Ireland m 18^2 A TOUR OF OBSERVATION k i IRELAND IN 1872. 1/1 \ IRELAND IN 1872 A TOUR OF OBSERVATION. WITH REMARKS ON IRISH PUBLIC QUESTIONS. JAMES MACAULAY, M.A., M.D., Edin., Author of "Across the Ferry." BOSTON COLLEGE LIBRA HI CHESTNUT HILL, A1ASS. LONDON : Henry S. King & Co., 65, CORN HILL, & 12, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1873. BOSTON COLLEGE LIBEARY CHESTNUT HILL, MASS, [All Rights Reserved.] PREFATORY NOTE. " JRELAND in 1872" is a wide theme, upon which one might expatiate through many volumes. I confine myself to points which now most occupy public attention, and to matters which seem chiefly to determine the existing social and political situation. We are always hearing about the improved state of Ireland. In its material wealth there are proofs of prosperity and progress, yet its government remains the difficulty of statesmen. Are the disturbing ele- ments social, political, or religious ? I endeavour to show how far each of these classes of questions affect the general condition of the country. I have only a few prefatory remarks to make. In speaking of the Catholic influence, I am careful to distinguish between the Irish Catholics and the vi Prefatory Note. Italian Catholics or Ultramontane party. To under- stand this distinction, it is necessary to consider the change that has been gradually made in the consti- tution and administration of the Catholic Church in Ireland. When -the struggle for Emancipation was going on, several of the leading prelates of that Church were examined before a committee of the House of Commons. Dr. Doyle was the principal witness, then the most distinguished and most repre- sentative man among Irish Catholics. Being asked as to the authority of the Pope, Dr. Doyle said it was purely spiritual, and that " his power was limited by decrees of council and also by usage." Being asked as to the mode of electing bishops in Ireland, Dr. Doyle said, u The Pope does not at present, and he could scarcely presume to, nominate any one except such person as we recommend." In fact, the usage was for the bishops to send to Rome a list of three, digitus > digiiior, dignissinuis, and the Pope invariably appointed the person thus recommended as the worthiest and fittest. But all this is changed now. In the conspiracy for increasing the Papal power in Ireland, the first step Prefatory Note. Vll was to disregard the recommendation of the bishops in filling a vacancy. It was first done in the case of Dr. Cullen, known to be a trusty agent of the Vatican, who had lived many years in Rome, and is far more an Italian than an Irishman in spirit. Ever since, the appointments have been made of men who would be subservient to the same policy, and now the whole of the bishops, with, I believe, two exceptions, are Ultra- montanes. The appointment of parish priests and of curates is in the hands of the bishops, and they take care to appoint men who will be most under their con- trol. If any parish priest shows symptoms of inde- pendence, a curate coadjutor is planted beside him. The well-organized power of the hierarchy prevents outspoken protest, or effectual resistance to the crafty power by which the liberties of the Irish Church are being crushed. The new doctrine of Papal Infalli- bility has removed the former limits to the Pope's power, imposed by " decrees of council, and also by usage." His authority is now supreme, not only as the head of the Church, but it extends to every diocese and to every parish. The independence of the Irish Catholic Church is thus destroyed ; and, not content viii Prefatory A~otc. with this, the Ultramontane power is attempting to limit the civil rights of the Irish clergy. The well- known O'Keeffe case, now before the Courts, will show the extent and direction of the attack on the laws and constitution of the nation. It is the restless and aggressive policy of this faction which causes the most serious difficulties in Irish affairs, and most retards the peaceful progress of the country. In affirming that Popery is the main cause of the troubles and woes of Ireland, the statement is made on grounds of history and experience, without touch- ing on theological controversies. I give the result of my own observation, in many countries besides Ire- land. In confirmation of my statements, I have quoted the opinions of men like Sydney Smith and Charles Dickens, of Sismondi and De Tocqueville, as being free from suspicion of religious bigotry or pre- judice. The social results of the system may be ex- amined, without any unkind or uncharitable feeling towards its adherents. I bear testimony to the exem- plary character of many of the Irish Catholic clergy, and I so admire John Banim's ballad, " Soggarth Aroon," that I wish every " priest dear" had a wife, Prefatory Note. ix as St. Peter had, and so double his happiness and usefulness. Of the natural piety and devoutness of the poor Irish Catholics, no one can speak without respect. To them may be applied the complimentary epithet which St. Paul used to the men of Athens, that they are full of reverence, or as we mistranslate it, "too superstitious." The Irish Catholic Church in early ages gained for Ireland the name of " the Isle of Saints," and it may yet regain the brightness it had in the days of St. Patrick and St. Columba. It has not lost the ancient truths, although they are now overlaid with Romish errors and innovations. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. Ireland in Transition I II. Some Statistics of Progress 17 III. Paradoxes and Problems 31 IV. Decrease of Population. — Emigration 33 V. Absenteeism 53 VI. Visit to Mr. Bianconi 63 VII. Irish Politics 77 VIII. Home Rule - 89 IX. A Chapter on Irish History 115 X. The Question of Race 133 XI. Catholic and Protestant Contrasts - H3 XII. Roman Catholics and Irish Catholics 167 XIIL The O'Keeffe Case 183 XIV. The Keogh Judgment 231 XV. Irish Agriculture - 249 XVI. Land Tenure and the New Land Act 268 Xll Contents. CHAPTER % PAGE XVII. Irish Fisheries - - - 285 XVIII. The Royal Irish Constabulary - 291 XIX. Irish Prisons and Prisoners - - 301 XX. Party Processions - - - 311 XXI. The Newspapers of Ireland - - 319 XXII. The Dublin Exhibition - - - 344 XXIII. State Purchase of Irish Railways - 350 XXIV. Irish National Education - - 355 XXV. Irish University Education - - 383 XXVI. Evangelical and Protestant Agencies 404 IRELAND IN 1872. CHAPTER I. IRELAND IN TRANSITION. An Irish Funeral — Wakes — Fairs— Ireland of Last Generation — Since the Famine — Social Changes — National Progress. T WAS sauntering one day in Killarney, watching the Kerry peasants at their marketing, when a great crowd w r as seen moving up the long main street of the town. As it drew near it proved to be a funeral, and I heard what, from description, I knew to be the "keen" or wail of mourners. There were about a dozen elderly women, in two rows, walking in front of the hearse. They had the long cloaks and the hooded shawls or kerchiefs of the country. One woman seemed to be the chief keener, leading the dirge, the others joining in the melancholy wail. In an Irish car following the hearse were four women, relatives of the deceased. Every now and then they also uttered cries, the natural and unchecked I 2 Ireland in 1872. expressions of passionate grief, less formal than the keen of the old women in front, but in the same minor key of plaintive tone. Ten or twelve cars, carts, and various vehicles followed with female mourners, and a dense crowd on foot closed up the procession. The burial was to be at a rural church- yard some miles off. Shutters were put up in the shops of the town, and every mark of respect paid as the funeral passed by. In reply to enquiries, I learned that the deceased was a tradesman of the town, an O'Donoghue, "come of dacent people." "Was he an old man?" " No, he was only a boy," which might denote any age from ten to fifty or more. "Were these keeners paid?" " No, they attend only out of respect to the family." The use of professional keeners or hired mourners is going out. These old women, however, were experienced performers, and the " keening " will not soon be a thing of mere tradition. The women will continue to be paid, in kind if not in coin, for there is always hospitable supply in houses between the time of death and burial. A "dacent funeral" implies many guests, though not necessarily with the scanda- lous scenes of former times. In Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Halls " Ireland " the writers say, "We followed, in 1858, a funeral to Aghadoe ; there were attendant keeners, who chaunted the death Irela7id in Transition. 3 song nearly all the way. The ■ keen ' is not often heard now-a-days, and the ceremonies connected with death have of late lost much of their earlier, more picturesque, but more barbarous accompaniments." Hundreds of tourists have visited Ireland without hearing the "keen," and I was told that I might be many years without seeing a funeral such as I had witnessed at Killarney. It was a strange and unexpected incident, and as the wild wail echoed in my memory, the whole scene seemed representative of the transition state of Ireland, and of a time when many " old things are passing away." Wakes, with their strange medley of mourning and merry-making, are becoming rarer, even in rural districts. The clergy, greatly to their credit, dis- countenance and even from the altar denounce them, on account of the irreverence and immorality to which they gave occasion. There was never a death in a house but the place w T as for two or three days and nights made a common resort for the friends and neighbours of the deceased. Among the poor peasants the guests brought their own supplies of drink and tobacco, but in a farmer's house all comers were entertained at the host's expense The original intention of watching and bewailing the dead became a very secondary affair to the gossiping and revelry that brought disgrace on the ancient usage. 4 Ireland in 1872. Does the reader remember the scene in " Castle Rackrent " where Sir Condy took it into his head to know what the people would say of him after he was gone? "Thady," says he, "as far as the wake goes, sure I might without any great trouble have the satisfaction of seeing a bit of my own funeral." So Thady and his " shister " contrived a sham sickness and sham death, and he was laid out properly. There came a throng of men, women, and childer, "till the house was as full and fuller than it could hold." The joke had very nearly a tragic end, for what with the heat and the smoke and the noise, Sir Condy was nearly stifled under the bed-clothes, on the top of which many frieze great-coats had been piled. When he could lie still no longer, and sat up, there was a great surprise ; but the night was duly finished with more whisky from the shebean-house. These death wakes lasted down to the famine-time with little diminution. But in the dark days of fever that followed, the fear of infection brought sanitary motives into play, and wakes were often omitted. More recently, during the small-pox epidemic, they were prohibited, and it is to be hoped that the custom may pass gradually into disuse. * The Irish fairs are also fast losing their barbarous character, and reverting to the original purpose of buying and selling. There was never a fair that did Ireland in Transition. 5 not end with a savage faction-fight, or if there were no faction-feud at the time, with a general fight and skrimmage. Some lives were almost invariably lost, and the list of maimed and wounded was always large. The alpeens, ash saplings loaded with lead, were murderous weapons, not to speak of the missiles which darkened the air in the thick of the melee. Women joined in the affray, and in the drunken madness cf the combatants not even the priest's interference was of any use. The faction-feuds are not extinct yet, for last year there were fatal encoun- ters in various counties, especially in Limerick, where a poor fellow was brutally murdered by some members of a hostile faction, a woman taking part in the foul deed. The ruffians, tried for murder, were convicted of homicide. The unusual public notice attracted to the case proved that these disgraceful scenes are becoming rarer. At no distant period many such murders, quite as deliberate and savage, passed unnoticed; although the continuance of faction- feuds reveals a spirit as barbarous as the Corsican Vendetta. Both at fairs and at " patrons' " or saints' fetes, the kermes of Ireland, the fun now-a-days is of a less sanguinary kind, an improvement due partly to the increase of education, partly to the influence of power and of law, and partly to the better example of the higher classes, who were not so very long ago 6 Ireland in 1872. just as reckless in their way as the unlettered peasantry. Donnybrook Fair is gone, like our own St. Bartho- lomew, and the Irishman is no more to be seen there in all his glory, with his sprig of shillelagh, " his heart soft with whisky, and his head soft with blows." There is a peaceful " Citizen omnibus" starting for Donnybrook every twenty minutes from College Green, by which the tourist can go to the scene of which Irishmen used to be proud, but are now mostly ashamed. On the way to Glendalough and the Vale of Avoca we are also shown the oak plantations whence the shillelaghs were cut for battle in the eastern counties, as alpeens were in other parts of the island. But Donnybrook Fair is only a symbol of many other things that are passing into history. It is not so long since u Harry Lorrequer" and "Charles O'Malley" were accepted as faithful por- traitures of Irish life and character. The rollicking, reckless, fighting, fox-hunting squire or squireen ; the half-pay captain of dragoons, professional duellist, gambler, and scamp; the punch-imbibing and humor- ous story-telling priest ; the cringing tenantry and lawless peasantry ; how unreal and unrepresentative all these characters seem now ! Before Charles Lever died last year most of his pictures were out of date. It is Ireland of the past that he depicted. The Ireland in Transition. 7 intemperance, the improvidence, the reckless jollity, the duelling, the fighting at the dinner-table, or at funerals, in short, the savagery of Ireland, in the upper classes quite as much as in the lower, is becoming a tradition. Yet Charles Lever was a true artist of days not long gone by. I have met with men who have fought duels, and assisted in abductions, and hunted bailiffs, and taken part in scenes which would now seem strange in the wildest book of fiction. Carleton's sketches of Irish peasant life are equally out of date. The hedge schoolmaster, the bare-headed and bare-footed scholars, the swarms of troublesome beggars, and the lunatics at large, are all becoming dissolving views. We want an Irish Dean Ramsay to gather up the traditions and stories of the past generation. We can scarcely imagine the Munster bar, or as many of them as remained above the table, singing the lewd ballad of " The Rakes of Mallow," or an Irish judge singing his own song of "A bumper, Squire Jones/' or a parish priest chanting "An Cruiscin Lan, the love of my heart is my little jug, An Cruiscin Lan " (Cruiskeen Lawn). The " Monks of the Screw" were not so indecent and discreditable a set as our English " Monks of Medmenhaai Abbey," but even that noted Irish club could scarcely now be joined by the statesmen and judges and gentlemen of Dublin, any more than the 8 Ireland in 1872. chiefs of the Parliament House at Edinburgh could now take part in the high jinks and drunken revelries described by Sir Walter Scott. All these things and many more are passing away. The Fairy Mounts are being fast levelled, and the mys- terious sounds of the Banshee are seldom heard. The tithe-proctor is gone, and the bailiff or process-server can no longer with impunity be made to swallow his parchment writ, and be shut up in the Keep, as was done by "Dick Martin" of Gahvay at Ballinahinch. If these functionaries are ever now interfered with, or if violence is done to constables, or to land agents, or others of higher grade, it is by hired assassins that the deeds of crime are perpetrated. There may not yet be the general respect for law which marks a highly civilized people, but there is at least a whole- some fear of its penalties. The presence of the constabulary force throughout the country has had a good moral effect, as representing everywhere public order and law, an effect far beyond the actual service rendered in the detection or the repression of crime. The growing respect for law among all classes of Irishmen is one of the most sure tests and hopeful signs of progress. It may surprise some to hear this affirmed in the face of the frequent reports of violence and lawlessness, especially agrarian outrages. But it must be remembered that every such case is now Ireland in Transition. 9 made public, and attracts universal notice when cir- culated through the press. They are rare in compa- rison with times not very remote. In this as in many other matters the example of the richer classes is now not against but on the side of law. Few proprietors would venture to interfere with legal proceedings, or to disregard legal decisions, even in questions touched by the Land Act, which some landlords seem to regard as a statute of confiscation. They read the law reports, and know the consequences of resisting authority. But among the lower classes a lawless spirit is more frequently shown, not so often in defiance as in ignorance of the consequences. We must not be impatient, nor expect too sudden a transition from the long period of comparative anarchy, of which Ribbonism and other crimes were the fruit. When the power of law is made to be felt in many separate localities, the peasantry will gradually learn what the upper classes have learned more promptly. A curious case in point occurred at an early period of the Land Act operation. An Englishman had purchased pro- perty in county Gal way, where landlords such as Mr. Martin used to keep all law at bay. Some tenants, refusing to pay rent, were to be served with notices. But the bailiffs were so mauled that they positively refused to venture their lives again in the district. Application was made to Mr. Justice Keogh, and that IO Ireland in 1872. firm and upright judge gave an order that it should be deemed sufficient service to put the notices in a public place in Ballygar, the nearest town, and to send a letter by post to each of the defendants. If all administrators of the law had the decision and firmness of Judge Keogh, the people would learn respect for legal authority with more promptness. The same Judge Keogh has since read a lesson of respect for law to the priests of the same county, in his judgment on the Galway election case, with results to be presently noticed. Sir Robert Kane tells how " in Ovoca, on pay-days, where two thousand men were employed when he wrote, five hundred gallons of whisky used to be bought by the miners, and drunk upon the works. The men spent the night in fighting, whilst their wives and children begged in vain that some of their wages should go for provisions and for clothing. There is now upon pay-days no whisky whatsoever sold. The wives of the workmen receive their wages for them, and quarrelling is unknown." Of another village he says, " On pay-day it presented a scene of strife and drunkenness, which always required the intervention of the police, and often rendered the position of the superintendents dangerous. At pre- sent nothing of the sort is known. There is a tem- perance hall for quiet social meetings, and extensive Ireland in Transition. schoolrooms for the education of the children, and the same workmen are able to earn ^300 per month more than they formerly received, by the greater steadiness and attention to their work which accom- pany their improved domestic habits." It was in referring to these and similar cases which had come under his notice that Sir Robert Kane used words which have often been quoted, and which cannot be too widely known : " I do not hesitate to assert that the existing generation in this country is half a cen- tury in advance of that which is dying off, and that the generation now at school will be a century in ad- vance of us. We were reckless, ignorant, improvident, drunken, and idle. We were idle, for we had nothing to do ; we were reckless, for we had no hope ; we were ignorant, for learning was denied us ; we were improvident, for we had no future ; we were drunken, for we sought to forget our misery. That time has passed away for ever." It is difficult to realise the condition of the greatest part of Ireland only a few years back, when the houses of country gentlemen required to be barricaded like fortresses in an enemy's country, when agrarian outrages were so common as to excite little surprise or attention, and when landlords and their agents went in daily peril of their lives. Twenty years ago this was still the normal state of too many districts, 12 Ireland in J872. but the time of the famine marks a broad division in the general history of the island. No one who knew Ireland before this latest period of her " long agony," and knows her now, will dispute the greatness of the revolution that has taken place. With the exception of occasional outbreaks, the result of political agita- tion, the whole tone of national feeling is changed. Material prosperity is steadily progressive. A spirit of enterprise is abroad among the people. The arts of peace are flourishing, and the great body of the nation are engaged in quiet pursuits of agriculture and commerce. The spirit of discontent is kept up chiefly by professional agitators, who require only a firmer hand to keep them from their mischievous work. In most parts of the country life and property are as safe as in England. The Lord-Lieutenant, Earl Spencer, during his " progress " through the north of Ireland last autumn, had a pleasant tale to tell in his speeches. He told that the deposits in Government Funds and Joint Stock Banks, in Trustee and Post-office Savings' Banks, had increased year by year in the last five years at the rate of a million sterling. The total ag- gregate of such investments is now above ^67,000,000 in Ireland. The bank-note circulation had shown a continuous increase during the same period. He told how railway returns and the prices of all commercial Ireland in Transition. 13 stocks and funds were steadily rising. He told of the progress of education, and the prosperity of agricul- ture and trade, especially in Belfast, where he went officially to open the agricultural show and the magni- ficent new docks. He spoke of the diminution of the number of indictable offences in all parts of the coun- try, and, what was most gratifying and hopeful, the number of political and agrarian crimes had been greatly reduced. This prosperity was everywhere manifest in Ulster. At Lurgan, for instance, the Chairman of the Town Commissioners, in his address to the Lord-Lieutenant, said that "the population of the town had increased thirty per cent., and the property seventy per cent., since the visit of Lord Carlisle eleven years before." Having followed this vice-regal progress, as a good opportunity for observation, I can bear testimony, not only to the signs of healthy prosperity in Ulster, but to the demonstrations of loyalty among all sections of the community. I saw demonstrations of another kind, very soon after, both in Lurgan and Belfast, but the turbulent factions that then brought disgrace upon Ulster were in numbers and character contemptible, contrasted with the crowds of orderly and peaceable and industrious people, poor and rich, Catholic and Protestant, who gave hearty welcome to the Queen s Ireland in 1872. representative in the festival week of the Lord-Lieu- tenant's visit. If the same visible proofs of prosperity and of demonstrative loyalty are not found in other parts of Ireland, there is at least good ground for congratula- tion on the decrease of many evil and discouraging signs of the national condition. For this I am happy to give the testimony of one of the oldest law officials, Mr. Seed, who has been for upwards of forty years Crown Solicitor. Mr. Seed says, " The spirit of the country is more peaceable ; the administration of justice is becoming more respected and more feared than it ever yet has been ; the people being taught that the law is more powerful than themselves, and that in upholding it they find the surest protection for their lives and properties. I firmly believe that crime will decrease, and the improved and improving condi- tion of the country and the people under recent legis- lation, and the present firm and impartial enforcement and administration of the law, will yet restore it to perfect tranquillity and peace. Even at the present time I believe Ireland is, as a whole, freer from serious and aggravated crime than any other country in Europe." In an article in the Times on the condition of the country at the close of 1872, the same hopeful strain was expressed : — " Ireland is prosperous ; her trade Ireland in Transition. 1 5 and her wealth are increasing together, crime is steadily on the decline, and public order is undis- turbed. The improvement of affairs has been diffused through all classes of society. Farmers and shop- keepers are making money alike ; labourers have de- manded better wages, and obtained them without difficulty ; while everywhere there are signs of enter- prise, activity, and confidence in the mercantile com- munity. Our correspondent who transmits this intelligence looks round him in vain for the signs of poverty and embarrassment only too visible in former years — lists of bankruptcies and failures, notices of sales, closed shops, and tenantless houses. Few of these once familiar objects are now to be seen. In- dustry thrives and is well remunerated, commerce is rapidly expanding, and the trade of Dublin is growing at such a rate that a large increase in the dock accom- modation is urgently required. In short, Ireland begins the year now opened with a material prosperity little inferior to that of England. In all that makes, or should make, a nation rich, she is evidently flourishing." This improvement is not all due to political causes, or to better government Many social changes have been quietly and steadily going on amidst the more noisy and conspicuous public agitations. The in- creased communication with England by steam navi- i6 Ireland in 1872. gation ; the improvement of roads, and the formation of railways ; Mr. Bianconi and his cars ; Father Mathew and the Temperance movement ; the intro- duction of the Poor Law ; the organization of police and of the constabulary ; the Encumbered Estates Act, and other measures for helping Irish property out of the slough of past neglect ; the cheap post and the money-order system ; the establishment of the National Schools and of the Queen's Colleges ; the Landlord and Tenant Act ; the constant flow of emigration ; the progress of agriculture and com- merce ; — these and many other social movements, apart from political and religious questions, have helped to make the Ireland of our time different from the Ireland of other days. CHAPTER II. SOME STATISTICS OF PROGRESS. Dr. Hancock's Judicial Statistics — The <: Idle Ass : ze of 1872" — Sanitary and Economic Progress — Outward Civilization. NWILLING to repel at the outset by too many statistics, I select only a few facts as authority for the general statement in the opening chapter as to the hopeful progress of the country. If any one is inclined to take too sanguine a view, he will soon meet enough to check his hopes and modify his opinions. The recent progress has been great — for Ireland. The present prosperity is promising — for Ireland. It was a country so long stationary, if not retrogressive, and, as some thought, relapsing into barbarism, that the onward movement is the more surprising. What we now see is not so much a proof of national health as of recovery from a condition which seemed without remedy. And the questions still recur, Is the improvement general or local ? Is it seen in all parts of the country, or in some parts only ? Is it due to internal changes, or external 2 i8 Ireland hi 1872. influences ? Is it permanent or temporary ? But let us have the bright side of the subject first. Dr. W. Neilson Hancock's annual report on criminal and judicial statistics is the most authentic record of the social and political state of Ireland. In 1864 this statistical department was organized, and Dr. Hancock appointed as its superintendent. He has official apartments in the building of the Four Courts, where the returns for every part of the country are deposited and tabulated. The reports contain a mass of valuable information as to the condition of the people and the administration of the law. Year by year, with the exception of some extra- ordinary periods of special disturbance, the progress has been marked and satisfactory. The register of crime for 187 1, the latest I have seen, is more favour- able than for any year since these records commenced. As compared with the previous year it shows a de- crease of 14 per cent, in the number of indictable offences. This improvement was marked in those classes of crime which are dealt with summarily, drunkenness, theft, and wilful or malicious destruction of property. A large per-centage of criminals in Ire- land, as elsewhere, are habitual drunkards. The record of treasonable offences is scanty, showing the dis- appearance of Fenianism as a dangerous influence. In 1866 and 1867 these offences exceeded 500 in Some Statistics of Progress. 19 number; in 1870 they had fallen to thirty-seven; and in 1 87 1 there were only seven cases. Treason is for the present almost extinct, for the Home Rule agitation is a peaceful strife. Agrarian crime, the most inveterate disorder of the Irish body politic, is also declining. In 1867 there were 767 cases reported by the con- stabulary; in 1870 the number had increased to 1,329. In 1871 there were only 368 cases. The improvement has been still more marked in the first half of 1872. The numbers then were 1 16 as compared with 1,219 m the first six months of 1870. A few years previously, the whole number in the year 1866 had been only eighty-seven cases of agrarian outrages. The increase subsequently was no doubt due to the agitation that preceded the public dis- cussion of the Land Act, and the remarkable decrease now exhibited attests the beneficial result of recent legislation. Of the offences classed as agrarian outrages, a large number originated in disputes about rights of way, rights of pasturage or fishing, questions of title and holding of property between families or tenants and small proprietors, questions with which the Courts under the Land Act are not empowered to deal. The offences arising out of disputes about improve- ments, or compensations, or disturbance of holding, have diminished in marked proportion, showing the 20 Ireland in 1872. confidence in the equitable administration of the law. The Peace Preservation Act has worked success- fully, there being seventy-two proceedings less in 1 87 1 than in 1870 in the proclaimed counties. In Mayo alone there is a slight increase, ten more in 1 87 1 than in the previous year. A detailed examination of the returns gives even more satisfactory results as to the condition of the country. While the total average of serious crime is only fifteen per 10,000 of population, in the Dublin police district it is 130 per 10,000, or nearly nine times the average. The amount of crime in the towns, as compared with the rural districts, is remark- able. In Dublin it is 89 per cent, more than in the adjacent country, in Cork 72 per cent., in Waterford 55, in Belfast 49, in Limerick 42 more than in the surrounding country districts. Of 8,155 indictable offences, not disposed of summarily, 4,401, or more than one-half, were committed in the Dublin metro- politan police district. The most orderly counties and most free from serious crime are the parts of Down and Antrim outside of Belfast. The propor- tion of criminals in these counties was only three in 10,000, and Carrickfergus had the distinction of pre- senting only one in 10,000. Even in the places giving the worst returns in Some Statistics of Progress. previous years the improvement is observable. In Dublin the decline has been twenty-three in the 10,000, and in Westmeath eleven decrease in the 10,000, falling from twenty-six in 1870 to fifteen, the average of the whole island, in 1 871. The returns afford many interesting points of com- parison with the criminal statistics of England, Scotland, and other countries, showing what classes of offences prevail, and so throwing light on national or local habits and social condition. But to these comparisons it is not necessary to advert here. The general conclusion from Dr. Hancock's important Blue Book is that, in regard to crime of every form, Ireland can compare favourably with any portion of the empire, and that the condition of the country in this respect is steadily progressive. The comparative absence of ordinary crime through- out the island was never more conspicuous than in the records of the circuits for 1872. In a character- istic article of the Nation, headed 44 The Idle Assize," this was referred to with justifiable pride. 4< From county to county, from province to province, the Irish judges dart in rushing trains to appal the evil-doers by the vision of avenging justice, and the number and severity of their sentences. In all respects the performance has been provided for — in all respects save one. The grand jurors, bursting with inflated 22 importance, and purple with zeal, are ready to find bills without number; the petit jurors, discreetly selected, are not averse to the contemplated work ; the police are at hand with witnesses to swear any- thing that may be required. Above all and beyond all, the judges — solemn, stately, and severe — are at their posts, and the whole machinery of the law, in its most impressive and awful character, is in readiness for operations. But still the business hangs fire, and business is slow almost beyond precedent. The fact is simply this — that the judge can find no one to try, and the jurors discover no one to convict. The bench and the jury-box are full, but the docks are empty. The calendars are blank, and there are no criminals to be had. ... To the mass of the people, however, the remarkable absence of crime throughout the land, as exemplified by the present assizes, will be a source of unmingled satisfaction. It is a proof that British 1 civilization ' has not yet triumphed over Irish virtue ; and to the labourers in the cause of the country and the people it affords a new cause of encouragement and a new guarantee of success. ' 'Tis righteous men shall make our land a nation once again,' sings the poet of Irish nationality ; and in deserving the charac- ter which 4 The Idle Assize ' has obtained for them, our countrymen are showing themselves the possessors of the first essential of freedom." Some Statistics of Progress. 23 Of the health and sanitary state of Ireland ample details are given by the Registrar-General in his quarterly reports and annual returns. The poverty of the people, and the squalid dwellings, still too common, cause epidemic diseases to prevail. Since the famine the sanitary returns have shown constant improvement, but there have been occasional epidemics which have swelled the per-centage of deaths. During last year small-pox and scarlatina were both very fatal in Dublin and other towns, and fevers are always breaking out in various localities. In the reports of local registrars we find frequent entries, such as the following : " The prevalence of epidemic diseases may well be attributed to the extremely filthy condition of the wretched houses of the people, which have been saturated by the rains and the overflowing cesspools by which they are surrounded." "It is a common occurrence to see pigs in the houses of some families, and the registrar has seen in the kitchen of a house the horse standing in one corner and the family eat- ing in another." Manure heaps are common at the doors of the houses of labourers and farmers. Cattle and people often live and sleep in the same apart- ment. There was an article last year in an Ulster paper denying, in a tone of virtuous indignation, some statements that had appeared in an English book about the cabins of the peasantry. It is not worth 24 Ireland in 1872. while quoting either the statements referred to or the northern editors sturdy denial of the facts. I can only say that in various parts of the south and west, last year, I have been in cabins where cow and pig and dog and bipeds, both feathered and unfeathered, were living in contented company. The open door and the wholesome " peat-reek" made the atmosphere less perilous than it might have been ; but the sur- roundings of some of the houses were even worse than the interiors. While such things are not excep- tional but frequent in many parts of Ireland, the wonder is that the registrars' returns are not worse than they are. Too large a per-centage of the deaths are due to " preventible diseases," and we may hope that this excess will be diminished as education in- creases, and as the general civilization of the people advances. In regard to the improved dwellings of the labourers, some interesting facts are included in the Report of the Commissioners of Public Works. Mr. J. Poe, the Inspector for Clare and Tipperary, reports : " The applications for loans for farm buildings have in- creased, and I anticipate a progressive improvement and increase. Loans for building labourers' cottages must become more numerous ; the difficulty of getting labourers even at 50 per cent, advance on the rate of wages paid ten or twelve years since, Some Statistics of Progress. 25 unless suitable habitations are provided for them, will increase every year, and landowners who reside any distance from towns must provide houses for their workmen on their lands, and even with this inducement they do not find it easy to get good men." Mr. W. P. Prendergast, the Inspector for the North- Western district, reports : " The applications for new loans have not been numerous, as owners do not, for the most part, feel disposed to expend money on farms in the hands of tenants, and the greater number of resident landlords in these counties had already improved the land in their own occupation ; but wherever any ground falls under the immediate control of a proprietor, there is ample proof that drainage and other improvements are far better understood than in former years, and that it is not from any objection to the terms of the Acts, or to the regulations of the Board,* that the fund is not more * The Board of Public Works has been in existence since 1 83 1. During forty years upwards of ,£11,000,000 have been advanced for public works, of which about ,£6,000,000 have been repaid, and nearly ,£5, 500,000 remitted, chiefly in times of national distress. In the financial year 1871-72 they made advances amounting to ,£161,202. Of this sum ,£85,500 was advanced to proprietors for improving their estates, under the Land Im- provements Acts, and ,£45,830 to tenant-farmers to enable them to purchase their farms, under the provision of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1870. 26 Ireland in 1872. frequently resorted to. I find in all quarters more attention paid than hitherto to the question of im- proved dwelling-houses and offices for farmers and labourers, and the advance of money at 5 per cent., to clear both principal and interest in thirty-five years, has been considered a most useful and liberal pro- vision. . . . The improvement in all newly-con- structed country dwellings is accompanied by an equally marked change in dress, furniture, and food among the farming classes ; and in the smaller towns, supported altogether by the agricultural population, there are now permanent shops with meat and bread, where such supplies were only to be procured once a week, on market days, when I first acted for the Board in this part of Ireland. The consumption of tea, coffee, and sugar is so much increased in the farming districts that a great portion of labourers' wages is expended on them, and shops with modern imported articles of dress are now well supported in the same towns and villages where no such things were seen prior to the potato failure. New banks have also been established in numerous towns, fre- quented exclusively by farmers, and which have not increased in size, but derive their business from the agricultural profits brought in. The breed of live stock of all kinds — cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry — has vastly improved. Prices for all farming produce, Some Statistics of Progress. 27 especially what is sold by the smaller farmers in this district, such as butter, pigs, eggs, and poultry, have risen so much that the rewards for exertion are felt to be quite different from what were formerly known ; and the use of money is better understood by the rural population, so that while higher wages are demanded than employers ever before paid — and some check is said to be given to works of drainage and land improvement from this cause — it can only be considered as a temporary stoppage, similar to what occurs in manufacturing enterprise." Earl Spencer, in his speech at Belfast, at the Agri- cultural Meeting last August, said that, notwith- standing the unwonted temptation from high prices, the number and value of live stock showed an increase on the previous year, in fact, had reached higher figures than ever before. I noted the remark specially, from the statement being an unexpected one. Shortly before, I had been talking to a farmer about the high prices horses were fetching : " There is not a horse left in the country," was his answer, in Hibernian exaggeration. " Oh, but you will breed plenty more, with such a demand." " Sure, they've taken over the brood mares, too," he replied. Judging by prices, and the numbers constantly bought for Eng- land and the Continent, I fancied that the farmer's broad assertion implied a great diminution in number. 