'I'^^^Ji -^v-^^/®^ ttI IRELAND'S POSITION EXPLAINED AND JUSTIFIED O TtlE p RED HAND OF ULSTER BY JAMES J. GAHAN . ;• /'. |i>|i|i€il» as v*Ht% J • • • < QUEBEC 31 SB 1B73 £ Grl'J3 i#'-*i ■"i:^*' • • • « ■, • » • : r. To my friends here toho in greeting me as a feUoiv- citizen soon made mc forget that I had ever been a sira/fger the following pages are dedicated hy their faithful servant The Author. Quebec, May, 1873. ••V' -tt 57496 IRELAND'S POSITION EXPUINED 4ND JUSTIFIED An address delivered in De La Salle Institute, Toronto, Janaarj- 3i-d, \6l3. ' ■*»**-■>•• LA.DIES AND GENTLEMEN, Ireland is my theme this evening. The study ol' her his- tory has always been attractive to me. The glories which, like a nimbus, encircled her past ; the sufierings she has endured, and the wrongs under which she still labors ; her efforts and hopes cast a spell upon my soul, which, like the changings of an April day, drew forth smiles and tears. Her plaintive songs, her inspiriting war-chants filled my every sense. Her ancient heroes seemed to me to be foremost in the domain of chivalry, while her modern defenders api^eared fitting reflections of the old. Thus I grew apace from child- hood to youthhood. Every day v the spell became stronger, and of all things on earth none seemed as dear as Ireland ! In every form I loved her. Whether I saw her, depicted by my busy fancy, as the Wes em Queen, with joyousness on her brow, and gladness in her heart ; or in faded, tattered garments, with tear-stained cheeks, her lustre dimmed, and only a phosphorescent glimmer to indicate her existence as Erin of the Streams ! And now in the opening of my manhood, with exile as my portion, my heart often wanders to the land of my birth. Then an inexpressible sense ot loneliness seizes me. No voice which caressed my childhood welcomes me at close of day. The old haunts and pastimes are already but honored memories ; and thus, facing all the stern-realities of exile, dreaming and thinking oi home, I have woven a thread ,which I shall unfold this evening. The subject, ladies and gentlemen, which I have chosen for your consideration is one of great magnitude. To explain Ireland's position, to justify a nation which has continued a war of centuries, and which still seems determined to con- tinue its struggles until its aspirations aie realized, is a task frem. which tne ablest of men might shrink. Then again, under so many styles ha« the cause of Ireland been treated, that it -would appear as if nothing had been left unsaid to prove its justice. But I hold that it is through that constant, varied repetition of Ireland's cage that her name and identity has been preserved. History, particularly in the ease of my country, teaches this great lesson to the statesmen of the world, that the native, national sentiment of a people is in- destructible, and this very repetition of Ireland's story, the tenacity with which Irishmen cling to their traditions and their hopes of ages conclusively proves it. However, I do not intend by a bare recital of facts to state the care of Ire- ^ land. It is my intention rather to portray England's wrong- doing. I charge her government in Ireland with high crimes and misdemeanors. By proving that the record of her pa&t in Ireland has been brutal, and that her present is a failure there, 1 shall justify the attitude of my country, satisfying the most sceptical that the gouvernment of Ireland by England was never legitimate, is not legitimate, and never can become so. I arraign England before the high court of public opinioa ; .. I ask that Impartiality be the judge. ' '^fl> In 1169, the English came to Ireland. Their object was power and plunder. With sword and brand they entered ; the sword thejrused without mercy ; they applied the brand with- out hesitation. In every century since they have shown their hatred of us. Indeed we may say with truth that England's cycle of years in Ireland is easily traced, for it is written in tne blood of a noble people. Given that, and history, Eng- lish history, proves it, I undertake to justify my people, and as the national quarrel still exists, I snaJL bring my remarks down to the present day. Our position then is this : — Ireland has been blessed by the Creator with all that is necessary for an independent national existence. The theory that Ireland's geographical position is to be taken in part as a justiiication JOT England, I regard with contempt. We have distinct boundaries ; we have different manners, customs and reli- gious belief ; the English came to conquer, but while they subjugated they failed to subdue ; we have been willing to be good neighbors to the English, but we have declined to , their subjects ; we are still willing to be friendly, but we are determined to be free. How have the English treated us, either as neighbors, or as subjects ? Has the English G^overnement sought to un- deTstand the people of Ireland ? Have the foreign rulers ever attdmpted to conciluite ? As neighboTB or as Bubjectfi-^ cboose what phrase you will— they have ever treated vm with indignity, and they have never tried to understand ori to conciliate. For 600 years the majority, in fact almost all| the people of Irelnnd, were thrust outside the Constitution, and every sentiment that we held dear was reviled and struck at. Yet, after thai long period of internecine strife, our coun- try was still unsubdued. A stern resistance, and one un-^) equalled in history, was given to the stranger. Precarious, . indeed, was the hold of the foreigner upon the i>eople. Obs- tinate and enduring, the native Irish met the champions of the Red on field and in pass ; and when the immortal Green drooped in one quarter, the spirit of Liberty seized it and up-^ lifted it in another. At the close of that lonsr period, during which rapine, confiscation and treachery held sway, England found that the Irish were not beaten ! Ireland was still the moral mistress of the position ! What, though her banner fell at Kinsale, it rose again at Benburb ; and the blood which stained it at the Boy le. was washed away by the Shannon ! Her name, after that tremendous conflict of ages, still lived ! It was not forgotten among the nations ! At home, *' Among the poor or on the moor • '-^^ * ' • • ^*^iiv ^v*;C.!;' Were hid the pious and the trae, . M\^)K\. 'y-i f.*,**^ ?(• < ■ ',,,"'-' i.v While traitor knave or recreant elave Had richea,, rjnk aiul, retinue j " but abroad - • - . >,. r,. . " And exiled, in those penal days •-^*'''''' Our banners over Europe blaaa. "! i ' ^ ^.'^-?^'■^ - Still mistress of the position despite a 600 years of expen-* diture of life and treasure to accomplish her debasement ; * and then at the voice of Grattan she started into new life/: rising in 1782 to the dignity of an independant nation in^ connection with the English crown. Ireland then had her^ volunteer army, her flag, and parliament, and the emancipa** tion of the Catholics was all that was needed to ensure hei^* existence as a happy, prosperous nation. In every way^ baffled and beaten, England then had recourse to a last and desperate effort. It mattered not that the Executive of England declared the settlement of 1782 a final one. With* nothing else than Ireland's complete degradation would^ Ei^^land be content, and in carrying the Act of Legislative^ TJnion, the ruin of the Irish nation was assured. By that* Act our country lost her flag, her senate and national dignity. Of all was she deprived save the true hearts of her ever faithful people. Seventy-two years ago the people of Ireland were in the enjoyment of legislative independence. For eighteen years the Irish Parliament had been free from the .:;<)., .'..jK^pf-'^y-^.- ••V?i.4.Ir, ^- ..• - , ' —6— - -■'■ /'- obstructive influence of Poynin^' law, and the prosperity of the country astonished the people while it excited the jealousy of Ireland's enemy and rival. That free and inde- pendent Ireland, which, liKe the fabled deity, sprung from the brain of Grrattan, would have, in good time, healed all the social evils which had resulted from the strife of centu- ries. But at the very moment when peace was about to bless our war-worn country, England finished her career of hate and contumely by destroying our national freedom, by taking entire possession of our country and its resources. Through that Act of Union passed in 1800 the English have usurped our sovereign rights, and by force they compel us to submit to laws made by them, either in opposition to, or indifference of, our wishes. Wb have to pay taxes without our own consent ; we have to remunerate officers of Govern- ment appointed by them to rule us without any consultation of our desires ; we have to pay more than our share of the National debt (if we have any share) as O'Neil Daunt has repeatedly shown ; and to ada to the iniquity, we have to pay for the i)12,000,000 expended in robbmg us of our Legis- lature. In fine, by that Act of Union, we have to resign all the dignities and attributes of a free people. We have to resign our rents, revenues, resources in men and material, the income and property of our country to strangers who care not for our welfare and whose first principle towards us is hate. Now, ladies and gentlemen, if, instead of Canada, you were living in a country ruled, in this much vaunted age, in such a manner, would you be a loyal and contented people ? I am satisfied you would not ; and neither are the people in Ireland. The Irish do not possess their country. They only occupy it on sufferance, subject to the whims and caprices of the English Government. These whims and caprices are always inimical to the Irish nation, and therefore it is that the Irish people have resoived to rid themselves of English rule, whims and eaprices altogether. In the Home Rule movemerit now. progressing in Ireland, there is no tendency to do wrong to England. The Irish people do not seek to deprive the English of a single right. We seek not their revenues or their rents. We do not want to make laws