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NOTE. ********* Oommunications may be addressed to the author of this pamphlet at, London, Ont. B. N. A. I TO THK IRISH NATIONAL LEAGUE, OF AMERICA. Mr. President: I would respectfully refer, to the Irish National League, this little pamphlet in advocation of the English side of the Irish question. Heretofore not a voice has been heard, nor a sentence published in any American journal in be- half of Great Britain, refuting the charges made, and anathemas hurled against her by her enemies in the United States. Having closely studied the Irish situation and England's Irish policy, I feel that I am prepared to discuss from an unbih..<*:d stand- point, the merits and demerits of the Anglo-Irish controversy. I know full well the opinion of every C.'V ■i^AX'^;A^^ic^\j, t i ?' land-leaguer on the subject of F'nglish supremacy, and Irish independence: and I know too; that when a people once becomes saturated with the fallacious doctrines of revolution, naught but the strong arm of law, or the mighty iiand of Providence can ever subdue them into loyal subjecthood. The Irish in America and their sympathizers have always had full scojie to express their bitter- ness and hate against England; here in this — free to plot — country, the disturbing element of the whole world seems to have concentrated and resolved it- self into a huge monster of revolution : with all due respect and regard for the feelings of Irishmen, I frankly confess that, with the uneasy spirits of Anarchism I class the so-called " Irisli Cause," the motives of which I consider sordid, and the princi- ples of which biased, bigoted and false. It is not biased, bigoted and false to be poor and wretched, nor is it always thus to be patriotic ; but when starvation and wretchedness is in part the product of bigotry, and patriotism of religious and race hatred; then, the motive is sordid, the principles false, and the cause a self-inflicting curse upon the :) heads of its unfortunate dupes. You sjiy that one of the principal causes of poverty and starvation in Ireland is high rent — true it is ; you say that, the sole cause of high rent is British rule — that is false. Your first proposition is true, but not all embracing. High rent is only one of the principal causes of starvation-^to those who can not pay it — but it is not the only cause. The Celtic Papist has always hated the Protestant Saxon, it is a traditional fact ; you may charge the origin of Saxon hatred to feu- dalism, but 1 charge it to religious bigotry: No people on the face of the earth have ever been so crushed and cursed by church domination as the unfortunate people of Ireland. Whilst you are cursing the landlords — you forget the lords of the church, who, in fact have ever been your hardest masters. The devotion of the Irish people to the Church of Rome I hold as worthy of the admiration of the world ; but it has cost them more than the Church of Rome can ever restore, were she to deliver to them to-morrow the keys to the vaults of her untold and fabuloiB wealth. 7)^ the Irish are slaves under " landlordism " and British rule; it is because til ' il t Komo un(/ n/ie alone, has Uept thoin so com;)letely under the tyranny of hor own domination. You nuiy say that this is the sentiment of pro- testantism ; but allow me to remind you that, even to-day not one of youi' s])eakei*s can deliver an ad- dress without a thrust at the Orangemen. Ah ; it is the same old theme ; this time it is under the guise of patriotism, along with the cry of *' Liberty for Ireland." You flaunt the bloody Hag of religious intolerance. Why is it thus ^ I will tell you, the Church of Kome has ever instilled into the mind of Catholic Ireland tliat it shoiiltl not live under apro- testant croivn: This is the higotry 1 refer to, and out of it springs another of the principal causes of Irish poverty and starvation. In refutation of what I have stated, you may hold up the fact that, the present leader of the Irish league is a protestant, and that you have elected protestants to a seat in Parliament ; again allow me to remind you, Mr. President; that, it is not the first time in the history of Ireland that the tail of the devil has been used as a weapon against her opponents. Having stated as frankly as possible; I without, I iisauro you, Mr. Prosidont, any intended offense; I would now state othet' truthful tmmns for another cause of Irish misery — attributed to Enghsh rule and landlordism. Ireland is over populated; and a very great portion of the country is untillable and sterile, too many persons must live from the products of too small a portion of land ; this alone, if every landlord was to