28 Ireland in 1872. But Lord Spencer was speaking by the book, for, ac- cording to the Report of the Irish Registrar-General, there were actually 2,250 more horses in the country than at the corresponding time of 1871. The esti- mated value of the horses in Ireland is not far short of five millions sterling. With the exception of pigs, of which there was a slight decrease of number, due probably to the lessened population, there was an increase in every other live stock. The increase in cattle was 80,250 over 1871, and the increase of esti- mated value £52 1,625. The total value of Irish cattle was set down by the Registrar, for 1872, at £26,368,045, but this is much below the real amount, as the value is still taken the same as thirty years ago, " in order to facilitate comparison." In Thorn's Statistical Directory the value is given, for 1871, at £35,114,828. The increase of value of all live stock, cattle, sheep, and pigs, has been rising steadily ever since 1865, when it was estimated at £41,278,331. In 1868 it was £44,234,313, and in 1871, £4 6 >955>5 2 9- There is scarcely a single department of Irish statistics which does not afford similar proof of pro- gress. The average amount of property which paid duty on passing under probate and administration, annually, during the years 1846- 1 8 50, was £2,534,61 1 ; during the years 1856-1860 it was £4,222,395; in 187 1 it was £5,014,795. Some Statistics of Progress. 29 I reserve for separate consideration the most im- portant of all conditions of progress — those of edu- cation and of religion. The few facts cited in the present chapter are only connected with the domain of civil government and political economy, with things common to countries Catholic or Protestant, Pagan or Christian. Law, police, public health, dwellings, food, property, and all such matters, can be tabulated in statistics, and show progress, or the reverse, without looking closely at the political, still less the religious life of a nation. The connection between the material and moral condition is important, but these can be viewed separately, and are so viewed generally by the mere statistical reporter and political economist. Looking at the records of all that is commonly taken to constitute " the wealth of nations," the condition of the country is good and hopeful. No one who visits Ireland after a few years' absence will hesitate to admit that there has been improvement. The report will be most favourable from superficial observers or holiday tourists. Leaving London in the morning by the North-Western Irish express, and making a swift passage in the splendid Holyhead boats, it is pleasant to arrive the same evening at the Gresham, or the Shelburne, or other of the comfortable hotels for which Dublin is famous. To any part of the island the railways convey us with as much com- 30 Irela7id in 1872. fort as on the best English lines. At the remotest towns and villages the post arrives with laudable regularity, and the electric-telegraph wires reach to every corner where there are English-speaking inhabit- ants. At the railway stations there are bookstalls, with newspapers and miscellaneous literature ; and the traveller, whether commercial or non-commercial, will notice no great differences from what he has been accustomed to in provincial journeys in England. In some things, and these not unimportant — such as police, primary schools, workhouse buildings and management — he will even be forced to admit supe- riority in Ireland. If he asks no questions about church and chapel, and reads no local newspapers, he would hardly feel that he was in a strange country, and cannot realize all he has heard about Irish wrongs and Irish wretchedness, and about the hopeless difficulty of governing a country apparently so civilized and prosperous. CHAPTER III. PARADOXES AND PROBLEMS. Analysis of Irish Progress — Is it Chiefly Imperial or National? — Improvement rather of the Country than of the People — The True Key to the "Irish Difficulty." HITHERTO we have been looking at the brighter side of the " Condition of Ireland " question. If satisfied with this surface view, it would prove as delusive as the treacherous verdure that clothes some of the horrible bog-holes in the " green island." These external signs of civilization attest the improvement of the country more than of the people. Ireland has shared and is sharing the prosperity of Great Britain, to which it is united. It is not by Irish enterprise and Irish money alone, that those roads and docks, rail- ways and telegraphs, schools and poor-houses, and other visible works of civilization, have been planned and constructed. To British capital and British enterprise more is due than Irishmen care to admit, though of late years they have borne their share in the patriotic work. The names of Dargan and Guinness, 3^ Ireland in 1872. and many more, may be bracketed with the most enterprising and liberal strangers who have risked their capital, whether in land or manufactures or commerce. In the country especially, Irish and English proprietors appear in the honourable rivalry of agriculture. The old generation of landlords, most of them absentees or oppressors, has given place to men many of whom understand that " property has its duties as well as its rights," and who possess land on other conditions than extorting as much money as possible, to be spent out of the country. Good land- lords make good tenants, as good masters make good servants, and the improvement tells upon the labourers, who are now getting higher wages and better employ- ment, and live in greater comfort than at any former time. But still, the improvement of which we have been speaking is chiefly material and external. Even in regard to Dr. Hancock's wonderful statistics, we cannot tell how much is due to improved law and police, to prosperous conditions in agriculture and trade, and other temporary and mutable causes. The strange social phenomenon of Ireland is, that under or alongside of the prosperity which everyone observes, there is a mass of poverty and mendicancy, of wretchedness and discontent, upon which the progress of the country seems to make little or no Paradoxes and Problems. 33 impression. The people may be peaceable and law- obeying one year, and the next there may be a new Irish insurrection. Agrarian outrages may be reported as few, but the next season may require an Arms Act, or Peace Preservation Act, in several counties. With all their fine natural qualities and their quick wit, the people in the largest part of the island are the slaves of the grossest superstition, and are as backward as in the least advanced countries of southern Europe. Ireland is peaceful : yet nearly a fifth of the British army has to be quartered there, as in a hostile country. Ireland is loyal : yet it sometimes returns as members of Parliament disloyal traitors and even convicted felons, as a defiance and insult to the English nation. Ireland is entering upon a social millennium, if we are to believe Dr. Hancock's statistics : yet there seems little abatement of rags and wretchedness, of ignorance and superstition. Ireland is prosperous : yet it remains the difficulty and the despair of British statesmen. How are these paradoxes to be explained ? How can we reconcile the reports of progress, with the facts of social disorder and of political dis- affection ? 3 34 Ireland in 1872. There are other questions still more perplexing. What becomes of the vast multitudes of Irish youths who pass through the National Schools ? Many- have emigrated, and it is to be hoped have bene- fited by their education. But how is it that so few out of the hundreds of thousands of Catholics go on to intermediate schools, far less to Col- lege ? They mostly belong to the poor classes, and it might be said that chill penury represses the " noble rage " and laudable ambition of scholarship. But this is not the case in Scotland or in Prussia, where a large number of the poorest lads work their way to a higher education. The truth is, that in all those parts of the country where Romanism prevails, education ends with what is obtained in the National Schools. They get the three R.'s — reading, writing, and arithmetic ; or rather the four R.'s, religion of a sort being appended. Until the new agitation began about a Roman Catholic University, there was no attempt to obtain for the people any higher educa- tion. In fact, Cardinal Cullen not long since told the Royal Education Commissioners, that " the poor ought to be educated with a view to the place they hold in society. Too high an education will make them oftentimes discontented. " No wonder the mass of the people are left ignorant and untrained, the Paradoxes a?id Problems. 35 ready prey of priestly deluders and political agi- tators. " Hereditary bondsmen ! know ye not Who would be free, himself must strike the blow ? " This was one of O'Connell's favourite appeals ; but he did not tell his poor dupes that the chains to be struck off were not those of " Saxon oppressors/' but the chains of ignorance and superstition, and other evils which enslaved their spirits. A more recent political leader, John Francis Maguire, had the courage to speak on one occasion some words worth recalling, now that he is gone and his memory is held in respect. It was when inaugurating the Cork In- dustrial Exhibition. " Let industry," he said, " be preached as a new gospel to the Irish people, by word, by example, by influence, so that it may reach the hearts and understandings of young and old, and drive into the sea the twin devils of idleness and mendicancy, which have long possessed a noble but afflicted nation." Poor Maguire ! he gave the best advice he could in those days, but he was only a blind leader of the blind. He did not see that idle- ness and mendicancy are only among the many evil fruits springing from the same bitter root — evils which have degraded Spain and other " noble but afflicted nations " to the same level as Ireland. 36 Ireland in 1872. It was to the prince of agitators, Daniel O'Connell, that Sydney Smith said, " What trash to be bawling in the streets about ' the Green Isle,' 1 the Isle of the Ocean/ the bold anthem of 1 Erin-go-Bragh 9 ! A far better anthem would be 4 Erin go bread and cheese/ 1 Erin go cabins that will keep out the rain/ 1 Erin go pantaloons without holes in them.'" The people must help themselves, and not be always calling on others to help them. "A stout constable, an honest justice, a clear highway, and a free chapel " — these are some of the things that Government can secure, and has secured for Ireland. Sydney Smith was one of the most earnest and eloquent advocates of Catholic emancipation. He was not a man of deep feeling on matters of religion, and his one grand panacea for securing peace was the endowment of the Romish priests. But when he was considering the influence of that Church on the condition of the people, here is his deliberate and clearly-expressed judgment : "The Catholic religion contributes to the back- wardness and barbarism of Ireland. The debasing superstition, childish ceremonies, and the profound submission to the priesthood which it teaches, all tend to darken men's minds, to impede the progress of knowledge and inquiry, and to prevent Ireland from becoming as free, as powerful, and as rich as the sister kingdom." Paradoxes and Problems. 37 This is the true key to "the Irish difficulty." But before entering into the subject which it opens up, let us dispose of some other questions which bear upon the condition of Ireland, CHAPTER IV. DECREASE OE POPULATION. EMIGRATION. Census Returns — Depopulation — Subdivision of Land — Small Pro- prietors — The Irish in England — Emigration to America. r T > HE decrease of population at first glance seems A at variance with the alleged prosperity of Ire- land. It is disheartening to look at the population returns in every census return since 1841. The total * of Ireland in that year was 8,196,567. The estimated population at Midsummer, 1845, was 8,295,061, the highest reached. In 185 1 it was 6,574,278 ; in 1 861 , 5,798,967 ; in 1 87 1, on the census-night, April 2nd, 5,402,795. The decrease between 1861 and 1871 has been, in every province, in the following ratio : in Leinster, 8*35 per cent. ; in Munster, 8*14; in Ulster, 4*38 ; in Connaught, 6*83. The population of the four provinces in 1871 stood thus : Leinster, 1,335,960; Munster, 1,390,402 ; Ulster, 1,830,398 ; Connaught, 845,913. The only county in all Ireland showing an increase since last census is Antrim, the population of which rose from 378,588 in Decrease of Population, Emigration, 39 1861 to 419,782, an increase of 41,194. In each of the thirty-one remaining counties there has been decrease. From the town returns I select the follow- ing items: Belfast rose from 121,602 to 174,394, or 43*41 percent. ; Londonderry (city) rose from 20,873 to 25,242, or 20*92 per cent. ; Carrickfergus shows an increase of thirty persons ; Waterford an increase of forty, probably from the steam line to Milford Haven. The Dublin suburban townships showed an increase of 4,459, or 2 '%7 P er cent. ; but Dublin city a decrease of above 9,000, or 3*50 per cent. Almost every town and county in Ireland showed de- crease. It is sad to see everywhere the deserted villages, and ruined homesteads, and roofless cabins. But these ruined houses are in reality marks of the country's progress, as much as the ruined castles and fortresses are marks of the " bad old times " which have passed away. In the times when " every rood of ground maintained its man" it was a poor and precarious maintenance at the best, and always on the verge of starvation by famine, which did come at last. The emigration, which then began to flow in earnest, saved the country. The famine year, with all its calamities, has proved the dawn of a better era, and that by com- pelling the "depopulation," of which Oliver Gold- mith spoke sentimentally in the Dedication to Sir 4Q Ireland in 1872. Joshua Reynolds of his "Deserted Village." Not many years ago Mr. Gladstone expressed his anxiety to get rid of u the frightful and monstrous evil of emigration." He knew as little about the matter when he said that, as the poet did. " To com- plain of emigration, and to endeavour to devise some means which shall induce the peasant to struggle against nature, to toil on in improving barren surface, where his earnings will be perhaps a few pence a day, while he is within a short sail of a country where he can earn five shillings, is surely sadly to mislead him." These are the words of the late Earl of Rosse, one of the wisest and best friends of the Irish peasantry. In the same pamphlet where they occur, Lord Rosse combats the speculations of Mr. John Stuart Mill in favour of multiplying peasant proprietors. In the Channel Islands, to which Mr. Mill pointed as a " crucial instance," Lord Rosse found that his state- ments were wholly erroneous. "The agriculture of the islands maintains," Mr. Mill had said, " besides culti- vators, non-agricultural populations, respectively four and five times as dense as those of Great Britain." Lord Rosse went to examine for himself, and found this statement directly contrary to fact. There is a very large importation into the islands of wheat, cattle, and sheep. "So soon," he says, "are fables dissipated by statistics," Decrease of Population. Emigration. 41 Of the impossibility of raising wages without dimi- nution of population, and the possibility of this being made plain to the labourers, an amusing illustration is given in Mr. Nassau Senior's " Irish Journals." " When I began to reclaim my mountain farm, I employed 100 men, at wages varying from 8d. to is. a day, the average being iod., and the weekly ex- penditure £25. After this had gone on for about three months, my clerk wrote to me in Tipperary, where I was staying on business, that the men had struck, and demanded that the minimum payment should be is. 2d. a day, and that the wages of the better men should be raised in proportion. We were in a critical period of the work, and my clerk thought the matter serious. In my answer I said to him, ' I am ready to accede to the men's demands. I am willing to give a minimum price of is. 2d. and a maximum price of 3s. a day. Of course, at that rate of wages I cannot continue my present expenditure. You will reduce it to £12 10s. a w r eek. You will select the best men, beginning by the highest wages. In this matter you will follow out, not your own opinion, but my instructions, and you will read this letter to the men.' The men assembled next day to hear my answer. It was read to them, and highly approved. My clerk then said, 1 Now, boys, I must choose my men/ and he began by selecting a dozen of the best. 42 Ireland in 1872. 1 And what wages must you have V he asked. 4 Oh ! 1 they said, 1 we'll take the top price, the 3s. 1 1 Very well/ he answered, '18s. a week for 12 men makes £S 8s. a week ; there is only £4 2s. left of the £12 10s. ; at that rate I can only have four more; then there will remain 10s. for one other. I can, therefore, take 17 of you ; the remaining 83 may go.' This did not suit the 83. They began to talk together in knots, to abuse the greediness of those who had demanded 3s., to threaten to break their heads — first, if they took more than is. 6d., then if they took more than their minimum of is. 2d., and at last, finding that even at that price more than half of them would be thrown out of employ, they broke up their combi- nation and returned to work at the old prices. 1 The master,' they said, * is too many for us.' " Nothing but emigration can meet a state of things like this. The multiplication of peasant proprietors, as proposed by Mr. Stuart Mill and, partly, by Mr. Bright, would not lessen but rather increase the pres- sure. The country is overpeopled still not only in the ratio of cultivators to the land under cultivation, but in a more extended sense in the ratio of population to capital. This necessary capital is what small tenants cannot bring. The subdivision of land into a multi- tude of small holdings has been the most serious hindrance to agricultural progress. Tenants have Dec?rase of Population. Emigration. 43 rarely been able to do more than subsist, nor has there been often inducement to better farming, as improvement would only involve increase of rent from the exacting middlemen or agents. Having no money to start the sons as they grow up, or to portion the daughters, a patch of ground was given to them. The result has been calamitous. A teeming popula- tion sprang up, living a mere animal life, in sordid contentment while food could be obtained to hold body and soul together, but left in helpless misery when the potato famine came. The moral and social evils of these small tenures were worse if possible than the physical. There was no effort at improve- ment, but the old squalid mode of living continued. No prosperous, independent yeoman class could exist, and the grinding middlemen formed the only link between the gentry and the peasantry. The blame of this subdivision is not to be wholly laid 'on the poverty or improvidence of the people. The pros- perity of some of the finest districts in Ireland was crushed by the political ambition of the landowners. To obtain votes for Parliament, a miserable race of freeholders was created. The qualification of a free- holder was an interest in property for life, to the annual amount of forty shillings. To get rid of the small holdings has been always a necessary step towards any improvement of property, and this was 44 Ireland in 1872. possible on a large scale after the famine, when the poor tenants were glad to emigrate in order to flee from fever and death. A letter of Mr. Cobden, written nine or ten years ago, has been lately republished by Mr. Bright, which raises the often-discussed question of great or small holdings of land. The occasion of the letter being first written was a speech of the Hon. Wm. Cowper, at Romsey, who had said that to make labourers the owners of land would be a retrograde movement in agriculture. " The great progress in agriculture of late years has been due to the concentration and application of capital to an amount of land which is sufficient to justify the favourable employment of the capital ; and it would be going back to times of less prosperity — it would be following the example of countries less prosperous than England in agriculture, if we were to aim at such an absurd and impossible object." Lord Palmerston gave utterance to similar opinions in the House of Commons, and deprecated any change which should reduce the occupiers of the Irish soil to the condition of the French peasant pro- prietors. It was this position which Mr. Cobden set himself to assail. He began with a sentence from Niebuhr, who says, " All ancient legislators, especially Moses, grounded the success of their ordinances con- cerning virtue, justice, and morality upon securing Decrease of Population. Emigration. 45 hereditary estates, or at least, landed property, to the greatest possible number of citizens." Mr. Cobden affirms that, " on the moral aspect of the question, it is indisputable, that the possession of landed property by a body of men imparts a higher sense of indepen- dence and security, greater self-respect, and supplies stronger motives for industry, frugality, and forethought, than any other kind of property." Passing to the economical view of the question, Mr. Cobden quotes many French authorities, and especially M. Passy, peer of France under Louis Philippe, and afterwards Minister of Finance. M. Passy affirms that the sub- division of land, as practically carried out in France, has been exaggerated and even caricatured in English descriptions of the system ; that the landed properties are not increasing in proportion to the population ; that arrangements are generally made in a family, on the death of a proprietor, by which the land is not subdivided, at all events to an extent that would be wasteful and thriftless. Within this limit, M. Passy affirms that the system of small farms, la petite culture, yields the greatest produce, and is on the whole to be preferred on economical as well as on moral grounds. Mr. Cobden* quotes, besides M. Passy, the testimonies * Mr. Cobden's letter was printed in the Times and Daily News of January 7 of this year. 4 6 Ireland in 1S72. of M. de Tocqueville, the Duke de Broglie, and M. de Lavergne. Dr. Chalmers went to France prejudiced by Mr. McCulloch's predilections against the division of landed property, but his views were modified after his conversations with M. de Broglie. An American special commissioner, Professor Coleman of Massa- chusetts, also gave a good report, though he had thought he should find nothing in French agriculture worthy of much attention. But Mr. Cobden lays most stress on the work of M. Leonce de Lavergne " On the Rural Economy of France since 1789." Consider- ing all the terrible catastrophes and revolutions of France, and the enormous disadvantages in every way, it i« wonderful how the peasantry can bear any comparison with that of England on economical ground. Yet they are certainly as industrious and frugal, as temperate and peaceable as our peasantry. And small farms do pay, not in France alone, but in Flanders, Switzerland, and many parts of the Conti- nent. Small proprietors need not imply what is un- derstood by small farming. By co-operation, several neighbouring proprietors may purchase or may hire the expensive machinery which it is supposed only larger farmers can make use of. There is no reason why lesser machines than the steam-plough or the threshing-machine should not be used by several far- mers. The principle of association is applied in Decrease of Population. Emigration. 47 cheese-making and other branches of agriculture on the Continent, and if brought into play in England or Ireland, would remove the theoretical objections to small proprietorships. Whatever may be the result of the discussion on grounds of agricultural progress and political economy, there is much to be said on moral and social grounds for the small farm system. In the days when there were ten farmers in a parish where now there is only one, they lived respectably, maintained their families decently, and inured them to habits of industry. If they grew less corn they reared more stock, and the supply of poultry, butter, and other produce was more plentiful than it is now. The opportunities are fewer now-a-days for a young industrious couple to stock a small farm, and bring up a family, with com- fort and independence. A check is thus put upon matrimony, and temptation to licentiousness increased. A broader separation has also taken place between farmers and labourers, who on small farms used to work together. The English farm-labourers are often merely hirelings, little above the condition of serfs, earning hardly enough to keep body and soul together. The farmers have too much abandoned their old thrifty, frugal ways, and as for the sons and the daughters of farmers, their education, dress, habits, and ways are as much removed from those of other 48 Irela?id in 1872. days, as is their position in the political system. They are often as much the servile dependents of the great landowners as are the liveried servants at the Hall, while to the poor clodhopper labourers they are obliged to be hard taskmasters. Where are the representatives of the independent freeholders of other days? or of the sturdy yeomen-farmers of the English Commonwealth ? In the New England States the yeomen-farmers are the strength of the commonwealth, and an increase in the number and influence of the rural middle-class — yeomen free- holders, not mere u peasant proprietors," would be an immense gain both in Great Britain and in Ireland. Much has been said about Irish emigration to America and to our colonies, but the emigration to England and Scotland has been also of enormous extent. The Irish population of Manchester, Liver- pool, Glasgow, and other great towns, with London, amounts to some millions. A large proportion of them are quiet, hardworking, and respectable. They form the bulk of the lower grades of workmen in the building trades and other large branches of labour, and a large proportion of the inferior class of domestic servants are Irish girls. The number of Roman Catholic priests and chapels in all the large towns of England, especially in the great manufacturing Decrease of Population. E?7tigration. 49 centres, bears testimony to the general character of these strangers. We may not approve their kind of religion, but the fact of their supporting so many priests and churches is evidence of their desire to do well, and of their respect for what they think good, even if it be zeal without knowledge. In any case, superstition is more worthy of respect than infidelity. It is not among the Irish so much as among the English that absolute heathenism, with its attendant brutal vices, is to be found. The proportion of Irish working men who attend and contribute to the support of places of worship is, I believe, as large as of English working men of the same class. Any one who has witnessed the annual procession of the Catholic school children in Manchester at Whitsun- tide, and the crowds of parents and friends of the poor children who line the streets on that holiday, will speak with respect of the industrious portion of the Irish population of Manchester. And this is a pattern of what is going on in all the large towns, in the way of educating the young, and of saving the adult population from the debasing influences to which the poor in such localities are exposed. At the same time, it must be admitted that in all these large towns there are dens of wretchedness and vice, which present the worst features of Irish character. The lowest district is generally that where the Irish 4 5° herd together. Every town has its named or unnamed quarter, notorious like the Seven Dials in London, the Cowgate in Edinburgh, and the Five Points in New York. A police magistrate, trying an assault case last summer in Manchester, took occasion to remark- that the worst cases of the kind were those in which the Irish were concerned, and added that something should be done to bring them into a state of civiliza- tion. These remarks drew out much protest from the Manchester Irish, who affirmed that the worst classes of crime are those with which Englishmen are con- cerned. This may be true ; but it would be pushing patriotism to the verge of folly to deny that there is much in the condition of the Irish, in the great towns of England and Scotland, to cause sadness of heart. Intemperance is the chief bane and curse of the Irish labourers. The increase of wages obtained for work in England brings temptation. Adult men seldom change their habits and ordinary cost of living. A labourer who in Ireland made three shillings a day and lived on it, gets four shillings in England and lives on three. What does he do with the odd shilling ? Very few put it by for a rainy day. It is spent in drink ; and when a colony of Irishmen, in a street or court, spend their surplus earnings in drink, there is a scone of violence and madness which brings trouble and disgrace, poverty and disease. One of the Irish Decrease of Population. Emigration. 51 journalists commenting on the Manchester magistrate's charge in that assault case, gives wholesome advice to his countrymen. " Of all races that ever existed, the Irish is the one which ought most carefully to avoid heating with stimulants an already too' mercurial temperament. To the Irishman at home, drink is a curse ; to the Irishman abroad, drink is absolute ruin. Go to America, to England, to Scotland, to any part of the world, you will find there two classes of Irishmen — one is the sober Irishman, happy and prosperous, an honour to the land of his birth, an ornament and prop to the land of his adoption ; the other is the drunken Irishman, a pest and a disgrace. If the emigrating Irishman had one grain of sense he would, as the hills of his native land fade on the distant horizon, fall upon his knees and swear never to taste drink again. But for this one horrible vice the Irish would be among the purest and noblest peoples of the world. But intemperance obliterates their good qualities, and turns their virtues into vices ; converting generosity into folly, courage into com- bativeness, and high spirit into insane absurdity." The emigrants who go to America, and pass on beyond the great seaboard cities, are far more pro- tected from this temptation, for the habits of the working classes in the United States are not so sottish as in England. In New York and some other large 52 Ireland in 1872. towns there is plenty of intemperance ; but the majority of emigrants are fit for agricultural work, and get to situations where they soon attain a comfort and prosperity undreamed of at home. The large sums of money transmitted to Ireland to fetch out their relatives and friends is a pleasing and practical attestation of this. They get free education for their children also, and many of them become prosperous American citizens, They become so prosperous that the priests hasten after them in increasing numbers. It used to be said that half the Irish who settled in the States were lost to the Church of Rome. It is not so now, so much the worse for them, as they are more sharply followed and "shepherded" by the well- organized Popish agencies. CHAPTER V. ABSENTEEISM. Edgeworthstown — Statistics of Absenteeism — The Times on BSENTEEISM has always been one of the stock •* grievances of Ireland. Dean Swift used to in- veigh against the evil, asserting that a full third of the rental of Ireland was transmitted to landlords resi- dent in England, besides large sums carried out of the country by other Irishmen of the upper classes. From the time of Sir William Petty to that of Arthur Young, Absenteeism was always prominent in every report of "the condition of Ireland." In the year 1730 a list of absentees was published, giving the yearly value of their estates and incomes spent out of the country. Other lists, both general and local, were from time to time published. While the penal laws were in force, and while the country continued in chronic disorder and disturbance, there was much excuse for English proprietors, who declined to risk their own lives and the lives of those dear to them by residing on their Irish estates. Absenteeism. 54 That these fears were often groundless, the experi- ence of such landlords as Richard Lovell Edge*- worth demonstrated. A touching memorial of this is given by Maria Edgeworth in her memoir of her father, in which she describes the results of his life at Edgworthstown. When Mr. Edgeworth closed his own too brief autobiography, his accomplished daughter thus commenced her portion of the memoir : "With the manuscript of my father's memoirs I found, on the next page to that where his narrative broke off, in his handwriting, the following memorandum : * In the year 1782 I returned to Ireland, with a firm de- termination to dedicate the remainder of my life to the improvement of my estate, and to the education of my children ; and further, with the sincere hope of contributing to the melioration of the inhabitants of the country from which I drew my subsistence.'" In the thirty-five years that remained of his life Mr. Edge- worth had many difficulties to meet, and witnessed perilous times, but his patriotic spirit and lofty sense of duty found ample reward in the end. u As he ad- vanced in years," says Miss Edgeworth, " my father had the very great satisfaction of seeing himself sur- rounded by a respectable, independent, attached, grateful tenantry. He endeavoured to be of use not only to his tenantry, but to all within his influence as a country gentleman ; not merely relieving the wants Absenteeism. 55 of the poor, but by protecting them as a magistrate from injustice and oppression, by instructing them as to their real interests, showing them the consequences of their bad habits, and exciting and encouraging them by approbation and assistance to improve. In this point of view his residence in Ireland succeeded beyond his hopes .... The residence of well-edu- cated landed proprietors contributed to improve not only the pecuniary circumstances, prudence, and moral conduct of the lower classes, but refined and elevated the tastes and manners of all the middle and interme- diate classes of gentry. In the course of a quarter of a century, even in our own memory and observation, in our own county and neighbourhood, the whole style and tone of society altered. The fashion has passed away of those desperately tiresome, long, formal dinners, which were given two or three times a year by each family in the country to their neighbours ; where the company had more than they could eat, and twenty times more than they should drink ; when the gentle- men could talk only of claret, horses, or dogs, and the ladies only of dress or scandal ; so that in the long hours when they were left to their own discretion, after having examined and appraised each others finery, many an absent neighbours character was torn in pieces merely for want of something to say or do in the stupid circle. But now the gentlemen and ladies 5& Ireland t?i 1872. are not separated from the time dinner ends till the midnight hour, when the carriages came to the door to carry off the bodies of the dead ; or, till, just sense enough being left to find their way straight to the tea- table, the gentlemen could only swallow a hasty cup of cold coffee or stewed tea, and be carried off by their sleepy wives, happy if the power of reproach were lost in fatigue. " No doubt in other parts of Ireland where gentry have settled, similar improvements in society have appeared. The residence of great English landed proprietors, wherever it has been, must have operated advantageously, by bringing to Ireland, by their in- termarrying and wide-spread connexions, numerous visitors, and increasing the much-wanted reciprocal knowledge of each other in both countries." The changes described by Miss Edgeworth have in- creased immensely in these later times of ready com- munication between the two countries. The two nations are now even more united by social than by political ties, and the habits and modes of life in the upper classes are the same in all parts of the kingdom. Irish absenteeism, however, is still sometimes a topic of unmeasured censure and popular declama- tion. An official return, recently laid before the House of Commons, gives authentic and accurate Absenteeism. 57 information as to the owners and occupiers of land in each province, and county by county. It was pre- pared in 1 870, when the Government was collecting evidence on everything directly bearing on the land question, and was based on the valuation-books of 1869. The inquiry did not include the holdings of property in cities, towns, or townships, but showed the nature, extent, and value of the property held in the rural districts over all Ireland. The facts as to residence and absenteeism were obtained by the poor- law department of the Irish Government, from in- formation supplied by clerks of unions, poor-rate collectors, and other persons possessing local know- ledge. No return has equalled this in completeness and accuracy. The total number of proprietors, holding in fee- simple, in perpetuity, or on long leases at chief rents, was 19,547. Their holdings amounted to 20,046,182 statute acres, and the valuation of the property was ^"10,180,434. Of these 19,547 rural or landed pro- prietors 5,892, holding 236,873 acres, of the value of ,£257,100, held less than 100 acres each. Those having 100 acres and upwards were 13,565 in number, and they held 19,809,309 acres, the valuation of which was £99 2 >334. Now, as to the statistics of residence or absenteeism. Of the whole proprietors, the vast bulk of the holders 58 Ireland in 1872. of less than 100 acres, nearly six thousand in number, are resident. Of the remaining 13,565, it is known that 5,589 are resident on or near their estates. There are also 4,465 proprietors of 100 acres and upwards who reside constantly in Ireland, though not on their estates, and 377 who usually reside elsewhere in Ireland, and occasionally on their estates. Only 180 are returned as "resident usually out of Ireland, but occasionally on the property." These 180 con- stitute less than one-hundredth of the whole Irish proprietary, though owning between them nearly one-fifteenth of the whole acreage. Those M rarely or never resident in Ireland" are stated at 1,443 — between one-thirteenth and one-fourteenth of the whole number, but owning together between one- sixth and one-seventh of the whole acreage. More than half a million acres belong to 161 "public or charitable institutions or public companies " (as the London city companies, colleges, schools, and various corporations) ; a somewhat larger amount belongs to owners " not ascertained ; " and nearly half a million to the six thousand proprietors of properties under 100 acres. Comparing the classes as returned, we find that constant residents are nearly four times as numerous as constant absentees, while they own nearly thrice as much property in area, and above thrice in value. But this fact by no means represents the real Absenteeism. 