for them, or to control them in the slightest degree, but we are positive in our demand that they interfere not with us. All we want is Ireland for the Irish ; and although the Home Rulers do not seek to dismember the Empire, still if England refuses their moderate demands, the Irish people, confed- erated all over the world, may be forced to try other than peaceable means to secure the desired end ; and in the pre* Bent condition of England it is not certain, should such a contingency arise, that she would ngniu succeed in raising the Red over our immortal G-reen. The people of Eng-land seem to be awakening to a sense of their duty now, but hitherto they havfe not been contented to live upon their own resources. They have coveted and appropriated, whenever and wherever they could, (he pro- perties of other peoples. My keeping" Irish monies in their possession, they mannge to draw stifl further tributes from us. They enricL tbemselvos at our heavy loss, and although the soil-produce of England is not suHicient to support twc, thirds of her people, still her population is inereasiui^, while, Ireland, who could support three times her present popula- tion, is losing her- able-bodied peivt^anlry and inirenious mechanics every day. Our resources nud available means of commerce are as great, if not greater in proportion, than England's, yet the ruling country ha^j possession of the trade . of the subject one ; and, with the exception of linen, we have no considerable manufactures. If we examine the relation of Ireland towards England in a money point of view, we fiiid that Ireland loses, at least, jt;20. 000,000 annually, with all that would result from the iitilization ol' that sum. All the developments of trade which would be made, through such a large amount, are lost to Ireland, and are gained by England. ' The consequence of this foreign policy in Ireland is, the com* mercial and industrial decline of the Irish Nation ; and as Ireland has stood that drain for seventy-two years, after a war of nearly seven hundred years, we can form an idea of her natural riches ; and how prosperous she shall be when' the senators of Ireland resume their sittings in the capital of the nation ; when the l>anner of our land .shall wave over our freely elected legislators from the grim towers of Dublin Castle. :'';'^*'''^*t"-yv-^""^''"' ;..,-.■..' .^-:,.» -..••--"' The material effect of English rule in Ireland, is the decline of that country, and the ruin of her people ; but its moral effects are worse when considered by the patriot thinker. Owing to our political subjection there is not a Wealthy development of Irish genius ; the true ^'areer of Irish talent is closed, and by its eftect it forbids the progress of national art, science and literature. The brain of Ireland is scattered over the worj/.T, and while we fill the granaries of strangers our own aie leti without provision. "We endure loss, privation and sorrow thereby : the English secure unrighteous gains, and instead of winning the friendship of a generous race, they earn the hate of a passionate one. •i- ^ V'' Were English rule in Ireland to be properly understood; it could not stand the indignation of the world ; but in addition to their robbery of us, they have built up a system of misrepresentation, peculiarly English, and therefore, pecu- "liarly bad. With Irish money they pay the revilers and calumniators of Ireland. They tell us that our soil is poor when toe know it to be rich. They say we have a thriftless population when large and imposing warehouses, built by enterprising Irishmen in happier lands than their own, prove the contrary. They say that we are the drinking-people, when their own Imperial statistics assure us to the reverse. They lift their eyes in pious horror of the murdering Irislv when in civilized England there were 2,500 murders recorded in 1871, while in Ireland, at the same time, but one or two such crimes occurred. In their opinion our water-power is a nothing, while ud know it is sufficient to move almost all the world's machinery ; and to crown all, they tell us that we have no coal, no material wealth of any kind. Of one thing they cannot (because they dare not attempt to) deprive us — ^they cannot take from us the purity of our women; our mothers, not being Anglo-Saxon fail to murder their ojff- spring, nor can we find females in Ireland who have made laYge fortunes by " baby-farming. " y ; ^ One of the latest, though by no means no^'el tricks which the English have resorted to in order to blacken Ire- land's cause, is the assertion that the majority of the Irish people seek to establish an Ascendancy in Ireland. They would have the world believe that were Ireland released from British rule the majority would retaliate upon a certain class, the wrongs which that class, under, and supported by English influence, inflicted in former years upon the op- pressed majority. That insinuation is false in fact and malicious in design. The Irish people offer the hand of amity to any man who is ready to do justice to Ireland. The Irish know that many of the descendants of those who fought acainst Ireland at the Boyne declared for Ireland by the Kackwater ; and' no matter whether his ancestry be Milesian or otherwise, no matter whether in religious ideas we agree or not, be he a Catholic or Protestant, we care not ; all we want to know of a fellow countryman is that he is possessed of a hearty devotion to his native land. Some years ago, when the Irish were struggling as'they are now to regain their rights, similar falsehoods were circulated by the English press. A young Protestant then expressed the feel- ings of the Irish people on the matter, and the expression of thai time is equally applicable to the present day. ■4 ■ . If. — 9 Whtk iMrtter that at differant tines onr fiithsra won thii wm) ; *t\ What matter that at (Uiferflat shrlnea we prsj to one great Gk>d ; '4« In foitaiiA aad in fame we're bound bj stronger Uaks than steel, , :t JiBd neither can be safe nor sound, sare in toe other's weal. As Nubian mud and Ethiop sand, long drifting down the Nile, Built up old Egypt's fertile land fir many a hundred mile ; So pagan clans to Ireland came, and clans of Christendom, And joined their wisdom and tlxeir fame to build a nation from. \ Here came the brown Phoeniciai', the man of trade and toil ; . , Here came the proud Milesian, a-hungering for spoil ; I And the Firbolg and the Oymiy, and the hard contending Dane, f- - And the Iron lords of Normandy, with the Saxons in their train. . , ,, ' I And oh ! it were a glorious deed, to show before mankind. > How OTery race and every creed may ) e by lore combined— . May be combined, yet not forget the fountain whence they rose, As filled by many a rivulet the stately Shannon flows. ' , -. ., ;»'J. ^he question practically is not whether certain races and sects of Irishmen shall do wrong to other races and sects of Irishmen; but whether an outside people, who tell us that we are aliens to them, shall be allowed by the Irish people to rule them, rob and misrepresent them, to fetter their energies, retard their development, and thus injure the whole Irish people of all creeds and of all descents. The position of Ireland to-day is not one that would indicate the likelihood of religious ascendancy ever a^ain disgracing the country, and were the Catholic majority m Ireland to injure, by a single action, the civil riffhts of my Protestant fellow- countrymen, I protest that 1 would join hands with the minority, and prove to the world that even as I sang the songs of Davis, and revered the ipemory of Tone, so would I defend to the last the civil and religious liberties of my Protestant fellow-citizens. With Davis we say : 'I " And let the Orange lily be thy badge, my patriot brother, The ererlasting Qreen for me, and we for one another. " The efforts of England to maintain bad feeling in this respect will be as unavailing as have been all her former schemes destroy national sentiment in Ireland. ReUgious feuds, aintained at our expense, are dying away. We love and evere the memories of patriotic Protestants who labored to edeem Ireland from bondage. Catholic Meath is represented nd is honored in bein^ so, by John Martin ; and Catholic imerick glories in her knight, Isaac Butt Not better men id Ireland, at any time, produce than those Irish Protest- ts whom the Irish Nationalist proposes as models for itation. Of the patriotic minority in Ireland were Wolfe one, Lord Edward, Grrattan, Curran, Foster, the Shearses, d in every Irish peasant's hut you may see the portrait of obert Emmet. John Mitchell, the noble, incorruptible Mit- iiel , is of that minority, and no man's memory is held in .