leave the island forever, and all the land equally divided among the people, would, considering the uncertainty of the seasons, make even a fair living precarious : Taking these facts into consideration, and bearing in mind too; that season after season of failure in crops has been suc- ceeded by a heavy importation of farm produce from America, flushing the English and Irish markets at prices utterly ruinous, not only to the Irish pro- ducer — but also to the producer throughout Great Britain; any fair minded person ought to be able to see an inevitable cause for high rent: And after such a prolonged period of unfavorable conditions, a cause for such high rent as would make it impossible for one class, and completely discourage another, to rent at all ; and the disparagement of the landlord 1 8 ' I ' If i ? ) who must have high rent, or else give out the land at such rates as would entail aught but worry and loss; now you curse the landlords of Ireland for doing just what the capitalist, and large farmer in America is doing every day, and you forget too that ; some of the most avaricious and domi^ieering of that class m this country are Irishmen, who when in Ireland " could not stand landlordism." You say that the landlords in Ireland are all cruel and overbearing. That statement is biased, and needs qualifying ; but I ask, Have the Irish people ever done anything to make them otherwise ? Have not the Irish tenantrv, fired by race hatred and religious prejudice for gen- erations past — aye: for centuries — lived in constant antagonism toward the landlord ? always threaten- ing violence, and frequently carrying out their threats ; never working with fidelity and good will, their holdings, for the common good of both parties \ forever opposed to every reform of English origin, steeped in bicterness against the owners of the land whether native or foreigner^ and buoyed up with the treasonable and communistic idea that they may some day, even if they have to wade through rivers 1(1 I 9 of blood, get the land for nothing, save the trouble of driving the landlords into the sea; You can not deny it, Mr. President, I have heard you talk ; a^d besides, the attitude of the people of Ireland in refusing now to buy land when offered them, and spurning the propositions of a truly gen- erous land purchase act, warrants the assertion. Irish sovereignty, like state sovereignty, is a, fallacy; Ireland has no more right to secede from the sovereign kingdom of Great Britain, than a state has to secede from the Union of the United States : and like those states that attempted to secede, Ireland shall cer- tainly — should she attempt rebellion — bring down upon her already suffering people, all the miseries of war, and the woes and bitterness of the most igno- minious defeat. There is but one course for Ireland; and for the sake of her poor, unhappy children, I would to God that she might pursue it; it is that of tranquility, through completely ignoring all polit- ical agitation and religious prejudice; acting in per- fect harmony with every measure intended for public good, abandoning the old and ruinous follies of independence, spurning the voice and counsel of 10 ambitious and selfish agitators whose highest aim is self-aggrandizement and personal gain. England is not a hard government to live under; and no nation on earth is so prompt to protect and defend the rights of her subjects, regardless of race, color or station in life. England is the mother of religious liberty and human rights; she was the first to strike asunder the chains of oppression that galled the flesh of human slaves. When the prptestant religion ascended the throne of England, the banner of religious liberty and freedom to all mankind was unfurled to the world. Loyalty to Great Britain is the key to the banquet hall of plenty and content; It is a pernicious falsehood that old Britannia hates her Irish children. She has long been grieved by their ungrateful conduct, and she longs to hold them in the paternal embrace of protection and equality that she gives to all her children ; whilst in devo- tion she bows at the shrine of her established church; she respects a>nd protects the right of those of her children who worship at a Komish altar. O, Innisfail! when I think how in blindness you have been led into misery and wrong by heart- IS 1 11 less aspira^.ts, and accursed intrigue, my heart bleeds with pity lid my soul shrinks at the thought of the unhappy tate* that surely awaits you, if you pur- sue the gaunt spectre of rebellion, and the ignis fatuus of independence. GEO. AMBROSE M^' NEILL. To Me. Patrick Egan, President, Irish National League, of America, Lincoln, Neb., U. S. I