59 preponderance of proprietors resident in Ireland over absentees, properly so called, spending their money out of the country. There remains to be added for this purpose the large class of Irish proprietors who do not live, indeed, on their properties, but in Dublin or elsewhere in Ireland, falling short of the actual residents by one-fifth only in number, and owning nearly half as much land in area and value. If these be taken into the account, and if Swift's computation be accepted as fairly accurate for his own time, we must needs infer that a vast abatement has taken place in the list of Irish absenteeism. Instead of one- third of the Irish rental going directly into the pockets of "perpetual absentees," never to come back in any shape, it is here clearly shown that little more than one-seventh is thus absorbed, of which it is certain that a very large part is sent back to Ireland to be spent in improvements and otherwise for the benefit of the country. Even if absentees who occasionally reside, and corporations be thrown into the same category, absenteeism cannot be made accountable for so much as a quarter of the Irish rental, and no one who knows Ireland will deny that among the former, at all events, are some of her best landlords and greatest benefac- tors. Such examples will occur as the Duke of Devon- shire and the Marquis of Lansdowne. Nor do we think of absenteeism in connection with statesmen like 6o Ireland in 1872. the late EarlDerby or Lord Palmerston,who had higher duties to perform than those of resident landlords. "We may still," says the Times, commenting on this statistical return, " conclude with some confidence that Irish absenteeism has not increased, but, on the contrary, has rather diminished, since the Union. There is reason to believe that, on the whole, the Encumbered and Landed Estates Courts have pro- moted the substitution of resident for non-resident proprietors. Whether the Land Act will have the same tendency, by encouraging tenant farmers to bid for estates on sale, or will have the opposite tendency, by weakening a landlord's motives for residing on his property, it is as yet impossible to foresee. However this may be, what cannot be denied, and ought not to be forgotten, is that absenteeism, if it is not so enor- mous and crying an evil as in the last century, is still, as it has ever been, one of the main obstacles to the prosperity of Ireland. In Great Britain, and espe- cially in Scotland, where it has become much too common, its evil effects are mitigated by the inde- pendent spirit of the people. In Ireland there is nothing to supply the place of a resident landlord's example and- influence, yet, by a strange fatality, the very circumstances which make this so necessary to the island are the immediate cause of absenteeism. Berkeley asks, in his pregnant style, 1 whether a gen- Absenteeis?n. 61 tleman who hath seen a little of the world, and ob- served how men live elsewhere, can contentedly sit down in a cold, damp, sordid habitation, in the midst of a bleak country inhabited by thieves and beggars.' After making due allowance for a marked advance in Irish civilization since Berkeley's age, which, however, is partly compensated by a corresponding advance in the Irish squire's notions of comfort, this question of Berkeley's might be put with equal propriety at the present day. The simple reason why so many Irish proprietors reside in England or on the Continent is that life is there more agreeable, more stirring, and, we must add, more secure. In the early part of George III.'s reign it was actually proposed by the Government to counteract the force of this gravitation eastward, by levying a tax of two shillings in the pound on the net income of all Irish landlords who should not reside at least half the year in the island. No one would now venture to revive such a proposal, and it is more than doubtful whether the tenant farmers, on a property like that of Lord Fitzwilliam or Lord Devon, would gain by the forced sale of it to a Dublin landjobber, equally non-resident, but far less generous and indulgent, " There is, in fact, no heroic or summary remedy for absenteeism, and though home rule might induce some English noblemen to sell their Irish estates, it 62 Ireland in 1872. could not compel the new purchasers to reside upon them, or to abstain from putting them, after the manner of old Irish families, into the hands of middle- men. The agrarian outrages which have so long dis- graced Westmeath, and the political terrorism recently exercised by priest-led mobs in Galway, exemplify the causes which swell the number of proprietors \ rarely or never resident in Ireland.' After the Galway election a Roman Catholic gentleman of ancient Irish lineage, whose life had been threatened, signified his intention of leaving the country, and who can blame him if he carries out his resolve ? Yet his departure will close one hospitable mansion, and thereby render the neighbourhood less attractive to others, besides involving a direct loss of employment and custom. Those who aspire to guide popular opinion in Ireland will do well to reflect on such con- siderations as these, Of course it is possible that Ireland is destined to become a community of small proprietors, with no landed aristocracy and few capi- talist manufacturers. In that case it will probably exhibit the nearest approach yet realized to what economists call * the stationary state.' In any other case a resident gentry may be of the utmost service in the social regeneration of Ireland, and no Irishman deserves well of his country who seeks to make the position of a resident gentry less enviable/' CHAPTER VI. VISIT TO MR. BIANCONI. Mr. Bianconi's History —Seventy Years' Recollections — Bianconi's NE of the most satisfactory pages in my Irish V-/ notebook is that which records a visit paid to Mr. Charles Bianconi, at Longfield in Tipperary. His name is familiar in connection with the public car service which he organized and long conducted, but it may not be known to many English readers that he is proprietor of a fine estate, one of the best of landlords, a capital farmer, and a much-respected magistrate. I had on several occasions corresponded with him, and was glad of the opportunity of seeing him in his own home and amongst his prosperous tenantry. He is now in his 87th year. He was born at Tregolo in northern Italy, Sept. 20, 1786, and came to Ireland in 1802. From an accident a few years ago he is lame, but otherwise in excellent health, with memory clear and intellect vigorous. In all that concerns the welfare of his adopted country Cars — Irish Travelling. 6 4 Ireland in 1872. he takes the most lively interest. It was truly a treat to converse with a man who has such large know- ledge and experience, and who has witnessed the progress of Ireland during the last seventy years of its eventful annals. A brief narrative of the career and public life of Mr. Bianconi will be accepted not only as an inte- resting piece of biography, but as throwing light on the history and the condition of Ireland. He allowed me to read a manuscript memoir of the early incidents of his life, which he had drawn up at the request of Mr. Drummond, whose intimate friendship he enjoyed. Mr. Drummond was one of the best of Irish secretaries, an enlightened statesman, and a warm friend to Ireland. He knew how to appreciate a man like Mr. Bianconi, and often took advantage of the infor- mation and advice which he was able to give. I urged Mr. Bianconi to publish this autobiography, but he declines on the ground that it touches on too many personal matters, and refers to persons whose descen- dants or relations might take offence, and because " we are yet too little removed from the dark penal times." I must therefore confine my narrative to matters which are of public notoriety, and of which Mr. Bianconi has himself given account. In 1843 he read a short paper at the Cork meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He read Visit to Mr. Bianconi. 65 a second paper at the Dublin meeting in 1857; and in 1 86 1 a third paper at the Dublin meeting of the Social Science Association. While these papers chiefly related to his coach and car establishment, incidentally many points were introduced which illustrate the social condition of the country. They have been printed in the proceedings of the Associa- tions, but the substance of them with some charac- teristic extracts may here attract the notice of new readers. Let me first give a short notice of Mr. Bianconi's early life, as he narrated it to me, so far as needful to explain the commencement of the enterprise which made his name famous. He was born, as has been stated, in a village in north Italy, not far from the Lake Como. His father was a small proprietor. He had an uncle, an ecclesiastic, who directed his early education. At school he showed little brilliancy, was rather counted dull, but was well grown, and a bold, active boy. In those times the conscription was severe, and youths were in danger even when begin- ning their teens. His father and two neighbours, in order to save their sons from service and death in the wars, determined to send them to England. A friend arranged this, and young Bianconi and three other youths were shipped for England. He had with him an introduction to the elder Colnaghi the publisher. 5 66 Ireland in 1872 But instead of the Thames the ship anchored in the Liffey, and the Italian boys began life in Dublin. Bianconi found employment in a little shop on one of the quays, the chief business of which was the sale of pictures, chiefly such as were suited for the poor devout people. After a time he was sent out on expeditions to the country, with about £2 worth of goods on sale. He liked this life better than that of the city, the vice and misery of which had shocked him, and had confirmed his own good resolutions and moral conduct. Surprise at the prevalence of dram drinking, and at seeing poor women smoking, he men- tioned as oneofhis earliestDublin recollections. Trudg- ing along the roads at that time was at first rather humiliating, as the proposal on leaving his father was that he was to be a merchant in London, for sale of thermometers, barometers, and other instruments, for which Italians have always been famous ; or failing that trade, to be under Colnaghi. The sale of small pictures was humbler traffic. Once he got into trouble, and was actually arrested for selling portraits of Bonaparte. In 1806 he resided at Carrick-on-Suir, and after- wards went to Clonmel, where he took a shop, and married. Here his business prospered, and through the assistance of some of the leading townspeople he engaged in other profitable transactions. He was a bullion merchant, and contracted for the pay of the Visit to Mr. Bianconi. 6 7 troops under Government. Mr. Ryall, banker, and Messrs. Grubb and Isaac Jacob, quakers, were his friends and helpers in these Clonmel days. Through their influence he was appointed one of the visitors of the hospital, in which he reformed some flagrant abuses. Mr. Bianconi's anecdotes of the oppression then endured by the Roman Catholics would hardly be credited in our time. They were treated as an inferior caste, not only in matters set down in the penal code, but in the common relations of life. If a Catholic opened a shop in Clonmel, the Protestants compelled him to pay a tax or fee which they called " intrusion money." Mr. Bianconi in many ways with- stood the tyranny, and his character being respected by both parties, he helped to bring about a better state of feeling. " I grew up between them," as he expressed it, " and took my own way." It was when engaged in business at Carrick and Clonmel that he saw the need of greater accommo- dation for travellers of the humble class. The public conveyances at that time in Ireland were confined to a few mail and day cpaches on the great lines of road. In parts less frequented by wealthy travellers, parti- cularly from the country places to market towns, there were no facilities for speedy or convenient communi- cation. A farmer living twenty miles from his market town would spend the first day in riding to it, a 68 Ireland in 1872. second day in doing his business, and a third in re- turning. The poorer people had to make the journey on foot with their burdens. In July, 181 5, he started a car for conveying pas- sengers at cheap rates from Clonmel to Cahir, and soon after to Tipperary and Limerick. At the end of the same year similar cars were started to Cashel and Thurles, and from Clonmel to Carrick and Waterford. In the first start there was a great ad- vantage in obtaining a supply of capital horses, in- tended for the army, and which were thrown on the market by the peace of 18 15. They were bought at prices varying from ,£10 to £1^. One of these horses drew a car with six passengers with ease at the rate of seven mile? an hour. This was a wonderful im- provement on the "ould Irish jaunting car," with its miserable jade of a horse, which the town or village innkeeper let out, with its wild driver, at an exorbitant rate, to the helpless traveller. Encouraged by the success of his first conveyances, Mr. Bianconi extended his establishment, opening lines in the most remote districts, as from Longford to Ballina and Belmullet, 201 miles north-west from Dublin ; from Athlone to Galway and Clifden, 183 miles west from Dublin ; from Limerick to Tralee and Cahirciveen, 233 miles south-west from Dublin. By this time the demand for first-class horses Visit to Mr. Bianconi. 69 having diminished, the breeding of them ceased, and it was necessary to put two horses to the cars. The size of the cars was, however, enlarged, so as to hold four passengers instead of three on each side. Gradu- ally the two-wheeled cars were displaced by four- wheeled cars, drawn by two, three, or four horses, according to the traffic on the several roads. In 1843, when Mr. Bianconi made his first statement to the British Association at Cork, he had on his esta- blishment a hundred vehicles, including mail coaches and cars of all sizes, capable of carrying from four to twenty passengers each, and travelling eight or nine miles an hour, at the low rate of a penny farthing a mile, going over 3,800 miles daily, and calling at 140 stations. This success brought similar conveyances into the field in other parts of Ireland, and all over the country communication was easy and cheap, often cheaper than the journeys could have been made on foot, not to speak of the enormous saving of time. Fourteen years afterwards, when the second statement was laid before the British Association, the growth of railway communication had necessarily affected and diminished Mr. Bianconi's establishment, but he still had sixty-seven conveyances, travelling daily 4,244 miles, and extending over portions of twenty-two counties, and requiring above 900 horses. 7o Ireland in 1872. Such in brief are the statistics of the establishment ; now for some of the results, which I shall chiefly state in Mr. Bianconi's own words. In the first place, as to the direct commercial and economical advantages, he says : " I found, as communication between different localities was extended, the consumption of manu- factured goods greatly increased. The competition of those availing themselves of the facilities of tra- velling was so great that, instead of buying from local retail shopkeepers, after many profits, they were enabled to obtain the supplies nearer the manufac- turer. In the remote parts of Ireland, for instance, on my opening the communication from Tralee to Cahirciveen in the south, Galway to Clifden in the west, and Ballina to Belmullet in the north-west, pur- chasers who had been obliged to give eightpence or ninepence a yard for calico for shirts, subsequently paid only threepence or fourpence, thus enabling that portion of the population who could previously badly afford only one shirt each, to have two for a less price than was paid for one ; and at the same ratio other commodities came into general use at reduced prices. The resources of the country, many of which lay so long unproductive, were opened up. For instance, I enabled the fishermen on the western coast to avail themselves of a rapid transit for their fresh fish, which being a very perishable article would be compara- Visit to Mr. Bianconi. 7* tively profitless unless its conveyance to Dublin and other suitable markets could be ensured within a given time. The amount realized by this valuable traffic is almost incredible, and has, in my opinion, largely contributed to the comfort and independence now so happily contrasting with the lamentable con- dition the west of Ireland presented a few years since." There was also direct encouragement given to agriculture as well as to trade. When there were 140 stations for the change of horses, the con- sumption of hay was from 3,000 to 4,000 tons an- nually, and of oats from 30,000 to 40,000 barrels, all of which were purchased in their respective localities. Each of these 140 stations had from one groom to six, and even eight ; and there were about 100 drivers for 1,300 horses. The men were paid according to the line, the least pay being given to those on well- frequented lines, where there was more certainty of gratuities from travellers. They were promoted accord- ing to their services and conduct. Personal inspection was impossible in so extended an establishment, but the men were put on their good behaviour, and on the whole they were a well-conducted, trustworthy staff. One of the most responsible men had risen from being a poor orphan boy, who was seen by Mr. Bianconi 72 Ireland in 1872. one day on his knees currying a horse with a wisp of straw. He thought a lad who would not spare himself would turn out a painstaking servant, and was not disappointed. On retiring from the superin- tendence, Mr. Bianconi transferred the various lines on advantageous terms to his employes, and I saw some of the weekly reports which are still sent to him from various parts of the country. He said that his "cars, many of them carrying very important mails, have never once been stopped, even during the time of the Whiteboy insurrection, and when Kilkenny was disturbed. Never, although travelling all hours of the day and night, often in lonely and unfrequented places, and during the long period of forty-two years, has the slightest injury been done to my property, or that entrusted to my care. I repeatedly passed hundreds of people on the road, and no one asked me where I was going, or interrupted the conveyance — a fact which showed the high bearing of the people, and which gives me greater pleasure than any pride I might feel upon the other rewards of my life." In reply to a question at the British Association whether a horse could be worked economically more than ten hours a day, Mr. Bianconi stated that he found by experience that he could better work a horse eight hours a day for six days in the week, than six hours for seven days in the week. By not working on Visit to Mr. Bianconi. 73 Sundays he saved 12 percent, an experience to be noted by the advocates of Sabbath observance on economical grounds. Mr. Bianconi also expressed his opinion that the freedom of communication had a good social and moral effect, in aiding the elevation of the lower classes, by their mingling with the better orders of society. " The intercourse in travelling tended to inspire the higher grades with respect and regard for the natural good qualities of the humbler people, which the latter reciprocated by a becoming deference, and an anxiety to please and oblige. Such a moral benefit seems to me worthy of special notice and congratulation." I may add that pensions were secured for those in his employment who had to retire from age, incapacity, or sickness, and the orphan children of grooms or drivers were educated by him, and after- wards filled the situations of their deceased fathers. This history shows that foreigners may succeed in Ireland as well as natives, and proves that there is nothing in the character of the people of the most Celtic districts of Ireland to prevent the success of any enterprise, however extensive, which is conducted with such energy, ability, good feeling, and sound sense as Mr. Bianconi displayed. In his retirement on his estate at Longfield, I was struck with the patriarchal life of the worthy proprietor. 74 Ireland in 1872. His tenants and domestics, most of them born and educated on the estate, look up to him with respect and affection. "We are all one family," he remarked. " I put myself inside of them, and treat them accor- dingly;" and the kindly relation was apparent as I went with him over the property. He keeps his "pack" with which in early life he travelled as a salesman, and he showed me one of the original "Biancs," with which he started his public career. Among the conveyances in his yard was a hearse, which he had originally purchased for a member of his own family, and which he retains for the use of his tenants and dependents, u to save needless outlay for undertakers' charges." Of his farming he was proud, every modern appliance of farm implements and machinery being used. His special pride seemed to be his stock of Kerry cows, which are purchased in sorry condition, and sold at good profit after im- proving on the rich Tipperary pasturage. The estate seemed in capital condition, and the house and garden showed every comfort and refinement. A mortuary chapel contains the remains of a favourite daughter, with a beautiful marble monument by an eminent Italian sculptor. He has no son surviving; the heir to the property is the child of Morgan John O'Connell, nephew of the great Daniel O'Connell, who is married to his youngest daughter. Visit to Mr. Bianconi. 75 Mr. Bianconi is a Catholic, but liberal in his opinions, and he has proved a true benefactor to his adopted country. I have a pleasant recollection of his cour- teous hospitality, and trust I may be excused for this public record of what I saw and heard at Longfield. " It does not matter what a man is, native or foreigner, Catholic or Protestant, if he is a good fellow, and if he is just and kind to the people." This was the remark of one of Mr. Bianconi's neighbours in Tippe- rary, and what I had seen confirmed the truth of the statement. Yet he had difficulty in obtaining letters of naturalization. Sir Robert Peel, when Home Secretary, was unable to procure them for him, and it was not until he had been nearly thirty years resident in Ireland, that in 1831, this recognition of citizenship was granted, during the administration of Earl Grey, the application being supported by the Grand Jury of Tipperary. What I have narrated is interesting as a piece of biography, the story of " a self-made man," but it is more valuable as throwing light on the national character. Mr. Bianconi speaks well of " the peace- able and high moral bearing of the Irish peasantry, which can only be known and duly appreciated by those who live among them, and who have long and constant intercourse with them." Apart from agrarian outrages, crime is really rare ; and the agitation about 7 6 Ireland in 1872. the land, he thinks, would not have arisen if pro- prietors had lived among the people, improving their estates, and granting leases to their tenants. His own experience has been that security of tenure gives incitement to industry and maintains good feeling. The landlords have chosen to keep their tenants in subjection, treating them as a servile class, partly for political rcasohs. He had purchased property where the farms were held by tenants-at-will, the population being poor and indolent, and rents in arrear. Granting leases at an advanced rent, the property improved in value, the rent was always paid, and the tenantry became a prosperous and contented class of yeomen farmers. If all landlords had been like Mr. Bianconi, there would have been no need of any Land Act, nor the wild agitation about "fixity" of tenure, by which the just relations of landlord and tenant are disturbed. It was gratifying to hear the testimony of such a man as to the progress of the country, and the expression of his firm faith in the future prosperity of Ireland. CHAPTER VII IRISH POLITICS, Imperial and National Parties — A New Political Pale — Cardinal Cullen's Claims for Popish Nationality — Ruling Ireland by Irish Ideas. IRISH politics seem somewhat confused and com- plicated, but can be easily explained, so far as analysis of Irish representatives to Parliament is concerned. The first obvious division is into members who are, in their principles and sympathies, British or Impe- rial, and those who are Irish or NationaL The great body of the landowners, magistrates, and members of grand juries throughout Ireland, whether Catholic or Protestant, are associated by education, by family connections, by social ties and political sympathies with English interests, and, however patriotic in per- sonal feeling, they work for Ireland as part of the united empire. The majority of voters, taking the whole of Ireland, have the same British and loyal sympathies, and are opposed to agitations for Repeal or Home Rule, or other schemes for separate nation- 78 Ireland in 1872. ality. As in other parts of the kingdom, there is division into Liberal and Conservative, the Liberals prevailing in Catholic constituencies, the Conserva- tives in Protestant constituencies.* The Irish or National party is at present much identified with the Roman Catholic power, but is not necessarily subject to it, and will remain so only while each can gain its ends by combination. As long as the Romish Church can hope to obtain concessions from the Government, it will disclaim sympathy with the Home Rule movement, which is the present cheval de bataillc of the national party. If the Government refuses to submit to the dictation of the Romish bishops, the influence of the priests, who are under thorough control of the hierarchy, will be more openly given to the National party. In the last Galway election this influence was used, and the election was gained by an ecclesiastical terrorism, which revealed the probable result of such power in other parts of Ireland. The power of the landlords, even when Catholic, is weak when in oppo- sition to that of the priests. In other elections, how- * Mr. Robert H. Mair, the Editor of " Debrett," informs me that in the returns received this year from the Irish Members, only five have marked themselves in the schedules as " Home Rulers." These are Butt, Martin, Redmond, Ronayne, and Smyth. The other Home Rule or Nationalist members return themselves under the head of Liberal or of Conservative. Irish Politics. 79 ever, independent National candidates have carried the day, in spite of the opposition both of landlords and priests. It is a mistake in the Government to show so much deference, and almost servile subjection, to the will of the Romish Church, and to give so little attention to the opinions of the National party, many of whom are disinterested and patriotic, however visionary or mis- chievous we may consider them to be. The wiser policy would be to conciliate the National party, by considering their alleged grievances, and hearing their proposals, instead of driving them into secret con- spiracies, and throwing them into combination with that ultramontane faction whose irreconcileable hatred to England is well known. There is not a country in Europe where the Catholic Church would be tole- rated in the attitude assumed by the heads of the Romish Church in Ireland. Even in the most Catholic countries they are excluded from the con- trol of education and patronage, and from the poli- tical influence which is wielded by Cardinal Cullen and his satellites. In Anglo-Norman and early English times "the Pale " was a geographical as well as political expres- sion. The condition and privileges of those " within the Pale " were widely different from the state of those "beyond the Pale." But when English life 8o Ireland in 1872. and law and language spread over Ireland, the local meaning of the word was lost. Long before that time, the ancient characteristics of the two divisions of the island had been worn out. In fact, there had been in some things strange reversal of earlier dis- tinctions. The Irish beyond the Pale had long resisted the rule of Rome, and maintained something of the independence of the ancient Irish Church. The Catholics of the Pale were intensely Papal. Afterwards they became Protestant, while the Church of Rome has no more abject adherents than the once independent Irish beyond the Pale. The English who came over, either at the first conquest or in after settlements, always sooner or later became racy of the soil, Hibcrnis Hiberniorcs, and but for the reli- gious division perpetuated by the penal laws, the old differences of foreign and native were matters of tradition and history. I find in Ireland of to-day a duality as marked as in the days of the Pale, only now without any local limits, and wholly social and political. Before the law all are equal, yet this division remains. It is not the division of Protestant and Catholic, or of Celt and Saxon, or of English and Irish speaking. These differences exist, but none of them are coterminous with the division to which I allude. Most of the Irish beyond this modern political pale are Catholic, Irish Politics. 81 but not all, nor necessarily any, although Cardinal Cullen wishes us to think that " Irish nationality" and "the Church of Rome " are the same. "Can he forget that the nationality of Ireland means simply the Catholic Church ? " Thus Cardinal Cullen wrote, in his anger against Judge Keogh, because that Catholic layman resists the subjugation of civil rights to ecclesiastical supremacy. In former times it was the policy of Rome to ally itself with despotic kings and governments, in order to obtain the help of the civil power to suppress freedom of thought and liberal opinions. In those nations where despotic power still prevails, happily they are few, the alliance of civil and ecclesiastical authority is sought. If in France, for instance, it was possible to have a Bourbon restoration, the ecclesiastical influence would reappear, and make itself felt in education and in social life, as it did in the time of Charles X. But in countries under constitutional govern- ment, and with free institutions, the policy of Rome is to seek alliance with democracy, and to try to appear as in the van of popular opinion. This is what is going on in Ireland. It would not do openly to espouse the cause of Fenianism or Home Rule, because a fair face must be kept towards the British Government, as long as it can be coerced or cajoled into further concessions and boons. But meanwhile 6 82 Ireland in 1872. let the people be taught that their best friends are the ultramontane delegates of the Vatican, and "that the nationality of Ireland means simply the Catholic Church." Can patriotic Irishmen, whether Catholic or Pro- testant, be deceived by this crafty policy ? Let them hear the reply given by one who is a zealous pa- triot, and who has suffered for his love of Ireland. " The nationality of Ireland simply the Catholic Church!" said John Mitchell, in the Irish Citizen, of New York ; " we know not what Judge Keogh may say to this statement, but we never heard of the fact before. There has been a kind of idea prevail- ing that Grattan, and Lord Edward Fitzgerald, that Tone, and the Emmets, and Davis, and O'Brien, were advocates of Irish nationality, though they had nothing to do with the Catholic Church. It has even been thought that the Presbyterian clergyman, who was hanged as a United Irishman in 1798, was a better Irishman than Dr. Troy, this Cardinal's predecessor." I know not whether Thomas Francis Meagher is Catholic or Protestant, but in his speeches there is the ring of true patriotism, and a spirit of toleration widely different from Cullen's intolerant claims. It was in Conciliation Hall, long ago now, that Meagher thus spoke, and was applauded to the echo : " A spirit Irish Politics. 83 of brotherhood is abroad, old antipathies are losing ground, traditional distinctions of sect and party are being now effaced. Irrespective of descent or creed, we begin at last to appreciate the abilities and virtues of all our fellow-countrymen. We now look into history with the generous pride of the nationalist, not with the cramped prejudice of the partisan. We do homage to Irish valour, whether it conquers on the walls of Derry, or capitulates with honour before the ramparts of Limerick. We award the laurel to Irish genius, whether it has lit its flame from within the walls of old Trinity, or drawn its inspiration from the sanctuary of St. Omer's. ' We must tolerate each other,' said Henry Grattan, he whose eloquence was the very music of freedom, ' w r e must tolerate each other, or we must tolerate the common enemy/ After years of social disorder, years of detestable recrimination, between factions and provinces and creeds, we are on the march to freedom. Let us sustain a firm, gallant, and courteous bearing, let us avoid all offence to those who pass us by; and by rude affronts let us not drive still farther from our ranks those who at present decline to join. An honourable forbearance towards those who censure us, a generous respect towards those who differ from us, will do much to diminish the difficulties that impede our progress. Let us cherish and upon 8 4 Ireland in 1872. every occasion manifest an anxiety for the preser- vation of the rights of al! our fellow-countrymen — their rights as citizens, their municipal rights, the privileges which their rank in society has given them, the position which their wealth has purchased or their education has conferred ; and we will in time, and before long, efface the impression that we seek for Repeal with a view to crush those rights, to injure property, or erect a Church ascendancy." In this strain Meagher followed the teaching of his great master O'Connell, who said, "The real obstacle to the Repeal of the Union is apprehension that it would be followed by religious intolerance and sec- tarian animosity. Men of Ireland, your duty is to conduct yourselves so as to obliterate every such apprehension. Exert yourselves unremittingly to exhibit kindliness, affection, conciliation, cordiality towards persons of all sects and of every persuasion. Let us leave the settlement of our religious differences to grace, to piety, to the mercies of God, to the merits of our adorable Redeemer. Irishmen, the more Chris- tian charity you display, the more Christian virtues you practise, the more shall you advance the temporal interests and the civil liberties of your native land. Patriotism and religion run in the same channel." These are noble sentiments, and there is no reason to question the sincerity of this utterance. Let this Irish Politics. 85 conciliatory spirit of Meagher and of O'Connell be impressed on Irishmen, and there will be brighter days for United Ireland. Nor is it race nor language that marks the division of the political pale, for the races are amalgamated, and the English tongue is everywhere in use. Rich and poor, landowner and labourer, do not form the two sides, though to one belongs the larger part of the humbler class. But in America, and in England, and wherever Irish are found, the same duality appears, whether among Catholic or Protestant, rich or poor. The Irish, or National, party is the name by which those outside the pale like to call them- selves. Of the elements that form this spirit of nationality, something may be derived from old traditions of the laws and usages of their Cymric ancestors, which have not been wholly lost till within a few generations back. Between the Norman in- vasion and the reign of Elizabeth, the English settlers adopted the native customs and laws, in spite of such warnings as the Kilkenny Statute, which declared Brehon law to be no law, but only an evil custom. In that reign and the succeeding reign of James L were established English legal institutions, courts and circuits and other copies of English judicial arrange- ments ; but there could not be eradicated from the popular mind the influence of the ancient tribal and 86 Ireland in 1872. patriarchal system. The two systems lived together. From the middle of the seventeenth century, when the religious feuds broke out, the separation of the English and the National party was intensified, and it survives the abolition of the penal laws, and the restoration of equal civil and political rights to all Irishmen. In nothing does this " national " spirit show itself so intensely and unmistakably as in hatred to England. There was good cause for it down to our own times. The oppression of the poor Irish, both by the Imperial Government and by the English possessors of the island, was as sore as was ever borne by any conquered country. In their adversity they found in the Roman Catholic priests their nearest advisers and comforters, and it is not sur- prising that the faith of Romanism has thus become associated with the national spirit. The rulers of the Romish Church are clever in taking advantage of this feeling, and our rulers in the State are led to suppose that Romanism is the one essential element in the "national" policy. But some of the chief leaders of the Irish National party have been Pro- testants. The hatred to England shows itself by occasional outbreaks, as of Fenianism, but more constantly by a chronic discontent and disaffection, ready to mani- Irish Politics. fest itself as opportunity offers. The Home Rule movement is of course popular with the National party. The disestablishment of the Irish Church, and the Tenant Right movement, they regard as steps in the right direction. Anything to weaken the power of the territorial aristocracy by whom their fathers were oppressed is sure to gain their sympathy. The pos- sibilities of striking a blow at the imperial power, during some foreign war, are always contemplated. " England's extremity is Ireland's opportunity," they say. It was curious to note the interest with which the Irish watched the negotiations in the Alabama con- troversy; and again, how they canvassed the rival claims of Grant and of Greeley for president, the chance of war with England being always the upper- most element in the calculation. When the hope of using force is remote, there are always civil and poli- tical ways of showing animosities. Home Rule can^ didates are chosen members of Parliament, and abject followers of the Pope, and even convicts like O'Dono- van Rossa. Anything will do to hurt or to spite England. Nevertheless, apart from the cunning priestly influence which keeps up some of the bad feeling, there is a spirit of patriotism at the root of this National party, which may yet rise to nobler am- bition and use. The history of Scotland encourages us to this hope. It is not much more than a century 88 Ireland in 1872. since over a large part of Scotland the ancient national spirit was strong, and the hatred of England was as intense as even among the descendants of the Irish Septs. Yet the Jacobite spirit of last century is now utterly merged in one common Scottish patriotism and nationality. It may be the same in Ireland, if the mistake is not made by the Government of dealing with the Romish Church as the sole repre- sentative of the National party. As Home Rule is the present project of this party, it may be well, instead of meeting it with abuse and ridicule, to examine what is said in its favour, and see how far the demand can be considered, for the advan- tage of Ireland, and without detriment to imperial interests. CHAPTER VIII. HOME RULE.. Right Limits of Home Rule — Earl Russell's Proposal —Lord Chancellor O'Hagan's Opinion — Grand Juries and County Boards — Present- ment Sessions and Cess-payers — The Shannon Improvement. OME RULE may be a good thing or a bad ^- thing, according to what is understood by the term. If it means independent and separate legis- lation by a Parliament sitting in College Green, it would throw Ireland back into a state of wild confu- sion and conflict ; but if it means only an enlargement of local and national government, increase of Home Rule would be a boon to Ireland, as it would be a relief to the already overburdened imperial Govern- ment. It was in this sense, and in connection with the pressure of parliamentary business at Westminster, that Earl Russell made the proposal which caused so much discussion last summer. " It appears to me," said the veteran statesman, " that if Ireland were to be allowed to elect a representative assembly for each of its four provinces of Leinster, Ulster, Munster, oo Ire land in 1872. and Connaught, and if Scotland in a similar manner were to be divided into Lowlands and Highlands, having for each province a representative assembly, the local wants of Ireland and Scotland might be better provided for than they are at present. The Imperial Parliament might still retain its hold over this legislation, and refuse, if it so chose, to give a third reading to any bill assented to on its first and second readings, and on the report by the local assembly." It was a crude and hasty proposal, and the idea of giving Ireland four Parliaments for its four provinces, and dividing Scotland into High- land and Lowland, met with fair ridicule. " Repeal the Union? Restore the Heptarchy!" as Canning said. But there was a sound principle at the root of the idea, and the time must soon come when the Im- perial Parliament will be unable to overtake the mass of business which comes up year by year for con- sideration. The time and labour given to private bill legislation have steadily increased, and threaten to overwhelm the most patient and industrious of legislators. Most of this business could far better be attended to in the parts of the empire concerned. Enormous costs are needlessly incurred, from which parliamentary agents and lawyers reap undue harvests. At first sight, it might seem that local jobbery and influence must be counteracted by carrying such Home Rule. 9i business to Westminster, but the truth is that there is less hope of impartial decision in Parliament, owing to the large powers held by certain classes — the rail- way interest, the banking or brewing interest, or the landed interest, for instance, — who readily combine upon non-political questions brought before the House. A local or provincial Parliament would have no such predominance of moneyed and class interests, but would be likely to decide upon grounds affecting the well-being of the district. In fact, this legislation would be analogous to the States' legislation in America, sufficient in all matters not interfering with the interest of the Union. It would be a miserable thing if every measure affecting the welfare of the several States had to be settled at Washington, even down to w r ater supply or sewage schemes. Boston or Chicago, San Francisco or New Orleans, could not tolerate such centralization. Yet this is what is done in England. With some check such as Earl Russell proposes, in requiring the third reading to be by the Imperial Parliament, or assent to be otherwise registered, the discussion and matur- ing of local and provincial matters might well be pro- vided for under some system of " Home Rule." This seems to have been mainly the kind of business indicated in Earl Russell's proposal, for on being asked for an explanation, by the London 9 2 correspondent of an American paper, he wrote thus : " In Sir Ro.bcrt Kane's ' Industrial Resources of Ireland ' you will find an enlightened review of the material wants and necessary remedies for the wel- fare of Ireland. I wish to see these wants and these remedies fairly examined, and means employed to promote Irish improvement and bring about Irish prosperity. But I fear if an Irish " Parliament " is set up in Ireland all her energies will be wasted in political contention. I therefore wish to divert the forces which might give heat and comfort, instead of concentrating them in a manner to produce a confla- gration. This is the more necessary, as the Irish nature is so very inflammable that it prefers a bonfire to the warmth of a moderate fire. I fear, however, that wisdom will be wanting both in England and Ireland." Earl Russell rightly fears that Irish representatives, whether in a provincial Parliament, or in our national Parliament, would waste their energies in political or in religious contention. But there are subjects on which men of all creeds and parties could unite for the good of the commonwealth. There are subjects on which they now work harmoniously together. In many commercial and financial undertakings of great magnitude, witness the insurance companies and mining companies and railway companies, the boards Home Rule. 93 of direction are composed of Whigs and Tories, Protestants and Catholics, Orangemen and Home Rulers alike. They know no party in matters affect- ing their own interests and their country's welfare. There are questions also on which they could decide better than the Imperial Parliament. I give one