( I — 10— ■. ^^-f greater respect in Ireland ' than Smith O'Brien'^. This attempt, therefore, to introduce religion as a lever of distur- bance in the consideration of the National question cannot succeed in the present age, and it is a blot upon the past that it ever succeeded. The record, Ladies and gentlemen, of England's rule in. Ireland is an uninterrupted catalague of wrong. View her policy for the last three hundred years ; tear from the very hour in which we live the veil which hides its Mokanna- like hideousness, and you will find that she has spared no effort to destroy or to rob the resources of the Irish people. To this end she made repeated confiscation of the soil, drivinff away or reducing to extreme poverty the natives of the Island. She sent ganisons of Scotch, Germans and Dutch to root us out of the land. Her slaughters of the population have been as many as her years of occupation. In Elizabeth's, virgin Elizabeth's time the country was reduced to a howling wilderness, and under Cromwell the population withered as grass beneath a blighting sun. "When the iniquity of 1800 was proposed she improvised a revolution, and the best blood of Ireland crimsoned the hill-tops in '98. From 180O back to 1169, and from thence till now, crime darkens the very name of England in Ireland. English apologists, like Goldwin Smith, may say " oh that is all past ; we English- men of this day can't be held responsible. " Out upon such nonsense, away with such sophistrv. The feelings of Ireland's foreign rulers arc unchanged, and Mr. Smith knows it. Let the truth be told without fear or favor, and we will see that if the massacre on Kildare green in '98 rivalled the murder of the Chiefs at Mullaghmast, so did the man-created, British-helped famine of 1847, under the reign of Victoria, equal the famine which, under Elizabeth, prevailed in 1599. One who ought to know, Mr D'Israeli, asserted that the present Sovereign of England takes an active part in the government of her oomi- nions. How far the statement of the " descendant of the impenitent thief "may be accepted I know not. But thik much I do know. That if the Lady whose virtues have been proclaimed in every tone from the bass to the treble takes an active part in the government, then I blush for female cle- mency, I blush for womamly mercy, I blush for womanly tenderness. Emmet, Tone and Fitzgerald are ot the past ; the martyrs who lately went from their prison to a brighter world are of the present. Are we to turn in loathing from Elizabeth's torture-room and look on complacently while, un- der Victoria, Rosoa is flogged and nameless tortures are in- flicted upon Daniel Re Idin. No. England's bad career is not , ^ —11 — of the past, and it is because I desire to be just, because I wish to believe as highly of England's present Queen m any man in this Dominion, that I hope her Majesty does not hike that tiye part in public affairs which, if she did, would place 51 in the list of sovereigns whose sweetest music is the groan of their outraged subjects England in the past has made good use ol the scaffold and dungeon to mantain her supremacy in Irela'* d. To-day shti disdains not the use of the same means to keep Ireland in subjection. In addition to brute force she employed in thi past and still employs strategy and wiles. Her policy in Ireland ha» been Machiayelian,and her government there well unites the character of the lion and the fox. The latter particularly. Still all her arts and oppressions have failed. She has failed to corrupt, failed to enslave, failed to brutalize, failed to Saxonize, because t ^ery-where and at all times the spirit of the Irish manifests itself, a spirit which longs for liberty, 'which is venerable in age and holy in justice, consecrated by repeated martyrdoms and preserved by a thousand memories which, in love, sorrow and hope, have no paiallel in the records of nation. One of the most galling features of ]!]nglish rulo in Ireland is that her tyranny is perpetrated there under the semblance of free institutious. Men, like Groldv/iu Smith, tell the world that the same laws operate in Ireland as in England. We are told we live beneath the blessed protection of the English Constitution, and that England sinc(?rely desires to remedy past abuses. All this is aside from the question. We do not want English remedial measures. But we demand the restoration of our national existance. We are very sceptical upon the point of their sincerity in wishing to remedy the evils which their past, their long, black and jbitter past, inflicted upon the Irish nation. But even taking 'it for granted that such is England's Ministers' sincere desire fWe deny their power, their ability to remedy our crrie vances. ' Every bill which they introduce is, the worl(t is told, to remove an Irish grievance. The Treason-felony bill was in- I troduced, doubtless, to remedy an Irish grievance. Certain i people in Ireland were very troublesome to the Eno^lish |Govornment. These persons thought that Ireland ought to ■be free. Their thinking so was such a grievanc that the En-j ojglish parliamant passed this Treason-felony bill, so that the- [brand of felon would be imprinted upon the name of him I who dared in the 19th century to proclaim the rights and [ denounce the wrongs of Ireland. How far that brand of . felon is to be taken as a mark of disgrace can best be judged irom the fact that those so branded bf Boffland are hoiK^^d' by loverg of liberty everywhere. i??a * lo f:<\ ot The Coercion Bills are introduced to remedy gfrievanced.* It is a OTievance for an Irish peasant to leave his cabin after adghtfall, and so it was necessary that he should be learned 4he maxim that '' early to bed " was best calculated to make him a loyal subject. The Bill to suspend the Hat>ea8 Corpus was to remedy Irish grievances by emj)owering any common jK>]iceman to take a man from his family and lock him up during that very indefinable period, — ^her Majesty's pleasure. Ail these acts aie proposed and kept in operation so that Irish grievances sball be removed, and the Irish are a most u.' grateful people, if they do not take hold of their foreign benefactors, clasp them to their bosoms and hug them — like bears — thiggin th u. I confess that I had to smile when I read G-oldwin Smith's allusion to the *' fatal potatoe. " If this esculent was fatal to Ireland, why, lik6 all our other grievan- C9g, we got it from England. Sir Walter Raleigh, the quondam lover and afterwards me victim of the mrgiu Queen, first introduced the potaloe into Ireland. Mr. Smith, in his late' lecture, says the Englishman of the present day has nothing to do with the actions of his fathers. Why then bring the potatoe into the present discussion unless the past bears a powerful impress upon the present. Mr, Smith spoke very highly of William Pitt. I do not deny Mr. Smith's right to think highly of any man. He is welcome to think as highly of Pitt as Mr. Froude is to worship the wife-killing Henry YIII. The Act of Union was proposed by this hero of the Professor's as a remedial measure for Ireland. The arch-min- ister of England said to the Irish people, " You have pros- pered under a native parliament. Accept a foreign parliament and your prosperitv will amaze. Incorporate the countries, and you incorporate their interests * ^^ * * Consoli- date the exchequers and in the periods of distress which' await all nations you will experience the munificence of the ' Empire ^ # * * You will accompany us in ottr march and the States that will bend in recognition of our power will admire your wisdom, and be dazzled with your wealth. " Such, my friends, was the statement made by Mr*f Pitt. Were the interests of the country rendered identical by the measure of Mr. Smith's hero ? No. Have we accompanied England in her march to greatness ? Yes ; but it was as slaves we marched with her, adding to her glory in the depth of our debasement. In the consolidation of the exchequers did we, when we needed it, experience the munificence of the empire. No ! Need I offer, or do my statements require, — 18 pfoof. Oh ! ladies and gentlemen, fellow*countrj[men s^ad vwomen, to you I need not adduce proof, but this a hard reaUstic age, and 1 ask you to bear with me if, to satisfy those who are not of our race, I bring forward proofs. Open the public accounts and the statute book of Englauc, and there you will find that I am sheltered in my assertiona behind an impregnable wall of facts. At the time of the Union the Irish debt amounted to .£25,293,679. In 1801 the Irish funded debt was ju27,793,976. Q^reat Britain's debt was X48S,205,928. It was provided at the time, that all debts oontracted previously should be separately defrayed, and ^ai for twenty years after the contrioutions of Ireland and 0reat Britain should be in the proportion of 2 to 16, towards ^he expenditure of the United Kingdom. It was also agreed that all debts contracted afterwards should be jointly borne iti the same proportion. This arrangement might have worked well, but a proviso w'as put in by Castlereagh, which was to the effect that if Ireland's debt ever rose to one-seventh of Bngland's, then both would be united and each pay share and share alike. Now it must be remembered that in 1793, the National debt of Ireland did not amount to 4)3,000,000. 5ov/, it may be asked, did Ireland's debt iacrease from 1793 tp 1801, a term of less than eight years, almost i)2o.000,000 of money. It increased, my friends, to such an alarmiag £&tent because in order to carry the Union England poured 26,000 soldiers into Ireland to provoke a revolution by their utrages, and Ireland had to pay for every man of them. It. ncreased, because the owner of every rotten pocket-borough was paid by England's order out of Ireland's purse to carry the Union. It increased because all the expense of murdering the Irish in '98 who were driven into rebellion w^as charged to Ireland. In a period of 16 years after the Union England's debt was nearly doubled owing to the efforts made by JSn^land to subdue gallant France. To beat that France, the nation which, according to Mr. Smith, *'has always shown signs of inherent weakness, " England had to subsidize the armies of all the nations in Europe. In the same period, owing to the Bnglish system of book-keeping, Ireland's debt was quadrupled. The object was to increase the weaker nation's debt until it would come within the provisions of t/astlereagh's agreement. And thus, my friends, in the year 1817, they effected the consolidation of the exchequers^ making Ireland, poor and outraged Ireland, pay interest on he debt contracted by England prior to the Union. Mr. >mith says that Englishmen of to-day are not responsible for nything except from the year of Catholic Emancipation. The passage of the Emancipation Bill oecnrred in 1829. ThA year 1848 is, Mr. Smith will no doabt ffracionsly admit, later than 1829. la that year the funded debt of the United King- dom was ^6774, 869,379. Taking the increase of the debt from the time of the Union as <£286, 668,466, and the proportion of Ireland's debt wonH be dB33,723,936. Add the debt which existed at the time of the Union and you will have £61,616,- 911. The interest on this sum would be £2,163,091. Notwith- standing this in an account published in 1863 we