asked the aston
ished parent
Without noticing the interruption OF
the question, Angela went on: why
deny a country its own government
when England is practically governed
by its countrynen? Is there any po.
sition of prominence today in England
that isn't filled by Irishmen? Think
| Our commander in chief Is Irish; oul
lord high admiral Is Irish: there are
! the defenses Of the English in the
hands of two Irishmen, and yet you
, call them thieving and rascally scoun
drelsr'
Kingsnorth tried to speak; Angela
raised her voice:
Turn to your judges-the lord chief
/ is an Irishman. Look at the house OF
commons. Our laws are passed or de-
feated by the Irish vote. and yet Sc
blindly ignorant and obstinate Is our
, insular prejudice that we refuse them
. the favors they do governing them
selves as we'll as England"
Kingsnorth looked at his daughter
, aghast. Treason in his own house
His child speaking the two most hated
of all words at his own dinner table
and in laudatory terms! He could
scarcely believe it. He looked at her
a moment and then thundered:
"How dare you! How dare you!
Angela smiled q little amusedly tol
Grant smile as she looked frankly at
her father and answered.:
"Ehis Is exactly the old fashioned
tone we English take to anything we
don't understand. And that Isl why
other countries are leaving us In the
race. There is.a nation living within
a few hours journey from our DOORS
yet millions of English people are as
ignorant of them as If they lived In
Senegambia." She paused, looked once
more straight into her fathers eyes
and said, And you, father, seem to
be as ignorant as the worst Of them?'
"Angela!" cried her sister In hor
ror.
Nathaniel laughed good naturedly
leaned across to Angela and said:
81 see our little sister has been
reading the sensational magazines
Yes?"
"I've done more than that" replied
Angela. lin Nice a month ago were
two English members Of parliament
who had taken the trouble to visit the
country they were supposed to assist
in governing. They told me that q
condition Of misery existed throughout
the whole of Ireland that was incredi'
Bile under 4 civilized government
Radicals. eh?" snapped her father.
NO; Conservatives. One Of them
had once held the office Of chief secre
tary for Ireland and was 1relands
most bitter prosecutor until he visited
the country. When he saw the
wretchedness Of her people he stopped
his stringent methods and began cast
ing about for some way of lessening
the poor peoples torment"
The more shame to him to talk like
that to girl. And. what's more. you
had no right TO listen to him. A. Con-
servative indeed! \ fine one he must
be-"
"He is. l don't see why the Liberal