instance. When Sir Wilfred Lawson's Permissive Bill was under discussion, and the whole question of licensing public-houses, public opinion in Ireland was far in advance of public opinion in England. Even under existing licensing laws, Ireland possessed safeguards and restrictions not adopted in England. The advantage of having legislative support in the cause of sobriety is far more recognized in Ireland than with us, and we do not hear from Irishmen the stupid remark, that "you cannot make men sober by Act of Parliament." Law cannot make men temperate, but it can lessen temptations and inducements to intemperance. While every year a considerable majority of English votes are given against Sir Wilfred Lawson's Bill, the Irish vote in its favour has been very nearly two to one, the Irish majority being made up of men of the most diverse political and religious opinions. This demonstrates that Irishmen can combine on matters that they think pertain to the welfare of their country. Let them have larger power in such direction, and they would not abuse it. 94 Ireland in 1872. But it must be confessed that " Home Rule " has been adopted as a watchword and war-cry by political agitators. It has been seized by the people, ever ready to catch at any phantom which promises relief from present trouble, or gives hope of prosperity with- out individual effort and self-denial. Several elections have been carried by Home Rule candidates ; some- times, as in Mr. Blennerhasset's case in Kerry, against the combined influence of both priests and landlords. It is a power at present in the country, and must be dealt with. What Sir John Coleridge said of it lately in his speech at Liverpool is worthy of being noted. " Home Rule is a very different thing from Fenianism. Fenianism murdered innocent policemen in the face of day while doing their duty. Fenianism tried to slaughter unoffending citizens by blowing up the walls of prisons in crowded streets. Fenianism was a mere system of sheer physical brutal terror. Home Rule is nothing of the sort. Home Rule aims at an end which I think absurd, impracticable, and untenable, but an end which they have a perfect right to aim at, if they can get it. Home Rule professes to respect the monarchy, and to move to its ends by means which they have a perfect right to use, and which are perfectly legitimate. Home Rule has for its head a Queen's counsel, an able and accomplished lawyer, and not a Fenian Centre. These are great advances. Home Rule, 95 It is a great thing to have your enemy face to face with you in daylight, when you can grapple with him. It is a great thing to have a controversy converted from one of force and violence into one of reason and argument." Sir John Coleridge refers to Home Rule under the idea that its only form must be an independent and separate legislation, as that of Scotland was from the accession of James I. till the Union ; or that of Norway, with its political independence, after its transfer, by the peace of Kiel in 1814, from Denmark to Sweden. This may be " absurd and impracticable " in the case of Ireland in relation to England, but the extension of Home Rule in the sense of allowing fuller discussion of Irish questions, and adoption of measures conducive to Irish progress, is not absurd or impracticable. Irish patriotism is worthy of being trusted, and Irish loyalty also. But there is a disturbing element which hinders the fair consideration of the question. A large and influential body in Ireland is neither patriotic ncr loyal. The Vatican is their country and the Pope their ruler. All their best sympathies are abroad, not at home. While this disturbing and disloyal element retains its influence, the question cannot be enter- tained. In the existing state of Ireland, Home Rule simply means Rome Rule. g6 Ireland in 1872. The crafty attempt of the Ultramontanes to identify themselves with the National party ought to be resisted by true Irish patriots, as much as the Ultramontane claim to be above the civil courts of law should be resisted by Government. On a recent occasion, when the Government issued an order on the Education question, establishing a new rule of the National School Board as to the relation of managers and masters, a meeting of the Roman Catholic prelates v/as convened in Marlborough-street Cathedral. Why should a meeting like this be treated with respect, and its resolutions received by the Government with deferential courtesy, while a meeting of the National party would be dogged by detectives and watched by police spies ? The deliberations of the Romish prelates are far more mischievous, and more avowedly hostile to the Queen's Government, than any discussions of the Home Rule party. The real peril to the British Government, and the chief hindrances to the peace of the country, are to be found not in the Irish, but in the Italian conspirators against the laws and constitution of England. There is an old law, 33rd George III., c. 29, known as the Convention Act, still unrepealed on the Statute Book, by which any conference in Ireland on national affairs may be forbidden, and those who take part in it punished. This law has not for Home Rule. 97 some time been enforced against political assemblies, as I understand, but it is maintained in terrorem, to prevent the Irish people from assembling by re- presentatives or delegates, to consult on affairs that they think might advance the national interest. The Irish members can meet at Westminster, as the Scotch members do, to agree as to any course of action in the House during the session of Parliament, but a conference in Dublin, however peaceable or or- derly, is at present illegal. The discussion of Irish questions is thus left to the press, and the newspapers being mostly strong party organs, there is little pro- gress made towards agreement for the common wel- fare. The repeal of the Convention Act could do no real harm. It is not as if a mock Parliament were desired in College Green ; but an Irish representative body, agreeing to petition the Legislature on any given object, would bring out healthy public opinion, and would also test the practicability of Home Rule. It is now exactly thirty years since the Lord Chan- cellor of Ireland, then Thomas 0'Hagan,Esq„barrister- at-law, thus declared his opinion as to Home Rule, and Union with England. It was at a meeting of the Loyal National Repeal Association, in the days of O'Connell : " I believe that the system of centraliza- tion, as it is developed in these islands, has been par- tial in its action, and mischievous in its results, and that 7 Ireland in J 872. local legislature, for local purposes, conducted by men of the country, who know its people, understand their wants, respect their opinions, sympathise with their feelings, and are identified with their interests, would be of great practical utility to Ireland. I believe that such a legislature, developing our resources, and apply- ing them with intelligence and faithfulness to our own local improvement, may fairly and hopefully be sought, and that, by the peaceful attainment of such a legisla- ture, our material prosperity and our intellectual pro- gress would be materially advanced. But I believe also that, for imperial purposes, not touching her inter- nal economy, Ireland should not abandon such influ- ences as she may fairly claim to the general legislation of an empire which has been so enriched by Iri.^h treasure, so glorified by Irish bravery, and so cemented by Irish blood. And thus distinguishing between the proper objects of local and imperial legislature, and securing to our country proper guards, sanctions, and guarantees for her honour and her rights, in a federal connection with Great Britain, I am satisfied that the aims of reasonable men would be accomplished, all danger of separation effectually obviated, the real welfare of Ireland promoted, and the integrity of the empire consolidated and secured." An important practical step in the direction of efficient Home Rule would be gained by a clearer Home Rule. 99 definition and enlargement of the functions of the Grand Juries. To an English mind the name is mis- leading. The duties of the Grand Jury in England are merely accessory to the administration of justice. In Ireland the Grand Jury not only exercises a func- tion analogous to that of the English Grand Jury in criminal matters, but has large administrative and financial power. It is, in fact, the governing body in all local county matters, excepting such as are pro- vided for by stipendiary magistrates, and by Govern- ment officials, under special Acts of Parliament. With the educational or poor-law departments, for instance, the Grand Jury has no connection. But in regard to most county matters, such as making and repairing roads, building and repairing prisons, prison and police expenses, appointing and paying all county officers, management of public charities, repayment of Govern- ment advances, and many miscellaneous affairs, the Grand Juries have large power, The necessary funds are raised by rates, " the Grand Jury cess," imposed on the occupiers of land. The cess used to be paid by the tenant only, but under the new Land Act, in the case of tenancies created after the passing of that Act, one-half of the cess is payable by the landlord. These various duties represent a large financial control ; in fact, above a million yearly is expended by the Grand Juries. The only control as to the amount of IOO Ireland in 1872. the cess, and its application, is that the going Judge of assize has to signify his sanction to any proposed work, and that the work has been previously assented to by the Presentment Sessions of the barony, if the work affects that barony only. In works for the benefit of the whole county, as prisons or police, the fiat of the assize Judge, generally a mere formal assent, is sufficient. The functions of the Grand Juries thus are similar to those of County Assemblies in Prussia, or Conseils Generaux in France. An improvement of the Con- stitution and enlargement of the power of the Irish Grand Juries, so as to make them more really local Parliaments, legislative as well as executive, seems to be a desirable extension of Home Rule, and much more practical than Earl Russell's proposal to have a Parliament for each of the four provinces. But in order to do this the mode of constitution would need to be amended. At present, the members of the Grand Jury are appointed by the Sheriff or Under- Sheriff, himself a nominee of the Crown. The choice almost invariably is made of landlords to the exclusion of tenants. Nominally a fifty-pound freehold is a necessary qualification, but this is disregarded in the frequent nomination of the paid agent or steward of non- resident or resident landlords. Peers are not eligible Home Rule. 101 as Grand Jurors, and the consequence is that their agents are usually selected as their representatives. That the cess-payers have no voice in the election of those by whom they are taxed and governed is not in accordance with free representative institutions. Similar objection exists to the constitution of the inferior local court, the Presentment Sessions. The members of these Sessions are county magistrates, appointed by the Crown, and a certain number of cess-payers (not to exceed twelve), the number in each barony fixed by the Grand Jury. These asses- sors or colleagues of the magistrates, styled " Associ- ated Cess-payers," are not elected by their fellow cess-payers. The Grand Jury nominate double the number ordered to attend the Court, and then decide by lot who are to be the associate cess-payers. The whole arrangement is one of enforced inferiority for the cess-payers, who ought to have more direct voice in the taxation and management of the county. The existing system is partly the result of the old penal code, the majority of the rulers being Pro- testant, and the majority of the ruled being Catholic. The political rule of landlord over tenant has also been in this way perpetuated. A sensible suggestion was lately made in a letter in the Times, signed F. N., in which the writer pro- posed that the functions of the Grand Jury should be 102 Ireland in 1872. limited, as in England, to assisting in the adminis- tration of criminal law, and that new " County Boards " should be created, to which all financial and ruling powers should be assigned. The members of these boards should be chosen either; directly by the cess-payers, or by the Presentment Sessions, if the members of these are elected by the cess-payers. The machinery for carrying out these changes already exists, as the majority of the guardians of the poor in each district are so elected. The residue of the guardians consists of the magistrates of the poor-law district. The poor-law T guardians control the expen- diture of over ^800,000 a year, for which they have power of enforcing rates. It might be advisable, both for economy and efficiency, to amalgamate the two bodies comprising the Presentment Sessions and the Guardians of the Poor. The anomaly of peers being debarred from the Grand Juries might be removed, if they were eligible for seats in these county boards or councils. I believe that these local parliaments could, with due provision for appeal to higher Courts, whether legal or parliamentary, be entrusted with all the affairs which it is reasonable to include in any system of Home Rule. . Matters of religion and education might for a time be excluded from local legislation or administration, but in every other de- partment of life Irishmen could well manage their Home Rule. 103 local affairs for their own benefit and the improve- ment of their country. The power of appeal to a higher Court, and the presence of Her Majesty's Judges on circuit, would be enough to maintain the association of local with central government, of Im- perial with Home Rule. If the functions of the Grand Juries remain as at present, one change ought certainly to be made. It would be better for the magistrates to elect them, than that the selection should be at the sole pleasure of the under-sherriff. The best constitution I think would be, half the Grand Jury elected by the magis- trates and the other half by the cess-payers, the choice being limited by certain qualifications, There is a great advantage in having, as at present, two distinct authorities to consider every question. The local Presentment Board discusses matters affecting the district, and the central Grand Jury exercises a useful control in reducing or in rejecting claims for what it may deem unnecessary or imprudent expen- diture. The local cess-payers are generally disposed to look only at roads near their own farms, or from their homes to the market town, and do not enter much into improvements of wider range. It is essen- tial to have for such questions the services of magis- trates and others who are above the suspicion of jobbing or using influence for local affairs, but who 104 Ireland in 1872. will take up presentment accounts with a general regard to the requirements of a whole barony, or the county at large. At the same time, there would be a benefit in accustoming farmers to act on public boards on equal footing with the rest of the council, and not merely as associated cess-payers. If elected by their fellow cess-payers, the men of most knowledge and public spirit would be chosen, and they would become accustomed to act with more independence for their own order. Landlords and tenants, Protestants and Catholics, equally like good roads and safe bridges, and equally object to pay too much for them. They have equal interest in having good police and well- regulated prisons and other county requirements. When accustomed to act together on such matters, these barony or county boards might gradually come to act with equal harmony on questions of wider hear- ing, and local school boards would be possible, for education is a matter equally of common interest, and of more importance to the rate-payers for their chil- dren than it is to the celibate clergy, who have now too much hold on the schools. In matters affecting the interests of several counties, or larger parts of the country, there is no reason why a central board or council, representing the several county boards, should not have power to deliberate Home Rule. and act for the common good. Take a special case for illustration, which will explain better than any general argument the scope there is for practical Home Rule. The river Shannon, running through several counties, is subject in various parts of its course to inundations. Crops are destroyed, lands periodically flooded and injured, and vast tracts of country permanently kept in a state unfit for cultiva- tion. On account of the condition of the main river, its tributaries spread similar ruin. On the river Suck alone there were about 80 000 acres of land lately flooded, with incalculable injury and loss. It is the same with the lesser streams, the flat districts near which are flooded for months every year. These could all be reclaimed and protected, but drainage works are rendered impossible by the state of the Shannon. Of course the owners of land in all the regions thus injured and impoverished, suffer and grumble, but are helpless. The proprietors in one county do not know the condition of other counties, and if they did, there is no way of combined action. And so large tracts of country remain unprofitable, and a vast amount of wealth is lost to the country. That this is not only a lamentable but disgraceful state of things it is needless to say. I have only referred to the loss to agriculture caused by the inun- dations of the river and its tributaries. But there is a io6 Ireland in 1872. larger view of the subject, in considering the great development of the wealth of the country that would certainly result from the improvement of the naviga- tion. The Shannon is the largest and most beautiful river in the united kingdom. Its estuary is far better than that of the Thames, and has roadsteads where a magnificent navy might ride. It has a capacious port, capable of being a busy mart of commerce. From Limerick to the sea it is a tidal river. Communica- tion is open both by rail and canal with every part of Ireland. Through its whole course of above two hundred miles, from its rise in Lough Allen, county Leitrim, the river passes through a country rich in mineral as well as agricultural resources. Round Lough Allen there is abundant coal and the richest ironstone. The middle Shannon runs through a region containing some of the most fertile soil in Ireland, both arable and pasture land. Between Killaloe and Limerick there is a fall of about a hundred feet in a space of fifteen miles, with a volume of water capable of giving enormous mecha- nical power, at present almost utterly wasted. The minimum discharge of water at Killaloe, in the dryest summer, is about 100,000 cubic feet of water per minute. This is equal to 188-horse power per foot of fall. In great floods the discharge has been estimated at 1,000,000 cubic feet per minute, equal to 1,885-horse Home Rule, 107 power per foot of fall. Taking the discharge at various seasons, the average power has been estimated at about 450-horse power per foot of fall. Sir Robert Kane, reviewing these estimates, says, " In order to avoid any suspicion of exaggeration, I take the average force of water available per foot of fall at 350-horse power, which for 97 feet of fall between Killaloe and Limerick gives a total of 33,950-horse power in continuous action, day and night, through- out the year." Yet there is hardly a mill to be seen in all the distance ! If for nothing else, what a place for peat- fuel factories ! The portion of the river which is full of power remains valueless, while the quieter parts are only half utilized, and allowed often to spread devas- tation instead of fertility. It is only an instance of the manner in which natural advantages are thrown away in Ireland. Returning to the drainage, the lakes which form a chain in the course of the river, especially the larger ones, Lough Allen, Lough Rea, and Lough Derg, are vast reservoirs, as if provided by nature for protecting the river from disastrous floods. These lakes could be easily kept at proper levels, and by receiving and retaining the flood-waters could be made to regulate the discharge throughout the whole course of the river. There are at present various navigation works io8 Ireland in 1872. of importance, but the service they render at one part is counterbalanced by the mischief they produce elsewhere. It is true that the fall between Lough Allen and Lough Derg is small for so large a river, and the fall that exists is neutralized by the monopo- lising weirs, generally unprovided with flood-gates. But still there is a total fall of about sixty feet in that distance, and always sufficient flow and delivery of water to render drainage improvements practicable, if the main flow of the river were attended to. Forty years ago, Mr. Rhodes, civil engineer, member of a parliamentary commission appointed in 1 83 1, said in his report: "Taking a view of this majestic river, its lakes and lateral branches, which receive the drainage of a considerable portion of Ire- land, they appear as if formed and designed by nature as the great arteries of the kingdom, for facilitating its agricultural and commercial purposes, by marking out a splendid line of intercourse through a populous country superior to any in the empire, and only re- quiring a little assistance from art to render it bene- ficially useful to an unlimited extent. But the grand designs of nature had been hitherto in a great measure frustrated, and may not improperly be compared to ' a sealed book.' This is caused by a few natural, but the greater part are artificial obstructions, which dam up the water, and inundate the countiy to a formid- Home Rule. 109 able extent ; this renders the navigation very imper- fect by the great accumulation and expanse of its waters in winter, and in summer the water is too shallow at several parts for a laden vessel, even with a moderate draught, to get over them. So that, taking it altogether, it almost amounts to a prohibi- tion of any trade being carried on with certainty, at present being very limited ; which is to be regretted, as it tends greatly to retard any general or permanent improvement taking place throughout this great extent of fine country, fertile and abundant in its agricultural and mineral productions." In 1834, after inquiry before a select committee of the House of Commons, an Act was passed for " The Improvement of the Navigation of the Shannon/' and commissioners appointed to make surveys, and pre- pare plans and estimates, both for improving the navigation of the river and preventing the inundation of land. The lands deriving benefit were to be chargeable in a degree proportioned to the estimated benefit. On this commission, besides Mr. Rhodes, were no less personages than Sir John Burgoyne, Sir Harry Jones, R.E., Sir Richard Griffin, and Mr. William Cubitt. The plans and estimates were ap- proved, and by another Act, passed in 1839, the re- commended works were authorized, half the cost to be defrayed by a Government grant and half charge- I IO Ireland in 1872. able to the counties. For a time operations seem to have been vigorously carried on ; weirs were cleared away, sluices provided, channels dredged, and at some places, as Killaloe and Meelick, more costly works undertaken. Unhappily the expectation of the Com- missioners and of the Government were not realised, and the inundations continued as before. Major VV. Le Poer Trench (R.E., M.P.), in a valuable report pub- lished in the Times of January 24, speaks of the great stone-dam at Meelick as forming " one of some very extensive navigation works which have a terrible effect upon the country." In 1850 the works were handed over to the Com- missioners of Public Works. They had no funds to alter or to complete what had been done by the par- liamentary commission. Receipts from tolls do not nearly meet the cost of maintenance, and even the weeds in the rivers channel can hardly be kept under control. The land continues to be injured, the landowners and farmers continue to complain, and inquiries continue from time to time to be made and plans projected. In 1862 Mr. Bateman, civil engineer, made a report, and again in 1866; Mr. Lynam, well versed in Irish drainage works, and Mr. Forsyth, the engineer to the Board of Works, also reported. An inquiry was instituted before a select committee of the House of Lords in 1865. Home Rule. 1 1 1 There are thus voluminous documents bearing on the subject. At length, in 1870, the Government took resolution to deal with the most important part of the river, and while the main cost of new operations was to be levied on the lands improved, a provision was made for the expenditure of ;£ 100,000 as a free grant. Circumstances have delayed the carrying out of this Act, and it is as well, since delay has allowed fuller consideration of the subject. The chief difficulty seems to be that works intended for improving the navigation of the river do not necessarily assist, but rather hinder, the reclamation and improvement of the land. Mr. Curley, formerly engineer under the Irish Board of Works, says that "the several govern- ments who, from time to time, granted public moneys for carrying out the navigation works, did so with the best intentions ; but the government who will cause them to be demolished will deserve the thanks of all landowners whose lands are periodically inundated." This is not a very pleasant or satisfactory statement, after all that has been given and done. But there is surely some way of harmonizing the two sets of works and making the best of both land and water. The canal and railway systems make the river navigation of less importance than once it was, and when certain obstructions are removed, the improvement of naviga- tion ought to be a matter rather for shipbuilders than II? Ireland in 1872. engineers. On many European rivers great traffic is carried on with boats of very little draught. If the Limerick corporation or the river commissioners would consult some boatbuilder from Pesth on the Danube, or a steam engineer from Cincinnati on the Ohio, they would soon learn how to make use of the Shannon. But at all events, the number of persons and amount of property on the banks of the Shannon and its tributaries far exceed those affected by the navigation of the waters. To this object the attention of the commissioners should be mainly directed. The injury now submitted to can hardly be calculated. It is not merely the actual loss of crops by floods, and the waste of ground now periodically or permanently under water, but the injury extends to lands above the flood levels, the produce of which is deteriorated by the cold, damp atmosphere and the early frosts thereby produced. Agricultural improvement is re- tarded, and I have the authority of Sir Robert Kane for the statement, that " the property lost in a single year is so great that it would, if judiciously expended, pay the entire cost of remedying the evil." I have said thus much about the improvement of the Shannon, because it is a subject associated with the past history and future prospects of Ireland, and is likely to be again before Parliament. In old times nothing was thought of by the Government Home Rule. ii3 about this river, except that it was a useful barrier and defence against the hostile septs who dwelt be- yond its boundary. Money was gladly spent in building and keeping in repair fortifications to guard " the passes of the Shannon." It is the happy proof of a new and better epoch, that the river is now regarded as a channel of intercourse, and as a means of developing the peaceful industry and productive resources of the country. And I have included my remarks in the chapter on Home Rule, because this seems an example of public undertakings, the design- ing and carrying out of which could be well delegated to native ingenuity and skill. The British Govern- ment has undertaken the postal and telegraph service of Ireland, and its police and schools, and is likely to have charge of its railways also ; but it is too much to expect the overburdened British Government to attend to the rivers and roads of a country. An Irish board, or Council, or whatever it might be called, in Dublin, could manage such affairs better than a committee at Westminster, and any board of com- missioners there appointed. Shortly after I was at Limerick I heard of the celebration of an ancient custom connected with the river. A steamer, freighted with the corporation and various official personages, sailed down the tidal stream to where it joins the sea, and there a javelin 8 ii4 Ire/a?id in 1872. was cast towards the ocean; in symbol of the sove- reignty of the Mayor of the port over the magnificent river. Bombastical speeches were made, not without the usual references to Saxon oppressors, and the glories of the green isle, " first flower of the earth, and first gem of the sea." The whole scene was characteristic of Irish public life, in matters where rhetorical patriotism is alone within attainment. But if entrusted with practical power of home govern- ment, Irish enterprise and Irish capital would find in such works as the improvement of the Shannon, useful and remunerative occupation, in the prosperity resulting from which, all parties and creeds and classes would share. Give the Lord Lieutenant a Council, representing County Boards, and consisting of men such as formed the Executive of the Industrial Exhibition, and Irish home affairs would be " ruled " in Dublin better than they can be at Westminster. CHAPTER IX. A CHAPTER ON IRISH HISTORY. Celtic Records — Annals of the Four Masters — Before and after the Norman Invasion — Mr. Froude's Lectures. MY old master, John Williams, Archdeacon of Cardigan, Rector of the Edinburgh Academy, imbued me with early respect for Celtic lore. He believed that Britain in ancient times was peopled by a race far in advance of other northern nations, who brought from Phoenicia and the East rich stores of knowledge and art. After the Roman and Scandi- navian invasions, the ancient civilization of the island declined, and the records of it only remain in Welsh Triads and Taliesin fragments. He used to affirm that the Cymry of Britain crossed over to Ireland, and civilized the savages there. The Irish tcnjue, he said, was only a dialect of the ancient Cymraeg, " a most primitive and vigorous offshoot of the orginal language of the Noachidae." All which is learnedly discussed in his book, " Gomer : an Analysis of the n6 Ireland in 1872. Language and Knowledge of the Ancient Cymry," which I had the pleasure of reviewing in 1854 in the " Literary Gazette," of which I was then one of the editors. Peace to the memory of my enthusiastic teacher and good friend, Archdeacon Williams ! Probably from this early bias I always used to look with profound respect on those who professed to be versed in ancient Irish lore. From ordinary books it was not easy to gather any clear knowledge of old Irish history. Milesians and Firbolgs and Tua- thana-Danains, and the rest of them, they all had a hazy existence, not historical, scarcely legendary. But in hearing learned men referring to venerable native manuscripts, especially 14 The Annals of the Four Masters," I supposed there must be rich sources of wisdom, the entrance of which was shut out by ignorance of the language. The notion was dispelled on seeing the actual " Annals of the Four Masters," the great authority on the subject, and reading the translation, which the learned labours of Dr. O'Dono- van brought within the reach of English students. A portion of the work, down to the year 1171, had pre- viously been edited by Dr. O'Connor, from an ancient MS. in the library at Stowe. There are two manu- scripts, more perfect, in Dublin — one in the Library at Trinity College and the other in that of the Royal Irish Academy. From these Dr. O'Donovan edited A Chapter on Irish History. 117 the remainder of the Annals, from 1171 to 1616. A third has lately been brought to Dublin from the Irish College at Rome. The work turns out to be no Cymric treasure, but only a monkish chronicle, compiled by four Fran- ciscan brethren in the early part of the seventeenth century ! These patriotic scribes, in their retreat in the monastery of Donegal, spun their history out of tangled threads of song and legend, tradition and fiction, the last element being not inconsiderable. They tell us, for example, that " in the year of the world 4604, died Ugaine Mor (the great), monarch of Erinn, and of the whole of the west of Europe as far as the Mediterranean." Other legends, equally unsubstantial, appear ; but they were as good as true for the patron of the chroniclers, Feral O'Gara, Lord of Moy O'Gara, in Sligo, and member of the Parlia- ment held in Dublin in 1634. The names of the four monks or " masters " were Michael O'Cleary, his brothers Cucagny or Courcy, and Conary O'Cleary, and Ferfean O'Mulconry, said to be sprung from a king of Connaught in the seventh cen- tury. It was a creditable work for Irish monks of the time (after Bacon and Shakespeare), and considering the materials out of which it was prepared. Irish antiquaries are proud, as well they may be, of " The Four Masters," and are going to erect a monolithic n8 Ireland in 1872. cross to their memory among the ruins of the ancient monastery where they resided. It is a laudable design ; but I confess it is some relief, in still con- fessing much scepticism and ignorance, to learn that these Annals "to this day constitute the basis of Irish history." Wearied and bewildered by dry researches in the Library of Trinity College or of Armagh Cathedral, it was a pleasant change to get away to the ruins of the Seven Churches at Glendalough, or to " the Steeple" at Antrim; and there, sitting in sight of one of the venerable and mysterious "Round Towers," to weave out of the few recorded facts an early history of Ireland, quite as satisfactory as that of the " Four Masters." Christian settlers, colonists, or it may be exiles, in the troublous times that fell upon Britain and the Continent in the decline of the Roman empire, came to remote Ierne. They spread over the island, planting in many dark places bright homes of learn- ing and piety — centres of light, " whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion." They were not molested ; were probably looked upon with superstitious veneration by the untutored natives, many of whom were converted to Christianity. Ire- land became renowned as " the island of saints." Their greatest saint was Columba or Columkill, in A Chapter on Irish History, 1 1 9 the sixth century. It was he who, having incurred the anger of King Dermot by his faithful rebukes, went, with seven of his disciples, to Scotland, and first settled at Iona or I-Columkill, the island of Columba. Another great saint was Patrick. After the learned discussions of Dr. Todd and other Irish scholars, it is as vain to doubt his personal existence as that of Homer ; but so many events are associated with the name that I suspect there were several St. Patricks. Certainly many of these events belong to times long after the reputed age of the patron saint of Ireland, though he is said to have lived 122 years. Patricius was no uncommon name among the descend- ants of Roman settlers, and in the countries of their adoption. Whoever were the chief agents in the work, the Irish nation was largely gained to profession of the Christian faith. Princes and chieftains were nursing- fathers to the Church ; and the triumph of the cross under Constantine was repeated among the little Hibernian principalities. Cormac, King of Munster, combined temporal and spiritual sway over his subjects ; and on the Rock of Cashel beside his palace was his cathedral chapel, and its campanile or Round Tower. There is no doubt that these structures, about which so much controversy has been raised, were built by the Christian Irish of those times. The names of the 1 20 Ire/and in 1872. builders, and the dates of some of them, have been ascertained, and their uses are no longer matter of wild conjecture, though it would take too long here to set down the proofs. During these ages we also glean from the history of other countries interesting notices of Irish Chris- tians, especially missionaries, men of zeal and learning, like St. Gall, and Fridolan, and in later times, Scotus Erigena. It was not by the native Irish, or by Celtic violence, that the Christian churches were made ruins. It was by pagan pirates, Saxons and Danes, and other northmen, that the holy places were plundered and desolated. In the times of disorder and violence that followed, the peaceful influences of Christianity dimi- nished, and the Irish chieftains and their septs re- lapsed into semi-barbarism, notwithstanding the existence of their Brehon law, and other restraints. Any history of the ancient Irish conflicts would be as profitless now, as the record of the wars of savage chiefs in Africa and New Zealand in prehistoric times. There are a few authentic facts that stand out in bright relief, notably the battle of Clontarf in 1014, when the great Brian Boroimhe or Boru (the brave) fell, after defeating the Danes. Brien Boru is the hero of Irish romance — the Alfred of their annals. Illustrious in war, he defeated the A Chapter on Irish History. 121 Danes in twenty-nine pitched battles, and innumerable encounters. No less illustrious in peace, in his reign the arts flourished, learning was encouraged, property respected, law*maintained, religion venerated. It was in his reign that a beautiful damsel, covered with jewels, travelled from one end of the island to the other without molestation. The popularity of such a fable to this day in Ireland, speaks well for the honour and virtue of the people. An anecdote like that wxnild not be current in a nation of lawless violence. The praises of the great and good king, "the glory and grace of his age," are celebrated in song and legend, and even Tom Moore has his ballad, f Remember the glories of Brien the brave." Yet it must be told, that if any one in Ireland begins to talk in prose about Brien Boru or the battle of Clontarf, there is a comical smile on every face, just as there was when Lord John Russell in his speeches came to " the British Constitution," or as when Sandy M'Bore commences a harangue about Bruce and Bannock- burn. Since Brien the Brave there is no name that stirs the common patriotism of Irishmen. After his death feuds and strifes increased, and it was by invitation of an Irish chief that Strongbow and his armed fol- lowers invaded the island. It was from the Pope (Adrian IV.) that King Henry II. received his com- I 22 mission to annex it to the English Crown. Patriotic orators forget this, or trust to the ignorance of their hearers, when they combine Popery and Liberty in their declamation. The Pope of Rome "blessed" the sword that struck clown Irish freedom, and Ireland can never be truly free till the ban of Popery is removed. But Rome had already sent invaders, who brought upon Ireland woes more ruinous than those of the armed Normans. Papal emissaries had come, who treated the Irish Christians as if they were worse than heathens. The "rude and ignorant people" paid no respect to the Bishop of Rome as the Vicar of Christ, did not worship the Virgin nor Saints, did not vene- rate relics, elected bishops without lawful authority, paid no tithes or firstfruits, worshipped in irregular forms, and sent no Peter's pence to the Pope ! But after St. Malachy, the Romanizing reformer, and his com- panions had been among these " Christians in name, Pagans in deed," St. Bernard, his biographer, records that " rudeness gave way, barbarism was allayed ; the rugged race began gradually to be softened, gra- dually to admit correction, and submit to discipline. The barbarous rule was put away ; the Roman rule was introduced ; the customs of the Church were everywhere received ; the contrary customs were rejected. ... In fine, all things were so much A Chapter on Irish History. 123 changed for the better, that it might be said of that nation, in the words of the prophet, ' A people which before was not mine is become my people.'" There was resistance for a time among the Irish clergy, as there was resistance among the clergy of the early British Church to the emissaries of Rome, but with the aid of the strong arm of power, the rule of Rome was firmly established. When the Norman barons came over in the time of Henry II. the ancient Church of Ireland was reduced to submission. Modern Irish patriots sympathize with the Irish chiefs who were subdued by the ruthless invaders of the island ; why do they not also sympathize with the Irish bishops who were forced into subjection to the Papacy, and compelled to receive the novelties of Romanism, instead of the faith of the early Church, and of their own St. Patrick and St. Columba ? The conquest of Ireland in the twelfth century was not a conquest by England, but by Rome, and by the Norman kings and barons with the banner of Rome. The history of Ireland from the Conquest to the Union is the miserable history of a half-subdued de- pendency. Its annals are the weary annals of aggres- sion on the one side and of rebellion on the other ; of aggression sometimes more sometimes less cruel and systematic, of rebellion sometimes more some- times less violent and extensive, but of aggression 124 Ireland in 1872. and of rebellion without end. Few are the points, few are the characters of moral interest in such a story. It is a long agony, of which the only interest lies in the prospect of its long-deferred close." Such are the words in which Professor Goldwin Smith begins his lectures on " Irish History and Character," the best book that has been written on the subject. Mr. Froude, in his American lectures, and in his recently published volume, has re-opened many old chapters of Irish history. It is a great intellectual treat to read what he writes on the subject, but for the practical work of legislation and administration in our day, these historical retrospects are of little advantage. In fact, they do more harm than good, by stirring up angry feelings about long-forgotten strifes and divisions. Mr. Froude heard that O'Donovan Rossa, the Fenian convict, was making a tour in the United States, dilating upon English tyranny and the wrongs of Ireland. u Irish patriotism has many charges to bring against England which can be but too well substantiated. There are features, however, in the long tragical story," Mr. Froude said, " which, if they do not palliate, at least explain and make in- telligible much that we could wish undone — features which naturally enough the Irish overlook, yet which should be borne in mind if an impartial judgment is to be formed of the controversy." He felt, too, how A Chapter on Irish History. 