find that Ireland is charged with iJ4,17o,458. For all this financial robbery William Pitt is directly responsible, and Pitt, is Mr. Smith's hero, was, according to the t*rofe8sor, a patriot English statesman. The Professor, carried away by an excess of bigotry, declares that the Catholic Church being "opposed to science " is responsible more than England for the lack of civilization and intelligence in Ireland. He adds, as reported in the Gtohe, " The (Joverument of England had always been looking for Koman Catholic men of science but had failed to find them. " While denying this latter assertion in general terms, I call for proofs of his assertion. Upon another occasion and throngh another medium I shall deal with this portion of the Professor's collection of aberrations on the Irish Question. But how, 1 ask, can any man come upon a public platform, and say the English Grovernment was not responsible for the limit of education in Ireland? How can any man say the Catholic Church in Ireland has been and is at fault in this matter ? Did the English Grovernment forbid the erection or endowment of Catholic colleges and schools ? Did the English Government forbid the education of any Catholic unless he conformed to, and attended, Protestant worship ? Did the English Government forbid, under pain of transportation or death, any teacher imparting the know- ledge he possessed to Irish chihlren? Does the English Government stillrefuse to do justice to the overwhelming Catholic majority in Ireland in this matter of education 4' The statu! book of England proclaims the fact that England is directly responsible for the want of educational progress in Ireland, and the Professor must have imagined that the bigotry of his audience would blind their eyes to the truths as under the presidency of a gentleman who styles himself % minister of the God of Truth, he, Mr. Smith, denied the re- sponsabilityof the English Government and falsely charged the Catholic Church in Ireland with fettering the educational advance of the people. Open the Statute book of £')gland and the records of the times and there see if the glowing promises of Pitt have -t6- not been falsmed. FronUhat Stafute book and from iiiose lecords I read ajuatification of Ireland's irreconcilability and an unanswerable proof of the folly of those who would loot to an alien legislature for justice. In 1801 they imposed an Itisurreotion Act. In 1803 tney immolated Emmet upon the scaffold, and with the blood which had escaped the doga in Thomas street they wrote a discree of martial law for the countrv. In 180 T they renewed the Insurrection Act, keeping it in force until 1824, while in 1819 the wails of a famine stricken peasantry called to Heaven for vengeance. In 1829, while under the fear of civil war, they granted Emancipation but at the same time they disfranchised the forty bhilling Ireeholders. This latter act led to a stoppage of leases and thereby to evictions. In 1836 they told us we were aliens in language, blood, and religion. In 1839 we claimed equal franchise, and the liberal (?) Whigs refused us, although it was the balance of power held by the Irish-members of rar- liament that won the Reform Bill for the English people. In 1843 the English minister declared that concession had reached its limit, and O'Connell was indicted. In 1844, trial by jary in Ireland was, in the language of England's law- lords, made a mockery, a delusion and a snare, and the people's Tribune slept in a prison. In 1846 they passed a t'oercioa Bill. In 1847, — oh God how the Irish heart bleeds when that year is mentioned. In that fatal year our people died hj the waysides and the putrid bodies of mens women and children gave forth pestilential gases to show the nations that with Enffland we were on the march ! " In those periods of distress which await all nations you will experience the munificence of the Empire,' said Pitt. What was the munifi- eence of the Empire then ? They first sent over a man to experiment on making soup, and when driven by a world's horror they sent a moity to relieve the slarvingpeople.it was maintly given to white-chokered hypocrites for distribu- tion, to people who would callously allow the hungry victim to die, unless, preferring earth to Heaven, the child of St. Patrick was ready to abjure his God. In 1848 our young chiefs, men whose genius in a free land won Id have fructified a hundred told ; men whose genius would have rendered them the leaders in science, art, statesmanship, oratory, authorship in any country blessed with freedom, these men were doomed to the scaffold, and English felon ships carried from Ireland V^her brains, power, eloquence and worth. From 1849 to 1869 * we endured an exodus which would kill the energies of any people save t66 Irish. During that sorrowful decade, those '■ people who according to Mr. Smith, are only responsible — 16 — ehice 1829, gloated over Ireland's mist'ortunes. They cried •' That the Celts were gone with a vengeance. " The T»ct««, England's foremost journal, in self-satisfaetion, exclaimed, that " in short time a Catholic Celt will bo as rire in Ireland as a Red Indian on the shores of Manhattan." Spen- ser, even Spender, in the 16th century, turned in horror from the picture of Ireland's dedolation. But iu the 19th cen- tury, during the period of English responsibility according to the Professor, the Saturday Review exultingly declared tnat "silence reigns over the vast solitude of Ireland." Then v\^e were favored with another batch ol state trials. In 1860 the poor of Connaught starved. In 1865 they destroyed the liberty of the press, and from that year until 1867 hundreds of faithtiil Irishmen were immured in dungeons. I have said that in former years England used the scaffold tor political purposes, and that she was not wanting at the present time in readi- ness to resort to the same means. But live years have passed since that sorrowful truth received a bloody affirmation. In the cold land of the stranger, on a drear November morning in 1867, three gallant souls went away to the spirit land. Hundreds of English bayonets surrounded them. One was fti the flower of youth, another was in the bloom of manhood, and a loving wife and dear children were wont to greet the third. Upon the scaffold they stood, with Eternity before them, and Time fleeing like the passing ol a dream. They turned their eyes west- ward, and through the misty shad- ows they saw their mother Erin watching them. And then, with a prayer for the dear old home, flowing like a stream of freedom from their lips, they fell from England's gibbet. The coarse English multitude yelled ; English thirst for blood was momentarily satisfied. In the crisp air of the wintry morning, the bodies of the Irish martyrs swayed to and fro. But England did not see what Ireland then saw. The rude multitude heard not then what Ireland heard. England did not see the angels of Fr< edom's God bearing the souls ot the Martvred Three to Heaven ! The English multitude heard not tlie seraphic choirs singing their prayer, " God save Ire- land." Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I have asserted that England's government in Ireland is not a legitimate one. Does this record, not gleaned from doubtful history, but rather a panorama of facts which has passed before the eyes of this generation, fail to prove my assertion. I trow not. A Government to be legitimate must be just, must be one administered in the best interests of a people, must be one which excites the love and regard of a people. English rule I — 17 — in Ireland ifi not just ; it is not administered in the best in- teteets of the country, '•nd instead of love and regard, it receives, as it merits, the hatred and contempt ol the Irish people. Have we prospered as Mr. Pitt predicted ? History answt^i*' no. Have wo with a consolidated exchequer eipe- rieiice ^ " the muiiificence of the Empire." 1847 answers no. Scull and Skibbereeii say no. The emigrant ships say no ! The bones which track the exodus from Ireland and which blanch beneath the Atlantic say no ! The fevor-sheds and grave-pits at G-rosse isle say no ♦ The orplans of '47 thrown parentless upon a strange? shore say no ! The poor woman, once the mistress of a goodly farm, but who now subsists by peddling apples at the street-corners, says no ! The badiy- employed mechanic in Ireland says no ! The exile answp-rs with a heart-spoken no ! We have not prospered. The mines of wealth which our country possesses have not been deve- loped. Oar coal-beds are closed ; our fisheries are frowned upon ; and so far no State has bent in recognition of c ar power, admiring our wisdom and envjiiig our wealth ! When disposed to bo facetious, the English call us tlieir Irish fellow-citizens. Wo are not and never can become their fellow-citizens. In Ireland the people cannot carry arms ; and a policeman can arrest whom he pleases. In Enghnd the subject is not unarmed and at arbitrary police dispovsai. In Ireland the Lord Lieutenant can suppress any newspaper after w rning. In England the press is free, and oven gross- personal attacks upon the Sovereign and royal family are allowed. In Ireland several of the counties are under the Peace Preservation Act. In England the right of Habeas Corpus 16 respected. In Ireland men are sent to prison without any specific charge ; and some of the English jour- nalists have recommended the abolition of trial by jury m Ireland altogether. In England every man when charged with an offence is brought before his peers. In Ireland where the vast majority of the people profess one faith, full and equal religious rights arc not accorded them ; and although the London Speclator says that ail creeds are equal before the law, still the regular clergy in Ireland exist only at the plea- sure, of the G-overnment. Their presence there in fact is not presumed, is not legal ; and their propertv, if they possess any, can be confiscated at any moment. This, ladies and gen- tlemen, is my impeachment