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Ireland Under Coercion (2nd ed.) (1 of 2) (1888) By: William Henry Hurlbert (1827-1895) |
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IRELAND UNDER COERCION THE DIARY OF AN AMERICAN
BY WILLIAM HENRY HURLBERT
VOL. I. SECOND EDITION . 1888
"Upon the future of Ireland hangs the future of the British Empire."
CARDINAL MANNING TO EARL GREY, 1868
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
Although barely a month has elapsed since the publication of these
volumes, events of more or less general notoriety have so far confirmed
the views taken in them of the actual state and outlook of affairs in
Ireland, that I gladly comply with the request of my publisher for a
Preface to this Second Edition. Upon one most important point the progressive demoralisation of the
Irish people by the methods of the so called political combinations,
which are doing the work of the Agrarian and Anti Social Revolution in
Ireland, some passages, from a remarkable sermon delivered in August in
the Cathedral of Waterford by the Catholic bishop of that diocese, will
be found to echo almost to the letter the statement given to me in June
by a strong Protestant Home Ruler, that "the Nationalists are stripping
Irishmen as bare of moral sense as the bushmen of South Africa." Speaking of what he had personally witnessed in one of the lanes of
Waterford, the Bishop says, in the report which I have seen of his
sermon, "the most barbarous tribes of Africa would justly feel ashamed
if they were guilty of what I saw, or approached to the guilt I
witnessed, on that occasion." As a faithful shepherd of his people, he
is not content with general denunciations of their misconduct, but goes
on to analyse the influences which are thus reducing a Christian people
to a level below that of the savages whom Cardinal Lavigerie is now
organising a great missionary crusade to rescue from their degradation. He agrees with Archbishop Croke in attributing much of this
demoralisation to the excessive and increasing use of strong drink,
striking evidences of which came under my own observation at more than
one point of my Irish journeys. But I fear Archbishop Croke would
scarcely agree with the Bishop of Waterford in his diagnosis of the
effects upon the popular character of what has now come to pass current
in many parts of Ireland as "patriotism." The Bishop says, "The women as well as the men were fighting, and when
we sought to bring them to order, one man threatened to take up a weapon
and drive bishop, priests, and police from the place! On the Quay, I
understand, it was one scene of riot and disorder, and what made matters
worse was that when the police went to discharge their duty for the
protection of the people, the moment they interfered the people turned
on them and maltreated them in a shocking way. I understand that some
police who were in coloured clothes were picked out for the worst
treatment knocked down and kicked brutally. One police officer, I
learn, had his fingers broken. This is a state of things that nothing at
all would justify. It is not to be justified or excused on any principle
of reason or religion. What is still worse, sympathy was shown for those
who had obstructed and attacked the police. The only excuse I could find
that was urged for this shameful misconduct was that it was dignified
with the name of 'patriotism'! All I can say is, that if rowdyism like
this be an indication of the patriotism of the people, as far as I am
concerned, I say, better our poor country were for ever in political
slavery than attain to liberty by such means." This is the language of a good Catholic, of a good Irishman, and of a
faithful Bishop. Were it more often heard from the lips of the Irish
Episcopate the true friends of Ireland might look forward to her future
with more hope and confidence than many of the best and ablest of them
are now able to feel. As things actually are, not even the Papal Decree
has yet sufficed to restrain ecclesiastics, not always of the lowest
degree, from encouraging by their words and their conduct "patriotism"
of the type commemorated by the late Colonel Prentiss of Louisville, in
a story which he used to tell of a tipsy giant in butternut garments,
armed with a long rifle, who came upon him in his office on a certain
Fourth of July demanding the loan of a dollar on the ground that he felt
"so confoundedly patriotic!" The Colonel judiciously handed the man a dollar, and then asked, "Pray,
how do you feel when you feel confoundedly patriotic?" "I feel," responded the man gravely, "as if I should like to kill
somebody or steal something... Continue reading book >>
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