125 great an influence America possesses in Ireland, and so resolved to go over to give some lectures on Anglo- Irish history. It was a generous impulse, and has been well carried out. The Americans have had the historical case laid before them, and they can correct any wrong judgment they had formed. It is their business quite as much as ours, for all these events happened before the Declaration of Independence. The truth is that the Americans know all about Ireland as well as most Englishmen do, and they have their own " Irish difficulty." There is an Irish nation in the American Republic larger than in the British Empire, and the most troublesome section it is of the commonwealth, to both governments. Mr. Froude's mission was in this respect somewhat needless, but in regard to its influence on Ireland itself, it has been already attended with evil rather than good result. Father Bourke's replies to the lec- tures, repeating to sympathizing audiences all the false and libellous abuse of England, have been pub- lished in the cheap Irish newspapers, and in a sixpenny pamphlet widely circulated. Mr. Froude's stately orations will not be read by many hundreds in Ire- land, and can have no. effect on the popular feeling towards England. It is a mistake altogether to go back to old times for explanation of the alleged grievances and wrongs 126 Ireland in 1872. of Ireland in the present. The wildest Fenian never speaks of disturbing the former settlements of pro- perty, the most recent of which has prescriptive rights of two centuries standing. There may sometimes be poetical and rhetorical rhapsodies about Saxon rob- bers, but in the political arguments even of the Home Rulers, the complete fusion of all the races now in- habiting Ireland is a settled point. " There is scarcely an Irishman/' says one of the ablest of the Home Rule advocates, " there is scarcely an Irishman of Celtic name, a Maguire, or an O'Donoghue, or a Sullivan, without some Saxon or Norman lineage ; scarcely a Butt, or a Martin, a Smyth, a Shaw, or a Daunt, whose Saxon or Norman blood has not had a Celtic intermingling. All are in birth, in race, and in feeling, Irishmen ; and to speak of them as descend- ants of people, conquered by Great Britain betrays confusion of thought and inaccuracy of language, not to speak of its being a revival of reminiscences which had better be let die.' , It is not of any practical importance, but to the disparaging way in which Mr. Froude refers to the" ancient Irish laws and customs, I take exception, as a matter of history. He echoes the contemptuous re- marks of the English chroniclers, who in ignorance of the language were unable to form fair judgment of the Irish social state. The Brehon law was a codifi- A Chapter on Irish History. 127 cation of the chief customs which regulated the social and domestic life, as well as the public relations of the chiefs or kings, and their clansmen or subjects. Many things may appear strange and even barbarous to us, but some of these arose from abuses and per- versions of the ancient customs. These customs had descended from earlier times, and had been preserved by the Kymry in their migration from the east. I have no hesitation in affirming that on many points the Brehon law was far superior to the Norman and English law by which it was supplanted. It repre- sented patriarchal instead of feudal government. It does not seem to be known, or has been little mentioned, by writers on the ancient Irish laws and customs, that many of these were found till a far later period among the Highlanders of Scotland. Even the characteristic names of many customs were pre- served. As a curious illustration I may mention that there is, or was lately, in Glenfinnan, at Fassiefern, the ancestral home of the Camerons, a house pointed out as that of "the Tanister of Lochiel," or the next heir to the chief. At the time of the rebel- lion in '45, John Cameron, of Fassiefern, brother of the "gentle Lochiel," was Tanister, and occupied the house, a drawing of which was given in a Memoir of Colonel Cameron of the 92nd, who fell at Quatre Bras. This work, by the Rev. Archibald Clark, 128 Ireland i?i 1872. minister of Kilmallie, printed for private circulation at the cost of Sir Duncan Cameron, Bart., of Fassiefern, contains curious details about ancient Highland customs and legends. The colonel was nursed by the wife of one of his fathers tenants, whose son, Ewen M'Millan, the foster-brother, attended him in youth, followed him through the wars, and was at his side when he fell at Quatre Bras. " Kindred to twenty (degrees), fosterage to a hundred ;" " Woe to the father of the foster-son unfaithful to his trust," are old Gaelic say- ings in the Scottish Highlands. The chapter of the past political history of Ireland which it is most important to keep in remembrance, is that which relates to the penal laws, partly because the shadow of that dark epoch was projected into our own times, and partly because while persecution of the Catholics continued, and civil disabilities remained, it was useless to expect any good influence to be ex- ercised by Protestants, either in Church or State, on those by whom they were feared and hated. Is any reader in these happier and more tolerant times ignorant of the cruel enactments generically known as the Irish Penal Code ? Here are some of them. No Papist could hold any office, civil or military, serve on grand juries, or vote at elections. No Papist could be at the bar, and barristers or solicitors marrying Papists were subject to penalties. No Papist could purchase land, or take A Chapter on Ii'ish History. 129 a lease of land for more than thirty-one years. If the profits of land leased by a Papist exceeded an amount settled by Parliament, the farm passed to the Pro- testant informer. If the son of a Papist turned Pro- testant, the father's estate could no longer be sold, or charged with debt or legacy. No Papist could be in a line of entail ; the estate passed to the next Protest- ant heir, as if the Papist were dead. If a Papist died intestate, and no Protestant heir appeared, the pro- perty was equally divided among all the sons, or, if there were no sons, among all the daughters. No Papist could be legal guardian to his own son. If a child declared himself a Protestant, he was delivered to the guardianship of some Protestant relation. If the son enrolled the certificate of conversion in the Court of Chancery, the Court compelled the father on oath to state the value of his property, and to make a competent allowance for the son for maintenance. Property could not be held in trust for Papists. Papists keeping schools were chargeable with felony. If children were sent to any Papist seminary abroad, the parents were fined, and the children declared in- capable of inheriting property. Surely with truth Edmund Burke said of the Penal Code, "It is a truly barbarous system, where all the parts are an outrage on the laws of humanity and the rights of nature : it is a system of elaborate contrivance as well 9 130 Ireland in 1872. fitted for the oppression and degradation of a people, and the debasement of human nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man." The law against suspected persons was one of the most grievous of all the penal enactments, as it meddled with those who sought no public notoriety, and were willing to live quiet and peaceable lives. "Two justices may summon any person whom they shall suspect to be disaffected, by writing under their hands and seals, to appear before them at a time pre- fixed, to take the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration, which summons shall be served on such person, or left at his dwelling-house or usual place of abode, with one of the family there ; and if such person shall neglect or refuse to appear, then, on due proof made upon oath of serving the said summons, they shall certify the same to the next sessions, to be there recorded ; and if such person shall neglect or refuse to appear and take the oaths at the said sessions (his name being publicly read at the first meeting of the said sessions), he shall be taken and adjudged a Popish recusant convict. And the same shall be from thence certified by the clerk of the peace into the Chancery or King s Bench, to be there recorded." For the unfortunate recusant thus re- corded as convict, there remained not disabilities only, but manifold penalties and exactions, some of them A Chapter on Irish History. 131 not only unjust but mean, such as payment of double land tax, horses seized for militia service, with other insults and injuries. While these enactments were in force, the wonder is, not that Ireland was disaffected, but that the nation did not rise long before in rebellion. The most atro- cious portions of the Penal Code were destroyed before the Union, but it is only in our own time that Catholics have been admitted to equal civil and poli- tical rights with their Protestant fellow-citizens. In regard to the persecution of Catholics, and the oppression of Ireland generally, it ought to be remem- bered that Irishmen were its chief oppressors, and that it was not the British Government, but the Irish Parliament, which imposed the worst parts of the Penal Code. English ministers and English lord- lieutenants often interfered to shelter the helplessly subjected Catholics from the cruel tyranny of the dominant Protestant oligarchy. It was not till far on in the reign of George III. that the national and patriotic party in the Irish Parliament obtained any influence. Before 1780 the Irish Parliament never touched the penal laws, and when the relaxation of persecution began, Irishmen were the stoutest oppo- nents of the movement. Flood is sometimes spoken of as a national patriot, but his eloquence was con- stantly exercised in shutting out the Catholics from 132 Ireland z?i 1872. political power, and maintaining the laws of the Protestant ascendancy. The crowning Relief Act of 1793 was admitted by Grattan himself to be due mainly to the liberality of the English Government. It ought also to be remembered, especially by such anti-English orators as Father Bourke and other ecclesiastics, when they speak about the oppression of Ireland for seven hundred years, that, for four centuries out of the seven, England was Catholic, not Reformed, and the worst woes of Ireland flowed from the grant of that kingdom to Norman rulers by the Pope. CHAPTER X. THE QUESTION OF RACE. Fusion of Races — Irish Nationality — The Scottish Highlanders — Welsh LIENS in blood, language, and religion !" It was an unfortunate phrase of Lord Lyndhurst, and we know what use was made of it by Sheil, and less scrupulous agitators. But what of this ques- tion of race ? How far has it to do with the history, or how far is it answerable for the woes, of Ireland ? Whatever influence race may have had in olden times, it certainly is a small element in the actual condition of the people. In regard to the upper classes and upper middle classes, it would be hard for any ethnologist to analyse the social blood of Irishmen. Phoenician, Spanish, Milesian, Celtic, Scandinavian, Norman, Anglo-Saxon, French, Scotch, — there never was a greater fusion and confusion of race in any land. Lord Desart made a good point in criticising Mr. Froude's attacks on Irish landlords. " In the Nationality. *34 Ireland in 1872. desire to free the Irish peasant from the yoke of landlordism," says Mr. Froude, " I do not yield to the most irreconcileable Fenian." " What," retorts Lord Desart, " is this mysterious yoke ? Is it the payment of rent ? If so, then the yoke is worse in England, for rents in Ireland are allowed to be exces- sively low. If all property is robbery, and the land belongs to the tillers of the soil, a quite different line of argument is opened up, and rather a long one ; but it has no particular reference to Ireland, her history, her land laws, or Fenianism. As property just at present does exist, it exists equally in Middlesex and in Leinster, though perhaps the Land Act has rather shaken people's faith in it over here. If the yoke is, that a majority of the landlords are Protestants, — but I need not discuss this, as Mr. Froude has elsewhere said that he approves the arrangement. There remains only that the landlords are not national, not tho- roughly acclimatized ; and although I do not believe that this has any weight with Mr. Froude, still it is so favourite a weapon of the lower class of agitators, that it is quite worth notice. " Perhaps the majority of large landowners in the south of Ireland came over either in Elizabeth's or Cromwell's time. Of course they were English enough then, and perhaps they are English too much now ; but I do not understand the principle on which they The Question of Race, 135 could be deprived of their landlordism for this reason, unless, indeed, there be a hard-and-fast line drawn by- some eminent natural history teller, which limits the power of nationalization. If a family which has been in Ireland since 1665 is not Irish, when is it to be ? When will the representative of it be allowed to claim kindred with the people? In 1972 or 2072 ?" The same repudiation of nationality for the higher classes in Ireland appears in an able book by Mr. John George MacCarthy, " A Plea for the Home Government of Ireland : " — " Saxons and Normans came over here in vast numbers and incessantly for centuries. After the longest strife in history they made good their ground, and effected a compromise with the Celtic population, in which the latter got the worst of the bargain. It may be doubtful whether the Celtic races were conquered ; but there is no doubt that the in-coming races were not conquered. These were the conquerors, if any conquest there were. Their blood is in all our veins : both races have been fused long ago!' And again, " The Celtic, Saxon, and Norman races are in reality almost as much fused in Ireland as they are in Great Britain. They are inextricably mingled together in all social, commercial, and neighbourly relations throughout the country : nay, as we have 136 Ireland in 1872. seen, they are actually intermingled in the lineage and the blood of most Irishmen." When the tenants or labourers in Ireland talk of " the ould stock," or of " the family," Saxon or Celt are never thought of. When they "came over," or whether they came over, or whether they bear the name of ancient Milesian chiefs and kings, it matters nothing ; " the family " means the possessors of the property for two or three generations, and the attach- ment is the same for a Burke or a Boyle as for an O'Donoghue or O'Brien. No Highland clansman or feudal retainer could do or suffer more than the poor Irish will "for the sake of the family" of a resident landlord. In the most famous of Maria Edgeworth's Irish tales, " Castle Rackrent," Thady Quirk, u honest Thady," "old Thady," "poor Thady," was as attached to the Rackrent family as his grandfather ever had been to the O'Loughlins, from w r hom the property had passed. It was all "out of friendship for the family, upon whose estate, praised be Heaven ! I and mine have lived time out of mind." Hear Lord Desart again : " I do not think that the average Irish tenant looks upon his landlord as a tyrant. I have, in my very limited sphere, found nothing but kindness and good feeling among the farmers and peasantry, and I have had the luck to see and to experience gratitude for any little, perhaps The Question of Race, worthless kindness I have been able to do, which I am sure was not occasioned, as Mr. Froude somewhat unworthingly sneers, by the fact that " they had experienced so little of it ! " But perhaps if he did tell them of it they would afterwards feel it. As a rule a farmer in Ireland, when he hears all the vaporous nonsense of the Fenians, or the silly rhap- sody of the Home Rulers, smiles disdainfully, seeing through their shallow sophistry. But when it is whispered in his ear, ' What we really mean is that you shall have your farm rent free,' it is a different matter. Whisper the same thing to an English or Scottish farmer, and if he believe you he will join the Patriotic Club at once." It is true that the mass of the peasantry in the south and west are more purely Celtic. But does this necessarily mean that they are less Irish ? They are not aliens in language now, thanks to the progress of education, and if they are aliens in religion, and disaffected in politics, this is not an immutable pro- perty of the race. Circumstances have made them what they are, and there are moral influences stronger than the elements of blood and race, as the history of the Celtic Welsh or Scottish Highlanders can prove. There are some who ascribe the contrast between the north and south of Ireland to race and not to 138 Ireland in 1872. religion. The dominant race in Popish parts of Ireland they say is Celtic. The Ulster people are mainly of the same race as the Scottish Lovvlanders. But what of the Scottish Highlanders ? Hugh Miller says, "The Papists of Ireland and the Protestants of the Highlands (both Celtic) have this much in common, that they are poor, very poor ; but the difference is, that crime, which is a prevailing con- dition with the first, is comparatively unknown among the second. The one are poor and criminal, the other are content to be poor. Now we ask, how does it happen that both being equally in a bad physical condition, and weighed down by the same sufferings, the Irish Catholics are flagrant violators of the laws (he was then referring to agrarian outrages), while the Protestant Highlanders are exemplary for their virtuous and peaceful conduct? The political misgovernment of Ireland, however bad it may be, is nothing compared with the terrible social and moral disorganization which reigns there, and certainly it is this last evil which leaves the least hope for the future of Ireland. Now to what is it to be ascribed if not to Protestantism that the Scottish Highlanders, in the midst of the greatest privations, have maintained their social and moral character intact, while the Irish, deprived of this preserving salt, and having instead of it a principle of disorder and The Question of Race. 139 debasement, have broken down into complete corrup- tion ? Can we have any more striking proof of the innate vigour and purity of true Protestantism on the one hand, and on the other of the innate depravity and ruinous tendency of Popery ? We do not say that the Highlanders are faultless. They have their faults, but the crimes which have rendered Ireland so unhappily famous throughout the world are not among the Scottish Highlanders. Where do they find among them the amount of homicides and murders committed in broad day, of midnight robberies and assassinations, of crimes which pollute the soil of Ireland ? Is there to be found in the history of the Highlands for a« century, a landlord murdered by his own tenants upon his own thresh- old ? Where will they find the perjured witnesses, and the juries who refuse to give a verdict, paralyzing the law and arresting the course of justice ? Where are the soldiers to keep the Highlanders in awe ? When the Queen goes into the north to live among these Highlanders without law and faith, how many regiments are deemed necessary to protect her person ? Not a sentinel is seen near her castle." It may be said that the Celtic character has died out in Scotland, while it is persistent in Ireland. Grant even this for argument sake. Then how is it that the Celtic race in its purest state is not able to 140 Ireland in 1872. withstand the same influence which has changed Scotland ? The transformation may be witnessed in the island of Achill, at Dingle, and many places in Galway, thoroughly Celtic districts, a change from degrading superstition to elevating faith and its fruits. In speaking of the Celtic race as opposed to the Saxon, and of the hatred of the Irish to the English, it is natural to turn to the other branches of the Celtic race in Great Britain, and see what light can be obtained from their history. The Highlanders of Scotland are as purely Celtic as the Irish, and were at no distant period in chronic rebellion against the Southerners. They are now the most loyal and orderly and exemplary of all the people under Her Majesty's dominion. Politicians may doubt or sneer, but the one great cause of the revolution in Highland feeling was the propagation of the Gospel, and the Christian training of the people by a Protestant ministry. The same revolution has taken place in North Wales, where the hatred of England was as intense as in any part of Ireland. On this point I give the testimony of a remarkable Welshman, the late Rev. William Howels, of Long Acre Chapel. His name may be known to few in the present day, but his chapel was a place of resort forty years ago for many of the most distinguished men of the time. In the Life of the Duchess of Gordon, and in the The Question of Race, Remains of Mr. Bowdler, interesting records are pre- served of this man of genius and piety. The Earl of Roden, Viscount and Viscountess Powerscourt, and other Irish notables were members of his church. Mr. Howels used to say that the one antidote to the ills of Ireland was in the spread of scriptural truth, not by the English language only, but in the verna- cular tongue of the Irish. He said, that "just as the Irish now look on the English, with hatred and disdain, so once did Welshmen regard Englishmen as their greatest enemies." And he gave an instance to show how deeply rooted that hatred was. A relative of Lord Talbot told him that riding in Wales he came to a river which he wished to cross. He asked a labouring man hard by, if he could cross in safety, speaking in English. The man said he could. How- ever, the horse knew better, and refused to go. He then asked the same question in Welsh ; the man answered, " Sir, I beg your pardon, I thought you w r ere an Englishman. If you attempt to cross here, you will be drowned." It was at a meeting of the Hibernian Society, for spreading the Gospel among the Irish, that Mr. Howels told this anecdote, and he continued, " Nothing but the Gospel can overcome such bigoted national hatred as this. The same remedy which anglicised Wales can alone be effectual in Ireland also. Ireland must be reconquered by 143 Ireland in 1872. being brought under the Gospel yoke. Many quack doctors have been trying to heal her wounds, but all their attempts have failed. To remedy her evils is beyond the power of politicians. Let us bring her to the Physician who is able to heal every disease. The Gospel is His panacea, and it is the one thing needful for Ireland. The Gospel only can unite her to England. " Then Mr. Howels told his own Welsh experience as to national feeling. " I remember about the time of the first French Revolution my mind was so im- pregnated with hatred towards England from reading Welsh history, that I actully harangued my fellow- scholars on the propriety of shaking off the galling yoke of the Saxons. My hatred continued till I went to Oxford, and at Oxford the Gospel first reached my heart from the lips of an Englishman. From that time forth I loved Englishmen as warmly as before I hated them. There are hundreds of thousands in Ireland who bear the same rancorous hatred towards the English, whom nothing would better please than to slake their vengeance in the blood of our sons ; nothing could subdue this hatred but the Gospel. Nothing but the Gospel can identify the Irish w r ith us, and united to us by that tie, though all Europe, though the world in arms should surround our shores, we might bid them all defiance." CHAPTER XL CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT CONTRASTS. The Real Root of Ireland's Sorrows — Protestant and Catholic Lands Contrasted — North and South of Ireland — The Remedy for Ireland's Troubles. IN the second volume of the Life of Charles Dickens, in the account of his residence in Switzerland, we read the following, in a letter to Mr. Forster : " I don't know whether I have mentioned before, that in the valley of the Simplon hard by here, where (at the Bridge of St. Maurice over the Rhone) this Protestant Canton (Vaud) ends and a Catholic Canton begins, you might separate two perfectly distinct and different conditions of humanity, by drawing a line with your stick in the dust on the ground. On the Protestant side, neatness, cheerfulness, industry, education, con- tinued aspiration, at least, after better things. On the Catholic side, dirt, disease, ignorance, squalor, and misery. I have so constantly observed the like of this, since I first came abroad, that I have a sad mis- giving that the religion of Ireland lies as deep at the 144 Ireland in 1872. root of all its sorrows even as English misgovern- ment and Tory villainy." * " I have a sad misgiving that the religion of Ireland lies at the root of all its sorrows ! " If this were said in a speech at Exeter Hall, or by a Protestant zealot, it might be set down to prejudice and bigotry. But it is the conclusion at which a man so " liberal " in religious views as Charles Dickens was led by per- sonal observation. The idea was apparently new to him, or at least the expression of it ; as it seems also to be to his biographer, who remarks that "something of the same kind appears in one of Lord Macaulay's later works." The passage to which Mr. Forster alludes is in one of Lord Macaulay's most celebrated essays, originally printed in the Edinburgh as a review of Ranke's " History of the Popes." He is comparing the social condition of the Catholic and Protestant nations of Europe. " The geographical frontier be- tween the two religions has continued to run almost precisely where it ran at the close of the Thirty Years' War, nor has Protestantism given any proof of that expansive power which has been ascribed to * In another letter, from Geneva, in 1846, describing the opposing parties at the time, Mr. Dickens says, " If I were a Swiss I would be as steady against the Catholic cantons and the propagation of Jesuitism as any radical among them ; believing the dissemination of Catholicity to be the most horrible means of political and social degradation left in the world." Catholic and Protestant Contrasts. 145 it. But the Protestant boasts, and boasts most justly, that wealth, civilization, and intelligence have in- creased far more on the northern than on the southern side of the boundary, and that countries so little favoured as Scotland and Prussia are now among the most flourishing and best governed por- tions of the world; while the marble palaces of Genoa *are deserted, while banditti infest the fruitful shores of Campania, while the fertile sea-coast of the Pontifical States is abandoned to buffaloes and wild boars. It cannot be doubted that since the sixteenth century the Protestant nations have made decidedly greater progress than their neighbours. The progress made by those nations in which Protestantism, though not finally successful, yet maintained a long struggle and left permanent traces, has generally been con- siderable. But when we come to the Catholic land, to the part of Europe in which the first spark of reformation was trodden out as soon as it appeared, and from which proceeded the impulse which drove Protestantism back, we find at best a very slow progress, and on the whole a retrogression. Com- pare Denmark and Portugal. When Luther began to preach, the superiority of the Portuguese was unquestionable. At present, the superiority of the Danes is no less so. Compare Edinburgh and Flo- rence. Edinburgh has owed less to climate, to soil, 10 146 Ireland in 1872. and to the fostering care of rulers, than any capital, Protestant or Catholic. In all these respects Florence- has been singularly happy. Vet whoever knows what Florence and Edinburgh were in the generation pre- ceding the Reformation, and what they are now, will acknowledge that some great cause has, during the last three centuries, operated to raise one part of the European family and to depress the other. Compare the history of England and that of Spain during the last century. In arms, arts, sciences, Letters, com- merce, agriculture, the contrast is most striking. The distinction is not confined to this side the Atlantic. The colonies planted by England in America have immeasurably outgrown in power those planted by Spain ; yet we have no reason to believe that at the beginning of the sixteenth century the Castilian was in any respect inferior to the Englishman. Our firm belief is, that the north owes its great civilization and prosperity chiefly to the moral effect of the Protestant Reformation, and that the decay of the southern countries is to be mainly ascribed to the great Catholic revival." The same truth has been illustrated by many writers. " It is religion," says M. de Tocqueville, " that has given form to the Anglo-Saxon communi- ties in America. In the United States, religion is blended with the national customs, and with all those Catholic and Protestant Contrasts. 147 feelings that one's native land inspires ; this gives it a special influence." " The Americans blend so com- , pletely in their minds the idea of Christianity with that of liberty, that it is nearly impossible to bring them to conceive the existence of the one apart from the other." " There are European populations whose infidelity is only equalled by their depravity and ignorance, whilst in America we see one of the most free and enlightened nations in the world cheerfully fulfilling all the outward duties of religion. On my arrival in the United States it was the religious aspect of the country which first attracted my atten- tion. By degrees, as I prolonged my stay, I perceived the great political results of these facts, so new to me. Among ourselves I had seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of liberty almost always move in opposite directions. Here I found them closely connected." I have quoted these sentences from De Tocqueville because they serve to define the points on which comparison is to be made between Catholic and Protestant lands. Some Romish writers, in attempt- ing to meet the statements as to the influence of these opposite systems of religion, have, either ignorantly or wilfully, included under the term " Pro- testant," all opinions outside the Church of Rome, thus including infidelity, which is as great a source of misery and crime as is Popery. It is an old trick 148 Ireland in 1872. in Romish controversialists to put down all crimes, ♦ from the days of Luther downwards, to "the spirit of Protestantism/' which culminated in the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. M. de Tocqueville understood this, when he spoke of Euro- pean populations whose infidelity is only equalled by their depravity and ignorance. In these results, popery and infidelity are much alike, as the state of many countries proves, where the religion of the Bible is unknown. Hear M. Quinet, also speaking of the United States as contrasted with papist parts of America : " The Protestant principle is realized there with a manifest result ; and it is surprising that many writers amongst us who have treated of American democracy have only seen in these institutions the vague influence of religion in general. Whereas these institutions bear the exclusive stamp of the Reformation, of the reli- gion of the open Bible and of the Gospel." Belgium may at first sight appear an exception to the general principle which has been tested in other countries, being industrious and prosperous, and yet a Roman Catholic state. But what is the real condi- tion of Belgium ? It has a teeming population, with vast mineral resources and manufacturing advantages. I turn to the official reports recently published in the Consular Blue Book relating to the condition of the Catholic and Protestant Contrasts. 149 working classes in the various countries of Europe. It is a fact that a very large proportion of the entire population of Belgium are on the lists of poor relief, and these are for the most part the lower grades of working men and their families, whose social con- dition is truly deplorable. Intemperance is not a national vice among the Belgians more than in Eng- land, so that this element in their degradation is not conspicuous ; yet the poverty of the Belgian workmen is apparent, and pauperism abundant. Popery is the demoralizing influence. In health there are tempta- tions in the multitude of saints' fete days and holidays, so. numerous that the workmen lose a sixth and often a fourth of their whole working days. In sickness and poverty there are too many charities to which application can be made, relief being always ready at convents and in the workhouses. The growth of in- dependence of spirit is thereby prevented, and prudent habits discouraged. This is certainly one cause of the low morale and wretched condition of the working classes. There is no lack of free schools, yet great ignorance prevails, and the grossest superstition as its sure concomitant. In 1867, of the recruits drawn for the militia, forty per cent, were unable to read or write. The proportion is said to have diminished in the last four years, but there is ignorance and misery enough to dispel the fancy of Belgium being an ex- Ireland in 1872. ception to the demoralizing national result of Romish influence. This contrast between Catholic and Protestant nations has been often made.* The contrast has been also drawn between different parts of the same coun- try. Mr. Dickens was not the first to describe the relative condition of the Catholic and Protestant can- tons of Switzerland. The great inroad of foreigners upon this holiday ground of Europe, and the more serious invasion of French social and political life, have of late years made the contrast less conspicuous than it once was, but still what a difference between Lucerne and Basle, between Friburg and Berne ! One traveller, M. Raoul Rochette, says of the two last-named cantons, " Without an inspection of the heraldic insignia, the eye of the traveller will at once detect the line of demarcation between the cantons of Friburg and Berne. We cannot go fifty yards on the road without being sensible of the difference. Never, perhaps, within so short a distance, and in the same * Never more remarkably than by Mons. Nadaud, in his recent able iS History of English Workmen," in which he devotes a whole chapter to the statement and illustration of the historical fact, that Popery has ever been hostile to liberty and social progress, Protestantism the reverse. Nadaud was a member of the French Legislature, in exile here, during the Empire, for his republican opinions. In a work by M. Napoleon Roussell, "Catholic and Protestant Nations Compared/' many historical and statistical proofs will be also found. Catholic and Protestant Contrasts. 151 country, do we meet with signs so striking of the different effects of government" This testimony is the more remarkable, as the writer goes on to ascribe the difference to administration, without referring to the religion of the people. Another traveller says, " On leaving the canton of Friburg we enter the smiling, prosperous vale of the Canton de Vaud. The pleasure of the contrast detained us for hours." And a Frenchman, M. Cambry, entering the same canton from the side of France, says, " In a moment you pass from the poverty, the disorder, and the neglect of the Pays de Gex (Catholic) to the Canton de Vaud, where all is order, industry, and propriety," One more quotation I must give, as it contains the testimony of a writer whose philosophical spirit and freedom from bigotry will not be questioned, M, Sismondi. " The Grimsel marks the division between the Catholic cantons of southern Switzerland and the Protestant cantons of the north. Again the contrast in the moral, social, and religious influence of the two forms of faith is forced upon us. That the comparison is altogether favourable to Protestantism cannot be doubted. It is admitted by the Romanists them- selves. Leaving the Valais with its squalor and wretchedness, and crossing the pass into the bright, cheerful valley of Meyringen, everything seems thriving and prosperous. The partisan of Rome may 152 Ireland hi 1872. endeavour to explain away the inference, but he cannot deny the fact." u We have cantons whose frontiers interlock with one another as do my fingers," said Sismondi to Mr. Shepherd, of Frome, M and you need not be told, a glance suffices to show you whether you are in a Protestant or Catholic canton." To the same traveller a Catholic priest admitted the fact, but with great naivete explained it by saying, " The Bon Dieu knows that you heretics have no hope for another world, so he gives you compensation in this ! 99 Even so zealous a Catholic as M. Raoul Rochette says, with regard to the mixed cantons of Appenzell and Glaris, 14 Generally the Catholics have continued to be shepherds, while the Protestants have turned their attention to trade or manufactures. The poverty of the former contrasts with the comfort of the latter, so that at first sight it would seem to be better in this world to live among the Protestants than the Catho- lics, but there is another world in which this inferiority is perhaps compensated ! 99 At the time when I am writing, a few days after Christmas, the price of the British Government consols is 91 J per cent. ; of the Spanish 3 per cent. Govern- ment loan the price is The price of United States six per cent. Government stock is 92 J ; of Mexican three per cents., Portuguese three per cents, are 43 ; French Rentes, 52. Prussia has no Catholic and Protestant Contrasts. 153 stock on the market having no national debt. Italian five per cents, are 48. We must be cautious in drawing any conclusions from what is a purely commercial list, as to the social or political condition of the countries whose public stocks are daily priced in the money market. Many special circumstances, both financial and historical, must be known and taken into account. The student of the list must consider, for instance, the depression of France as the consequence of the war with Prussia ; and the difference between the value of Spanish, and Portuguese stock as due to the less settled political state of the former kingdom. But making due allowance for all exceptional or dis- turbing causes, it is apparent at a glance that certain countries possess the influence and security arising from settled government and healthy political con- dition, and that these countries are Protestant. Xo temporary or exceptional causes can produce the contrast between the Government credit of Great Britain and Spain, a difference of gii to 28J ; or, taking in Portugal also, 91 \ to 35. Equally striking is the contrast between the Protestant and Catholic republics in America, the Government securities being in the relative value of 46 to 17. In both these instances, in all natural advantages of climate, fertility, mineral wealth, and the elements of material pros- perity, the Catholic countries have the advantage. If 154 Irela?id i)i 1872. Scotland and Ireland were to-day both separated from England, and both enjoyed home rule, and had a loan in the market, what would be the difference of value ? and why ? The contrast between different provinces or districts of Ireland is not so marked as between countries wholly Catholic or Protestant, or as in the Swiss cantons. It is a country of mixed population ; not merely mixed in the sense of partly the one and partly the other religion in different localities, but so intermingled in the same provinces as to make the contrast not at once evident. Add to this that in Protestant countries the Roman Catholic Church is so modified in its out- ward aspects, as to be scarcely recognizable as identical with the Church of dark ages and dark countries. In Ireland the people can no longer be kept in ignorance, for " the schoolmaster is abroad." Even Sunday-schools are becoming common among Roman Catholics, — a thing unheard of at no distant time. It must be remembered also that to Protestants the Catholics are chiefly indebted for these educational advantages, the national schools being mainly supported by a par- liamentary grant. Nearly all the charitable schools also, before the national system commenced, were supported by Protestant contributions ; the Kildare- street schools, the London Irish Society, and others, as well as the Irish Church Mission schools of the Catholic and Protestant Contrasts. 155 present day. In the face of all these educational appliances, the Catholic people cannot be kept in ignorance, as in former times, or as in countries where Protestants do not stir them to emulation. Their bishops cannot check this flow of knowledge, though their effort is to obtain the control and guidance of it. Yet, making all due allowance for the number of Catholics in the north of Ireland, and of Protestants in the south, and for the modified character of Popery in the presence of the reformed faith, the contrast between Ulster and the other provinces is notorious. Here is the testimony of a Catholic traveller: " I left," says M. Prevost, " the industrious colonies of the north, and suddenly the scene changed, and I found again the deserts, the bogs, the hovels, in which live the miserable people." The same traveller in another part of his journal says : (i Kilkenny was an important town when Belfast was only a village : it had several factories, eleven water-mills, and such a carpet factory that its English rival, to avoid the competition, demanded the repeal of the Union. In 178 1 Belfast was an unim- portant place, with a poor harbour, and the revenue of the port only ;£i,500." The statistics of population alone will suffice to show the progress of the northern borough. In 1782 it was 13,000 ; at the Union about 20,000; in 1821, in round numbers, 37,000; in 183 1, 53,000; in 1841,75,000; in 185 1, 100,000; in 1861, Ireland in 1872. 