of the British Government in Ireland. I have not given my individual opinion. I have but stated stubborn facts ; upon them I rely, for like the oak they can brave the storm and stand, though the howling winds of hate and prejudice may rage around. • ' •■''•■.' . — 18— . In bringing before your notice these facte 1 am not ac- tuated by a desire to stir np bad blood. But the question of Ireland is assuming a world-wide feature. It is no longer confined to the agitator's room or the conspirator's garret. Ireland is England's weakness. The statesmen of the world know it, and men like Froudc and Goldwin iSmith, the apo- logists oi England, know it too. There was once a great man in Ireland who did not labor to dismember the Empire ; but lie wish to sec his country in possession of at least her native * parliament. That man was Daniel O'ConncU. And he it was who said " There was never a crime of any kind committed Anywhere that was not exceeded in the conduct of the English Government towards Ireland. ' Another .great man, Dean fewift said, " The cause of a kingdom's. thriving is her being governed only by laws made with her own consent ; ibr otherwise her people are not free. And therefore all appeals for justice, or application for favor or preferment, to Another country, are so many grievous impoverishments " Heavy indeed are the impoverishments that Ireland suffers irom. Her best talent can only find remuneration in foreign lands; and the talent that would change this state of affairs, is by England, either hanged or banished if true, or purchased, for based ends, if purchaseable. The right of Ireland to national life is unquestionable. England's states- anen have repeatedly declared that every people have a right to choose the form of government which they deem best. The most moderate of Ireland's national demands is the right to make its laws, and possess the same rights as Canadians. Acts and arrangements which occurred in the reigns of Henry II, Henry III, Henry IV, and other English Sove- reigns prove how ancient is what is called the prescriptive right of Ireland to parliamentary rights. Of that parliament the Irish people were deprived by base means. 1 heir leading lawyers, headed by none other than Attorney-General 8aurin, have declared the act of union to be illegal. The millions of the Irish race have protested yearly against it. Therefore i Jiold that whether we accept the principle laid down by Eng- lish statesmen, namely, the right of a people to choose their 4jwn form of government, or view the question through the spe- culum of prescriptive right, there is established such a claim that ancient or modern history fails to show another which ideraands such attention, and which in itself contains so many elements of right. It is idle to disguise the fact that with nothing less than Legislative Independence will the Irish people be satis- JBea. Goldwin Smith admits that comprehensive land- ' — 19 — . , .'■ ■ •"{. laws and the Disestablishment Bill were regarded as rero- Intionary by many Englishmen. So was every measure, which wl;iether it was ameliorative or not, matters little, but which as an amelioration was proposed. Each measure, of a so- called ameliorative character was said to be the last concession, and to be the panacea forall Ireland's grievances. Yet Eng- land has been forced, I used the word forced advisedly, to give up, one after another, of her many clutches upon the Irish people. Englishmen who term themselves "liberal" told us that the Disestablifehment Act would settle all our woes ; and that we would be foolish to continue an agitation for anything more. Their high notion of that Act, and their impertinence in calling us foolish because we look for more, remind me of a story I once heard in Ireland. A fool was travelling on a country road, and looking over a fence near a farm house he saw a goose egg. Being larger than the eggs he generally saw he deemed it quite a prize worth securing. He sprang across the fence, tooK the egg and getting into a convenient hiding place ho proceeded to swallow it. Now he was not awave that the egg had nearly been hatched. How- ever be put it in his mouth, which was very large, and just as he had it n* arly down, the little gosling within gave forth " queak queak," but finishing it, the fool exclaimed ; " it is all up with you, you're too late." And the remedial measures of liberal, so-called liberal Englishmen are too late, because they were never early. The Irish people are not prepared to rest satisfied, foolish though they niny be termed, until from every hill and crag floats their national banner, that banner which conquered with Brian at Ciontarf, and which trembled in the effulgence of glory upon the ensanguined field of Fon- tenoy. We want not to injure a single hair of an Englishman's head. It is with the Government, not the people, we war. We are not only willing but anxious to be good friends and neighbors of the English people ; but we shail not submit to be their subjects,, Ceiituried experience has shown the futility of expecting that the two (separate and distinct peoples can ever amalgama e. The same experience teaches that there can never be peace until the Irish people stand free and in- dependent, upon a footing Cjual to the English people. And those who pretend to the contrary prove themselves the merest tyroes that ever rendered foolish the stage of public aflFairs. Have we the Irish people, have we, then after declaring, after showing our fixed resolve, have we, I ask, the energies, the means to end this centuried dispute, to redeem our coun- trj ? I answer we hare. Ireland has clung to her traditions of national greatness, to her hopes of future national glory at worse times than the present. When her cause was to all ap- pearance hopeless, she still retained hope ; and now that the clouds are breaking, now when the first beams, dim though they be, of Freedom's sunlight are obscuring the star of Eng- lish rule in Ireland, we must go to a happjr and successful termination. Our forces are increasing while those of oar opponents are diminishing. The people in Ireland are alive to the greatness,of their mission, to the grandeurjof their destiny. They are alive in the United States, where, thanks to God, faction is disappearing. In Australia a new roice calls upon the Irish, there enjoying legislative independance, to give their meed towards the national struggle ; and confident am I that here in Canada, where we also enjoy the blessings of Home Rule, wo shall add our blast to the chorus ot freedom's clarions. But apart from ourselves, we look to England and there we see an awakening which astonishes us. A demand for greater liberty is heard there which touches us to the quick. The millions, the toiling millions are aroused, and from a thousand throats is heaid the cry that the Executive and legis- lators are not the masters but the servants of the State. Ail orer the world the masses are arising, and in the very citadels of despotism is proclaimed the glorious truth that " The People is King " America was appealed to by an apologist for England, and America, through her press, and by the mouth of Wendell Philips, has given her verdict for Ireland. I ask of those who themselves possess legislative rights in Canade to give a similar verdict. I ask it, because although I deny the right of either the United States or Canada to assume the position of arbiters in the question, still I know that the moral sympathy of either or both will go far in bringing about a solution ol the difficulty. I deny what seems to be a prevailing notion amongst a large portion of the citizens oi^ this Dominion, that to be loyal to England you must hate, and refuse all justice to Ireland. That •' the subject who is truly loyal to the Chief Magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures" is a received maxim. And I hold, that the subject who is truly loyal in one portion of the Empire, will protest against the infliction of arbitrary measures upon the people of another portion. More than that, I hold that the subject who is truly loyal, will hasten to advise the Chief Magistrate to remove the grievances of, and prevent the infliction of arbritiary measures upon, a people; who are, whether fortu- Ofitel^ or not let others say within the area of the firitiah Empire. As for us, Irishmen, I believe that we shoall avail our- selvea of all the opportunities which may arise, and argument and organization are the methods by which in this Domi- nion wc may render service to the land of our birth, or of our fathers. One organized argument is worth a hundred disunited efforts. I may be asked in what manner ought the friends of Irish freedom to organise and manifest their friend- ship. That question is a dimcult one to answer, but still I believe that the difficulty is not insuperable. Organize in Temperance socities for instance, because the higher you carry the standard of Irish morality abroad the more likely are you to win good opinions lor your cause at home. Or- £anize in Benevolent Societies, in National ISocieties, in literary and Debating Clubs. Your Benevolent Societies can help a suffering brother, bridge him over his difficulties, and .aereby enable him in independence to be of practical use to his country and fellow-country men. Your National Societies should contain every Irish citizen, because they are them- selves an affirmation of the idea that Ireland is a nation. Your Literary and Debating Clubs should be encouraged, because therein the talent of your sons shall be developed, knowledge diffused, and " knowledge is power. " In fine I hold that it is the duty of every Irishman to keep out of power, as far as in him lies, the man who is an enemy of Ireland. These are a few of the means by \/hich the Irish in Canada can render help to the Mother country. Without hostile feelings to our neighbors we can do this, and do it openly, for our cause, being just, needs not the refuge of Dark-lanterns. In