The Irish standard., 1919-03-29

tlOn is TOO dangerous toy Tor peO-
pie so immature in political thought,
so idealistic and impractical as are the
Irish. Since however, they will in
sist on obtaining it, they must be
taught gently yet firmly the error of
their ways. Not having sense enough
to save themselves they must be saved
in spite of themselves. They must be
saved, not by denying them the pleas
ure of a toy, but by making sure that
it is harmless. Accordingly, let them
by all means have Home Rule, that
sawdust toy of prattling political in
fants;. but set them not on the road to
independence lest they burn their in
experienced fingers or dash their un-
travelled foot against the rock of mod
ern industrial competition
Thus speciously is the case present
ed to the average reader, and what
wonder that great many honest per-
sons are led astray by it. Not so how
ever, those who know Irish history or
have even casual acquaintance with
the subtleties of British statescraft
Irish scholars and British statesmen
know we'll that the age long debate be-
tween England and Ireland rests on
foundations far deeper than any mere
question of polity or mode of govern
ment. They fully realize that Sim
Fein is more than a political party,
that. self-determipation is more than
national pride, that behind the politi-
cal issue stands the religious issue
and behind this, giving it it's awful
significance, is the question of etern-
al death. Call it what you will, Sim
Fein against the Empire, Democracy
against Autocracy, Supernaturalism
against Materialism, the struggle in
Ireland today is but the latest phase
of that conflict, begun long ago in the
desert beside the Jordan valley what
time the Master of Life drove from
him the Master of Death with word of
power; "The Lord thy God thou shalt
adore and Him only shalt thou serve"
Fifteen hundred years ago the tribes
of Ireland heard the voice of St. Pat
rick and turned from their druids and
their idols to the living and true God.
Embracing Christianity they dedicated
to 1t the resources of a singularly rich
and ardent temperament. They took
the doctrines of the Church into their
very blood; and receiving from her
virtues that refine and adorn human
nature, they gave her back that ma
tive valour and gayety that CLOUDY
and lightning genius" as Davis calls
it, which is the distinctive characteris-
tic of the Gael. Henceforth the Irish
man becomes miles Christi" the
knight of God. No writer who does
not. recognize this as fundamental in
the Irish character can't interpret the
Ireland of today. All movements with
in her four seas, political, industrial,
social, educational are enrooted in this
central attribute. AS the sun giyes
light and energy to the earth so does
their religion give the Irish people
their tenacity of national purpose, their
sweetness in poverty, their patience
in adversely, their indomitable cour-
|age, in the face of overwhelming
Odds Historians of a certain school
are fond Of tracing the rise and fall
of nations to material causes. They
interpret history in an economic sense
and maintain that all revolutions, pop
ular upheavals, and overturning of
dynasties are simply the result of
hunger. This hypothesis may or may
not be true of other countries; it GER
tainfy is not true of Ireland. There,
all movements, agitations and rebel
lions can be traced in the last analysis,
not to any principle of political econ
omy, but to the profound moral trans
formation wrought in the Irish soul by
the teachings of Christianity. The
supernatural and >the supernatural
alone, can solve the riddle of Ireland.
This fact explains the failure of
even well-intentioned British states
men to understand the Irish people. It
will, suppose, hardly be questioned
by. my present hearers that the Brit
ish empire is an attempt to compound
between God and Mammop. Without
explicitly denying the Creator, the
English people devote their best ener-
gies to the worship of Mammon. They
spread their sails on every sea, they
fling their standard to every breeze,
and the wealth of every cline is dis
charged on the bustling quays Of their
capital. For three centuries they have
been pushing their power and extend
ing their influence into every corner
of the globe until their present empire
overtops the mfghtiest Of any former
age. It is the Briton's proud boast
that the sun never sets in the kings
HoYnin1ono T1,io Sun,ooco g. p,n..