The Irish standard., 1916-08-05
The Irish Question

! GUS age with jealousy; but both par
ties generally conspired to oppose and
pillage the native inhabitants.
Toward the Fifteenth Century the
native Irish princes had won back
by the sword very considerable por-
ton of the territories at first seized
by the invaders, but, instead of join
ing together to eXpel them, as their
forefathers had expelled the Danes,
were content to receive from them
annual tributes, which were called
black mail" and which were paid to
them by the English settlers for a CEN
fury and half.
During all this time the native
princes carried on their petty wars
with one another, just as if no for
eign foe was on their soil, and vast
ed that strength in senseless assaults
upon each other which was more
than twice sufficient, If combined, to
expel the common enemy.
On the introduction of the changes
in the creed of England, in the Six
teenth and Seventeenth Centuries, a
series of religious wars and sacrile-
gious confiscations ensued, from which
the people of Ireland suffered terribly
mania for pillage and robbery was
generated into the minds of the Eng
fish people by the wicked examples of
Henry the Eighth and his daughters,
together with those monarchs of Eng
land who with one exception Games
1D for three centuries succeeded him.
This mania was converted into thun-
dering armies, and at one time it
seemed as if half the population of
England and Scotland had landed in
unfortunate Ireland, with the resolve
of discriminating the ancient inhabi-
tants. In the course of these wars the
!, Irish maintained their right to civil
and religious liberty against greatly
superior and far more crafty force.
Having lost three-fourths of their ter
ritory and half their population, being
reduced by famine and the sword, and
having been badly commanded by that
cowardly King James II, they came
to the resolution of captivating with
the invaders which they did by solemn
treaty at the Siege of Limerick in 1851
in presence of the English and Irish
armies. In that treaty of peace it
was agreed for the first time, that
the Irish should acknowledge the King
of England as King of Ireland, but
that they were in other respects to be
deemed separate nation. There was
no question raised about local Par
lament, because Ireland was then, and
ever had been, in possession of her
legislature. The King and Queen of
England, William and Mary, most anx-
ious for peace, solemnly ratified this
treaty. Before peace was concluded
every man and woman in the city
stood and fought in the breach of the
walls for six months until one-llalf
of the population died of starvation.
The immortal Patrick -Sarafeld, COM
mander of the Irish army, simply be-
lieving the King was man of honor,
passed over to France with his Irish
brigade. No sooner had this brigade
left Ireland than the English king, Par
lament and nation, repudiated that
solemn treaty. This Irish brigade at
the Battle of Fontenoy, where the
English expected victory, begged of
the commander-in-chief to permit them
to charge on the English army. The
request was granted Dillon, the Irish
commanders charge was: "Victory or
death; remember Limerick and Eng
lish dishonor." Shortly the unbroken
column of England was crushed. Dill
Ion fell, but he lived long enough to
know that the glorious charge of the
Irish Brigade had won the day, de-
feated England and saved the honor
of France. Taking his hearts blood
in his hand he exclaimed: would
to God this was shed for Ireland"
In 1898, Immediately after which,
and while an English army of 200,-
900 men were in the country, propo-
sition was brought forward in the
Irish Parliament by the British Min
lister, to hand over the rights of the
Irish Parliament to that of Britain. A
proposition so destructive of the ma
tional rights and prosperity was met
by the determined hostility of the
Irish people. They had just passed
through war and suffered general
massacre and loss of leaders, and
were unable to resist the blow by
war. Under these circumstances and
in defiance of the two solemn COM
pacts of 1851 and 1882 the union with
England was consummated by corrup-
ton of the vilest kind, and ruin of
Ireland commenced. In about three
years after this Robert Emmett tried,
by we'll contrived but unfortunate
effort, to overthrow the British power
in Ireland. He failed and was exc
cuted At LENGTH tho nroorto1 non;o1