this way we may be of essential service to dear old Ireland. You have had now all that I think necessary to advance in justification of Ireland and in explanation of her position. I seek not the style of the enthusiast, nor do I build phan- tom castles which as they arise before me, are as suddenly annihilated. But I have faith in my country's regeneration ; and I trust to time and better feeling for that merciful obli- vion which shall cause the Irish and English peoples to be friends. Still nothing shall come from us. Restitution is due to Ireland, and it is the same to us whether within or "without the British Oonstiitiou we receive it. Restitution we shall have or j'lstice lives not ; and to hasten its accomplish- ment is the duty of the Irish all over the world. Shame upon us, Irishmen in Canada, if we hold our hands from the plough. Shall we alone of all Ireland's sons not aspire to be V 4 — 22 — the children of a free nation ! Shall we resign the immortal privileges of freemen and look with cheeks not tinged with shame upon our country a-begging at every gate ? Shall we with material enough to feast rich as Dives be contented with the crumbs which fall from the world's table, and die to be clasped — our poverty and debasement together — not in the bosom of the Israelite but to be smitten by the hand of the Ishmaelite ? Shall we kiss the hand that strikes, honor the chain that binds, glory in our servitude, and thank Pro- vidence for our misfortunes ? The spirits of the heroic dead await your answer ; shall it be loyal and slavish, legal and corrupt or shall Sedition breathe its fire upon every sentence ennobhng the Truth even as it consumes it No, such will not be the answer. Ireland, thou askest the question of Irishmen in Canada ! I shall answer for them. We will not be ingrates to thee ! We shall aspire to be children of a free nation, and the immortal privileges of freemen we shall conserve ! The hand that strikes thee shall not be kissed by us ; the chain that binds thee shall not be honored by us ; your servitude will not be our flory. Fellow-countrymen, is not that your answer, or do interpret aright your wishes ? Yes, Not in loyal and slavish, legal and corrupt fears ; not in wild schemes or reckless efforts, but with manliness and prudence, bound together by bonds of brotherly love, we shall march as our motherland advances : faithful to our adopted country, true unto tho old ; faithful to the old love, not resigning it for the new ! And for my native land I see a future bright and happy. I Ree the joy when the banned Green shall wave over Ireland's senate, and I hear the cheers as in gladsome array the exiles return and defile before the monument of Grrattan's genius to be welcomed home by the first minister of the Irish Nation I hear the booming cannon announcing Ireland's resurrection. I see haj^piness diffused abroad ; trade and commerce pour- ing in upon her people. I see the sanctuaries crowded as the Ministers of Grod, with swelling chorus, chant hymus of thanksgiving ! I see Ireland's ships upon the ocean bearing to foreign lands the riches of her soil and looms. The rippling streams sing to me of freedom and the choristers of the grove make merry as all nature proclaims that Ireland is free. The breezes through our tall trees sound upon my ear as the sweet- nesses of a thousand harps ! I hail this Ireland of the future ! Not the Ireland of tears, but the Ireland of joy ! Not the Ire- land with a dreary catalogue of blood and wrong, but the Ireland of peace, happiness and contentment ! I hail this Ire- land, and as the nations greet her, their long-lost but restored — 23 — sister, as they welcome her, saying " Esto per pel ua. " I ex* claim, •' Thou art all beautiful, thou art now my country. ' what the poet has sung of thee, what the patriot has hoped for thee, what I have picLurcd thee in my dreams. ERIN SLA.NTHAGA1. GO BRAGH. »i,.. '-;,^'^-i^N'7 '.-.■J 't: ■'■'■:<■/'■• ■,l"r. ■■'•'■■^•--^; I - m^mWw^ ' ■" ,.■■■' ■■■ ■■"■■■ ,'■ ■ * ■ -' "' ■' . "?■■■; I. - J ... ; _ ;:v,i pf«^ * i;- ■ ;>'V:s*, , -!^ir.i.:-..»>,.....„. i»l •■■;Ti!'i^,{- d^,j . ij y^i' -'\■■ * ' ;■ ,• ■ ..V THE RED HAND OF ULSTER. OB HUGH O'NEILL'S LIFE AND STRUGGLES. {DcliTcred in the St. Patrick's Catholic and Literary Institute, Quebec, D«c. ItTl.) LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, A nation's character is written in the public acts of its prominent men. A nation's history is an epitome of their deeds ; and be they good or be they evil they are stamped indelibly npon its record and are in an undying manner associated with its name. If the nation reposes beneath the blessed influences of good, true liberty the names of her sons most eminent for deeds of statesmanship, virtue, art, the development of commerce, the advancement of systems which shall confer, or which may tend to confer, the greatest good upon the greatest number form a sun to heat its growing powers, and by the light of their genius they become the guides of the people at large. If at any time the nation has been in the gloom oi oppression, in the darkness of bondage, such of her children as dared to raise aloft the banner of freedom, as dared to mark out for themselves the path of. regenerators become the prophets of their compatriots ; and whether they succeed in their glorious task or are doomed in their own persons to bear in a tenfold degree the woes and sorrow of their country, still in victory or in defeat are they dearly remembered. The name of Tell associates to us ideas of Switzerland ; the Tyrol is immorta- lized in Hofer ; England honors her Alfreds, her Edwards, her Richards, and wherever her flag floats there linger the 'me- mories of her Drake, her Nelson. Peter connects us with Russia; Ferdinand binds us to Spain and while Charlemagne recalls the olden glories of France the deeds of her Napjleon ■"'■■■■ '.-2S- ' .,■ '■ laTC made their impress upon modern timels. In the vanishM rears, which seem to us now as mere scratches upon the sandiS ii time, there comes before us a panorama of names linking IS to the various fatherlands which claim their origin. Solon, iycurgus, Demosthenes and Alexander tell us of Grreece in ler palmy days. Regulus, Cicero, Cato and Cesar remind us [of the hour when the eagles of Rome flew in the pride of 'triumph and majesty of power over the then known world ; when Paganism had reached the zenith of its supremacy ; when Passion was sun^ by Anacreon and Thought found its poetic expression in Virgil. The story of modern Rome is told in the lives of the Pontiffs and the very essence of Ame- rican freedom lives in the acts of "Washington, Franklin and Henry. Ireland too is bound to us by ties of name. She also has been a prolific mother of great men. In the record of war she tells of her Brian and Sarslield In the annals of literature she points to Scotus Erigena, Virgilius, Prout and Carleton. Her sighs she sweetly expresses in Moore and man- fully gives utterance to her hopes in Davis. Her fragile form she drapes with the eloquence of O'Connell, Curran and Sheil.' Her longings wila and passionate for liberty find exponents in Fitzgerald, Tone, Emmet and Mitchell ; and with all the unreserved passion of a fond mistress for a devoted lover, she embraces the name and fame of him who loved her as almost none other loved ; her faithful knight, whose magical recital of her wrongs made even her oppres- sors weep, the while, they oprecated the hour, when first started athwart the political horizon of Ireland, the brilliant meteoric genius of the brave, the genial, the gifted but unfortunate Thomas Francis \^leagher. And there is one whose name is deeply engraven upon her heart ; one whoso woof of life was spun by Fate and by it destined to be inter- woven in the thread which binds us, Irishmen of to day, with our people of the past. He was of a kindly race ; noble in deportment and in action ; chivalric with the chivalry of a Bayard ; one reared in the stranger's court and destined by the foreigner to be of the false whose path to lame would ba directed by the lurid lights of treason to Heaven and to Country : one taught by Saxon intriguers all of the v'ileuess of Saxon intrigue so that when manhood would dawn upon him, versed in treachery, nurtured in fraud and developed in apostacy he might become a thorn wherewith to prick to death his already suffering country, and add to her many woes the anguish of beholding a degenerate scion of the Ilea Right Hand. It is of this child of the Northern hills I have come here to speak : it is of this son of Ulster I will tell and .,'■"■- ''^:' rV ^ -26--' ' . ,.,, '. . if in the telling anger mingles with regret and honest pride in a manly past rebukes present degradation, do not forget that by the failure of his efforts untold woes fell upon our unhappy country ; that in his fall was consummated the triumph of wrong, the defeat of right, the supremacy of foreign guile and the sad, too sad, spectacle of a nation fight- ing for land and life, for freedom of conscience, for " happy homes and altars free " bereft of her then last hope and co* signed to centuries of gloom, ages of despair, poverty and ignorance. Not to evoke, even if I could, bitter memories do I approach this task. We cannot recall the past of Ireland. It is written too plainly in letters of blood ; and our only duty at present is to speak the truth as we find it in the hope that we may derive suitable lessons irom the bloody catechism of the past, lessons of practical benefit to our country and race. It is not requisite that we should tell in detail the state of Ireland prior to the reign of Henry VIII, so that a compre- hensive understanding of Ireland's and O'Neill's position may be arrived at. More than 200 years had been gathered into the domain of eternity since Edward Bruce aiding the Northern Irish had destroyed every vestige of foreign rule in Ulster. The few Anglo-Norman families which had remained had intermarried with the Irish, wore coolun and cronmeal, submitted to Brehon laws and were to all intents and pur- poses Irish. Still the Palewilh all its anomalies remained, and acts were passed in Dublin and Kilkenny forbidding friendlr interco'^rse with the Irish enemy. In the Irish country sucn acts wt ;e of little avail, but a new element was then to be introduced into Ireland. Although the power of England did not then obtain generally in Ireland still she was not a nation as of old. No national council like the Feas Tamra made laws for Ireland. The link or rather the crowning of the Irish edifice in the person of the Ard-Righ was wanting to concen- trate the powers of the people. Frequently Anglo-Irish chiefs formed alliances with native chieftains against the English. Often, too often Irish chiefs took sides with him who ought to have been regarded as the common enemy, and so when the wave of the Reformation swept over Europe, and was embraced by !!