The Penn's Grove record., 1921-04-15
IRELAND NEVER A NATION
Warning Tribes Given BY The Pope
To The English King

~ 1AAAAA Il Ill AAeAl III
) land Is a nation, and as a nation pos
sesses the right 70 secede from Grea
Britain and set up an Independent
/, government. We emphatlcauy deny thi
!, clam and all Irish history is agains
it. Father Mcdonald, Professor O
Theology, Of Maynooth, the grea
training college OF the priesthood il
ireland, al with the claim. TIL,
words of DR.. Mcdonald may surely b.
expected to have weight with Sim
Fem.
In his recent book, "Some Ethica
Questions of Peace and War;" he de
mes that Ireland has the right of {
separate nation, and he plainly de.
clares what all history makes evident
that she never was a nation" IRELAND
l n ancient times was but a congerieS
OF warning tribes that never COMBINED
for any common purpose.
In the year HIP Henry ii went to
Ireland with the authority of a Bull
issued by Pope Adrain ", confirmed
by another Bull promulgated by his
successor, Pope Alexander III. He
invaded Ireland for the purpose of re-
storing order, and the Irish chiefs
submitted to him. This was the first
occasion on which Ireland knew any
thing of real unity, and it was created
for her by Henry Ii. Two centuries
later, in 1895, in reign of Richard II,
the chief reatfirmed their submission,
but in the reign of Henry VIII the
allegiance of Ireland to England was
emphatically confirmed by a Parlia-
ment which met in Dublin on June
9TH "a apI m-hiol fo1uoo opl1r .oanpr
niZed Henry as King of Ireland.
Coming to the reign of Charles |,
a Catholic Confederation met in Kill
kenny on October "a, 1912. This was
an assembly representing Roman
Catholic Ireland, and one of its de-
crees was to the effect that "All the
inhabitants of Ireland and each of
them shall be most faithful to our
sovereign King and his heir and law
full successors"
Fifty years after the reign of James
II the Patriotic Parliament convened
in Dublin in 1859, and presided over
by the King in person, recognized him
not only as King of England but as
sovereign of Ireland.
Will Sim Fein still assert that Ire
land was a nation, and will it still be
maintained that Great Britain has not
and never had any right to rule in
Ireland?
Still it asserted in the face of these
facts that she possesses the right to
what is called self-determination.
There is much confusion of thought
regarding this phrase, as if it implies
any community forming a part of a
larger whole, by its own will may
break away and set up an indepen-
dent government. DR.. Mcdonald has
a good deal to say regarding this He
points out that self-determination of
a portion of a country cannot be adj
country as a whOleI
Ireland is and has been for many
centuries a part of the United King
dom and her secession would disas-
trously effect the group of which she
forms a part. When a large portion
of the United States of America, in
GLIDING many of the Southern States,
claimed the right of secession and
self-determination, Abraham Lincoln
denied the claim and the North ear
ried on the great war to prevent Sc
cession. Lincoln held, and most people
now admit rightly held, that the form
ing of an Independent government in
the South would spell disaster to the
United States. The same applies to-
Britain today in relation to Ireland
Assuming, however, that Ireland
the right to secede, this
right equally belongs to that part of
Ireland in which Unionists and Pro-
testants predominant. There are two
peoples in Ireland, differing in race,
mentality and religion. If Ireland may
secede from Great Britfn, Ulster may
secede from the rest of Ireland Lin
coin in American politics, faced the
same kind of problem which faces
Great Britain and Ireland, and he
enunciated this principle.
"a minority of a large community
who make certain claims for s%elf-gov-
eminent cannot in logic or in sub
stance refuse the same claims to a
much larger proportIOnate minority
themselves"
Lincoln applied this in 1860. The
majority of the State of Virginia de-
cided to join with the South. In the
western portion of the State was a
large compact minority who refused
to secede from the North. Lincoln
recognized their right and created for
them the State of West Virginia. On
this analogy if Sim Fem Ireland pos
sesses the right to secede from Britain
then Protestant Ireland may claim the
right to decide her own form of Gov
eminent.
But the claim of Sim Fem to part
company from the United Kingdom
for a moment be allowed.
Great Britain could not afford to let
Ireland go. The war has made vital
the fact that if the Sim Fem rebellion
had succeeded and the German land
ing had taken place in Ireland it would
have been a deadly blow to Britain.
An Ireland of Sim Fem dreams would
be a menace not only to the peace of
Britain, but that of Europe and the
world. With her limited resources
Ireland would inevitably give rise to
complex international situations. For
Ireland,s sake she must remain an in