The Irish standard., 1920-02-21

III UdS 0CSItOu W Cttu WIN s>Uo"
What Democracy Really Means-zeal
for England in Their Souls.
-
The great organ of public opinion
in northern England is "The North
ern Echo" In its columns Dr. Alex
, ander Irvine, a successful asHhor, un-
dertakes to describe the ccNdition
when informed and vitalized by the
Ulster mind. DR.. Irvine writes:
Only an FISHERMAN can describe the
Ulster mind-and an FISHERMAN is not
| always sure that he knows himself.
In attempting to describe it am only
describing the mind that possessed
me until ! was about twenty-five years
of age. | was born and brought up
in hopeless poverty, but it never oc-
Cured to me that there might be even
remotely any connection between pov.
erty and politics. Wealth and poverty,
to me, were the arrangements of God,
and were never questioned.
! / can think of no greater paradox
| ii my rather parodixical career thai
the fact that with scarcely enough
clothing on me to dust violin, was
! shouting for Queen and Constitution"
Living OH the edge of pauperism all
my youth, my supreme earthly con.
/ Germ was the Protestant succession on
the throne Of England, something ap-
parently OF no concern to the youth
of England, but of first and primary
Importance to the youth of Ulster.
Our religion, our politics, our social
life, our very existence, all, every
thing, was used to express our hatred
Of Rome and our devotion to the Eng
lish throne. l was theologian be-
fore l could read my own name
Nothing that was Irish was of any
nom ent-except as It glorifled Eng
land. AS the Church is the organized
expression of religion, so the Orange
institution was the organized express
sion Of the Ulster mind.
stupidity ignorant of history, was
acquainted with one date, one fact.
The year 1890 was the most sacred
of, all dates, and July 12 the most
holy of all holy days. On that date
the world was saved from popery. l
was sure of that had the Ulster
mind.
| With the alacrity of wild Indian
my being quivered with martial fer
vor every time l heard the beat of a
drum or the sound of a fife.
When l could string bass drum
on my neck and thump 1t with a
stick had covered the foothills of
my way to the mountain of life's sue.
cess. When I could don an orange
sash was we'll up the sides of the
mountain. And sash was of inf.
nitely greater Importance than a
clean shirt or pair of boots.
I AS matter of fact l owned a sash
before had acquired a decent suit
of clothes. To the Ulster mind there
are but two musical instruments-the
fife and drum. We did not know that
our music was the music of savages!
We pounded that drum until the blood
oozed out Of our lacerated wrists and
blew that shrtll ear-splitting fife until
we were black in the face. The bag
pipes are comprehensive. The fife
and drum are utterly incomprehen-
sible to all phases of civilized intelli-
gence-save the mind of Ulster
In common with my kind, 1 was
possessed with an implacable hatred
of the Catholic religion. 1 feared as
feared nothing else its spread or
progress. My dearest chum was q
Catholic boy, but could never fully
trust him. He probably felt the same
about me. Distrust between the sects
was quite the normal thing.
We were neighbors and acquaint.
ances, but always and forever stood
that tall stone wall of distrust be.
tween US.
We hated the Catholic professions.
They hated ours, and on st. Patrick's
Day and on July IL we usually came
to blows. We even sectarianized the
flowers. The orange lily and the pur-
pie rocket were the Protestant flow
ers, and we decorated our arches and
houses with them. The shamrock:
though not flower at all, was a spe.
cdal emblem Of Ireland and We de.
spised It. Most Of my crowd had no
gardens. and It was not considered
sin to steal them away from any
who had. The sin was in being caught.
Amongst the educated and weil:to-
do there were variations of the Ulster
mind. With us there were none. We
were solid in the slums.
The bitter hatreds had been 70