The Irish standard., 1919-03-29

birth or antecedents there is no topic
of conversation more attractive than
that Of the glories and the sorrows,
the hopes and the wrongs of Ireland.
1t is the one subject that never pals;
the one theme that is never exhausted,
For the children of the sea-divided
Gael it holds all the intimacy of a
sacred family interest It draws them
by the cords of ADAM those aborig.
inal ties of blood which link the liv-
ing with their beloved dead and make
the men of today heirs of the spir-
itual heritage of their forefathers. At
all times fascinating, Ireland's story
was never more absorbing than it is at
tho present hour. A new chapter is
being written. perhaps the most glori-
GUS of her chequered history. Glowing
with revelation like another Apoca-
lypse, this chapter contains dire pro.
phecies as well as splendid visions.
The former are made by Ireland's
enemies, the latter glimpsed by her
friends; but friends and enemies are
too close to contemporary events to
be able to interpret them Alright.
The world around us is seething
like some vast volcano; events follow
each other in hasty procession; the
OLD order is changing fast. Great en-
pjres have fallen, and new nations,
fresh from their baptism of blood, are
springing from their ruins. Among
these is Ireland, old in years yet young
of heart. Shall we, who are hidden to
acclaim the resurrection of Poland,
the resurgence of Bohemia, the loosing
Of Serb and Croat, and Slav, stand
mute as our motherland takes her
place among the nations of the earth?
Shall we, fail now in the duty of rails
ing our voice on behalf of a people
whose services to Christian civiliza-
tion,, whose centuried wrongs, whose
unparalleled sufferings, whose heroic
fidelity to Truth and Justice entitle
them to foremost place in the es-
TEEN of all lovers of Liberty? Thanks
to the idealism of our President, we
are no longer compelled to sue for
Justice to prejudiced court; we can
appeal to the tribunal of Mankind. The
Irish cause, after having languished
for more than century behind the
prison walls of Westminster, has at
last escaped its gaoler, and taking to
itself wings has flown to the utter
most parts Of the earth. Until the
great war the settlement of the his
,toric debate between England and Ire
land was lett wholly in the hands of
British statesmen and politicians.
Since the enforced Union of the two
legislatures in 1900 all free express
sion of, the Irish mind has been DELHI
erately repressed. Lovers of Ireland
working for her veal at home were
forced to voice their grievances
through Parliament hostile salike to
their race and to their religion. At
the same time a cunning campaign
was inaugurated through the English
speaking countries for the purpose Of
educating their inhabitants to view
everything Irish through British spec
tacles. This base propaganda, car.
ried on increasingly for a whole cen.
fury, has had it's natural effect. It
is no exaggeration to say that the
average American, with all his good
will, has not yet succeeded wholly in
cleansing his imagination of that vile
travesty of human nature, the stage
1rfshman. At his worst the Irishman
Is regarded as a drunken sot and
coarse buffoon; at best he is but a
dreamer, a visionary who mistakes
"the cloud-capped towers and gorge
'ous palaces" Of too vivid simagina-
ton for the harsh and humdrum reah-
ties Of life. OF these two caricatures
1T would be hard to say which is the
more unjust. The former was very
popular generation ago; but since
the advent of the Gaelic League and
other movements making for self-re-
spect and pride of race it has been
forced into the background, so that it
is now confined mostly to the boards
of low music-halls and the pages of
scurrilous magazines. The other carl
cature which paints the freshman as
an idealist, impractical and unbusi-
nesslike. compound Of poetry melan-
choly and moonshine is the one
dressed up for our inspection in the
press and popular literature Of the
day. Both portraits are essentially
false; but they serve admirably their
creators purpose. viz, to cloud the
true issue between the two countries
and to prevent the Irish mind from
emerging from the eclipse of the Pen
al days into the full light of modern
European civilization.
What then is the real issue between
ENGLAND and IRELAND? r. xuos uA,o n