■ nry in his lusts of women and power no common front was j^rosented by the chiefs of Ireland, and it entered to divide and crippl« the energies of all, directed in its bloody course by an unscrupulous King and his unscru- pulous ministers. In 1545 Henry had himself declared King ©f Ireland by the Parliament of the Pale, and in the same year, an O'Neil — The O'Neill — submitted himself as a l-f ■ ' — 27- ■/ iegeman to England's King, renounced the royal title of "'Neill, •• in comparison of which, says Camden, the very itle of Cesar is contemptible in Ireland, " took upon himself " e title of Earl of Tyrone, was adorned by Henry with a old chain, was styled by him his "beloved cousin" and teturned to Ireland " richly plated. " Then it was that there appeared in Greenwich one Matthew O'Neill, son of Con, who w^as greeted in English halls as the Baron of Dangannon,r a style which he lived to rue, and this Matthew was father to the Grreat Hugh whose name is a shibboleth in Ireland, and whose deeds for Erin are engraven upon every true Irish heart. Notwithstanding the assumption of Saxon titles by " ■ ■ — 33 -— .- ' ' *■' • > once more was besieged by the Irisk troops. Norreys with his whole force was in lull march to relieve it ; and O'Neill, who had hitherto avoided pitched battles, and contented him- self with harassing the enemy by continnal skirmishes in their march through the woods and bogs, now resolved to meet this rgdoubtablo general fairly in the open field. He chose his ground at Clontibret about live miles from Monaghan where a small stream runs northward through a vally en- closed by low hills. On the left bank of this stream the Irish in battle array awaited the approach of Norreys. We have no account of the numbers on each side. But when the English general came up, he thought himself strong enough to force a passage. Twice the English infantry tried to make good their way over the river, and twice were beaten back, their gallant leader each time charging at their head and being the last to retire. The general and his brother, kSir Thomas, were both wounded in these conflicts, and the Irish counted the victory won when a chosen body of English horse, led on by Segrave, a Meathian otiicer, of gigantic bone and height spurred fiercely across the river and charged the cavalry of Tyrowen commanded by their prince in person. Segrave singled out O'Neill, and tlie two leaders laid lance in rest for deadly combat, while the troops on each side lowered their weapons and held their breath awaiting the shock in silence. The warriors met and the lance of each was splintered on the other's corselet, but Segrave again dashed his horse against the chief, flung his giant frame upon his enemy and endea- vored to unhorse him by the mere weight of his gauntletted hand. O'Neill grasped him in his arms, and the combatants rolled together in that fatal embrace to the ground : — f ' " Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own -^ ^' •',■■; .^ ■ '• No mBidea's armg are round thee thrown. " . > There was one moment's deadly wrestle and a death-grown ; the shortened sword of O'Neill was buried in the English- man's groin beneath his mail. Then from the Irish raniis arose su(h a wild shout of triumph as those hills had never echoed before ; — the still thunder-cloud burst into a tem- pest — those equestrian statues become as winged demons, and with their battle cry of Lamh-dearg-aboo, and their long lances poised in eastern fashion, above their heads, down swept the chivalry of Tyrowen upon the astonished ranks of the Saxon. The banner of St. Greorge wavered and went down before that furious charge. The English turned their bridle-reins and fled headlong over the stream, leaving the field covered with their dead, and worse than all, leaving with the Irish — n:l — that proud rcd-r.robs bnuui^r, tJic lirhi of its disi^raccs in tli08« Olster wars. Norrey.s huKlily retre«toreroga(ives of Royalty, issued commissions, conferred titles and *' omitted no means of streni^thoning the league. " He renewed his iutorcourse with Spain, \danted, permanently, bodies of troops on the Foyle, Erne and Blackwater ; engaged the ser- vices of some additional Scots from the Western ^Isles, improved the discipline of his own troops and on every side made preparations to renew the conflict with his pow^erful enemy, for he well knew that Elisabeth was not the mo- narch to quit her deadly gripe" of Ireland, *' withoutamorc terrible struggle than had yet been endured." Soon that straggle commenced. England was then one of the most powerful nations in Europe. Her Sovereign was one of the ablest that had ever sat upon her throne. Statesmen, philoso- phers and soldiers whose names now are of European history surrounded her, all the power of th'« great nation with its crafty ruler and able statesmen and experienced generals was about to enter into one combined naval and military expedition against the almost reconstituted, but necessaryly as yet weak, Irish nation. Under the circumstances the result which I shall have to tell could not have been otherwise. Our country upon this occasion had challenged England when she was at peace as it has been her misfortune to do upon more than one occasion. EnglancJ accepted the chal- lenge but then as now for our one man she pitted two and in opposition to our honesty she wielded craft and gold. Eliza- beth's favorite, the unfortunate Essex was despatched to Ire- land with an army of twenty thousand men : "an army not only the greatest England had put into the field for centuries but in equipment in drill and in armament the most com- flete ever assembled under her standard." Against this army reland had nowhere ten thousand men concentrated ; of siejg^ing material she had none and in equipment greatlyj in^rioT to the force which England had sent to crush her 1 Still we are told that " O'Neill and his confederates were not | dismayed by the arrival of his great army and its magnificent f leader." In a few words the story can be told of the cam- paign of 1599. O'Neill completely overawed, outgeneralled — 86 — aiid defeated the haughty deputy. In more than one eiigs|fe- raent his magnilicient aiiny was routed by the Irish. Ih vain were rciniorcements sent from England. In vain Elisabeth wrote stinging letters to Essex. Upon the diplomatic field Jie received from O'Neill a still greater defeat than could be inflicted upon him on the held of battle. Baflfied by the Celtic Chieftain, maddened by the reproaches of the Queen he returned to London, were instead of being received with the slightest favor he was thrown into the Tower from Av hence he marched to the block ; and as his head rolled from his shoulders, the spectre of that terrible Red Right ]iand appeared before his starting, glazing eyeballs. Hi^h liox)e there was then for Ireland, but it was not written m ihe Book that in that time Ireland was to win back her iudependance. '[•.. """' In this memorable epoch of Irish history we find two great actors whose names are deservedly cursed in Ireland — Mountjoy, the new lord deputy, and the lord president of Munster. — When the foul fiend inspired the English Court to appoint these two men to conduct affairs, then Ireland's cause was doomed. Immense resources were placed at their command ; new levies, new armies were placed at then disposal. But Carew and Mountjoy were of themselves a host ; of themselves were worth all that England could give them. They were subtle, cunning, without scruple, soulless, cruel, brutal and of indomitable energy. Norris and Bagnal and Clifford w^ere gallant soldiers, men, that we can respect ibr bravery, although we may detest the service in which they were employed. Essex was a lordly courtier and vain, }aore fitted for lady's boudoir than for camp and fatigue. Not by the address of the courtier nor by the skill of the soldier did Mountjoy and Carew seek to subjugate Ireland. The wile of the serpent w^as their's. Where Bagnal and Norreys tried the sword, they tried deceits, corruption and temptation in every shape. Letters w^ere forged, and placed so as that some one of the confederates would iiiid them, in 'which treachery was promised, and so distrust crept in "Where conlidence had been. The Karl Desmond was betrayed l3y O'Conor into whose hand Carew managed to have placed a letter purporting to have been written by Desmond in which " e promised to betray O'Conor. The instinct of self preser^ ation prevailed and to save himsell O'Conor sought the breigu alliance. Thus were the arts of the serpent successful in til one by one the confederates fell away. The preserva- tion and Iree exercise ofieligion had been the chief bond of le Anglo-Idsh lords who had joined O'Neill, and the law* — 86 — against the Catholic religion were relaxed and in fancied security the priests came out again. Tiiese Anglo-Irish then with some few exceptions ceased to do battle for Ireland. "Worse than all a Queen's O'Neill and a Queen's O'Donnell appeared upon the scene to introduce dissention into gallant Ulster. In any one province the English had. now