119,242 ; and in 1871, 174,394. Kilkenny at the last census had 15,609. As an inland town it could not be expected to increase largely, but it had the ele- ments both of mining and manufacturing prosperity, if the people had the energy to use them. With far greater advantages, the city of Cork need not have allowed its northern and modern rival to get so far ahead. The population is about half that of Belfast. To any one who has travelled or resided in Ireland it is waste of time to tell of the contrast between the Catholic and Protestant provinces. But a few statis- tical facts will be understood by strangers. Of the 25,000 troops usually stationed in Ireland scarcely 3,000 are in Ulster, and these chiefly in the border counties. Of the 13,000 constabulary less than 2,coo are in Ulster, Of committals for crime not one-sixth are in the north,, though in other places the difficulty of obtaining evidence on conviction, from conspiracy and connivance, makes the proportion less than actually exists. During the famine-time, out of ^10,000,000 relief money not ;£ 1,000,000 went to Ulster ; and of this a large part was for the poor Catholics, who flocked thither from less prosperous parts of the country. Everywhere throughout Ireland at that sad time, the great mass of the relieved were Catholics, of the relievers Protestants. With one- third of the whole population, Ulster's share of the Catholic and Protestant Contrasts. 157 police, jail, and poor-law expenses is not above one- eighth. Its pauperism, its crime, its poor-rates are all less; its education, its wealth, its industry, its benevolent and religious institutions are all more, in proportion to the numbers of the people. In short, there is a condition of social and moral health, and an atmosphere of prosperity in the north, utterly diverse from the south, with its filthy cabins, swarm- ing beggars, decaying villages, and its Catholic faith. The contrast is the more striking when we remember that in some of the northern counties the Catholic population is large, and also in some of the towns, especially Belfast and Derry, where a considerable portion of the lower labouring class is from the south ; but notwithstanding this mixture of population, the contrast between Ulster and Munster is almost as marked as between the Protestant and Catholic cantons of Switzerland, Dr. John Forbes, author of "A Physician's Holiday," in his book on Ireland, said, u One of the objects I had constantly in view in my journey being to ascer- tain practically, from actual examination and inquiry, the relative numbers of the adherents of the two reli- gions among the great body of the people, I naturally took advantage of the great facilities afforded to me on this point by the schools and workhouses. The workhouses, more especially, peopled as they are 158 Ireland in 1872. exclusively by the most destitute members of the community, are calculated to supply the best possible criteria for determining this point in regard to the most numerous class of the people. Those who have taken the trouble to follow me in my visits to the individual unions cannot fail to have been struck with the great superiority of the numbers of the Catholic inmates, not merely in the more Catholic parts of Ireland, but even in the most Protestant districts of Ulster itself. In going back over the reports I have given of the individual workhouses I find the general result is as follows : In seven of the unions in the south and west of Ireland the proportion of Catholics to Protestants is about forty-two to one ; in five of the unions in Ulster, together with that of Sligo (in which the proportion of the Protestants is large), the proportion is about five Catholics to one Protestant ; taking all the unions together, the general proportion is about twenty Catholics to one Protestant." The proportion of the population of all Ireland at the time was about five Catholics to one Protestant. Dr. Forbes' testimony as to the general result of the Catholic religion to produce inferiority in the social condition of its adherents, is the more weighty, as he is among those professed liberals who would have endowed the Catholic Church. "The easiest Cathalic and Protestant Contrasts. 159 and simplest mode of bringing about the equalization of the Churches is that which, by merely putting an end to the present Church Establishment, would leave all the three Churches of Ireland in the same predicament of Free or Voluntary Churches, to look for support from their respective members ; the reve- nues of the present Churches being assumed by the State, and devoted to the purposes of national educa- tion. A second mode would be for the State, after the assumption of the Church revenues, to redistribute them equally among all the ministers of the three Churches ; the national education being supported as at present by Government. Of these two modes of dealing with this great matter I confess I have a strong leaning in favour of that which contemplates the paying of the clergy." I think it of interest to recall this opinion, as it certainly represented the judgment of the majority of Englishmen up to within a few years ago. Among Dr. Forbes Scottish countrymen there was a stronger minority against endowment, but even among the reli- gious classes in England, and especially among Church- men, this was the desired solution of the ecclesiastical difficulties of Ireland. The fear of the question of disestablishment being raised in England, was the chief element in the " levelling-up " principle as to Ireland. But the march of events decided otherwise, i6o Ireland in 1872. and the three Churches will now contend on equal terms, with a free field and no State favour legally shown. Some time must pass before statistics of any value can be obtained as to the social results of Pro- testantism under its new conditions. Judging by the past, and by the wonderful expansive power of the unendowed free churches in Scotland, we may expect, even before the year of another census comes round, to see the beginning of greater changes than have yet taken place in the relative power of the Catholic and Protestant religions, in respect to the moral and social condition of the Irish people. In former times the clans of Scotland were as wild and lawless and uncivilized as the septs of Ireland. They remained so during the ages of Popery. It is as the light of the Gospel spread after the Reforma- tion, in some parts in comparatively recent times, that they have become peaceable, law-abiding, and God- fearing. With change of religion there has been social and civilizing change. So poor a country can- not be made rich by religion, but the moral influence of Protestantism is conspicuous the more amidst its poverty. It is this which gives the best-grounded hope for the possibility of Ireland's regeneration. What the Gospel and Protestantism have done for the Celtic race in Wales or Scotland can be done in Ireland also. Excepting by occasional and irregular Catholic and Protestant Contrasts, 1 6 1 impulse no attempt has, till very recently, been made to spread the reformed faith in the Popish districts. The Presbyterian Church was chiefly confined to Ulster ; the Established Church chiefly looked after its own members. Now and then a zealous minister laboured among the Roman Catholic and Irish-speak- ing people, but these were only exceptional cases. That so little impression has been made on Roman Catholicism during three centuries might seem strange, but for the fact that the only rational means were not employed for the work. The same necessity for using the Irish language, at least to the same extent, does not now exist, for the native tongue is less used, and among the new generation, since the extension of education, English is becoming universally understood. The experience of the past gives no ground for dis- couragement, and the means now used for the spread of scriptural religion by the Protestant churches will in due time assuredly be effectual. Edmund Spenser's famous " View of the Present State of Ireland" is well known and often quoted. So little has been done (till recently) for spreading scriptural truth among Catholics, that his description is in some things applicable to our own time. Spenser knew the real source of the evils which mere politicians vainly endeavour to remove. "The fault which I have to find in religion is but one, but the same is 1 1 162 Irelayid in 1872. universal throughout all that country ; that is, that they are all Papists by their profession, but in the same so blindly and brutishly informed, for the most part, that not one amongst a hundred knoweth any ground of religion or any article of his faith, but can say his Pater or his Ave Maria, without any knowledge or understanding what one word thereof meaneth." And among the remedies proposed, Spenser says that "true religion is the one hope for Ireland." "Yet in planting of religion thus much is needful to be ob- served, that it be not sought forcibly to be impressed with terror and sharp penalties, as now is the manner ; but rather delivered and intimated with mildness and gentleness, so as it may not be hated before it is understood, and its professors despised and rejected. And therefore it is expedient that some discreet ministers of their own countrymen be sent over among them, which by their meek persuasions and instruc- tions, as also by their sober lives and conversations, may draw them first to understand, and afterwards to embrace, the doctrine of their salvation." These were wise words of Edmund Spenser, but the advice was very slightly acted on. The first book printed in Irish was a catechism or primer, in 1 571. In 1603 the New Testament was first translated, the Book of Common Prayer in 1608, and the Bible not till 1685. To show how little use was made of this agency, for Catholic and Protestant Contrasts. 163 which the pious and learned Mr. Boyle pleaded ear- nestly and contributed liberally, there was no reprint of the Irish New Testament between 1681 and 181 1, nor of the Irish Bible between 1685 and 1 S 1 7 ! The counsels of Spenser and Boyle, of Bedell and Usher, to carry the Gospel to the poor Irish, were never adequately carried out. Throughout the eighteenth century a deep slumber rested on the Protestant Church, broken only at intervals by the voices and labours of a few earnest men. One of these was the Rev. Nicholas Browne, a rector in the diocese of Clogher, early in that century. Understanding the language thoroughly, he used to read prayers and preach, just when mass was ended and before the people had dispersed. Crowds gathered round him, to the annoyance of the priests, when they heard what he was preaching. One of these called out during the prayers that the Protestants had stolen them from the Church of Rome. To which an old man replied, u Truly, if so, they had stolen the best, as thieves generally do." Dr. Samuel Madden in 1738 warmly advocated the appointment of itinerant preachers to speak to the Irish in their own tongue. A little later, this was again proposed, but in vain, by good Bishop Berkeley of Cloyne. Bishop Berkeley put the matter in the form of delicate suggestions in his little book, " The Querist," Ireland in 1872. asking, " Whether there be an instance of a people's being converted, in a Christian sense, otherwise than by preaching to them and instructing them in their own language ? Whether catechists in the Irish tongue may not be easily procured and subsisted ? And whether this would not be the most practicable means for converting the natives ? Whether it be not of great advantage to the Church of Rome, that she hath clergy suited to all ranks of men in gradual subordination, from cardinals to mendicants ? Whether her numerous poor clergy are not very useful in missions, and of much influence with the people? Whether in defect of able missionaries, persons con- versant in low life, and speaking the Irish tongue, if well instructed in the first principles of religion and in the Popish controversy, though, for the rest, on a level with the parish-clerks, or the schoolmasters of charity- schools, may not be fit to mix with and bring over our poor illiterate natives to the Established Church? Whether it is not to be wished that some parts of our liturgy and homilies were publicly read in the Irish language ? And whether in these views, it may not be right to breed up some of the better sort of children in the charity-schools, and qualify them for mission- aries, catechists, and readers?" What has been since attempted and effected will be presently referred to ; my object here is to show that Catholic and Protestant Contrasts. 165 the absence of sufficient teaching left the native Irish under the influence of Popery, with its demoralizing consequences, both social and spiritual. There was a clever cartoon two or three years ago in Fan. " Poor Ireland," "the sick sister" of the British family, is sitting in doleful plight, surrounded by above a dozen political doctors, every one pressing his peculiar specific. Dr. Russell offers his " Whig mixture," Dr. Bright a "land cordial," Dr. John Stuart Mill insists on severe "heroic remedies," while Dr. Gladstone recommends "generous treatment." A Communist shows a dangerous knife, a Romish priest has a prescription for "complete isolation." Dr. Disraeli is feeling the patient's pulse with puzzled shake of the head, while Dr. Robert Lowe in the back- ground holds up his hands in hopeless despair of any good being done. The only true remedy (as usual with the press), is unrecognized. Give to Ireland the same reviving and restoring power which has made all Protestant nations healthy and prosperous, and she will yet rise to new life and strength. No palliative or mere political measures will do any permanent good, though they may remove some of the trouble- some and irritating symptoms. Without an open Bible, and without religious freedom, poor Ireland will still remain the sick sister of the British family. In speaking of Protestantism, it is not merely the Ire lava in 1S72. system antagonistic to ropery that is meant. A negative theology or atheistic system would be worse for Ireland than the reign of priestcraft and super- stition. When Queen Victoria presented a Bible to the African chief, and said that this was the secret of Kngland s greatness, the same truth was proclaimed which we intend in saying that Protestantism will save Ireland. It is the open Pible that will bring healing and strengthening power to the national life, as it does to the individual life. With godliness will come not cleanliness only, but industry, and inde- pendence, and truthfulness, and many a manly and homely virtue which ropery crushes down among the poor Irish. CHAPTER XII. ROMAN CATHOLICS AND IRISH CATHOLICS. Hindrances to Concord — Ultramontane Claims — Political Orangemen — The Catholic Laity. IN the recently published despatches of the Duke of Wellington there are some interesting references to Irish affairs. The Duke, as Sir Arthur Wellesley, was for two years — 1807, 1808 — Chief Secretary of Ireland, under the Portland ministry. He did good service at the time, but he left with no hopeful view of the prospects of the country. He feared that no Government measure could ever make the people contented and loyal. The restoration of the soil to the descendants of its ancient owners was the idea underlying all the agitation of those times. This feeling was shared by the priests, generally themselves springing from the peasant class. Though they could not proclaim their disaffection, they dared not oppose the people, on whom they depended for subsistence. It was this dependence which led Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1 68 Ireland in 1872. like many men of all political parties, to advocate the payment of the Roman Catholic clergy by the State. The Edinburgh Review on this point agreed with the Quarterly Rez'iezv, in the articles through forty years on Ireland. It was a policy of expediency, which would have had no good result, and which we have happily outlived. But the clear sagacity of the man appeared in his views on national education, which were far in advance of the time. 44 The great object of our policy in Ireland should be to obliterate, as far as the law will allow us, the distinction between Protestant and Catholic, and avoid anything that can induce either sect to recollect or believe that its interests are separate or distinct from those of the other. I would apply this principle to education." 44 To obliterate the distinction between Protestant and Catholic n is the policy which has been carried out since the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act, the establishment of the national system of edu- cation, and the foundation of the Queen's colleges. The disestablishment of the Irish Church was a pain- ful sacrifice to the same demand of equality, and the opening of Trinity College more largely to all Irish- men will be also a step in the same direction. But to consent to any scheme of separate education, would be a sad retrogression, and would perpetuate the remembrance and influence of times when the Roman Catholics and Irish Catholics. 169 interests of Protestant and Catholic were distinct and hostile. There never could be the possibility of common patriotism, far less of a common faith, if the two creeds were to be thus stereotyped in separation and antagonism. Let the churches remain separate, if they will, till happier times of Christian unity arrive, but let the nation be one, and its education Irish, not Romish. Every passing year confirms the wisdom of the policy which unites Catholics and Protestants, under common laws and co-equal civil rights. They meet together at school and college, in business and the intercourse of daily life, in the professions, on juries, at the bar, on the bench. There are no subjects in the empire more peaceable and law-abiding, more patriotic and loyal, than are many of the Catholics of Ireland. Some worthy Protestant people express regret that Catholic emancipation was ever granted, and some, no doubt, are sorry that the penal laws were ever relaxed. Rome, they say, can never be satisfied by concessions, but will plot and agitate for supremacy. They do not distinguish between Irish Catholics and the Ultra- montane party — the emissaries of the Vatican, who are the real fomentors of discord, and the worst enemies of Ireland as well as of England. It is the restless aggression of this faction which keeps in activity the opposing power of the Orange confederacy. The Ireland in 1872. ignorant people on both sides do not see that these are two hostile extremes of opinion, the collision of which hinders the union and peace of the nation. There never can be tranquillity in Ireland while these religious feuds are kept up. Within a month of the Lord-Lieutenant's * progress" through Ulster, when he congratulated the nation on the peace, prosperity, and progress everywhere manifest, the startling announcement came that " civil war raged in Belfast." The most peaceful and prosperous town in Ireland was under a reign of terror. The place was divided into two hostile camps, and a state of siege was proclaimed. For several days the conflict con- tinued, and daily returns were made of the killed, maimed, and wounded. Strong forces of police and of troops failed to overawe the combatants, and when repressed in one part of the town the battle broke out in another. Shops were shut and business suspended. By order of the mayor all public-houses were closed, but the mob broke into them, and were maddened to fresh violence. Houses were wrecked, and Protestants and Catholics who had been peaceful neighbours became active enemies. Up to the day of the outbreak the two were living and working side by side, making their profits out of the same trades, enjoying the protection of the same laws. There was no parliamentary or municipal contest in progress ; Roman Catholics and Irish Catholics. 171 there was nothing to fight for, nothing to win or lose. There was not even the excuse of resisting an illegal demonstration. The " Party Processions Act " had been repealed. The Protestants, it was thought, might shout " God save the Queen ! " and " No surrender ! " one day, until their loyalty was satisfied or exhausted ; and the Roman Catholics might plant disloyal em- blems and sing Fenian songs another day, until they too had let off their steam. But neither party is contented with license for itself unless it can refuse it to the other. "The Protestants are the more intolerant of the two," said the Times, in commenting on this deplorable outbreak. I happened to be in the society of some zealous Orangemen a few days before the 15th of August, and was amazed and pained by the intolerant spirit manifested. I spoke of the forbearance and good conduct of the Catholics on the 12th of July, and pleaded for a similar forbearance towards the opposite party. Even the apprentice boys of Derry were capable of recognizing the right of the Catholics to make a public demonstration on their day. After the 1 2th of July, the Nation newspaper could fairly point to the conduct of the Catholics, as worthy of generous imitation by their opponents. " The bloody Twelfth is past, and no red burials have attended the influence of Orange teachings or the fervour of Orange 172 Ireland in 1872. enthusiasm. The dies irce has passed over Ulster ; the day so long devoted to insult and tumult, to drunken orgies and murderous violence, has dawned and set, but the peace has remained unbroken. "So quiet a Twelfth has not been known in Ireland," say the reports, " for the last quarter of a century. There- were no schools sacked, no convents wrecked, no churches desecrated. There were no riots, no stone- throwing, no head-breaking. To the lively reverer of the Immortal Memory, who remembers the stirring events of the past, the proceedings of the last anni- versary must have appeared insufferably tame. The spirit of Dolly's Brae and the Battle of the Diamond seemed to have died out, and belligerent Orangemen shook their heads mournfully, as they wended their way homeward without having had the satisfaction of seeing a single Papist maltreated. The Green and the Orange had not once come into collision. The Orangemen behaved not less offensively than of yore, but the wearers of the Green were insensible to pro- vocation, and a peaceful Twelfth was the consequence." "If it might be permitted to us," continued the writer in the Nation, " to reason with the Lodgemen of Ulster, we should point out to them that forbear- ance so trying and so great deserves something be- sides revilings in return. We would remind them that, even in the districts disgraced by their commemora- Roman Catholics and Irish Catholics. 173 tion of civil war, they form the minority, and depend for immunity in their practices on the forbearance of the Catholics around them. We would remind them that through the exercise of that forbearance, they have been enabled to carry out their miserable pro- gramme unfettered and uninterfered with, and have been enabled to obtain the repeal of the only statute which stood as a check upon their irritating displays. In actions like this there surely might be some reciprocity. Let us hope that after the celebrations which have given some of our contemporaries so much satisfaction, the outcries raised against every popular demonstration elsewhere may have no revival, and the example set by the Catholics of Ulster find some reflex, however faint, in the conduct of their political opponents." To this appeal even the apprentice boys of Deny, as has been said, were not insensible, and the Catholic demonstration of the 15th of August, though in some ways peculiarly offensive to loyal susceptibilities, was not interfered with. Green processions, with music and banners, went round the historic " walls " without being interfered with, though a crownless harp and a French tricolour were among the emblems. All passed off quietly. Not so at Belfast, where the Lady-day procession ended in violence and blood- shed. 174 Ireland in 1872. At the risk of giving offence to bigots on either side, I must give the impression made by what I saw of the extreme parties of the two creeds. The two most " dangerous classes " in Ireland are the Ultramontane Papists and the extreme .Orange- men, or the mere political Protestants. There are among the Orangemen some of the noblest and best of Irishmen, but they are little aware of the evils that are done under the shelter of their name. The true Protestants know that the weapons of their warfare are not carnal but spiritual, and that more ground will be gained by spreading the truth in a loving spirit, than by party demonstrations. The organizers of party processions are the people who keep Ireland in strife and disturbance, far more than Fenian plotters or Home Rule agitators. The present aim of the Ultramontanes is to get into their hands the education of the Roman Catholic population, both in school and university, and so to keep the nation in subjection to the Vatican. By offering political support to the Liberal party they are trying what can be done, but they would transfer this support to any political party that would sub- serve their policy. In opposing this policy the extreme Orangemen are at present in alliance with the Conservative party. This is not the result of political choice, so much as of desire of protection Roman Catholics and Irish Catholics. 175 from Papist aggression. In Scotland, the Protestant strength is as much on the Liberal side, as in Ireland it is on the Conservative side. This state of parties will continue as long as the existing Irish difficulty remains unsettled. A Liberal Government cannot at once satisfy the Ultramontanes of Ireland, and retain the confidence of the Protestants of Great Britain. A Conservative Government cannot satisfy the ex- treme Orange party, and at the same time retain Catholic Ireland in peace. But a constitutional Government, disregarding the extreme on both sides, would maintain a strong hold on public opinion in Ireland, for there is a large body of independent Catholics, both clergy and laity, who would unite with Protestants in resisting the L T ltramontane claims, which have influence chiefly through the connivance of Government for party purposes. Where is this independent Catholic party ? it may be asked. The Romish hierarchy seems to be united in its demands. Few protests or remonstrances have been heard. In a valuable little work, " Catholicism and the Vatican," by an Irish barrister,* the new rela- tion of the Irish Catholic Church to Rome is clearly explained. He implores his Catho'ic fellow-country- men not to shut their eyes to the designs of the * " Catholicism and the Vatican," by J. Lowry Whittle, A.M., Trinity College, Dublin. Henry S. King and Co. 176 Ireland in 1872. Ultramontane party, which are endangering Catholic truth as well as national independence. "The decree promulgated by the Pope in the last session of the Vatican Council is referred to under various designations ; sometimes as the Constitutio de Ecclesia y again as the decree of July 18, 1870, or as the Bull Pastor Etcrnus. It consists of four chapters, the first two containing a history of the primacy as instituted in the person of St. Peter and continued in the Roman pontiffs ; the third declaring the Pope to be universal bishop ; and the fourth declaring him to be the infallible teacher. These two latter are the important chapters enacting the controverted dogmas. The concluding paragraphs of each contain the ex- plicit statement of these dogmas. First, on the universal episcate, " If any one shall have averred that the Roman Pontiff has only the office of inspection or direction, but not the full and supreme power of juris- diction over the universal church, not only in matters relating to faith and morals, but also in those relating to discipline and the government of the church, in every region of the earth, or that he has only the higher kinds, but not the whole extent of this supreme pow r er, or that this power of his is not ordinary and immediate, or not over all and every church, or over all and every pastor and believer, let him be anathema." Roman Catholics and Irish Catholics. 177 Secondly, as to the infallibility. " Therefore we, faithfully adhering to the traditions handed down from the origin of the Christian religion, for the glory of God the Saviour, the exaltation of the Catholic religion, and the salvation of Christian nations, with the approval of the holy Council, teach and declare, as a divinely-revealed dogma, that when the Roman Pontiff speaks cx-cathcdrd, that is, when filling the office of pastor and teacher of all Christians, he, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, lays down for the whole Church a doctrine concerning faith or morals ; he enjoys through the divine assist- ance promised to him in the person of St. Peter, that infallibility which the Divine Redeemer decreed that the Church should possess in laying down a doctrine concerning faith and morals ; and, therefore, such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are final in themselves, and not from the consent of the Church." The infallibility dogma has attracted most public attention. In Ireland it has been accepted by the majority of the bishops, and being assumed as true in their declarations and public acts, the ignorant people are led to suppose that it is an accepted dogma of the Church. But it is not accepted by the intelli- gent laity, and is also rejected by many of the clergy. It is contrary to all the past teaching of the Irish Church. The Archbishop of Tuam, in the Council, 12 178 Ireland in 1872. declared that the doctrine of the personal infallibility of the Roman Pontiff could not reach the people, and find acceptance in the minds of the laity. It is not taught in any catechism in Ireland, is never preached by the parish clergy ; but what is always preached is the infallibility of the Church, and by the Church the people understand the bishops in agreement with the Pope. This also has been maintained in all con- troversies with non-Catholics. How far the in- fluence of the Irish episcopate will carry the dogma with the clergy remains to be seen, but the educated laity cannot be expected to receive the new and strange article of faith. Of more practical importance on the condition of Ireland is the other dogma, of "the universal episcopate of the Roman Pontiff." " It destroys at once," says Mr. Lowry Whittle, "the whole theory of the episco- pacy. Each bishop becomes only the local agent of the Pope. Greatly as the Pope's authority over the bishops had grown in the latter times of the Church, the bishop still took the oath of fidelity to the Pope with the clause salvo vico ordine. He had distinct rights in the Church as a member of the episcopacy, claiming to represent the apostles, and his obedience to the Pope was regulated by the canon law. The ordinaria potcstas, or power of the bishop, was the authority to which each priest or layman was Roman Catholics and Irish Catholics. 179 immediately subject in religious matters. Now, every priest and layman is subject to the Pope directly; the Pope's power extends over every pastor and believer. " The practical effect of this first part of the Vatican decree is greater than that of the infallibility dogma. The sweeping away, with the consent of the episco- pacy, of the whole constitution of the Latin Church, is one of the most remarkable facts the modern historian can record. All the rights and privileges of separate orders in the Church are abolished. All the customs of local and national churches, the relations of the parish priest to his flock, to his bishop, of the bishops to each other, of the various national churches to the Papacy ; the whole canon law which elaborately regulated all these relations ; — all these institutions of the Church have only a significance so far as the Pope may permit in each particular case. According to this dogma, those who for so many centuries relied on the canon law as a limitation of the power of the Pope, as a guarantee of special rights of bishops and of priests, and of local churches, were violating the ordinances of God." It is quite possible that this assumption of supreme power in the person of the Roman Pontiff, and the breaking of the canon law, may in the end turn out a good thing in the providence of God, as rendering more easy the overthrow of the Papal system when i8o Ireland in 1872. its oppression can be no longer borne by the nations. But meanwhile the despotism wielded through the Papal legate and his prelates on the Irish clergy, will lead to much hardship and persecution, except when, as in the case of the parish priest of Callan, the pro- tection of British law is invoked. In no other country of Europe would the aggression of the Papal power have been allowed to go so far as it already has in Ireland since the Vatican Council of 1870. In the conclusion of his book Mr. Lowry Whittle takes a cheerful view as to the future of Irish Catho- licism. ■ No greater misconception exists, among the many misconceptions of Irish questions, than the opinion that the people of Ireland are Ultramontane. Ultramontanism, as held by many men in England, Irishmen know nothing of." 44 It is a thing alien to the spirit of the Irish people, and they have never had any cordial feeling for Ultramontanes. The great organizer of the Ultramontane party in Ireland is one of the most unpopular prelates Ireland has ever had. With regard to the laity, the same want of sympathy is discernible. * * * The bishops are at present the only body of Irishmen with Ultramontane sympathies, and their influence as a body has been gradually waning in Ireland, owing to political questions. The lower order of clergy- have, for the most part, as little sympathy with Ultramontanism as the people. A Roman Catholics and Irish Catholics. 1 8 1 Catholic middle class is being gradually formed in Ireland, and with its growth the chance of such doc- trines finding acceptance is diminishing every day." Why do the laity, it may be asked, submit so tamely to the episcopal domination ? The question will not be asked by those who know the state of Ireland. It is not easy to act with independence when life itself depends on the good-will of the priests. A professional man, or a trader, or shopkeeper, in a Catholic town, can be ruined in his worldly calling by incurring ecclesiastical displeasure. Among the great landed proprietors one might expect more indepen- dence, but the fact is that the Catholic gentry as a rule are, for their station, the least intelligent class in the community. A well-educated Roman Catholic gentleman is the exception, not the rule. When met with, it will be found that he has been to Trinity College, or that he has attended some foreign uni- versity. According to the testimony of Professor Sullivan, the lower classes of the Irish are becoming well-educated, for their station, but the middle and upper classes the reverse. The training they get in Roman Catholic schools is a miserable training, and if not followed up by a university course, they degenerate into mere rural squireens, without much liberal knowledge, or independence of character. It is very different with the educated minority of 182 Ireland in 1872. the gentry who have studied at Trinity or at other colleges. It is especially different with a large pro- portion of the Irish Catholic bar, to whom we may look hopefully for resistance to the tyranny of Rome. The bar alone has organization and independence enough to maintain the struggle for civil and religious freedom. The alliance of the bar with the clergy gained Catholic emancipation and other triumphs. If there is to be a conflict between the Italian and the Irish Catholics, the strength of the bar will be on the patriotic side, and the independence of the Irish clergy as well as the laity may yet be secured. CHAPTER XIII. THE 1 K E E F F E CASE. The Callan Schools — Father O'Keeffe's Law Suits with his Curates — Interference of Cardinal Cullen — National School Board siding with Cardinal Cullen — Debate in Parliament — The Pope's Bulls overriding British Law. r I ^HERE are few who have not heard of Father O'Keeffe, the parish priest of CaJlan, county Kilkenny. His case has been constantly cropping up in newspapers during the last two or three years, and had a night to itself in the British Parliament last session. There are probably few, however, in England who have given much heed to the case, most people being repelled by all Irish questions, even when of national importance, and this being apparently only a personal squabble between a Romish priest and his superiors in Church or State. Now, if my readers will give patient audience, I undertake to satisfy them that this case of Father O'Keeffe is one of the most notable events that have occurred for many a year in Irish history. If they examine it, they will 184 Ireland in 1872. have the key to the whole mystery of Irish ecclesi- astical politics, and understand thoroughly the position which the English Government now occupies in rela- tion to the Church of Rome. To understand the public aspect of the O'Keeffe case it is not necessary to go farther back than to his collision with the National Board, on the point of his position as school manager. But a glance at his previous history, and of the beginning of his conflict with Cardinal Cullen, will afford a most instructive view of the great questions now agitating the Roman Catholic Church — questions, the solution of which •will influence the future history of Ireland. In this light the case has a far higher interest than any personal or political bearing. Passing by his early education and his training at Maynooth, we find Robert O'Keeffe parish priest of his native town of Callan, to which he was appointed in 1863. He is of irreproachable character, zealous and faithful in the discharge of all his professional duties, and generally beloved by his fellow-towns- people. He has considerable literary reputation, and for about ten years filled the office of Professor of Science and Languages at St. Kyran 's College, Kil- kenny. He has always been an enthusiast in education, and he was in his element as manager of the National Schools in Callan. Of these there The 0* Keeffe Case. were four when he came, and a fifth was established chiefly by his means and exertions. His position as manager was not because officially he was parish priest, and so appointed by his bishop. In Roman Catholic districts the parish priest may be manager, but in many cases he is not, and often a Protestant landlord is the patron and his agent is the manager. According to the rules of the Education Board, " a patron is a person who applies in the first in- stance to place the school in connection with the board." He provides the schoolroom, appoints the manager and teachers, and after the school has been got into working order he asks for a salary for the teachers. If, on the report of the inspector, the applicant is found to be a person of good position in society, he is recognized as the patron in connec- tion with the board. If the attendance of the children fails, or if any of the rules of the commissioners are not complied with, the grant may be withdrawn, or even the school may be struck off the list of the National Schools ; but the offices of patron and manager, not having been appointed by the board, cannot by the board be taken away. Take an example, the facts of which I know. The Earl of Bessborough has no fewer than eleven National Schools on his estate in Kilkenny county, and three 1 86 Ireland in 1872. in county Carlow. Of all these fourteen schools Lord Bessborough is patron, and his agent is the manager. The children are mostly Catholics, and the teachers are Catholics, except at one school at Pilltown, where there are a considerable number of Protestants, and here the master and mistress are Protestants. But in not one of these well- conducted and well-attended schools is the parish priest the manager. It is important to note this. The late resident commissioner, Mr. (now Sir A.) McDonnell, long ago pointed out, when the question arose in discussions about the National Schools, the nature of clerical managership. If a parish priest is appointed manager, it is because, as Mr. McDonnell expressed it, u he is supposed to represent the feeling of the people in the locality." It is as representing the locality, not as recognizing the Roman Catholic Church, any more than other and minor denominations in the place, that Mr. O'Keefte held his appointment. The bishop of the diocese, or other ecclesiastical authorities, had nothing to do with it. The correspondence with the Education Office, Dublin, was carried on by Mr. O'Keefte, and for many years he was the sole recog- nized manager of the Callan schools under the National Board. There never was any charge made against Mr. The (J Keeffe Case. 187 O'Keeffe as to the management of the schools. On the contrary, the education at Callan was noted for its efficiency, much of which was due to the personal influence of the manager. He used to spend some hours daily in the schools, teaching and directing the teachers. One of the schools is in connection with the Science and Art Department, South Kensington, and of an official inspection of this school we have seen a report. The visitor was Colonel H assart, of the Curragh camp. He was met at the school by the Rev. Mr. O'Keeffe, chairman, with Captain Knox and other members of the education committee. The classes were examined by Mr. Walter Hawe, the teacher, and much to the surprise of Colonel Hassart the first boy brought up to the black board, to prove the forty-seventh proposition of the first book of Euclid, commenced by