a greater force than the whole national army, and when gold and fraud had virtually destroyed the confederacy then Mountjoy took the field against the glorious two, O'Donnell and O'Neill, who fought the stranger with the desperation of despair. "Back to back" they struggled against over- whelming odds and still up to ^September 1601 the English gained but little actual success. In that eventful month came the exciting news that a pow^erful auxiliary force had landed a+ Kinsale, sent by Spain. The Anglo-Irish lords were startled, as they learned the fact during their sitting at Kilkenny. All their available forces were immediately concentrated. A powerful ileet was sent round to blockade Kinsale and their hasty eflbrts proved they believed that upon the defeat of the Spanish auxiliaries hung the destinies of English rule in Ireland. But the auxiliaries were a ruin to the Irish cause. Instead of landing at Ulster where the English had no material fooling thoy landed in Munster, which was then the strong gro^lnd of the English party,' Thc" again the expedition was commaiided by a man, Don Juan d'Aquila, agai)iwt whom charges oi'trea«hery or coward- ice can be made. Oarew evidently tampered 'either with his honor or his good sense, Don ,)nan itgreed that if within a given time no Irish army appeared for his i-eiief that he would treat with Caxv.w. If then, it would result in pro- bable disaster for O'Neill to proceed to the South it was certain ruin for him to lefuse. O'Donnell with his usual ardor w^as first on the way. Their troops were thinned and wasted, but Ireland appealed to their feelings and althongh little hope there was to (\scape the armies ol" occupation in Munster they boldly undertook the task. In Munster three chieftains alone held out despite all odds, OSuUivan Beare, 0'I)riscoll and O'Oonnor Kerry. It were long to tell of the many deeds of valor performed by the intrepid chieftains. It were long to tell also how in the face of O'Neill's superior Judgment the Spaniard insisted upon the Irish attacking the English camp, when \u^ could have defeated them by besieg- ing them ;is th(>y lay. The battle was fought and lost for Ireland. O'Donnell took shipping for Spain to lay before th) King the true state of affairs. O'Sulli van agreed to hold Lis castle of Dun!)py against thc enemy. Kory O'Donnell became — 37 — Tyrconnel's chieftain and O'Neill returned to TJlpiter to make the best defence in his power. The gallant Red Hugh O'Donnell never saw Ireland more. At Simancas, two leagues from Valladolid, on the 10th of September, 1602, he died of a broken heart. " He was buried by order of the King with royal honors as befitted a prince of the Kinel Conal, and the chapter of the Cathedral of St. Francis in the stately City of Valladolid holds the bones of as noble a chief and as stout a warrior as ever bore the wand of chieftaincy or led a clan to battle." In the following year iiuding all e'iforts fruitless, and bleeding with anxiety for nis poor peoplo O'Neill came to terms. Singularly favorable they were to him and his people. He and they were to enjoy the full and free exercise of their religion ; complete lunnesty lor the past ; restored in blood : reinstated in his dignity as Earl of Tyrone. Singularly favorable conditions, but were theyto be fulfilled. Was it simply to prevent O'Neill from assuming the title of The O'Neill ; was it simply to introduce shyrifl's and other English institutions into Ulster a mighty war had been waged, it were absurd to think so. No twas the broad lands of the Irish clans that were wanted. It was the rich pastures of Ulster that were needed by Eng- lish undertakers. Were these conditions to be iulfiUed. Of course not, and so they hatched a conspiracy, like the Titus Oates plot, which forced the chiefs to lly, wear-_, exiles from I'oreign persecution. A noble company ol' fifty in all set sail. *' With gloomy looks and sad forebodings the clansmen of Tyrconnell gazed upon that fated ship built in the eclipse and rigged with curses dark, as she dropped down Lough ^^willy and was hidden behind the cliffs of Fanadiand. They never saw Ireland more." On their arrival in France Eng- land demanded them as rebels but /Je//./;// ^wa/re refused to give them up. In every court in Europe as they they passed on their way to Rome they were treated with honor and respect. The holy pontiff, Pius the fifth, regarding them as confessors of the faith, assigned to each of them a liberal provision, and with kingly generosity the ruler of Hpain acted in a similar manner. One by one they drooped, these illustrious exiles, far from their own loved "reland. Kory O'Donnell died in .Tuly 1608. '' His brother Caflar died the following September. Hugh O'Neill, son of the O'Neill died about a year after, and thus the ^great Hugh saw himself losing one by one his tried and his ^rue,/ro deepen his gloom he b(;came totally blind and thus Wke tottered to the grave. On the 20tbL of July 1616 the Red — 38 — those who have at any time attempted to free Ireland. On that day he passed to • ' ! —— wher» souls are free • •.;,.!,.'■'. 1(} ■ I Where tyrants taint not naturo'a blisB r .-• . We pause ! What is that wild wail which comoth from every land in Europe ? Ah, tlie news has spread abroad, and Ireland's exiles weep, and Ireland bows her shattered form, and grief seizes her heart because her O'Neill is dead. What she cries " Has my prince, my proud one of the race Nial, the flower of my chivalry, the oak around which I was entwined, has he my own Hugh gone and left not one of his race to defend me ? " And deeper is her sorrow, when she is told, that one there had been — his son Henry, but that the English have procured his murder at Brussels. Speechless agony is hers then ; she surrenders her beautiful limbs to her jailor's chains ; and for many long and weary years not a hand is uplifted to strike down her tyrant. Pause we now ! We are in Rome the City of the Soul, the Common Asylum of all Catholics. We are in the Holy Place where misfortune is soothed, and where the God of Right is worshipped instead of the Idol of Success. We tread upon holy soil ; around us are varied monuments of interest and of greatness. Here the princes of the church, the first Pope and Paul, his brother apostle have labored ; and whether we look upon earth or sky we find suggestions and remembran- ces. But w^e are of Irish blood, and to us there is one spot dearer above all things. On the Hill of the Janiculum we stand. In the church of the Franciscans v;e pause. There it is that the great Hugh sleeps, beside the last resting place of the Tyrconnell chiefs. Above that grave let us think, above that grave let us pray. " In the calm evening when the sunbeams slant upon the stones, the Fathers of St Fran- cis often see some figure prostrate upon that tomb, which as otten they find wetted by the tears of the mourner. Then Ihey know thai some exiled child of Ireland has sought and found the .spotmad<» sacred and holy lor him and all his nation by ten thousand memories ol mingled grief and glory." ^--:--:;-.- j, ..-..^;^J-... ...,■...- We loo may weep but let our tears bo those of men. AVhat is the groat aim which should animate us as we read of Ireland m the past. We should h»» animated by the dtjsire to profil by the K'PKons vvhios8ible, a new Irish Nation. And aj^ain I learn there a lesson, which it were well for all to study. As I see that his noble efforts were lost by disunion, and also as I learii that every great effort in which he was successful was won by union, so 1 perceive that the necessity of Ireland to day is union, aud not only a union in Ireland but a confederation of the Irish race all over the world for Native land. From Antrim's cliffs to the Cove of Cork ; from Old Duuleary to Achill Isles the man- hood of Ireland demand Home Kule. From his grave in historic Rome the great O'Neill calls upon us all to labor in that behalf. True it is that the arbiter is changed. We look more to the force of public opinion now than to the sword, although we are far from the milleniura and a bright blade is good at times. But if the arbiter is changed so are the circumstances. Seas used to divide countries, steam and electricity have mastered the diflficulty and unite them. We are far from Ireland but we can be of service to her. She is worthy to receive from us the first homage of our hearts. Her name is venerated by the holy for she has been the Martyr Isle. Her name is cherished by all who love beauty for Ireland is the Beautiful Isle. Her name is told in records of chivalry for she has been the Warlike Isle. She is the land of Song and of Hospitality. Her sons are brave and her daugh- ters are fair. She is now laboring to shake off th« incubus of foreign domination, and shall we her children, the sons of sires, whose fathers bled for liberty from Vinegar Hill to Clontibret, by Avonmore and Shannon, shall we in tame acquiescence of things that are neglect to avail ourselves of the opportunities to do good for our Motherland. There are men I feel confident, good and true here, who will in honesty . of purpose kee^) tj>e Red.IJi^lit Hajnc^ from .desecration ; and who shall, aceepiingt th^ GbiiTCgJs; -of c^rcjijmstances, work, at least, in what'is 'term 'a'constittitio'iiai mstnner to aid our bretheru in I^elauitiH^ wiA'^?4k*'tii€> tifejtits-for which Hugh fottght, of which* ihbf' -^eTe^ikAm.^.Odj^twed^imd which shall assuredly be theirs at no distant day. May the Qreat Dis- •.- 40 - penser of all things look upon our long suiforing country with favorable eyes, and may the intent ot that prayer lirst uttered in the heart oi' England be speedily realized, that prayer which has become the rallying* cry of the nation : GOD SAVE IRELAND! ..•..;5;^ .. .•.I.l. . ', , ', "■* I 1 '"' ' • ,■ , ...... 'xt * ''t ' • '." ' •' '■ ■ '1 .• .V J- ■Ki'.f. tV S««»1>ll«l>«d IMY. L. N. ALLAIEE & CO., MANUFACTURERS' AGENTS, AXrCTIOKEEES AHB IITSirKAirCB AGENTS. 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