writing out the proposition in French (each boy in the class doing the same upon his own slate), and in proving it never used a word of English. After the examination of the classes the Colonel inspected the apparatus for experiments and illustrations, and expressed his satisfaction in warm terms. Few national schools could have a more efficient manager than those of Callan. The male school had for many years a parliamentary land endowment and a money endowment from Lord Clifden, and its schoolroom was one of the largest and best filled in county Kilkenny. Ireland in 1872. Now came a disturbing element. A gentleman named Dunphy died about the year i860, bequeathing a sum of money to the Order of Christian Brothers, sufficient for the maintenance, in perpetuity, of two brothers, and expressing a wish that a school of the Order should be established at Callan. The parish priest of that time refused to take any part in intro- ducing the Christian Brothers into Callan. His suc- cessor, Mr. O'Keeffe, in an evil hour assented. He laid the foundation-stone of a school and residence for the Brothers, and the building was completed and the school opened in September, 1868. Mr. O'Keeffe must have known, or could easily have ascertained, the true character and designs of this Order of Christian Brothers. They may be zealous often in the work of education, but their main object is the propagation of extreme ultramontane popery. In Ireland, as well as in America, I have seen their wily action, and an examination of their school books will satisfy any one of the dangerous tendency of their teaching. Mr. O'Keeffe has him- self to blame for encouraging this Order, which sets itself in opposition to the National Schools, as well as to those where true Christian teaching is established. I say this in order to disavow any sympathy with Mr. O'Keeffes proceedings in any other relation than in his contest against ultramontane power. His en- The CP Keeffe Case. 189 couragement of the Christian Brothers, his introduc- tion of a mission of Oblate Fathers from Inchicore, and his project of establishing in the Callan Lodge V A community of holy Irish women, now living in the Convent of the Sacred Heart of Mary at Beziers," are not proceedings with which any Protestant can feel interest or sympathy. It was not Mr. O'Keeffe's expectation, however, that the new school would injure, far less supersede the old. It was his intention to continue the National male school, considering that the wants of the locality required it. The Bishop, Dr. Walsh, expressed a wish that it should be kept open, and Lord Clifden's agent was promised that it should be continued. " However, (I quote Mr. Keeffe's own statement in a letter to the Secretaries, Education office,) notwithstanding my efforts to the contrary, the children were all drawn away to the new schools ; and when your inspector made a visit in December, 1868, he found only seven boys present, while there were 220 in the new schools under the instruction of only two teachers. This large number of boys included youths of every age and degree of proficiency, and many males from my infant school." In this state of matters the teacher of the National School resigned. In order to re-establish the school, and attract to it an attendance which would secure 190 # Ireland in 1872. the benefit of connection with the Education Board, another teacher of repute was obtained. The attend- ance increased, and the manager was able to report numbers, in March, 1871, warranting the re-appoint- ment of the assistant master, whose salary had for a time been withheld on account of the diminished numbers. In June, 1871, the average attendance exceeded ninety, and Mr. O'Keefe appointed a second assistant, who was examined by the inspector and found qualified. The school's quarterly returns were signed and forwarded in the usual way. No payment, however, came for the teachers, although the regula- tions had all been complied with, and so the manager had to pay the salaries of the teachers out of his own pocket. Why did the Education Board fail to' meet the rules as to payment of teachers ? Hereby hangs the tale, to understand which we must go back to the autumn of 1869. At this time the Christian Brothers were carrying all before them, and Father O'Keefife naturally felt annoyed at the failure of his own school. Among other appeals for its restoration he told his people, from the altar, that the Bishop wished the National School to be continued. The priests at the Friary Chapel gave this statement blank denial, and, both about the schools and about the appropriation of funds for parochial purposes, called the parish priest The (J Keeffe Case. 191 a liar. This was "from the altar," which in Ireland seems to be a place of proclamation on all matters, and reference to all persons, civil or ecclesiastical. These priests, curates of Father O'Keeffe, stated also that the Bishop had authorized them to make the announcement. Upon this Mr. O'Keeffe brought an action for slander against the Bishop, but was non-suited, no proof being given that the denunciation was made by the Bishop's authority or command/ An action against the two priests, Father Neary and Father John Walsh, was more successful, both of them being convicted of slander, and in each case the parish priest being awarded damages. But before this a new character had come upon the stage, as appears from the following letter : — " The Rev. R. O'Keeffe. " Rev. Sir, — In punishment for the action-at-law taken by you against the Rt. Rev. E. Walsh, R. C. Bishop of Ossory, I, vested with the requisite powers, do hereby suspend you from your office. " Your humble servant, R. M'DONALD, V.G. " St. Kyran's College, Kilkenny." To this Mr. O'Keeffe replied in very proper spirit 192 Ireland in 1872. "Callan, Oct. 12th, '70. " The Very Rev. E. M'Donald. " VERY Rev. Sir, — I have been handed a letter of yours without date, in which you say you have been vested with the requisite powers to suspend me for having taken an action-at-law against Dr. Walsh. You must be very silly indeed to think I could take your word for such an absurd statement ; or you must suppose me to be as ignorant as you appear to be yourself, of the course of proceeding to be followed in the infliction of censures. After having been pub- licly denounced as a liar, on the altar, by authority alleged to have been given by Dr. Walsh, I wrote his lordship a letter of complaint on the 20th of August last year; and I have never since heard a word from him on the subject. I sent a copy of this letter same day to Cardinal Cullen, and finally I proposed to Cardinal Barnabo (the Common Superior of the Vicar- General and the P. P.), to bring my cause of com- plaint against the Bishop before a Roman court. I could get no redress for the grievous wrong inflicted upon me in any ecclesiastical court, and I have con- sequently been compelled to seek it before a lay tribunal. My proceeding is at variance with no law human or divine, and I shall treat as it deserves any attempt at punishment. — Your obedient servant, " Robert O'Keeffe." The 0' Keeffe Case. 193 Thereon followed a correspondence, the Vicar- General re-asserting his authority, and the parish priest denying it. So the matter stood till the action was brought against Father John Walsh, when the Vicar-General wrote again as follows : — "St. Kyran's College, Kilkenny, Dec. 10th, 1870. " The Rev. R. O'Keeffe. " Rev. Sir, — From a subpoena served on me, and in other ways, I have become aware of your action-at- law against the Rev. John Walsh, to be tried before the Court of Queen's Bench in Dublin. It is my duty to tell you that your proceeding is a grave offence against the sacred canons. Of course I do not find fault with the eminent and impartial judges who preside in the court referred to; but, in common with every Catholic, I feel that respect for the disci- pline of your own Church should keep you from bringing a brother priest before any lay tribunal Some communications already received from you, leave me no grounds to hope that you will desist from your present proceeding, by reason of any mere re- monstrance of mine. At the same time, it is my duty to employ the powers which I possess, to stop it, if I can. Therefore, I hereby command you to withdraw the case of the Rev. Robert O'Keeffe against the Rev. John Walsh from the Court of Queen's Bench, under 13 194 Irela?id in 1872. pain of suspension ab officio et beneficio to be ipso facto incurred, the moment your counsel begins to state the case to the court and jury. " Your obedient servant, "E. M'DONALD." At this time it is evident that the Court of Queen's Bench took no account of the alleged offence of an ecclesiastic seeking redress for wrong from another ecclesiastic in a court of law, for it awarded damages of £\oo, as it did in the subsequent trial of Father Neary for slander. Upon this the old Bishop of Ossory sent another " suspension " to the contu- macious P. P., dated Jan. nth, 1871. Mr. O'Keeffe disregarded it, and continued to exercise his parochial functions, refusing to acknowledge an arbitrary sen- tence, without trial or conviction. At this stage of the proceedings Cardinal Cullen first interposed. " Dublin, July 16th, 1S71. "The Rev. R. O'Keeffe, P.P., Callan. " Rev. Dear Sir, • — The accounts w r hich have reached me of dissensions and disputes in Callan have afflicted me very much. " Being now in a position to attempt to restore peace in that locality, I am determined to make every effort to attain so desirable a result. The (J Keeffe Case. 195 " Before I take any step in the matter I would be glad to have an interview with you, in regard to the present state of things. — Your faithful servant, " + Paul Card. Cullen." Mr. O'Keeffe replied in a long letter, giving his own version of the whole case, telling his grievances, and describing his course of life as parish priest and school manager. "I have now (July, 187 1) one hundred boys in my National School; about twenty-five are reading Latin, and about forty, French. I have made, to a great extent, French the language of the school, and no boy pays fees. Many of the boys are the sons of small farmers in other parishes, who have come to live in town to qualify under me for a profession. I swore in the Queen's Bench that, as a general rule, I spend three and a half hours every day in reading and writing, in addition to the time I spend in the school, and that the time I give in the school does not, in any way, interfere with my parochial duties. Send, for instance, the Rev. Michael Cody, of Phibs- borough, a native of this parish, to spend a week with me, and I promise your Eminence he will report to you that he is not acquainted with any other P.P. who does his duty with more regularity and exact- ness than I do." ig6 Ireland in 1872. A long correspondence ensued, which I have before me, but it is only necessary to quote some brief extracts which explain Cardinal Cullen's position in Ireland as the Delegate of the Vatican, and the extraordinary claims of ecclesiastical supremacy which he sets up. The Cardinal stated that he acted under the bulls In cocnd Domini and Apostolicce Sedis. "The present Pope, whilst limiting and abro- gating other censures, confirmed all penalties of the canon law against those who drag ecclesiastics, and especially bishops, before lay tribunals, and there charge them with canonical offences. The Pope's bull regarding censures was handed to every bishop in the Vatican GEcumenical Council last December twelvemonths (1869), and is known over the whole world." (Letter to Mr. O'Keeffe, July 22nd, 1871.) The Bulla Caina? is so called from its having been i;ead in former times at Rome, every year on the day of the Lord's Supper. It is a bull of fearful denun- ciations and excommunications against all heretics, and opponents of the jurisdiction of the Holy See. It used to be an imposing scene, when the Pope, at the conclusion of the reading of the bull by a car- dinal, threw down into the public place a flaming torch, to denote the consuming power of his anathema. The publication of this bull was suspended in 1773 by Clement XIV., and Pius IX. annulled it in 1869, The O" Keeffe Case. 197 substituting a new constitution, which was published in the Bulla Apostolicce Sedis. This bull confirms the worst points of the Bulla Coence, and renews anathemas against those who dare, directly or indi- rectly, to compel ecclesiastics to appear before Civil Courts. Now, the Bulla Coencz was resisted in almost every country in Europe. In France it was declared to be "a direct infraction of the temporal and civil rights of all sovereigns." It was equally opposed in Germany, in Spain, in Venice, and Sicily. Even from priest-ridden Naples it was excluded. " It was abhorred and execrated, as it was rejected and ex- pelled from the dominions of all Catholic princes." In 1825 and 1826, before committees of both Houses of Parliament, Roman Catholic bishops were examined on various topics, and among others on this bull. Dr. Doyle, then the representative man of the Irish Catholics, said that " if this bull were in force, scarcely anything would be at rest among all the Catholic states of Europe." "The collision which would result from the reception of that bull with the estab- lished authorities of the country, was an insurmountable obstacle to its publication. It excommunicates the sovereign and all the powers' of Protestant govern- ments, and establishes the temporal power of the Pope directly over every Roman Catholic." The late Dr. O'Hanlon, of Maynooth, stated before Lord 1 98 Ireland in 1872. Harrowby's Commission at Dublin Castle in 1854, that 11 if the Bulla Ccence were in force in Ireland, any person printing, reading, or possessing books written by a heretic on the subject of religion or any other subject, if they should contain heresy, would incur an excommunication reserved to the Pope. A similar excommunication would be incurred by all secular magistrates and judges for trying or punishing ecclesiastics for criminal offences, except in the cases allowed by the canon law." Every judge who, without leave from the Pope, dares to sit in judgment on the Romish clergy, incurs excommunication ipso facto, a fact to be considered by the judges who had to sit in judgment on the Galway priests. Such is the nature and history of the Bulla Coence. The bull Apostolicce Scdis of October 12th, 1869, goes farther than the Bulla Ccence did, in claiming for the clergy immunity from the jurisdiction of civil courts, and in its denunciations against ecclesi- astics for seeking to maintain civil rights in such courts. And this is the bull which Cardinal Cullen cites as the authority for his action against Father O'Keeffe. Having obtained in the Cardinal's own hand- writing the ground of the action taken against him, Mr. O'Keeffe, after consulting able canonists, sent his defence, in which he said : — The (J Keeffe Case. " The constitution Apostolicce Sedis has not been received in this country any more than the bull In coend Domini. The Bulla Ccence was never received in France and some other countries of Europe ; and we have the testimony of our ablest Irish divines that it was never received in this country. Our most dis- tinguished prelates and other theologians stated this before royal and parliamentary commissions. When the great Dr. Doyle was asked before a parliamentary committee, on the 16th of March, 1825, 'Whether the Catholic clergy insist that all bulls are entitled to obedience,' his answer was, 1 By no means : the Pope we consider as the executive authority in the Catholic Church, and when he issues a bull enforcing a disci- pline already settled by a general council, such bull is entitled to respect; but he may issue bulls which would regard local discipline, and other matters not already defined ; and in these cases the bull would be treated by us in such manner as might seem good to us. Did we find that it was unreasonable, we would refuse to accept it.' The other divines that were exa- mined gave similar testimony ; and no Irish divine, that I am aware of, ever publicly maintained that the Bulla Coencz was ever received in this country. Surely all these distinguished men would on the same prin- ciples hold the same opinion regarding the binding force in this country of the new constitution Aposto- tolicce Sedis. 200 Ireland in 1872. 44 Assuming for argument sake that the Apostolicce Sedis was in force here, the proceeding against me did not commence with a citation to a trial : a pre- liminary which all canonists look upon as essentially necessary to every judicial proceeding. There was no trial or any offence proved. There was no denuncia- tion of me in any canonical form ; although nothing is plainer than the words of the bull of Martin the 5th in the Council of Constance, forbidding the people to withdraw themselve?, or to decline minis- trations, in the absence of a formal denunciation by the judge who had passed the sentence of censure, or some one acting with authority from him." The Cardinal was too wise to attempt to reply to this document, but continued his appeals to put an end to the unseemly strife which was raising scandal in the Church. Father O'Keeffe reciprocated the Cardinal's pacific aspirations, but did not see why all the exercise of charity should be on one side. " Some time ago," wrote Dr. Cullen, " I read in the life of M. Francis de Sales that some one charged him with committing a serious offence ; and that the saint, rather than undertake an angry discussion, and occa- sion divisions among the clergy, bore patiently the calumny, until it pleased God to supply, without any effort on his part, proofs of his innocence." A very- pretty bait, certainly! but Mr. O'Keeffe was The CP Keeffe Case. 201 too old to be caught by it. " I admire your emi- nence's charity," he said in his reply, \" and the Chris- tian spirit with which you preach it, but let me beg of you not to allow the zeal of your charity, though queen of virtues, to eat up your sense of the cardinal virtue, justice. Your Eminence's letter would be very appropriate coming from a preacher of the Word ; but in the matter of restoring peace to this disturbed parish, I must look on you as a judge." In one of his letters Mr. O'Keeffe referred to the heavy expenses he had incurred in defending his rights. The Cardinal in replying gave a new render- ing of a Scripture text, well worthy of being quoted. " As for money matters, I would advise you to follow the counsel of our Lord, 1 Quasrite primum regnum Dei et justitiam ejus, et haec omnia adjicientur vobis.' 4 Settle first the spiritual matters, submit to the bishop, and God will settle everything else' 1 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,' is the ordi- nary rendering, implying the vast magnitude of spiri- tual and eternal, as compared with temporal, concerns. " Submit to the bishop " is Cardinal Cullen's racy reading of the Divine commandment. In the early letters the Cardinal addresses his correspondent as " My dear Father O'Keeffe ; " the address tapers down to " Dear Father O'Keeffe," and * Rev. dear sir," till at length the Cardinal ended the 202 Ireland in 1872. correspondence by pronouncing the sentence of suspension, in November, 1871. Poor Father O'Keeffe ! he was now thrice suspended. First, by Mr. McDonald, Vicar-General ; second, by Bishop Walsh ; and third, by Cardinal Cullen. Now comes the appearance of the case before the Education Board. In the middle of March, 1872, the Bishop of Ossory brought to the notice of the Commissioners of National Education the suspension of Mr. O'Keeffe, and requested that he might be pronounced incapable of discharging any functions in connection with the parish schools of Callan. He also informed the Commissioners that another gentleman, Mr. Martin, had been appointed parish priest in Mr. O'Keeffe's place. By a letter of the same date, Mr. Martin requested of the Com- missioners that he might be substituted for the Rev. Mr. O'Keeffe in the management of the schools. On the 9th of March, which appeared to have been the first day of meeting after the receipt of the letters from the Bishop and Mr. Martin, the Commissioners considered the application. A proposal was made by one of the Commissioners that the proceedings should be adjourned for a fortnight, to which an amendment was moved that a copy of Mr. Martin's letter should be sent to Mr. O'Keeffe, who up to that time w r as manager. The amendment was lost by a The (J Keeffe Case. 203 majority of one, and the original motion was carried. On the 23rd of April, accordingly, the Commissioners again met, and it was then proposed by Mr. Justice Fitzgerald, and seconded by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, that the certificate of the Roman Catholic Coadjutor Bishop of Ossory (that the Rev. Mr. O'Keeffe had been suspended) be received and acted upon by the Board, until the suspension therein con- tained should have been removed or declared invalid by a competent tribunal. An amendment was moved by Mr. Justice Morris and seconded by Mr. Waldron, " that before any action should be taken on the letter of the Rev. Mr. Martin to the Board, or on the letter of Dr. Moram, Coadjutor Bishop of Ossory, to the Resident Commissioner, the Rev. Mr. O'Keeffe get the opportunity of knowing the nature of the appli- cation made, and of offering an explanation." Upon that there was a division. The amendment was put first, when there voted for it eight, viz., Mr. Justice Morris, Mr. Waldron, Chief Justice Monahan, Mr. Jellett, Mr. Morell, the Lord Primate, Judge Lawson, and Mr. Murland. Against it were Mr. Gibson, Judge Longfield, Lord O'Hagan, Chief Baron Pigot, Mr. Lentaigne, Mr. O'Hagan, Mr. Justice Fitzgerald, Viscount Monk, and Mr. Keeman. The amendment was therefore lost by a majority of one. The con- sequence was that Mr. O'Keeffe never had commu- 204 Ireland in 1872. nicated to him in any manner or form the intention of the Commissioners to consider his dismissal. The first intimation he received was the letter dismissing him from his functions as manager. Bearing in mind that Mr. O'Keeffes position as manager was in virtue of his local standing in Callan, irrespective of any ecclesiastical relations to his Bishop or to the Cardinal, the Commissioners had no ground for altering their attitude to the manager of their schools. Suppose Mr. O'Keeffe had been a medical man, a fellow of the College of Surgeons of Dublin, and the medical authorities had suspended him from his medical status for adopting homoeopathy or any other medical heresy, this would in no way affect his position as recognized manager ; or if he had been a freemason, and supended by the Grand Master, this would have had as little concern with his present office. The National Board has to do with localities and with Irishmen, not with churches or members of denominations as such. At all events, till his eccle- siastical suspension had been decided by a court of law, the Commissioners of Education had no right to assume the validity of his suspension. This was the ground taken by Mr. O'Keeffe, and on which his case was at length brought before the British Parliament. This was done on the 5th August by Mr. Bouverie, in the Committee of Supply, on the vote for National The (J Keeffe Case. 205 Education (Ireland). A petition had previously been presented from Mr. O'Keeffe, in which he stated his grievances. Here is the result of the debate as given in the Times summary : " Mr. Bouverie called atten- tion to the case of the Rev. Robert O'Keeffe, the Roman Catholic parish priest of Callan. This gentle- man having been censured by his Bishop and Cardinal Cullen, and dismissed from his post for bringing an action against a fellow-priest, was also removed from the office of Manager of all the parish schools by the Education Commissioners, without their giving him the opportunity of defending himself. This proceeding Mr. Bouverie strongly condemned as contrary to the elementary principles of justice, declaring that the Commissioners had thereby combined with Cardinal Cullen in a system of priestly intimidation, and to carry out the claims of the Roman Catholic hierarchy to be independent of the lay tribunals. To mark his sense of their conduct, Mr. Bouverie moved a reduc- tion of the vote (Irish education) by £\> 100 »» 55,062 4,048,984 93 ,, 100 ,, 200 ,, 21,696 3,259,759 36 ,, 200 ,, 500 ,, 8, 190 1,568 2,8oo, 603 I '4 ,,500 .... 2,070,147 o*3 Between 1861 and 1871 the farms under fifteen acres decreased in number 12,548, and in the same period farms above thirty acres increased in number 1,470. Between 1841 and 1861, holdings under fifteen acres declined 55 per cent, in number. It will be inte- resting to watch the effect of the Land Act in decreasing the number of holdings under fifty acres. * The total area of holdings in 1866 was 20,190,197 acres; of which there were 5,520,568 in tillage, 10,004,244 in pasture. Planta- tion has much increased. More than an eighth of the land is still bog. The whole area of Ireland is 20,815,460 acres. There are 625,263 acres occupied by towns, villages, railways, canals, and water. About the same area is waste and uncultivated land. Between 185 1 and 1 86 1 the area under towns had increased 3,646 acres, showing that the diminished population was more rural than urban. CHAPTER XVII. IRISH FISHERIES. Government Loans — Statistics of Coast and Deep Sea Fisheries — VERY now and then we hear about Govern- ' ment loans to help the Irish fisheries. Mr. Lowe made reference to the subject in his famous Glasgow speech, in a way which provoked the wrath of the Irish press. Loans have been granted to a considerable amount, but the refusal to grant them on a larger scale, and for the mere asking, has be- come one of the stock grievances of the national agitators, and the matter deserves some considera- tion. The Government " Inspectors of Irish Fisheries," in their First Report in 1869, stated that "no great im- provement can be looked for in the sea fisheries until loans are advanced to a portion of the fishermen for the repair and purchase of boats and gear." In the Reports for 1870 and 1871 they say, "If much Salmon Fisheries. 286 longer time is allowed to pass without our sugges- tion being carried out, fishing industry will nearly expire on half the coast. Ten or twenty thousand pounds judiciously expended now, not as a gift, but as a loan, would do more good than a million given away half a dozen years hence." They say that " loans could be easily and inexpensively administered, and little or no loss would be likely to be incurred." If these statements of the Inspectors are to be accepted as well grounded, the refusal or delay about the loans would be highly culpable. There is quite as much reason for advancing public money for this industry as for draining, or any agricultural improve- ment. In fact, the public importance of the fisheries makes a preferable claim, on the plea of keeping up a valuable nursery for the royal navy and mercan- tile marine. But the outcry about loans has been taken up hastily, and by those not best acquainted with the subject. It is easy for officials in Dublin to make the suggestion, which has probably been forced upon them by the landowners and priests, speaking in favour of the fishermen. But will these good neigh- bours give the necessary security for the repayment of the loan ? To bestow money without security would relieve for a short time the appeals of the fishermen, but would perpetuate their indolent, im- provident habits. Even in the Appendix to the Irish Fisheries. 287 Official Reports, the Inspectors print documents which are opposed to the suggestion. The coastguard offi- cers, and the officers of her Majesty's revenue and other ships, know far more about the coast fisheries than the Inspectors do, and their testimony is not in favour of public loans. One says, that " not many fishermen would be benefited by loans, but a few might." Another in county Sligo says, " Fishermen would not be ultimately benefited by loans, or the fisheries advanced by the same. Fishing ought to be self-supporting ; adequate means exist for the cap- ture of such fish as appear in quantity." In Water- ford, the local witness states that he does " not think the fishermen in this locality would accept loans, or be able to find security." And so on all round the coast, the report of those best able to judge is, that loans might do good to a few, but that they would not be beneficial generally, even if security could be found. The real hindrances to the prosperity of Irish fish- eries I take to be these: 1. The indolence and thriftlessness of the fishermen themselves. 2. The want of encouragement to greater industry, in the absence of regular markets for their produce. Even where means of transit are all that could be wished, there is no constant demand, and few curing establish- ments, or other ways of utilizing the supply. I had 288 Ireland in 1872. long conversations with the fishermen, including the famous men of the Claddagh at Galway, and this was the burden of their complaint, What is the use of a good catch when we cannot sell ? This was when the papers had reported a wonderful supply of pil- chard on the south and west coast. Of the rich har- vest of the seas that might be gathered all round the coast, there can be no doubt. Capital is wanted to cultivate this industry, and to secure the produce, and capital is not ready to risk itself in such a country. It is estimated that the coast fisheries could bring nearly half a million sterling, apart from the oyster and salmon fisheries, which are worth nearly half-a- million now. But the spirit is wanting. The salmon fisheries are productive because they belong to a few rich owners, who employ paid labour to cultivate the industry. The other fisheries as yet are chiefly depend- ent on the exertion of the poor fishermen, who have not the physical energy or mental independence to make a successful enterprise. At the mackerel fishery of 1 87 1 there were about 200 English or Manx boats, 50 French, and only 70 Irish. In the herring fishery on the east coast the Irish held their place better, the Howth boats and men showing a good return ; but even here the English, Scotch, and Manx boats were about three times the number of the Irish. The number of boats and men employed in the Irish Fisheries. 289 deep sea and coast fisheries has shown a steady and sad decline ever since the famine time. In 1846, there were 19,883 Irish vessels and boats of all sizes, with 113,073 men and boys, engaged in the fisheries. In 1848, 19,652 boats, but only 81,717 men and boys. In 1852, the numbers were 11,789 and 58,789. In 1862, 11,590 and 50,220; and in 1871,8,999 boats, and 38,629 men and boys. This table is given in the Reports, and in Thorn's Irish Directory for 1873 ; yet the same page states that " the Irish Sea Fisheries were never in a more promising condition, and only require extensive development." This opposition of facts and assertions is an example of the difficulty attending all Irish inquiries. About the salmon fisheries there is less to say. These have long been private property, bringing in large revenues to the possessors, as similar fisheries do in Scotland and England. I think that as Government has asserted its power in regulating the rights of property in so far as land is concerned, there is also some call for interfering in behalf of the poorer class in regard to fisheries. There used to be free fishing all round the coast by the common law ; now every river-mouth and tideway is monopolized by proprietors who alone have legal, if not equitable, right to the whole salmon fishery round the coast. The fisheries are leased to agents at high rents, and a very small percentage of 19 290 Ireland in ) 872. the produce is of any direct benefit to Irish fishermen or anglers. To Billingsgate market alone there were sent from Ireland last year nearly 7,500 boxes, besides the great supply to Liverpool and to central England. It was interesting to see the salmon breeding and salmon preserves, and other wonders of this industry, but I confess that the sight of the stake nets and fixed engines, on so many parts of the coast, raised feelings akin to that caused on seeing the enclosing of the commons and open places, for the benefit of the rich at the expense of the poor. Political economy may prove that these enclosures and monopolies, whether by sea or land, are for the greater good of the community, but in regard to Ireland there is some excuse for the scanty industry of the poor coast-fishermen, when they are tabooed from the most productive department of their calling. Some more liberal arrangement might at least be made for rod-fishing at certain times, and the proprietors might be required to allow fish to be sold in the neighbourhood, at a price which would lessen the discontent now felt on seeing so much wealth sent away, without benefit to the dwellers on the banks of the salmon rivers. CHAPTER XVIII. THE ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY. Organization and Duties of the Force — Special Services — Grievances. AT O stranger can be many days in Ireland without ^ observing and admiring the Royal Irish Con- stabulary. On the roads, in the streets, at the rail- way stations, everywhere in town or country, we see them on duty. Smart, intelligent, good-looking men most of them are, and a more orderly, well-conducted and loyal body does not exist in her Majesty's service. They have military dress and discipline, but the chief part of their duty is that of an ordinary police force. Their barracks are everywhere dotted about the country, some of them large and strong buildings, but generally small stations for only a Serjeant's guard. Part of the force is mounted, but the greater part is not. I saw considerable numbers together during the assizes at different towns, perhaps more than usual on such occasions, as there was a good deal of excitement about the Keogh judgment. Later in the season I saw masses concentrated, at 2g2 Ireland in 1872. points where the disturbances were going on which culminated in the Belfast riot. The more I saw of the force the more was I impressed with its efficiency, and its peculiar adaptation to the requirements of the country. It was instituted by Sir Robert Peel, when Secretary for Ireland, and though he incurred some unpopularity at the time, as he did also for the insti- tution of the London Metropolitan police, every one now may be grateful for the firm and far-seeing home policy of one of the best of our statesmen. The number of the force varies with the exigency of the time, as does also its distribution throughout the country. In some parts the numbers are small, and the stations few and far between. The districts which are often unsettled have large bodies of con- stabulary quartered on them. One-half of the expense is paid by the Government, the other by county rates. This explains the resolutions and requests at county meetings to have the number of constables reduced. Tipperary, once a county of chronic disturbance, made such a request lately, and has a smaller pro- portion of police to its population than some of the northern counties. In all parts of the island, while the regular troops, " the red coats," are disliked, and are best kept out of sight, as representing "the Saxon oppressors," the Royal Constabulary are popular. Here and there individuals get into scrapes, especially The Royal Irish Constabulary. 293 in districts where there is little duty, but, on the whole, the men are on good terms with the people where they are stationed. It is a rule, I believe, that the men serve in a different part of Ireland from their native place, on the same wise principle that the Romans adopted, in making the legions serve in countries remote from where they were formed. There has always been some discussion as to the mingling of military with civil duties in the consta- bulary ; but the condition of the country and the organization of the force renders the separation of duty impossible. At some times and in some dis- tricts, the service must be chiefly that of police ; at other times and in other districts, military duties have been more prominent. It is the merit of the force, that its civil efficiency is as great as that of any body of police in the empire, and on emergencies it has shown military efficiency equal to that of the best regular troops. Since the Fenian troubles, when the prompt services of the constabulary were rewarded by the prefix of " Royal," some have said that the military idea has too much predominated over the civil, and it is also said that the duties of the force are now unduly directed from Dublin Castle, instead of with view to local efficiency. The charge does not seem to be well founded; at least, these complaints are made by the political organs of disaffection, not 2C4 Irela?id in 1872. by the county magistrates, nor by the body of the people. It is only by Fenian agitators and by baffled criminals that the constabulary is represented as "part of a hostile army of occupation. ,, There are at present about 12,600 men in the force, and 300 officers. The number of barracks, or stations, is about 1,575- Besides the usual police barracks there are special stations, either inspection posts, or pro- tection posts, in particular localities, or at particular times, as required. The head-quarters of counties and districts are inspected, and officers and men ex- amined in their police, and also in detective, duties, every third year, by an officer from head-quarters in Dublin. The districts and sub-districts are inspected every alternate year ; the county inspector examines the men in the different duties once every three months, and the sub-inspectors once every month. A sub-inspector may have as many as eighty men under him, and about ten stations, besides protection posts. These are when men are detailed off for special duty in watching suspected persons, or in de- fending persons or places who are in danger, or have been threatened. The detectives of the force are of varied and tried ability, and are allowed to use their own wits as to dress, residence, and other circum- stances during the service on which they are sent. There are day and night patrols, going out at different The Royal Irish Constabulary. 295 hours, two or three or more, according to the station. When protection is expected, the locality is visited at various times every day or night. On any emergency the constabulary of the nearest post take a car and go to the nearest sub-inspector's station to report, or to get additional force. In every department of police duty, except coping with the Ribbonist and other secret societies, the constabulary prove a most effi- cient force.* Since the promotion of Colonel Sir J. Stewart Wood as Inspector-General, there has been consider- able change in the discipline and duties of the con- stabulary. He has aimed to increase their efficiency as police without lessening their military training. He has reduced the amount of red-tape reports and writing, and given more discretionary power to county inspectors and sub - inspectors. The men are en- couraged to mix more with the people in the neigh- bourhood, and to be less in the barracks. Much time had been taken up in keeping of diaries, patrol-books, and other records, under a code of regulations need- lessly minute. Colonel Wood also thinks that the * Most of this efficiency is due to the former head of the constabulary, General Sir Duncan Macgregor, K.C.B., some years retired. The name of this gallant veteran is best known in connection with the loss of the Kent East Indiaman, of which he published a narrative. He was then Major of the 31st Regiment, afterwards Colonel of the 93rd Highlanders. 296 Irela7id in 1872. police should be relieved of various duties which take up much time and render them unpopular, such as enforcing the collection of the dog-tax, looking after stray pigs and cattle, and other "road nuisances," watching fisheries and preserves against poachers, and searching for illicit stills.* This sort of work ought to be relegated to local or parish constables, excise officers, keepers, and other officials suited for the several duties. Efficient and popular as is the force, there is at present a good deal of discontent among the men. As a matter of fact, it must be admitted that there has been for some years a dwindling away of the strength of the force, and the difficulty has increased of keeping up its efficiency. Many of the best men have emigrated, or have sought better-remunerated employment. Those who remain feel that they have " grievances," and the complaints have obtained the tardy attention of the Government. To maintain even the numerical strength, there must be a lower- ing of the standard both of physical and moral quali- fication. Towards the close of last session of Parlia- ment, a commission was appointed to inquire into these complaints. The Marquis of Hartington, in reply to questions, stated that it would be no part of * Last year there were about 400 of the constabulary looking after distillation in Donegal, Mayo, Tyrone, and Sligo. The Royal Irish Constabulary, 297 the duty of the commission " to establish a compre- hensive inquiry, nor inquire into the grievances of those who alleged the inadequacy of their payment." The report of the commission will not be satisfactory, if the whole subject is not thoroughly investigated. From what I heard throughout the country, a full inquiry is called for, so that an equitable settlement may be made on all points that have been raised. The service ought to be made attractive to well- qualified men, and loyal men, as the R.I.C. have always proved themselves. The question of pay must be considered. The increased cost of main- tenance and the diminished value of money require a reconsideration of the scale of payment. The pension regulations also call for amendment. There ought to be readier provision for retirement with pension or allowance, not only after a fixed period of service, but on men being incapacitated from infirmity or from severe duty. Good-service stripes or badges ought to be introduced, the bearers of which should have slight increase of pay. The motives of hope and emulation are always stronger than the fear of fines and reprimands. Married men not having barrack accommodation ought to have sufficient allowance for house-rent. The allowances for fuel, for travelling, for making up uniform, and other expenses ought to be also increased, as well as 298 Ireland in 1872. extra pay allowed for extraordinary duty, as during elections and other periods, when long stretches of time and unusual services are demanded. It is also a grievance that promotions are not made more frequently from the ranks, young cadets being too often introduced over the head of well-deserving and well-qualified head-constables. If these griev- ances were removed, young men of good education as well as good character would again press for admission into the ranks, and the efficiency of the force be increased. It is too valuable a body to allow any paltry economy to stand in the way. An increase in their strength would save much outlay in less satis- factory ways. An increase of 1,000 in the consta- bulary would allow of the reduction of 5,000 troops in Ireland. And the reform ought to be made before the popularity of the force is further diminished. The total charges for the constabulary for the year ending 31st March, 1871, was £862,282. The expense of the force charged on the Consolidated Fund in 1 87 1 was £825,737, the remainder being made up by county rates. The Dublin Metropolitan Police has a separate organization. It numbers in all 1,068, consisting of 1 chief commissioner, 1 assistant commissioner, 156 superintendents, inspectors, and sergeants, 44 detec- tive-officers, and 912 constables. The annual cost is The Roy ai Irish Constabulary. 299 £90,000, which includes the expense of offices, and salaries of five divisional magistrates. Of this sum upwards of £5,400 is paid by parliamentary grant, the rest by local taxes and rates. Having referred to the grievances of the con- stabulary, I may add that much satisfaction was expressed on the appointment, last Parliament, of the Commission to inquire into the Irish Civil Ser- vice. A more liberal and more equitably adjusted scale of remuneration may be expected as one result of the inquiry. But other questions of importance will call for settlement. If the increase of pay throughout the civil service is to be secured only by reduction of the staff in the several departments, there ought to be some guarantee for the impartial carrying out of the reduction. Let the weeding com- mence with the incompetent and inefficient, and the service will not complain. The chiefs of departments are not likely to report cases of licensed inefficiency, where the relatives or dependants of men in power have been thrust into places over the heads of useful and plodding public servants. The discovery of these cases can only be made by the commission examining some other witnesses than the official chiefs of depart- ments. There ought also to be more precise rules as to promotion. The discretionary power wielded by the chiefs often causes irritation and dissatisfaction. 300 Ireland in 1872. It is a hard case when a man is lifted over others more competent and with better claims, because of the caprice of an official chief, or under pressure of social or political influence. That the discretionary power of promotion should exist all will admit, so that the public service may not lose the advantage of unusual ability or acquirement ; but, apart from these exceptional cases, promotion ought to go according to rules laid down by authority of the Treasury. CHAPTER XIX. IRISH PRISONS AND PRISONERS, Crofton Convict System — Lusk Farm Prison— The Fenian Prisoners. A T the meetings of the Social Science Association, ^ and at Prison Conferences of various kinds, much is always said about the Irish or " Crofton convict system," so called after Sir Walter Crofton, the head of the Irish criminal prisons. The special features of this system, the working of which is highly praised, may be new to some readers. Both in England and Ireland, all convict prisoners — that is, prisoners sentenced to penal servitude, a sentence now never less than for five years — pass the first period of their sentence in separate or (t cellular " confinement, for about eight months. They are then removed to other establishments, where large bodies, or " gangs," of prisoners work together, at quarrying, as at Portland ; excavating docks, as at Chatham, and Spike Island, near Cork; or cultivating the land, as at Dartmoor. Much industry of a profitable 302 Ireland in 1872. and reformatory kind is thus enforced. But the effect of this excellent feature of the treatment is largely nullified by the demoralizing and mutually corrupting effect of the congregate labour in gangs, both on the English and Irish convict public works, the prisoners being only separated at night. Hence some grave evils result, especially as the chief portion of the convicts* terms of detention is spent at the gang establishments. In England the convicts remain at these establish- lishments until their discharge. But in Ireland there is a third stage — namely, the " Intermediate " Farm Prison, at Lusk, near Dublin — where the better be- haved class of convicts pass the concluding portion of their terms, under a discipline intermediate between 'the conditions of imprisonment and freedom. Thus, at Lusk, the convicts wear no distinctive dress ; they are permitted to go some distance, to the village church on Sunday, mingling with the ordinary con- gregation, and to have various other privileges. They are also allowed about half-a-crown a week for their labour, in order to form a fund for helping them to emigrate on their discharge. It is this concluding " intermediate " stage, together w T ith the special facilities for emigration, which constitutes the pecu- liarity of the Irish system, as distinguished from the English plan. Irish Prisons and Prisoners. 303 The systematic emigration of discharged convicts is one main cause of the diminution of the convict class in Ireland. And it is encouraging to find that a similar diminution has of late years taken place in the ordinary (or county and borough, as distinguished from the State) prisons of Ireland, owing to the same cause — the desire for emigration and the facilities given for it. Discharged prisoners going out as freemen easily obtain employment, which would be difficult in their own country, and are removed from temptations to new crime among their old haunts and associates. The demand for labour at home is also increased, and the amount of poverty and crime lessened. In both English and Irish convict prisons, the industry and good behaviour of the convicts are stimulated by a graduated system of "good marks," a plan originated by the late Captain Maconochie, whose suggestions were carried out and extended by Sir Walter Crofton. These " marks " entitle the convicts to a remission of a small portion of their sentences ; and most of them, both in England and Ireland, 14 work off" a few months of their time, or in some cases a year or two. This arrangement has an excellent stimulating effect as to industry and good conduct. Altogether there is not so much difference be- 304 Ireland n 1872. tween the English and Irish systems in the main term of the sentence as is popularly supposed ; but the Irish system, in the intermediate stage, provides for a less abrupt termination of the imprison- ment, and opens up the way to a new start in life better than the English system. The Lusk Prison Farm is thus spoken of by Mr. William Tallack, the energetic and benevolent secretary of the Howard Association : " At Lusk, the convicts are enabled to earn enough to provide real help for beginning life again. Thus a prisoner who has been there for ten years, and who was liberated lately, had earned enough money not only to emigrate himself, but was also about to take his daughter out of a poor-house and pay her passage to America, out of his earnings, the two shillings per week paid for his hard toil from morning to night. The Lusk men really do work, and to good purpose. Their labour covers, at all events, the cost of their food and lodging. In four- teen years they have raised the rental value of the land (formerly a sw r ampy common) from ten shillings to about five pounds per acre. The moral atmosphere of the establishment is excellent, the prisoners volun- tarily repressing any tendency to disorder, bad language, or other misconduct. They tidy themselves up on coming to Lusk. Two-thirds of the Irish convicts go there. Of those whose conduct never Irish Prisons and Prisoners. 305 obtains this privilege, the re-committals are seventy- seven per cent., whereas of those who pass through Lusk only twenty-three per cent, are re-convicted. Lusk is a noble monument of the ability and humanity of Sir Walter Crofton, its founder, and the chief practical organizer of those wise principles previously enunciated by Maconochie, Jebb, and others. Its continued success is, however, also to be largely ascribed to its excellent officers, especially Mr. Gunnis, Mr. Organ, and Mr. Daly. Apart from these, the best system might have failed." Of Lusk, then, almost unqualified praise may be spoken. But other parts of the Irish convict system are very defective. This remark especially applies to Spike Island, where the convicts spend the chief portion of their time. Thus, a convict sentenced for twelve years must spend eight months at Mountjoy in separate or cellular confinement, and at least seven and a third years at Spike Island ; he may then, if well-behaved, spend a year at Lusk, and be liberated, on license, after nine years' total detention. So that about three-fourths of the time of Irish servitude is spent at Spike Island. Mr. Tallack strongly con- demns the long period of gang labour at Spike Island. Mr. Gibson, for ten years chaplain of the island, says, " I believe that a man living in close association for years with convicts, many of w r hom have been guilty 20 f 306 Ireland in 1872. of manslaughter, and some of murder, learn not to think more of their crimes than other people do of ordinary offences." One of the officials said to Air. Tallack at Mountjoy prison, " We find that some of our men, who have borne a good character here, get corrupted at Spike Island." He recommends the abandonment of gang labour, and, in fact, the aban- donment of Spike Island altogether, and the substi- tution of longer detention at Mountjoy, with greater attention there to reformatory and educational training, from which the transition should be direct to Lusk farm labour. In the county and borough gaols there are some great abuses. More separation and classification of prisoners would be of advantage, and more useful and profitable industry. There is a most disproportionate number of prisons for the number of prisoners. Thus in Kilkenny gaol there were lately only thirty pri- soners, with eleven salaried officials. In Galway gaol the cost of all the prisoners in one year was £634 ; of the officials, ,£1,184, or £550 less for prisoners than keepers ! In all Ireland last year there were thirty- eight gaols for only 2,361 prisoners. The number and expense of officials would thus seem to be ex- travagant. The average cost of Irish prisoners is nearly £35 per annum each. The average annual earnings are not as many shillings — £1 3s. 8d. only Irish Prisons and Prisoners. 307 yearly ! Where there is good management and an efficient gaoler, as at Dundalk, under Mr. H. Webb, Mr. Tallack reports that the earnings are far larger, and the whole management better. In Cork gaol there had been for three years a debtor for a debt of £\^\ another man, a mason, for a debt of £$ 13s. 4d., although he had offered to pay his creditors by in- stalments of ten shillings a week. This prisoner had a wife and seven children depending on him. So that there were thus thrown upon the rates of the town for a considerable period ten persons for a united debt of less than £24. — less than the average cost of one Irish prisoner. Well may he add, " O, wise men of Cork ! " In Ireland there is a class of local inspectors not existing in England. These are appointed by the local visiting justices. Hence it is against their interest to report fearlessly and impartially in cases of. abuse. All inspectors should be independent of local influence, and able to report freely on the prisons under their inspection. The dietary of Irish prisons is also very inferior. A commission of inquiry on this point lately reported strongly in favour of improvement; but, like too many Government commissions, the report has not been acted on. Better food and more work are required to make the prison work less costly and more useful. 3o8 Ireland i?i 1872. Having referred to convict prisons, I wish to say a few words about the Fenian prisoners, some of whom are still retained in penal servitude in England. Any account of Ireland in 1872 would be imperfect without taking notice of the strong feeling mani- fested as to the retention of these prisoners. The prisoners still detained are poor humble men, the Fenian chiefs having been all released. None of them were connected with the Clerkenwell affair, and only two with the Manchester rescue, when the police- sergeant Brett was killed. For that crime three lives were required, and there may now surely be forgive- ness for those who were merely engaged in the riotous meeting. The larger number of the re- maining convicts are soldiers. They were youths led away by appeals to their patriotism ; and though the breach of the military engagement is very heinous, some consideration may be made for the circum- stances both of their taking and breaking their oath. Enlistment is often a heedless act, done in a public- house commonly, and the " Queen's shilling " is taken without serious thought of the oath associated with it. In courts of justice, when a base witness takes an oath deliberately and violates it, he may be sentenced for perjury to a term of imprisonment. But these soldiers, I believe, are sentenced for life to penal servitude, among the worst felons. The British Irish Prisons and Prisoners. 309 4 Government may surely be as magnanimous as the American Government, who have given amnesty to the soldiers who not only conspired, but fought against the President and Constitution of the United States. The general feeling throughout Ireland is that these are political prisoners ; and though this feeling is erroneous, it is not the less powerful in keeping up disaffection towards England. To treat political prisoners with the same severity as common felons is against the usage of civilized nations, and is re- garded, in the case of these prisoners, as a wrong to Ireland. These prisoners have apparently been treated with exceptional harshness. I forbear from saying anything about the case of Reddin, who has brought' an action-at-law against the prison authorities and medical officers for cruelty. He is now free, after undergoing his full sentence of five years. If he had been a common felon, he would probably have had his time shortened, and his sentence alleviated. The case of Davitt is even more painful. He is a maimed man, with one arm, and has been injured by forced labours which humanity would have spared him. His sen- tence of fifteen years was not so much for the heinous- ness of his crime, selling or purchasing arms, as "to be a warning to others," as the Chief Justice said. If the statements made by Reddin and Davitt, which Ireland in 1872. have been widely circulated in Ireland, have the least ■ foundation in truth, there has been cruel severity ex- ercised, and the alleged treatment of these convicts by the prison officials is a scandal demanding investigation. The feeling of indignation among the people is very deep, and there will be no peace while inquiry is re- fused. Meetings are held, not only in Ireland, but in the great towns of England where Irishmen can meet in large numbers. The appeals are in temperate language, and I must avow that they are in them- selves just and reasonable. Why should the few followers be retained, when the more guilty leaders have been released ? The petitions for amnesty have been signed by larger numbers than any petition since the time of Catholic emancipation, and magistrates, clergy, and leading gentry and merchants, have pre- sented addresses pleading for clemency. The majesty of law has been fully vindicated in the severity of the sentences, and pardon may be extended without any danger to public peace, and without offering the least encouragement to disloyalty. Mr. Gladstone once had the matter before him, on the appeal of the late Mr. Maguire, of Cork. He referred to the Home Office, and was told that the treatment was only that to which all convicts are subject. If this is the case, there is the more need of public inquiry ; for the treat- ment of some of these prisoners has been a disgrace to English justice and to common humanity. CHAPTER XX. PARTY PROCESSIONS, Green and Orange — The Belfast Riots — Party Spirit. HE repeal of the Party Processions Bill was moved by Mr. W. Johnston, as representative of the Orange, and seconded by The O'Donoghue, as representative of the Green. Mr. Johnston strongly condemned repressive legislation, as creating more ir- ritation than all the party processions. The common law, he thought, was sufficient to repress all disorders, and to protect life and property. The O'Donoghue also preferred to trust to the ordinary powers of the common law, to the impartiality of the Executive, and above all to the spirit of conciliation and good feeling which he believed would spring up among all classes. At the same time, he made an earnest appeal to the Protestants to discontinue their manifestations, and to abandon their irritating claims to ascendancy, which were untenable and unjust, now that all were equal before the law. The O'Donoghue's generous and forcible appeal was well received by the House. 312 Ireland in 1872. It was wise policy to repeal the Processions Act, because it was found impossible to enforce it. As in the case of the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, discredit is brought on law if it remains unenforced, and can be defied or evaded with impunity. But having repealed the Act, and admitted party processions to be legal, the Government is under obligation to protect those who join them, except it resolves to leave the pro- cessionists to their own ways, and fight it out at their own peril. " If you have your procession, you must abide the consequences ;" this might be said, and it would be an easy way of shirking responsibility. But no good government could submit to leave a town or district at the mercy of violent and riotous factions. It will be remembered that when the Orangemen of New York, in 1871, determined to have their pro- cession, many lives were lost, although they were protected by a strong force of State militia and police. The procession was again held this year, with less public excitement ; but the words of a leading New York paper, on the eve of the Orange anniversary, expressed well the views of sensible Americans : — " The Orangemen have a perfect right to parade if they choose, and if nothing but bayonets and bullets will protect them in it, the bayonets and bullets should be promptly forthcoming. The police and militia are ready for business, and if another Party Processions. 313 interference is attempted like that of last year, more blood will be shed over i the battle of the Boyne.' But what could be more ridiculous folly than for men to be butchering one another about something that happened generations ago ?" Before the processions of 1872 began in Ireland, an earnest appeal was made to the Orangemen to desist from party irritation. The Catholics solemnly de- clared that they would not interfere with any Orange demonstration, but as firmly stated that for every Pro- testant procession they would have a larger Catholic procession. What is to be the end of a rivalry like this ? Law cannot check it, and the only hope is in an improved state of public opinion. There are not wanting signs of this improvement being seen. The ruffians who interfered with the Catholic procession of the 15th August in Belfast belonged to no recog- nized organization. It was stated by the prison chaplain, that among the numerous prisoners there was not one Presbyterian. The ship-carpenters, who were charged as a body with having taken large part in the riots, through the committee of their trade society, repudiated the accusation. The interference, which resulted in so much mischief, seems to have been commenced by a rabble who, if Orangemen, were a disgrace to the name and the cause. What the Mayor of New York, though a Catholic, 3H Ireland in 1872. did with effect, the Mayor of Belfast ought to have done. The disturbers of the procession ought to have bee 1 dea^ with summarily, and a little severity at the moment would have proved mercy in the end. The Times, commenting on the riots, made the same reference to American precedent : " A Catholic pro- cession in the north of Ireland, acting within the limits of the law, may claim a similar escort, and the Executive Government would be justified in sending it, whether claimed or not. If under such circum- stances Orangemen attempted to stop the procession, and declined to disperse when duly warned, they should be fired upon. Less than this we cannot do without conniving at organized lawlessness calling itself Protestant Christianity ; whether we ought to do more is a matter on which we are not at present com- pelled to pronounce an opinion." Whatever may be intended by this writer as to ulterior measures, it is plain that the disturbance is kept up by a comparatively small section of the people. The numbers seen at a procession are gathered from a wide extent of country, the two parties striving in emulation to make an imposing display of numbers as well as of banners and insignia. All respectable citizens, except fanatics in religion or politics, condemn these party demonstrations ; com- merce and business suffer, and the payments of rates Party Processions. 315 and expenses will impose no light penalty on districts and towns which have been the scenes of violence. I cannot leave this subject without reminding the reader that this violent party spirit in Ulster is com- paratively of recent growth. At one of the Orange meetings last autumn, a Presbyterian minister, the Rev. William White, told an anecdote that he had heard from one of the leading citizens of Downpatrick. At a dinner many years ago the toast was given — "The glorious, pious, and immortal memory of the good and great King William." The parish priest of Downpatrick, Bernard M'Cauley, a Catholic of the old school, well known in his day, drank the toast, and said that " King William was one of the men who knew the best, and encouraged the most, the spirit of toleration." It may surprise some readers still more to learn that in 1789, when the centenary anniversary of the Relief of Derry was celebrated, Doctor M'Devitt, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Derry, with his clergy, joined the public procession of the citizens, and was present in the cathedral when thanksgiving was offered to God the Deliverer. The Mayor and Corporation, the Bishop of Derry, and a numerous body of clergy, Episcopalian and Presbyterian, with these liberal Catholics, united in a celebration which touched the sympathy of all the inhabitants of the maiden city. 3i6 Ireland in 1872. The Orange societies were no doubt at first or- ganized for defensive purposes, the Protestants resenting the gradual encroachments, as they con- sidered them, of the Catholics. But not going back to olden times of defiance and violence, it is worth remembering that in the year before the accession of Queen Victoria, during the session of 1836, the whole question of Orange societies was very fully discussed in the House of Commons, and after long debate the House was so satisfied of the evil results of the association, that an address was presented to the King, William IV., to which his Majesty sent the following answer : " I willingly assent to the prayer of the address of my faithful Commons, that I will be pleased to take such measures as may seem to me advisable for the effectual discouragement of Orange lodges, and generally of all political societies ex- cluding persons of different religious faith, using secret signs and symbols, and acting by means of associated branches. It is my firm intention to dis- courage all such societies in my dominions, and I rely with confidence on the fidelity of my loyal subjects to support me in this determination." The consequence was that the Duke of Cumberland, as head of the Orange society, recommended the imme- diate dissolution of the body. How the intention of Parliament and the Crown was evaded, and how the Party Processions. 317 nuisance of secret political and religious societies again grew, it is not necessary here to narrate. But the existence of these Orange lodges, accompanied as they always must be by counter-organizations of Catholics, is the chief obstacle to peace and harmony in the north of Ireland. If they were for political purposes only, their raison-d' etre might be justified, but the union of motives has a mischievous influ- ence, producing confusion in politics, and bringing discredit on religion. The home mission-work of the Protestant churches is the true way to meet the Catholics as a religious body. Insulting demon- strations and uncharitable hatred will not commend to the Romanists the purer creed which the Orange- men profess to hold. On religious, on social, and on political grounds the Orange organization is one of the most baleful evils of Ireland. No wonder that an Englishman, Mr. Whitworth, of Drogheda, lately said, in referring to a false rumour of an intended massacre of Protestants, that he would far sooner entrust the safety of himself and his family among the Catholics of Drogheda than among the Orange- men of the north. Statute laws cannot with efficiency be much in advance of public opinion, and the attempt to sup- press Orange lodges would be even less successful than that of putting a stop to party processions. But 3 i8 Ireland i?i 1872. as the vast majority of wise and good men agree in the reprobation of such disturbances of the peace of society, let them give stronger expression to their opinions. Why should not the Synod of the Irish Church and the General Assembly of the Presbyte- rian Church lead the way in this work of Christian forbearance and generosity ? Let them disown the sanction of such societies as in any way connected with religion and the spread of the Gospel, and let them declare the divorce of the Protestant from the political element of Orangeism. It is to be feared that politicians are merely using the religious preju- dices of weaker brethren to promote their own secular and selfish ends, to the injury alike of true patriotism and true religion. CHAPTER XXI. THE NEWSPAPERS GF IRELAND. Statistics of Journalism — -The National Press — -Political IUIlads. TV TR. GRANT, in his " History of the Newspaper 1V-L Press," bears testimony to the great improve- ment which has taken place within the last few years in the external appearance of the Irish journals. " Not many years ago the Irish provincial newspapers resembled, both in typography and paper, the back- woods journals of America. Now the majority of their number look better than the majority of our provincial English papers. And in Dublin the penny press will not suffer by comparison with the penny press in London, either as regards paper or printing. Leaving the material part of Irish journalism, if one comes to speak of the mental part, we shall find that on the whole it need not shrink from a com- parison with the journalism of Great Britain. In Dublin, Belfast, Cork, and other places, the ability with which the Irish papers is conducted is certainly 320 not inferior to that which is shown in the editorial department of the journalism of this country." What- ever weight may be given to Mr. Grant in other matters, his long experience as a metropolitan editor makes his opinion of value on matters relating to journalism. In 1846 the number of Irish newspapers was 106. There was then only one daily paper, Saunders News Letter. There were no cheap newspapers ; now there are 42 penny papers. There are 19 daily papers in Ireland, 6 of which are published in Dublin, 6 in Belfast, 4 in Cork, and I in Waterford. The statistics of Irish journalism may be thus tabulated : — Daily, 19; tri-weekly, 6; bi-weekly, 26; weekly, 84; fortnightly, 1 ; monthly, 1 ; total, 137. In their professed politics, — liberal, 34; liberal con- servative, 6 ; liberal independent, 3 ; ultra-liberal, 2 ; conservative, 36 ; moderate conservative, 1 ; inde- pendent conservative, 2 ; Protestant conservative, 1. These are the political descriptions given by the papers of themselves. There are besides about 45 calling themselves independent and neutral, many of which are advertising sheets chiefly, or are devoted to agricultural, commercial, shipping, and other special interests. As to religion, there are 25 avowedly Protestant and Church of Ireland, 12 Roman Catholic, and only The JVtivspapers of Ireland. 321 1 avowedly Presbyterian. But there are many others in which Catholic and Presbyterian influence is evi- dent, both in editing and in management. The prices of the papers are very various : 3 at W., 42 at id., 4 at ijd., 29 at 2d., 3 at 2id., 30 at 3d., 5 at 3jd., 14 at 4d., 2 at 5d., and 1 at 6d. Four are gratis advertisement papers or circulars. The oldest papers are the Dubli?i Gazette, 171 1 ; the Evening Post, 1725 ; Belfast News Letter, 1737 ; Saunders News Letter, 1746 ; Waterford Chronicle, 1760; Londonderry Journal, 1772; Kerry Evening Post, 1774; Clare Journal, 1776. The youngest is the Be/fast Times, 1872. Of the Dublin daily papers, those which have the largest circulation are the Freeman s Journal and the Irish Times, which are about equal. Next come the Daily Express, Morning and Evening Mail, and Saunders' News Letter. Of the weekly newspapers, the largest circulation is claimed by the Weekly News, the Flag of Ireland, the Irishman, the Nation, and the Weekly Freeman. The street sale of newspapers in Dublin is an in- stitution of very long standing, much longer than in England. At the corner of the chief streets there are regular newsvendors, with or without stalls or chairs. Newsvending as a shop trade is quite of recent introduction. Since 1S60 news shops have 21 322 Ireland in 1872. multiplied, but prior to that date there were only two or three newsagents in Dublin, and most of the towns were wholly without this branch of trade. At the railway stations there is now a large sale. On most of the lines there are book-stalls, where papers are sold. On the chief lines the trade is in the hands of our great English newsagent, Mr. W. H. Smith. On some of the lesser lines there are independent contractors or speculators. The non-political literature on the Irish book-stalls is not of a high order. The books are much the same class as on English railways, with the addition of Irish national reading; but the periodical literature is inferior. The largest sale at several stations where I made inquiry, was of periodicals which have little reputation in England, in fact, the poorest London periodicals. They are supplied at a reduction of price, which more respectable literature does not emulate, and the Irish penny purchasers take what is provided, without knowing the difference. Still the taste is improving, and the habit of reading becoming more universal ; another generation will be lifted above the present level, and be ripe for better intellectual food. Which of the newspapers are the most influential ? it may be asked. The Daily Express is the best in- formed organ of the Conservatives, and as such has The A T ewspapers of Ireland, 323 great weight. The Freeman s Journal is in a certain sense a Government and Liberal organ, but it runs crooked when the views of the Government are at variance with the Catholic clerical party. Then it is their organ, and fairly expresses their views. The Irish Times and Saunders News Letter are also influential papers, and represent large sections of public opinion. The Weekly News and the Nation are published at the same office, and are " national " papers, taking strong Irish and anti-English tone on most questions. The Nation was originally an independent national paper, and was the organ of the Young Ireland party. Latterly it seems to be most identified with the interests of the Romish or Ultramontane Catholics. The Irishman and the Flag of Ireland are published in the same office, both of them are more intensely national than the News and the Nation, but with less subservience to the Catholic priesthood. The Catholic hierarchy have no organ professedly belonging to them, nor any paper in which they wholly confide. They part from the political " na- tional" papers as yet on the Home Rule question, to which they are all professedly hostile. But the national papers know that much of their influence would be lost if they openly opposed Cardinal Cullen's views, and they trim their articles to retain all adherents possible. 324 Ireland in 1872. The circulation of all the papers, especially the Irish or national ones, is very uncertain as to amount. Any event which can be magnified into an Irish grievance, and become the subject of strongly-written articles, causes the circulation to bound up rapidly, so that the proprietors of the papers have interest in fostering political excitement. There is this to be said, residents in Ireland think far less of the strong writing, than is usual on this side of the water. It is only Irish " bunkum," and means little beyond. Keogh and Froude helped greatly during last year to keep up public excitement, and gave ample scope for sensational articles in the national papers. On leaving Dublin, it was curious to notice, either in travelling to the north or the south, the contrast of tone in the press. The Dublin dailies are carried everywhere along the lines ; but the local papers show distinctive features in north and south. On en- tering Ulster, the strong Protestant papers of Belfast make their influence felt, and the smaller local papers are even more intense in their politics. In the south, the local journals in their general politics are less independent, and are mere echoes of the Dublin papers. The contrast between Protestant and Catholic papers is seen in nothing more strikingly than in the advertisement columns. In the Catholic papers are The Newspapers of Irela77d. 325 numerous notices of ecclesiastical affairs, conspicuous among which are announcements of lotteries for chapels and schools and seminaries. These lotteries one would suppose are scarcely legal, but they are an institution in Ireland, as in other popish countries, and the end seems to be taken to justify the means. The lotteries are not confined to local patrons, but the coupons are very largely circulated by post through- out the kingdom, and many chapels have been greatly indebted to English credulity for the funds by which they were built. Books of coupons are transmitted to trusty Catholic correspondents, who distribute them, with tempting baits of prizes, few, if any, of which are ever heard of falling to the lot of English purchasers of tickets. Of the Irish newspapers, so far as they belong to party politics, I say nothing, but in studying the disturbing forces of public life, the national press calls for special notice. The principal papers of this class I have already enumerated. The oldest of them, and that which chiefly contributed to the establishment of the National party, is the Nation, which has now been in existence above thirty years, being established in 1842. Charles Gavan Duffy was the first editor of the Nation. Born of humble parentage in county Mo- naghan, he went to Dublin in his eighteenth year, 326 Ireland in 1872. and found employment on the newspaper press. He was editor of a Belfast paper for some time, returning to Dublin in 1841, and in the following year became a leading spirit in the " Young Ireland party," by whom the Nation was founded, in order * to create and foster public opinion in Ireland, and to make it racy of the soil." The Repeal agitation was then at its height, and the rule of O'Connell was supreme. In 1844 Duffy was O'Connell's fellow-prisoner in Richmond gaol, being convicted of sedition. He acted with O'Connell till 1847, when he seceded from the Repeal Association, and was one of the founders of the Irish Confederation. He was tried for treason- felony in 1848, but the prosecution was abandoned. He then resumed the editorship of the Nation, the publication of which had for a time been suspended, confining himself more to social subjects, such as the landlord and tenant question. He was elected mem- ber for New Cross in 1852, and held his seat till 1856, wfien he resigned to go to Australia. His career there has been honourable and distinguished, he having twice held the office of Prime Minister of the colony of Victoria. He has lately received the honour of knighthood. The name of Charles Gavan Duffy will live in Irish literature as the editor of the * Ballad Poetry" of Ireland. This work, first published in 1845, had in The Newspapers of Ireland. 327 twenty years passed through thirty-eight editions, amounting in all to 76,000 copies. In the following year, during a visit to Europe, after ten years' absence, he was asked to prepare a new edition. Some omis- sions there are, but no additions to this collection of national ballads. A few explanatory or illustrative notes are appended. This thirty-ninth edition was dedicated to Mr. Justice O'Hagan, now Lord Chan- cellor of Ireland, as the first edition had been inscribed to the same friend, then a rising barrister. The pre- face contains brief references to some of the song writers who had passed away since the first appear- ance of the work : " John Keegan, the peasant poet, who left us, almost for the first time, genuine songs of the field and the cabin;" D. J. Fraser, "the poet of the workshops;" Edward Walsh, "whose tender and passionate genius interpreted so success- fully between the Celtic brain and the English tongue." But the most touching and graceful of these brief biographical references is " to the master and chief, whom they all cheerfully accepted and acknow- ledged in that character, Thomas Davis. In the original introduction there is no allusion to him beyond the slightest and most casual ; not because he was living, and apparently destined to a long and distinguished career, for I attempted some estimate of the genius of others in kindred circumstances, but 328 Irela7id in 1872. literally because he shrank painfully from any public recognition of his labours by his friends and associ- ates. To have written of him as I felt, would have rudely wounded his modest and sensitive nature. But I may now declare, that though he was foremost among the young poets of his day, his greatest poem was his life. It never has been my good fortune to meet so noble a human creature ; so variously gifted, so unaffectedly just, generous, and upright ; so utterly without selfishness and without vanity ; and I never expect to meet such another," A tribute this, honour- able alike to the writer and to his departed friend. The original introduction to Sir Charles Duffy's book gave a very interesting historical account of Irish ballad poetry. The spirit in which this work was undertaken may be seen in the following passage, ex- pressing the author's desire to make it not a party or sectarian but a national collection. " Whatever could illustrate the character, passions, or opinions of any class of Irishmen, that we gladly adopted. Our duty is to know each other ; to learn how much is mutually to be loved, that we may love it ; how much is mutu- ally to be disliked, that we may forgive it. Every- thing contributing to this end ought to be regarded as precious. Some of the Ulster ballads, of a re- stricted and provincial spirit, having less in common with Ireland than Scotland; two or three Orange The Newspapers of Ireland. 329 ballads, altogether ferocious or foreign in their ten- dencies (preaching murder or deifying an alien), will be no less valuable to the poet or the patriot on this account. They echo faithfully the sentiments of a strong, vehement, and indomitable body of Irishmen, who may come to battle for their country better than ever they battled for their prejudices or bigotries. At all events, to know what they love and believe is a precious knowledge." But I must not be tempted to enter the broad field of Irish ballad poetry. My only purpose in here alluding to it is to note its influ- ence on the existing political views of the people, and especially the use that was made of it by the Young Ireland party. To this party I think scant justice has been done in England, or even by their own country- men of different politics. Other of the leaders I might name, such as Michael Joseph Barry, editor of "The Songs of Ireland," and Meagher, "Meagher of the Sword," who in America has had a career as distin- guished as that of Duffy in Australia. The represent- ative man of the movement was Thomas Davis, whose poetry has been a power in Ireland, and still keeps up the enthusiasm of the National party. In literature he will rank with Ireland's best poets, yet I have found his poetry ignored by many Irishmen, some of whom ask, u Who is Thomas Davis ? " There was a ring of fresh young patriotism about 330 Ireland i?i 1872. the first years of the Nation newspaper, which made it popular in Ireland and respected abroad. At one of the early meetings of the conductors — they used to have weekly suppers — it was resolved that by political songs and ballads the popular mind might be most influenced. Fletcher of Saltoun's familiar saying was quoted, " Let who will make a country's laws, let me make its ballads." Davis had never attempted any- thing in verse, but he tried, and was successful. Charles Duffy, however, led the way with this new political weapon, his song